Finding Joy in the day, Day 301 (Year 2)

Friends and their selfless love

'The love which our Blessed Lady had for God was so great, that she suffered keenly through her desire of union with Him; hence the Eternal Father, to console her, sent her His only and beloved Son.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 300 (Year 2)

300 mark of year 2

'The religious state is like the Promised Land; it is Paradise on Earth; it is a great grace.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 299 (Year 2)

A car that works well and stays warm

'I have seen unlearned men who were truly humble, and they became wiser than the wise. . . Another unlearned man, upon hearing them praised, instead of imitating their humility, prided himself on being unlearned and so fell into arrogance.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 298 (Year 2)

A safe place when there is a blizzard outside

'Two things are most necessary, brethren, to you who from love of solitude live as hermits, and strive after the vision of the contemplative life. You must be assiduous in singing the psalms and watchful in frequent prayer; and you must fight against the assault of invading distractions with all the might of virtue. Let us then remove all the dirt from the hospice of our hearts and strew them with all the flowers of virtue'

St. Peter Damian

Finding Joy in the day, Day 297 (Year 2)

Getting a few errands done

'If a man is treated with contempt by someone and yet does not react with anger in either word or thought, it shows he has acquired real knowledge and firm faith in the Lord.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 296 (Year 2) Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Coffee date with a friend
Iced Decaf coffee- yum

'I tell you, my brothers, there is but one thing you lack here - wives! You know well, that having thus discarded poverty, you can easily discard chastity.'

Bl. Giles of Assisi

Finding Joy in the day, Day 295 (Year 2)

Going out with a friend
Seeing beautiful flowers

'We ought to love and venerate those pure Spirits, who, although very superior to us, consent to protect and serve us.'

St. Lydwine of Schiedam

Finding Joy in the day, Day 294 (Year 2) Merry Christmas 2015

FaceTime with family

'Although the sinner does not believe in Hell, he shall nevertheless go there if he has the misfortune to die in mortal sin.'

St. Anthony Mary Claret

Finding Joy in the day, Day 293 (Year 2) Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve Mass

'In everything and everywhere, I desire nothing but the accomplishment of the divine good pleasure, allowing the divine Heart of Jesus to will and desire in me and for me, just as He pleases. I am content to love Him alone: whatever He wishes me to love, that He will love for me.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 292 (Year 2)

Pretty snow

'You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world! See to it that the people are edified by your example, by the purity of your lives, by the moderation of your conduct, and the brilliance of your holiness! God does not ask of you mere ordinary virtue. He demands downright perfection!'

Pope St. Pius V, to the cardinals

Finding Joy in the day, Day 291 (Year 2)

Facetiming with my adorable Nephew

'Blessed the one who has hated evil-doing that is full of shame and presented himself as a living sacrifice, well-pleasing to the Lord.'

St. Ephrem of Syria

Finding Joy in the day, Day 290 (Year 2)

Chai tea latte from Starbucks

'David said: "I will pierce the lion and I will slay the bear;" (cf. 1 Sam. 17:35) that is to say: I will cut off anger and I will crush fornication with hard labor.'

St. Poemen

Finding Joy in the day, Day 289 (Year 2)

Nice talk on the phone

'Could you but realize what happiness it is to love the Sacred Heart of Jesus, you would despise all else to love but It alone.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 288 (Year 2)

Good visit with a friend

'Placing her in the most noble cloister of holy religion so that, purged there of every stain of sin, she was clothed in the adornment of holy and noble virtue. He reformed the beauty of the soul and leads it back to its first state of innocence so that after this pilgrimage, she can worthily enter into the glorious bridal chamber of her most chaste and virginal spouse Christ Jesus, from whose hand she will receive the prize of triumphant glory. This he imparts to those who, for love of him, abandon the vain pleasures of this weary world, subjecting themselves to the rule of reason and abandoning their self will, and take refuge in the safe port of holy religion, offering themselves completely to the will of another and following the way of most holy obedience and abandoning their own will in all things.'

St. Catherine of Bologna

Finding Joy in the day, Day 287 (Year 2)

Quintessential snow falling out the window

'Whatsoever we do, we can never be true children of Mary, unless we are humble.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 286 (Year 2)

A very special gift from a very special friend

'Demonstrate what you think by your bearing and your walk. Have simplicity in the way you present yourself, purity in your walk, gravity in your gestures, honesty in your step. Do not display lasciviousness, arrogance, and superficiality. The stance of the body is the indicator of the mind. Your walk, therefore, should not represent superficiality; your step should not affront yourself or your neighbor.'

St. Isidore of Seville

Finding Joy in the day, Day 285 (Year 2)

Massage

'The things that immediately concern the glory of God are very different from those of the world, for which much activity is necessary; as regards the things of God, we must be content to follow His inspirations and leave grace to act, cooperating wholeheartedly with its movements.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 284 (Year 2)

Messages from friends

'My St. Francis Xavier used to repeat, as he faced the crosses and sufferings in India: plura, Domine, plura. [More, Lord, more.]

St. Gaspar del Bufalo

Finding Joy in the day, Day 283 (Year 2)

Getting out and driving my car

'Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.'

2 Corinthians 9:7

Finding Joy in the day, Day 282 (Year 2)

Packer win

'Love overcomes, love delights, those who love the Sacred Heart rejoice.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Finding Joy in the day, Day 281 (Year 2) Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Sample of lovely smelling perfume (Daisy by Marc Jacobs)

'Blessed the one who sits in his cell with all devotion, as Mary sat at the Lord's feet, and hastens, like Martha, to receive him, the Lord and Saviour.'

St. Ephrem of Syria

Finding Joy in the day, Day 280 (Year 2)

FaceTime with my nephew

'Some people with possessions possess them dispassionately, and so when deprived of them they are not dismayed but are like those who accepted the seizure of their goods with joy (cf. Heb. 10:34). Others possess with passion, so that when they are in danger of being dispossessed they become utterly dejected, like the rich man in the Gospel who went away full of sorrow (cf. Matt. 19:22); and if they actually are dispossessed, they remain dejected until they die. Dispossession, then, reveals whether a man's inner state is dispassionate or dominated by passion.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 279 (Year 2)

A little grace

'As a fish cannot swim without water, and as a bird cannot fly without air, so a Christian cannot advance a single step without Christ.'

St. Gregory Nazianzus

Finding Joy in the day, Day 278 (Year 2)

Driving again
Fountain Diet MD

'O my child, bethink you that just as the bee, having gathered heaven's dew and earth's sweetest juices from amid the flowers, carries it to her hive; so the Priest, having taken the Saviour, God's Own Son, Who came down from Heaven, the Son of Mary, Who sprang up as earth's choicest flower, from the Altar, feeds you with that Bread of Sweetness and of all delight.'

St. Francis de Sales

Finding Joy in the day, Day 277 (Year 2) Immaculate Conception Dec 8

Sunshine outside and pretty picture of the sunrise

'. . . it is certain that, so long as the guilt of venial sin is not remitted, the punishment due to it cannot be remitted.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 276 (Year 2)

Sunshine outside
Cozy new sweatshirt

'Why do we not burn with the divine fire which He has come to enkindle on earth! We ought to be consumed therein. To love and be consumed by this sacred fire will be my constant endeavor.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 275 (Year 2) Saint Nicholas' Day

Christmas coloring books
Having coffee with my friend

'O you wish to be always happy? then always be humble and obedient.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 274 (Year 2)

Friend visit and new coloring book

'If you wish to be saved and "to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4), endeavor always to transcend sensible things, and through hope alone to cleave to God. Then you will find principalities and powers fighting against you (cf. Eph. 6:12), deflecting you against your will and provoking you to sin. But if you prevail over them through prayer and maintain your hope, you will receive God's grace, and this will deliver you from the wrath to come.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 273 (Year 2)

Packer win!!!!

'The reason why so many souls who apply themselves to prayer are not inflamed with God's love is, that they neglect to carefully prepare themselves for it.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

Finding Joy in the day, Day 272 (Year 2)

Parents coming to see me
Cute pictures of my nephew

'. . . a great movement of apostasy being organized in every country for the establishment of a One-World Church which shall have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, nor discipline for the mind, nor curb for the passions, and which, under the pretext of freedom and human dignity, would bring back to the world the reign of legalized cunning and force, the oppression of the weak, and of those who toil and suffer.'

Pope St. Pius X, 'Our Apostolic Mandate'

Finding Joy in the day, Day 271 (Year 2)

Love and prayers of friends

'You pray too little for the souls in purgatory. If you had prayed more for the poor souls they would have reminded you not to leave the loaves in the oven all night. We have taken a vow of poverty. We live off the alms of the people. We must not abuse them.'

St. Conrad of Parzham, to a novice

Finding Joy in the day, Day 270 (Year 2)

New toothbrush

'For this reason Scripture urges us to acquire the knowledge of God, so that through our works we may serve Him rightly.'

St. Mark the Ascetic