Finding Joy in the day, Day 302 (Year 3)

Seeing little L smile

'As for me, I am cheerful, tranquil and content, only because I am doing the will of God. I proclaim that I want to live and die with total abandonment to him. Is it not a great thing for a soul to know with certainty that one is fulfilling the divine will?'

St. Gaspar del Bufalo

Finding Joy in the day, Day 301 (Year 3)

Past the 300 mark and in year 3 of this blog
(grateful for my sister who actually reads and comments everyday too!!!)

'In the choice of a state of life, if we wish to secure our eternal salvation, we must embrace that state to which God calls us, in which only God prepares for us the efficacious means necessary to salvation.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 300 (Year 3)

Out with mom and niece

'How I wish we would all walk in faith! Yes, this is the true way.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 299 (Year 3)

Awesome new EO rollon

'Should you feel yourself overwhelmed by fear, cast yourself into the abyss of the unshaken confidence of the Sacred Heart, and there your fear will give place to love. If you find yourself frail and weak, lapsing into faults at every moment, go to the Sacred Heart and draw from It the strength which will invigorate and revive you.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 298 (Year 3)

Win with the blanket gift

'Come, Lord, work upon us, set us on fire and clasp us close, be fragrant to us, draw us to your loveliness, let us love, let us run to you.'

St. Augustine

Finding Joy in the day, Day 297 (Year 3)

More family time

'Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us. What we really are consists in what God knows us to be.'

St. John Berchmans

Finding Joy in the day, Day 296 (Year 3) Christmas Day 2016

Christmas with family

'If honor were profitable, everybody would be honorable.'

St. Thomas More

Finding Joy in the day, Day 295 (Year 3) Christmas Eve 2016

Finished babysitting for the day
and safe drive to WI after

O Lord, Word of God, You, whose glory is complete, came to us in perfect humility as a child in the womb. Your love for us and humility is unsurpassed and brings us to our knees in prayer and worship.

'The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.'


St. Isidore of Seville

Finding Joy in the day, Day 294 (Year 3)

Getting back to the chiropractor

'In order to bear our afflictions with patience, it is very useful to read the lives and legends of the saints who endured great torments for Jesus Christ.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law:

come to save us, Lord our God!

Finding Joy in the day, Day 293 (Year 3)

Finishing up on crown

'There are some who sin through frailty, or through the force of some violent passion. They desire to break these chains of death; if their prayer is constant they will be heard.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!

Finding Joy in the day, Day 292 (Year 3)

Warmer day and sun

O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in theshadow of death.

'One ought ardently to desire that charm of language so necessary in treating with men.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 291 (Year 3)

Getting a long morning done

O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!

Finding Joy in the day, Day 290 (Year 3)

Beautiful manger scene

'Fearful afflictions await the hard of heart, for without great sufferings they cannot become pliable and responsive.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 289 (Year 3)

Having a nice time visiting with others

'The glory of one who knows how to suffer is so great that Heaven, angels and men, and even God Himself, gaze on him with joy as a most glorious sight. And if the saints in Heaven desired anything, it would be to return to earth so as to bear some crosses.'

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Finding Joy in the day, Day 288 (Year 3)

Safe travels to the party

'In our ascetic warfare we can neither rid ourselves of evil thoughts apart from their causes, nor of their causes without ridding ourselves of the thoughts. For if we reject the one without the other, before long the other will involve us in them both at once.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 287 (Year 3)

Getting a few things cleared up

'When fathers have given their sons a good education, and put everything clearly and distinctly in train for them, the sons who succeed them, and continue to follow the road marked out for them, will have the advantage of seeing their family persevere in holy ways, and in the fear of God.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 286 (Year 3)

First steps to dental crown done

'Because an interval of time elapses between sowing and reaping, we begin to think there will be no requital.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 285 (Year 3)- Happy Birthday to my Beautiful and Amazing sister

Warm blankets on my bed

'In order to be perfect, we must not only obey and honour our superiors; we must honour our equals and inferiors also.'

St. Philip Neri

'Since, in His mercy, He has consecrated me to His love and to His glory, I care not in what manner He treats me. Provided He is satisfied, I am content. Whether He raises me up or casts me down, consoles or afflicts me, it is all the same to me, as long as His good pleasure is fulfilled.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 284 (Year 3)

Pretty white snow

'You will not find the rigors of the ascetic life hard to bear if you do all things with measure and by rule.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 283 (Year 3)

Safe travels home

'Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us. What we really are consists in what God knows us to be.'

St. John Berchmans

Finding Joy in the day, Day 282 (Year 3)

Kisses from Charlie

'Do everything through love and for love, making good use of the present moment, and do not be anxious about the future.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 281 (Year 3)

Spending time with my momma

'Gratitude for graces received is a most efficacious means of obtaining new ones.'

St. Vincent de Paul

Finding Joy in the day, Day 280 (Year 3)

Seeing a dear friend

'By suffering we are able to give something to God. The gift of pain, of suffering is a big thing and cannot be accomplished in Paradise.'

Padre Pio

Finding Joy in the day, Day 279 (Year 3) Feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec 8, 2016

No injuries in accident

'He is truly humble of heart who knows 'himself thoroughly and who knows God. May the Lord grant this grace to all men!'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 278 (Year 3)

Figuring out how to get my dental work done

'Some are unable to fast or give alms; there are none who can not pray.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 277 (Year 3)

Clean teeth

'A soul defiled by the passions becomes obdurate: it has to undergo knife and cautery before it recovers its faith.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 276 (Year 3)

Good talks

'May the holy cross of Christ remain ever planted in our heart! May our mind be grafted on this tree of life, and may it produce worthy fruits of penance, through the merits of the death of the true Author of life!'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 275 (Year 3)

Grand Meander and Kowalski's Market

'I have chosen thy soul to be a paradise of rest to Me on earth, and thy heart shall be a throne of delight for My divine love.'

The Lord, to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 274 (Year 3)

Seeing my cousins

'Humility and self-contempt are safe barriers against illusions.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 273 (Year 3)

Getting some stuff ready for the weekend

'In the Heart of Jesus be constantly recollected; it is not necessary that you should feel and taste the divine presence, but it is all-important that you keep yourself in that presence by pure faith, devoid of all self-satisfaction.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 272 (Year 3)

New Christmas music artist 

'Blessed the one who has become like the Seraphim and the Cherubim and never wearied in his spiritual ministry, unceasingly giving glory to the Lord.'

St. Ephrem of Syria

Finding Joy in the day, Day 271 (Year 3)

Fun care package

'Patient endurance is a continuous effort for the soul; it is born of suffering freely chosen and of trials that come unsought.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 270 (Year 3)

New boots

'Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.'

St. Francis de Sales

Finding Joy in the day, Day 269 (Year 3)

Getting some things mailed 

'By the cross God perfects the loving soul that offers Him a fervent and generous heart.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 268 (Year 3) First Day of Advent 2016

More time with my family

'That which would have easily been remedied at first, becomes incurable by time and habit.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 267 (Year 3)

Seeing my family again

'Seek in prayer only righteousness and the kingdom, that is virtue and knowledge - and all the rest "shall be added unto you" [Matthew 6:33].'

St. Nilus of Sinai

Finding Joy in the day, Day 266 (Year 3)

Spending some time with dad on my birthday

'I will remember those who have confidence in thy prayers, so that thou mayest be entirely occupied and taken up with My love.'

The Lord, to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 265 (Year 3)

Hearing from a friend

'If, during life, we have been kind to the suffering souls in purgatory, God will see that help be not denied us after death.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 264 (Year 3)

A new future brother in law

'Prayer is an activity becoming to the dignity of the mind, or rather, is its real use.'

St. Nilus of Sinai

Finding Joy in the day, Day 263 (Year 3) Feast of St. Cecilia

Good session

'O Lord, my God, who will seek You with simple and pure love and not find You are All he desires. . .'

St. John of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 262 (Year 3)

2 blue jays in the sky

'No one can experience suffering and remorse in a way that accords with God's will, unless he first loves what causes them.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

'And as Adam opposed his own will to the divine will, so we must seek to have the will of God as our only object, and by it to have our own disposed and annihilated. And as we cannot by ourselves discover our own evil inclinations, and our secret self-love, nor possibly annihilate our own self-will, it is very useful to subject our will to that of some other creature, and to do its bidding for the love of God.'

St. Catherine of Genoa

'A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation.'

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Finding Joy in the day, Day 261 (Year 3)

Support and understanding of a friend

'The Gospel not only teaches the faith, it is the school of morals, the mirror of conversation.'

St. Ambrose of Milan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 260 (Year 3)

Sharing in my brothers appreciation of things

'One of the ways most pleasing to God of keeping ourselves in His holy presence, is to enter into the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to commit to Him all the care of ourselves. We must abide therein as in an abyss of love, and lose in it that which is of ourselves, so that He may substitute that which is of Himself.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 259 (Year 3)

A roof over my head tonight

'Our sweetest Jesus allowed Himself to be clothed and stripped, as it pleased His executioners; they bound Him and unbound Him, pushed Him from one side to the other, and the innocent Lamb submitted to all.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 258 (Year 3)

Good news with insurance

'Just as love and self-control destroy evil thought so contemplation and prayer destroy all self-exaltation.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 257 (Year 3)

Huge rising moon on my drive home

'Preparation for Holy Communion.

The best preparation is meditation. I do that so badly. Renew and strengthen the resolutions I have made in this regard.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Finding Joy in the day, Day 256 (Year 3)

2 pairs of practically free earrings

'Unexpected trials are sent by God to teach us to practice the ascetic life; and they lead us to repentance even when we are reluctant.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 255 (Year 3)

Beautiful Shrine visit and bright moon on the way home

'Take advantage of little sufferings even more than of great ones. God considers not so much what we suffer as how we suffer. . . Turn everything to profit as the grocer does in his shop.'

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Finding Joy in the day, Day 254 (Year 3)

Good trip

'Prayer is the sure way that leads to holiness.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 253 (Year 3)

Good talk with a friend

'If three men meet, of whom the first fully preserves interior peace, and the second gives thanks to God in illness, and the third serves with a pure mind, these three are doing the same work.'

St. Poemen

Finding Joy in the day, Day 252 (Year 3)

Looking forward to massage

'Humble yourself whenever opportunity offers with true humility of heart. This is all, I think, that the Heart of our Lord asks of you.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 251 (Year 3)

Warm cinnamon in the morning

'He wishes to lead them by the way which his Son walked, who, as we know, from the time of his birth to his death, always walked the way of the cross.

And therefore God loves them with a father's love.'

St. Catherine of Bologna

Finding Joy in the day, Day 250 (Year 3) Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica

A surprising result

'The glory of one who knows how to suffer is so great that Heaven, angels and men, and even God Himself, gaze on him with joy as a most glorious sight. And if the saints in Heaven desired anything, it would be to return to earth so as to bear some crosses.'

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Finding Joy in the day, Day 249 (Year 3)

New socks

'Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.'

Pope Bl. Pius IX

Finding Joy in the day, Day 248 (Year 3)

Waking up on time

'When the intellect devotes itself continually to divine realities, the soul's passible aspect becomes a godlike weapon.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 247 (Year 3)

Sunny Packer game day

'The man who possesses spiritual knowledge and understands the truth confesses to God, not by recalling what he has done, but by accepting patiently what comes.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 246 (Year 3)

Better feeling each day

'It is the uneven quality of our thoughts that produces changes in our condition. For God assigns to our voluntary thoughts consequences which are appropriate but not necessarily of our choice.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 245 (Year 3)

Surprise from my parents

'Very often over a period of several years I was more occupied in wishing my hour of prayer were over and in listening whenever the clock struck than in thinking of the things that were good. Again and again, I would rather have done any severe penance than anything that might have given me the practice of recollection.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

Finding Joy in the day, Day 244 (Year 3)

All the love and support of family and friends

'To pray well requires the whole man.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 243 (Year 3)

Safety!

'Brothers, we must follow such examples. For it is written: Follow the saints, because those who follow them will become saints.'

Pope St. Clement I of Rome

Finding Joy in the day, Day 242 (Year 3) All Saints Day, 2016

Finding good deals on books

'The Lord is hidden in His own commandments, and He is to be found there in the measure that He is sought.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 241 (Year 3)

An ok meeting

'A good conscience is found through prayer, and pure prayer through the conscience. Each by nature needs the other.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 240 (Year 3)

Another free DIY body product demo and take home

'Human language cannot express the beauty of a soul which dies in a state of grace.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 239 (Year 3)

Free DIY body oil making at Whole Foods

'Each man's knowledge is genuine to the extent that it is confirmed by gentleness, humility and love.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 238 (Year 3) Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude

Winning a drawing at Wet Paint art store

'The soul is a seed which God sows in the field of the Church; to produce fruits, it must die under the strokes of pains, sorrows, contradictions, and persecutions.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 237 (Year 3)

Good coffee

'One of the most admirable effects of Holy Communion is to preserve the soul from sin, and to help those who fall through weakness to rise again. It is much more profitable, then, to approach this divine Sacrament with love, respect, and confidence, than to remain away through an excess of fear and scrupulosity.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 236 (Year 3)

Friend visit

'Blessed are the actions enclosed between two Hail Marys.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 235 (Year 3)

Self care day

'Distress that accords with God's will shatters the heart; it is produced by the fear of punishment. Such distress purifies the heart, expelling from it the defilements of sensual pleasure.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 234 (Year 3)

So many gorgeous leaves

'It would be the greatest miracle to see God deny His help to those who, for love of Him, have given up everything.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 233 (Year 3)

Wonderful visit

'Let him who finds himself desolate remember how strong he is by grace, which is sufficient to enable him to overcome all his enemies, and that he should take courage in his Lord and Creator.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 232 (Year 3) Feast day of St. John Paul II

Lovely leaves

'Think that human love, which is only a parody of a true love, very often excludes God; that it is a form of egoism, since for people who truly love each other the rest of the world does not exist; and that it is fair that this forgetfulness of God and this indifference towards your neighbour should be expiated.'
St. Lydwine of Schiedam

Finding Joy in the day, Day 231 (Year 3)

Happy and Sad goodbyes

'Teach the mouth to say what you have in your heart.'

St. Poemen

Finding Joy in the day, Day 230 (Year 3)

Anticipating a fun visit

'Happy the soul that is detached from self-satisfaction, from her own will, from her own sentiments!'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 229 (Year 3) Feast of St. Luke

Free Haircut

'The greatest help to perseverance in the spiritual life is the habit of prayer, especially under the direction of our confessor.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 227 (Year 3)

Hanging out with a friend

'I am so happy to have no other tokens of affection or consolation from creatures than crosses and humiliations, and never had I more of them. I write these few lines to you by the way, to invite you to give thanks to the Sacred Heart for me.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 228 (Year 3)

Supportive friends and kind words

'What joy to belong entirely to God, to make one's dwelling in Him, and to lay in Him the basis of one's perfection! In Him the soul enjoys a reign of imperturbable peace, where it beholds the vicissitudes and events of life without being perturbed or disturbed by them, for they vanish like a dream; nevertheless, in proportion as we despise them, the more profitable they will all be.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 226 (Year 3) Feast of St. Teresa of the Jesus

Good deal on slippers
Random Rainbow after church

'Jesus has for us a love so incomprehensible that He does not wish to do anything without making us His co-operators. He wills that we should have a part with Him in the salvation of souls.'

St. Therese of Lisieux

Finding Joy in the day, Day 225 (Year 3)

Feeling "crunchy" making my own cosmetics

'Do you know why God subjects you to so many miseries? That He may bestow on you the riches of heaven.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 224 (Year 3)

A trip to the mall

'Our sweet Jesus, through the excess of His love and liberality, has left Himself to us in the Most Holy Sacrament.'

St. Philip Neri

"When God is with us, we do not need to be afraid."

-Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati

Finding Joy in the day, Day 223 (Year 3)

$1.45 for Gas and a car wash

'O my Mother, offer me to Jesus. Take my heart and unite it with the heart of my Jesus.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Finding Joy in the day, Day 222 (Year 3)

My mom and dad's example of 36 of Christ like love for each other in marriage (Celebrated on Oct 11,  2016)

'I say nothing to you of preparation; you will do your best, I think; remember that to receive Holy Communion is to perform the holiest action.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 221 (Year 3)

A trip to the Co-op

'If any man love not Our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathama maranatha.'

1 Corinthians 16:22

Finding Joy in the day, Day 220 (Year 3)

Fun new items

'Our faith is greater than human reason. Reason is of no use unless a person believes.'

St. Francis of Assisi

Finding Joy in the day, Day 219 (Year 3)

Seeing the girls

'He who forsakes all worldly desires sets himself above all worldly distress.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 218 (Year 3)

No injuries

'O most blessed Virgin, who declarest in thy Canticle that it is owing to thy humility that God hath done great things in thee, obtain for me the grace to imitate thee, that is, to be obedient; because to obey is to practice humility.'

St. Vincent de Paul

Finding Joy in the day, Day 217 (Year 3) Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Blasting my car music on MAX

'In cutting out gluttony, beware lest you seek the esteem of others, making a display of the pallor of your face.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 216 (Year 3)

Seeing one of my best friends and going to a movie with her that brought us both to tears

'I myself have undergone your penance. I only ask you for your mortification to spend one entire night without stirring on your back.'

St. Lydwine of Schiedam

Finding Joy in the day, Day 215 (Year 3) Feast Day of St. Faustina Kowalska

A book from my dad

'We should consider our departed brethren as living members of Jesus Christ, animated by His grace, and certain of participating one day of His glory. We should therefore love, serve, and assist them as far as is in our power.'

St. Vincent de Paul

Finding Joy in the day, Day 214 (Year 3)

Getting some stuff crossed off my list

'The intellect's task is to reject any thought that secretly vilifies a fellow being.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 213 (Year 3)

Seeing my friends again

'Let no one deceive you, monk, with the notion that you can be saved while a slave to sensual pleasure and self-esteem.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 212 (Year 3)

A visit with a friend

'The true ruler is he who rules over himself and has subjected soul and body to the intelligence.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 211 (Year 3)

Seeing some friends

'Go on your road, but always suspecting robbers, and asking for the right way; give thanks to our Lord, Who has given you His love, the knowledge of yourself, and a love of penance and the cross. . .'St. John of Avila

Finding Joy in the day, Day 210 (Year 3)

A chance to get out of the house and drive my car

'If you wish to pray well, be faithful in the practice of mortification, avoid dissipation of mind during the day, and never commit any willful faults.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 209 (Year 3)

A transition to a cute house

A new bottle of lovely perfume

Finding Joy in the day, Day 208 (Year 3)

A better than expected breakfast

'He who suffers in patience, suffers less and saves his soul. He who suffers impatiently, suffers more and loses his soul.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 207 (Year 3)

Seeing a friend

'I work here on borrowed money, a prisoner for the sake of Jesus Christ. And often my debts are so pressing that I dare not go out of the house for fear of being seized by my creditors. Whenever I see so many poor brothers and neighbors of mine suffering beyond their strength and overwhelmed with so many physical or mental ills which I cannot alleviate, then I become exceedingly sorrowful; but I trust in Christ, who knows my heart. And so I say, "Woe to the man who trusts in men rather than in Christ.'

St. John of God

Finding Joy in the day, Day 206 (Year 3)

A little fresh air

'A helpful word indicates an understanding mind; a good action reveals a saint-like soul.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 205 (Year 3)

Church and communion

'May the Sacred Heart accomplish in you all His designs and be Himself your strength and your stay, so as to enable you to bear courageously the weight of your responsiblity.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 204 (Year 3)

Name sign from a friend

'Let all involuntary suffering teach you to remember God, and you will not lack occasion for repentance.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 203 (Year 3) Feast of St. Padre Pio

Decent appointments

'Impel your intellect continually to prayer and you will destroy the evil thoughts that beset your heart.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 202 (Year 3)

A mild morning

'Fearful afflictions await the hard of heart, for without great sufferings they cannot become pliable and responsive.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 201 (Year 3)

Seeing my sister

'The relics of the saints ought to be venerated, and we may laudably keep them in our room; but it is not well, unless for some grave occasion, to wear them on our persons, because it will often happen then that they are not treated with all the respect which is becoming.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 200 (Year 3)

A tour of the Cathedral

'Let him who is consoled see to humbling himself and lowering himself as much as he can, thinking how little he is able for in the time of desolation without such grace or consolation. On the contrary, let him who is in desolation think that he can do much with the grace sufficient to resist all his enemies, taking strength in his Creator and Lord.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola, 'Spiritual Exercises'

Finding Joy in the day, Day 199 (Year 3)

Priest visit

'When Abraham entered the promised land he bought a sepulchre for himself and by means of this tomb, he inherited the land. . . [The tomb is] the place of tears and compunction.'

St. Poemen

Finding Joy in the day, Day 198 (Year 3)

Mass and confession

'And it may be indeed asserted, without fear of contradiction, God was more beloved in one century after the coming of Jesus Christ than in the entire forty preceding centuries.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 197 (Year 3)

Sunny afternoon

'When, on the contrary, you do not feel this interior peace, or this recollection, the soul can no longer meditate. Make no effort to do so; you ought, however, always to keep up a loving attention to God in the superior part of the soul. In this case, remain before God, detached from all consolation, like a statue in its niche.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 196 (Year 3)

Nearing the end of the day

'Be ruled by God and rule over your senses; and, being on a higher level, do not give authority to what is inferior to you.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 195 (Year 3) Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

Getting something off my chest

'Ever since Blessed Alan de la Roche re-established this devotion the voice of the people, which is the voice of God, called it the Rosary. The word Rosary means "Crown of Roses" that is to say that every time people say the Rosary devoutly they place a crown of one hundred and fifty-three red roses and sixteen white roses upon the heads of Jesus and Mary. Being heavenly flowers these roses will never fade or lose their exquisite beauty.'

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Finding Joy in the day, Day 194 (Year 3)

Compliments on granola

'He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.'

John 6:57-58

'I love so much a soul's desire to receive Me, that I hasten to it each time it summons Me by its yearnings.'

The Lord, to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 193 (Year 3)

A sweet friend visit

'We must be content with and conformed to His most Holy Will, stripped and destitute of pleasure, friends, consolation, talents, and aware of our lack of virtue.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 192 (Year 3)

Refreshing Praise and Worship

'A precious crown is reserved in heaven for those who perform all their actions with all the diligence of which they are capable; for it is not sufficient to do our part well; it must be done more than well.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 191 (Year 3) (15 year anniversary of 9/11/2001)- 9/11/16

A nice talk with my sista

'He wishes you to conform your heart to the virtues of His own. If you only knew how much your grieve Him when you fail in charity or humility, or when, through cowardice, you neglect to use the lights He gives you to make you withdraw from dissipation and self-introspection.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

'Love Him with all your strength, think always of Him, let Him do with you, in you and for you whatever He wills, and do not be anxious about anything else.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 190 (Year 3)

An outing

'It is well to deny ourselves that which is permitted, in order to avoid more easily that which is not.'

St. Benedict

Finding Joy in the day, Day 189 (Year 3)

Momma and Daddio come to town

'When the intellect gives its attention to sensible objects, withdraw your senses from them, bringing the objects into direct contact with the intellect.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 188 (Year 3) Happy Birthday Mother Mary 9/8/16

Ok sleep

'Prayer frees the mind of all thought of the sensory and raises it to God Himself, Who is above all, to converse with Him and daringly ask Him for anything. Thus a man spends his life in purity, as one who, having already experienced communion with God, is thereupon again preparing for this communion.'

St. Nilus of Sinai

Finding Joy in the day, Day 187 (Year 3)

A day off from the Dr.

'The more numerous the gifts we have received from God, the greater the account we must render to Him.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

Finding Joy in the day, Day 186 (Year 3)

Decent appointment
Prayers from family and friends

'A person who is not detached from worldly cares can neither love God truly nor hate the devil as he should, for such cares are both a burden and a veil. His intellect cannot discern the tribunal which will judge him, neither can it foresee the verdict which will be given at his trial. For all these reasons, then, withdrawal from the world is invaluable.'

St. Diadochos of Photiki

Finding Joy in the day, Day 185 (Year 3) Labor Day 2016

Visiting friend

'Prayer and communion are not to be made or desired for the sake of the devotion we feel in them, for that is seeking self, and not God; but we must be frequent in both the one and the other in order to become humble, obedient, gentle, and patient. When we see these virtues in a man, then we know that he has really gathered the fruit of prayer and of communion.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 184 (Year 3) Canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta Sept 4, 2016

Working on a project

'To cling always to God and to the things of God - this must be our major effort, this must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly.'

St. John Cassian

Finding Joy in the day, Day 183 (Year 3)

Good chat with my momma

'Give me a person of prayer, and such a one will be capable of accomplishing anything.'

St. Vincent de Paul

Finding Joy in the day, Day 182 (Year 3)

Affirmations

'Let us pray God, if He gives us any virtue or any gift, to keep it hidden even from ourselves, that we may preserve our humility, and not take occasion of pride because of it.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 181 (Year 3)

Someone to talk to

'Oh how happy should we be, did we but take as much pains to gain heaven and please God, as worldlings do to heap up riches and perishable goods! By land they venture among thieves and robbers; at sea they expose themselves to the fury of winds and storms; they suffer shipwrecks, and all perils; they attempt all, try all, hazard all but we, in serving so great a master, for so immense a good, are afraid of every contradiction.'

St. Syncletica

Finding Joy in the day, Day 180 (Year 3)

A nice visitor

'Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.'

St. Augustine

Finding Joy in the day, Day 179 (Year 3)

Card in the mail

'Love the greatest sinners; love them for the little faith they still have, or if they have none, love them for their past virtues;'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 178 (Year 3)

More options

'The first renunciation is that of material things, the second that of the passions, the third that of ignorance.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 177 (Year 3) Feast of St. Augustine

2 visitors

'Put into practice the teachings of our holy faith, it is not enough to convince ourselves that they are true; we must love them. Love united to faith makes us practice our religion.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 176 (Year 3) Feast of St. Monica

A chat with daddio

'As the branch separated from the roots soon loses all life and verdure, so it is with good works which are not united with charity.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

Finding Joy in the day, Day 175 (Year 3)

Friend and family support

'Knowledge of created things helps a man at a time of temptation and listlessness; but at a time of pure prayer it is usually harmful.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 174 (Year 3)

A little time out of the house

'Long, as the stag panting for the waters, to have your will broken, and regard that day as lost on which you have not subjected your will to that of another.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 173 (Year 3)

Connecting over the phone

'The mercy of God is hidden in sufferings not of our choice; and if we accept such sufferings patiently, they bring us to repentance and deliver us from everlasting punishment.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 172 (Year 3)

Toothpaste delivery

'I see now, that true charity consists in bearing with the faults of those about us, never being surprised at their weaknesses, but edified at the least sign of virtue. I see above all that charity must not remain hidden in the bottom of our hearts: "nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house." It seems to me that this lamp is the symbol of charity; it must shine out not only to cheer those we love best but all in the house.'

St. Therese of Lisieux

Finding Joy in the day, Day 171 (Year 3)

Safe arrival

'Let us so live that we may be admitted with profit to frequent and even daily Communion; in a word, let us perfect ourselves in order to receive Communion worthily and let us live with a constant view to Communion.'

St. Peter Julian Eymard

Finding Joy in the day, Day 170 (Year 3)

Talking to momma on the phone

'The continual remembrance of the presence of God engenders in the soul a divine state.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 169 (Year 3)

Trying a new recipe

'Let us have no further reserve with Him; let us abandon to Him all that we are, without anxiety about the future, not reflecting on ourselves and our incapacity.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 168 (Year 3)

Getting a parking spot at Mass

'Do thou, therefore, apply thyself unweariedly to the pursuit of holiness, lest thou cease to be the temple of God.'

St. Anselm of Canterbury

Finding Joy in the day, Day 167 (Year 3)

Able to get to Mass

'Stand firm and immovable as an anvil when it is beaten upon.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 166 (Year 3)

Seeing my sister

'If you wish to pray well, be faithful in the practice of mortification, avoid dissipation of mind during the day, and never commit any willful faults.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 165 (Year 3)

Free movie

'Brethren and fathers, now that we have fasted for the first week we appear to each other somewhat different to what we were, leaner and paler. But even if our outward nature is wasting away, as the Apostle says, the inner is being renewed day by day. For what it is to see a body healthy-looking and sleek through pleasure; this it is to understand what follows for the soul through self-mastery, so that by humbling the body we shall bring about the beauty of the soul. . .'

St. Theodore the Studite

Finding Joy in the day, Day 164 (Year 3) Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

$10 on the sidewalk 

'It behooves us unanimously and inviolably to observe the ecclesiastical traditions, whether codified or simply retained by the customary practice of the Church.'

St. Peter Canisius

Finding Joy in the day, Day 163 (Year 3)

Friend date

'Knowledge of created beings is one thing, and knowledge of the divine truth is another. The second surpasses the first just as the sun outshines the moon.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 162 (Year 3)

An afternoon outing

'Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honour them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.'

St. Louise de Marillac

Finding Joy in the day, Day 161 (Year 3)

Packer game

'It should be enough for us to follow blindly His most Holy Will.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 160 (Year 3) Feast Day of St. Clare

Oil change and tire rotation out of the way

'I abyss myself in His magnificence and His wisdom but when I ponder His goodness, my heart can say nothing - I can only Adore.'

St. Teresa of the Andes

Finding Joy in the day, Day 159 (Year 3) St. Lawrence

Sleeping in my own bed

'It is for this reason that I wish you to be diligent in the study of your own nothingness, that this nothingness may be absorbed, so to speak, in the immensity of God, Who is all.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 158 (Year 3) Feast of St. Edith Stein

Safe travels 

"When night comes, and retrospect shows that everything was patchwork and much that one had planned left undone, when so many things rouse shame and regret, then take all as is, lay it in God's hands, and offer it up to Him. In this way we will be able to rest in Him, actually to rest and to begin the new day like a new life." - St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 157 (Year 3)

Seeing sister and nephew

'In the morning, we must do like the little child in its cradle. The moment it opens its eyes, it looks round the house for its mother. When it sees her, it begins to smile; if it does not see her, it cries.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

Finding Joy in the day, Day 156 (Year 3)

Seeing my nieces and nephews

'Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honour them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.'

St. Louise de Marillac

Finding Joy in the day, Day 155 (Year 3) Feast of the Transfiguration

Unexpected find, yay $2 skirts

'The most important thing upon which to concentrate in order to mortify it and eradicate it entirely is our predominant passion, that is, that affection, desire, inclination, vice or bad habit which drags us down and most frequently causes us to fall into sin. Once this king of our faults has been conquered, the battle will be won.'

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

Finding Joy in the day, Day 154 (Year 3) Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica

Good coupons

'I also intend that, as I tell the sweet memory of the saints of the past in their books, each creature ought to make itself praiseworthy in its creator through the manifestation of the divine Providence conferred upon it by the divine Creator. In this, one will know globally the infinite charity of our Lord God when, through his mercy, he deigns to help and conserve his creation each day, keeping it safe amid accidents and frequent dangers.'

St. Catherine of Bologna

Finding Joy in the day, Day 153 (Year 3)

Getting to leave early

'If, as Scripture teaches, everything involuntary has its cause in what is voluntary, man has no greater enemy than himself.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 152 (Year 3)

Holding a brand new baby

'If you make a habit of listening to spiritual teaching, your intellect will escape from impure thoughts.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 151 (Year 3)

Making it to Mass today

'Our Lord loves you and wishes to see you advance with great speed in the way of His love, however crucifying to nature. Therefore, do not bargain with Him, but give Him all, and you will find all in His divine Heart.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 150 (Year 3)

Getting out of the house on time

'Bear patiently the little vexations caused by your neighbor's being of a disposition contrary to your own; do not show your resentment, for that displeases the Sacred Heart of Jesus.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 149 (Year 3)

Another day to sleep in a little

'Silence is not a virtue when charity calls for speech.'

St. Poemen

Finding Joy in the day, Day 148 (Year 3)

Sleeping in

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. - Psalm 25:16 (NIV)

Finding Joy in the day, Day 147 (Year 3) Feast of St. Martha

Mass in the little chapel

'I am come with all My divine power, to heal the wounds which cause you pain.'

The Lord, to St. Mechtilde

and another quote just because I really like this one

'. . . those wounds which were scattered over the body of our Lord, were all united in the single heart of Mary.'

St. Bonaventure

Finding Joy in the day, Day 146 (Year 3)

Enjoying cooking in the kitchen

'He that resists the will of God can have neither rest nor peace. "Who hath resisted Him and hath had peace? " (Job ix. 4.)'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 145 (Year 3)

Waking up early enough

'Well, how goes it with you? Your heart would fain wing its flight to heaven, is it not so? But patience; you must wait till your divine Spouse give you permission.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 144 (Year 3) Feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim

Celebrating Feast Day with my namesake friend Hannah

'There is where I study my sermon - at the foot of the crucifix.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 143 (Year 3)

Smooth babysitting day

'Each man's knowledge is genuine to the extent that it is confirmed by gentleness, humility and love.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 142 (Year 3)

Errands alone

'Do not desire to hear about the misfortunes of your enemies. For those who like listening to such things will themselves suffer what they wish for others.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 141 (Year 3)

Pink pedi

'And he withdrew himself into the desert and prayed.'

Luke 5:16

'My sweet Jesus, I unite my soul to Thy soul, and my heart, my mind, my life and my intentions to Thine; and, thus united, I present myself to Thy Father. Receive me, O Eternal Father, through the merits of Thy beloved Son.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 140 (Year 3) St. Mary Magdalene

Errands done before appointment

'Hope is obligatory. I must, then, hope for my salvation.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 139 (Year 3)

2 pops

'A good conscience is found through prayer, and pure prayer through the conscience. Each by nature needs the other.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 138 (Year 3)

A few hours of air conditioning

'May the peace of the adorable Heart of Jesus Christ ever fill our hearts, so that nothing may be able to disturb our serenity!'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 137 (Year 3)

Free pop

'The cross is good at all times and in all places. It matters little of what wood it is made, provided that it is offered to us by the Sacred Heart of our Lord.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 136 (Year 3)

Made it through the morning

'I abyss myself in His magnificence and His wisdom but when I ponder His goodness, my heart can say nothing - I can only Adore.'

St. Teresa of the Andes

Finding Joy in the day, Day 135 (Year 3)

A quick time in the ER with work

'All men are made in God's image; but to be in His likeness is granted only to those who through great love have brought their own freedom into subjection to God. For only when we do not belong to ourselves do we become like Him who through love has reconciled us to Himself. No one achieves this unless he persuades his soul not to be distracted by the false glitter of this life.'

St. Diadochos of Photiki

Finding Joy in the day, Day 134 (Year 3) Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Trip to Walmart

'Abandon everything to My good pleasure and let Me accomplish My designs; do not thou interfere in anything, for I will take care of all.'

The Lord, to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 133 (Year 3)

A job this morning

'The Holy Eucharist very often invigorates and strengthens even the body. O infinite mercy of our sovereign Good! this marvellous effect proceeds from the great vigor which the bread of angels communicates to the soul, and which reacts on the body.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 132 (Year 3) St. Kateri

Special music after Mass

'I never ceased hoping against all hope. . .'

St. Therese of Lisieux

Finding Joy in the day, Day 131 (Year 3)

Card in the mail

'Leave your soul free to take her flight to the Sovereign Good as God shall guide her.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 130 (Year 3)

Talking to my sis

'Frequent confession is the cause of great good to the soul, because it purifies it, heals it, and confirms it in the service of God: we ought not therefore to omit confession on our fixed days for any business whatsoever; but go to confession first, and to business afterwards, and the first will help the last.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 129 (Year 3) St. Benedict

A little shorter day

'In the trials that God sends us we must bow our head in submission, because, if He intended to give us one stroke, and we raise our head in rebellion, He will give us ten of them; whereas, if He designed to give us ten strokes, and we bow our head in submission, He will scarcely inflict one.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 128 (Year 3)

Rain during the night

'They who have been exercised in the service of God for a long time, may in their prayers imagine all sorts of insults offered to them, such as blows, wounds, and the like, and so in order to imitate Christ by their charity, may accustom their hearts beforehand to forgive real injuries when they come.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 127 (Year 3)

Seeing my dear friend and tea from Twinings London

'O my Jesus, help me to love you; love me, and then crucify me as much as you please.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Finding Joy in the day, Day 126 (Year 3)

Getting around to run a few errands

'You know that virtue is not practiced without effort, but for one moment of suffering there follows an eternity of reward.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 125 (Year 3)

Better from my headache

'Whatever a man loves he inevitably clings to, and in order not to lose it he rejects everything that keeps him from it. So he who loves God cultivates pure prayer, driving out every passion that keeps him from it.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 124 (Year 3)

Not having to be on hold on the phone today

'Gift better than Himself God doth not know,
Gift better than his God no man can see;
This gift doth here the giver given bestow,
Gift to this gift let each receiver be:
God is my gift, Himself He freely gave me,
God's gift am I, and none but God shall have me.'

St. Robert Southwell

Finding Joy in the day, Day 123 (Year 3)

Thunder and lightning storms

'The forceful practice of self-control and love, patience and stillness, will destroy the passions hidden within us.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 122 (Year 3) July 4, 2016

Freedom through Christ

'Though God gave me the grace to discern the truth from error, even before the definition of the Holy See, still I have never had any feeling of complacency or vain joy because my judgment was formed in conformity with that of the Church fully recognizing that it was an effect of the pure mercy of God towards me, to Whom, therefore, I must render all the glory.'

St. Vincent de Paul

Finding Joy in the day, Day 121 (Year 3)

Reading the Sunday ads

'In union with the perfect confidence and hope that the Holy and Blessed Virgin placed in Thee, do I hope O Lord.'

Pope St. Pius V

Finding Joy in the day, Day 120 (Year 3)

Visit to the Cathedral

'You must be very careful to profit by the occasions of mortification and humiliation that come in your way, not avoiding or shunning them, for they are the principal means of uniting yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 119 (Year 3)

A new Saint Feast Day- St. Junipero Serra

'The Church teaches us that mercy belongs to God. Let us implore Him to bestow on us the spirit of mercy and compassion, so that we are filled with it and may never lose it. Only consider how much we ourselves are in need of mercy.'

St. Vincent de Paul

Finding Joy in the day, Day 118 (Year 3)

A nice mild day

'Use the senses and sense objects as a means to spiritual contemplation but, on the contrary, do not use what provokes the desire of the flesh as food for the senses.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 117 (Year 3)

A new planner

'You were in good health when you were in the world, but you were not then as dear to God as you are now. He loves you as a daughter, as a cherished spouse: this is why He treats you so generously.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 116 (Year 3)

Fitting in an appointment

'"The iron gate that leads into the city" is a hard heart (Acts 12:10); but to one who suffers hardship and affliction the gate will open of its own accord, as it did to Peter.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 115 (Year 3)

A better end to the day

'He who has genuinely renounced worldly things, and lovingly and sincerely serves his neighbor, is soon set free from every passion and made a partaker of God's love and knowledge.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 114 (Year 3)

Lower key day

"Let us understand that God is a Physician, and that suffering is a medicine for salvation, not a punishment for damnation."  St. Augustine

Finding Joy in the day, Day 113 (Year 3)

Getting to Mass

'If in times of dryness in prayer we make acts of humility, self-knowledge, protestations of our own inability to help ourselves, and petitions for God's assistance, all this is real and substantial prayer.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 112 (Year 3)

Getting some of the shopping done

'Pray for us that Our Lord may enable us to triumph over our enemies so terribly arrayed against us.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 111 (Year 3)

Nice talk

'God operates in us no great thing, unless He finds in us perfect abnegation.'

St. Peter Julian Eymard

Finding Joy in the day, Day 110 (Year 3)

A calmer day

'Nothing unites the soul to God more closely, or breeds contempt of the world sooner, than being harassed and distressed.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 109 (Year 3)

Making it through a tough morning with prayers from you MB

'When the afflictions of this life overcome us, let us encourage ourselves to bear them patiently by the hope of heaven.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 108 (Year 3)

Getting home safe

'Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds.'

St. Francis of Assisi

Finding Joy in the day, Day 107 (Year 3)

Out with momma

'Jesus expires on the cross! He is dead that we may have life. All creation mourns: the sun darkens, the earth trembles, the rocks burst, and the veil of the temple is rent in twain; my heart alone remains harder than a rock!'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 106 (Year 3)

Spending time with my dad on Father's Day weekend

'The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life.'

John 6:64

Finding Joy in the day, Day 105 (Year 3)

Sunny safe drive

'Prayer is the sure way that leads to holiness.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 104 (Year 3)

Good support

'My hope is in Christ, who strengthens the weakest by His Divine help. I can do all in Him who strengthens me. His Power is infinite, and if I lean on him, it will be mine. His Wisdom is infinite, and if I look to Him for counsel, I shall not be deceived. His Goodness is infinite, and if my trust is stayed in Him, I shall not be abandoned.'

Pope St. Pius X

Finding Joy in the day, Day 103 (Year 3)

Good iced coffee

'In order that a correction may be administered with fruit, authority must be in the one giving it, and love in the one receiving it.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 102 (Year 3)

Appreciating my sister

'When you feel an impulse of passion or anger rising within yourself, then is the moment for silence. Jesus was silent in the midst of His trials. O sacred silence, how rich thou art in virtues! O holy silence! thou art the golden key which unlocks the grand treasury of virtues!'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 101 (Year 3) Feast of the Sacred Heart

Beautiful procession

'They who wish to do great things in the service of their Lord and King, will not rest with mere deeds; but will also wage war against their sensuality, their carnal and worldly love, and will thus make offerings to Him of the highest value.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 100 (Year 3)

Sleeping in

'This feast [of the Sacred Heart] is a day of salvation and of eternal blessing for all who honor It with a humble and sincere heart. Let us, then, love this divine Heart and in all things try to conform ourselves to It.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 99 (Year 3)

Pedicure
Sister talk

'In order to be perfect, we must not only obey and honour our superiors; we must honour our equals and inferiors also.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 98 (Year 3)

Getting up early and getting an errand run

'Bless God at all times: and desire of Him to direct thy ways, and that all thy counsels may abide in Him.'

Tobias 4:20

Finding Joy in the day, Day 97 (Year 3)

Getting to Mass early

'Bless God at all times: and desire of Him to direct thy ways, and that all thy counsels may abide in Him.'

Tobias 4:20

Finding Joy in the day, Day 96 (Year 3)

Getting to Walgreens

'Let thy first rule be to flee the conversation of every human being, in so far as it is simply conversation, except as deeds of charity may demand; but to love people very much, and talk with few of them. And know how to talk in moderation even with those whom thou lovest with spiritual love. . .'

St. Catherine of Siena

Finding Joy in the day, Day 95 (Year 3)

Another vibrant Rainbow

'Know that of all devotions the most pleasing to Mary is to have frequent recourse to her, asking for favors.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 94 (Year 3)

Sunny warm day

'Your soul needs a brief winter. The winter purifies the air and the earth of foul vapors; it even invigorates the human body. If it strips the trees of their leaves, it is only to the end that they take deeper roots. The spring comes afterwards, and clothes them again with verdure and blossoms.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 93 (Year 3)

Seeing a friend off

'If I had to remake my character entirely, struggle endlessly against my own inclinations and destroy them, or even tear my own heart out, all this I would do to be worthy of serving you. I am entirely persuaded that the miracle you worked to reward the faith of our holy patron is but a shadow of the glorious resurrection you will deign to grant me if I am faithful to my vocation.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Finding Joy in the day, Day 92 (Year 3) Feast of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Waking up in time to celebrate first Friday and today's Feast 

"The very core of Christianity is expressed in the heart of Jesus ... the Love that saves us and even now makes us live in the eternity of God (John 3:16).  ... God's heart calls to our hearts, inviting us to come out of ourselves, to forsake our human certainties, to trust in Him and by following His example, to make ourselves a gift of unbounded love."  ~ Pope Benedict XVI 

Finding Joy in the day, Day 91 (Year 3)

Fountain pop at Culvers in flavor of choice :)

'It never was, is, or shall be lawful for Catholic Christians to teach any doctrine except that which they have received once and for all time; and it always was, is, and shall be their duty to condemn those who do.'

St. Vincent of Lerins

Finding Joy in the day, Day 90 (Year 3)

Getting a few jobs

'In leaving God for God, there is a great spiritual gain and nothing to lose.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 89 (Year 3) Feast of the Visitation

Seeing an lovely friend after way too long

'The passions of the soul's incensive power are more difficult to combat than those of its desiring aspect. Consequently our Lord has given a stronger remedy against them; the commandment of love.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 88 (Year 3) Feast of St. Joan of Arc

Recognizing a great saint

"If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me." St. Joan of Arc

Finding Joy in the day, Day 87 (Year 3) Feast of Corpus Christi

Getting a little cleaning done

'Love cannot be checked, and if checked it is not pure and simple love.'

St. Catherine of Genoa

Finding Joy in the day, Day 86 (Year 3)

Morning baking

'Blessed the one who stands in the assembly and prays like an Angel from heaven, keeping his thoughts pure day by day, and has given no entrance to the Evil One to make his soul a prisoner, far from God his Saviour.'

St. Ephrem of Syria

Finding Joy in the day, Day 85 (Year 3)

Cute story

'The example of the saints is proposed to every one, so that the great actions shown us may encourage us to undertake smaller things.'

Ven. Louis de Granada

Finding Joy in the day, Day 84 (Year 3)

Coffee date

'Have courage, ye poor of Christ, because heaven is for the poor.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 83 (Year 3)

Thunder and lightning

'Let us never despair of the divine help; we would thereby do a serious injustice to the Father of mercies.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 82 (Year 3)

Reading another chapter in my book

'When a man has fallen he ought to acknowledge it in some such way as this: "Ah, if I had been humble I should not have fallen!"

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 81 (Year 3)

Getting into an appointment at the last minute

'An intelligent use of conceptual images and their corresponding physical objects produces self-restraint, love and spiritual knowledge; an unintelligent use produces licentiousness, hatred and ignorance.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 80 (Year 3)

Pretty moon

'A person must be ready to endure, when through a virtuous motive he is mortified by others, and even when God permits him to be in bad odour with others, and regarded and driven away as an infected sheep.'

St. Philip Neri

FInding Joy in the day, Day 79 (Year 3)

Seeing the Basilica

'Be generous, and remember that you ought to walk in the footsteps of your Redeemer.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 78 (Year 3)

Getting to see mom and dad

'The sensible derives from the intelligible, by God's decree providing what is needed.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 77 (Year 3)

Paid focus group

'If you pray truly, you will receive assurances of many things, and angels will come to you as they came to Daniel, and will enlighten you with understanding of causes, the wherefore of all things.'

St. Nilus of Sinai

Finding Joy in the day, Day 76 (Year 3)

Sunshine through the windows 

'In all your afflictions and interior desolations make frequent acts of total abandonment to the will of God. Recite the chaplet which St. Gertrude composed of these words only: Fiat voluntas tua - "May Thy will be done." At other times say, with sentiments of perfect conformity to the divine will, "Thou art just, O Lord! and all Thy judgments are just, and all Thy ways are mercy, and truth, and judgment." (Tobias iii. 2.)'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 75 (Year 3)

Seeing a good friend after a while

'Just as the physical eye is attracted to the beauty of things visible, so the purified intellect is attracted to the knowledge of things invisible. By things invisible, I mean things incorporeal.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 74 (Year 3)

Friend and family love and prayers

'Do not consider the magnitude of your trials; contemplate rather Jesus, your crucified Love, the King of sorrows and of anguish. If you do this, all your sufferings will be flavored with sweetness. Lift up your heart. Fix your heart on God. For the time being, you cannot, I admit, apply yourself to prayer or to other exercises of piety; but, with my confidence founded on Christ, I will give you a rule which will enable you to pray without ceasing: He prays always who lives well. Animate yourself with faith, I beg of you; keep yourself in the presence of God in all your actions.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 73 (Year 3) Feast of Pentecost

Thankful for a sunny Sunday with optimal temperatures and Starbucks from my sister again :)

'For God is not unjust, that he should forget your work, and the love which you have shewn in his name, you who have ministered, and do minister to the saints.'

Hebrews 6:10

Finding Joy in the day, Day 72 (Year 3)

Trying to read a new book

'If you are earnestly desirous of uprightness and perfection, examine continually and think well on your way of living. Notice how much you advance in virtue and how much you fall away. Examine into your conduct and the sentiments that inspire you. Look and see how like to God you are, -- and how unlike! How near to God, and alas, how far away from Him!'

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Finding Joy in the day, Day 71 (Year 3) Our Lady of Fatima

Getting a package mailed out efficiently

'Here is the difference between the joys of the world and the cross of Jesus Christ: after having tasted the first, one is disgusted with them; and on the contrary, the more one partakes of the cross, the greater the thirst for it.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 70 (Year 3)

My amazing Dad- Happy 65 Daddio

'To him who hungers after Christ grace is food; to him who is thirsty, a reviving drink; to him who is cold, a garment; to him who is weary, rest; to him who prays, assurance; to him who mourns, consolation.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 69 (Year 3)

A trip to a garage sale

'An intellect that has acquired spiritual love does not have thoughts unworthy of this love about anyone.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 68 (Year 3)

Sun in the morning

'It is a most useful thing to say often, and from the heart, "Lord, do not put any confidence in me, for I am sure to fall if Thou dost not help me;" or, "O my Lord, look for nothing but evil from me."'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 67 (Year 3)

Meeting a new baby

'It was revealed to St. Gertrude, that when any one repeats with devotion these words to the Virgin: "Turn, then, towards us, oh our advocate, thy pitying eyes," Mary never fails to listen to the prayer.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 66 (Year 3)

Happy Mother's Day
BOGO at Caribou with a friend

'Affliction strengthens the vigor of our soul, whereas happiness weakens it.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

Finding Joy in the day, Day 65 (Year 3)

Lilacs blooming

'Let the sick man enter into the Side of Jesus and His most holy Wounds; let him not be afraid, but combat manfully, and he will come forth victorious.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 64 (Year 3)

90+ temps oh yeah!

'I place you in the sacred wounds of Jesus, under the protection of Our Lady of Sorrows; yes, I place you there. I implore the holy Virgin to bathe your heart in her sorrowful tears, that she may impress on it a continual remembrance of the dolorous Passion of her Son, and of her own dolors. I implore her to obtain for you perseverance in divine love, and strength and resignation in suffering. Take, then, for your glorious protectress, Our Lady of Sorrows, and never cease to meditate on the Passion of Christ. May God, in His mercy, bless you! Ask Him to bless me also. Deo Gratias et Maria semper Virgini!'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 63 (Year 3)

I get a kick out of the wording in today's Gospel

'Because eternal beatitude surpasses the natural state, especially since it has been deprived of original grace, it is the little number that are saved.'

St. Thomas Aquinas

Finding Joy in the day, Day 62 (Year 3)

Sitting outside at a coffee shop and not freezing!

'Men of rank ought to dress like their equals, and be accompanied by servants, as their state requires, but modesty should go along with it all.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 61 (Year 3)

Not getting stuck in rush hour traffic

'Again, grace may be hidden in advice given by a neighbor. Sometimes it also accompanies our understanding during reading, and as a natural result teaches our intellect the truth about itself. If, then, we do not hide the talent given to us in this way, we shall enter actively into the joy of the Lord.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 60 (Year 3)

New dressers

'Long illnesses are the greatest favors that God confers on souls whom He loves most. . . Repose peacefully in the arms of your heavenly Spouse, Who loves you much; hold yourself on the cross of sickness as tranquilly and silently as is possible. If the cause of your illness be the wound of divine love which embalms your soul, it is well if you die under such a stroke: yours will be a death more precious than life.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 59 (Year 3) Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

Oh Yes! it's a sunny day!!!!!

'And as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed. This is as if He said: Blessed indeed is My Mother, and blessed the womb that bore Me. But not for this is she blessed: because she is My Mother. Neither is the womb blessed because it bore Me. But both are blessed because she heard the word of God, and hearing it, believed; and believing, she safeguarded it. For had she not done this, she would neither be blessed, nor My Mother.'

St. Bruno

Finding Joy in the day, Day 58 (Year 3)

Magnificat magazine

'If a man disregards the commandment about prayer, he then commits worse acts of disobedience, each one handing him over to the next like a prisoner.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 57 (Year 3) St. Catherine of Siena

Lots of errands done

'It is not enough to see that God wishes the good we aim at, but that He wishes it through our instrumentality, in our manner and in our time; and we come to discern all this by true obedience.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 56 (Year 3) St. Peter Chanel

Getting a few errands done despite the cold

'They [religious] live more purely, they fall more rarely, they rise more speedily, they are aided more powerfully, they live more peacefully, they die more securely, and they are rewarded more abundantly.'

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Finding Joy in the day, Day 55 (Year 3)

Family support

'Alas that I have not the strength to go and continue to preach my Jesus crucified, Who died on the cross for us sinners! Would that I might thus put an end to the commission of so many crimes!'

St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 54 (Year 3)

Safe traveling

A strange phenomenon occurs as the soul gazes at Jesus. 

Its own reflection becomes brighter. 

Its faults fade away and one day that 'soul is turned -

transformed into the image it reflected' (II Cor 3:18)

Mother Angelica

Finding Joy in the day, Day 53 (Year 3) Feast of St. Mark

Rainbow on my way home

'In raising human nature to heaven by His ascension, Christ has given us the hope of arriving thither ourselves.'

St. Thomas Aquinas

Finding Joy in the day, Day 52 (Year 3)

Fun jokes

'If "love prevents us from harming our neighbor" (Rom. 13:10), he who is jealous of his brother or irritated by his reputation, and damages his good name with cheap jibes or in any way spitefully plots against him, is surely alienating himself from love and is guilty in the face of eternal judgment.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 51 (Year 3)

All the babies

'To be a faithful lover of Jesus Christ her spouse, and to preserve unsullied the lily of her purity, a virgin must adopt the necessary means. The principal means of acquiring an ardent love of Christ are mental prayer, Communion, mortification, retirement.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 50 (Year 3)

Sunny Friday and seeing my sweet nephew

'Let each one ask of God grace for love of Jesus, notwithstanding that thou beest a sinner.'

St. Bernardine of Siena

Finding Joy in the day, Day 49 (Year 3)

Finding a beautiful picture of a great saint at church

'We make no progress because we dwell in that exterior learning which puffs up the mind; but these illiterate Egyptians have a true sense of their own weakness, blindness, and insufficiency; and by that very thing they are qualified to labor successfully in the pursuit of virtue.'

St. Arsenius

Finding Joy in the day, Day 48 (Year 3)

Good stations reflection

'We must not be behind time in doing good; for death will not be behind his time.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 47 (Year 3)

Getting my list of things I have to attend partially done

'It seems that God is calling you to great perfection. And I perceive it by this, that He takes away from you every tie that might hinder it in you.'

St. Catherine of Siena

Finding Joy in the day, Day 46 (Year 3)

The last day of tax season, I am thankful for this for your sake MB

'He who desires ecstasies and visions does not know what he is desiring.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 45 (Year 3)

Sisters prayers and a good babysitting night

'You know what you have to do. Correspond faithfully, joyfully and willingly to the lights He gives you.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 44 (Year 3)

80 degrees

'A living faith consists of thinking little of self, and showing consideration for others.'

St. Poemen

Finding Joy in the day, Day 43 (Year 3)

A good adjustment

'Before choosing, let us examine well whether the attachment we feel for an object springs solely from the love of God.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 42 (Year 3)

A nice dinner occasion

'How patiently Christ, the King and Lord of heaven and earth, bore with the apostles, enduring at their hands many incivilities and misbeliefs, they being but poor and rough fishermen! How much more ought we to bear with our neighbour, if he treats us with incivility.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 41 (Year 3)

Good weather

'The proper activity of the intellect is to be attentive at every moment to the words of God.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 40 (Year 3)

Weather getting warmer

'When you hear something to your benefit, do not condemn the speaker; for if you do you will nullify his helpful admonition.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 39 (Year 3)

Having nice things

'We do not know God from His essence. We know Him rather from the grandeur of His creation and from His providential care for all creatures. For through these, as though they were mirrors, we may attain insight into His infinite goodness, wisdom and power.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 38 (Year 3)

Blooming daffodils

'Be not judge in your own case, but distrust yourself, and adore the Father of lights in spirit and in truth. It is written: Happy the man who always fears!'
St. Paul of the Cross

Finding Joy in the day, Day 37 (Year 3)

Not too windy

'No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day.'
John 6:44

Finding Joy in the day, Day 36 (Year 3)

A new tv

'Escape from temptation through patience and prayer. If you oppose temptation without these, it only attacks you more strongly.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 35 (Year 3)

Purple pedicure

'If Nabuzardan, the head-cook, had not come, the temple of the Lord would not have been burned: (2 Kings 24:8) that is to say: if slackness and greed did not come into the soul, the spirit would not be overcome in combat with the enemy.'
St. Poemen

Finding Joy in the day, Day 34 (Year 3)

A nice nap

'Frequent Confession, frequent Communion, daily Mass: these are the pillars which should sustain the whole edifice of education.'

St. John Bosco

Finding Joy in the day, Day 33 (Year 3)

Getting some groceries

'Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, thy poor unworthy mother, want thee to attain that perfection for which God has chosen thee.'
St. Catherine of Siena

'I shall spend every moment loving. One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them.'
St. Bernadette Soubirous

Finding Joy in the day, Day 32 (Year 3)

A new babysitting job

'What? The cross make us lose our inward peace? Surely it is the cross that bestows it on our hearts. All our miseries come from our not loving it.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

Finding Joy in the day, Day 31 (Year 3) Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord Jesus 2016

Quote from my mom
here it is:

I have a quote for you too:  "All grace flows from mercy...even if a person's sins were as dark as night, God's mercy is stronger than our misery.  One think alone is necessary: that the sinner set ajar the door of his heart, be it ever so little, to let in a ray of God's merciful grace, and then God will do the rest.   (Diary 1507)

Finding Joy in the day, Day 30 (Year 3) Divine Mercy Sunday 2016

A day to celebrate God's Mercy

(965) Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity. Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near.
"Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy ... I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it" (742)

Finding Joy in the day, Day 29 (Year 3)

Friend date to Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel

'Man acts so far as he can in accordance with his own wishes; but God decides the outcome in accordance with justice.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 28 (Year 3)

Bright Sunny morning

"Love makes the heart leap and dance.
Love makes it exult and be festive.
Love makes it sing and be silent as it pleases.
Love grants it rest and enables it to act.
Love possesses it and gives it everything.
Love takes it over completely and dwells in it.
And Holy Communion is the mansion of love."

St. Veronica Giuliani

Finding Joy in the day, Day 27 (Year 3)

Teeth cleaning

'I myself have undergone your penance. I only ask you for your mortification to spend one entire night without stirring on your back.'

St. Lydwine of Schiedam

Finding Joy in the day, Day 26 (Year 3)

A new dress

'Do whatever your flesh can endure; neither force it beyond measure nor on the other hand abandon it to slackness; for if you load a ship beyond its usual burden, it will readily be sunk by its weight, but if on the contrary you leave it too light, it is easily overturned by the winds. By the grace of God, brother, I understand my natural capacity and know how to regulate my food.'

St. Daniel the Stylite

Finding Joy in the day, Day 25 (Year 3) Easter Tuesday

60 temperatures
Getting into the dentist right away

'When you find that some thought is disturbing you deeply in yourself and is breaking the stillness of your intellect with passion, you may be sure that it was your intellect which, taking the initiative, first activated this thought and placed it in your heart.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 24 (Year 3)

Getting ready for a sunny day

'Too late have I known Thee, too late have I loved Thee, O beauty so ancient and so new! Too late have I loved thee!'

St. Augustine

Finding Joy in the day, Day 23 (Year 3) Easter Sunday 2016

Beautiful flower display

'Establish the Way of the Cross, and you will thank me in heaven.'

St. Leonard of Port Maurice

Finding Joy in the day, Day 22 (Year 3) Holy Saturday 2016

Holy Saturday Mass

'Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state; but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves, a really good beginning will have been made.'

St. Peter of Alcantara

Finding Joy in the day, Day 21 (Year 3) Good Friday 2016

Seeing a friend at Church

'Be faithful to the practice of virtue, never willfully neglecting any occasion thereof.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Finding Joy in the day, Day 20 (Year 3) Holy Thursday 2016

Nice chat

'Believe me, he who does not think of the wants of the poor is not a member of the Body of Christ. For if one member suffers, all suffer.'

St. Alphege of Canterbury

Finding Joy in the day, Day 19 (Year 3)

Getting errands done before the snow

'He who has acquired love endures calmly and patiently the injuries and sufferings that his enemies inflict on him.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 18 (Year 3)

Temps in the 50s

'Go to one who hath both knowledge and conscience, one of those who know excellently how to discern that which ought to be done. . . Choose one who is good, not anyone, whatever he may be, no! For sometimes thou wilt go to one who hath a carnal mind, and is not instructed, and who will say to thee; it is permitted thee for the sake of pleasure to thy husband to beautify thyself and to deck thself out with ornaments. Out upon him! for he is a beast; do as I say to thee: go to a man of conscience and learning, and who is good.'

St. Bernardine of Siena

Finding Joy in the day, Day 17 (Year 3)

Sunny day

'Among those who are united in our Lord Jesus Christ by the bonds of charity, and by the desire to procure the honor and glory of God, the most profitable words are those which the Holy Ghost engraves on their hearts by the prayers which they offer for one another.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Finding Joy in the day, Day 16 (Year 3) Palm Sunday

Sunny Sunday morning

'Meanwhile the months passed, and I was not at all better. On the fourth of January the doctors cauterized twelve times. After this I became even worse. In addition to this illness of the spine, on the 28th of January, I began to suffer an insupportable pain in the head. The doctor diagnosed the trouble as a tumor of the brain. Because I was extremely weak there could not be an operation and I became worse every day. On the second of February I confessed and I received Viaticum and awaited the moment for going to Jesus. The doctors, whispering thinking I could not hear, said among themselves that I would not live until midnight. Viva Gesu!'

St. Gemma Galgani

Finding Joy in the day, Day 15 (Year 3) Solemnity of St. Joseph

Seeing my cousins

'Every vice leads in the end to forbidden pleasure; and every virtue to spiritual blessing. Each arouses what is akin to it.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

Finding Joy in the day, Day 14 (Year 3)

Seeing a good production

'For Thou art great, O Lord, and hast respect unto the humble, but the proud Thou beholdest afar off. Nor dost Thou draw near, but to the contrite in heart, nor art found by the proud, no, not though by curious skill they could number the stars and the sand, and measure the starry heavens, and track the courses of the planets.'

St. Augustine

Finding Joy in the day, Day 13 (Year 3)

Starbucks in the mail (Thank you MB)

'Let your baptism be ever your shield, your faith a helmet, your charity a spear, your patience a panoply. Let your works be deposits, so that you may receive the sum that is due you.'

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Finding Joy in the day, Day 12 (Year 3)

Seeing a good movie

'The greatest pain which the holy souls suffer in Purgatory proceeds from their desire to possess God. This suffering especially afflicts those who in life had but a feeble desire of heaven.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Finding Joy in the day, Day 11 (Year 3)

Making it back home safely

'He who does not accept advice will never go by the straight path, but will always find himself among cliffs and gorges.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Finding Joy in the day, Day 10 (Year 3)

Baking with blueberries

'The greatness of our love of God must be tested by the desire we have of suffering for His love.'

St. Philip Neri

Finding Joy in the day, Day 9 (Year 3)

Spending the afternoon with the kiddos and L

'If you make provision for the desires of the flesh (cf. Rom. 13:14) and bear a grudge against your neighbor on account of something transitory, you worship the creature instead of the Creator.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Finding Joy in the day, Day 8 (Year 3)

Surprising my niece on her birthday

'I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility."'

St. Anthony of Egypt