April 17
“O God, let me know you and love you so that I may find my joy in you; and if I cannot do so fully in this life, let me at least make progress every day, until at last that knowledge, love and joy come to me in all their plentitude.”
-St. Anselm
April 16
“What the world needs is a voice that is right not when the world is right, but a voice that is right when the world is wrong.”
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
April 15
“If you have learned how to pray, then I am not afraid for you. If you know how to pray, then you will love prayer – and if you love to pray, then you will pray.”
St. Teresa of Calcutta
April 14
“Draw near to our Lord, thoroughly aware of your own nothingness, and you may hope all things from His Goodness and Mercy. Never forget that Jesus Christ is no less generous in the Blessed Sacrament than He was during His mortal life on earth.”
-St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
April 13
“Each day look for every possible opportunity to do a kindness for those you do not like. After examining yourself on this matter every morning, decide what you are going to do, and do it faithfully with kindness and humility.”
St. John Baptist De La Salle
April 12
“Each of you is precious to Christ. He knows you personally. He loves you tenderly, even when you are not aware of it.”
Pope St. John Paul II
April 11
“Let nothing disturb you,
Nothing frighten you,
All things are passing,
God never changes.
Patience overcomes all things.
He who possesses God
Lacks nothing.
God alone is sufficient.”
-St. Teresa of Avila
April 10
“We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God. If at times we are somewhat stunned by the tempest, never fear. Let us take breath, and go afresh.
-St. Francis de Sales
April 9
Easter Sunday
Most glorious Lord of life that on this day
Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin,
And having harrowed hell didst bring away
Captivity thence captive us to win;
This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin
And grant that we, for whom Thou didst die
Being with Thy dear blood clean washed from sin,
May live forever in felicity.
And that Thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love Thee for the same again;
And for Thy sake that all like dear didst buy,
With love may one another entertain.
So let us love, dear love, like as we ought,
Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.
–“Easter”, Edmund Spenser (1553-1598)
April 8
Holy Saturday
I am not moved to love Thee, O my Lord,
By any longing for Thy Promised Land;
Nor by the fear of hell am I unmanned
To cease from my transgressing deed or word.
‘Tis Thou Thyself dost move me, — Thy blood poured
Upon the cross from nailed foot and hand;
And all the wounds that did Thy body brand;
And all Thy shame and bitter death’s award.
Yea, to Thy heart am I so deeply stirred
That I would love Thee were no heaven on high,
That I would fear, were hell a tale absurd!
Such my desire, all questioning grows vain;
Though hope deny me hope I still should sigh,
And as my love is now, it should remain.
-To Christ Crucified (16th or 17th C.),
Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Walsh
