22nd January 2014: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

"Unless Your law had been my delight, I would already have perished in my affliction." 

- Psalms 119:92

"Mediation renders life honest and well-ordered and imparts knowledge of human and divine things." - Saint Bernard

21st January 2014: Saint Catherine of Siena

Saint Catherine of Siena

"Faith is the assurance of what we hope for, and the conviction of things we do not see." 

- Hebrews 11:1

"Unless we possess the light of faith, we will walk in the darkness. We will be like the blind for whom the day has become the night." - Saint Catherine of Siena

6th January 2014: Saint John Chrysostom

Saint John Chrysostom

"When they entered the house, they beheld the Child with Mary His Mother. Falling to their knees, they paid Him homage." (Matthew 2:9-11)

"If we approach with faith, we too will see Jesus...; for the Eucharistic table takes place of the crib. Here the Body of the Lord is present, wrapped not in swaddling clothes but in the rays of the Holy Spirit." - Saint John Chrysostom

5th January 2014: Epiphany of the Lord

Saint Claude de la Colombiere (left), Jesuit priest and confessor of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (right)

"God's grace is a seed that we must not snuff out. We must cooperate with it. This is especially true of those inspirations that lead us to make acts of virtue on some occasion. Such cooperation in grace is sometimes the very essence of our happiness." - Saint Claude de la Colombiere

4th January 2014: Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

"You are children of eternity. Your immortal crown awaits you, and the best of Fathers waits there to reward your duty and love. You may indeed sow here in tears but you may be sure there to reap in joy." - Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

3rd January 2014: The Most Holy Name of Jesus

Saint Alphonsus Liguori

"The name of Jesus is a name of joy when the memory of our sins weighs us down, this name brings back our joy. This mighty name reminds us that the Son of God became man to be our Savior." - Saint Alphonsus Liguori

2nd January 2014: Saints Basil and Gregory

Saint Gregory (left) and Saint Basil (right)

“Dearly beloved, what do you see in these events? Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed? It was not by chance but in God’s providence. In a marvelous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief. The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened. So the disciple who doubted, then felt Christ’s wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.” - Saint Gregory the Great

"As we were baptized, so we profess our belief. As we profess our belief, so also we offer praise. As then baptism has been given us by the Savior, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, so, in accordance with our baptism, we make the confession of the creed, and our doxology in accordance with our creed." - Saint Basil