St. Philip Neri said.....

[Denise]

"It is very useful for those who minister the word of God, or give themselves up to prayer, to read the works of authors whose names begin with S, such as Saint Augustine, Saint Bernard, etc."

[Denise]

"Nothing more glorious can happen to a Christian than to suffer for Christ."

[Denise]

"There is no surer or clearer proof of the love of God than adversity."

[Denise]

"When God intends to grant a man any particular virtue, it is His way to let him be tempted to the opposite vice."

[Denise]

"Persons who live in the world should persevere in coming to church to hear sermons, and remember to read spiritual books, especially the Lives of the Saints."

[Denise]

"When temptation comes, a man should remember the sweetnesses he has had in prayer at other times, and he will thus easily master the temptation."

[Denise]

"The fervor of spirituality is usually very great in the beginning, but afterwards, the Lord fingit se longius ire, makes as though He would go farther; in such a case we must stand firm and not be disturbed, because God is then withdrawing His most holy Hand of sweetnesses, to see if we are strong; and then, if we resist and overcome those tribulations and temptations, the sweetnesses and heavenly consolations return."

[MarieT]

Yes indeed.
St John of the Cross refers to this as a Dark Night. The Lord removes consolation and sweetness and prayer doesnt seem to work....one's impulse is to try all sorts of things and changes to one's spiritual life to try and regain that sweetness with God. St John advises that its a sacred moment and to sit where one is, not to flee, and to let God do His work. No one knows better how to mould us than our Creator

[Denise]

Mother Teresa had a very long dark night. Yes, we have to wait on the Lord.

[Denise]

"We ought to apply ourselves to the acquisition of virtue, because in the end the whole terminates in greater sweetnesses than before, and the Lord gives us back all our favors and consolations doubled."

[Denise]

"It is easy to infuse a most fervent devotion into others, even in a short time; but the great matter is - to persevere."

[Denise]

"He who continues in anger, strife, and a bitter spirit, has a taste of the air of hell."

[Denise]

To obtain the protection of our Blessed Lady in our most urgent wants, it is very useful to say sixty-three times, after the fashion of a Rosary: "Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me."

[Denise]

"When we make this prayer to our Blessed Lady, we give her every possible praise in the least possible compass, because we call her by her name of MARY, and give her those two great titles of Virgin, and Mother of God, and then name JESUS, the fruit of her most pure womb."

[Denise]

"The things of this world do not remain constantly with us, for if we do not leave them before we actually die, in death at least we all infallibly depart as empty-handed as we came."