Alphonsus Liguori

“ Oh, my beloved Infant, my dear Redeemer, since Thou hast come down from Heaven to give Thyself to me, what else shall I go about seeking in Heaven or on earth besides Thee, Who art my sovereign Good, my only treasure, the Paradise of souls? Be Thou, then, the sole Lord of my heart, do Thou possess it wholly. May my heart obey Thee alone, and seek to please Thee alone! May my soul love Thee alone, and mayest Thou alone be its portion! Let others strive after and enjoy (if enjoyment can ever be found out of Thee) the goods and fortunes of this world ”

“ O beautiful flame of love, which compellest Thee, a God, to give a life for me; come, inflame, fill my whole heart, and destroy in it every affection towards the creature. Ah, my loved Redeemer, how is it possible to think of Thee in the manger of Bethlehem, on the Cross at Calvary, or in the Sacrament on our altars, without loving Thee? My Jesus, I love Thee with my whole soul. During the remaining years of my life, Thou shalt be my only Good, my only Love. The unhappy years are sufficient for me, during which I lived miserably forgetful of Thy Passion and Thy love. ”

“ I will love Thee alone, who dost deserve all my love, and who hast given me so much reason to love Thee. And who, indeed, could refuse to love Thee, when they see Thee, who art the beloved of the Eternal Father, dying so bitter and cruel a death for our sake? O Mary, O Mother of fair love, I pray thee, through the merits of thy burning heart, obtain for me the grace to live only in order to love thy Son, who, being in himself worthy of an infinite love, has chosen at so great a cost to acquire to himself the love of a miserable sinner like me. O love of souls, O my Jesus! ”

“ At the hour of death, conscience will remind us of all the time which we have had to become saints, and which we have employed in multiplying our debts to God. It will remind us of all the calls and of all the graces which he has given us to make us love him, and which we have abused. At that awful moment we shall also see that the way of salvation is closed for ever. In the midst of these remorses, and of the torturing darkness of death, the dying sinner shall say: O fool that I have been! life misspent! lost years, in which I could have gained treasures of merits, and have become a saint! ”

“ But how, the hapless one will say, what justice is this? to punish a sin which lasts for a moment with an eternal punishment? But how, I reply, can a sinner dare, for a momentary pleasure, to offend a God of infinite majesty? Even according to human justice, says S. Thomas Aquinas, the punishment is not measured according to the duration of the sin, but according to its nature. "It is not because murder is committed in a moment that it is punished with a momentary punishment." For one deadly sin, one hell is little; but one offence against infinite majesty demands an infinite punishment. ”

“ I can see, that Paradise and possessing Thee in Thy kingdom, is a blessing too great for me, but I cannot trust myself to live far from Thee, especially now, that Thou hast once let me see Thy beautiful and lovely face. Therefore, I seek to live in Paradise, not that I may be happy there, but that I may love Thee more.
And now, my beloved Judge, raise Thy hand and bless me, and tell me that I am Thine, and that Thou wilt be mine for ever. I would ever love Thee, do Thou ever love me. Have mercy upon a soul that loves Thee with all its strength, and longs to see Thee, so as to love Thee more. ”

“ What sinner ever perished, who, with confidence and perseverance, had recourse to Mary, the refuge of sinners? He is lost who has not recourse to Mary.
O Mary, my mother and my hope! I take refuge under thy protection; reject me not, as I have deserved. Protect me and have pity on me, a miserable sinner. Obtain for me the forgiveness of my sins; obtain for me holy perseverance, the love of God, a good death, and a happy eternity. I hope all things of thee, because thou art most powerful with God. Make me holy, since thou hast it in thy power to do so, by thy holy intercession. ”

“ I am indeed a sinner; but I am grieved from the bottom of my heart for having offended thy infinite goodness. Hitherto I have despised thee, but now I love thee above all things. Henceforth, thou alone shalt be my only good, my only love. Have pity on a sinner who penitently casts himself at thy feet and desires to love thee. If I have grievously offended thee, I now ardently desire to love thee. What would have become of me, if thou hadst called me out of life, when I had lost thy grace and favour? Since thou, O Lord, hast shown so much mercy to me, grant me grace to become a saint. ”

“ Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will. We praise Thee; we bless Thee; we glorify Thee. We give Thee thanks for Thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us: Who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayers: Who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. ”

“ If the Son of God had engaged to rescue from death His Own Father, what lower humiliation could He stoop to than to assume human flesh, and lay down His life in sacrifice for His salvation! Nay, I say more; had Jesus Christ been a mere man, instead of one of the Divine Persons, and had wished to gain by some token of affection the love of His God, what more could He have done than He has done for thee? If a servant of thine had given for thy love his very life-blood, would he not have riveted thy heart to him, and obliged thee to love him in mere gratitude? ”

“ And what ought a Christian to say, who knows by faith, that from the moment of death, eternity begins; so that in that moment he lays hold of one of the two wheels which draws with it, either eternal happiness or eternal suffering? If there were two tickets in a lottery, upon which hell might be written on one, and heaven on the other, with what care would you not try to draw out that one, upon which Paradise was written? O God, how must those unhappy wretches tremble who are condemned to throw the die upon which their life or death depends! ”

“ My dear Redeemer, the poorer Thou art the more lovable Thou dost render Thyself in our eyes, because Thou hast embraced so great a poverty for the very end of making us love Thee more. If Thou hadst been born in a palace, if Thou hadst had a cradle of gold, if Thou hadst been assisted by the first princes of the earth, Thou wouldst have acquired more respect from men but less love; but this stable where Thou dost sleep, these miserable rags that cover Thee, this straw that serves Thee as Thy bed, this manger that is Thy only cradle — oh, how do they attract our souls to love Thee! ”

“ O God, thou II. My days, said holy Job, have been swifter than a post ix. 25. Death is hasting towards us more rapidly than a post, and we at every step, and every breath and moment are drawing nearer and nearer to death. At the time of our death, how shall we wish for one day or one hour of the many we now squander away to no purpose! Ah, Lord, if death were now announced to me, what should I find that I have done for thee? Alas! come to my assistance; let me not die ungrateful to thee as I hitherto have been. Grant me true sorrow for my sins, the gift of thy love, and holy perseverance. ”

“ In future, I would rather lose all, even life itself, than Thy grace. And of what use are all the world's treasures to me without Thy grace?
Ah, help me! for Thou knowest how weak I am. Satan will never cease to tempt me; he is now preparing to assault me, in order to make me his slave once more. No, my Jesus, I know Thou wilt not abandon me. I wish to be the slave of Thy love from this day forth. Thou alone art my Lord; Thou hast created me, Thou hast redeemed me, Thou hast loved me beyond all others; Thou alone deservest to be loved ”

“ If Thou wilt that I should die of this sickness, still blessed art Thou. I embrace death to do Thy will, and I repeat, " Thy will, Thy will be done;" I only beg Thee to help me all through this hour. "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy." If, then, Thou wilt that I should leave this earth, I declare that I desire to die, because thus Thou wilt have it.
I desire also to die, in order that, by the pain and bitterness of my death, I may satisfy Thy divine justice for all my sins, through which I have offended Thee and deserved hell. ”

“ How many rich men, how many nobles, how many monarchs are now in hell! What now remains to them of their riches and honours, but remorse and rage which prey upon their souls, and will continue to prey upon them for all eternity? O my God, enlighten me and assist me. I hope never more to be deprived of thy grace. Have pity on a sinner who desires to love thee.
II. How comes it, writes Salvian, that men believe in death, judgment, hell and eternity, and yet live without fearing them? Hell is believed, and yet how many go down thither! ”

“ Imagine to yourself a person, whose soul has just departed. Behold that pale corpse, which is still upon the bed, the head fallen upon the breast; the hair dishevelled and bathed in the sweat of death; the eyes sunken; the cheeks hollow; the face of ashy paleness; the tongue and the lips of a leaden hue; the body cold and heavy. Those who see it grow pale and tremble. How many there are who, upon seeing a relation or friend in this condition, have changed their life, and have left the world! But still more dreadful is it when the body begins to decay. ”

“ To worldlings who are spiritually blind, the goods of this present life appear great; but death will discover what they really are, dust, smoke and vanity. Before the light of this last lamp all the dazzling grandeur of this world will vanish and disappear. The greatest fortunes, the highest honours, when considered on the bed of death, will lose all their value and splendour. The shade of death will obscure even crowns and sceptres. Grant me, O God, thy holy grace, for this alone is all I desire. I am grieved for ever having despised such a treasure. Jesus, have pity on me. ”