Alphonsus Liguori

“ I love Thee, O Infinite Bounty, but I desire to love Thee more; I desire to love Thee as much as Thou deservest to be loved. O my Jesus, do Thou cause Thyself to be loved by me and by all men; for Thou dost indeed deserve to be loved. I pray Thee, enlighten the minds of those sinners who neither know nor love Thee; make them understand what Thou hast done for the love of them, and the ardent desire Thou hast for their salvation. Most holy Mary, pray to Jesus for me and for all sinners; obtain for us light and grace to love Thy Son, Who has loved us so much. ”

“ Ah, by the merits of Thy solitude in the cave of Bethlehem, give me a constant interior recollection, so that my soul may become a solitary little cell, where I may attend to nothing but conversing with Thee; where I may take counsel with Thee in all my thoughts and all my actions; where I may dedicate to Thee all my affections; where I may always love Thee, and sigh to leave the prison of this body to come and love Thee face to face in heaven. I love Thee, O Infinite Goodness, and I hope always to love Thee, in time and in eternity. ”

“ O Eternal Father, through the merits of the death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, make me to die in Thy grace, and in Thy love, that I may come to love Thee throughout eternity. I thank Thee for all the graces Thou hast given me through my life, and especially for the great grace of Thy holy faith, and for having caused me to receive, in these my last days, all the holy sacraments. Thou wiliest that I should die, and I desire to die to please Thee. It is little, O Jesus, my Saviour, that I should die for Thee, Who hast died for me. ”

“ He, our God, delights to abase Himself to converse with us, loves to have us communicate to Him our smallest, our most daily concerns. He loves thee as much, and has as much care for thee, as if He had none others to think of but thyself. He is as entirely devoted to thy interests as though the only end of His providence were to succor thee, of His almighty power to aid thee, of His mercy and goodness to take pity on thee, to do thee good, and gain by the delicate touches of His kindness thy confidence and love. ”

“ I keep in memory all Thy bounties, past and present, to render Thee praise and glory for them forever and ever.
But if thou lovest thy God, thou oughtest to rejoice more in His blessedness than in thine own. He who loves a friend very much sometimes takes more delight in that friend's good than if it had been his own. Comfort thyself, then, in the knowledge that thy God is infinitely blessed. Be often saying to Him: My beloved Lord, I rejoice more in Thy blessedness than in any good of mine; yes, for I love Thee more than I love myself. ”

“ Father Almighty, eternal, unchanging, invisible, and infinite in all Thy perfections, all the choirs of angels are incessantly singing before Thee, "Holy, holy, holy," and we on the earth, by Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ, by offering Thee this great sacrifice of the Mass, are rendering Thee all the glory and honor due to Thine infinite majesty. We pray Thee for the deliverance of the souls in purgatory. ”

“ Happy the soul that shuts itself up in the solitude of Bethlehem to contemplate the love that God has borne to men!
MY dearest Saviour, Thou art the King of heaven, the King of kings, the Son of God; and how is it, then, that I see Thee in this cave, forsaken by all? I see no one with Thee but Joseph and Thy holy Mother. I desire to unite myself to them in keeping Thee company. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And Thou, beloved Saviour of our souls, remember what Thou didst suffer for us in the Garden of Olives; there, at the sight of all the anguish and the ignominious death on the cross that did await Thee, at the sight of the sins and monstrous ingratitude shown by men, above all at the sight of so many souls plunging themselves into hell by their own malice, without seeking to profit by the fruit of Thy passion, Thou didst deign, through an excess of love, to suffer such anguish, fear, and sadness that Thou didst fall into mortal agony, and didst sweat blood till it ran down to the very earth. ”

“ But I will not content myself only with the grace of not falling again; I desire also the grace of loving Thee exceedingly during the days that remain to me, so that I may love Thee still more in eternity. O Mary, my Mother! do thou also pray, and beseech Jesus for me; thy prayers are all-powerful with thy Son, Who loves thee so much. Thou who desirest so much that He should be loved, beseech Him to give me a great love for His goodness, and let this love be constant and eternal. ”

“ To obtain the pardon of our sins.
See, Mother of my God! at thy feet a wretched sinner, who has recourse to thee, and puts his trust in thee. I am not worthy that thou shouldst even cast thine eyes upon me; yet well I know that thou, beholding Jesus, thy Son, dying for sinners, dost thyself yearn to save them. O Mother of mercy! look on my miseries, and have pity on me. Men say thou art the refuge of the sinner, the hope of the despairing, the aid of the abandoned: be thou, then, my refuge, my hope, and my aid. ”

“ Trusting all in Thy goodness, O my God, I abandon myself into Thy loving arms. " In Thee, O Lord, I have hoped; I shall not be confounded forever." Through the sins I have committed, I have again and again deserved hell; but I hope in Thy Blood, that Thou hast now pardoned me; and I hope that I shall come to heaven to praise Thy mercies forever: "the mercies of God I will sing forever." ”

“ When thou seest a lamp going out for want of oil, reflect that thus also one day thou wilt have to bring thy life to its end. When thou seest the graves or remains of the dead, consider that thou also hast to become like them. When thou seest the great ones of this world rejoicing in their wealth or distinction, pity their folly, and say, For me God is sufficient: " Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we in the name of the Lord " (Ps. xix. 8) . Let these glory in such vanity; I will make nothing my glory but the grace of God, and the love of Him. ”

“ My Lord Jesus Christ, by that bitterness which Thou didst endure on the cross when Thy blessed soul was separated from Thy most sacred body, have pity on my sinful soul when it leaves my miserable body to enter into eternity.
O Mary! by that grief which thou didst experience Calvary in seeing Jesus expire on the cross before thine eyes, obtain for me a good death, that, loving Jesus and thee, my Mother, in this life, I may attain heaven, where I shall love thee for all eternity. ”

“ Teresa says, that holy souls in this world have to conform themselves by love to what the souls of the blessed do in heaven. As the saints in heaven occupy themselves only with God, and have no other thought or joy than in His glory and in His love, so also must this be the case with thee. While thou art in this world, let God be thy only happiness, the only object of thy affections, the only end of all thy actions and desires, until thou comest to that eternal kingdom, where thy love shall be in all things perfected and completed, and thy desires shall be perfectly fulfilled and satisfied. ”

“ As soon, then, as thou tallest into any fault, raise thine eyes to God, make an act of love, and with humble confession of thy fault, hope assuredly for His pardon, and say to Him, " Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick;" that heart which Thou dost love is sick, is full of sores: "heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee." Thou seekest after penitent sinners; behold, here is one at Thy feet, who is come in search of Thee. The evil is done already; what have I now to do? Thou wilt not have me lose courage; after this my sin Thou dost still love me, and I too love Thee. ”

“ 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! ”

“ Who art the infallible Truth, I believe everything which the Holy Church — commands me to believe, because Thou hast revealed it to her. I believe that Thou art the Creator of heaven and earth, that Thou dost reward the just in paradise, and punish the wicked eternally in hell. I believe that Thou art one divine essence in three persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. I believe the Incarnation and the death of Jesus Christ. ”

“ I promise to honor thee every day by some special devotion, and each day I will place myself under thy protection. Through the sweet company of Jesus and Mary, which thou didst enjoy during life, protect me during my whole life, that I may never be separated from God by losing His grace. And through the assistance which Jesus and Mary gave thee at death, protect me at the hour of my death, that, dying in the company of thee, of Jesus and Mary, I may one day go to thank thee in paradise, and in thy company praise and love thy God to all eternity. ”

“ R. May Almighty God have mercy upon thee, forgive thee thy sins, and bring thee to life everlasting.
P. Amen.
R. I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary, ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to all the saints, and to you, Father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. ”

“ Heavenly Father, prostrate before the throne of Thine infinite majesty, I offer Thee this sacrifice of the true Body and Blood of Thine only Son for the poor souls in purgatory; I unite it to all the pains and sufferings which He underwent in His passion for our salvation. ”

“ Many of them were written immediately after his having been in a state of ecstatic prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, or the crucifix, or the venerated image of Mary. They speak the language of the heart, of a heart wounded by divine love, a heart that fully recognizes how worthy is its own well-beloved of being loved by all men. Who is there that in hours of solitude, or when prostrate at the feet of his God, has not felt his heart melted and inflamed when repeating and reiterating the living words suggested by our sweet and sympathetic writer? ”

“ Ah, my Jesus, true, indeed, it is that love makes Thee sweet and merciful, as regards us, showing Thee to be a passionate lover of our souls; but it makes Thee pitiless towards Thyself, causing Thee to suffer such bitter torments. Thou wast willing to be crowned with thorns to obtain for us a crown of glory in heaven: " He was crowned with thorns, that we may be crowned with the crown that is to be given to the elect in heaven." O my sweetest Saviour, I hope to be Thy crown in paradise, obtaining my salvation through the merits of Thy sufferings ”

“ Give us, O Lord, a perpetual fear and love of Thy holy name, for Thou never ceasest to direct and govern by Thy grace those whom Thou instructest in the solidity or Thy love: Who livest and reignest world without end. ”

“ Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give myself to you; do you receive my soul at that moment.
3. The Words of a Dying Man to Jesus Crucified.
O Jesus, my Redeemer, Who within a few moments wilt be my Judge, have mercy upon me before the moment comes when Thou wilt judge me. No, my sins do not terrify me, nor the rigors of Thy judgment, while I see Thee dead upon this cross to save me.
Yet, cease not to comfort me in the agony to which I am come: my enemies would terrify me by saying that there is no salvation for me: " Many say unto my soul, there is no salvation for him in his God." ”

“ I believe that Jesus Christ, the third day after His death, rose again by His own power, and, after forty days, ascended to heaven, where He is seated on the right hand of the Eternal Father, equal to Him in majesty and glory. ”