Devotee

“ The devotees were straightway justified in their faith; for in this state of ecstasy they became one with the object of their worship, his powers and attributes were theirs for the time, they passed to and were free of his wonderland full of every delight that could allure and gratify their senses. ”

“ The devotees subordinate their own ease and physical comfort, their own intellectual development, to secure it, they will themselves shrivel in body and soul; like other idolaters they will even yield the highest interests of their children, when this idol demands their sacrifice. ”

“ So we have to prepare ourselves by sedulous purity if there is to be any life or power in our devotions. But I pass from that, and ask you to think of the lovely picture of true devoutness given in that inflamed incense, wreathing in coils of fragrance up to the heavens. Prayer is more than petition. It is the going up of the whole soul towards God. Brother! do you know anything of that instinctive and spontaneous rising up of desire and aspiration and faith and love, up and up and up, until they reach Him? ”

“ One who is devoted to another is strongly attached to that other’s interests, and so one who is devout is zealous for the service of God.
(a) Thus, devotion is an act of the will, that is, an offering of oneself to the service of God, the Last End. But devotion will be found in other acts in so far as they are done under the will’s impulse, such as prayer, adoration, sacrifice. The looks, gestures, and voice of those who pray or take part in services of divine worship are influenced by internal devotion, and so become fitting expressions of honor shown to God and an inspiration to beholders. ”

“ I believe that whatever is meant as an act of devotion to God, or as an acknowledgment of His greatness and glory, whether expressed by the simple prayer of a Covenanter on the hill-side or by the ceremonies of a Catholic priesthood, or even by the prostrations of a Mahometan, or by the self-torture of a Hindoo, may and ought to inspire us with respect and with a devout feeling, at least when the worshippers themselves are pious and sincere. ”

“ But, being what I am, I implore thee, O most holy Father, through Jesus Christ thy Son, to pour into the hearts of all thy priests, and especially those who might perchance otherwise offer thee this acceptable sacrifice coldly and without due recollectedness, the spirit of grace and of fervour that they may be enabled to celebrate thy tremendous Mystery with becoming awe and devotion. Grant to me, and to all those who are here present with me, that we may join in this most sacred action with reverence and devotion, so that we may have our portion in its fruit and effect. ”

“ I offer Thee my heart, my soul., my body, and all that I have. My whole being shall be consecrated to Thy service. Deign to make me obedient, modest, humble, patient, kind, and simple as a little child; draw me to Thee in ever closer union with Thy loving Sacred Heart; make me resigned to Thy holy will, and grant that I may be found worthy one day of that reward which Thou hast promised to those who love and serve Thee faithfully on earth. Give me Thy grace, that I may become a saint. Oh, stay with us, dear Jesus, till the evening of life. ”

“ May the Lord direct me by his counsel and wisdom! May he overshadow me with his presence, that I may sit beneath the banner of his love, and find the consolations of his blessed Spirit sweet and refreshing to my soul.
“When I feel that I am nothing, and God is all in all, then I can willingly fly to him, saying, ‘Lord, help me; Lord, teach me; be unto me my prophet, priest, and king. Let me know the teaching of thy grace, and the disclosing of thy love.’ What nearness of access might we have, if we lived more near to God! What sweet communion might we have with a God of love! ”

“ And yet what is devotion, but the highest exercise of these tempers, of duty, reverence, love, honour, and gratitude, to the amiable, glorious parent, friend and benefactor of all mankind? So long, therefore, as duty to parents, love to friends, and gratitude to benefactors, are thought great and honourable tempers; devotion, which is nothing else but duty, love, and gratitude to God, must have the chief place amongst our highest virtues. ”

“ That we must not only devote times and places to prayer, but be every where in the spirit of devotion, with hearts always set towards heaven, looking up to God in all our actions, and doing every thing as servants living in the world, as in an holy temple of God; always worshipping him, tho’ not with our lips, yet with the thankfulness of our hearts, the holiness of our actions, and the pious and charitable use of his gifts. ”

“ The odor of incense and of roses wafted through the air; dim lamps shed a multicolored glow. Small groups of devotees, some fair, some dark-skinned, chanted musically, or sat in the meditative posture, immersed in an inner peace. ”

“ We publicly, from the bottom of Our heart, avow the grateful feelings of Our soul, cherishing the fullest confidence that, in the present critical state of things and in the difficulties of the times, this your devotion and love and the devotion and love of the faithful will never fail Us. Nor have We any doubt that these conspicuous examples of filial piety and Christian virtue will be of such avail as to make Our most merciful God, moved by these dutiful deeds, look with favor on His flock and grant the Church peace and victory. ”

“ O GOD, whose mercies are infinite and whose goodness is without limit, I beseech Thee through the merits and intercession of the Holy Helpers, grant me the grace of perseverance in Thy love and service to the end. Thou, who dost dispense so many favors through the Holy Helpers, despise not my prayer, but graciously hear and grant it. ”

“ Devotion is nothing else but that spiritual agility and vivacity by which charity works in us, or we by her, with alacrity and affection; and as it is the business of charity to make us observe all God’s commandments generally and without exception, so it is the part of devotion to make us observe them cheerfully and with diligence.... Devotion is the pleasure of pleasures, the queen of virtues, and the perfection of charity. If charity be milk, devotion is the cream; if charity be plant, devotion is the flower; if charity be a precious stone, devotion is its lustre ”

“ But now We have in mind a more signal form of devotion which shall be in a manner the crowning perfection of all the honors that people have been accustomed to pay to the Sacred Heart, and which We confidently trust will be most pleasing to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. ”

“ Remember all Thy people everywhere, give us all the grace of devotion to Thy will; fulfill our desires with good gifts, and crown us with Thy mercy. When we serve Thee with faithful devotion, pardon our sins and correct us with Fatherly tenderness. Grant that, being delivered from all adversity, and both here and eternally justified, we may praise Thee forever and ever, saying Holy, Holy, Holy; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. ”

“ Such was the tenour of a conduct, which raised him, in the estimation of those who witnessed its excellence, to the character of a saint; but endeared him still more to their hearts, as a man who mingled sympathy with relief, and who added to the awful sentiment of veneration he inspired, the tender feeling of gratitude his mild benevolence was calculated to awaken.
Yet, over this bright display of virtues, scarcely human, one trait of conduct, something less than saintly, threw a transient shadow. ”

“ If devotion be essential to the perfection of a seraph’s service, how much more essential must it be to ours, our necessities being so immensely greater than those of the bright inhabitants of heaven! ”

“ In the moment of our adoration, while we worship thee by our prayer, may we so strengthen ourselves that we shall serve thee all our lives, by a daily work which is full of obedience to thee and trust in thy perfection. ”

“ We pay to the angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven, the homage of respect, and veneration, and love. They are indeed our fellow-servants; they are, like ourselves, creatures of God's hand; but they are exalted far above us in nature and in office. By the grace of God, we would daily endeavour to become less distant from {145} them in purity, in zeal, in obedience. ”

“ Grant to thy servants an increase of that blessed gift of grace which is wrought into the soul by thy regenerating Spirit, that so the whole creature may be resigned unto thy will, human love be subservient to that which is heavenly, and all its thoughts, hopes, and actions be directed to thy glory, with whom is its source, and from whom its blessing cometh: Two pray unto thee as one, one in heart, one in interest, one for time, one for eternity. So may it ever be, O Lord! our Maker and our guide, our protector and our friend. ”

“ And if you, my dear, have been later than some others in making your spiritual discoveries, and in gaining your spiritual conquests, I hope you will now distinguish yourself by a decision more firm, and a zeal more ardent, and redeem, for the honour of the Saviour, the time you have withheld from his service; and by carrying the principles of your faith to the highest possible attainments, you will compel others to see the effects which the grace of God produces in the human character. ”

“ Church's usage the term devotion is especially applied to those who are so affected towards God as to be prompt in His regard and in all that concerns Him. And so devotion is here taken to signify the act of a will so disposed, the act by which a man shows himself prompt in the Divine service.... Thus, then, devotion, the principal act of the virtue of religion, implies first of all the prompt desire of the Divine honour in our exercise of Divine worship ”

“ GRANT, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who glory in the Most Sacred Heart of Thy well-beloved Son, and call to mind the chief benefits of His heavenly charity towards us, may be gladdened by the operation and the fruit of those graces in our souls. ”

“ He gives new love to the Lord; and the young man finds, together with his increased spirit of honesty, a new feeling of piety within him, a disposition to prayer and trust, a pleasure in services of worship and devotion. Thus is genuine piety the companion of true charity; and both are the result of self-conquest, in the effort to keep the Divine commandments. ”

“ O thou model and guardian of pure souls, who hast given us so illustrious an example of purity, unselfish devotedness to duty, fidelity, humility, patience, obedience, and trust in divine Providence, be moved with the confidence I place in thy intercession, and obtain for me the grace to practise every virtue which will make me pleasing to God. ”

“ If your venerable foundress could in bodily presence be here to-day to rejoice with us in all that God has wrought through the handmaidens of the Sacred Heart, she would crave not laudatory utterance, but elevation of soul, thoughts that breathe faith and hope, courage and love. ”

“ Oh! rise up to the dignity of the Christian vocation to which you are called. Stir up within your hearts that fire of generosity which is never totally extinguished in the Catholic breast, and learn to sacrifice something for the love of God and for the salvation of your neighbor's soul. ”

“ I know that it is right—know that it is a Christian's bounden duty to comfort the sick and afflicted, and I honor you each in my whole heart for such noble, self-sacrificing devotion as you are displaying. ”

“ Thou oughtest to seek earnestly the grace of devotion, to ask it fervently, to wait for it patiently and faithfully, to receive it gratefully, to preserve it humbly, to work with it diligently, and to leave to God the time and manner of heavenly visitation until it come. Chiefly oughtest thou to humble thyself when thou feelest inwardly little or no devotion, yet not to be too much cast down, nor to grieve out of measure. God ofttimes giveth in one short moment what He hath long time denied; He sometimes giveth at the end what at the beginning of prayer He hath deferred to give. ”

“ O GOD, who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, hast poured into the hearts of thy faithful the gifts of charity; grant to thy servants, for whom we implore thy mercy, health both of body and soul; that they may love thee with all their strength, and cheerfully perform those things which are pleasing to thee ”

“ This operation of light, and reign of love, is always attended with a devotedness of spirit to God; hence the Apostle says, None of us should live to himself, but to God—and again, I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies you have received, that you present yourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. ”

“ Do Thou also now, O Lord, grant this, and preserve in us the Spirit of Thy grace, that this person, being filled with the gifts of healing and the word of teaching, may in meekness instruct Thy people, and sincerely serve Thee with a pure mind and a willing soul, and may fully discharge the holy ministrations for Thy people, through Thy Christ, with whom glory, honour, and worship be to Thee, and to the Holy Ghost, for ever. ”

“ Behold the man!" are addressed to you by the eternal Father, proposing his Son to you as an example of every virtue which you ought to imitate. "Behold the man, behold the servant whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul hath been well pleased." ”

“ With the greatest devotion and burning love, with all the affection and fervour of my heart, I desire to receive thee, O Lord; as many saints and devout persons, who were most pleasing to thee in holiness of life, and most fervent in devotion, have desired thee when they have communicated. ”