30 July 2009

The Maxims and Sayings of Saint Philip Neri

AUGUST

1. St. Peter and the other apostles and apostolical men, seeing the Son of God born in poverty, and then living so absolutely without anything, that He had not where to lay His Head, and contemplating Him dead and naked on a cross, stripped themselves also of all things, and took the road of the evangelical counsels.

2. Nothing unites the soul to God more closely, or breeds contempt of the world sooner, than being harassed and distressed.

3. In this life there is no purgatory; it is either hell or paradise; for to him who serves God truly, every trouble and infirmity turns into consolations, and through all kinds of trouble he has a paradise within himself even in this world: and he who does not serve God truly, and gives himself up to sensuality, has one hell in this world, and another in the next.

4. To get good from reading the Lives of the Saints, and other spiritual books, we ought not to read out of curiosity, or skimmingly, but with pauses; and when we feel ourselves warmed, we ought not to pass on, but to stop and follow up the spirit which is stirring in us, and when we feel it no longer then to pursue our reading.

5. To begin and end well, devotion to our Blessed Lady, the Mother of God, is nothing less than indispensable.

6. We have no time to go to sleep here, for Paradise was not made for poltroons.

7. We must have confidence in God, who is what He always has been, and we must not be disheartened because things turn out contrary to us.

8. Men should not change from a good state of life to another, although it may be better, without taking grave counsel.

9. Let every one stay at home, that is, within himself, and sit in judgment on his own actions, without going abroad to investigate and criticise those of others.

10. The true servants of God endure life and desire death.

11. There is not a finer thing on earth, than to make a virtue of necessity.

12. To preserve our cheerfulness amid sicknesses and troubles, is a sign of a right and good spirit.

13. A man should not ask tribulations of God, presuming on his being able to bear them: there should be the greatest possible caution in this matter, for he who bears what God sends him daily does not do a small thing.

14. They who have been exercised in the service of God for a long time, may in their prayers imagine all sorts of insults offered to them, such as blows, wounds, and the like, and so in order to imitate Christ by their charity, may accustom their hearts beforehand to forgive real injuries when they come.

15. Let us think of Mary, for she is that unspeakable virgin, that glorious lady, who conceived and brought forth, without detriment to her virginity, Him whom the width of the heavens cannot contain within itself.

16. The true servant of God acknowledges no other country but heaven.

17. When God infuses extraordinary sweetnesses into the soul, a man ought to prepare for some serious tribulation or temptation.

18. When we have these extraordinary sweetnesses, we ought to ask of God fortitude to bear whatever He may please to send us, and then to stand very much upon our guard, because there is danger of sin behind.

19. One of the most excellent means of obtaining perseverance is discretion; we must not wish to do everything at once, or become a saint in four days.

20. In our clothes we ought, like S. Bernard, to love poverty, but not filthiness.

21. He who wishes to advance in spirituality, should never slur over his defects negligently without particular examination of conscience, even independent of the time of sacramental confession.

22. A man should not so attach himself to the means as to forget the end; neither must we give ourselves so much to mortify the flesh as to forget to mortify the brain, which is the chief thing after all.

23. We ought to desire the virtues of prelates, cardinals, and popes, but not their dignities.

24. The skin of self-love is fastened strongly on our hearts, and it hurts us to flay it off, and the more we get down to the quick, the more keen and difficult it is.

25. This first step, which we ought to have taken of ourselves already, we have always in our mind, yet never put it in execution.

26. A man ought to set about putting his good resolutions in practice, and not change them lightly.

27. We must not omit our ordinary devotions for every trifling occasion that may come in the way, such as going to confession on our fixed days, and particularly hearing mass on week-days: if we wish to go out walking, or anything of that sort, let us make our confession, and perform our usual exercises first, and then go.

28. 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, &c.

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

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

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