It's Not Too Late!

If We Must Wallow

Lest War be Renewed

Painting: Winslow Homer, 1875

This Lent, I Have Decided

He Cannot Turn Away

Lord, I Have Sinned

Painting: Auguste Bourotte

The Moment of Beginning Again

Your Sins

If We Only Knew

How to Avoid Loving God

'There are several ways to avoid loving God: 

Deny that you are a sinner. Pretend that religion is for the ignorant and the superstitious, but not for the learned such as yourself. Insist that the sole purpose of religion is social service. Judge religion by whether or not it is accepted by the important people of the world. Avoid all contemplation, self-examination, and inquiry into the moral state of your soul.'

Archbishop Fulton Sheen  

Painting: Vincent van Gogh, At Eternity's Gate

Repentance Required

Painting used: Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys

I Am Not Worthy

'I am not worthy, 
Lord, mine eyes 
to turn upon
Thy starry skies; 
But bowed in sin, 
with moans and sighs, 
I beg Thee, hear me.'

St. Hilary of Poitiers



















Painting: Rae Sloan Bredin

Why Sin Is Not the Worst Thing In The World

'Sin is not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world is the denial of sin....  If I deny that there is any such thing as sin, how shall I ever be forgiven? The denial of sin is the unforgivable sin, for it makes redemption impossible.' 

                                                                       Venerable Fulton Sheen

Painting: Jean Béraud, The Magdalen at the House of the Pharisees, in US public domain due to age

If We Fail 50 Times A Day

'Even if we happened to fail 
fifty times a day, 
we must still, 
each time, 
get back immediately 
to Our Lord and make acts of love.'

Dom Marmion

Painting: Arthur Hacker

It's Not Too Late

'To the one who still remains in this world, no repentance is too late.'

St. Cyprian

Painting: Giovanni Bellini

Search for Me

'Come, Lord Jesus,
to look for Your servant,
to search for the
tired sheep...
long have I
awaited Your arrival...
Come to me,
for I am disturbed
by the incursions
of the ravening wolves.
Come to me,
for I have been
cast out of Paradise...
I have wandered far from the herd grazing on the heights... You had placed me there,
but the wolf roaming
by night drove me
away from the fold.
Come to look for me,
for I too am seeking You.  Search for me,
find me,
gather me to You,
carry me....'

St. Ambrose





Tarbell painting in US
public domain due to age

The Scars of My Sins

 

'O most excellent and all powerful Lord, 

I consider attentively the scars of my sins, 

with which I have been wounded since childhood.  

I weep because time has gone by uselessly.  

My strength is not enough to sustain my weariness, 

because it has been exhausted in vanity.  

Since You are the source of all goodness and mercy, 

I implore You to have pity on me.  

Touch my heart with the hand of Your love, 

because you are the best doctor, 

console my soul, 

because You are the good consoler.'

St. Bridget 

Painting:  Arthur Hacker, The Drone

I Learned to See, When Groping Through the Night

                     'Tonight I am remorseful, and I stand
                     a shame-faced mendicant before Your door,
                     humbly surrendering a world-scarred hand,
                     to pick the crumbs that fall upon the floor.
                     Forget the day I marched out proud and cold,
                     unmindful of the sacrifice You made;
                     and unabashed, I scorned the humble fold
                     and its mute harmony.  Still unafraid,
                     my spirit fled through dark that knew no dawn.
                     Oh, bid me stay where strife dare not intrude.
                     Dissolve the past into oblivion,
                     and let me rest once more in solitude.
                     No longer will I shun Your Guiding Light;
                     I learned to see, when groping through the night.'

           (from Fervorinos From the Lips of the Master, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1940, p. 244)

           Painting:  Leighton, The King and the Beggar-Maid 

           This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Linkup

From the Depths of Vice to the Summit of Love

              'There are many examples of sinners who, having embraced a life of self-denial,
              became saints.....
              St. Augustine, St. Camillus, St. Mary Magdalen,
              St. Margaret of Cortona, St. Mary of Egypt and many others
              have raised themselves from the depths of vice to the summit of love.
              It is good for us to witness these sublime victories of grace.
              Nothing is more consoling nor illustrates more clearly
              the marvelous effects of correspondence with the grace of God.
              The Holy Spirit acts progressively.
              He gives first a glimmering
              and asks in return some small act of virtue.
              Fidelity to these first inspirations strengthens us to receive greater light
              and gives us a more powerful impetus.
              Grace then becomes not only more and more exacting,
              but also more powerful.'

(from Fervorinos From the Lips of the Master, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1940, pp.144-145)

                 Painting: Simon Vouet, Magdalene

                This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Linkup

Repentance

'O Lord,
be gracious to me;
heal me, 
for I have
sinned
against You.'

Psalm 41:4


















Painting:
Edelfelt, At the Door, 1901

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