The Spiritual Maxims of Padre Pio were sent in today by a reader. Tom Tomosky, on behalf of all of us, thank you very much!
[1] “Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds Him.”
[2] “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain.”
[3] “Whoever does not meditate is like someone who never looks in the mirror before going out, doesn’t bother to see if he’s clean today, and may go out dirty without knowing it. The person who meditates and turns his mind to God, who is the mirror of his soul, seeks to know his fault, tries to correct them, moderates his impulses, and puts his conscience in order.”
[4] “If we are calm and persevering, we shall find not only ourselves, but our souls, and with that, God Himself.”
[5] “The demon has only one door by which to enter into our soul: the will; there are no secret doors. No sin is a sin if not committed with the will. When there is no action of the will, there is no sin, but only human weakness.”
[6] “God enriches the soul which empties itself of everything.”
[7] “In the spiritual life one must always go on pushing ahead and never go backwards; if not, the same thing happens as to a boat which when it loses headway gets blown backwards with the wind.”
[8] “It is not a loss of patience if one asks Jesus to take away pain, when this becomes insupportable to us and beyond our strength, nor does one lose the merit of the suffering which is offered, by asking this of God.”
[9] “A good heart is always strong, it suffers, but with tears it is consoled by sacrificing itself for its neighbor and for God.”
[10] “Love and fear must go united together, fear without love becomes cowardice. Love without fear becomes presumption. When there is love without fear, love runs without prudence and without restraint, without taking care where it is going.”
[11] “Where there is no obedience there is no virtue, where there is no virtue there is no good, where there is no good there is no love, where there is no love, there is no God, and where there is no God there is no Paradise.”
[12] “Time spent in honor of God and for the salvation of souls is never badly spent.”
[13] “Keep well dug into your minds the words of Our Lord: In patience you will possess your soul.”
[14] “Pray that God will console you when you feel the burden of the Cross, for in doing so you are in no way acting against the will of God, but you are placing yourself beside the Son of God who asked His Father during the Agony in the Garden to send Him some relief. But if He is not willing to give it be ready to pronounce the same ‘Fiat,’ ‘So be it,’ that Jesus did.”
[15] “Those strong and generous in heart do not complain except for a strong reason, and even then it does not affect them intimately.”
Finally, “Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry!!!”
As we read and re-read, we find wisdom not often encountered. We should endeavor to make it a part of ourselves.
