The flower. . . rejoices at the totally gratuitous gifts of Jesus. She knows that nothing in herself was capable of attracting the divine glances and His mercy alone brought about everything that is good in her.

St. Therese of Lisieux

Love

You ask me a method of attaining perfection. I know of love, and only love. Love can do all things.

– St. Therese of Lisieux

It seems to me that if a little flower could speak, it would tell simply what God has done for it without trying to hide its blessings. It would not say in false humility it is not beautiful or without perfume, that the sun has taken away its splendor and the storm has broken its stem when it knows that all this is untrue.

St. Therese of Lisieux

I shall begin to sing what I must sing eternally: "The mercies of the Lord."

St. Therese of Lisieux

Let us praise Him, my daughters, for He has granted it to us, and let us not tire of praising so great a King and Lord. He has prepared for us a kingdom without end in exchange for a few little trials, which come wrapped in a thousand consolations and will end tomorrow. May He be forever blessed, Amen. Amen.

St. Teresa of Avila

Through the strong desire I have to play some part in helping you to serve my God and Lord, I ask that each time you read this work you, in my name, praise His Majesty fervently and ask for the increase of this Church. . .

St. Teresa of Avila

I want to possess all, my God. May I not fail to enjoy peacefully so much beauty.

St. Teresa of Avila

He never tires of giving. . . Let us not tire of receiving.

St. Teresa of Avila

I ofen consider, my Christ, how pleasing and delightful your eyes are to one who loves you.

St. Teresa of Avila

Oh, strong love of God! And how true it is that nothing seems impossible to the one who loves! Oh, happy the soul that has obtained this peace from its God, for it is master over all the trials and dangers of the world. . .

St. Teresa of Avila

Nor is it in any way good for a person to complain if he sees his Order in some decline: rather he should strive to be the kind of rock on which the edifice may again be raised.

St. Teresa of Avila

Now, is Your Face such, Lord, that we would not look at it when You are so close to us?. . . and do we close our eyes to avoid seeing that you, Lord, are looking at us?

St. Teresa of Avila

[The soul] sees clearly that everything other than pleasing God is nothing.

St. Teresa of Avila

Oh, how good and true will be the love of the sister who can help others by setting aside her own advantage for their sake. . . better friendship will this be than all the tender words that can be uttered.

St. Teresa of Avila

But by considering the love He bore me, I regained my courage, for I never lost confidence in His mercy; in myself, I lost it many times.

St. Teresa of Avila

Love is always stirring and thinking about what it will do. It cannot contain itself. . .

St. Teresa of Avila

Let us desire and be occupied in prayer not for the sake of our enjoyment but so as to have this strength to serve.

St. Teresa of Avila

He Came To Save

Let us not desire delights, daughters: We are well-off here; the bad inn lasts only a night.

St. Teresa of Avila

. . . God doesn't lead all by one path. . . so not because all in this house practice prayer must all be contemplatives; that's impossible.

St. Teresa of Avila

The soul is therefore neither content with nor desirous of the world's satisfactions, because it has in itself what pleases it more. . . . Being with Him is what it wants.

St. Teresa of Avila

. . . in order to . . . ascend to the dwelling places we desire, the important thing is not to think much but to love much: and so do that which best stirs you to love.

St. Teresa of Avila

Well now, as these little dovecotes of the Virgin, Our Lady, were beginning to be inhabited, the Divine Majesty began to show His greatness in these weak little women who were strong though in their desires and their detachment from every creature.

St. Teresa of Avila

Well do I know that to abandon prayer was no longer in my hands for He held me in His.

St. Teresa of Avila

What is necessary, daughters, is that we be content with little.

St. Teresa of Avila

At other times I think I have great courage and that I wouldn't turn from anything of service to God:. . . another day will come in which I won't find the courage in me to kill even an ant for God if in doing so I'd meet with any opposition.

St. Teresa of Avila

If I am not close to You, what am I worth? If I stray a little from Your majesty, where will I end up?

St. Teresa of Avila

In the face of so many enemies it's not possible for us to sit with our hands folded.

St. Teresa of Avila

O Love that loves me more than I can love myself or understand!

St. Teresa of Avila

Ascending Mount Carmel

If you do not strive for the virtues and practice them, you will always be dwarfs.

St. Teresa of Avila

WAY arrives on Blogger!

I thought it would be nice to have one place for the Saint quotes, articles, etc. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Let the body work, for it is good that you work to sustain yourselves; let your soul be at rest.

St. Teresa of Avila

He will see that whoever loves Him much will be able to suffer much for Him; whoever loves Him little will be capable of little. I myself hold that the measure for being able to bear a large or small cross is love.

St. Teresa of Avila

What folly: To flee from the light so as to be always stumbling!

St. Teresa of Avila

Can there be an evil greater than that of being ill at ease in your own house?

St. Teresa of Avila

My impression of "Little Therese" was that hers was a life totally shaped to the utmost degree by the love of God alone. I know nothing greater, and I would like to put as much of this as possible into my own life and the lives of all who are close to me.

St. Edith Stein
Happy Feast Day, especially to all of you who have chosen Therese as your spiritual mentor!

Thus it has to be; one must put oneself totally in God's hands, without any human support; then the feeling of security becomes all the more profound and beautiful.

St. Edith Stein

If you put yourself completely into the hands of the Lord, you can trust that you are being guided safely. What you surrender to Him is never lost; it is preserved, purified, and elevated and balanced to the correct proportions.

St. Edith Stein

Ascending Mount Carmel

This is something of immense gladness for you, to see that all your good and hope is so close to you as to be within you, or better, that you cannot be without Him.

St. John of the Cross. The Spiritual Canticle.

Take a deep breath, ladies:

"Conquering the tongue is better than fasting on bread and water."

John of the Cross, Maxims and Counsels.

Let all find compassion in you.

John of the Cross. Maxims and Counsels.

Words

Keep this in mind, daughters: The soul that is quick to turn to speaking and conversing is slow to turn to God.

St. John of the Cross, Letter to Ana de Jesus

O Lord, my God, who will seek you with simple and pure love and not find you are all he desires.

John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love.

The Father spoke one Word which was His Son, and this Word He always speaks in eternal silence, and in silence it must be heard by the soul.

John of the Cross, Maxims and Counsels.

This is the ordinary task of hope in the soul: It raises the eyes to look only at God.

John of the Cross, The Dark Night.

Let Christ crucified be enough for you, and with Him suffer and take your rest.

John of the Cross, Maxims and Counsels.

As the tilling of the soil is necessary for its fruitfulness--untilled soil produces only weeds--mortification of the appetites is a requisite for man's spiritual fruitfulness.

John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mt. Carmel

Enter within yourself and work in the presence of your spouse who is ever present loving you.

John of the Cross, Maxims and Counsels

"Seek in reading and you will find in meditation; knock in prayer and it will be opened to you in contemplation."

John of the Cross, Maxims and Counsels

"I should not consider any spirituality worthwhile that would walk in sweetness and ease and run from the imitation of Christ."

John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mt. Carmel

"What we need most in order to make progress is to be silent before this great God with our appetites and our tongue, for the language he best hears is silent love."

John of the Cross, Maxims and Counsels

"Love works so in me that whether things go well or badly, Love turns all to one sweetness."

John of the Cross, "Commentary Applied to Spiritual Things"

"God, like the sun, stands above souls ready to communicate Himself."

St. John of the Cross, The Living Flame of Love.

". . . the desire for God is the preparation for union with Him."

John of the Cross, The Living Flame of Love.

Ascending Mount Carmel

To keep us focused on our "ascent" of Mt. Carmel I plan to send you frequent reminders of what the journey is all about from those who have already made the climb. Robin

"In the first place it should be known that if a person is seeking God, his Beloved is seeking him much more."

St. John of the Cross, The Living Flame of Love

WAY's Community Prayer

Grant, O Lord, that by the power of the Holy Spirit
and through the intercession of the Blessed Mother,
the members of this community will be formed
into the likeness of your Son and our Lord, Jesus the Christ,
who came to us in the confident zeal of his youth,
and died for us in the holy compassion of his maturity.

We ask boldly for the gift of sanctity,
knowing that the little ones you love
seek in us a haven of tender love,
the light of truthful teaching,
and a living example of apostolic service
entirely surrendered to your holy will.
In Christ's Name we pray.  Amen.

St. Teresa of Avila represents WAY's
personal prayer:
A Way of Loving Christ

"I tried as hard as I could to keep Jesus Christ
our God and our Lord, present within me,
that was my way of prayer."
-- Teresa of Jesus

Holy Teresa,
you who so marvelously mastered
the art of that the Church now gives you a place
of highest honor among teachers of the spiritual life,
intercede for me and for my sisters
that we may each find a fruitful way to pray
and that the Lord Jesus himself
will honor us with his presence.

May we be granted all necessary graces in prayer,
especially a humble patience and perseverance.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton represents WAY's
sacramental life and apostolic service:
A Way of Serving Christ

"We sanctify ourselves for others."
-- St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Beloved Mother Seton,
you who have known so much sorrow and suffering,
remember our struggling you community
and pray for our Apostolate, so new and so untested.

Your joy in serving all young people,
rich and poor alike, your faithfulness to family,
and you adoration of the Eucharistic Christ
are our special inspiration.

Pray that those women
who need and seek our fellowship will find it,
and that the clergy with whim we work
will be especially blessed and edified by our witness.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena represents WAY's
search for Truth in sacred scripture and Tradition:
A Way of Learning Christ

"The soul who follows your Truth's teaching in love
becomes through love another you."
-- St. Catherine of Siena

Holy Catherine,
whose sanctity is marked
by a matchless passion for truth,
intercede for us with your "Truth,"
our Lord Jesus Christ,
that he may create in us
an unquenchable thirst for learning
and an enduring ardor for teaching
all the riches of the Faith.

Grant that we may have some share of both
your uncompromising courage
in facing the truth of our own neediness
and your boundless hope
in accepting God's love and forgiveness.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Therese of Lisieux represents WAY's
spiritual childhood:
A Way of Surrendering to Christ

"My little way is the way of spiritual childhood,
the way of trust and absolute surrender."
-- St. Therese of Lisieux

Saint Therese of Lisieux,
Heartbeat of Incarnate Love,
pray that the members of our community
will learn to love one another
with the kind of sacrificial patience and unselfishness
that you learned from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

May our thirst for personal sanctity grow to equal your own,
and in this way may our ministry draw with irresistible power
the hearts of the young toward the ideal of holiness,
as the Miraculous Star drew the Magi
to the holy crib in Bethlehem.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

St. Michael the Archangel Hotline

Saint Michael the Archangel
Hotline
For Spiritually-at-risk Youth

How It Works

In 1997, the Women’s Apostolate to Youth embarked on a new community ministry: that of praying each day for spiritually at-risk youth. The names and circumstances of some children, for whom we pray 30 days, are known to us. Their needs are placed before us by their youth ministers, priests, friends, neighbors, or relatives. We share their stories with those on our list of "hotline supporters." These people include members and associates of WAY and their "Prayer Partners," who have all agreed to take on this special ministry with us. Also included on our list of supporters is a very special and wonderful group of priests, who--in addition to reciting the prayer daily for our hotline kids--offer masses for these children and youth besieged by evil at every turn.

We realize that for every spiritually at-risk child whose name and circumstances we know, there are thousands more whose needs will never be known to us. These needs of these children are all offered in our general intention. Every month, our hotline supporters receive the St. Michael Messenger, a list of those whose needs have been placed before us. We pray for these children and youth by name and offer prayers, too, for our general intention. Each issue of the Messenger also includes updates, when available, on the circumstances of those for whom prayers were offered in previous months. Sometimes there is good news to share; other times, the need for continued prayers is great. Always, however, there are more prayers to be offered. The ministry continues as long as there is evil in this world that threatens the spiritual and bodily well-being of the young people of this world.

To those of you who are not already participating in this important cause, we invite you now to join us in our ministry for the sake of Christ’s little ones by praying the St. Michael prayer daily for the general intention of protecting children and youth from evil influences. If you are interested in participating in a more formal way, and would like to receive the Messenger, please email stmichael.way@gmail.com.

To all our hotline supporters, we say a heartfelt, "Thank you!" We know that we fight against a powerful enemy, but although we cannot always see the results of our work, we know that we have an even more powerful ally fighting with and for us.

Prayer to Saint Michael

Holy Michael, the Archangel
Defend us in battle
Be our safeguard against the wickedness
and snares of the Devil
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray
and do thou, oh prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan
and all the Evil Spirits
who wander through the world
seeking the ruin of Souls.
AMEN

Saint Michael the Archangel,
pray for Christ’s little ones,
and defend them from every evil influence.

St. Edith Stein

Saint Edith Stein,
bride of Christ and mother of souls,
you went to your martyrdom
united with the sacrifice of your Divine Spouse
and in solidarity with the suffering of God¹s Chosen People.

Inspired by your teaching on our feminine nature and vocation,
we seek a path to holiness that allows us
to carry out the dutiesof our state in life
with patience, gratitude and joy.

Pray that we may find in our study of your work
a compelling vision of our charism of spiritual maternity;
and may your love of learning
rouse us from mental sloth,
rebuke our ignorance of the teachings of the Church
and inspire us to use our minds to witness
with conviction and courage to the certain victory
of Christ the King over every form of evil
that plagues us in this world.

In Christ¹s name we pray. Amen.

Prayer for Troubled Youth

Immaculate Mary, Mother of Incarnate Love,
in choosing the Lord’s little ones
to be your messengers to the world
you remind us that the Father’s Kingdom
belongs to them and that He is zealous
for their welfare.

True to the Father’s good and gracious will for all His children,
we plead with you now for the future of our youth.
Confused by lies, besieged with temptation
and betrayed by the Seducer,
our children are deceived and defenseless,
dangerously adrift in a sea of sin.

Place now your foot, Holy Virgin,
upon the neck of the Deceiver
and plead their cause before the Throne of Grace.
May the power of your prayers put evil to rout
and instill in the souls of our young
a longing for purity of heart, mind and life.

We ask this for the sake and in the name
of your adorable Son who,
still in his youth, died for our sins.
Amen.

The Angelus

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary. . .

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary. . .

AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH.
And dwelt among us.  

Hail Mary. . .

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that
we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message
of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His
Resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, and make us fruitful bearers of Incarnate Love.

St. Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits
who wander the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

Powerful Novena to the Infant Jesus

Powerful Novena to the Infant Jesus
[To be prayed from the 16th to the 24th of the month]
O Jesus, Who hast said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find,knock and it shall be opened unto you," through the intercession of Mary,Thy most holy Mother I knock, I seek, I as that my prayer be granted
[insert petition here].
O Jesus, Who hast said, "All that you ask of the Father in My Name He will grant you," through the intercession of Mary, Thy most holy Mother, I humbly and urgently ask Thy Father in Thy Name that my prayer will be granted:
[insert petition here].
O Jesus, Who hast said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away," through the intercession of Mary, Thy most holy Mother, I feel confident that my prayer will be granted:
[insert petition here].

Prayer of Thanksgiving for Graces Received from the Infant Jesus
I prostrate myself before Thy holy image, O most gracious Infant Jesus,
to offer Thee my most fervent thanks for the blessings Thou hast bestowed upon me.
I shall incessantly praise Thine ineffable mercy and confess that thou alone art my God, my helper and my protector. Henceforth my entire confidence shall be placed in Thee!
Everywhere I shall proclaim aloud Thy mercy and generosity, so that Thy great love and the great deeds which Thou dost perform through this miraculous image may be acknowledged by all. May devotion to Thy holy infancy increase more and more in the hearts of all Christians, and may all who experience Thine assistance persevere with me in showing unceasing gratitude to Thy most holy infancy, to which be praise and glory forever. Amen.