“There is no human undertaking which cannot be sanctified”
There is an urgent need for spreading the doctrine of Christ. Store up your training, fill yourself with clear ideas, with the fulness of the Christian message, so that afterwards you can pass it on to others. Do not expect God to illuminate you, for he has no reason to when you have definite human means available to you: study and work. (The Forge, 841)
“We are to be pious, then, as pious as children”
Just now, Jesus, when I was considering my wretchedness, I said to you: allow yourself to be taken in by this son of yours, just like those good fathers, full of kindness, who put into the hands of their little child the presents they want to receive from them - knowing perfectly well that little children have nothing of their own. And what joy father and son have together, even though they are both in on the secret. (The Forge, 195)
“Follow him closely"
Our being children of God, I insist, leads us to have a contemplative spirit in the midst of all human activities; to be light, salt and leaven through our prayer, through our mortification, through our knowledge of religion and of our profession. We will carry out this aim: the more within the world we are, the more we must be God's. (The Forge, 740)
“Stick to your daily periods of prayer”
If you really want to be a penitent soul - both penitent and cheerful - you must above all stick to your daily periods of prayer, which should be fervent, generous and not cut short. And you must make sure that those minutes of prayer are not done only when you feel the need, but at fixed times, whenever it is possible. Don't neglect these details. If you subject yourself to this daily worship of God, I can assure you that you will be always happy. (Furrow, 994)
“With continual prayer”
Father, you told me, I have committed many errors, I have made so many mistakes. I know, I replied. But God Our Lord, who also knows all that and has taken it into account, only asks you to be humble enough to admit it and asks that you struggle to make amends, so as to serve him better each day with more interior life, with continual prayer and with piety, and making use of the proper means to sanctify your work. (The Forge, 379)
"Pray continuously: I am listening"
Saints, abnormal? The time has come to do away with that prejudice. We have to teach, with the supernatural naturalness of Christian asceticism, that not even mystical phenomena mean abnormality. These phenomena have their own naturalness, just as other psychological or physiological things have theirs. (Furrow, 559)
“The Lord comes to our aid and raises us up”
You must never treat anyone unmercifully. If you think someone is not worthy of your mercy, you should realize that you don't deserve mercy either. You do not deserve to have been created, or to be a Christian, or to be a son of God, or to have the family you have... (The Forge, 145)
“Implore divine mercy”
For each one of us, as for Lazarus, it was really a veni foras - come out - which got us moving. How sad it is to see those who are still dead and do not know the power of God's mercy! Renew your holy joy, for opposite the man who is decomposing without Christ, there is another who has risen with him. (The Forge, 476)
"The fight against pride has to be a constant battle"
It is a great thing to know oneself to be nothing before God, because that is how things are. (Furrow, 260)
“We cannot preach what we do not practice”
Coepit facere et docere - Jesus began to do and then to teach. You and I have to bear witness with our example, because we cannot live a double life. We cannot preach what we do not practice. In other words, we have to teach what we are at least struggling to put into practice. (The Forge, 694)