Josemaria Escriva Quotes

Understand this well: there is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.

You must realise now, more clearly than ever, that God is calling you to serve Him in and from the ordinary, secular and civil activities of human life. He waits for us everyday, in the laboratory, in the operating theatre, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in the factory, in the workshop, in the fileds, in the home and in all the immense panorama of work.

Either we learn to find the Lord in the ordinary everyday life or else we shall never find him

Don't say, "That person bothers me." Think: "That person sanctifies me".

I assure you, my children, that when a Christian carries out with love the most insignificant everyday action, that action overflows with the transcendence of God. That is why I have told you so often, and hammered away at it, that the Christian vocation consists in making heroic verse out of the prose of each day. Heaven and earth seem to merge, my children, on the horizon. But where they really meet is in your hearts, when you sanctify your everyday lives.

You're bored? That's because you keep your senses awake and your soul asleep.

Put your heart aside. Duty comes first. But when fulfilling your duty, put your heart into it. It helps.

You need a heart which is in love, not an easy life, to achieve happiness.

To begin is for everyone. To persevere is for saints.

Say the Holy Rosary. Blessed be that monotony of Hail Mary's which purifies the monotony of your sins!

You don't know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and as soon as you have said, 'Lord, I don't know how to pray!' you can be sure you have already begun.

You always leave the Rosary for later, and you end up not saying it at all because you are sleepy. If there is no other time, say it in the street without letting anybody notice it. It will, moreover, help you to have presence of God.

When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.

Don't judge without having heard both sides. Even persons who think themselves virtuous very easily forget this elementary rule of prudence.

To defend his purity, Saint Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, Saint Benedict threw himself into a thorn bush, and Saint Bernard plunged into an icy pond... You - what have you done?

Love our Lady. And she will obtain abundant grace to help you conquer in your daily struggle.

Christian optimism is not a sugary optimism, nor is it a mere human confidence that everything will turn out all right. It is an optimism that sinks its roots into an awareness of our freedom, and the sure knowledge of the power of grace. It is an optimism that leads us to make demands on ourselves, to struggle to respond at every moment to God's call.

If you have so many defects, why are you surprised to find defects in others?

It's true he was a sinner. But don't pass so final a judgement. Have pity in your heart and don't forget that he may yet be an Augustine, while you remain just another mediocrity.

So your strength is failing you? Why don't you tell your mother about it? ... Mother! Call her with a loud voice. She is listening to you; she sees you in danger, perhaps, and she-your holy mother Mary-offers you, along with the grace of her son, the refuge of her arms, the tenderness of her embrace ... and you will find yourself with added strength for the new battle.

Compromise is a word found only in the vocabulary of those who have no will to fight.

To begin is easy; to persevere is sanctity.- Let your perseverance not be a blind consequence of the first impulse, the work of inertia: let it be a reflective perseverance.

Many Christians take their time and have leisure enough in their social life (no hurry here). They are leisurely, too, in their professionally activities, at table and recreation (no hurry here either). But isn't it strange how those same Christians find themselves in such a rush and want to hurry the priest, in their anxiety to shorten the time devoted to the most holy sacrifice of the altar?

The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you'll be amazed at the results.

All the things that are now worrying you can be put into a smile which shows your love of God.

Is it not true that your gloominess and bad temper are due to your lack of determination in breaking the subtle snares laid by your own disordered desires? The daily examination of conscience is an indispensible help if we are to follow our Lord with sincerity of heart and integrity of life.

You go to pray; to become a bonfire, a living flame, giving light and heat.

When you decide firmly to lead a clean life, chastity will not be a burden on you: it will be a crown of triumph.

St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event that went to make up his life.

You strayed from the way and did not return because you were ashamed. It would be more logical if you were ashamed not to return.

When you see the storm coming, if you seek safety in that firm refuge which is Mary, there will be no danger of your wavering or going down.

May I give you some advice for you to put into practice daily? When your heart makes you feel those low cravings, say slowly to the Immaculate Virgin: Look on me with compassion. Don't abandon me. Don't abandon me, my Mother! - And recommend this prayer to others.

Don't you long to shout to those youths who are bustling around you: Fools! Leave those worldly things that shackle the heart - and very often degrade it - leave all that and come with us in search of Love!

Faith, joy, optimism. But not the folly of closing your eyes to reality.

For everyone, whatever his state--single, married, widowed, or priest-chastity is a triumphant affirmation of love.

The heroic minute.- It is the time fixed for getting up.- Without hesitation: a supernatural reflection and.-.-.- up! The heroic minute: here you have a mortification that strengthens your will and does no harm to your body.

Temptation is necessary to make us realize that we are nothing in ourselves.

If I love, there will be no hell for me.

For those who use their intelligence and their study as a weapon, the Rosary is most effective. Because that apparently monotonous way of beseeching Our Lady as children do their Mother, can destroy every seed of vainglory and pride.

An hour of study, for the modern apostle, is an hour of prayer.

Don't neglect your spiritual reading. - Reading has made many saints.

All the sins of your life seem to be rising up against you. Don't give up hope! On the contrary, call your holy mother Mary, with the faith and abandonment of a child. She will bring peace to your soul.

As soon as you willfully allow a dialogue with temptation to begin, the soul is robbed of peace, just as consent to impurity destroys grace.

If you say the Holy Rosary every day, with a spirit of faith and love, our Lady will make sure she leads you very far along her Son's path.

When we were little, we kept close to our mother in a dark alley or if dogs barked at us. Now, when we feel temptations of the flesh, we should run to the side of our Mother in Heaven, by realizing how she is to us, and by means of aspirations. She will defend us and lead us to the light.

If you don't have a plan of life, you'll never have order.

You can be sure you are a man of God if you suffer injustice gladly and in silence.

He has much who needs least. Do not create necessities for yourself.

There is need for a crusade of manliness and purity to counteract and nullify the savage work of those who think man is a beast. And that crusade is your work.

That conversation... was as dirty as a sewer! It is not enough for you to take no part in it. You must show your repugnance for it strongly!