Peter Canisius

"Others may use their work as an excuse, aiming for the highest positions, which render the greatest service to the Church. (. . .) They may also justify themselves by saying that they do not want to become children among children themselves. Christ, the Wisdom of God Himself, did not hold back and treated children with confidence."

"I wish to awaken in others and in myself a greater fervour so that the Catholic deposit of faith, which the Apostle entrusted to us for good reason and which is preferable to all the treasures of this world, may be preserved intact and authentic, since Christian wisdom, general peace and the holiness of man depend on it."

"You know, O Lord, how intensely you entrusted Germany to me that day. Since then, Germany has increasingly occupied my thoughts, and I have ardently desired to offer my life and my death for the eternal salvation of Germany."

"The opinions and hesitations of some do not stop us from now believing in the bodily Assumption of Mary more resolutely, from affirming it more plainly and from professing it more openly-together with the Church than was done in the first centuries of Christianity. For the Church acquires wisdom through the ages, and she receives and manifests ever increasingly the light of truth, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit Who rules and teaches her."