Beatified People

"Holocaust means burning one's entire existence on the altar of the cross."

"How can we talk about Christ? We must try to present the figure of Christ as someone we love, in the hope that people will listen to us."

"We must give and ask our brother for whatever is necessary to help him."

"Twenty, sixty, a hundred years... life. What good is it if we go in the wrong direction? What matters is encountering Christ, living like him, proclaiming his saving Love. Bringing hope and not forgetting that all of us, each in our own place, even at personal cost, are builders of a new world."

"On September 15, Don Pino Puglisi, parish priest of the church of San Gaetano in Brancaccio, was killed with a single gunshot to the back of the head. With his tireless pastoral, educational, and social work, the priest had become a thorn in the side of the local mafia."

"Once it was Islam that threatened Christian civilisation. Now it is Judaism, a people without a homeland, who therefore hate that of others, allied as they are with Freemasonry. Jews and Freemasons are waging a war against Catholicism and Europe that is all the more difficult and dangerous because it is so subtle. Even against this terrible danger, we must resort to the invincible weapons of prayer; and since we are not allowed to hate anyone, but are instead commanded to love everyone, even our enemies, we implore today the conversion of all these errant souls, those who have unleashed the terrible scourge of war and who alone have benefited from it: the Bolshevik Jews, Zionists, Freemasons, etc. – so that, converted all to penance, “Ecclesia ... tranquilla devotione laetetur”."

"Prodigy of the right hand of the Most High! To accomplish great wonders, He prefers to use abject instruments, sometimes the most unsuitable and despised by men, so that the result cannot be attributed to the creature, but to the Creator alone. Thus, in the fifteenth century, at the height of humanism, when the Christian powers themselves, instead of listening to the voice of the Supreme Shepherd and moving in unison against the Crescent that threatened the freedom of the civilised world, were engaged in subtle political rivalries among themselves. God raised up a poor son of St. Francis, who, gaunt in face, barefoot and destitute, moved half of Europe with his fiery words and led it to triumph under the walls of Belgrade. “Digitus Dei est hic”."

"There is much talk everywhere about goodwill and peace in order to avoid international conflict at all costs. But does not this Nordic philosophy [racism], which has become both theosophy and politics, constitute the forge where the most deadly weapons for a future war are being forged?"

"A kind of heresy has arisen abroad and is spreading everywhere, which not only attacks the supernatural foundations of the Catholic Church, but also materialises in human blood the spiritual concepts of the individual, the nation and the homeland, denies humanity any other spiritual value, and thus constitutes an international danger no less than that of Bolshevism itself. It is the so-called racism."

"Among us, the Catholic Church today is faced not so much with a new fascist state, since this already existed in the year of the Concordat, but with a prevailing philosophical-religious system in which, although it is not said in words, the denial of the Apostolic Creed, of the spiritual transcendence of religion, of the rights of the Christian family and of the individual is implicit. [...] Faced with an apostolic creed and a Catholic Church of divine origin, we therefore have a fascist creed and a totalitarian state which, just like the Hegelian one, claims divine attributes for itself. On the religious level, the Concordat has been vaporised. [...] Now, if the principle of non-contradiction still applies in philosophy, everyone can see that between Christianity, based on the Decalogue and the Creed of divine origin, and this new Hegelian state, totalitarian, authoritarian, sovereign source of Catholic ethics and spirituality [...] – that Roman Catholicism, of course, which pre-existed Christianity itself – there is an irreducible antinomy. Christianity is essentially supernatural and is spirit. This Hegelian state, on the other hand, is material force and is entirely political. Christianity wants to love, fear and serve God; this formula, on the other hand, instead of statolatry, usurps the rights of God and opposes him. [...] In the fascist state [...] there is a single “absolute, totalitarian, entirely sovereign” entity which leaves no room for others and yields the sceptre to no one. It is the state which penetrates the very spirits and consciences of its subjects."

"After 16 centuries, here is another March on Rome, and here is another edict of religious peace, of that peace which was signed in the Lateran Treaty, and which, by giving Italy to God, gave God to Italy ... God also wanted to give the Duce a reward that brings his historical figure closer to the great spirits of Constantine and Augustus, surrounding Rome and the King with a new flourishing imperial laurel wreath, thanks to the work of Benito Mussolini."

"The ancient crusades against the infidels should be considered from that supernatural point of view, which is precisely how the ancients viewed them. They represented the greatest effort of Christianity to prevent the brute force of the Muslims from destroying the civilisation of the Gospel. The soul of this powerful, long-lasting resistance, which was finally victorious at Lepanto and Vienna, was the Roman Papacy, which for over five centuries, sparing no sacrifice or expense, united the Catholic forces of every nation under the banner of the Cross and, directing them against the Crescent, spared Europe a great number of internal wars, ensuring its triumph over Western Asia and Islam."

"[Christ's pain] is ours as all things belong to us and Him together. We take this supreme gift from the Master and bring it back to Him in the bosom of the Trinity... so that through Him it may be presented to the Father and become precious in His eyes. Then the pain of a small soul becomes again the pain of Christ, of the humanised Word, and is transformed into a source of grace... for many souls."

"To live the Inhabitation is to live one's Baptism. It would be a grave error to believe that calling souls to nourish their lives with this adorable mystery is to call them to a special "devotion": it is rather an invitation to live by the grace that Baptism has given them, to penetrate the divine reality promised to us by Jesus: Veniemus et apud eum mansionem faciemus."

"I loved everyone with deep tenderness."

"Never forget that in our soul is the dwelling place of the Most Holy Trinity, as in a new heaven. We often strive to unite ourselves with God by complicated means and do not think that we always have within us, as long as we are in a state of grace, the divine Guest....... If among our occupations we would often collect ourselves for a single moment within ourselves and make contact with a single thought with the Most Holy Trinity, who deigns to sanctify our hearts, we would soon discover infinite treasures."

"After the transition from tenacious adolescent atheism to an unconditional and persevering surrender to God, Itala faced the ascent to the mountain of holiness by overcoming every psychological and spiritual obstacle...In addition to prayer and advice, Itala, despite her less than florid financial circumstances, was generous with charity. In Blessed Itala Mela, the Church leaves behind a message of confidence in the possibility of the laity not only to live Christian holiness to the full, but also to be creators and protagonists of the cultural and spiritual renewal of society. (Angelo Amato)"

"Living the Inhabitation is not an extraordinary thing, but the logical consequence of our Baptism."

"Make the indwelling (of the three divine Persons in me) the centre of my life."

"It is beautiful to give oneself to Jesus who gave himself to us without reserve."

"This young woman who aspired to be a missionary sister was forced to leave her convent because of sickness which she lived with steadfast faith, showing a great capacity for sacrifice for the salvation of souls."

"Pier Giorgio is proof that it is also possible to be holy while living entirely with the world, having fun with friends, drinking a glass of wine, going to theater, at school … his living with the world, enjoying the beauties of the world; but that didn’t lessen the spiritual part of his life — on the contrary.And he had the exact same problems and concerns as so many young people today. He used to have difficulties with exams, which weighed down on him a lot. This is why many students identify themselves with him. He also had problems with his parents, who didn’t get along and who were about to separate. He also secretly loved a young woman that he decided to let go. His joyful faith and his freedom are also a great source of inspiration for youth. Pier Giorgio instilled the idea that faith is not something that limits you; on the contrary, it frees you; it gives you wings. He used to have an incredible freedom in his opinions, choices — in everything. He believed that freedom is the greatest gift that God gave to his creatures."

"He didn’t want a life of spiritual mediocrity, he didn’t want mere worldly success, he wanted the heights of intimacy with Christ and service to the poor."

"Everyone is born original, but many die as photocopies."

"You go straight to Heaven if you receive the Eucharist every day."

"You know, to live close to someone like Carlo means to not remain neutral in your own faith. For me, Carlo brought me closer to God. He would ask questions that I would not know the answer to, especially in my own lack of catechism. So I turned to learning more about my faith, and this was because of Carlo. Many other people would witness to this, as well: people who converted because of his example, or his conversations. He really lived what he preached, a witness."

"The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of Heaven."

"To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan."

"Carlo strove to document the feat Of God’s disclosures visibly surprising Men capable of honest sympathizing."

"Acutis expressed a traditional form of Catholicism and was a staunch believer in transubstantiation. He recognized that many—even among Catholics—do not accept this doctrine and regard the Eucharist as merely symbolic. To counter this skepticism, he dedicated time to documenting miracles related to transubstantiation and sharing them through his blog. …I am unsure if the crowds of young people visiting his grave or who went to Rome for his (later postponed) share his belief in transubstantiation. Nevertheless, they find Acutis more intriguing and engaging than his liberal Catholic or secular critics."

"This boy from Milan, who chose Assisi as his favorite place, understood, also following in the footsteps of St. Francis, that God must be at the center of everything"

"He represents a model of strength, alien to any form of compromise, aware that, in order to remain in Jesus' love, it is necessary to live the Gospel in a concrete way, even at the cost of going against the tide."

"He rode around on a broken bicycle, never talked about himself, and when I wanted to buy him an extra pair of shoes, he would reply, “What do I need them for?” [...] [About poor people] He knew them by name, he says, and brought them sleeping bags, blankets, clothes, and hot meals."

"The beatification of [arlo Acutis, son of Lombardy and lover of the land of Francis of Assisi, is good news, a powerful announcement that a young man of our time, one like many others, was won over by Christ and became a beacon of light for all those who want to know him and follow his example. His life is a model especially for young people, not to find gratification only in ephemeral successes, but in the perennial values that Jesus suggests in the Gospel, namely: putting God first, in the big and small circumstances of life, and serving our brothers and sisters, especially the least among us."

"...the main cause of his popularity was the magic of his presence, which was such as to dissipate and utterly destroy the fog out of which the image of a Pope looms to the ordinary Englishman. His uncompromising faith, his courage, the graceful intermingling in him of the human and the divine, the humour, the wit, the playfulness with which he tempered his severity, his naturalness, and then his true eloquence, and the resources he had at command for meeting with appropriate words the circumstances of the moment, overcame those who were least likely to be overcome."

"It is certain that men’s prayers are more pleasing to God if they go up to Him from a pure heart; from souls, that is, that are free from all sin."

"Some of you may perchance wonder that the war against the Catholic Church extends so widely. Indeed each of you knows well the nature, zeal, and intention of sects, whether called Masonic or some other name. When he compares them with the nature, purpose, and amplitude of the conflict waged nearly everywhere against the Church, he cannot doubt but that the present calamity must be attributed to their deceits and machinations for the most part. For from these the synagogue of Satan is formed which draws up its forces, advances its standards, and joins battle against the Church of Christ."

"The man is the head of the family, the woman being flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone must be submissive and obedient to the man, but not in the manner of a slave girl, but of a mate, so shall her obedience to him be honorable and dignified, the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, but just as the church is subject to Christ, the wife is subject to her husband in everything."

"This evil doctrine which is called Communism, radically contrary to natural rights itself; this doctrine, once accepted, would be the complete ruin of all rights, institutions, properties and of human society itself."

"Certainly the Church does not condemn the efforts of those who want to know the truth, since it is God who made it the nature of man to be most eager to grasp truth. Nor does she condemn the efforts of healthy and right reason, for it is through this reason that we cultivate the spirit, study nature, and bring to light its most hidden secrets. This tender mother recognizes and justly maintains that reason is the most notable of the heavenly gifts, since it is through reason that we raise ourselves above the senses and display a certain image of God in ourselves."

"Some of you may perchance wonder that the war against the Catholic Church extends so widely. Indeed each of you knows well the nature, zeal, and intention of sects, whether called Masonic or some other name. When he compares them with the nature, purpose, and amplitude of the conflict waged nearly everywhere against the Church, he cannot doubt but that the present calamity must be attributed to their deceits and machinations for the most part. For from these the synagogue of Satan [cf. Book of Revelation 2,9 and 3,9] is formed which draws up its forces, advances its standards, and joins battle against the Church of Christ."

"The true messianism of the Russian Church is not what the Slavophiles have imagined, but it is the example of suffering. It is in this way that she shows that she is the continuation of Christ in this world."

"When I feel overwhelmed by misfortune, the greatest joy that the Lord can give me is to go to the altar, to put my forehead against it (as on the day of my ordination to the priesthood), and to feel the presence of the only reality. Not only does calm return, but my body seems to be annihilated; the only true life begins, the life of that which is intangible.""

"I am not a Jacob wrestling with God, but a Job lying on his dung-hill. I have assimilated Western thought and its clarity, but, in fact, I am solidly rooted in the passive Eastern nature and remain rebellious to any action. The book, the cell, the presence at the altar and at lengthy church ceremonies, and above all the solitude and withdrawal from the world -- this is the atmosphere which suits me; it is there that I feel like a fish in the water. I cannot lead an active and contemplative life at the same time. You know how much I love the Jesuits, but their ideal (to unite contemplation with action) is not within my means."

"If the Soviet Government orders me to act against my conscience, I do not obey. As for teaching the Catechism, the Catholic Church holds that children must be taught their religion, no matter what the law says. Conscience is above the law. No law which is against the conscience can bind."

"My whole life has been based on two principles: the love of the Church to which I am united, and the love of my country, which I adore. If I do not care whether I am sentenced to ten years imprisonment or to be shot, it is not because I am a fanatic... Since I joined the Catholic Church my sole object has been to reconcile my country to that Church which I believe to be the One True Church."

"Once for some dreary and self-denying purpose I read many books on education—not method, which is not my concern, or the psychology of childhood, which interests me deeply, but Education with a big E. I came to the conclusion that if two were kept, the rest might, with no loss to humanity and possibly some advantage, be pulped... One of these books is Aristotle's Ethics, and the other is Newman's nine discourses on The Idea of a University."

"For all the complicating effect of its religious setting, there is still no more eloquent and finely judged defence of intellectual culture than Newman's [in The Idea of a University]."

"Different classes of persons, at different times, make, of course, very various demands upon literature. Still, scholars, I suppose, and not only scholars but all disinterested lovers of books, will always look to it, as to all other fine art, for a refuge, a sort of cloistral refuge, from a certain vulgarity in the actual world. A perfect poem like Lycidas, a perfect fiction like Esmond, the perfect handling of a theory like Newman's Idea of a University, has for them something of the uses of a religious "retreat.""

"Starting from probabilities, we can construct sufficient legitimate evidence to provide certainty."