Clergy From Italy

"He was already transfigured, but he was transfigured even more... His face was mysterious, very sweet, thoughtful, profound... it was like the face of God: power, wisdom and love. He had the confidence of one who can do anything, the brightness of one who knows everything and does everything with wisdom, and the gentleness of one who gives himself out of pure love. The angels almost held their breath, and the heavens almost stopped their harmony. He took the bread, raised his eyes to heaven, “gave thanks”, that is, he prayed fervently and thanked the Father for the great gift he was giving to [[mankind]; he broke the bread and distributed it to his apostles, and exclaimed calmly with a voice of placid love, before which the laws of creation stopped, adoring and obeying, almost disappearing from his presence: ' This is my body, which is given for you; do this in memory of me'. (p. 1500)"

"My soul gathers itself and adores you, O Word of God, for all these wonders sing your praises and glorify the Father through you. You are the ideal heaven of the soul, you are the perennial source of living water that quenches its thirst, you are the flower that sprouted from the rod of the root of Jesse. You are the sun that illuminates our life, and the light that dispels its darkness, You are the Lamb sacrificed for the salvation of all, You are the new Adam, who forms the generation of the righteous, reforms man as God desires, and leads him to eternal bliss. You are my Redeemer, and how could I render your work in me vain? (p. 1621)"

"Here is Jesus in prayer, alone, prostrate before the Father, with his arms outstretched and his gaze turned to heaven. It was a marvellous sight worthy of God, as the eternal Word, knowledge of the Father, light from infinite light. He was like an eternal lamp before Him. (p. 1102)"

"That little light brings out the beauty of the altar and speaks of the ineffable love that silently burns in the holy Ciborium; it expresses in a delicate symbol the infinite reality of the eternal Word, the light of the Father, and the reality of the Incarnate Word, the victim who perpetually burns and consumes himself. It gathers our soul in faith, which is knowledge of God, and enkindles it with tender love; it is not a simple light, but a complex of hearts enkindled before the love that gives itself. Every vibration of that light expresses the vibration of a soul, every effusion of oil towards the flame expresses the return of life towards God, enkindled with love and consumed with charity; every quiet crackle of the placid light expresses the trepidation of inner charity. The lamp, placed by the Church, is not mute, but is the representation of the Church, generated by the Redeemer and his perennial glorification. (p. 1102)"

"Never has there been so much talk of peace as today, and never has the world been such a theatre of war as today. If glory is not given to God, how can there be peace? (p. 1019)"

"Night came. It was cold but clear, and the stars shone in the sky. A great silence surrounded that place, and an even greater solemnity reigned there, because the invisible heavenly court had already come down to earth to court the divine King, and it shone in its placid spiritual light, made entirely of knowledge and love. Men and things slept, and far away only a few glimmers of the fires of the shepherds watching over their flocks could be seen. The stars revolved in the sky, following the laws of order assigned to them by God, and in Mary's immaculate body the laws of procreation were fulfilled with the same precision. The stars shone and the divine Sun shone towards the horizon of earthly life, about to rise like a ray through the immaculate breast of the Mother. (pp. 1004-1005)"

"It was a solemn moment: the angelic host, invisible, became visible; it was a choir of light shining in the night to the ends of the horizon. They were figures as bright as lightning and as placid as the dawn; their eyes were turned towards heaven and their bodies were cloaked in glory. They moved like a starry sky, in perfect order, and they sang. Oh, who can imagine what that song was? (p. 1012)"

"The Church is a solid wall that no bomb has been able to bring down, because the words of Jesus have formed his children into a phalanx of heroes. (p. 1318)"

"The night, which seemed to have disappeared for a moment, returned with its cloak of shadows. The firmament shone, but the stars did not look like stars; they were like placid eyes of peace gazing ecstatically at the earth. They passed glistening over the blessed cave as if in a dance of love; it was as if they recognised from afar the powerful voice that created them, and sang a hymn of order to the eternal Incarnate wisdom that had harmonised them. (p. 1014)"

"The bread of the body, without that of the soul, reduces man to a beast, and concerns him only with the life that passes, while he wanders the world to attain immortal life. It is an immense sorrow to see that men speak only of material affairs, to see them anxious for gain, and completely or almost completely forgetful of the soul! (p. 1068)"

"The Magi, the first pagans called to faith and our forerunners, show us the way that leads to the Redeemer and how we must reach him. They were enlightened by a star, understood that it was a heavenly call, and without delay hurried on their way to Jerusalem, leaded by the same star. So we must walk toward the heavenly Jerusalem: obeying the Lord who invites us to himself, and walking with our eyes fixed on Heaven, in the supernatural light of faith. We do not go to Jesus Christ with human light; we cannot go there by calculating material or political opportunities. The light that leads us to him rises in the sky, and from Heaven leads us to the eternal homeland. (pp. 55-56)"

"True temporal and eternal happiness lies in the possession of God. (p. 127)"

"The Christian life is not and cannot be entertainment, because its goal is not to pass more or less joyfully the time that has been assigned to us by God, but to strive for the conquest of the eternal treasure, of God, infinite greatness and infinite beauty. (p. 318)"

"Far from modernising ourselves in order to keep up with the times, as they say, we must return to the faith and piety of the Fathers (Tradition and the Deposit of Faith) in every way, because modernisation is already a more or less concealed apostasy and leads infallibly to perdition."

"Contemplation, whereby the soul is lifted up into divine magnificence, is exultation of the spirit in divine light, joy in tasting the fruits of Redemption, and an outpouring of love for God for His infinite beauty and goodness. The soul grows in the ways of love when it humbles itself and recognises its own lowliness; it is then that God lowers himself to it and takes pleasure in it, working wonders of grace. To look at God and be looked at by Him, this is the synthesis of the greatest elevations of love: Respixit. Faith looks at Him, hope and charity look at Him, and He turns to us, enlightening us, elevating us and embracing us; the troubled heart, exiled and groaning in this valley of tears, looks at Him, and He pours out His mercy. (pp. 982-983)"

"Jesus Christ proclaims himself the conqueror of love through his bloody sacrifice and places love, heroic sacrifice and charity at the foundation of the Christian character. He came to bring “fire” to earth, not that of destruction but that of charity, and he desires only that it be kindled; he came to bring it by submitting himself to complete sacrifice and to the pains that were to flood him like a baptism, and his love makes him desire them with the most vivid anxiety, which keeps him in anguish until he has suffered them all. He leaves this love and sacrifice as a beautiful legacy to his followers, for the conversion of the world will mean that they will suffer persecution and pain even from their dearest family members. (p. 1328)"

"Against the current eclipse of moral values and the resulting oppression of the human person in a world dominated by moral relativism, St. Thomas points to conscience as the norm of action, the path to man's redemption from the powers of the age and victory over technocracy, materialism, and idolatry of the State, which, by denying conscience, have suffocated or enslaved the human person. (p. 572)"

"The sky with all its creation is like a telescope that allows us to glimpse God: it does not magnify Him, it cannot magnify Him to our eyes, because He is infinite, but it can give us a glimpse of His greatness, it can allow us to contemplate a ray of His power, a glimmer of His wisdom, a warm reflection of the infinite flame of His love. (p. 1615)"

"Cardinal Capecelatro, particularly in recent years, was overwhelmed by the course of events and by that Modernist crisis which had long been preparing and so violently burst out in the Church. He remained immured in his old ideal of "God and Liberty", in the old dream of "the pope arm-in-arm with the King of Italy". He did not understand the new movement and the hard lessons which it brought with it."

"The ways of divine Love cannot be travelled without Mary; the contrary is absurd, for without her effective mediation there is no vigour of faith to nourish and sustain it. The soul does not marry God without Mary, and does not have the purest wine of love without her. (p. 1656)"

"We are here to tell the Ukrainians that we are here, that we are here with them to share their pain, that we are on their side, but at the same time we want to dare to promote peace. We have heard many Ukrainian brothers speak of armed resistance and it is an attitude that can also be understood, but we must not give in to what apparently seems to be the only possible reaction. We must work and reflect on paths of peace that start from active and passive non-violence. Can war be counteracted with non-violence? Can war be countered with non-violence? It is a reflection that must engage us in the coming weeks, in the coming months and also in the coming years. We must return to non-violent conscientious objection against everything that is injustice, corruption, whatever goes against the development of man. Jesus still tells us today: Blessed are the builders of peace."

"Eletto was a young men who found life's meaning in Jesus, a life given up like Jesus. I would like to see not only the monument on the banks of Lake Bracciano but also a monument in our hearts so that in our different vocations we are able to imitate him in his total trust in Christ without reserve. Here and here only lies the future of the Church in Italy, in Europe and in the rest of the world."

"Absolute certainty of our vocation has never been granted through ordinary means, although we may be allowed to believe its existence, when time and results have, so to speak, proved the reality of one's election."

"Whereas no civil society can subsist without a supreme principle regulating the morality of its acts and laws, the Church has received from God this lofty mission, which tends to the happiness of the people, while she in no way embarrasses, by the exercise of this her ministry, the free and prompt action of Governments."

"Muratori really proved himself to be a universal genius of rare calibre, at home in all fields of human knowledge. He showed extraordinary qualities as priest and man; he was zealous in the ministry, charitable to the poor, and diligent in visiting the abandoned and imprisoned."

"A few Precepts that are ready and at Hand, are much more profitable to us, than whole Volumes hat over-charge the Memory, and leave us at a Loss where to find them, when we have Occasion to use them. He that knows what belongs to his Salvation, has learned what is sufficient."

"Knowing the author personally and admiring his qualities of mind and heart; his sound learning, his rare powers of exposition as a teacher, his priestly zeal and earnestness, I feel confident that his book will be helpful to many souls in this country."

"We should be apostles of good with at least the same zeal and interest with which the wicked propagate evil. For every effort, for every sacrifice, which we make for the Children of Christ as yet outside the Church of Christ, we shall receive a hundred-fold return."

"I could have had that pleasure, but then the sacrifice would not have been complete."

"Fifty years a Jesuit and forty years a missionary, one of the noblest men that ever laboured in the ranks of the Church in Montana, his fame stands very high in Montana."

"The reputation for solid virtue, patience, and courage, which he had acquired in the different grades of his order, was by no means dimmed in the long years of his generalate. During Tamburini's superiorship, the apostolic activity of the Society was at its best."

"The first duty in Brancaccio is to roll up our sleeves. And the first targets are children and adolescents: with them, we still have time, educational measures can be effective... But even at that age it is not easy, because many children are forced to work or steal. And many girls are forced to do worse, because there are also cases of child prostitution in the neighborhood."

"The Church has already excommunicated those who have committed atrocious crimes, such as the so-called men of honor. I can only add that murderers, those who live and feed on violence, have lost their human dignity. They are less than men; they degrade themselves, through their choices, to the rank of animals. (homily of 25 July 1993)"

"Love for God purifies and liberates. This does not mean that we become depersonalized, but rather that our personality is exalted and enhanced, that is, our natural faculties and our intelligence are given new potential. Our will is given new light. (p. 512)"

"Don Puglisi was proclaimed blessed on May 25, 2013. He who did not like celebrations, solemnities, or official rites, is consigned to history as the first martyr of the Church killed by the mafia in odium fidei."

"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."

"Each of us feels within ourselves a particular inclination, a charisma, a vocation, a project that makes each person unique and unrepeatable: journalist, teacher, priest, student, father, volunteer... This calling is the sign of the Holy Spirit within us. Only listening to this voice can give meaning to our lives. (p. 294)"

"Those who think too much before taking a step will spend their whole life standing on one foot."

"A man, Don Pino [Puglisi], fighting against non-men, mafiosi, and hitmen in the neighborhood to save children and young people from a fate of violence, illegality, poverty, ignorance, and incivility."

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

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

"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."

"You have a family. I have no one. I have no wife or children, and even if they kill me, I don't care."

"In the parish, all pastoral care should be guided by the vocational line together with the missionary line: “all called, all sent.”"

"It is important to talk about the mafia, especially in schools, in order to combat the mafia mentality, which is any ideology willing to sell out human dignity for money."

"Be a witness, especially for those who harbor anger toward a society they see as hostile. The witness must instill hope in them by helping them understand that life is valuable when it is given freely."

"When a person's heart surrenders to God, when they say yes to Him, then the Kingdom comes, then God reigns."

"(Last words) I was expecting that."

"O! how beautiful is Christian charity! How truly is it called Catholic! It makes no distinction of nation, language, or person; but takes all men into one family! And, not without motive, does it teach us to address all by the tender name of brother!"

"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."