”Let each one love his brother in charity. We have each our faults. He who has to put up with his brother's fault today will have to be borne with himself tomorrow.”
-Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church
”How patiently Christ, the King of Heaven and Earth, bore with the Apostles, enduring at their hands many incivilities and unbeliefs, they being but poor and rough fishermen. How much more ought we to bear with our neighbor, if he treats us with unkindness.”
-Saint Philip Neri
”In order to avoid contention, never contradict anyone, except in case of sin or some danger to a neighbor; and when necessary to contradict others, and to oppose your opinion to theirs, do it with so much mildness and tact, as not to appear to do violence to their mind, for nothing is ever gained by taking up things with excessive warmth and hastiness.”
-King Saint Louis
”Our enemy the devil, who fights with us, in order to vanquish us, seeks to disunite us in our houses, and to breed quarrels, contests, and rivalries, because, while we are fighting with each other, he comes and conquers us, and makes us more securely his own.”
-Saint Philip Neri
”Dismiss all anger, and look a little into yourself. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, notwithstanding his present weaknesses. You may fall into the same faults or perhaps into a worse fault. But supposing that you remain upright, to whom are you indebted for it, if not to the pure mercy of God?”
-Saint Thomas of Villanova
”Oh! Could you but see the beauty of a soul in the grace of God, you would be so much enamored of it that you would do nothing else but ask souls of God; and, on the contrary, could a soul in mortal sin be placed before your eyes, you would do nothing but weep, and you would hate sin more than the devil himself, and always pray for the conversion of sinners.”
-Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
”The highest among all Divine works is to co-operate in the salvation of souls.”
-Saint Dionysius
”Those who attend to the regulation of their own consciences are not much given to form rash judgments; far from wasting their reflections in dissecting the actions and intentions of their neighbors, whose conduct may appear cloudy and obscure, they enter into themselves, and use their utmost endeavors to reform and perfect their own lives, like bees which, in misty and cloudy weather, return to their hive to pursue their home labors. Rash judgment produces detraction, which is the bane of conversation. Were detraction banished from the world, numberless other sins would be banished together with it.”
-Saint Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church
”If a man finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let him look at a Crucifix, and think that Christ shed all His Blood for him, and not only forgave His enemies, but even prayed His Heavenly Father to forgive them also. Let him remember that when he says the Pater Noster, every day, instead of asking pardon for his sins, he is calling down vengeance on himself.”
-Saint Philip Neri
”To leave our prayer when we are called to do some act of charity for our neighbor, is not really a quitting of prayer, but leaving Christ for Christ. Even in the midst of a crowd we can be going on to perfection.”
-Saint Philip Neri
”We must sometimes bear with little defects in others, as we have, against our will, to bear with natural defects in ourselves. If we wish to keep peace with our neighbor, we should never remind anyone of his natural defects.”
-Saint Philip Neri
”Everyone ought to yield readily to the opinion of another, and to argue in favor of another, and against himself, and take things in good part.”
-Saint Philip Neri
”Be as gentle always as possible; and remember that you will catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar. Such is the nature of the human mind; it rebels against severity, but gentleness renders it amenable to everything. A soft word appeases anger, as water extinguishes fire. No soul so ungrateful, but kindness can make it bear fruit. To speak truths sweetly is to throw burning coals, or rather roses, into a person's face. How can anyone be angry with another who fights him with pearls and diamonds?”
-Saint Francis of Sales, Doctor of the Church
”I know well that many of the rich show mercy to the poor, but they do it by the hands of others. They give their gold, but not their personal services, because the sight of misery inspires disgust and makes them ill. I will not find fault with this weakness, nor will I call it unmerciful. But I must be allowed to say that true love and perfect faith raise the mind above such infirmities and make it strong for holy services of love.”
-Saint Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church
”Alas! if we consider our neighbor outside the Heart of Our Lord, we run the risk of not loving him fondly, nor constantly, nor impartially. But within It, who would not love him, live with him, tolerate his imperfections, who would find him disagreeable or tiresome?”
-Saint Francis de Sales, Father and Doctor of the Church
”But our neighbor is in the Heart of Our Saviour, and he is so much loved by It, and considered so worthy of love, that the lover dies for love of him.”
-Saint Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church
”Why should we not bear with those with whom He has borne, keeping before our eyes the great example of Jesus Christ praying on the Cross for His enemies? For they have not yet crucified us, they have not yet persecuted us to death, we have not yet resisted unto blows. But who will not love this beloved enemy for whom Jesus Christ has prayed and for whom He has died?”
-Saint Francis de Sales.
”There are so many sorts of troubles in this world, and so many people who are afflicted in different ways, that we ought to be very glad when we can help anyone to carry their cross.”
-Saint Chantal
”Love the worst men, love in them the remains of faith which they still preserve, or, if they have lost it all, love the virtues of which they are bereft, love the sacred image they bear, love the Blood of Christ with which you believe them to have been redeemed.”
-Saint Ignatius, Father of the Church
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