The saints on suffering 2

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.  ~Luke 14:27

Those words were a challenge to hear this morning during the Gospel.  Even though I've been IF for years, I still sometimes wonder what "carrying this cross" really looks like.  I thought a little wisdom from the saints might shed some light on things.  I compiled quotes from the saints that I found to be helpful and encouraging.  I found some nice images too.  The previous list of quotes I gathered is here.

"The more we are afflicted in this world, the greater is our assurance in the next; the more sorrow in the present, the greater will be our joy in the future."  ~St. Isadore of Seville

"We ought to be persuaded that what God refuses to our prayer, He grants to our salvation."
~St. Augustine

"Let us understand that God is a physician, and that suffering is a medicine for salvation, not a punishment for damnation."  ~St. Augustine

"The everlasting God has in His wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost heart. This cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His divine mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with loving arms and weighed with His own hands to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with His holy Name, anointed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God."  ~St. Francis de Sales

"Through the cross we are united to Him who was nailed to it, our heavenly spouse. Every instant of our lives must be accepted as favor, with all that it brings of happiness and suffering. But we must accept the cross with more gratitude than anything else. Our crosses detach us from earth and therefore draw us closer to God."  ~Bl. Charles de Foucauld

"If you really want to love Jesus, first learn to suffer, because suffering teaches you to love."
~St. Gemma Galgani

"Let us fix our eyes on the crucifix in every difficult moment, and that gaze will renew our courage."
~St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

"Melancholy is the poison of devotion. When one is in tribulation, it is necessary to be more happy and more joyful because one is nearer to God."
~St. Clare of Assisi

"Love that cannot suffer is not worthy of that name."  ~St. Clare of Assisi

  

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"In a time of desolation, never forsake the good resolutions you made in better times. Strive to remain patient—a virtue contrary to the troubles that harass you—and remember that you will be consoled." ~St. Ignatius of Loyola

"It is by means of trials that God binds to Him the souls he loves."  ~St. Padre Pio

"In this life Jesus does not ask you to carry the heavy cross with Him, but a small piece of His cross, a piece that consists of human suffering."  ~St. Padre Pio

"The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain." ~St. Padre Pio

"Would that mortal men might know how wonderful is divine grace, how beautiful, how precious; what riches are hidden therein, what treasures, what joys, what delights. If they but knew, surely they would direct their energy with all care and diligence to procuring sufferings and afflictions for themselves. Instead of good fortune all men everywhere would seek out troubles, illness and suffering that they might obtain the inestimable treasure of grace. This is the final profit to be gained from patient endurance. No one would complain about the cross or about hardships coming seemingly by chance upon him, if he realized in what balance they are weighed before being distributed to men." ~St. Rose of Lima

"Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases."  ~St. Rose of Lima

"Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we can get to heaven."  ~St. Rose of Lima

"Tribulation is a gift from God; one that He especially gives His special friends."  ~St. Thomas More

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"He did not say you would not be troubled, you would not be tempted, you would not be distressed, but He did say you would not be overcome."  ~St. Jose Maria Escriva

 

"Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus—a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you."  ~Bl. Mother Teresa

"Suffering is a gift, though like all gifts, it depends on how we receive it. That is why we need a pure heart, to see the hand of God, to feel the hand of God, to recognize the gift of God in our suffering." ~Bl. Mother Teresa

"Ah, how consoling for a Christian is the blessed thought that God sees him, that God witnesses his sorrow and his troubles, that God is by his side! Ah, what is still better, that God presses him tenderly to His heart!"  ~St. John Vianney

"If accepted with love, suffering can be a privileged path to sanctity."  ~St. John Paul II

And here are two from not (yet?) saints but wise words I wanted to include...

"Sometimes my worst day—one filled with pain and suffering—in the eyes of God, is my best day if I've born it cheerfully and I've born it with love."  ~Mother Angelica

"You who say in silence: 'Jesus, I trust in you' teach us that there is no faith more profound, no hope more alive and no love more ardent than the faith, hope and love of a person who in the midst of suffering places himself securely in God’s hands.”  ~Pope Benedict XVI in a visit with the sick on May 27, 2006