Catherine Of Genoa Quotes

Know for a certainty that if men understood how terrible is even one solitary sin, they would rather be cast into a heated furnace, and there remain, living both in soul and body, than to support such a sight. And if the sea were all fire they would cast themselves therein and never leave it, if they were certain of meeting the sin on doing so.

Since I am determined to join myself to God, I find that I am also bound to be the enemy of his enemies. And since I find nothing that is more his enemy than the self that is me, I am constrained to hate this part of me more than any other.

God created
the soul pure, simple and clean of all stain of sin, with a certain
beatific instinct towards Himself whence original sin, which the soul finds
in itself, draws it away, and when actual is added to original sin the soul
is drawn yet further away. The further it departs from its beatific
instinct, the more malignant it becomes because it corresponds less to God.

And when I hear it said that God is good and He will pardon us, and then see that men cease not from evil-doing, oh, how it grieves me! The infinite goodness with which God communicates with us, sinners as we are, should constantly make us love and serve Him better; but we, on the contrary, instead of seeing in his goodness an obligation to please Him, convert it into an excuse for sin which will of a certainty lead in the end to our deeper condemnation.

When the soul is naughted and transformed, then of herself she neither works nor speaks nor wills, nor feels nor hears nor understands; neither has she of herself the feeling of outward or inward, where she may move. And in all things it is God who rules and guides her, without the meditation of any creature ... And she is so full of peace that thought she pressed her flesh, her nerves, her bones, no other thing come forth from them than peace.

This I say, because God showed me somewhat of his truth, in order that I might know what man is without him; that is, when the soul is found in mortal sin, at that time, it is so monstrous and horrible to behold, that it is impossible to imagine anything equally so.

My "me" is God nor do I recognize any other "me" except my God himself.

The one sole thing in myself in which I glory is that I see in myself nothing in which I can glory.

Any time spent before the Eucharistic presence, be it long or short, is the best-spent time of our lives.

Lenten fasts make me feel better, stronger, and more active than ever.

We must not wish anything other than what happens from moment to moment, all the while, however, exercising ourselves in goodness.