Saint Benedict Joseph Labre Quotes

He who knows what God is, studies to avoid sin. ~ Benedict Joseph Labre

The poor should live by alms. ~ Benedict Joseph Labre

God afflicts us because he loves us; and it is very pleasing to him, when in our afflictions he sees us abandon ourselves to his paternal care. ~ Benedict Joseph Labre

However much we suffer for the love of Jesus Crucified, it is but little. ~ Benedict Joseph Labre

I was watching souls going down into the abyss as thick and fast as snowflakes falling in the winter mist. ~ Benedict Joseph Labre

Meditate on the horrors of Hell, which will last for eternity because of one easily-committed mortal sin. Try hard to be among the few who are chosen. Think of the eternal flames of Hell, and how few there are that are saved. ~ Benedict Joseph Labre

If anyone dared to assert that the Pontiff had erred in this or that canonisation, we shall say that he is, if not a heretic, at least temerarious, a giver of scandal to the whole Church, an insulter of the saints, a favourer of those heretics who deny the Church's authority in canonizing saints, savouring of heresy by giving unbelievers an occasion to mock the faithful, the assertor of an erroneous opinion and liable to very grave penalties. ~ Pope Benedict XIV

How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - thrown from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error (cf Ephesians 4, 14). Having a clear Faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching', looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires. However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an 'Adult' means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth. ~ Benedict XVI

And, finally, about silence - An idle or unnecessary word is the
same thing as excessive speech; hence, Augustine says in the first
book of his
Retractions,
"I cannot call it excessive speech when what
is said is needed, no matter how many words are used."
12
Solomon
tells us, "In excessive speech sin shall not be wanting, but he that
refraineth his lips is most wise."
13
Where
sin shall not be wanting,
we
must especially beware and guard against the condition all the more
when it is so dangerous and difficult to avoid. This is what Saint
Benedict did, saying, "Monks should study silence at all times."
14
Studying silence
is something more than simply
keeping silent,
for
study is the pointed application of the mind to accomplish a given
task. We do many things in negligence or even against our will, but
we cannot
study
a thing without acting with purpose and will
The apostle James, however, tells us how difficult it is to curb the
tongue, but also how beneficial it will be. "We all offend in many
things," he says,
but if any man offend not in word, then he is a perfect
man. . . . For every nature of beasts and birds and serpents
and the rest is tamed, and hath been tamed, by the nature of
man, but the tongue no man can tame. . . . The tongue is
indeed a small part of the body . . . but see how small a fire
Pierre Abelard

The love, loyalty, and dedication of Mary and Joseph are an example for all Christian couples, who are neither the friends nor masters of their children's lives, but the guardians of this incomparable gift from God. ~ Pope Benedict XVI

Cuba has nine official National Public Holidays

January 1st - Liberation Day & New Year's
Liberation Day is also called "Triunfo de la Revolucion." This day celebrates the removal of dictator Batista from power and the start of Fidel Castro's power.
January 2nd - Victory of the Armed Forces
A holiday commemorating its revolution's history.

Good Friday
Good Friday became a national holiday following the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. The first Good Friday recognized as a holiday was in 2014, according to Granma, the Official Body Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.

May 1st - International Labour Day
Called "Dia de los Trabajadores," Havana-Guide.com noted there are many celebrations this holiday, including "speeches on the 'Plaza de la Revolucion' celebrating the work force and the Communist party."

July 25th till 27th - Commemmoration of the Assault to Moncada/National Rebellion Day
This three-day long holiday remembers the 1953 capture and exile of Fidel Castro, according to VisitarCuba. This happened near Santiago in the Moncada army barracks. This week is also celebrated with carnivals in Santiago as the saint day of St. James (Santiago).

October 19th - Independence Day, "Dia de la Independencia"
Independence Day celebrates the early independence of Cuba in 1868, when Carlos Manuel Cespedes freed his slaves and began the War of Independence against Spain, accord ~ Hank Bracker

Unless a theologian has the inner fortitude of a desert saint, he has only one effective remedy against the threat of cognitive collapse in the face of these pressures: he must huddle together with like-minded fellow deviants⁠ - and huddle very closely indeed. Only in a countercommunity of considerable strength does cognitive deviance have a chance to maintain itself. The countercommunity provides continuing therapy against the creeping doubt as to whether, after all, one may not be wrong and the majority right. To fulfill its functions of providing social support for the deviant body of "knowledge," the countercommunity must provide a strong sense of solidarity among its members (a "fellowship of the saints" in a world rampant with devils) and it must be quite closed vis-à-vis the outside ("Be not yoked together with unbelievers"); in sum, it must be a kind of ghetto. ~ Peter L. Berger

But just let the masters of the world -- princes, kings, emperors, powerful majesties, invincible conquerors -- let them only try to make the people dance on a certain day each year in a set place. This is not much to ask, but I dare swear that they will not succeed, whereas, if the humblest missionary comes to such a spot, he will make himself obeyed two thousand years after his death. Every year the people meet together around a rustic church in the name of St. John, St. Martin, St. Benedict, and so on; they come filled with boisterous yet innocent cheerfulness; religion sanctifies this joy and the joy embellishes religion: they forget their sorrows; at night, they think of the pleasure to come on the same day next year, and this date is stamped on their memory.

By the side of this picture put that of the French leaders who have been vested with every power by a shameful Revolution and yet cannot organize a simple fete. ~ Joseph De Maistre

A good school provides a rounded education for the whole person. And a good Catholic school, over and above this, should help all its students to become saints. ~ Pope Benedict XVI

All the Saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry me. And your prayers, my dear friends, your indulgence, your love, your faith and your hope accompany me. ~ Pope Benedict XVI

The pollution of the outward environment we are witnessing is only the mirror and the consequence
of the inward environment, to which we pay too little heed. I think that this is also the defect of the ecological movements. They crusade with an understandable and also legitimate passion against the pollution of the environment, whereas man's self-pollution of his soul continues to be treated as one of the rights of his freedom.
There is a discrepancy here. We want to eliminate the measurable pollution, but we don't consider the pollution of man's soul and his creaturely form ... he must acknowledge himself as a creature and realise that there must be a sort of inner purity to his creatureliness: spiritual ecology, if you will.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth, Ignatius Press, 1997, pp. 230-231 ~ Pope Benedict XVI

Prayer ought to be short and pure, unless it be prolonged by the inspiration of Divine grace. ~ Benedict Of Nursia

Each of you has a personal vocation which He has given you for your own joy and sanctity. When a person is conquered by the fire of His gaze, no sacrifice seems too great to follow Him and give Him the best of ourselves. This is what the saints have always done, spreading the light of the Lord ... and transforming the world into a welcoming home for everyone. ~ Pope Benedict XVI

You can hate a place with all your heart and soul and still be homesick for it. ~ Joseph Mitchell

The value of the sword did not concern her--at least, not at this moment. Regardless of the price it might fetch in the future, at the moment it represented a far greater find. It was the means to extract the only thing that mattered to her right now, the food that would give her the strength to leave this frozen wasteland. It represented life itself. ~ Joseph R. Lallo

Take a Nicodemus and put a Joseph Smith's spirit in him, and what do you have? Take a Da Vinci or a Michelangelo or a Shakespeare and give him a total knowledge of the plan of salvation of God and personal revelation and cleanse him and take a look at the statues he will carve and the murals he will paint and the masterpieves he will produce. Take a handel with his purposeful effort, his superb talent, his earnest desire to properly depict the story, and give him inward vision of the whole true story and revelation, and what a master you will have! ~ Brigham Young

We know our son. We know he's not a pedophile like some of these newscasters are saying. That is not true. ~ Joseph Jackson

He who is different from me does not impoverish me - he enriches me. Our unity is constituted in something higher than ourselves - in Man ... For no man seeks to hear his own echo, or to find his reflection in the glass. ~ Antoine De Saint Exupery

Content thyself to be obscurely good. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, the post of honor is a private station. ~ Joseph Addison

We come to God by love and not by navigation. ~ Saint Augustine

Jehovah God is truly rich far beyond the imagination of humankind. ~ Joseph Franklin Rutherford

Young men soon give, and soon forget, affronts; old age is slow in both. ~ Joseph Addison

Though we live in the world, we must not be of the world. ~ Joseph B. Wirthlin

Life can have significance even if it appears to be a series of failures. ~ Joseph Cornell

Writer's block results from too much head. Cut off your head. Pegasus, poetry, was born of Medusa when her head was cut off. You have to be reckless when writing. Be as crazy as your conscience allows. ~ Joseph Campbell

The dreamer and his dream are the same ... the powers personified in a dream are these that move the world. ~ Joseph Campbell

I believe that this idea of story or myth or this thing that Joseph Campbell writes about is sort of an inter-connective spiritual force - like The Force in 'Star Wars' - where it doesn't matter where you were raised, or what your background is, there are certain elements of story that totally appeal to you. ~ Damon Lindelof

It is better that the truth be known than that scandal be covered up. ~ Saint Augustine

Aging is inevitable but growing old is a choice. ~ Joseph Rain

Miracles, or those extraordinary manifestations of the power of god, are not for the unbeliever; they are to console the Saints, and to strengthen and confirm the faith of those who love, fear, and serve God. ~ Brigham Young

A man improves more by reading the story of a person eminent for prudence and virtue, than by the finest rules and precepts of morality. ~ Joseph Addison

You gotsta love all God's children! ~ Joseph Lowery

In a time when, as Woodson puts it, 'book sales trump the quality of ideas... ~ Joseph A. Tainter

He shrugged. "I'll take it if that's all I can get. I'll do the same. I'll start. My parents died when I was thirteen. I was left with an older cousin as a guardian. I detested him. He died a year and a half later, and it was one of the best days of my life. I disliked my next guardian, my Aunt Mildred, but she was a saint compared to the first one. ~ R.K. Lilley

The saint is a good Welshwoman, and knows her countrymen. We are not quick in respect to rank or riches, we do not doff and bow and scrape when any man flaunts himself before us. We are blunt and familiar even in praise. What we value we value in the heart, and ~ Ellis Peters

It's easier to fall back into old behaviors when you come back to a place where you were a shorter person. ~ Joseph Dougherty

Nations with nations mix'd confus'dly die, and lost in one promiscuous carnage lie. ~ Joseph Addison

When Russia had disputes with neighbors such as Ukraine over gas prices, it did not hesitate to cut off gas supplies as a form of economic power. Later, when a more sympathetic government came to power in Ukraine, Russia used the lure of heavily discounted gas prices to obtain the extension of its lease of a naval base in Ukraine, thus complicating the prospect that Ukraine might one day join NATO. ~ Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Run while you have the light of life, that the darkness of death may overtake you not." (Rule of St. Benedict)) ~ Frances Greenslade

Whether I was a Saint or a queen or the most powerful Grisha who ever lived, I would always turn to him. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He who must travel happily must travel light. ~ Antoine De Saint Exupery

It turns out that viruses evolve from each other, like everything else. So if you look at the evolutionary tree of viruses, you can find parts of their genome that haven't changed over evolutionary time. You can recognize what may be a new virus by identifying this little piece of their genome that hasn't changed and is represented on the chip. ~ Joseph DeRisi