Feast of All Saints

 Our Church is the Church of the saints. If one approaches her with distrust, one sees only closed doors, barriers and fences, a sort of spiritual police force. But our Church is the Church of the saints. To become a saint, what bishop would not give up his ring, his mitre and his crozier; what cardinal his purple; what pope his white robe, his chamberlains, his Swiss Guard and all his temporal power? Who would not want to have the strength to embark on this wonderful adventure? It is indeed the only adventure. --George Bernanos

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalen

  

Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can the floods drown it: if a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing.

--Canticles 8:7 

Happy 20th birthday, Stephen.

The future

But the future must be met, however stern and iron it be. 

--Elizabeth Gaskell

Our earthly trials

I daresay it seems foolish; perhaps all our earthly trials will appear foolish to us after a while; perhaps they seem so now to angels. But we are ourselves, you know, and this is now, not some time to come, a long, long way off. And we are not angels, to be comforted by seeing the ends for which everything is sent.

--Elizabeth Gaskell

Thankful

As she realized what might have been, she grew to be thankful for what was.

--Elizabeth Gaskell

Rightly

How easy it is to judge rightly after one sees what evil comes from judging wrongly!

--Elizabeth Gaskell

Deeds

Good actions ennoble us, and we are the sons of our deeds.

--Miguel de Cervantes