Upon interior mortification depends the right adjustment of our whole exterior, its arrangement with most perfection, with most sweetness and peace. - Saint Teresa of AvilaUpon interior mortification depends the right adjustment of our whole exterior, its arrangement with most perfection, with most sweetness and peace. - Saint Teresa of Avila
Saint Philip Neri, when anyone asked him what he should do to become a Saint, used to put his hand to his forehead, saying, "Give me those four fingers, and I will make you a Saint"; meaning that all sanctity depends on denying one's own will and one's own judgment. And to a penitent who often asked permission to take the discipline, he once gave this answer: "How are the shoulders to blame, if the head is hard?"
- text taken from A Year with the Saints, composed by an unknown Italian, translated by a member of the Order of Mercy; it has the Imprimatur of Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan, Archdiocese of New York, New York, 21 January 1891