Counsel of St. Padre Pio

Joey and I attended a beautiful Marian conference today. More about that in a later post. I did want to post a few things before this day is over. I especially wanted to share with you Padre Pio's maxims because it fit in so well with the message of Our Lady to her children.

I found this over at Sue's always inspirational blog

Do not worry over things that generate preoccupation, derangement and anxiety. One thing only is necessary: to lift up your spirit and love God.
Pray, hope and don’t worry. Anxiety doesn’t help at all. Our Merciful Lord will listen to your prayer.

Why should you worry whether God wants you to reach the heavenly home by way of the desert or by the fields, when by the one as well as by the other, one arrives all at the same at Blessed Eternity? Keep far from excessive preoccupation which arises from the trials which the good God wishes to visit upon you. And if this is not possible put away the thoughts, and in all live resigned to the Divine Will.

Walk in the way of the Lord with simplicity and do not torment your spirit. You must hate your defects, but with a quiet hate, not troublesome and restless.

Always live under the eyes of the Good Shepherd and you will walk unharmed through evil pastures.

Often kiss Jesus with affection and you will recompense Him for the sacrilegious kiss of the unfaithful apostle, Judas.

Thank and sweetly kiss the hand of God that strikes you, because it is always the hand of a Father who strikes you because he loves you.

Be comforted with the divine thought that your spiritual and physical pains are the test of the Divine Will. All lovers of Jesus must conform themselves always more to this divine and eternal model. Jesus went to the limits of abandonment of the spirit. Jesus wanted to experience in his humanity this incomprehensible pain of seeing himself abandoned by his heavenly Father.

The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of trial and in the exaltation after the combat.

Ahead! Courage! In the spiritual life he who does not advance goes backward. It happens as with a boat which always must go ahead. If it stands still, the wind will blow it back.

He who does not meditate acts as one who never looks into a mirror and so does not bother to put himself in order, since he can be dirty without knowing it. The person who meditates and turns his thoughts to God who is the mirror of his soul, seeks to know his defects and tries to correct them, moderates himself in his impulses and puts his conscience in order.

When you do not succeed in meditating well, do not for this reason cease to do your duty. If there are many distractions, do not lose heart. Make a meditation of patience; you will profit all the same.

When you have distractions, don’t distract yourself still more by stopping to consider the why and the wherefore. Just as a traveler who misses his way, returns to the right road as soon as he is aware of it, you should continue to meditate without stopping in the distractions which you had.

If you want to assist at Mass with devotion and with fruit, think of the Sorrowful Mother at the feet of Calvary.

Stop entertaining those vain fears. Remember that it is not feeling that constitutes guilt but the consent to such feelings. Only the free will is capable of good or evil. But when the will sighs under the trial of the tempter and does not will what is presented to it, there is not only no fault, but there is virtue. (if we have temptations, we do not sin, no matter how humiliating the temptation. We despise temptation and sin, but not ourselves, for being tempted)

Despise your temptations and do not dwell on them. Imagine you have Jesus Christ crucified in your arms and on your breast and, kissing his side, say: ”Behold my hope, behold the living source of my happiness. I will hold thee close, o my Jesus, and I will not leave thee until thou shall put me in a place of safety.”

The best means of guarding yourself against temptation are the following: watch your senses to save them from dangerous temptation; avoid vanity; do not let your heart become exalted; convince yourself of the evil of complacency; flee from hate; and pray whenever possible.

The devil is like a rabid dog tied to a chain; beyond the length of the chain he cannot seize anyone. And you, keep at a distance. If you approach too near, you let yourself be caught. Remember that the devil has only one door by which to enter the soul: the will. There are no secret or hidden doors.

Temptations, discouragement and unrest are the wares offered by the enemy. Remember this: if the devil makes noise, it is a sign that he is still outside and not yet within. That which must terrify us is his peace and concord with the human soul.

That which comes from Satan begins with calmness and ends in storm, indifference and apathy.

That which proceeds from God begins with a salutary fear and finishes with peace of mind.

The mercy of God, my son, is infinitely greater than your malice.

To doubt is the greatest insult to the Divinity.

We must know how to confide. There is the fear of God and the fear of a Judas. Too much fear makes one labor without love, and too much confidence prevents us from considering the danger which we must overcome. The one must go hand in hand with the other and proceed as sisters.

In order to console a soul in its sufferings, point out to it all the good it can still do.

Humility and purity of conduct are the wings which raise us up to God and in a manner deify us. Remember this: the sinner who is ashamed to do evil is closer to God than the upright man who is ashamed to do good.

Obey promptly! Do not consider the age or merit of the person. And in order to succeed, imagine you are obeying the Lord.

Duty before everything else, even something holy. (for example–a Mother’s duty in the home, should be met first, before time spent in Church, beyond the basic requirements of our Faith)