September 1. We must love,
love, love and nothing else.
2. We must
continually implore two things from our most tender Lord: that He increase within
us love and fear, for love will make us fly in the ways of the
Lord, fear will make us careful where we set foot; love
will make us see the things of
the world for what they are, fear will lead us to beware of negligence.
Then when love and fear have kissed, it is no longer in our power
to give our affection to the things of this world.
3. Only love
can make us indomitable and the language of love is being convinced of confidence.
How beautiful love is when received as a gift and how
ugly if sought after or demanded.
4.
You who are responsible
for souls, try with love, with much love, with all your love;
and if that is useless... punish because Jesus who is our model,
taught us this, creating Paradise but also Hell.
5. If God does not offer
you sweetness, then you must still be content, patiently eating your
bread, even if it is dry, doing your
duty without any compensation, for the present. By doing this our love
for God is selfless, and one loves and serves God in this way at one's
own expense, a behaviour that pertains to perfect souls.
6. The more bitterness
you have, the more love you will receive.
7. A single act of
love of God, made during a period of aridity is worth more than a hundred
made with affection and consolation.
8. This heart of mine
is Yours... my Jesus, so take this heart of mine, fill it with Your love and
then order me to do whatever You wish.
9. God loves us,
and this is shown by the fact that He tolerates us when we offend Him.
10. Be cheerful.
Jesus will take care of everything. Let us pay no attention to people who do
not know what they are saying. Let us trust in Jesus and our heavenly
Mother, and everything will work out well.
11. Love Jesus, love Him a lot,
but for this you must love sacrifice more. Love should be bitter.
12. Courage. Suffice
it for us to know that Jesus loves us greatly.
13. The human spirit without
the flame of divine love tends to reach the level of the beast,
while on the other hand, charity, the love of God, raises it up so high
that it can reach even to the throne of God. Give thanks without ever
growing weary for the liberality of such a good Father and ask Him
to increase holy charity more and more in your heart.
14. You will never
complain about offences, no matter where they come from, remembering
that Jesus was saturated with ignominy from the malice of men
He Himself had aided.
You will excuse everyone with
Christian charity, keeping before your eyes the example of the
divine Master who excused even his crucifiers before the Father.
15. Jesus and your soul
must cultivate the vine in agreement. Your task is to remove the
stones, pull away the thorns. Jesus is to sow, plant, cultivate and water.
But even in your work there is the work of Jesus. Without Him,
you can do nothing.
16. We must not stop
doing good even if it scandalizes the Pharisees.
17. Remember: the
sinner who is ashamed of his bad deeds is closer to God than the just man
who is ashamed of acting well.
18. Time spent
for the
glory of God and the health of the soul is never wasted.
19. I wholeheartedly
bless the work of catechizing children, who are the little flowers of Jesus.
I also bless the work of supporting missionaries.
20. All of us are
not called by God to save souls and propagate his glory by the noble apostolate
of preaching... but one can promote God's glory and work for
the salvation of souls by means of a truly Christian life, by praying
without ceasing that "his Kingdom come..." that
"we may not be led
into temptation" and that "He deliver us from
evil." This is what you ought
to do offering yourself continually to the Lord for this purpose.
21. Arise once more,
oh Lord, and confirm in your grace, those whom you confided to me,
and don't permit any of them to be lost, deserting the nest.
22. I belong entirely to
everyone. Everyone can say: "Padre Pio is mine." I deeply love my
brothers in exile. I love my spiritual children as much as my own
soul and even more. I have regenerated them to Jesus through suffering
and love. I can forget myself but not my spiritual children,
indeed I can assure you that when the Lord calls me I will say to Him:
"Lord,
I will remain at the gates of Paradise; I will go in when I have
seen the last of my children enter."
I suffer so much because I cannot
win all my brothers for God. At times I am on the point of dying
of heartache on seeing so many suffering souls without being able
to relieve them and so many brothers allied to Satan.
23. Life is nothing but a continual struggle
against oneself, and it does not open to beauty without the price of suffering.
Always keep Jesus company in Gethsemane and He will know how
to comfort you in the hours of anguish that will come.
24. There is one thing
I absolutely cannot stand and it is this: if I have to rebuke someone,
I am always ready; but I cannot bear to see someone else do it. To
see someone humiliated or mortified like this is unbearable for me.
25. May God be
pleased to see that these poor creatures truly repent and retum to Him. One
must truly be a mother towards all those people and
have great care for them, because Jesus tells us that there is more
festivity in Heaven for the sinner who repents than for the perseverance
of ninety nine just people. These words of the Redeemer are
truly comforting to many souls who unfortunately sin, and who then
want to repent and return to Jesus.
26. The woes of
humanity: these are thoughts for everyone.
27. Don't try, excessively,
to heal your heart, as your efforts would only make it more infirm.
Don't make too great an effort to overcome your temptations, as this
violence would only make them stronger. Despise them and don't dwell on them too much.
28. Do good everywhere,
so that everyone can say: "This is a son of Christ."
Endure tribulation, sickness
and pain for love of God and for the conversion of poor sinners. Defend
the weak, console those who weep.
29. Don't worry
about taking up my time, because the time best spent is that spent in the
sanctification of souls, and I don't know how to thank our
heavenly Father
when He presents me some souls that I can help in some way.
30. Never has the thought of revenge
crossed my mind. I have prayed for the slanderers and I pray.
If anything,
sometimes I have said to the Lord: "Lord if to convert them a
lash is
necessary, then give it to me so that they may be saved."
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