(From the Writings of Venerable Bruno Lanteri)
“I urge you to begin each day, leaving the past to the mercy of the Lord, and the future to his Divine Providence. Do not let yourself be troubled by anything, not even by your own failings, taking care to overcome them immediately by an act of love of God.”
“If I should fall a thousand times a day, a thousand times a day I will begin again, with new awareness of my weakness, promising God, with a peaceful heart, to amend my life. I will never think of God as if he were of our condition and grows weary of our wavering, weakness, and negligence. Rather, I will think of what is truly characteristic of him and what he prizes most highly, that is, his goodness and mercy, knowing that he is a loving Father who understands our weakness, is patient with us, and forgives us.”
“Above all, I recommend with all my heart that you guard against discouragement, disturbance, and sadness. Seek always to keep your poor heart in peace, and encourage it, and always to serve God with holy joy.”
“Be of good heart, because the Lord is with you, and he loves you.”
“Therefore, be of good courage. Let your heart be joyful, give yourself as completely as you can to God, banish any doubts, and tell God that you never wish consciously to do anything that would displease him. For the rest, do not be troubled. God is with you and will help you, and will not let you fall.”
“Keep constantly before you these two proposals that I urge you to renew often and with a holy persistence: first, never to offend God knowingly, and, second, if you should fall, never to persevere in this with your will, but, with humility and courage, to rise immediately and begin again, firmly convinced that God forgives you in the instant itself that with humility and trust you ask his forgiveness.”
“We can never hope too much. The one who hopes for everything, obtains everything.”
“It is very important that we understand deeply how good God is, and not measure him by our own limitations or think that he tires of our wavering, weakness, and negligence. Our God is not such. Let us think of him as he truly is, filled with goodness, mercy, and compassion, and let us know him as the loving Father he is, who raises us when we have fallen, who never tires of forgiving us, and to whom we give great joy and honor when we seek forgiveness.”
“Remember to lift up your heart often to God, but gently and with peace.”
“Fidelity to my spiritual resolutions, peace of heart, joy, love of my neighbor, compassion for the weakness of others, goodness, patience, forbearance, warmth, openness to others in all that is not offensive to God, this is the character I seek and that I will continually ask of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of Mary.”