Our sins are nothing but a grain of sand alongside the great mountain of the mercy of God.
--Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)

Mercy is the fulfillment of justice, not its abolition.
--Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-74)

How can we pray to God for mercy if we ourselves have no mercy?
--Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991)

The Sovereign Judge has marked for us the rule of his judgments in order that we may judge our offending brothers and sisters in the way we want to be judged by him.
—Saint John Cassian (c. 360-433)

He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.
—George Herbert (1593-1633)

If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because he himself is the way.
—Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274

We must be saved together. We must reach God together. We must present ourselves to him together. We must not expect to find God without the help of others. We must all come back together into our father's house. . . . We must work a little for others. What would he say to us if we arrived separately?

From listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.

You want to see his altar? This altar is made of Christ's own members, and the Lord's body becomes an altar for you. Venerate it. It is more august than the stone altar on which you offer the holy sacrifice. 

--John Chrysostom (c. 350-407)

Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.

--Mark 14:36

It is through the liturgy, especially, that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true church.

--Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 1963

Peter, the leader of the choir, the mouth of all the apostles, the head of that tribe, the ruler of the whole world, the foundation of the church, the ardent lover of Christ.

--John Chrysostom (c. 350-407)

I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see that God governs in human affairs.

--Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

That is our vocation: to convert . . . the enemy into a guest and to create the free and fearless space where brotherhood and sisterhood can be formed and fully experienced. 

--Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996)

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. 

--Revelation 7:9

The church of Christ acknowledges that in God's plan of salvation the beginning of her faith and her election is to be found in the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets.

--Nostra Aetate, 1965

Our Lord in a desert place changed a few loaves into many, and . . . before the time came to give men and women his own body and blood to feed on . . . . he gave them things . . . for nothing to make them understand that his supreme gift would be given yet more freely.

--Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306-373)

Taking the loaves, the Lord broke them and entrusted to the disciples the honor of distributing them: He wanted not only to honor them, but also to convince them of the truth of the miracle, so that they might not forget it afterwards, since their hands would be its witnesses.

--John Chrysostom (347-407)

The works performed by God in the history of salvation show forth and bear out the doctrine and realities signified by the words; the words, for their part, proclaim the works, and bring to light the mystery they contain.

--Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation

Providence is the care God takes of all existing things.

--John Damascene (676-749)

A wise person is out of the reach of fortune.

--Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)

Those therefore who wish to . . . inherit the everlasting kingdom of God must not be weeds but wheat. They must avoid saying or doing anything useless, and practice the opposite virtues, thus bringing forth the fruits of repentance.

--Gregory Palamas (1296-1359)

Holy Spirit, spirit of truth, you are the reward of the saints, the comforter of souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor . . . food for the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering; to sum up you are the one in whom all treasures are contained.

--Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi (1566-1607)

The gospel of Jesus is . . . the kingdom himself.

--Origen (185-254)