Saint Josemaria

Quotations from Saint Josemaria

Is holiness for me?
Tags: Ascetical struggle, Holiness, Unity of life, The Will of God, Josemaria Escriva
He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him in love. St Pauls Letter to the Ephesians 1:4-5.

All for love
All for Love! This is the way of holiness, the way of happiness.
Face up to your intellectual tasks, the highest things of the spirit and also those things that are most
down to earth, the things we all of necessity have to do, with this in mind; and you will live joyfully
and in peace. The Forge, 725
Personal sanctity is not an unrealistic idea, but a precise reality, which is both divine and human. And
it manifests itself constantly in daily deeds of Love. The Forge, 440
Just think, there are so many men and women on earth, and the Master does not fail to call every
single one.
He calls them to a Christian life, to a life of holiness, to a chosen life, to life eternal.
The Forge, 13
Today once again I prayed full of confidence. This was my petition: Lord, may neither our past
wretchedness which has been forgiven us, nor the possibility of future wretchedness cause us any
disquiet. May we abandon ourselves into your merciful hands. May we bring before you our desires
for sanctity and apostolate, which are hidden like embers under the ashes of an apparent
coldness...
Lord, I know you are listening to us. You should say this to him too. The Forge, 426
Sanctity has the flexibility of supple muscles. Whoever wishes to be a saint should know how to
behave so that while he does something that involves a mortification for him, he omits doing


something else as long as this does not offend God which he would also find difficult, and thanks the
Lord for this comfort. If we Christians were to act otherwise we would run the risk of becoming stiff
and lifeless, like a rag doll.
Sanctity is not rigid like cardboard; it knows how to smile, to give way to others and to hope. It is life
a supernatural life. The Forge, 156
Filled with joy
You should be full of wonder at the goodness of our Father God. Are you not filled with joy to know
that your home, your family, your country, which you love so much, are the raw material which you
must sanctify? The Forge, 689
Sanctifying ones work is no fantastic dream, but the mission of every Christian yours and mine. That
is what that lathe-worker had discovered, when he said: I am overwhelmed with happiness when I
think how true it is that while I am working at the lathe and singing singing all the time, on the outside
and on the inside I can become a saint. How good God is! Furrow, 517
More is achieved by whoever goes up closer to plead That is why you must get close to God and
be intent on becoming a saint. Furrow, 648
We have to get moving, we have to set to work! Bravely, energetically, and joyfully, because love
casts out fear (see 1 John 4:18); daring, undaunted! You mustnt be rash and imagine that everything
is easy because you rely on your own strength; but neither must you be cowed into thinking that
everything is an insuperable barrier because you feel your own weaknesses.
Dont forget that where theres a will, theres a way: God does not deny his grace and help to those
who do what they can. Letter dated 6 May 1945, 44.
But what about failings, falls, and sins?
Sanctity is to be found in struggling, in knowing that we have defects and in heroically trying to
overcome them. Sanctity, I insist, consists in overcoming those defects although we will still have
defects when we die; because if not, as I have told you, we would become proud. The Forge, 312
You told me, Father, that after my past life it is still possible to become another Saint Augustine. I
dont doubt it, and today more than yesterday I want to try to prove it.
But you have to cut out sin courageously from the root, as the holy Bishop of Hippo did. Furrow, 838
Sanctity consists precisely in this: in struggling to be faithful throughout your life and in accepting
joyfully the Will of God at the hour of death. The Forge, 990
Holiness is attained with the help of the Holy Spirit, who comes to dwell in our souls, through grace
given us by the sacraments and as a result of a constant ascetical struggle.
My son, let us not have any false illusions about this. You and I will never tire of repeating it will
always have to struggle, always, until the end of our lives. So we will come to love peace, and we will
spread peace around us, and we will receive our everlasting reward. The Forge, 429
In your life, there are two things that do not fit together: your head and your heart.
Your intelligence enlightened by faith shows you the way clearly. It can also point out the difference
between following that way heroically or stupidly. Above all, it places before you the divine greatness
and beauty of the undertakings the Trinity leaves in our hands.
Your feelings, on the other hand, become attached to everything you despise, even while you
consider it despicable. It seems as if a thousand trifles were awaiting the least opportunity, and as
soon as your poor will is weakened, through physical tiredness or lack of supernatural outlook, those
little things pile up and excite your imagination, until they form a mountain that oppresses and
discourages you. Things such as the rough edges of your work, your resistance to obedience; the
lack of proper means; the will-o-the-wisp attractions of an easy life; greater or smaller repugnant


temptations; bouts of over-sentimentality; tiredness; the bitter taste of spiritual mediocrity And
sometimes also fear; fear because you know God wants you to be a saint, and you are not a saint.
Allow me to talk to you bluntly. You have more than enough reasons to turn back, and you lack the
resolution to correspond to the grace that He grants you, since He has called you to be another
Christ, ipse Christus! Christ himself. You have forgotten the Lords admonition to the Apostle: My
grace is enough for you! which is confirmation that, if you want to, you can. Furrow, 166
You will have as much sanctity, as you have mortification done for Love. The Forge, 1025
Holiness and work
Professional work including working in the home, which is a first-class profession is a witness to the
worth of the human creature; a chance to develop ones own personality; a bond of union with
others; a fund of resources; a way of helping in the improvement of the society we live in, and of
promoting the progress of the whole human race...
For a Christian, these grand views become even deeper and wider. Because work, which Christ took
up as something both redeemed and redeeming, becomes a means, a way of holiness, a specific
task which sanctifies and can be sanctified. The Forge, 702
Sanctity does not consist in great concerns. It consists in struggling to ensure that the flame of your
supernatural life is never allowed to go out; it consists in letting yourself be burned down to the last
shred, serving God in the lowest place or in the highest: wherever the Lord may call you. The
Forge, 61
Look, even humanly speaking, it is good not to find it all done for you, with no hitches. Something a
lot depends on you. Otherwise, how could you become a saint? Furrow, 113
When I preach that we have to make ourselves a carpet so that the others may tread softly, I am not
simply being poetic: it has to be a reality!
Its hard, as sanctity is hard; but its also easy, because, I insist, sanctity is within everyones reach.
The Forge, 562