QUOTATION: Dying to the World

Withdraw your heart from the world before God takes your body from it.

-- St. John of Avila

QUOTATION: Prepare Your Heart for Christ's Birth

God Who is about to be born has no house nor cradle ready for Him, so do you prepare your heart for His dwelling-place. Let it be warm with love, for the Babe is chilled; but still, if it be only tepid, the shivering Infant will bring it greater heat. The more He suffers from the cold for us, the more strongly does He prove His love, and so deserves our love still more.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XXI

QUOTATION: Trials

Know, however, that if you are to be a friend of God, you must prepare yourself for trials, for without them all your virtues is like an unwalled city, which falls at the first onslaught.

--St. John of Avila

QUOTATION: God's Love for Us

God showed that we were dear to Him when He made us after His own image, but far stronger was the proof He gave of His love, when He made Himself in the image of man. He abased Himself to raise us to His level; He became man to make us as gods; He descended from heaven that He might raise us to dwell there with Him, and above all, He died to give us life. And shall we lie slumbering, and make Him no return for this great love?

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XXI

QUOTATION: Works

Many people value themselves in proportion to the number of their good works, forgetting that God cares more for the motive or our actions than for their quantity, and that far fewer works would be better pleasing to Him, were they accompanied by warmer love.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XXII

QUOTATION: Pride and Humility

Pride seeks after honours and is grieved when it is despised; humility is averse to being treated well and rejoices in contempt, which it knows that it deserves, and its own uprightness renders it desirous that justice should be done.

Pride never has what it wants, for whatever it possesses, or has given to it, it considers that it deserves still more; while humility always thinks it has more than enough, for it believes that it is unworthy to walk the earth, and that hell itself is not sufficient punishment for its sins.

Pride can live in peace with no one, not even with itself, while humility agrees with all men, for it abases itself before everyone and bears patiently with them, believing with all its heart that they are better than itself.

Pride finds it insupportable to submit to others, whether to God, or a mortal creature, but humility gives way and bows down, so that it is able to pass through the "narrow gate" of obeying the will of God and man.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XXIII

(Formatted for easier reading)

QUOTATION: Justification

The self-contented conscience does not content God; and that man alone is just before Him, who knows that all justice and grace proceed from the divine mercy.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XXIII

QUOTATION: A Self-Satisfied Heart

Nothing so offends its Creator as a self-satisfied heart, because it contains no empty vessel into which He can pour the riches of His mercy. It will remain in its natural poverty, for it can offer no place into which the waters of grace may flow, to make it live happily with God, and bring forth much fruit, like a well-watered garden.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XXIII

QUOTATION: The Testimony of the Three Kings

If the three Kings had believed our Lord to be but an earthly sovereign however great, they would merely have paid Him the respect due from one man to another, but faith revealed to them the Incarnate God concealed beneath the appearance of a new-born Babe, and they adored Him, prostrate on the ground, confessing their own nothingness in His presence

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XXII

QUOTATION: God's Mercy

The blood of Jesus cries out, and asks mercy for us; and cries out so loudly that the noise of our sins is not heard.

--St. John of Avila

QUOTATION: Crosses

If you bear  this cross and burden well, He will send you interior and more painful trials, which He keeps for His dearest friends, to conform them to Himself. For though Christ's visible cross was great, it was not to be compared to that which, unknown to men, He bore in His soul.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, VII

QUOTATION: Suffering with Christ

As the Son of God endured such anguish, being sorrowful even unto death, ought we to pass our lives without tasting one drop of the vinegar and gall with Him? How ashamed should we feel at seeking to share His joys, but leaving Him alone in His agony!

--St. John of Avila, Letters, V

QUOTATION: Scruples

A scrupulous soul is not fit to trust or to love God, and as it does not find what satisfies it in Him, is not contented with the way by which He leads it, and forsakes Him to seek its happiness elsewhere: it commits the fatal error of raising a storm where there was a calm. It follows its own conceits, and not God s way, which is always sweet and simple.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XVI

QUOTATION: If We Want to Follow Jesus, We Must Suffer

Abraham had a strong affection for his son Isaac, and that was the point on which the Almighty tried him. Job fondly loved his seven sons, and God took them from him in one day. In this manner He treats all those who are dear to Him, that they may testify their love for Him, while He bestows great graces on them by this means.

I know that human nature cannot understand this. It thinks only of the grief and the loss, and cares for nothing else. But if God dwells in us, we must restrain our feelings, and make them subservient to reason and to His will. Whatever our suffering may be, we must not let it overwhelm us. Remember our Lord's anguish, which wrung from Him a sweat of blood, and made Him cry out: "Father, not my will but thine be done." If we would beknown as His disciples we must say the same, for as His servants on earth, and His companions in heaven, He will have none but those who take up their cross and follow Him, as sheep do their shepherd, even though the path lead to death.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, V

QUOTATION: Twelve Degrees of Humility

The first degree is the fear of God.

The second, is to deny our own will.

The third, is obedience.

The fourth, is patience.

The fifth, is the confession of sins.

The sixth, is contempt of oneself.

The seventh, is to prefer others to oneself, esteeming them more highly.

The eighth, is to avoid singularity in outward things.

The ninth, is to be silent unless spoken to.

The tenth, is not to be prompt to laughter.

The eleventh, is to speak little and with gravity.

The twelfth, is to prefer a low estate and occupation.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, II

QUOTATION: Spiritual Dryness

Even if the things of God are not always agreeable to us, still we must not wish for what is contrary to them, however delightful it may seem to us, for without doubt it would poison our souls.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XIII

QUOTATION: Scruples

How long will you continue your minute self-examinations? It is like raking up a dust heap from which nothing can come but rubbish and unpleasantness. Feel sure of this, that it is not for your own merits, but for those of Jesus crucified, that you are loved and made whole. Do not give way to such discouragement about your faults, the results will show you how displeasing it is to God. It would be far better to be courageous and strong-hearted. Meditate on the benefits you have received through Jesus Christ in the past and possess now; reflect on them in such a manner as to lead you to sorrow for your sins against Him and to avoid offending Him, without losing your peace and patience if you happen to fall. As I have often repeated, God loves you as you are. Be content that His love should come from His goodness, and not from your merits. What does it matter to a bride if she is not beautiful, if the bridegroom s affection for her makes her seem so in his eyes? If you look only on yourself, you will loathe yourself and your many defects will take away all your courage.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, XIV

QUOTATION: Bearing One's Cross

I know not if bearing the cross can be called "pain", for to my mind it is to repose on a bed of down and roses.

--St. John of Avila, Letters, X