Quotes of Blessed Luigi Guanella

• The fountain of holy love is in Jesus Christ and we have Jesus with us in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Alter. From that throne of love, how often He enlightens the minds of His children, and how many again find their peace of heart.

• Our Lady of Providence brings us to her son.

• The earth is filled with tabernacles - Praise Him!

• Our union in heaven will depend upon our communion with God on earth.

• Masses and Holy Communions - first things first.

• The altar points our way to heaven.

• Legions of angels surround the tabernacle in adoration.

• The sun of our lives is the Eucharist.

• Holy Communion daily keeps us in God's Presence.

• Prayer is lifting our minds and hearts to God.

• Continuous communion with God perfects activity.

• Conformity to God's will is the secret of sanctity.

• Mass is the perfect prayer of praise.

• The Eucharist acts as a magnet for the friends of God.

• Deepen your love daily for the Eucharist.

• The Holy Eucharist visited us daily becomes our heaven.

• Union with Christ presupposes love of neighbor.

• A community of adorers becomes a family of love.

• Only a fool or a madman lives without a goal.

• The children praying before you draw God's graces on you.

• The works of Providence are maintained by charity - and trust.

• Faith and love are the foundation of the Congregation.

• God's graces is not limited by our weakness.

• Call upon God's strength in time of need.

• Refuse God nothing.

• Humility of heart is superior to worldly culture and knowledge.

• Simplicity opens the door to holiness.

• God's poorest creatures bear the face of God.

• Charity lights the path to divine love.

• Favoritism hurts. Avoid partiality.

• Love of God begets love of neighbor.

• Simplicity fires others with the love of God.

• The Holy Eucharist is the Sun of the earth, the Life of the world, and true Paradise on earth for all who believe.

• Aid your needy neighbor spiritually and materially.

• God's poor are the favorite of Providence.

• Let everyone help carry his brother's burdens.

• The helpless ones need my most delicate love.

• The handicapped, aged and orphans are God's treasured.

• Love can always find ways to comfort suffering.

• He who gives to the poor receives from God.

• Blessed is the man who sees God in the poor.

• Live, and give - to the needy.

• Faith opens men's hearts to the handicapped.

• Imitate the Heart of Christ in love for the poor.

• Search for the abandoned like the Good Shepherd.

• The poor are the apple in God's eye.

• The most miserable creature brings Jesus to us.

• Stay with God's poor - and our work will never die.

• Courtesy acts as a balm on the person suffering.

• Open your hearts to the Divine Guest.

• Receive the God of purity. He will cancel all your sins.

• Let Jesus ignite your heart with the flame of his love.

• Holy Communion feeds the soul as food does the body.

• The Eucharist is the treasury of God's love.

• Seize every opportunity to help one another.

• Abandonment to God's will is the secret of sanctity.

• Live each say with the Eucharist Christ.

• A day without Holy Communion is like a day without the sun.

• Jesus awaits your adoration in the Eucharist.

• Jesus has promised an oath: "Ask and you shall receive."

• Love one another tenderly in God.

• At every beat of our heart a soul passes to eternity. Let us work to save these souls and we will secure a good death for ourselves.

• Our heavenly Father protects all His creatures.

• Love for one' earthly father begets love for God.

• Heading God's word produces simplicity.

• A faithful son reflects his Father's virtues.

• Speak to God as you speak to your loving Father.

• God's embrace is enough for man!

• Live only for God whose son died for you.

• The Heart of Jesus is a Father's heart.

• God counts even the beatings of our hearts.

• God, the perfect Father, cares for all.

• The Scared Heart is the center of God's love.

• Show yourself a fond child of God.

• Handle the Scriptures as you would a precious vessel.

• Read and ponder God's message.

• God's desire to give exceeds our desire to ask.

• Good works depend on God's will.

• The Lord is the Builder for His poor.

• The greater the request, the greater God's gifts.

• Lack of trust is an obstacle to Providence.

• Abandonment to God's will is the secret of success.

• Providence will light the way for the trustful.

• Observe God at work for his poor.

• The man of trust needs only Providence to succeed.

• Our Lady of Providence never fails her good children.

• The world calls the penniless person dead. God calls such a person

• His child and cares for him.

• Providence, not human prudence, succeeds.

• Expect all from God, nothing from men.

• Our compassion for others shows the mercy of God to His creatures.

• The merciful Christian reflects God's mercy.

• Run, run to Mary, our dearest Mother. Cling to her all-powerful arm. Take shelter beneath her mantle; invoke her with all your heart and she will come full of compassion, to sustain your wavering strength.

• Providence chooses the humble and confounds the worldly wise.

• Providence gives. We must work.

• Receive from Providence. Give to the needy.

• Divine Providence demands dependence.

• When Providence calls, act at once.

• The arms of Providence reach out to you.

• Fill the houses of Providence with the poor.

• Providence cares for all who trust.

• Virtues attracts. Sin repels.

• Praise God and await His Providence.

• Providence orders all things sweetly.

• Success in good works depends on God's will.

• Even our good thoughts and desires are rewarded by our good God.

• Providence never fails her trusted children.

• When Providence had opened the way, the new work must get started.

• The Lord will contract the debts of the houses when prudence is there.

• Abandon self completely to Providence.

• The poor are the special children of Providence.

• Providence provides the necessities, not superfluities.

• We are all little chicks are the wings of divine Providence.

• The houses of Providence will become ill when riches are sought.

• Providence intends minimal needs to be met for ourselves and the poor.

• The most afflicted should be the first residents of the House.

• The houses of Providence will be blessed as long as the spirit of poverty remains.

• The substance of charity, not on its appearance, should be seen.

• Preference should be given residents devoid of any human protection.

• How beautiful is it to live and die under the protection of Providence.

• Never lack confidence in divine Providence.

• Providence withdraws before sin and lack of confidence.

• To succeed, we must believe.

• Our Lord gives us the treasure of true peace which springs from the inexhaustible fountain of the Most Scared Heart of Jesus.

• Simplicity is the Heart of a Community of Divine Providence.

• Simplicity is to be natural, joyful, modest and spontaneous.

• Simplicity abhors duplicity.

• Humility and simplicity go hand in hand.

• Complete abandonment to God considers no "Ifs or buts"!

• The hallmark of humility is simplicity.

• Mary is the model of simplicity.

• Simplicity is always united with the virtue of prudence.

• Simplicity is essentially sincerity.

• Simplicity wins the love of our neighbors.

• Be simple. Avoid ambition and false humility.

• The truly humble person neither complains nor attracts praise.

• Let your countenance reflect the joys of the love of God.

• Walk with holy simplicity in the house of God.

• Anticipate the joys of heaven which shall be yours.

• Beg Mary to obtain for you the gift of simplicity.

• Nourish a humility which, in time, will become total love of God.

• Simplicity before Superiors is the pathway to humility.

• Be frank and simple with everyone.

• No person can serve two maters.

• It is not human beings who erect charitable institutions and feed the poor. Providence does all.

• Man is only the instrument of the work of God.

• Realization of our nothingness is only truth.

• Humility is reality.

• To enjoy esteem and honor is to become a fool.

• Let us live each moment as if we were about to die.

• Simplicity revels itself in our devotion to Mary.

• Simplicity clarifies the vision to better understanding.

• Oneness with God, the Church and Mary spells simplicity.

• The person who is merciful reflects the mercy of God.

• The heart of a Christian, who believes and feels, cannot pass by the hardships and deprivations of the poor without helping them.

• O adorable heart of my Savior! How it displeases me to have offended you by my man sins. How it saddens me to have outraged you with foolish talk! I deserve to be abandoned. But you did not abandon me, and for this, I give you glory. My lips will always resound your praise since I have been saved by your most precious blood.

• There is need of living well, but there is even more need of dying well. A good death is everything, especially today where people think only of things and enjoyment here on earth, rejecting eternity.

• We may never make the church into a hallway, or a courtyard or highway, or a public square.

• Blessed Luigi Guanella, when he was traveling by train with pilgrimages to the various shrines, used to always advise pilgrims to turn their minds and hearts to Jesus every time they saw a church tower from the carriage window, "Every bell tower," he would say, "indicates a church, where there is a tabernacle, where Mass is said, and where Jesus stays."

• O my Jesus, draw me entirely to you. Draw me with all the love of my heart. If I knew that one fiber of my heart did not palpitate for you, I would tear it out at any cost. But I know that I could not speak without your help. Draw me, O my Jesus, draw me completely. I know it well, my heart cannot rest until it rests in your heart. (This is an adoration prayer Bl. Luigi would say.)

• Plant your heart in Jesus Crucified and all the thorns will seem like roses.

• Trust much in the innocent and fervent prayer of children.

• Embrace the cross. It is the great weapon for any victory.

• The cross of Christ should be in your heart as it was in Mary's heart.

• Without God's help we are incapable of doing good. Every good action is marked by his grace.

• God example resembles the breach of the Holy Spirit. Like the sun it gives us Light and Heat.

• Whoever finds Mary, finds the way to Salvation.

• Believe in God's Providence. Then, act!

• Pray as if God does all, we nothing!

• Accept from God’s Providence success and failure.

• Correspond with God’s Providence.

• God assigns a special work to each creature.

• No person can do the work assigned by God for another.

• Be always ready to act.

• Take God as your Partner.

• See God’s Providence in work and rest.

• Humility is truth.

• Pray for humility and accept it.

• Submit to God’s plan for you.

• Depend entirely upon God.

• The Lord watches over you with sighs of love.

• In weariness and fatigue, imitate Christ.

• Submit to required work joyfully.

• Serve God in joy.

• God’s Providence intervenes at His appointed hour.

• Don’t anticipate Providence. Wait!

• Providence provides generously in all we do for God.

• Providence aids the man of trust.

• Love God! Hate sin!

• Prepare for sacrifices.

• Time is precious. Make good use of it.

• Alone, we are incapable of good. We need God!

• He who uses the pen as well as he who works with the spade is equally precious.

• Develop patience especially with the very young and with aged persons.

• The truly humble person is heard less than others.

• Everyone makes mistakes. Bear with one another.

• Confide in the saintly and those close to God.

• Make friends with the saints of God.

• Pray and suffer.

• Is the cross with us? Treat it as a friend because all spiritual graces come from the cross of Christ.

• Love one another in God.

• Charity produces peace.

• Those spreading sunshine bask in it themselves.

• Joy is found in God, not in material things.

• Perfection is reached only by walking the road to Calvary.

• Accepted pain produces divine love.

• Peace of heart often restores health of body.

• Leave the judgment of others to God. He alone knows.

• Flee self-love. Do not press your opinion.

• The spirit of the world in always dangerous.

• All temperaments fortified by God’s grace can produce virtues.

• Every man is fallible. Only God is infallible.

• Order and cleanliness are necessary for good work.

• Apply yourself with the greatest effort in works of charity.

• Know how to live by faith and charity so that you may become “angels of peace.”

• Fidelity in trials is a pledge of divine blessings.

• Mistrust yourself. Confide in God.

• Good example is the most eloquent of all sermons.

• Holy souls know and love one another in the deepest friendship.

• Pray for one another.

• Love God who alone can satisfy our hearts.

• Let us bear the weight of one another’s sufferings.

• Pray and suffer – a testament of perfection.

• Providence must be merited by believing in it, by praying, and by taking the trouble to work.

• Fiend a way to advise one another prudently.

• All that is not done for God is sad vanity.

• Suffering united with Christ’s passion merits the highest graces.

• The greatest comfort here below is to look up to God and call Him: “Father.”

• Prayer and suffering will merit for us the heavenly palm of victory.

• Our invisible Captain is Jesus Christ.

• Pride is a demon who knows how to conceal his presence.

• It is much better to obey than to command.

• Obedience is better than sacrifice.

• The letter of the law kills. The spirit vivifies.

• Let us grow daily in virtue.

• Show us your heart, O Immaculate Mary, and grant that we may love you as much as we are capable of loving.

• Accept obedience as a penance for your sins.

• Prepare yourself to accept the daily trials of life.

• To be poor and detached is easy. To be rich and detaches is miraculous.

• Our Lord promises victory to those who obey.

• Personal holiness lived in joy produces peace.

• Our Lord uses many ways to lead souls to perfection.

• Good works mature by means of prayer and sacrifice.

• Earthly chains born in love will be changes into heavenly jewels.

• Extraordinary suffering – extraordinary graces.

• Accept the trials that God sends.

• Be satisfied with the relative comforts God gives us.

• One does not live sincerely until he has a taste for suffering.

• The Lord works on the soul as the sculptor works on marble.

• Goodness of heart and a spirit of great charity are necessary in all undertakings.

• The prudent man is careful not to believe all he hears.

• It is necessary that we, children of God, accomplish His holy will.

• One always walks with security when he follows the light that comes from on high.

• The blessing of the Vicar on earth confirms that of the Lord in heaven.

• Protect your lamp from every worldly breath which could extinguish the flame.

• God must become the whole treasure of our hearts.

• Jesus Christ is the friend who never forsakes us.

• The Church is our Paradise on earth.

• God, our Father, knows what is best for us.

• Abandon yourself confidently in the loving arms of Providence.

• Close your eyes to the world.

• Fear and anxiety do not come from God.

• Sobriety leads longevity.

• Do not listen to the voice of temptation.

• Imitate the example of Jesus, Mary, and the Saints.

• Strive to prefer divine conversation to human speech.

• Raise your mind and heart to God. He has prepared a nest for you.

• If you are weak, God is strong.

• Remove anything that can make other speak evilly of you.

• Fidelity in trials will produce divine blessings.

• Let us pray for one another.

• To live in this world and not of the world is rare.

• A too talkative person is annoying – a too taciturn person is without spirit.

• Only God is holy. All men have defects.

• Be consumed by the holy flames of piety and charity.

• We live in a family community where authority is mixed with love.

• Accept your neighbor for what he is.

• Avoid excessive rigor and excessive indulgence.

• Be selective in reading papers and books that merely distract.

• Souls dedicated to God are purified through suffering.

• Our Lord provides needed grace at all times.

• Bodily health must be maintained for service to the soul.

• The Lord gives inspirations to minds which tend toward heavenly thinking.

• Cling to Mary, Our Lady of Providence.

• How dear to God are His children. Save their innocence by instruction and prayer.

• Every care could be taken to teach catechism to the children.

• A true daughter of Mary is sincere and humble.

• God created man for noble actions.

• The secret of confidence in God is the soul of our work.

• Let us dearly love our holy Mother of Providence; let us speak to everyone about Mary. She is the Mother of us all and is the gate through which we pass to the favor of her divine Son, Jesus.

• Man’s happiness if found in the observance of charity.

• There is no love without obedience.

• How beautiful to see the people of God praying before the Blessed Sacrament exposed.

• It is necessary to view death daily and to accept it as God wills.

• Hope and a holy fear uplift the soul of the Christian.

• None of us is self-sufficient.

• The evil one is always a liar.

• Let us keep our eyes fixed on heaven.

• Mercy is for this life; justice is for eternity.

• The day of death for the saint is his birthday in heaven.

• God, our Father, is most merciful and tender.

• Mary attributed everything to God. This was humility.

• Although we are destined to die, let us remember the Redemption.

• Heaven is to be with God. What does anything else matter?

• Our days on earth are very few.

• The words of Jesus are warnings to prepare us for eternal life.

• Always keep your thoughts on heaven and you will not feel the thorns.

• That which we desire for ourselves we should do for others.

• Our Lord prepares a great jubilee in heaven for those who have suffered the most.

• Good example is like the sun which is light and heat.

• It is useful to pray for the dead. They, in turn, will help us.

• Dip your gift of love into the wounds of Jesus. Its perfume will ascend to heaven.

• Death will one day come to me. So will the judgment of God.

• Before retiring to sleep, beg the blessings of God.

• Instead of concentrating on our miseries, let us think of the meaning of God’s Word.

• Prepare yourself a good death through a good life.

• Take the opportunity to read and listen to the Word of God as often as possible.

• Nothing is done without effort.

• Christian charity is the infallible master of amiability and kindness.

• Have a heart-to-heart talk with Jesus every day.

• Mary gives us Jesus with ineffable affection; she gives us Jesus who saves us…

• Let us beg for holy vocations to the Church and to our Congregation.

• The gift of a religious vocation demands love.

• Blessed are they who carry on high the name of the Vicar of Christ.

• Loyalty to our Holy Father, the Pope, draws powerful graces for man.

• Let us console the Pope and support him with prayers.

• The Pope is the way, the truth, and the life in the name of Jesus Christ.

• Remember that priests are human and have defects. Support them with your prayers.

• We can never stop as long as there are poor to be assisted, distresses to be relieved.

• Patience is a queenly virtue.

• The life of an apostle is a hard life outlined in blood.

• We live but briefly in some sorrow and God rewards us with happiness forever.

• The evil one can transform himself into an angel of light.

• Know that trials are a sign that God will never leave us.

• Those who lead souls to heaven are God’s priests. Respect and love them.

• Fidelity to the Church is fidelity to Christ.

• Prudent people know when to speak and when to be silent.

• Hold simplicity dear, in speech and action.

• In the house of the Lord can be heard to voice of God.

• The more a man increases in holiness, so much the more does he humble himself.

• He who gives to the poor receives from God.

• An innocent soul is the delight of God.

• Only he who works can err. But he who errs does better tomorrow.

• The angels and saints are your protectors.

• Let us not refuse divine proposals.

• Simplicity is essentially sincerity.

• To prudently keep a secret requires light from above.

• Strive to keep your mind as clear as a beautiful morning.

• Self-control is so necessary that without it we could not reasonably live.

• The willing victim has a heart resembling the Heart of Jesus.

(Mostly Credit: Daughters of St. Mary of Providence. “1881-1981, 100 Years of Loyalty to the Church.” Chicago, 1981.)