St. Faustina Kowalska

I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse yourself from it. (the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to her in a vision) 1

O, my Jesus, I understand well that, just as illness is measured with a thermometer and a high fever tells us of the seriousness of the illness; so also, in the spiritual life, suffering is the thermometer which measures the love of God in a soul. 2

May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of...unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor. 3

I thank God for this illness and these physical discomforts, because I have the time to converse with the Lord Jesus. 4

A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat. 5

God does not give Himself to a chattering soul which, like a drone in a beehive, buzzes around but gathers no honey. A talkative soul is empty inside. It lacks both the essential virtues and intimacy with God. A deeper interior life, one of gentle peace and of that silence where the Lord dwells, is quite out of the question. A soul that has never tasted the sweetness of inner silence is a restless spirit which disturbs the silence of others. I have seen many souls in the depths of hell of hell for not having kept their silence; they told me so themselves when I asked them what was the cause of their undoing. 6

I tremble to think that I have to give an account of my tongue. ... Sometimes we kill with the tongue: we commit real murders. 7