Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat
The Society lives wholly in its members and its members in it, and what is common to all thus includes what is special to each.
The spirit of prayer is the essence of our vocation.
Why can we not say to the universe, "Know His Heart?"
As your difficulties increase, increase your trust.
It is better to err on the side of being too kind than too firm.
To live without suffering is to live without love; to live without love is to die.
When we have lost neither heaven nor hope, what else matters?
Humility is the oil which keeps the lamps of the faithful burning, lighting the way to the Bridal Chamber of the Lamb.
Let us remember that peace can only reign in hearts that are humble and detached.
Speak little, pray much, go onward always, let passing things pass by, holding only onto what is eternal…
Our Lord bears with souls; he loves them even with tenderness and excuses and forgives their faults. How much greater reason have we to bear with one another?
Let us open our hearts to confidence to the spirit of joy; we serve the best of all Masters and all that we have is His. What is there to fear?
Let us belong to God and to God alone; let us love Him only.
What are we without the children? I have lived for them and I will die for them.
The Holy Spirit will come to you quietly, gently, almost imperceptibly.
We do everything at top speed, and I am not sure the Holy Spirit can act at that pace.
Keep on then like the sunflower, turning towards the true Sun of Justice so as to enter ever deeper into the prayer of simplicity.
When we seek God, the one whom we seek is already ours.
When the love of Jesus is in question our generosity should know no bounds.
Speed on towards holiness! We have so little time to complete this important task.
Mary Magdalen is the first adorer of the Heart of Jesus, and she must be the model for our love, a tender and generous love that refuses nothing and is always ready for the complete gift of self.
It is a great art to act only by the Spirit of Jesus.
Let love be your life for all eternity.
We don’t live with angels; we have to put up with human nature and forgive it.
The Spirit is always speaking to us deep in our hearts, if only we listen to her.
God’s work is done slowly and in obscurity.
Courage and confidence must be our battle-cry. We cannot repeat these words too often.
Love God, and if you cannot meditate you can always say: My God, I love you.
Let us keep our hearts for Jesus; we may love others in him and for him, but his must be the first, the undisputed right. Has God not won the claim to a love surpassing all others?
He wants you to realize that strength is one of his gifts, and at the same time know how to sympathize with weakness.
The Sacred Heart never asks that we become perfect all at once, but that we work at becoming so day by day as God gives us grace and light.
Only try to be generous and faithful; the Holy Spirit will do her work in you.
Jesus, let us make this pact: that I will die to everything in myself so that you can live through me; that I will be utterly silent so that it is you who speak in and through me; that in my being still you will act in and through me.
If you seek God alone, and seek him always, you will easily find him.
Let us love the Will of God above all things; let us cling to it no matter what happens, in life, in death, in sickness, in health. This is the source of all peace and happiness.
Reflect before the tabernacle, calm yourself, empty yourself face-to-face with fullness…renew yourself in the wounds of Jesus Christ, especially in the wound of his side; it is ours…and then live anew joyously.
We must know how to inspire in our pupils a passion for the beautiful.
Nothing blots out sin like love.
There is room for all in that wide wound in the Heart of Jesus, but its secret depths are for the little and lowly ones.
Let your heart be more attentive than your head, for the Holy Spirit is love, and to take hold of her, it is more important to love than to understand.
The Holy Spirit looks for a heart totally free of selfishness in order to take possession of it…When the Spirit finds such openness, she pours herself out plentifully and rewards the person with boundless love.
Even though you have fallen a thousand times in one day, if in the evening at examen you stand up again on your two feet, you may sing of victory.
For the sake of peace, I try to put myself in their place and only judge them by looking through their spectacles.
…repay our God love for love, heart for heart…
We should have but one desire, to love Jesus and to do His Will
What difference does it make how you pray, provided that your heart is seeking the One whom you love?
Work more and more at letting yourselves be led by the Spirit of God: with this divine leader you will be rich in every spiritual gift for yourselves and others; you will have prudence, firmness when necessary; in fact, the Spirit will supply all you lack.
The Heart of Jesus is for (Religious of the Sacred Heart) shelter, food, fire, light, cool water…It is their element, their path, their life, their all. They were born there; there they must grow, live and die: in him, with him, for him.
This name [Religious of the Sacred Heart] is in itself a mission.
Let us never lose sight of Jesus, bearing in mind that God is all and the things of earth nothing except by him and in him.
Beware! The best is sometimes the enemy of the good.
For the sake of [a single child], I would have founded the Society of the Sacred Heart.
Pray a great deal for the people in charge; they cannot always do what is best and often they have to be content with doing something good.
Hurry to be holy.
Grasp this fact clearly: Our Lord wishes you to become a great saint. He brought you into this little Society just to give you the means to doing so. You can do all things now, if only you are faithful to grace.
- in a letter to Rose Philippine Duchesne
