The Holy Rosary
back
September

1. We must love, love, love and nothing else.

2. We must continually implore two things from our most tender Lord: that He increase within us love and fear, for love will make us fly in the ways of the Lord, fear will make us careful where we set foot; love will make us see the things of the world for what they are, fear will lead us to beware of negligence. Then when love and fear have kissed, it is no longer in our power to give our affection to the things of this world.

3. Only love can make us indomitable and the language of love is being convinced of confidence. How beautiful love is when received as a gift and how ugly if sought after or demanded.

4. You who are responsible for souls, try with love, with much love, with all your love; and if that is useless... punish because Jesus who is our model, taught us this, creating Paradise but also Hell.

5. If God does not offer you sweetness, then you must still be content, patiently eating your bread, even if it is dry, doing your duty without any compensation, for the present. By doing this our love for God is selfless, and one loves and serves God in this way at one's own expense, a behaviour that pertains to perfect souls.

6. The more bitterness you have, the more love you will receive.

7. A single act of love of God, made during a period of aridity is worth more than a hundred made with affection and consolation.

8. This heart of mine is Yours... my Jesus, so take this heart of mine, fill it with Your love and then order me to do whatever You wish.

9. God loves us, and this is shown by the fact that He tolerates us when we offend Him.

10. Be cheerful. Jesus will take care of everything. Let us pay no attention to people who do not know what they are saying. Let us trust in Jesus and our heavenly Mother, and everything will work out well.

11. Love Jesus, love Him a lot, but for this you must love sacrifice more. Love should be bitter.

12. Courage. Suffice it for us to know that Jesus loves us greatly.

13. The human spirit without the flame of divine love tends to reach the level of the beast, while on the other hand, charity, the love of God, raises it up so high that it can reach even to the throne of God. Give thanks without ever growing weary for the liberality of such a good Father and ask Him to increase holy charity more and more in your heart.

14. You will never complain about offences, no matter where they come from, remembering that Jesus was saturated with ignominy from the malice of men He Himself had aided.
You will excuse everyone with Christian charity, keeping before your eyes the example of the divine Master who excused even his crucifiers before the Father.

15. Jesus and your soul must cultivate the vine in agreement. Your task is to remove the stones, pull away the thorns. Jesus is to sow, plant, cultivate and water. But even in your work there is the work of Jesus. Without Him, you can do nothing.

16. We must not stop doing good even if it scandalizes the Pharisees.

17. Remember: the sinner who is ashamed of his bad deeds is closer to God than the just man who is ashamed of acting well.

18. Time spent for the glory of God and the health of the soul is never wasted.

19. I wholeheartedly bless the work of catechizing children, who are the little flowers of Jesus. I also bless the work of supporting missionaries.

20. All of us are not called by God to save souls and propagate his glory by the noble apostolate of preaching... but one can promote God's glory and work for the salvation of souls by means of a truly Christian life, by praying without ceasing that "his Kingdom come..." that "we may not be led into temptation" and that "He deliver us from evil." This is what you ought to do offering yourself continually to the Lord for this purpose.

21. Arise once more, oh Lord, and confirm in your grace, those whom you confided to me, and don't permit any of them to be lost, deserting the nest.

22. I belong entirely to everyone. Everyone can say: "Padre Pio is mine." I deeply love my brothers in exile. I love my spiritual children as much as my own soul and even more. I have regenerated them to Jesus through suffering and love. I can forget myself but not my spiritual children, indeed I can assure you that when the Lord calls me I will say to Him: "Lord, I will remain at the gates of Paradise; I will go in when I have seen the last of my children enter."
I suffer so much because I cannot win all my brothers for God. At times I am on the point of dying of heartache on seeing so many suffering souls without being able to relieve them and so many brothers allied to Satan.

23. Life is nothing but a continual struggle against oneself, and it does not open to beauty without the price of suffering.
Always keep Jesus company in Gethsemane and He will know how to comfort you in the hours of anguish that will come.

24. There is one thing I absolutely cannot stand and it is this: if I have to rebuke someone, I am always ready; but I cannot bear to see someone else do it. To see someone humiliated or mortified like this is unbearable for me.

25. May God be pleased to see that these poor creatures truly repent and retum to Him. One must truly be a mother towards all those people and have great care for them, because Jesus tells us that there is more festivity in Heaven for the sinner who repents than for the perseverance of ninety nine just people. These words of the Redeemer are truly comforting to many souls who unfortunately sin, and who then want to repent and return to Jesus.

26. The woes of humanity: these are thoughts for everyone.

27. Don't try, excessively, to heal your heart, as your efforts would only make it more infirm. Don't make too great an effort to overcome your temptations, as this violence would only make them stronger. Despise them and don't dwell on them too much.

28. Do good everywhere, so that everyone can say: "This is a son of Christ."
Endure tribulation, sickness and pain for love of God and for the conversion of poor sinners. Defend the weak, console those who weep.

29. Don't worry about taking up my time, because the time best spent is that spent in the sanctification of souls, and I don't know how to thank our heavenly Father when He presents me some souls that I can help in some way.

30. Never has the thought of revenge crossed my mind. I have prayed for the slanderers and I pray. If anything, sometimes I have said to the Lord: "Lord if to convert them a lash is necessary, then give it to me so that they may be saved."