The past is no longer yours; the future is not yet in your power. You have only the present wherein to do good.
Alphonsus LiguoriLet us remember the devil labors hard to disturb us at the time of recollection in order to make us abandon it. Let him then who omits mental prayer on account of distractions be persuaded that he gives delight to the devil.
Alphonsus LiguoriAs all our wickedness consists in turning away from our Creator, so all our goodness consists in uniting ourselves with Him.
Alphonsus LiguoriGood friends find pleasure in one another's company. Let us know pleasure in the company of our best Friend, a Friend who can do everything for us, a friend who loves us beyond measure. Here in the Blessed Sacrament we can talk to him straight from the heart. We can open our souls to him, tell him what we need, beg him for powerful graces. We are perfectly free to approach the King of the universe with full confidence and without fear.
Alphonsus LiguoriAll souls in hell are there because they did not pray. All the saints sanctified themselves by prayer.
Alphonsus LiguoriSt. Augustine and St. Thomas define mortal sin to be a turning away from God: that is, the turning of one's back upon God, leaving the Creator for the sake of the creature. What punishment would that subject deserve who, while his king was giving him a command, contemptuously turned his back upon him to go and transgress his orders? This is what the sinner does; and this is punished in hell with the pain of loss, that is, the loss of God, a punishment richly deserved by him who in this life turns his back upon his sovereign good.
Alphonsus Liguori