“An official of the French Army asked St. Bernadette once whether she feared an invasion of the Prussians. She responded, “I only fear bad Catholics.” He responded, “Don’t you fear anything else?”—“No, nothing.””
To enter the School for Saints, Piety is a Prerequisite
“Godliness (pietas) is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come”
“If you perform a virtuous deed at the cost of great effort, the labor passes away but the virtue remains, but if you take delight in some sinful deed, the pleasure passes away but the sin remains.”
Practicing for Heaven requires . . . Penance! Penance! Penance!
“. . . unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” — Luke 13:3
“His Majesty, Our Lord Jesus Christ, told Sr. Lucia what was meant by the command to do ‘Penance! Penance! Penance!’ : ‘the sacrifice required for every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My law. This is the penance that I now seek and require.’”
“I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.”
Making Progress in the School for Saints Requires Mental Prayer
Helpful Meditations from The Devout Year
Bd. Francis Palau
Additional Meditations: The Our Father & Virtues
Making Saintly Resolutions
“What is mental prayer, then? It is ‘to think and to understand what we are saying, and with Whom we speak, and who we are who dare to talk with so great a Lord. To think this and other similar things, of how little we have served Him and how much we ought to serve Him, is mental prayer.’”
Various Important Novenas that Maintain Piety
“Dearly beloved, if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards God: And whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive of him: because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight.”
Required Yearly Courses for the School for Saints:
Lent and Advent
To Make it to Heaven Saints follow a Regula (Rule)
Saints Walk Together to Heaven:
They Court to Find that Heaven-bound Spouse
“In the company of saints we become saints”
Necessary Things Saints do on Earth to Practice for what Saints do in Heaven
Sunday Obligation & Rest
Tithing
Dressing Modestly
Wearing the Chapel Veil
Practicing for Heaven Requires STUDY
“Live as if you will die tomorrow. Study as if you will live forever.”
Prayer before Study of St. Thomas Aquinas
Grant us grace, O merciful God, to desire ardently all that is pleasing to Thee, to examine it prudently, to acknowledge it truthfully, and to accomplish it perfectly, for the praise and glory of Thy name. Amen.
“O Virtue! How rarely we see you, yet how real you are!”
“If the movement of the universe were irrational, and the world rolled on in random fashion, one would be justified in disbelieving what we say. But if the world is founded on reason, wisdom and science, and is filled with orderly beauty, then it must owe its origin and order to none other than the Word of God”
To Be a Saint We Must Die Well
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” — Ps. 115:1
In order to die a good and holy death . . . make your nine First Fridays, five First Saturdays, pray the Rosary daily, and wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Prayer for a Happy Death
by St. John Henry Newman
O MY LORD and Savior, support me in my last hour in the strong arms of Thy Sacraments and by the fresh fragrance of Thy consolations. Let the absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let Thine own Body be my food, and Thy Blood my sprinkling; and let my sweet Mother, Mary, breathe on me, and my Angel whisper peace to me, and my glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile upon me, that, in them all and through them all, I may receive the gift of perseverance, and die as I desire to live, in Thy faith, in Thy Church, in Thy service, and in Thy love. Amen.
Help Maintain this School for Saints
“There is no good merchant or good laborer, or soldier, or scholar who does not take care, and watch, and employ solicitude and undertake great trials, to increase his house, his clothing, his reputation, and all his property. If such men do this, all the more is it demanded of those who serve God in acquiring property to build churches and monasteries and to accumulate all they can for the service of souls and the glory of the divine Majesty.”
“May we all be saved souls together in heaven.”