St. Pio's Counsels and Exhortations

[Denise]

I always pray for the sick. The best consolation comes from prayer. Every day I say a Holy Rosary for them.

[MarieT]

beautiful

[Denise]

Let us always bind ourselves tightly to the Sorrowful Heart of our heavenly Mother and reflect on its boundless grief and how precious is our soul.

[Denise]

When there is no time for both, meditation is to be preferred to vocal prayer, because it is more fruitful.

[Denise]

In the spiritual way the more one runs the less one feels fatigue; rather peace, prelude of eternal joy will take possession of us. We will be happy and strong in the measure in which, living in this endeavor, we will make Jesus live in us, mortifying ourselves.

[Denise]

Let others follow the way traced out for them by Divine Providence. You look to yourself and follow me (Padre Pio) by the more beautiful way.

[Denise]

TEMPTATION

Do not fear, Jesus is more powerful than all Hell. At the invocation of His Name every knee in heaven, on earth and in hell must bend before Jesus. This is the consolation of the good and the terror of the evil ones.

[Denise]

Stop entertaining those vane fears. Remember it is not feeling which constitutes guilt but the consent to such feelings. Only the free will is capable of good or evil. But when the will sighs under the trial of the tempter and does not will what is presented to it, there is not only no fault but there is virtue.

[Denise]

Despise your temptations and do not dwell on them. Imagine you have Jesus Christ crucified in your arms and on your breast and, kissing His side say, "Behold my hope, behold the living source of my happiness, I will hold You close, o my Jesus, and I will not leave You until You have put me in a place of safety."

[Denise]

Walk amid wind and waves, but with Jesus. If fear strongly grips you, exclaim with St. Peter, "O Lord save me!" He will extend His hand to you. Seize it firmly and walk cheerfully. Let the world turn topsy turvy, everything be in darkness and Mount Sinai all aflame, covered with lightning, thunder; God is with you. But if God lives in the darkness and Mount Sinai all aflame, covered with lightning, thunder, and noise, will we not be safe near Him?

[Denise]

The best means of guarding yourself against temptation are the following; watch your senses to save them from dangerous temptation, avoid vanity, do not let your heart become exalted, convince yourself of the evil of complacency, flee away from hate, pray whenever possible.

[Denise]

At a certain stage or whenever reflection takes precedence over imagination, it is better to reject the persuasion of your foolishness and baseness.

[Denise]

There can be no guilt except in that which the soul wills, or, not having willed it, approves it and does not make an effort to remove it.

[Denise]

If the soul would know the merit which one acquires in temptations suffered in patience and conquered, it would be tempted to say, "Lord, send me temptations."

[Denise]

It is not a sin merely to have impure thoughts. Dispelling them is an exercise of virtue.