Category Archives: Catholic Living

Wonder & Whimsy: Prayer, Poetry & Habit

A weekly curation of quotations I come across in my reading life (or on random condiment jars) — from the inspirational to the miscellaneous. Perhaps one inspires you or catches your fancy too…

How to approach prayer today…

“In our petitions we will receive more by sighs than by speech, more by tears than by words.”

(The “Response” to the second reading in the OOR in the Liturgy of the Hours for today)

From St. Robert Southwell’s poem “Content and Rich”…

“I dwell in Grace’s court,

Enriched with Virtue’s rights;

Faith guides my wit, Love leads my will,

Hope all my mind delights.”

Are we living as God intended us?

“The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God.” (St. Irenaeus)

The power and role of habit…

“Education is the formation of habits.”

“Habit is 10 natures.”

— Charlotte Mason (Home Education, Vol. 1, pt. 3)

Wonder & Whimsy: Reading, Creativity & Nature

A weekly curation of quotations I come across in my reading life (or on random condiment jars) — from the inspirational to the miscellaneous. Perhaps one inspires you or catches your fancy too…

Are you utilizing the gift of literacy that you have been given?

“A man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” — Mark Twain

If you are feeling stretched too much…

“You can’t be creative in all directions at once.” — Flannery O’Connor (Habit of Being, p. 243)

G. K. Chesterton:

“If there is one thing worse than the modern weakening of major morals, it is the modern strengthening of minor morals. Thus it is considered more withering to accuse a man of bad taste than of bad ethics. Cleanliness is not next to godliness nowadays, for cleanliness is made essential and godliness is regarded as an offense.” (From an essay entitled “On Lying in Bed”)

Call to nature:

“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.” — Charlotte Mason (Home Education, Vol. 1, pt. 2, ch. 1)

Wonder & Whimsy: New Format

A weekly curation of quotations I come across in my reading life (or on random condiment jars) — from the inspirational to the miscellaneous. Perhaps one inspires you or catches your fancy too…

Robert Louis Stevenson:

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

A good perspective on suffering from St. Francis de Sales:

“Do not wish for crosses unless you have borne those well which have already been offered to you.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, p. 225)

Flannery O’Conner:

“…discovering the church is apt to be a slow procedure but it can only take place if you have a free mind and no vested interest in disbelief…” (Habit of Being, p. 231)

Sarah Mackenzie on reading aloud as a family:

“The stories we read together act as a bridge when we can’t seem to find another way to connect. They are our currency, our language, our family culture. The words and stories we share become a part of our family identity.” (The Read Aloud Family, p. 38)