December 15, 2007

JUNE - Patience


Introduction to the teachings of St. Anthony Zaccaria

on PATIENCE


Fr. Anthony M. Gentili, CRSP
Fr. John M. Scalese, CRSP

"With patience we could bear abundant fruits of charity.”
(Sr VII, 143).


Zaccaria considers patience as one of the virtues that must be roused in the heart of man, especially the religious. The Master will have to be the first to have it, since how could he be able to "inculcate Patience in the disciples, if he were given to angry outbursts?" (Cs XII, 175). On his part the visitor will not limit himself to encourage patience, but will introduce "in the soul the reason and the causes ... for example: man has to be patient, because he deserves to suffer more than he already suffers, since he was the cause of Christ's death" (Cs XIX, 204).


The way to acquire patience, as all other virtues, is to adapt oneself to what one is asking: ‘Do you want patience? Desire tribulations and pains, because Patience is not given without tribulations and pains" (Cs X, 170). To be endowed with patience is one of the requirements for the admission of postulants: "If you find out that they complain, or are lukewarm or impatient, or do similar things do not admit them" (Cs XI, 173). Patience, in fact, in its double meaning as ability to suffer and to know how to be patient in the midst of the inevitable trials, is an indispensable virtue for the follower of Christ, and moreover it is through it that "abundant fruits of charity" (Sr VII, 143) are obtained.

Famous Sayings on PATIENCE

June 1
Patience proceeds from the strength of the soul through which we bear adverse things. Patience, however, may come with some imperfections of vainglory and of other passions.
June 2
Patience that is founded on fear, or on human respect, or on worldly convenience, or on one's inability to prove oneself, produces little fruit. This kind is not patience but suffering.
June 3
No one can approach God without the calm endurance of many tribulations.
June 4
True patience begins when one resolves to remain patient for the sake of Christ. Patience needed for salvation, without which one cannot see God, endures all adversities without complaining or grumbling. One can fall into the pit of sin without the virtue of patience.
June 5
He who is deprived of true patience, and who does not care to obtain it, will always suffer, and will suffer against his will.
June 6
If you want to avoid impatience, don't say like the others that it is enough for you not to complain, but instead embrace patience greatly, which is a necessary virtue that will help you draw joy from pain.
June 7
One who has acquired patience has already avoided impatience, and is far from falling into it. He has already acquired his reward.
June 8
God does not reward equally those who are patient because they willed it and those who are patient because it was only necessary for them to do so. It is great foolishness not to gain this reward. It will indeed be a great damage and loss.
June 9
Wrong love for oneself takes away the good that patience brings. If you truly love yourself, do not deprive yourself of such good.
June 10
If it were not for voluntary suffering, the root of our reward would have ceased. Because God does not reward the lazy and the negligent, but the fervent whose patience makes the difference. June 11
Many ask God for patience but are unwilling to suffer when they meet adversity; thus, they ask in vain. They stay imperfect because patience cannot be found without suffering.
June 12
There are those who want to suffer only for a certain period of time, and those who want to suffer according to their wish. God reproves both. If you truly want to embrace patience, leave yourself to God's judgment and will.
June 13
Through tribulation, many have come to know themselves, have learned to pray, and have overcome their negligence.
June 14
Patience is praised by all, but embraced with desire by few.
June 15
Patience tries those who belong to God; its trial makes their virtue known; and this virtue induces hope. Hope is connected with love.
June 16
Remember that corporal discipline is of little value; it is the desire of the spirit that vivifies man. June 17
It is a childish game not to leave voluntarily what we have been continually compelled to abandon contrary to our will.
June 18
Till now we have written the beginning of patience. The means of patience is silence and the abstinence from work, though the heart rather moves against our will.
June 19
A truly patient person is generous and superior to all things. He who gets away from adversity because of fear is a coward, and he degrades himself, for bearing adversity is indeed proper to great souls.
June 20
What seems difficult and impossible to the worldly is easy and light to the strong and spiritual. For to the latter, the world is dead, and so with joy they bear everything that God gives.
June 21
Those who are truly patient and are willing to suffer for Christ gains confidence in God, while those who are afraid and who refuse to suffer for Christ do not gain such confidence.
June 22
Just as when the sun appears, darkness is dispersed, so the willingness to suffer for Christ eliminates vice.
June 23
Only he who endures tribulation with joy can control his thoughts, which can be a source of all malice.
June 24
The work of patience is perfect because it makes every virtue perfect.
June 25
The fruit of patience is peace of mind. One cannot obtain this fruit if he refuses to suffer for Christ.
June 26
He who possesses the gift of patience embraces charity, which does not render evil for evil but rather render good for evil.
June 27
The more the soul of a patient person endures, the more steadfast in suffering it becomes.
June 28
Only he who truly recognizes God's providence over his life and who experiences God in his heart as his Protector can willingly bear the tempest blow of adversities.
June 29
He who lives solely for God will not worry about anything that may happen in the world.
June 30
Only a truly lover of the Cross can become immortal.

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