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Saint Josemaria
Quotations from Saint Josemaria

Sanctity is for everyone

Tags: Ascetical struggle, Holiness, Vocation
Chosen from all eternity
You and I belong to Christ’s family, for he himself has chosen us before the foundation of the world, to be saints, to be blameless in his sight, for love of him, having predestined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his Will (Eph 1:4-5). We have been chosen gratuitously by Our Lord. His choice of us sets us a clear goal. Our goal is personal sanctity, as St. Paul insistently reminds us, haec est voluntas Dei: sanctificatio vestra (1 Thess 4:3), this is the Will of God: your sanctification. Let us not forget, then, that we are in our Master’s sheepfold in order to achieve that goal.
Friends of God, 2

The only Model
The great secret of sanctity comes down to becoming more and more like Him, the only and most lovable Model.
The Forge, 752

The main condition
A saint, without prayer? I don’t believe in such sanctity.
The Way, 107

The little duties
‘Great’ holiness consists in carrying out the ‘little duties’ of each moment.
The Way, 817

Finishing tasks well
Sanctity is made up of heroic acts. Therefore, in our work we are asked for the heroism of finishing properly the tasks committed to us, day after day, even though they are the same tasks. If we don’t, then we do not want to be saints.
Furrow, 529

Whoever really wants to achieve sanctity, takes no breaks or holidays.
Furrow, 129

Sanctity consists in struggling, in knowing that we have defects and in heroically trying to overcome them.
Sanctity, I insist, consists in overcoming those defects - although we will still have defects when we die; for if not, as I have told you, we would become proud.
The Forge, 312

All for Love! This is the way of holiness, the way of happiness.
Face up to your intellectual tasks, the highest things of the spirit and also those things that are most down to earth, the things we all of necessity have to do, with this in mind; and you will live joyfully and with peace.
The Forge, 725

Saints are made, not born
Certainly our goal is both lofty and difficult to attain. But please do not forget that people are not born holy. Holiness is forged through a constant interplay of God’s grace and the correspondence of man. As one of the early Christian writers says, referring to union with God, “Everything that grows begins small. It is by constant and progressive feeding that it gradually grows big”. So I say to you, if you want to become a thorough-going Christian – and I know you are willing, even though you often find it difficult to conquer yourself or to keep climbing upwards with this poor body of ours – then you will have to be very attentive to the minutest of details, for the holiness that Our Lord demands of you is to be achieved by carrying out with love of God your work and your daily duties, and these will almost always consist of small realities.
Friends of God, 7