A Book of Hours Quotes

“We are what we love. If we love God, in whose image we were created, we discover ourselves in him and we cannot help being happy: we have already achieved something of the fullness of being for which we were destined in our creation. If we love everything else but God, we contradict the image born in our very essence, and we cannot help being unhappy, because we are living a caricature of what we are meant to be.”
― Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours

“There must be a time of day when the man who makes plans forgets his plans, and acts as if he had no plans at all.”
― Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours

“We do not know we are full of paradise because we are so full of our own noise that we cannot hear God singing us and all things into being.”
― Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours

“The pale flowers of the dogwood outside this window are saints. The little yellow flowers that nobody notices on the edge of that road are saints looking up into the face of God.”
― Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours

“Good Shepherd, You have a wild and crazy sheep in love with thorns and brambles. But please don't get tired of looking for me! I know You won't. For You have found me. All I have to do is stay found.”
― Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours

“One bird sits still Watching the work of God:”
― Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours

“Let there be a place somewhere in which you can breathe naturally, quietly, and not have to take your breath in continuous short gasps. A place where your mind can be idle, and forget its concerns, descend into silence, and worship the Father in secret.”
― Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours

“It is as if in creating us God asked a question, and in awakening us to contemplation He answered the question, so that the contemplative is at the same time, question and answer.”
― Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours