In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1 Quotes

“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you,[215] said the Angel to Mary. It is the nearness of God which makes the Virgin rejoice. And the nearness of the Messiah will make the unborn Baptist show forth his joy in the womb of Elizabeth.[216] And the Angel will say to the shepherds: Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day a Saviour ...[217] Joy is to possess Jesus; unhappiness is to lose him.”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“The world’s experience of Christianity has been like a great love, the love of a lifetime ... No new voice ... will have any appeal for us, if it does not bring us back to the stable at Bethlehem – there to humble our pride, and enlarge our charity, and deepen our sense of reverence with the sight of a dazzling purity.[323]”
― Francisco Fernández-Carvajal, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“We need a firm foundation for our happiness. It cannot depend exclusively on changeable circumstances like good news, good health, peace and quiet, enough money to bring up the family comfortably and having all the material possessions we would like. All these things are good in themselves if they do not separate us from God, but they are unable to provide us with real happiness. Our Lord asks us to be happy always. Let each man take care how he builds. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.[224] Only he can be the support of our whole life. There is no sorrow which he cannot alleviate: Do not fear, only believe,[225] he says to us. He knows everything which is going to happen in our lives, including those things that will result from our stupidity and lack of sanctity. But he has the remedy for them all.”
― Francisco Fernández-Carvajal, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“Those confessionals scattered about the world where men declare their sins don’t speak of the severity of God. Rather do they speak of his mercy. And all those who approach the confessional, sometimes after many years weighed down with mortal sins, in the moment of getting rid of this intolerable burden, find at last a longed for relief. They find joy and tranquillity of conscience which, outside Confession, they will never be able to find anywhere.[38]”
― Francisco Fernández-Carvajal, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“You write: ‘To pray is to talk with God, but about what?’ About what? About Him, about yourself; joys, sorrows, successes and failures, noble ambitions, daily worries, weaknesses! And acts of thanksgiving and petitions: and Love and reparation. In a word: to get to know him and to get to know yourself: to get acquainted.[”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“The virtue of humility, so evident in Our Lady’s life, is truth,[401] the true recognition of what we are and are worth in the eyes of God and of our fellow men. It is also an emptying of ourselves to allow God to work in us with his grace. It is the rejection of appearances and of superficiality; it is the expression of the depth of the human spirit; it is a condition for its greatness.[402] Humility is founded on the awareness of our”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“Whoever does things for love of God and for His Glory never fails. Convince yourself of this truth: your success – this time, in this matter – was to fail. Give thanks to our Lord ... and try again![311]You haven’t failed; you have gained experience. On you go![312]”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“We have to act in such a way that others will be able to say, when they meet us: This man is a Christian, because he does not hate, because he is willing to understand, because he is not a fanatic, because he is willing to make sacrifices, because he shows that he is a man of peace, because he knows how to love.[140]”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“So, though he discerns much infirmity in you which ought not to be there, yet he will deign to rebuke the winds and the sea, and say: Peace, be still. And there will be a great calm.[44]”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“There is no room for the proud in that little group in Bethlehem.”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“The baby who will be born in Bethlehem is the only begotten Son of God, consubstantial with the Father, eternal, having his own divine nature and also the human nature which he has assumed in Mary’s virginal womb. When we look at him this Christmas and see him helpless in the arms of his mother, we must not forget that this is God, made man for love of us, every single one of us. During these days when we read with profound wonder the words of the Gospel and dwelt among us, or when we say the Angelus, we shall have a good opportunity for making a deep and grateful act of faith, and for adoring the sacred Humanity of Our Lord.”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“Our Lord will show us the fruits of that apostolate and how, although it sometimes seemed to us to be useless, it was in fact always effective. The seed which is sown always brings forth grain: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty[188] ... much grain from a single seed.”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“Only those who do not fight are never wounded; those who charge the enemy with the greatest spirit are the ones who receive the most blows.[187]”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“How I wish your bearing and conversation were such that, on seeing or hearing you, people would say: This man reads the life of Jesus Christ.[173]”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent

“Lord, make me know your ways. Lord, teach me your paths. Make me walk in your truth, and teach me: for you are God my Saviour.[8]”
― Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God – Volume 1 Part 1: Advent