Art of Praying Quotes

“To recite the Rosary in a hurry is not only wrong but absolutely pointless: it must be spoken slowly and thoughtfully. If there is no time for a whole Rosary one should do one section only; it is better to recite a part in the correct manner than the whole of it with insufficient care.”
― Romano Guardini Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“The saints do not live merely in books and pictures but in reality. They love those who are joined with them in Christ; and so from this union of a common love there is no knowing what contacts and relationships may spring.”
― Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“The saints are the explorers in the kingdom of God, the discoverers of His magnitude and power. Thus they blaze a trail which others can tread and they create a way of life which others, who could not have created it for themselves, can also adopt. A saint who is spiritually linked to us may truly become a guide and teacher; such a relationship is, or at least can be, completely mutual.”
― Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“In a closer scrutiny of the lives of certain Christians we may be impressed by the discovery of a close connection with a saint. The relationship to the saints is wholesome and fundamentally natural and right. Admittedly, they were only human beings, but they have entered into the mystery of God and the new creation is completed in them. The believer does not seek in them great personalities, but rather God's witnesses in whom God has been fulfilled.”
― Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“The profoundest motive which leads us toward the saints is the desire simply to be in their company — to abide with them. It is love seeking the communion of those who have dedicated their lives to love and who are now fulfilled in it; it is the desire for that holy atmosphere in which the soul can breathe and for the mysterious current which nourishes it; it is the longing for the answer to the ultimate meaning of existence.”
― Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“To seek the love of those who have fully entered into communion with God, who are at one with His will and filled with His grace, is a natural expression of the life of faith. But in addition to the appeal, praise takes a prominent place, rejoicing at the devout and noble lives of the saints, their deeds and victory, and at the divine guidance manifested in them. They are the witnesses to redemption.”
― Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“The saints reflect the majesty of God. This is how it has come about that from the earliest days of Christianity there has existed a living relationship between the faithful and those who, while on earth, proved themselves the friends of God in a very special way — namely, the saints.”
― Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“The love of the saints arises from a selflessness which comes from God alone and which, with holy earnestness, desires the good of others. Is it not right, therefore, that we should continue to seek this love, even after the hearts in which it lived have ceased to beat on earth? Death according to Christian belief is not an end but a transition. Those who die in the name of Christ do not enter into the void but into the fullness of holy reality.”
― Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“We must dwell upon the ways of God and say to ourselves that He does not work as man does with his tools, but in a thousand mysterious, subtle, and hidden ways through the very essence of things which are His servants.”
― Romano Guardini Romano Guardini, Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer

“There are moments when we suddenly and directly apprehend the incomprehensible, overwhelming fact that we are. Despite the tribulations and burdens of life it still remains a great grace and wonder that we are allowed to breathe, to feel, to think, to love, and to act — in short, to live. And that things exist: the jug on the table, the tree in the field, the landscape around us, and the sun in the sky; and that other people also exist: this person whom I love, that other one who is in my care. In those moments one realizes that nothing can be taken for granted; that everything has the hallmark of free gift and of grace; that one must give thanks for everything — and even that one must give thanks for being able to give thanks. We”
― Romano Guardini, The Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer