The Quotable Mother Angelica

A Sampling of the Beloved Nun’s Witty Wisdom

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“Unless you are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous.”

 

“Your plans, your projects, your dreams have to always be bigger than you, so God has room to operate. I want you to get good ideas, crazy ideas, extravagant ideas. Nothing is too much for the Lord to do.”

 

“I just want people to know that their God is a loving God.” — Mother Angelica on CBS’ 60 Minutes

 

“Faith is what gets you started. Hope is what keeps you going. Love is what brings you to the end.”

 

“Where most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: saint.”

 

“Lord, the joy of your resurrection fills my soul with the realization that my body will also rise someday.”

 

 “Joy is a sign of God’s presence in us.”

 

“Never lose sight of the fact that you are beloved of God.”

 

“You have all eternity to experience the presence of God, but you have a very short time to do something for him.”

 

“You must laugh your way to heaven because tears won’t get you there.”

 

“I love you, and God loves you more than you know.”

 

“Try to laugh a lot, because life is funny and everybody today is too serious. The only tragedy in the world, my friend, is sin.”

 

“You can take any part of Scripture and wonder at God’s providence.”

 

“If God is love and you are called to be like God, then you too must love.”

 

“Holiness is not for wimps, and the cross isn’t negotiable, Sweetheart — it’s a requirement.”

 

“Union with God means praying continually.”

 

“Do you really believe God loves you? If you do, you know everything that happens in your life is for your good.”

 

“I wish you heaven.”

 

“Let us not be confused by the talents and missions of other saints. Let us be the kind of saints we were created to be.”

 

“Gentle Jesus, have mercy on me.”

 

“I’m not here to win friends and influence people. I’m here to do God’s will.”

 

“If you are following God, he never shows you the end. It’s always a walk of faith.”

 

“God wants you to be in the world, but so different from the world that you will change it. Get cracking.”

 

“If you’ve got a cross, carry it. It’s to make you holy.”

 

“Mary, my mother, teach me how to love Jesus and how to be like him.”

 

“Everything starts with one person. I don’t care if you are 5 or 105 — God from all eternity chose you to be where you are, at this time in history, to change the world.”

 

“It is because Jesus suffered and we unite our pain to his that suffering changes and transforms us.”

 

“To trust that everything that happens to us is for our good is hope.”

 

“You have to enjoy life without resting in it. You have to have zest for life but a desire for heaven. And you must see God in all things, realizing that he transcends them all.”

 

“A soul that trusts God is invincible.”

 

“I thought today, ‘What would Our Lady do in my place?’ How did she contemplate the Lord in the midst of her activities?”

 

“A Christian has one goal in mind: What does God want me to do?”

 

“We are all called to be great saints. Don’t miss the opportunity.”

 

“Your anchor is with the Church. The truth is there.”

 

“Sometimes we ask God for things, and we seem to get the exact opposite. God sees the whole chapter. You just see the beginning.”

 

“In the Gospel, there’s an answer to everything.”

 

“We cannot turn God on and off like a light bulb. He is the Light of our lives and the source of our being.”

 

“So let’s make up our minds: Today I shall be a saint.”

 

“You may be the only Jesus that your neighbor will ever see.”

 

“There’s a lot of things that you can do, but you’ve got to do what God has asked you to do, and stick to it!”

 

EWTN photo