We are not raised the first day to the summit of perfection. It is by climbing, not by flying, that we arrive there.--ST. BERNARD. 14 What we do for ourselves during life is more certain than all the good we expect others to do for us after death.--ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. 15 Idleness begets a discontented life. It develops self-love, which is the cause of all our misery, and renders us unworthy to receive the favors of divine love.--ST. IGNATIUS. 16 Have death always before your eyes as a salutary means of returning to God.--ST. BERNARD. 17 If the devil tempts me by the thought of divine justice, I think of God's mercy; if he tries to fill me with presumption by the thought of His mercy, I think of His justice.--ST. IGNATIUS. 18 In time of temptation continue the good thou hast begun before temptation.--ST. VINCENT FERRER. 19 In the eyes of the sovereign Judge the merit of our actions depends on the motives which prompted them.--ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. 20 The benefits to be derived from spiritual reading do not merely consist in impressing on the memory the precepts set forth, but in opening the heart to them, that they may bear fruit.--VEN. LOUIS DE BLOIS. 21 As clouds obscure the sun, so bad thoughts darken and destroy the brightness of the soul.--VEN. LOUIS OF GRANADA. 22 To judge rightly of the goodness and perfection of any one's prayer, it is sufficient to know the disposition he takes to it, and the fruits he reaps from it.--ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 23 To commence many things and not to finish them is no small fault; we must persevere in whatever we undertake with upright intention and according to God's will.--BL. HENRY SUSO. 24 The perfect champion is he who establishes complete control over his mind by overcoming temptations and the inclination of his nature to sin.--VEN. JOHN TAULER. 25 If the love of God is in your heart, you will understand that to suffer for God is a joy to which all earthly pleasures are not to be compared.--ST. IGNATIUS. 26 The world around us is, as it were, a book written by the finger of God; every creature is a word on the page. We should apply ourselves well to understand the signification of the volume.--VEN. BARTHOLOMEW OF MARTYRS. 27 A man of prayer is capable of everything. He can say with St. Paul, "I can do all things in Him who strengthened me."--ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 28 Whilst here below our actions can never be entirely free from negligence, frailty, or defect; but we must not throw away the wheat because of the chaff.--VEN. JOHN TAULER. 29 Strive always to preserve freedom of spirit, so that you need do nothing with the view of pleasing the world, and that no fear of displeasing it will have power to shake your good resolutions.--VEN. LOUIS DE BLOIS. 30 Wo to us poor sinners if we had not the Divine Sacrifice to appease the Lord!--ST. ALPHONSUS. July 1 HOW few there are who avail themselves of the precious blood of Jesus to purchase their salvation!--ST. IGNATIUS.