Adolphe Tanquerey > Quotes

“Present evils are but means of purifying our soul, of grounding it in virtue, and occasions of acquiring merits, all in view of God's glory, the ultimate end of creation.”
― Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life: A Treatise On Ascetical And Mystical Theology

“[W]hat counts before God is the generous, oft-renewed effort despite apparent failures.”
― Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life: A Treatise On Ascetical And Mystical Theology

“Because God is holiness itself, we cannot be united to Him unless we are clean of heart--a state implying a twofold condition: atonement for the past and detachment from sin and the occasions of sin for the future.”
― Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life: A Treatise On Ascetical And Mystical Theology

“It is evident that one who would merely aim at avoiding mortal sin would not be living according to the standard .of moral conduct outlined in the Gospel. Our Lord proposes to us as the ideal ot holiness the very perfection of Our Heavenly Father: "Be ye therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. " Hence, all having God for their Father must approach this divine perfection.... Fundamentally, the whole Sermon on the Mount is nothing but a commentary on and the development of this ideal. The path to follow is the path of renunciation, the path of imitation of Christ and of the love of God: "Any man come to me, and hate not" (that is to say does not renounce) "his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. " We are bound, then, on certain occasions to choose God and His will rather than the love of parents, of wife, of children, of self, and to sacrifice all to follow Christ. This suppose heroic courage, which will be found wanting in the time of need, unless God in His mercy give a special grace and unless one be prepared by sacrifices that are not of strict obligation. (355)”
― Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life: A Treatise On Ascetical And Mystical Theology

“Since, however, our nature inclines us to self-seeking, we must, in order to react against this tendency, remember that of ourselves we are but nothingness and sin. No doubt, there are in us good qualities, natural and supernatural, which we are to hold in high regard and which we must cultivate ; but coming as they do from God, is it not to Him that the glory is due? When an artist creates a masterpiece, it is he and not the canvass that is to be praised.”
― Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life: A Treatise On Ascetical And Mystical Theology