Quotes from Mary Francis

But when we feel we are not understood, there is a sense in which we are homeless. And so we must always provide a home of understanding. There will inevitably be times when we do not understand someone's behavior or a certain response, but we can understand the person.

And I entreat her who shall be in office, that she strive to precede the other Sisters more by virtue and holy behavior, than by her office, so that, touched by her example, they obey her, not so much from a sense of duty, as from love.

For mere authority as such never takes hold of our hearts, but virtue and holy lovableness do. We are directed in the ways of obedience by a lawful superior. We are led by a lovable one.

Activity not rooted in prayer is mere bombast and flurry. It may raise a great deal of dust and deafen many an ear, but it will never make a dent on things eternal. Activity which takes its strength from prayer and which looks to contemplatives to fill up its measure, just as contemplatives look to God's infantry to satisfy the burning missionary drive in their own hearts, will have God Himself for its eternal monument.

True education always fosters humility, although mere accumulation of facts fosters pride. All these things are requisite in the cloister. Above all, authentic education fits a person for a life of solitude. A girl who has learned to cultivate the soil of her own intelligence is already conditioned for an interior life. Her education is thus supremely useful to her in the cloister.