Quotes from Mother Angelica

I am not like a pebble on the beach - a grain of sand on the seashore or just one of millions of human beings past, present and future. No, I am a unique human being loved by God as if I were an only child - the only fruit of his creative powers.

Jesus made Himself available to everyone. Unlike former prophets and the religious men of His day, who often kept themselves aloof, Jesus was easy to approach and always ready to give his help.

Jesus was loyal to his apostles, with full knowledge of their cowardice. He was loyal to the poor, accepting the criticism of the Pharisees, so the destitute would never feel deserted. He was loyal to his father, accomplishing his will even unto death.

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

No Christian needs to feel lonely or useless.

I am a mirror to my neighbor, and in that mirror, he must see a reflection of Jesus. If that mirror is cloudy or distorted, Jesus' reflection will be so vague it will hardly be seen.

We live in an age that stresses personal goals, careers, happiness, work and religion. The emphasis is on the individual and how best that individual can satisfy himself.

Saints are ordinary people who love Jesus, try to be like him, are faithful to the duties of their state in life, sacrifice themselves for their neighbor, and keep their hearts and minds free of this world.

We are so accustomed to love on a human level that we find loving God for Himself either impossible or beyond our capabilities. We tend to love those who appeal to us, render us a service, or are good to us. In the degree they perform these various services, we love them.

We must look at the personality of Jesus and see him under various circumstances - circumstances not unlike our own - and then praise him by imitating him to the best of our ability.

Men climb mountains, scale heights, venture into the unexplored to prove to other men it can be done.

Each angel that God created was in himself a masterpiece. Each one possessed his own degree of intelligence and his own beauty.

To God, all things are present; there is no past or future - it is all now.

I'm not afraid to fail...I'm scared to death of dying and having the Lord say to me, 'Angelica, this is what you might have done had you trusted more.

Obedience is a strong virtue, capable of making me master of my emotions by giving me more strength to conquer my pride as I submit to those above me out of respect for their God-given authority and those below me out of love.

Each one of us has a particular virtue and faults that make the process of becoming like Jesus different.

A sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality.

For me, a thing must exist before I know it, but with God, it is different - he must know it before it has existence.

Faith is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air, and a queasy feeling in the stomach.

Is detachment the answer to freedom? No, because detachment is negative - it is to be without. The answer must be positive - I must replace what I have with something better.

Unless you are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous. When you have God, you don't have to know everything about it; you just do it.

Simply believing in the existence of God is not exactly what I would call a commitment. After all, even the devil believes that God exists. Believing has to change the way we live.

God is not a slot machine. We don't go to God to get something; we go to give something.