Top 35 Ralph Martin Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “What the spiritual journey is all about is uniting our will with God’s will, wanting what He wants, loving what He loves, living a life that in all its aspects honors Him and gives Him glory.”

— Ralph Martin

2. “Knowing what we are called to is important, but so is desiring it with all our heart.”

— Ralph Martin

3. “The saints tell us that usually, even in the very midst of exterior and interior trials, a deep-seated peace is felt. Persevering in the midst of these trials is a very important part of uniting our will to God’s – and in His will is our peace.”

— Ralph Martin

4. “Hatred for sin is important. Confidence in the mercy of God is even more important.”

— Ralph Martin

5. “Worship is an exercise of the Holy Spirit directed primarily to God.”

— Ralph Martin

6. “There’s a certain progression in the journey to God regarding our attitude towards suffering. In the beginning, we flee from suffering. As we mature, we reluctantly accept it as necessary. As the Spirit works more deeply in our hearts, we little by little lose our fear of suffering and become able to rejoice in it, even to love it.”

— Ralph Martin

7. “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.474.”

— Ralph Martin

8. “Union with God of this depth is totally unattainable by our own efforts; it is a gift that only God can give; we are totally dependent on His grace for progress in the spiritual life. Yet.”

— Ralph Martin

9. “More strictly defined, meditation is thinking about God. Prayer is actually speaking to God, either in words or in silent contemplation.”

— Ralph Martin

10. “Repentance must involve a change of life, bringing our lives into harmony with God’s will. This means turning away from sin and yielding to the transforming work of the Spirit so we may grow in virtue.”

— Ralph Martin

11. “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit.”

— Ralph Martin

12. “What if we don’t have a strong desire for God? What if we only half-heartedly desire to make progress on the path to full union with God? The Scripture and the teaching of the saints makes clear that when we lack something essential for the spiritual journey – such as a strong desire for God – then we are to ask for it, and it will be given. Not all at once necessarily, but gradually, over time, as we persevere in asking.”

— Ralph Martin

13. “When there is union of love, the image of the Beloved is so sketched in the will, and drawn so intimately and vividly, that it is true to say that the Beloved lives in the lover and the lover in the Beloved. Love produces such likeness in this transformation of lovers that one can say each is the other and both are one.”

— Ralph Martin

14. “As regards illness, we should follow the advice of competent physicians, and desire to get well so we can serve God, but not refuse to remain ill if that would serve Him better. In the meantime, while we are sick and the outcome is not known, we can very meaningfully offer our suffering in union with the suffering of Jesus for the salvation of the world.”

— Ralph Martin

15. “As we dispose ourselves for union by turning from sin and from all inordinate attachments as best we can, and as we focus our lives on God, the Lord by degrees gives us graces in prayer such as Teresa has been describing, which help to bring about the transformation.”

— Ralph Martin

16. “What is necessary is the faith that leads to obedience and to discipleship.”

— Ralph Martin

17. “Francis de Sales makes clear that the essence of holiness is to be completely ordered towards love – love of God and neighbor, thereby being fully conformed to God’s will.”

— Ralph Martin

18. “Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for granting mercy. If you keep silent now you will be answerable for a great number of souls on that terrible day.”

— Ralph Martin

19. “Teresa witnesses to the fact that even if we are not fully attentive in our prayer, little by little, even imperfect prayer will change us. Simply “showing up” for prayer time evidences our desire to be with the Lord. Even though sometimes it seems that we are more there physically than spiritually, our desire allows Him to draw us closer.7.”

— Ralph Martin

20. “The focus now is not on what we are getting from the relationship but on what we can give, by way of profound filial love, faithful friendship, and spousal union. Our focus is on the Other and how to please Him.15.”

— Ralph Martin

21. “The experience of union in prayer, Teresa makes very clear, is intended to help make more possible the union of our wills with God’s will, in a more profound obedience and love.”

— Ralph Martin

22. “The message of Divine Mercy is that no sinner should be afraid to approach the Lord who is infinitely merciful and eager to forgive sin. But mercy cannot be applied to souls unless they acknowledge that they need mercy and respond to the offer of mercy with humility, repentance and faith.”

— Ralph Martin

23. “It is not the consolations we seek but the Consoler, not their sweetness but the sweet Savior, not their tenderness but him who is the delight of heaven and earth. In this spirit we must resolve to stand fast in a holy love of God even though we may never find any consolation throughout our whole life.”

— Ralph Martin

24. “One of the most common reasons why people begin the spiritual journey but then turn back is because they find themselves failing, wearing out, or getting tired or discouraged as a result of relying on their own strength or intellect rather than on the Lord. In.”

— Ralph Martin

25. “The Father tells Catherine that the more the soul grows in love for God, the more the soul will also grow in love for its neighbor. Some of the specific ways of loving our neighbor that Catherine lists are intercessory prayer, good example, counsel, advice, and spiritual and material help.”

— Ralph Martin

26. “True union can very well be reached with God’s help, if we make the effort to obtain it by keeping our wills fixed only on that which is God’s will.”

— Ralph Martin

27. “The most beautiful thoughts are nothing without good works.34.”

— Ralph Martin

28. “We have to receive, not achieve, in order to be saved.”

— Ralph Martin

29. “Human pride and self-reliance must be broken for salvation to break in.”

— Ralph Martin

30. “Such painful awareness of one’s sin easily tempts one to despair, discouragement, and deep “depression”; thinking reform is hopeless, one may “surrender irrevocably to the world.” Bernard calls this despair the greatest evil of all, and insists that God’s mercy is always available whenever a sinner turns to Him.”

— Ralph Martin

31. “There is a particular spiritual practice that Francis highly recommends that is possible for all of us: even on those “impossible” days when we are perhaps unable to undertake our normal spiritual practices, we can stay rooted in prayer by constantly addressing brief prayers to the Lord. These can be acts of love, of adoration, of faith, of hope, of petition, or simply of saying the name of Jesus – throughout the course of the day.”

— Ralph Martin

32. “Teresa of Avila makes the point that it isn’t whether the prayers are memorized or not or said out loud or not that determines their value, but whether we pay attention to what we’re saying and to whom we’re speaking.”

— Ralph Martin

33. “For God does not command the impossible, but by commanding he instructs you both to do what you can and to pray for what you cannot, and he gives you his aid to enable you.333.”

— Ralph Martin

34. “Making a decision never to freely choose to commit even a small sin is an important turning point in the spiritual journey.”

— Ralph Martin

35. “Here John very helpfully, and very realistically, explains that a genuine purifying dryness may coexist with some elements of emotional problems, such as depression; nevertheless, if the concern to serve and please God persists in the midst of the difficulty, it is a sign of God’s purifying work.”

— Ralph Martin

36. “As John of the Cross points out with devastating accuracy and precision, the disorders in our heart, unless they are healed and purified by the action of the one true God, will leave us enslaved to our passions and unable to think clearly, decide wisely, and live in a way worthy of our dignity as bearers of the image of God.”

— Ralph Martin