…a friendship between God and man. ~ Fr. Ripperger

Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived. Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity. ~ Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas In Veritate

Charity is only possible with sanctifying grace.The two cannot be separated.  ~ Fr. Lyons

Charity is the only thing that has value.  ~ Fr. Lyons

At the end of our life, we shall all be judged by charity. ~ St. John of the Cross

Charity is a love of friendship, a friendship of choice, a choice of preference, but an incomparable, a sovereign, and supernatural preference which is like a sun in the whole soul, to embellish it with its rays; in all our spiritual faculties to perfect them; in all our powers to moderate them; but in the will, as its seat, to reside there, and to make it cherish and love its God above all things. ~ Saint Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church

Charity is the queen of all virtues. “If you see Charity, you see the Trinity” says St. Augustine. Without it even if one speaks the language of angels it is like “sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (Cf. 1 Cor 13: 1-13). It is a very delicate virtue which is like salt in the food. No wonder saints like St. Thérèse of Lisieux resolved to do ordinary things with extraordinary love and not the other way round. The following is a litany to ask forgiveness for the many daily failures in charity, as we know that even the just person falls seven times a day. ~ Father Sebastian Vazhakala M.C.

Charity unites us to God… There is nothing mean in charity, nothing arrogant. Charity knows no schism, does not rebel, does all things in concord. In charity all the elect of God have been made perfect. ~ Pope St. Clement I

All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone – for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good.  ~ Saint John Vianney

True charity consists in doing good to those who do us evil, and in thus winning them over.  ~Saint Alphonsus Liguori

To leave our prayer when we are called to do some act of charity for our neighbor, is not really a quitting of prayer, but leaving Christ for Christ. Even in the midst of a crowd we can be going on to perfection. ~ -Saint Philip Neri

"If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing."¹⁰³ Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity.” ~ CCC 1826

By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, "binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14). ~ CCC 1844

I conjure you, my daughters, to preserve a strict watch over your tongues, and never to pronounce before your children one single word that is contrary to charity. ~  Monsignor P. Lejeune, Counsels of Perfection for CHRISTIAN MOTHERS

Charity is the queen of virtues. As the pearls are held together by the thread, thus the virtues by charity; and as the pearls fall when the thread breaks, thus the virtues are lost if charity diminishes. ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

St. Paul’s Short Examination of Conscience Regarding Charity (as noted by Fr. Lyons):  Charity is patient, charity is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. ~ 1 Corinthians 13 4-8

Charity is that with which no one is lost, and without which no one is saved. also The school of Christ is the school of charity. On the last day, when the general examination takes place, there will be no question at all on the text of Aristotle, the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the paragraphs of Justinian. Charity will be the whole syllabus. ~ St. Robert Bellarmine

Be driven by the love of God because Jesus Christ died for all, that those who live may live not for themselves but for Him, who died and rose for them. Above all, let your charity and zeal show how you love the Church. Your work is for the Church, which is the Body of Christ. ~ Saint John Baptist de La Salle

“‘Make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths’ (Ps 24:4). We ask the Lord to guide us, to show us his footprints, so we can set out to attain the fullness of his commandments, which is charity.” ~ Saint Josemaría Escriva, Christ is Passing By

The divine seed of charity, which God has sown in our souls, wants to grow, to express itself in action, to yield results which continually coincide with what God wants. ~ Saint Josemaría Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 58

May you know how to put yourself out cheerfully, discreetly and generously each day, serving others and making their lives more pleasant. To act in this way is to practise the true charity of Jesus Christ. ~ Saint Josemaría Escriva, The Forge, 150

We must give alms. Charity wins souls and draws them to virtue. ~ St. Angela Merici

If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of great holiness which He desires you to attain. Do you want to become a great saint? Ask God to send you many sufferings. The flame of Divine Love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the Cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior used to finish His sacrifice. All the pleasures of the world are nothing compared with the sweetness found in the gall and vinegar offered to Jesus Christ. That is, hard and painful things endured for Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ.  ~ Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Peace is the work of justice indirectly, in so far as justice removes the obstacles to peace; but it is the work of charity (love) directly, since charity, according to its very notion, causes peace. ~ St. Thomas Aquinas    

For if we are bidden to honor carnal fathers and mothers, how much more the spiritual? . . . If this virtue of charity has been overlooked, a man will lose any fruit of salvation in any good he may do. ~ Pope Saint Gregory VII, 1020-1085 AD

It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for "God is Charity" (1 John 4:8) ~ Saint Albert the Great

Hold in your hand the lantern of Faith; and let the flame of Charity shine from it, to show you what you must do, and what you must avoid. ~ -Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church

O Sacrament of Love! O sign of Unity! O bond of Charity! He who would have Life finds here indeed a Life to live in and a Life to live by. ~ St Augustine

~~~

RESOURCES:

• Caritas In Veritate – Encyclical Letter of the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI
• Charity Litany
• Recollection & Sermon on Charity – Audio from Sensus Traditionis.  (Effects of Charity)
• Audio Sermons on Charity – Audio Sancto

~~~

Actus Caritatis
Domine Deus, amo te super omnia proximum meum propter te, quia tu es summum, infinitum, et perfectissimum bonum, omni dilectione dignum. In hac caritate vivere et mori statuo. Amen.

Act of Charity
O my God! I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.

Heroic Act of Charity

O my God, in union with the merits of Jesus and Mary, I offer Thee for the Souls in Purgatory, all my Satisfactory Works, as well as those which may be applied to me by others during my life and after my death. And so as to be more agreeable to the Divine Heart of Jesus and more helpful to the departed I place them all in the hands of the merciful Virgin Mary. Amen