Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty — they merely move it from their faces into their hearts.
Martin Buxbaum // American Poet
I think, it's the other way around. Real beauty is that which comes from the heart and moves outward. That beauty will last forever no matter how old we get.
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Wisdom, virtues and righteousness will preserve the beauty that fades with age, gray hair and wrinkles. While growing old is inevitable, growing old gracefully is possible.
Add a twinkle to your wrinkles with these collection of wisdom, virtues and inspiration that I have written in my journal from Scripture, Homilies and Quotes from the literary works of our great forefathers, Saints and Spiritual authors.
1. Pray Constantly
"Pray constantly and for all things give thanks to God, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus."
(1 Thes 5:17)
"Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends."
(St Alphonsus Mary Liguori)
"When we share in God's saving love, we understand that every need can become the object of petition. Christ, who is assumed in all things, in order to redeem all things, is glorified by what we ask the Father in His name."
(CCC 2633)
"Every joy and suffering, every event and need, can become the matter of thanksgiving."
(CCC 2648)
2. Trust in God
"Trust always and a great deal in Divine Providence; never, never must you let yourselves be discouraged, despite contrary winds. I say it again, trust in God and Mary Immaculate; be faithful and forge ahead!"
(St Pauline of the Suffering Heart of Jesus)
"The trials that you have had to bear are no more than people normally have. You can trust God not to let you be tried beyond your strength, and with any trial, he will gve you a way out of it and the strength to bear it."
(1 Cor 10:13)
"When the burden of the battle becomes too much for me, I throw myself like a child into the arms of the heavenly Father and I trust I will not perish."
(St Faustina)
When things are out of my of control, I just leave it to God and trust Him to make it right rather than worry and entertain my fears.
3. Forgive Others
"Put out of our minds the harm done us by our enemies, in order to master our anger, and to forgive our fellow servant's sins against us. Then our own sins against the Lord will be forgiven us. For if you forgive your debtors, your heavenly Father will forgive you."
(St John Chrysostom)
"When the enemy wants to challenge me, I conduct myself valiantly. Knowing that to fight a duel is an unworthy act, I turn my back on the adversary without ever looking him in the face. then I run to my Jesus."
(St Therese of Liseux)
Jesus instructs His disciples to "bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Lk 6:28). St Peter urges that each time we are on the receiving end of evil, we should return "a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing".
(1 Pet 3:9)
"The best revenge is living well"
(Unknown)
It is not easy to forgive when I get hurt, but when I realise that I suffer more that the other person, then it becomes easier to let go.
4. Be Humble
"The wise man must not boast of his wisdom, nor the strong man of his strength, nor the rich man of his riches. The man who boasts must boast of the Lord. Boasting of God is perfect and complete when we take no pride in our own righteousness, but acknowledge that we are utterly lacking in true righteousness and have been made righteous only by faith in Christ."
(St Basil the Great)
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me."
(1 Cor 15:10)
"If the poison of pride swells up in you, turn to the Eucharist, and that bread which is your God, humbling and disguising Himself will teach you humility."
(St Cyril of Alexandria)
The Humility Prayer is a very powerful reminder for me of my dependence on God.
5. Fill your Mind with Godly Things
"Fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honor, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise."
(Phil 4:8)
Each morning as we begin anew, let us turn toward Christ and pray that our hearts, minds and lips may praise Him, our lives proclaim His goodness, our works give honour, and our voices celebrate Him forever.
Every day offers a choice: what sort of reading, what sort of TV show, what sort of conversation, what sort of friends will we choose to welcome in our homes?
Every morning I pray the Consecration to our Blessed Mary.
"My Queen and my Mother, I give myself entirely to you; and to show my devotion to you, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve. Wherefore, goodMother, as I am your own, keep me, guard me, as your property and possession. Amen."
6. Make your Heart a Dwelling Place for God
At night, we retire into our own houses. Saint Ambrose spoke of that inner room in our house where we go to pray (Mt 6:6). He meant the heart, where God dwells, making our house his own.
We promise here that we will not go to sleep until we have a dwelling place for God in our hearts by our prayer, for God's great desire and promise is to dwell with his faithful ones.
"O Lord, you who stand in need of nothing at all, it has pleased you that there should be in our midst a Temple for your dwelling place. Now therefore, holy Lord of all holiness, preserve forever from all profanation this house, so newly purified."
(2 Mac 14:35-36)
Save us Lord while we are awake; protect us while we sleep; that we may keep watch with Christ and rest with Him in peace.
As part of my night prayer before I close my eyes, I do the Examination of Conscience and ask God to forgive me for the sins I committed.
7. Speak Gently
Nothing has more power than gentleness.
"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
(Prov 15:1)
"Whether your enemy continues to rage or whether he is reconciled depends much more on you than him. For it rests on us not with those who are angry, either to destroy their anger or enflame it."
(St John Chrysostom)
God, help me to tend to the goodness of my heart. Let my words reflect my heart's goodness in building other people up - not tearing them down. Let me be careful in choosing my words so that they serve only to honor you.
"We can use our treasured capacity for speech to offer prayer as fragrant as incense before God, or to inflict hurt on another."
(Magnificat)
8. Give from the Heart
"Let us give alms because these cleanse the souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve."
(St Francis of Assisi)
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
(Mark 12:42-22)
"Real giving comes from the heart. No gift is too small or insignificant for God. He appreciates our 'two small coins' that we give to Him."
(Unknown)
9. Make Friends with Good People
"Seek the association of people who are good. For if your are the companion of their life, you will be the companion of their virtue."
(St Isidore)
"A loyal friend is like a safe shelter. Find one and you have found a treasure. Nothing else is as valuable, there is no way of putting a price on it. A loyal friend is like a medicine that keeps you in good health. Only those who fear the Lord can find such a friend. A person who fears the Lord can make a real friendship because he will treat his friends as he does himself."
(Sir 6:14-17)
10. Draw People to Christ by your Goodness
"We Do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."
(Heather King)
"I take no pleasure in the death of a wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live."
(Eze 33:11)
The fruit of goodness is not for us but for others. Goodness comes with kindness and patience. In bearing fruits for others, we ourselves can find peace and inner delight.
11. Be Cheerful
"Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere in a good life. Therefore the servant of God ought always to be in good spirits."
(St Philip Neri)
"A cheerful heart is a good medicine."
(Prov 17:22)
12. Do not Judge Others
"One who judges always gets it wrong. He's wrong because he takes the place of God, who is the only judge: taking place that is the wrong place!.. Believing you have the authority to judge everything: people, life, everything... with the capacity to judge you also assume you have the capacity to condemn."
(Pope Francis)
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you."
(Matt 7:1-2)
"Jesus warns us not to play the judge, but instead to see God's image in every person we meet: the colleague who irritates everyone, the driver on the road who changes lane without signalling, the family member who stays away from family functions, a child who struggles with learaning disabilitites, etc. We do not know their stories, and so we extend to them the same mercy and compassion that God offers to us."
(Unknown)
If we follow these in faith, we are inviting Jesus to shine His light through us and be so in us so that every soul we come in contact with may feel His presence in our souls. They will look up and see us no longer but only Jesus. Through wrinkles and gray hair, we can stay beautiful in everyone's eyes as His radiance fill our lives!
"Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."
(Prov 31:30)
Originally Published August 3, 2015 on
Doods' WIX Site - Wisdom, Virtues & Inspiration