St. Alphonsus de Liguori (1696 - 1787) ponders Isaiah 64:6 ...

Our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The great saint's take on this passage:

"External devotions are useless, if we do not abandon our sins..."



Original source: An America Needs Fatima publication. It is called -- but only in part! -- Sermons of Hope in Times of Calamity: How God Uses Suffering for the Salvation of Mankind.


"Behold, we have penitential exercises, novenas, and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament; but to what purpose are those if we be not converted, if we do not rid our souls of sin?

"The subject of our discourse is: external devotions are useless, if we do not abandon our sins; because otherwise we cannot please God..."

Good point, padre! :)