Silence

Yesterday, a friend of mine on the Mother of God Forum posted a quote about the importance of silence.  Her quote inspired me to do a little internet searching of my own for some additional Catholic quotes about silence.

Not surprisingly, I found a number of inspiring quotes on the subject, but two stood out immediately and I would like to post them below.  The first is from Archbishop Charles Chaput, formerly of the Diocese of Denver and now Archbishop of the Diocese of Philadelphia.  I do not know a lot about Archbishop Chaput, but I do know that he is a strong, conservative voice in the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops.  His quote regarding silence is as follows:

We need silence, more than anything. If people can create some time every day — even just an hour — when they eliminate all the distracting noise of American life, their spirit will naturally begin to grow. Daily life in the United States is so filled with appetites and tensions stimulated by the mass media that turning the media off almost automatically results in deeper and clearer thinking. And that interior quiet can very easily lead us to God.

The next quote I found is a real gem that is attributed to Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, that wonderful saint of our times.  Her thought regarding silence is:

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.

As we get ready for the Triduum, my prayer is that all of us may find some time for silence as we ponder Our Lord's great sacrifice.

Praise God!