SSJ Spiritual Resources

Our personal spiritual growth is nourished and enhanced by daily, or frequent, spiritual readings, prayers, and periods of quiet contemplation and reflection.  Here we offer you a variety of resources from within the larger SSJ community to assist you on your journey.

Maxims of the Little Institute and the Maxims of Perfection

The Maxims of the Little Institute are extracted in various ways from a spiritual book composed by Father MédaiIle at a date unknown to us and eventu­ally published at Clermont-Ferrand in 1657 under the rather lengthy title: Maxims of Perfection for Souls Aspiring to the Great Virtue.

Maxims — A Modern Take

More than 360 years ago, Father Jean Pierre Médaille, SJ, composed the Maxims of the Little Institute, 100 short sayings to help the first Sisters of St. Joseph grow in virtue. We share them here, along with contemporary translations developed by Susan Wilcox, CSJ, Brentwood, and a group of her students.

maxim-MODERN-12

MAXIM 12

ORIGINAL

Choose to bear all the evils of time rather than the least of eternity, all the evils of nature rather than the least deprivation of grace, since all kinds of reasons illumined by faith teach you to live according to this truth.

Original Maxim 12
as written by Fr. Médaille

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MAXIM 26

ORIGINAL

Seek in everything God's contentment and not anything else, and the better to practice this, remember in the entire living out of your life, in desolation, in sick¬ness, etc., to desire God's greater contentment without giving a thought to your own interests.

Original Maxim 26
as written by Fr. Médaille

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MAXIM 54

ORIGINAL

Empty yourself of all human respect and of the least blameworthy concession, and declare, with a generous heart, never to yield in anything that would be against God's will.

Original Maxim 6
as written by Fr. Médaille

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MAXIM 81

ORIGINAL

Whatever the virtue you recognize in yourself, never turn away from a true fear of God, conscious that his judgments are unfathomable and that his appraisals are quite different from ours.

Original Maxim 81
as written by Fr. Médaille

Read all Maxims

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Simply said, our mission is to unite all people with one another and God by responding to the world's ever-changing needs and serving the neighbor without distinction.

never be thirsty again

By Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern PA | March 27, 2017

third week of lent The noon-day sun shines brightly in Sychar warming the dusty ground on which I sit.  I stretch and yawn as a woman approaches the well of Jacob with her bucket in hand ready to draw water.  She is the one who is talked about by many because she is an adultress…

take up your cross

By Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern PA | March 13, 2017

second week of lent We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee, for by Thy holy Cross you have redeemed the world. In 355 A.D. the emperor Constantine erected the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the site where Jesus’ tomb was believed to have been. Soon after it was completed, pilgrims began to…

lead us not into temptation

By Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern PA | March 6, 2017

first week of lent Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.                                     Romans 4:1     Jesus was in the desert for forty days and forty nights and during that time the devil tempted him.  I read this as the devil (was) actually taunting him to turn rocks into bread; to…