As I have done in the past, I am posting a collection of scripture quotes from Magnificat. These are just quotes that, for whatever reason, caught my attention.

One comment does not have a place in the structure below. Magnificat writes in a prayer, “Saint Ignatius of Loyola tells us that discouragement never comes from God beacuase it clouds faith and hope.”

Ephesians 6:11
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.

1 Peter 3:15
Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.

St Augustine of Hippo († 430) (From November 23, 2011 Magnificat)
Why am I saying this? Because you do not know yourself unless you learn through trial, temptation, and testing. When you have learned yourself, don’t be heedless about yourself. At least, if you were heedless about yourself when hidden from you, don’t be heedless about that self when it has become known to you.

Psalm 40:12
LORD, may you not withhold
your compassion from me;
May your mercy and your faithfulness
continually protect me.

Sirach 24:15
Like cinnamon and fragrant cane,
like precious myrrh I gave forth perfume;
Like galbanum and onycha and mastic,
like the odor of incense in the holy tent

Hebrews 2:17-18
[Christ] had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people.
Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Isaiah 64:7
Yet, LORD, you are our father;
we are the clay and you our potter:
we are all the work of your hand.

Saint Francis de Sales († 1622) (January 24, 2012 Magnificat)
Living according to the spirit means doing actions with the spirit of God asks of us, saying the words and thinking the things that he wants. And when I say thinking the the things he wants, I am referring to your willed thoughts. I am miserable and so I don’t feel like talking: draymen and parrots do as much; I feel miserable, but since charity demands that I should talk I will do it: that is what spiritual people say. I have been slighted and I get cross: peacocks and monkeys do as much; I have been slighted and I rejoice: that is what the Apostles did. So to live according to the spirit is to do what faith, hope, and charity teach us to do, whether in things temporal or things spiritual.

St. Theresa of Avila († 1582) (January 26, 2012 Magnificat) Thanks to the Words to Live By blog for transcribing this passage.
We are renouncing our status when…we begin to live a spiritual life and follow the path of perfection. No sooner is some little point of etiquette concerning our status brought up than we forget we have already offered it to God; and we desire to take it right back out of his hands, so to speak, after having made him, as it seemed, the Lord of our wills. So it is with everything else.
What a charming way to seek the love of God! And then we desire it with our hands full, as they say. We have our attachments since we do not strive to direct our desires to a good effect and raise them up from the earth completely; but to have many spiritual consolations along with attachments is incongruous, nor does it seem to me that the two can get along together. Since we do not succeed in giving up everything at once, this treasure as a result is not given to us all at once. May it please the Lord that drop by drop he may give it to us, even though it cost us all the trials in the world.
Indeed a great mercy does he bestow on anyone to whom he gives the grace and courage to resolve to strive for this good with every ounce of energy. For God does not deny himself to anyone who perseveres. Little by little he will measure out the courage sufficient to attain this victory. I say “courage” because there are so many things the devil puts in the minds of beginners to prevent them in fact from starting out on this path. For he knows the damage that will be done to him in losing not only that one soul but many others. If beginners with the assistance of God struggle to reach the summit of perfections, I believe they will never go to heaven alone; they will always lead many people along after them. Like good captains they will give whoever marches in their company to God.

Isaiah 49:4
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
for nothing and for naught spent my strength,
Yet my right is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.

1 Corinthinans 3:7
Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth.

James 1:19-20
Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear,* slow to speak, slow to wrath,
for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

Mathew 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Numbers 6:24-26
The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!

Hebrews 12:11
At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.

Isaiah 58:6-9
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

James 4:7-10
So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.
Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection.
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

Mathew 26:41
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

This completes selections from five Magnificats over the last year. I have six in a stack that will wait for later this month or or next.