"For if you
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you." (Matthew 6:14)
Here is a wonderful compilation of quotes and videos on this topic...
Forgiveness
”If a man finds it very hard to
forgive injuries, let him look at a Crucifix, and think that Christ
shed all His Blood for him, and not only forgave His enemies, but even
prayed His Heavenly Father to forgive them also. Let him remember that
when he says the Pater Noster, every day, instead of asking pardon for
his sins, he is calling down vengeance on himself.”
--Saint Philip Neri
'To the extent that you pray with
all your soul for the person who slanders you, God will make the truth
known to those who have been scandalized by the slander.'
--St. Maximos the Confessor
This Blood that but one drop of
has the power to win all the world forgiveness of its world of sin.
--St. Thomas Aquinas
I am innocent and I die innocent.
I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask
God that the shedding of my blood serves toward the peace of our
divided Mexico.
--Saint Cristobal just before his
executioners fired
The Christian law commands that we
forgive our enemies and those who have wronged us. I must therefore say
here that I forgive Taikosama. I would rather have all the Japanese
become Christians.
--Saint Paul Miki one of the
Martyrs of Nagasaki
Avoid slander because it is
difficult to retract. Avoid offending anyone for to ask forgiveness is
not delightful.
--Saint John Cantius
"He passed over his fall, and
appointed him first of the Apostles; wherefore He said: ' 'Simon,
Simon,' etc. (in Ps. cxxix. 2). God allowed him to fall, because He
meant to make him ruler over the whole world, that, remembering his own
fall, he might forgive those who should slip in the future. And that
what I have said is no guess, listen to Christ Himself saying: 'Simon,
Simon, etc.'"
--Saint John Chrysostom
“Fear and honor, praise and
bless, thank and adore the Lord God Almighty, in Trinity and Unity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Creator of all things. Do not put off any
longer confessing all your sins, for death will soon come. Give and it
will be given you; forgive and you will be forgiven. . . Blessed are
they who die repentant, for they shall go to the Kingdom of Heaven! But
woe to those who are not converted, for these children of the Devil
will go with their father into everlasting fire. Be watchful,
therefore. Shun evil, and persevere in well-doing until the end.”
--Saint Francis of Assisi
“Forgiveness is the remission of
sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is
saved from being lost again.”
--Saint Augustine
Let no one mourn that he has
fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
--St. John Chrysostom - Easter
sermon
The patient man goes through a
great and salutary purgatory when he grieves more over the malice of
one who harms him than for his own injury; when he prays readily for
his enemies and forgives offenses from his heart; when he does not
hesitate to ask pardon of others; when he is more easily moved to pity
than to anger; when he does frequent violence to himself and tries to
bring the body into complete subjection to the spirit.
--Imitation of Christ
If a man does what he can and
is truly penitent, however often he comes to Me for grace and pardon,
"As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked,
but that the wicked turn from his way and live"; I will no longer
remember his sins, but all will be forgiven him.
--Imitation of Christ
