All posts by Vicki Scheenstra

Vicki Scheenstra is a former Catholic Bookstore owner and has been active in Catholic Education.

Cross, Prayer, Quote, Quotes of Saints, Stations of the Cross, Suffering

Twenty-Five Quotes on the Cross from the Saints

July 11, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

When we think about the cross, we usually think about the suffering and tribulations of life.

The Way of the Cross is a powerful devotion in the church. We meditate and ponder on the Stations of the Cross. This devotion is often prayed in church on Fridays during lent. It may also be prayed alone. When praying the Way of the Cross privately, it is helpful to use a written form of the devotion with meditations.

The 14 Stations of the Cross represent events from Jesus’ passion and death. At each station we use our senses and our imagination to reflect prayerfully upon Jesus’ suffering, Death, and Resurrection.

1 Jesus Is Condemned to Death.

2. Jesus Takes Up His Cross.

3. Jesus Falls the First Time.

4. Jesus Meets His Sorrowful Mother.

5. Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross.

6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus.

7. Jesus Falls a Second Time.

8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.

9. Jesus Falls the Third Time.

10. Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments.

.11. Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross.

12. Jesus Dies on the Cross.

13. Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross.

14. Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb.

As we reflect on the stations of the cross,

perhaps the quotes of the saints will help us

as we meditate on the meaning of the cross.

The Cross is the school of love.

St. Maxamilian Kolbe

St. Maximilian Kolbe
Public Domain Image

2. Mount Calvary is the academy of Love.

St. Francis de Sales

3. The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things.

St. John of the Cross.

4. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

St. Paul the Apostle

5. Whoever does not seek the cross of Christ, doesn’t seek the glory of Christ.

St. John of the Cross

6. Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses.

St. John Vianney

7. With the sign of the Cross, I shall more certainly break through the ranks of the enemy than if armed with shield and sword.

St. Martin of Tours

8. The Cross is the way to Paradise, but only when it is done willingly.

St. Paul of the Cross

9. No type of cruelty can tear down the religion established by the mystery of Christs’ Cross.

St. Leo the Great

10. Apart from the Cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.

St. Rose of Lima

11. Do everything for God, uniting yourself to Him by word and deed. Walk very simply with the Cross of the Lord. and be at peace with yourself.

St. Francis de Sales

12. Remember that when your heart feels restless, when your heart feels hurt, when your heart feels like breaking… I am precious to Him. He has called me by name. I am His. He loves me. And to prove that love He died on the cross.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

13. You must accept your cross; if you bear it courageously, it will carry you to Heaven.

St. John Vianney

14. The cross is the hope of Christians, the staff of the lame, the comfort of the poor, the destruction of all pride, the victory over devils, the guide of youth, the pilot of mariners, the refuge of those who are in danger, the counselor of the just, the rest of the afflicted, the physician of the sick the glory of Martyrs

St. John Chrysostom

15. The cross means there is no shipwreck without hope; there is no dark without dawn; nor storm without haven. The worst prison would be a closed heart.

St. John Paul II

16. He who, when tempted, makes the Sign of the Cross with devotion, makes Hell tremble and Heaven rejoice.

St. John Vianney

17. Beneath the cross, one learns to love.

St. Padre Pio

18. The lukewarm do not embrace the cross; they merely drag it along.

St. Teresa of Avila

19. The cross is our trophy raised against the demons, our sword against sin and the sword of Christ used to pierce the serpent.

St. John Chrysostom

20. If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross.

St. Thomas Aquinas

21. If you wish to be like Christ, call or look always for the cross.

St. John of the Cross

22. The Christian’s motto is the Cross. You will recognize God’s love by this sign, by the suffering he sends you.

St. Padre Pio

23. Suffering is a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

24. Contradictions put us at the feet of the Cross and the cross lifts us up to heaven.

St. John Vianney

25. It is in loving the cross that we find true peace, not running from it.

St. John Vianney

Discernment, Pope Leo XIV, Prayer, Prayer Intention

July Prayer Intention and Prayer For Discernment by Pope Leo XIV

July 7, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

Pope Leo invites us to pray with him for his monthly prayer intention.

The prayer intention for July is for Discernment in Formation.

“Let us pray that we might again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel.”

Prayer for Discernment by Pope Leo XIV

Holy Spirit, you, light of our understanding,
gentle breath that guides our decisions,
grant me the grace to listen attentively to your voice
and to discern the hidden paths of my heart,
so that I may grasp what truly matters to you,
and free my heart from its troubles.

I ask you for the grace to learn how to pause,
to become aware of the way I act,
of the feelings that dwell within me,
and of the thoughts that overwhelm me
which, so often, I fail to notice.

I long for my choices
to lead me to the joy of the Gospel.
Even if I must go through moments of doubt and fatigue,
even if I must struggle, reflect, search, and begin again…
Because, at the end of the journey,
your consolation is the fruit of the right decision.

Grant me a deeper understanding of what moves me,
so that I may reject what draws me away from Christ,
and love him and serve him more fully.

Amen.

Faith, Heaven, Prayer, Psalm, Quotes of Saints

Twenty-five Quotes about Heaven from the Saints

July 3, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

Have you pondered what heaven might be like. We will only know for sure when we enter into the Kindom of Heaven. The saints share their insights with us in the quotes below.

6. What does it matter to you whether Jesus wishes to guide you to heaven by way of the desert or by the meadow, so long as He is always with you and you arrive at the possession of the blessed eternity.

St. Padre Pio

7. Walk with your feet on earth, but in your heart, be in heaven.

St. John Bosco

8. As mariners are guided into port by the shing of a star, so Christians are guided to Heaven by Mary.

St. Thomas Aquinas

9. Let us sing alleluia here on earth, while we still live in anxiety, so that we may sing it one day in heaven in full security.

St. Augustine

10. Heaven and hell are inevitable, but the choice between them is up to us.

St. Teresa of Avila

11. Heaven is full of love, but hell is full of loneliness.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

12. Heaven is for all of us, but we must remember that we must earn it.

St. Francis Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi
Public Domain Image

13. We are not made for this world but for heaven, where we will live forever.

St. John Paul II

14. Can you expect to go to heaven for nothing? Did not our dear Savior track the whole way to it with His blood and tears?

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

15. No one reaches the Kingdom of Heaven except by humility.

St. Augustine

16. Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.

St. Rose of Lima

17. All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, ” I am the way.”

St. Catherine of Siena

18. When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens. I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.

St. Therese of Lisieux

19. The pains of hell are not the greatest part of hell, the loss of heaven is the weightiest woe of Hell.

St. John Chrysostom

20. An angel fell from heaven without any other passion except pride, and so we may ask whether it is possible to ascend to Heaven by humility alone, without any other of the virtues.

St. John Climacus

21. In the moment of temptation, think of the Love that awaits you in heaven, foster the virtue of hope.

St. Josemaria Escriva

22. Heaven is where all tears are wiped away.

St. Augustine

23. Be at peace with your own soul, then heaven and earth will be at peace with you.

St. Jerome

24. As in heaven Your will is punctually performed, so may it be done on earth by all creatures, particularly in me and by me.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary

25. O Saving Victim, opening wide, the gate of heaven to us below. Our foes press on from every side, Your aid supply, Your strength bestow.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Prayer, Quote

Quote for Today Pope Leo XIV

June 30, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

Unity in the Church and among the Churches is fostered by forgiveness and mutual trust, beginning with our families and communities. If Jesus can trust us, we can certainly trust one another in his name.

June 29,2025 Pope Leo XIV on X.

The history of Peter and Paul shows us that the communion to which the Lord calls us is a unison of voices and personalities that does not eliminate anyone’s freedom. Our patron saints followed different paths, had different ideas and at times argued with one another with evangelical frankness. Yet this did not prevent them from living a living communion in the Spirit, a fruitful harmony in diversity.

June 29,2025. Pope Leo XIV on X

Prayer, Quote

Quote for Today Pope Leo XIV

Quote June 30, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

June 29,2025 Pope Leo XIV on X.

June 29,2025. Pope Leo XIV on X

Featured, Pope Leo XIV, Prayer, Sacred Heart

Prayer to the Sacred Heart by Pope Leo XIV

June 27, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

Pope Leo XIV has released the following prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. June is considered to be month of the Sacred Heart.

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pope Leo XIV

Lord, I come to your tender heart today, to you who have words that set my heart ablaze, to you who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor, on those who suffer and on all human miseries.

I desire to know you more, to contemplate you in the Gospel, to be with you and learn from you and from the charity with which you allowed yourself to be touched by all forms of poverty.

You showed us the Father’s love by loving us without measure with your divine and human heart.

Grant all your children the grace of encountering you. Change, shape, and transform our plans, so that we seek only you in every circumstance, in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in our daily routine.

From this encounter send us out on mission, a mission of compassion for the world in which you are the source from which all consolation flows.

Amen

Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on us!

Pope Leo XIV during the Regina Caeli prayer on the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican on May 11, 2025. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Immaculate Heart, Our Lady, Prayer, Spirituality

Prayer for Deliverance by Pope John Paul II

June 18, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

Prayer for Deliverance from Evil

Immaculate Heart! Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths towards the future!

From famine and war, deliver us.

From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.

From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us.

From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us.

From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.

From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.

From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.

From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.

From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us.

Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies.

Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful Love!

May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences!

May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of Hope!

This prayer is from the consecration of all individuals and peoples of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984 by Saint John Paul II. It took place in St. Peter’s Square on March 25, 1984.

Featured, Immaculate Heart, Our Lady, Prayer, Spirituality

Prayer for Deliverance by Pope John Paul II

June 18, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

Prayer for Deliverance from Evil

From famine and war, deliver us.

From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.

From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us.

From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us.

From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.

From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.

From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.

From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.

From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us, deliver us.

Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies.

Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful Love!

May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences!

May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of Hope!

This prayer is from the consecration of all individuals and peoples of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984 by Saint John Paul II. It took place in St. Peter’s Square on March 25, 1984.

Faith, Quote, Quotes of Saints, Spirituality

Twenty-five Quotes from the Saints about Anger

June 17, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

During chaotic times when we are troubled, we only need to look to the Saints. Their words of wisdom can guide us through rough times. The following quotes are insights into how they delt with anger.

1. Imagine your anger to be a kind of wild beast, because it has ferocious teeth and claws, and if you don’t tame it, it will devastate all things, even corrupting the soul.

St. John Chrysostom.

2. He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice, and if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust.

St. Thomas Aquinas

3. Hope has two lovely daughters, anger and courage…Anger at the way things are and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.

St. Augustine

4. Anger is a weed; hate is a tree.

St. Augustine

5. There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.

St. Francis de Sales

6. When you are angry with someone, the way to find peace is to pray for that person and ask God to reward him or her for making you suffer!

St. Therese of Lisieux

7. He who continues in anger, strife, and a bitter spirit, has a tast of the air of Hell.

St. Philip Neri

8. As long as anger lives, she continues to be the fruitful mother of many unhappy children.

St. John Climacus

9. There is no sin, nor wrong that gives man such a foretaste of Hell in this life as anger and impatience.

St. Catherine of Siena

10. If we lived in a state where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us saintly. But since we see that avarice, anger, pride and stupidity commonly profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice and thought, perhaps we must stand fast a little, even at risk of being heroes.

St. Thomas More

11. It is better to cry than to be angry, because anger hurts others while tears flow silently through the soul and cleans the heart.

St. John Paul II

12. Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.

St. Basil

13. Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

St. Augustine

14. Where there is schism and anger, there is no place for God.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

15. It avails nothing to subdue the body, if the mind allows itself to be controlled by Anger.

Pope Gregory the Great

16. A soul arms itself with prayer for all kinds of combat.

St. Faustina

17. You will accomplish more by kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity.

St. Angela Merici

18. When you feel the assault of passion and anger, then is the time to be silent as Jesus was silent in the midst of His sufferings.

St. Paul of the Cross

19. Virtues are formed by prayer, Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy. Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit and raises man to Heaven.

St. Ephrem the Syrian

20. Anger is as a stone into a wasp’s nest.

St. Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI in 1963. Vatican City official photo/Creative Commons

21. No matter what provokes it, anger blinds the soul’s eyes, preventing it from seeing the Son of Righteousness

St John Cassian

22. The memory of insults is the residue of anger.

St. John Climacus

23. Pride is the king of vices. It is the first of pallbearers of the soul…other vices destroy only their opposite virtues, as wantonness destroys chastity, greed destroys temperance, anger destroys gentleness, but pride destroys all virtue.

Ven. Fulton Sheen

24. It is better to remain silent than to speak the truth ill-humoredly, and spoil an excellent dish by covering it with bad sauce.

St. Francis de Sales

25. Are you angry? Be angry at your sins, beat your soul, afflict your conscience, but strict in judgement and a terrible punisher of your own sins. This is the benefit of anger, wherefore God placed it in us.

St. John Chrysostom

Faith, Feast Days, Our Lady, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Immaculate Conception of Mary, Feast Day December 8

May 31, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

The Immaculate Conception
by Padre Manuel

The Feast day of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated on Dec. 8 during the season of Advent. The feast day celebrates the belief that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. It is often misunderstood as the celebration of the conception of Jesus.

Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception is the Patron Saint of Brazil and the United States.

The feast day became a celebration for the universal church in the 18th century. Pope Pius IX declare;

“The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

Mary herself confirmed her title to St. Bernadette saying to her;

” I am the Immaculate Conception.”

The largest Marian shrine in the U S. is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception located in Washington D.C.

Just as Eve was conceived without sin, Mary also was conceived without sin. Mary is considered, ‘the new Eve’.

Rather than disobeying God, Mary said, “Let it be.”

Purer than heaven’s purest angels, brighter than its brightest seraph:

Mary, after her Creator, God, made her and gave her all,

the most perfect of beings, the masterpiece of Infinite Wisdom,

Almighty Power and Eternal Love.

To such a being we cannot reasonably suppose that

a perfection was denied her which had been already

gratuitously bestowed on inferior creatures;

on the angelic spirits.

Quote of St. John N. Newmann; Feast Day January 5

The Immaculate Conception in Art

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

Save

Holy Spirit, Pentecost, Prayer, Spirituality

7 Holy Spirit Prayers from the Saints

May 17, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

Pentecost is almost here! When the Holy Spirit arrives on Pentecost, confusion is replaced with confidence, joy and knowledge. The following prayers to the Holy Spirit were written by the Saints. They give us the insight into the lives of men and women in search of God’s will in their lives. Meditating on these prayers is a wonderful way to grow closer to God during this holy season.

Prayer Before Study

by St. Thomas Aquinas

Come Holy Spirit, Divine Creator, true source of light and fountain of wisdom. Pour forth your brilliance upon my dense intellect, dissipate the darkness, which covers me, that of sin and of ignorance.

Grant me a penetrating mind to understand, a retentive memory, method and ease in learning, the lucidity to comprehend, and abundant grace in expressing myself.

Guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to successful completion.

This I ask through Jesus
Christ, true God and true man, living and regning with You and the Father, forever and ever.

Amen

Blessing Prayer

St. Dominic

May God the Father who made us bless us.

May God the Son send his healing among us.

May God the Holy Spirit move within us and give us eyes to see with, ears to hear with, and hands that your work might be done.

May we walk and preach the word of God to all. May the angel of peace watch over us and lead us at last by God’s grace to the Kingdom. Amen

Prayer of St. Benedict

O gracious and holy God,

Give us wisdom to know you,

intelligence to understand you,

Diligence to seek you,

Patience to wait for you,

Eyes to behold you,

A heart to meditate upon you,

A life to proclaim you,

the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Amen

Come into my Heart

Saint Catherine of Siena

Holy Spirit, come into my heart.

Draw it to Thee by Thy power, O my God,

and grant me charity with filial fear,

Preserve me, O beautiful love, from every evil thought;

Warm me, inflame me with Thy dear love,

And every pain will seem light to me.

My Father, my sweet Lord, help me in all my actions.

Jesus, love,

Jesus, love.

Amen

Come Holy Sprit

St. Bernard

O Come, Holy Sprit

fill the hearts of your faithful

and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.

and you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful

by the light of the Holy Spirit,

grant that by the gift of that same Spirit

we may be always truly wise

and ever rejoice in His consolation.

Amen

St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Public Domain Image

Prayer for the Help of the Holy Spirit

St. Anthony of Padua

O God, send forth your Holy Spirit into my heart that I may perceive, into my mind that I may remember, and into my soul that I may meditate.

Inspire me to speak with piety, holiness, tenderness and mercy. Teach guide and direct my thoughts and senses from beginning to end.

May your grace ever help and correct me, and may I be strengthened now with wisdom from on high, for the sake of your infinite mercy. Amen

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

St. Augustine

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be Holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love only what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.

You have created us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.

Faith, Quote, Quotes of Saints, Spirituality

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints on Humility

March 22, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

1. Once humility is acquired, charity will come to life like a burning flame.

St. Vincent Ferrer

2. As patience leads to piece and study to science,

so are humiliations the path that leads to humility.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

St. Bernard Clairvaux
Public Domain Image

3. The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is Humility.

St. Vincent de Paul

4. Humility, humility, and a always humility. Satan fears and trembles before humble souls.

St. Padre Pio

5. If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace,

because you know what you are.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

Bl. Teresa of Calcutta
U.S. Stamp
Public Domain Image

6. A humble soul does not trust itself, but places all its confidence in God.

St. Faustina

7. It was pride that changed angels into devils; It is humility that makes men as angels.

St. Augustine

8. The truly humble reject all praise for themselves and refer all to Go.

St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori

St. Alphonsus Liguori
Public Domain Image

9. Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues.

St. Augustine

10. If you elevate yourself, God distances Himself from you.

If you humble yourself, He leans towards you.

St. Augustine

11. Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword, wear humility rather than fine clothes.

St. Dominic

12. Remember that true humility consists in being ready for what the Lord wants to do with you and happy that we should do it, and in considering yourselves unworthy to be called His servants.

St. Teresa of Avila: The Way of Perfection

13. Humility, however deep it be, neither disquiets nor troubles nor disturbs the soul;

it is accompanied by peace, joy and tranquility.

St. Teresa of Avila

14. Do not be afraid to be holy. Have the courage and humility to present yourselves to the world determined to be holy, since true full Freedom is born from holiness.

St. John Paul II

15. Humility is dependence on God as pride is independence of Him.

The humble soul is always the thankful soul.

Venerable Fulton Sheen

16. The first degree of humility is prompt obedience.

St. Benedict

17. Consider often that it is only the humble of heart who can enter into the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

18. Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying.

St. Vincent de Paul

19. Humility means seeing ourselves as God sees us;

knowing every good we have comes from Him as pure gift.

St. Thomas Aquinas

20. From humility of heart proceeds serenity of mind, gentleness of conduct, interior peace and every good.

St. Paul of the Cross

21 Christ the Master of Humility manifest His truth only to the humble

and hides Himself from the proud.

St. Vincent Ferrer

22. Nothing so humbles the proud sinner as the humility of Jesus Christ’s humanity.

St. Anthony of Padua

23. The spirit of humility is sweeter than honey,

and those who nourish themselves with this honey produce sweet fruit.

St. Anthony Padua

24. Humility drives Satan away and cherishes the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit within us.

St. Francis de Sales

25. Let all the brothers strive to follow the humility of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Francis of Assisi

1 Jesus Is Condemned to Death.

2. Jesus Takes Up His Cross.

3. Jesus Falls the First Time.

4. Jesus Meets His Sorrowful Mother.

5. Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross.

6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus.

7. Jesus Falls a Second Time.

8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.

9. Jesus Falls the Third Time.

10. Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments.

.11. Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross.

12. Jesus Dies on the Cross.

13. Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross.

14. Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb.

5. Whoever does not seek the cross of Christ, doesn’t seek the glory of Christ.

6. Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses.

7. With the sign of the Cross, I shall more certainly break through the ranks of the enemy than if armed with shield and sword.

8. The Cross is the way to Paradise, but only when it is done willingly.

9. No type of cruelty can tear down the religion established by the mystery of Christs’ Cross.

10. Apart from the Cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.

11. Do everything for God, uniting yourself to Him by word and deed. Walk very simply with the Cross of the Lord. and be at peace with yourself.

12. Remember that when your heart feels restless, when your heart feels hurt, when your heart feels like breaking… I am precious to Him. He has called me by name. I am His. He loves me. And to prove that love He died on the cross.

13. You must accept your cross; if you bear it courageously, it will carry you to Heaven.

15. The cross means there is no shipwreck without hope; there is no dark without dawn; nor storm without haven. The worst prison would be a closed heart.

16. He who, when tempted, makes the Sign of the Cross with devotion, makes Hell tremble and Heaven rejoice.

17. Beneath the cross, one learns to love.

18. The lukewarm do not embrace the cross; they merely drag it along.

19. The cross is our trophy raised against the demons, our sword against sin and the sword of Christ used to pierce the serpent.

20. If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross.

21. If you wish to be like Christ, call or look always for the cross.

22. The Christian’s motto is the Cross. You will recognize God’s love by this sign, by the suffering he sends you.

23. Suffering is a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.

24. Contradictions put us at the feet of the Cross and the cross lifts us up to heaven.

25. It is in loving the cross that we find true peace, not running from it.

Prayer for Discernment by Pope Leo XIV

1. How insignificant earth seems to me, when I consider heaven.

2. The gate of heaven is very low, only the humble can enter it.

3. Heaven is a city on a hill; hence we cannot cast into it, we have to climb.

4. Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

5. Those who carry God in their hearts bear Heaven with them wherever they go.

6. What does it matter to you whether Jesus wishes to guide you to heaven by way of the desert or by the meadow, so long as He is always with you and you arrive at the possession of the blessed eternity.

7. Walk with your feet on earth, but in your heart, be in heaven.

8. As mariners are guided into port by the shing of a star, so Christians are guided to Heaven by Mary.

9. Let us sing alleluia here on earth, while we still live in anxiety, so that we may sing it one day in heaven in full security.

10. Heaven and hell are inevitable, but the choice between them is up to us.

11. Heaven is full of love, but hell is full of loneliness.

12. Heaven is for all of us, but we must remember that we must earn it.

13. We are not made for this world but for heaven, where we will live forever.

14. Can you expect to go to heaven for nothing? Did not our dear Savior track the whole way to it with His blood and tears?

15. No one reaches the Kingdom of Heaven except by humility.

16. Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.

17. All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, ” I am the way.”

18. When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens. I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.

19. The pains of hell are not the greatest part of hell, the loss of heaven is the weightiest woe of Hell.

20. An angel fell from heaven without any other passion except pride, and so we may ask whether it is possible to ascend to Heaven by humility alone, without any other of the virtues.

21. In the moment of temptation, think of the Love that awaits you in heaven, foster the virtue of hope.

22. Heaven is where all tears are wiped away.

23. Be at peace with your own soul, then heaven and earth will be at peace with you.

24. As in heaven Your will is punctually performed, so may it be done on earth by all creatures, particularly in me and by me.

25. O Saving Victim, opening wide, the gate of heaven to us below. Our foes press on from every side, Your aid supply, Your strength bestow.

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pope Leo XIV

Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on us!

This prayer is from the consecration of all individuals and peoples of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984 by Saint John Paul II. It took place in St. Peter’s Square on March 25, 1984.

This prayer is from the consecration of all individuals and peoples of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984 by Saint John Paul II. It took place in St. Peter’s Square on March 25, 1984.

1. Imagine your anger to be a kind of wild beast, because it has ferocious teeth and claws, and if you don’t tame it, it will devastate all things, even corrupting the soul.

2. He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice, and if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust.

3. Hope has two lovely daughters, anger and courage…Anger at the way things are and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.

4. Anger is a weed; hate is a tree.

5. There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.

6. When you are angry with someone, the way to find peace is to pray for that person and ask God to reward him or her for making you suffer!

7. He who continues in anger, strife, and a bitter spirit, has a tast of the air of Hell.

8. As long as anger lives, she continues to be the fruitful mother of many unhappy children.

9. There is no sin, nor wrong that gives man such a foretaste of Hell in this life as anger and impatience.

10. If we lived in a state where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us saintly. But since we see that avarice, anger, pride and stupidity commonly profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice and thought, perhaps we must stand fast a little, even at risk of being heroes.

11. It is better to cry than to be angry, because anger hurts others while tears flow silently through the soul and cleans the heart.

12. Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.

13. Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

14. Where there is schism and anger, there is no place for God.

15. It avails nothing to subdue the body, if the mind allows itself to be controlled by Anger.