The Mystery of Faith

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. Teresa of Calcutta

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.

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. Catherine of Siena

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.”

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.

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. Elizabeth of Hungary

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.

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

Faith, Pope Leo XIV, Prayer, Quote

Quote for Today Pope Leo XIV

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

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – MAY 8: The newly elected Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV is seen for the first time from the Vatican balcony on May 8, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. White smoke was seen over the Vatican early this evening as the Conclave of Cardinals took just two days to elect Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo (Leone) XIV, as the 267th Supreme Pontiff after the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

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, Featured, Prayer, Quote, Spirituality

Twenty Five Quotes about Prayer from the Saints

Prayer is important in our faith journey. There are many prayer styles. Spending time with God is important whether it be alone, with nature, or with a group of many. We pray in our actions and in silence. We also make a joyful noise in praise and thanksgiving.

The following quotes help us to discover the prayer styles of the saints.

1. Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.

St. John Vianney

2. I pray like little children who do not know how to read. I say very simply to God what I wish to say, without composing beautiful sentences and He always understands me.

St. Terese of Lisieux

3. Pray, Love, and don’t worry.

4. Prayer is the place of refugefor ev for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.

St. Theresa of Calcutta

5. Prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition ofand of love, embracing both trial and joy.

St. Therese of Lisieux

6. Joy is prayer! Joy is strength. Joy is love. Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

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

7. Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.

St. Francis of Assisi

8. We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer.

9. He prays best who does not know that he is praying.

St. Anthony of Padua

10. Those who pray from the heart do not think about the prayer they are saying, but about the God to whom they pray.

St. Francis de Sales

11. Without prayer, it is impossible to resist temptations and to keep the commandment.

St. Alphonsas Liguori

St. Alphonsus Liguori
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12. Be Good. Love the Lord. Pray for those who do not know Him. What agreat grace it is to know God!

St. Josephine Bakhita

13. He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.

St. Benedict

14. Prayer is the wing, wherewith the soul flies to heaven, and meditation the eye wherewith we see God.

St. Ambrose

15. Prayer is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings.

16. The test of sincerity of one’s prayer is the willingness to labor on its behalf.

17. For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.

St. Teresa of Avila

18. Prayer is an act of love. Words are not needed.

St. Teresa of Avila

19. I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn, I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain.

St. Patrick

20. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

21. Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips but with your heart. In fact on certain occasions, you should only speak to Him with your heart.

22. To sing is to pray twice.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

23. Prayer is to the spiritual life, what the beating of the pulse and the drawing of the breath are to the life of the body.

St. John Henry Newman

24. Prayer begins by talking to God but it ends by listening to Him. In the face of Absolute Truth, silence is the soul’s language.

Ven. Fulton Sheen

25. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

St. Rita

Faith, Prayer, Quote, Quotes of Saints, Spirituality

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints on Faith

Meditating on the following quotes from the saints

can lead us on our journey of faith.

It is by faith that God dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect and penetrates even into our imagination.

St. Bernard Clairvaux
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2. The Lord is always near to all who call upon his help with sincerity, true faith, sure hope, and perfect love.

St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

3. The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What you long for will be given to you, what you love, will be yours forever.

St Leo the Great , Bishop of Rome

4. Jesus saved the thief on the holy hill at Golgotha because of one hour’s faith, will he not save you too since you have believed?

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop

5. Faith is to believe what you do not see, the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

Augustine of Hippo

6. Faith lifts the soul. Hope supports it. Experience says it must, and love says let it be!

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

7. Faith is a beam radiating from the face of God.

St. John Eudes

8. Live in faith and hope, though it may be in darkness, for in this darkness God protects the soul. Cast your care upon God for you are His and He will not forget you. Do not think that He is leaving you alone for that would be to wrong Him.

St. John of the Cross

9. We walk by faith and not by sight.

St. Paul the Apostle

10. The most beautiful act of faith is the one made in darkness, in sacrifice, and with extreme effort.

Padre Pio

11. Faith furnishes prayer with wings, without which it cannot soar to heaven.

St. John Climacus.

12. Charity is the seed of faith, makes it alive, without love, faith dies.

St. Anthony of Padua

13. For those with faith, no evidence is necessary, for those without it, no evidence will suffice.

St. Thomas Aquinas

14. May faith be the torch which illuminates, animates, and sustains you.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

15. Faith is like a bright ray of sunlight. It enables us to see God in all things, as well as all things in God.

St. Francis de Sales

16. Our door is faith. of it is strong enough, the entire house is safe.

St. Ambrose

17. By itself, faith accomplishes nothing, for even the devil believes and trembles. No, faith must be joined to an active love which is expressed in good works.

St. Maximus the Confessor

18, Faith is the light which guides you through the darkness.

Venerable Bishop Sheen

19. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

St. Luke the Evangelist

20. Faith leads us beyond ourselves. It leads us directly to God.

St. John Paul II, Bishop of Rome

21. Your faith will help you realize that it is Jesus Himself who is present in the Blessed Sacrament, working working for you and calling you to spend one special hour with Hime each week.

St. John Paul II, Bishop of Rome

22. If faith is lacking, it is because there is too much selfishness., too much concern for personal gain. For faith to be true, it has to be genuine and loving. Love and faith go together…they complete each other.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

23. Among the many signs of a lively faith is the hope we have in eternal life. One of the secrets is not being overly sad at the death of those whom we dearly love in our Lord.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

24. Your soul must hold fast to Him. You must follow after Him in your thoughts, you must tread His way, by faith, not in outward show.

St. Ambrose

25. Faith fills a man with love for the beauty of its truth, with faith in the truth of its beauty.

St. Francis de Sales

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. Ignatius of Loyola

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, Prayer, Spirituality

Guidance and Surrender; 7 Powerful Prayers from the Saints

March 15, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

During times of confusion, it always helps to turn to a powerful prayer to help us center our thoughts and erase our fears. The following prayers are powerful tools during these times of need.

If God is your co-pilot…perhaps you should change seats!!!

St. Ignatius Loyola

Take Lord and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will, all I have and call my own.

You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is Yours do with it what You will. Give me only Your love and your grace, that is enough for me.

St. Charles de Foucauld

Father, I abandon myself into Your hands, do with me what You will. Whatever You may do, I thank You. I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only Your will be done in me and in all Your creatures. I wish no mere than this, O Lord.

Into Your hands, I commend my soul. I offer it to You with all the love of my heart, for I love You, Lord and so need to give myself into Your hands without reserve and with boundless confidence, for You are my Father.

St. John Henry Newman

O my God, I will put myself without reserve into your hands, Wealth or woe, joy or sorrow, friends or bereavement, honor or humiliation, good report or ill report, comfort or discomfort, Your presence or the hiding of Your countenance, all is good if it comes from You.

You are wisdom and You are love. What can I desire more? You have led me in Your counsel, and with glory You received me. What have I in heaven, and apart from You, what want I upon earth?

My flesh and my heart fail but God is the God of my heart, and my portion forever.

St. Therese of Lisieux

O my God, I offer You all my actions this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works by uniting them to His infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of His merciful love.

Oh my God! I ask You for myself and for those I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Your hoiy will, to accept for love of You the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all eternity. Amen

St. Augustine of Hippo

Prayer to Holy Spirit

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirity, 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.

St. Padre Pio