The Mystery of Faith

St. Paul of the Cross

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

St. John of the Cross

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.

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.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

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.

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.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

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

Ven. Fulton Sheen

4. Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

St. Thomas More

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

St. Ignatius Loyola

St. Ignatius of Loyla
Public Domain Image

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.

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.

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.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

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?

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)

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, Prayer, Quote, Quotes of Saints, Spirituality

Twenty Five Quotes about Prayer from the Saints

Quote May 25, 2025 Vicki Scheenstra

TWENTY FIVE QUOTES FROM THE SAINTS ABOUT PRAYER

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. Terese of Lisieux

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.

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.

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
Public Domain Image

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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