The Mystery of Faith

3. Pride and nothing else caused an angel to fall from heaven. And so, one may reasonably ask whether one may reach heaven by humility alone without the help of any other virtue.

4. Is there any greater happiness than to imitate on earth the Choir of Angels?

St. Basil the Great

5. How great is the dignity of souls, that each person has from birth received an angel to protect it.

St. Jerome

6. To pretend angels do not exist because they are invisible is to believe we never sleep because we don’t see ourselves sleeping.

7. I saw them with my bodily eyes as clearly as I see you. And when they departed, I used to weep and wish they would take me with them.

St. Joan of Arc

8. The devil writes down our sins…our Guardian Angel all or merits. Labor that the Guardian Angel’s book may be full, and the Devil’s empty.

9. Ask your angel to console and assist you in your last moments.

St. John Bosco

10. The battle against the Devil, which is the principal task of St. Michael the Archangel, is still being fought today, because the Devil is still alive and active in the world.

St. John Henry Newman

11. Somehow, I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an archangel in his.

12. The rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth. In the prayer, we repeat many times the words that the Virgin Mary heard from the Archangel and from her kinswoman Elizabeth.

13. How happy is that guardian angel who accompanies a soul to Holy Mass.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

14. Remember that the good angels do what they can to preserve men from sin and obtain God’s honor, but they do not lose courage when men fail.

15. Angels are intelligent reflections of light. that original light, which has no beginning. They can illuminate. they do not need tongues or ears for they can communicate without speech…in thought.

St. John Damascene

16. Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, O Lord Jesus Christ, rest your weary ones, bless your dying ones, sooth your suffering ones, pity your afflicted one, shield your joyous ones and all for your love’s sake. Amen

17. Let us affectionately love His angels as counselors and defenders appointed by the Father and placed over us. They are faithful; they are prudent; they are powerful; Let us only follow them, and in the protection of the God of heaven, let us abide.

St. Bernard Clairvaux

18. Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly, the angel who guards you will honor your patience.

19. We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten and direct us. God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides.

20. Angels are spirits, but it is not because they are spirits that they are angels. They become angels when they are sent. For the word angel refers to their office, not their nature. You ask the name of this nature, it is spirit; you ask its office, it is that of an Angel, which is a messenger.

21. This is the highest point of philosophy, to be simple and wise. This is the angelic life.

St. Gregory the Great

22. Among the Angels in Heaven, none surpass St. Michael the Archangel in Glory.

St. Vincent Ferrer

23. Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael the Archangel is sent, so that his action and his name bake it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power.

24. Oh, my Holy Guardian Angel, care for my soul and my body. Enlighten my mind that I may better know the Lord my God and love Him with all my heart. Watch over me when I pray, so I won’t give in to life’s distractions. Sustain me with your counsel to live as a righteous Christian and help me to do good works with a generous heart. Protect me from the cunning of the advisary and lift me up when I am being tempted so I may win the fight against evil. Stay with me at all times, never stop watching over me until I am called back to the Father’s house, where we will praise our great God together for all eternity. Amen

25. How consoling it is to know that we have a spirit who, from the womb to the tomb, never leaves us even for an instant not even when we dare to sin. And this heavenly spirit guides and protects us like a friend or a brother.

St. Padre Pi o\

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

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. John of the Cross.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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

St. John of 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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Elizabeth Ann Seton

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.

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.

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.

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.

St. Therese of Lisieux

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.

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.

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. Ignatius of Antioch

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.

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.

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.

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. Bernard of Clairvaux

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.

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. Margaret Mary Alacoque

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

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. Maximus the Confessor

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.

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.

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.

Faith, Quotes of Saints, Sacred Heart

Quotes and Reflection on the Sacred Heart of Jesus

June 15, 2019 Vicki Scheenstra

June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is celebrated on Friday, 19 days after Pentecost. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is very popular…it touches our hearts in many ways.

When I ponder on the mystery of the Sacred Heart, I see the image and marvel at the wounds of Jesus. He suffered and died for our many sins. The art shows Jesus’ heart on fire for His love of all of us. It shows His heart wounded by the crown of thorns and the lance that pierced His side. I see the rays of light coming forth from His heart, showing that He is the Light of the World! The suffering of the world (the cross) is supported by His heart…His love for us. The wounded heart of Jesus supports each of us if we turn to Him for mercy and love.

God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. (John 3:16)

The following quotes from the saints are inspirational and helpful for meditating on the Mystery of the Sacred Heart.

Love overcomes, Love delights, those who love the Sacred heart rejoice!

St. Bernadette Sorbirous

Do not let the past disturb you, just leave everything in the Sacred Heart and begin again with joy.