Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

Twenty Five Quotes From the Saints on the Trinity

The Feast of the Holy Trinity is celebrated on the Sunday following Pentecost. On this day we reflect on our relationship with three persons in one God.

Which person in the Holy Trinity do you feel closest to. In what order did you come to know the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

The following quotes from the saints share their spirituality regarding their love of the Trinity.

Let them lead us in our faith journey .

1. The Father loves not only the Son, but also himself and us, by the Holy Ghost.

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas

2. Worship the Trinity, which I call the only true devotion and saving doctrine.

St. Gregory Nazianzus

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Bisop

3. Eternal Trinity…mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself, for You are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being.

3. St. Catherine of Siena


4. O Trinity, eternal Trinity! Fire, abyss of love…was it necessary that You should give even the Holy Trinity as food for souls? You gave us not only Your Word through the Redemption and the Eucharist, but You gave Yourself in the fullness of Love for Your creature.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena

5. O Father Eternal God, grant me faith and courage; Son, wisdom of the Father, grant me light and make me wise; Holy Spirit, beloved of the Father and Son, inflame my heart and purify my soul, that I may approach this majestic Sacrament with faith and love.

St. Paschal Baylon

St. Paschal Baylon

6. I have not even begun to think of unity when the Trinity bathes me in its splendor. I have not even begun to think of the Trinity when unity grasps me.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus

St. Gregory of Nazianzus

7. Every divine action begins with the Father, proceeds through the Son, and is completed by the Holy Spirit.

St. Basil

St. Basil the Great

8. I vow and consecrate to God all that is in me: My memory and my actions to God the Father; My understanding and my works to the Son; My will and my thoughts to God the Holy Spirit.

St. Francis de Sales

St. Francis de Sales

9. O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely so as to establish myself in You, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

10. If you try to understand the Trinity, you will lose your mind; if you reject it, you will lose your soul.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo
Public Domain Image

11. Let all of us truly and humbly believe…and adore, serve, praise, bless, glorify, exalt…the Most High and Supreme Eternal God, Trinity and Unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Wherever we are, in every place, at every hour, at every time, every day and continually.

St. Francis of Assisi


12. I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness, of the Creator of creation.

St. Patrick

St. Patrick

13. O My God! Most Blessed Trinity, I desire to love You and make You loved, to work for the glory of Holy Church by saving souls on earth and liberating those suffering in purgatory. I desire to accomplish your will perfectly and to reach the degree of glory You have prepared for me in Your kingdom. I desire, in a word, to be a Saint, but I feel my helplessness and I beg You, O my God, to be Yourself my Sanctity!

St. Thรฉrรจse of Lisieux

St. Therese of Lisieux
Public Domain Image

14. Worship the Trinity, which I will call the only true devotion and saving doctrine.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus

St. Gregory of Nazianzus

15. The three persons are distinct from one another, a sublime knowledge is infused into the soul, embracing it with a certainty of the truth that the Three are of one substance, power and knowledge and are one God.

St. Theresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila

16. Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you are a mystery as deep as the sea, the more I search, the more I Find and the more I find the more I search for You.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena

17. When one of the Three Persons communicates with a soul, by the power of that one will, it finds itself united with the Three Persons and is inundated in the happiness flowing from the Most Holy Trinity, the same happiness that nourishes the saints. This same happiness streams from the Most Holy Trinity, makes all creation happy, from it springs that life which verifies and restores all life which takes its beginning from time.

St. Faustina

St. Faustina
Public Domain Image

18. For to have the fruition of Gid the Trinity, after whose image we are made, is indeed the fullness of all our joy, than which there is no greater.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo

19. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the live of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

St. Paul the Apostle

St. Paul the Apostle

20. You came into this land of exile, willing to suffer and to die, in order to carry away every single soul and plunge it into the very heart of the Trinity – Love’s eternal home.

St. Therse of Lisieux

St. THร‰RรˆSE of Lisiuex

21. If you see Love…you see the Trinity.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo
Public Domain Image

22. Then they are brought by us where there is water and are reborn by the same manner of rebirth by which we ourselves were reborn; for they are then washed in the water, ‘in the name of God the Father, and master of all, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. ‘

St. Justin Martyr

St. Justin Marty
by Theophanes the Cretan
Public Domain Image

23. I understand nothing else than the Holy Trinity to be meant; for the third is the Holy Spirit, and the Son is the second, by whom all things were made according to the Father.

St. Clement of Alexandria

St. Clement of Alexandria

24. Those holy angels come to the knowledge of God not by audible word, but by the presence to their souls of immutable truth, …of the only begotten Word of God, and they know this Word Himself, and the Father, and their Holy Spirit, and that this Trinity is indivisible, and that the three persons of it are one substance, and that there are not three Gods but one God, and this they so know that it is better understood by them than we are by ourselves.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo

25. The whole Trinity has marked mankind with its likeness. With the memory it resembles the Father, with the understanding it resembles the Son; by love it resembles the Holy Ghost.

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony of Padua

Twenty Five Quotes From the Saints on the Holy Spirit

We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday…fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus. The Holy Spirit descended on the confused and frightened apostles. They were filled with courage and conviction.

Today, we receive the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of confirmation. We are sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit who guides us and fills us with joy.

The 7 gifts of the Spirit are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God.

The 12 fruits of the spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, Self-control, and chastity.

The following quotes from the saints inspire us with the joy and faith they received.


1. Those whose hearts are pure are temples of the Holy Spirit.

St. Lucy

St. Lucy
by Domenico di Pace Beccafumi

2. He pours light into our minds, arouses our desire and gives us strength. As the soul is to the life of the body, so the Holy Spirit is the life of our souls.

St. Peter Damien


3. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector … to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

4. Just as two rushing rivers intermingle in such a way that the smaller loses its name and is absorbed into the larger, so the Divine Spirit acts upon the soul and absorbes it.

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

5. Happy the man whose words come from the Holy Spirit and not from himself.

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony of Padua

6. O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there thy cheerful beams.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo
by Sandro Botticelli

7. The Holy Spirit is like a gardener cultivating our souls.

St. John Vianney

St. John Vianney
Public Domain Image

8. Pentecost offers us the chance to live in a new way; with the Holy Spirit as our guide.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

9. Breathe into me, Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Move in me, Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Attract my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy. Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy. Protect me, Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo

10. The Holy Spirit leads us as a mother leads by the hand her child of two years old; as a person who can see leads one who is blind.

St. John Vianney

St. John Vianney

11. Rise, you who were lying fast asleep. Rise and hurry to the Church. Here is the Father. Here is the Son. Here is the Holy Spirit.

St. Ambrose

St. Ambrose

12. Acquire the Spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.

St. Seraphim of Sarov

St. Seraphim of Sarov

13. I love you my Lord and my God, the eternal Paraclete, co-equal with the Father and the Son…It is by You that sinners are turned into saints.

St. John Henry Newman

St. John Henry Newman

14. Stretch every fiber of my being, dear Lord, that I may more easily fly towards you. May Your Spirit, which once breathed over the chaos of the earth, give life to all the powers of my soul.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

15. Every divine action begins with the Father, proceeds through the Son, and is completed by the Holy Spirit.

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great

16. The life of the spirit is not our life, but the life of God within us.

St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila

17. Think of the Father as a spring of life begetting the Son like a river, and the Holy Ghost like a sea, for the spring and the river and the sea are all one nature. Think of the Father as a root, and the Son as a branch. and the Spirit as a fruit, for substance in these three is one. The Father is a sun with the Son as rays and the Holy Ghost as heat.

St. John Damascene

St. John Damascus

18. Every truth without exception- and whoever may utter it- is from the Holy Spirit.

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas

19. Enrich your soul in the great goodness of God. The Father is your table. The Son is your food, and the Holy Spirit waits on you and then makes Hos dwelling in you.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena

20. In the inner stillness where meditation leads, the Spirit secretly anoints the soul and heals our deepest wounds.

St. John of the Cross

St. John of the Cross

21. Remember, then, that you received a spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear. Keep safe what you have received. God the Father sealed you. Christ the Lord strengthened you and sent the Spirit into your hearts as the pledge of what is to come.

St. Ambrose

St. Ambrose

22. The Spirit is the source of holiness, a spiritual light, and he offers his own light to every mind to help it in its search for truth.

St. Basil

St. Basil the Great

23. The Spirit is the source of holiness…He is the love that draws them on, the sweetness that attracts them, the way in which a man approaches God.

St. Irenaeus

St. Irenaeus of Lyons
Public Domain Image

24. Spirit of truth. You are the reward of the saints, the comforter of souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor, treasure to lovers, food for the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering; to sum up, you are the one in whom all treasures are contained.

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

25. Jesus to the Apostles on Pentecost: Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins their sins are forgiven, if you don’t forgive them they are not forgiven. ” JOHN 20: 21-23

Twenty Five Quotes From the Saints about Baptism

When we are baptized, we begin our faith journey. For some, it begins as when we are infants. For others, the journey is preceded by a spiritual experience during which we feel called to follow Jesus.

If you are exploring the teachings of the Church, you need to know about the Sacrament of Baptism.

The following quotes will help you ponder the mystery of the Sacrament of Baptism.


1. Our Lord made a covenant with us through baptism in order to give us eternal life.

St. Basil the Great

2. We receive the sacrament of baptism only once because there was only one death and one resurrection for the salvation of the world, and baptism is its symbol.

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great

3. Through the sacrament of baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away so great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ.

St. Leo the Great, Pope

St. Leo the Great

4. He who is reborn in baptism is a new man.

St. Peter Damien, Bishop and Doctor


5. Baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift. It is a called a gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo
Public Domain Image

6. The soul is regenerated in the Sacred waters of baptism and this becomes God’s child.

St. Maximilian Kolbe

St. Maximilian Kolbe
Public Domain Image

7. I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will Baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

St. John the Baptist

Rome – The painting of Baptism of Christ by Daniele da Volterra in church San Pietro in Montorio from 16. cent.

8. We baptize our infants, though they are not defiled by sin, so that they too may be given holiness, righteousness; adoption, inheritance, brotherhood with Christ and membership in Him.

St. John Chrysostom

St. John Chrysostom Icon
Public Domain Image

9. Let your baptism be your armor; your faith , your helmet; your love, your spear; your patient endurance, your analogy (spiritual armor).

St. Ignatius of Antioch

St. Ignatius of Antioch

10. Baptism is the door of the spiritual life and the gateway to the sacraments.

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas

11. I received the Sacrament of Baptism with such joy that only angels could describe!

St. Josephine Bakhita

St. Josephine Bakhita

12. Baptism is a beautiful mystery, revealing Godโ€™s love for us.

St. John Paul II

St. John Paul II
Public Domain Image

13. Through baptism we are introduced to the life of grace.

St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila
Public Domain Image

14. Baptism signifies both a new birth and a new beginning.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo
Public Domain Image

15. Baptism is the foundation of Christian life.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

16. Baptism plants the seeds of faith in our hearts.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

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

17. In baptism we are made a new creation in Christ.

St. Paul the Apostle

St. Paul the Apostle
Public Domain Image

18. Baptism welcomes us into a family of faith.

St. John XXIII, Pope

St. John XXIII

19. In baptism we are transported into God’s heart.

St. John Paul II


20. Bsptism is a moment where heaven pours out it’s grace.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine of Hippo

21. The Sacrament of Baptism, like Marriage, is both a beginning and an end. It’s the end of a former way of life; the beginning of a new life in God’s grace.

St. John Henry Newman

St. John Henry Newman

22. We who have been reborn through the sacrament of baptism experience intense joy when we feel within us the first stirrings of the Hily Spirit.

St. Hilary, Bishop


23. As a man must be born before he can begin to lead his physical life, so he must be born to lead a divine life. That birth occurs in the sacrament of baptism.

Venerable Fulton Sheen

Venerable Bishop Vulton Sheen

24. If you are eagerly looking for salvation, and you believe in God, you may become acquainted with the Christ of God, and after being initiated (by Baptism) live a happy life.

St. Justin Martyr

St. Justin Marty
by Theophanes the Cretan

25. Baptism cleanses the soul from the pollution of worldly thoughts and inclinations: You will wash me, says the psalmist, and I shall be whiter than snow.

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great

7 Holy Spirit Prayers from the Saints

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

ย Prayer Before Study

by St.ย  Thomas Aquinas

Come Holy Spirit, Divine Creator, true source of light and fountain of wisdom.ย  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

St. Thomas Aquinas
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.ย  May the angel of peace watch over us and lead us at last by God’s grace to the Kingdom.ย  Amen

St. Dominic
Public Domain Image
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

St. Benedict
Public Domain Image
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

St. Catherine of Siena
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.ย  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.ย  Amen

St. Anthony of Padua
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.

St. Augustine

Pope Francis defines gift of piety as friendship with God




Pope Francis Face Book Image
Pope Francis
Face Book Image

During his catechesis for the general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis described the gift of piety received from the Holy Spirit, saying not to confuse it with pity. He described piety as a friendship with God, given us by Jesus; a friendship that changes our life and fills us with enthusiasm and joy. According to Zenit News Agency, Pope Francis said this gift is often misunderstood as pity.

Pope Francis told thousands gathered for his weekly general Audience that when the Holy Spirit pours love into our hearts we are led to perceive the Lord’s presence and love in our lives. This moves us to respond joyfully in prayer and adoration.

Pope Francis said,

“We experience ever anew, with joy and gratitude, the loving relationship with God our Father which has been granted us in Jesus his Son which grounds and perfects our authentic worship of God.”

Pope Francis clarified that piety is often misunderstood and confused as pity. “However,” he said ,

“piety is not having compassion for someone, having pity for one’s neighbor but indicates our belonging to God and our profound bond with Him. This bond gives meaning to the whole of our life and keeps us firm, in communion with Him, in the most difficult and trying moments.”

He stressed that there are two aspects of piety. First is a bond with the Lord which is not intended as a duty or an imposition. The bond comes from within. Pope Francis explained that it is a relation lived with the heart: it is our friendship with God, given to us by Jesus: a friendship that changes our life and fills us with enthusiasm and joy.

Pope Francis continued:

“When the Holy Spirit makes us perceive the presence of the Lord and all his love for us, He warms our heart and moves us almost naturally to prayer and to celebration,”

The pope stated that the second point of piety makes us grow in relationship and communion with God and leads us to live as his children, helping us to pass this love on to others, recognizing them as our brothers.

Distinguishing piety from pity, Pope Francis stressed that pity does not motivate the faithful in their relationships and encounters.

โ€œWhy do I say not to pity? Why do some people think that having compassion is close your eyes, make a face like a little picture, pretend to be a saint,” he said. “This is not the gift of piety.โ€

Rather, he said,

“pietyย  means to be truly capable of rejoicing with those in joy, to weep with those who weep, to welcome and help those who are in need.”

Pope Francis noted the very close relation between the gift of piety and meekness, he said piety โ€œmakes us meek, it makes us tranquil, patient, in peace with God, and at the service of others with meekness.โ€ Meekness is one of the beatitudes.

Recalling Paul’s Letter to the Romans: “All who are led by the Spirit of God ,these are sons of God, and ye have not received a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit adopted as children, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father. ‘” The Apostle Paulโ€™s words still apply to faithful today, he stressed.

The Pope concluded his homily with an invitation. He asked the faithful to ask the Lord that the gift of his Spirit conquer our fear, our uncertainties, also our restless, impatient spirit, rendering us joyful witnesses of God and of his love, adoring the Lord in truth and also in the service of our neighbor, with meekness and with the smile that the Holy Spirit always gives us in joy.

This article was originally posted on June 5, 2014

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