Tag Archives: prayer

Featured, Mercy, Quotes of the Saints, Spirituality

Twenty Five Quotes from St. John Paul II

October 17, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

Karol Wojtyla was ordained a priest in Poland on All Saints Day 1946. On Divine Mercy Sunday 2014 the Church gave him the title of Saint John Paul the Great.

St. John Paul the Great was known as the patron of the youth. He began the tradition of having World Youth Days. The following quotes remind us of the powerful teachings of St. John Paul the Great.

1. The cross means there is no shipwreck without hope; there is no dark without down, nor storm without haven.

St. John Paul the Great

2. The most beautiful and stirring adventure that can happen to you is the personal meeting with Jesus, who is the only one who gives real meaning to our lives.

St. John Paul the Great

3. Do not be afraid of getting lost. The more we give of ourselves, the more we will find ourselves.

St. John Paul the Great

4. The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being.

St. John Paul the Great

5. How to pray? This is a simple matter. I would say: Pray any way you like, so long as you do pray;

St. John Paul the Great

6. Future begins today, not tomorrow.

St. John Paul the Great

7. Darkness can only be scattered by light. Hatred can only be conquered by love.

8. Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.

St. John Paul the Great

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

St. John Paul the Great

10. Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

St. John Paul the Great

11. As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.

St. John Paul the Great

12. Remember that you are never alone. Christ is with you on your journey every day of your lives.

St. John Paul the Great

13. In God’s plan, nothing happens by chance.

St. John Paul the Great

14. Confession is an act of honesty and courage–an act of entrusting ourselves beyond sin, to a loving and forgiving God.

St. John Paul the Great

15. We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures. We are the sum of the Father’s love for us.

St. John Paul the Great

16. From Mary we learn to trust when all hope seems gone.

St. John Paul the Great

17. It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you.

St. John Paul the Great

18. There is no evil to be to be faced that Christ does not face with us. There is no enemy that Christ has not already conquered. There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already borne for us and does not now bear with us.

19. If He asks much of you, it is because He knows you can give much.

20. Let us remember the Past with Gratitude, Live the Present with Enthusiasm, and look forward to the Future with Confidence.

St. John Paul the Great

21. An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded.

St. John Paul the Great

22. Let Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament speak to your hearts. It is he who is the true answer of life that you seek.

23. Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and halleluiah is our song.

St. John Paul the Great

24. The worst prison would be a closed heart.

St. John Paul the Great

25. Freedom consist not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

St. John Paul the Great

Featured, Mystic, Quotes of the Saints, Saint of the Day, Spirituality, Visionary

Twenty Five Quotes from St. Teresa of Avila

October 9, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

St. Teresa of Avila was a Spanish Carmelite nun and mystic. She was born in Avila Spain on March 28, 1515, one of ten children. Her mother died when Teresa was 15.

Invoked against bodily ills, headaches, and sickness, St. Teresa was canonized a Saint by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622. The Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila is celebrated on October 15.

Saint Teresa of Ávila was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI on 27 September 1970.

St. Teresa has written many books. These include: The Interior Castle, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and The Way of Perfection. Her spirituality has led many to a much deeper prayer life.

Reflecting on the life of this Carmelite nun, let’s ponder her many quotes which reveal her spirituality.

1. Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who has God, finds he lacks nothing. God alone suffices.

St. Teresa of Avila

2. Leave it all to God and leave your interests in His hands. He knows what is fitting for us.

St. Teresa of Avila

3. Often, the Lord allows a fall so that the soul will be more humble, and when it returns to the right way of acting and grows in self-knowledge, it advances further in the service of our Lord, as we see among many saints.

St. Teresa of Avila

4. We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.

St. Teresa of Avila

5. True humility consists in our being satisfied with what is given us.

St. Teresa of Avila

6. Tear your heart away from everything else, then seek God and you will surely find him.

St. Teresa of Avila

7. There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.

St. Teresa of Avila

8. Hope, O my soul, Hope! You know neither the day, nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience turns a very short time into a long one.

St. Teresa of Avila

9. The chief object of the devil’s work on earth is to fill us with pride.

St. Teresa of Avila

10. You pay God a great complement by asking great things of Him.

St. Teresa of Avila

11. Prayer is an act of Love, words are not needed.

St. Teresa of Avila

12. Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.

St. Teresa of Avila

13. To have courage for whatever comes in life…everything lies in that.

St. Teresa of Avila

14. The measure in which you desire God, is the measure in which you will find Him!

St. Teresa of Avila

15. Remember, that you have only one soul: that you have only one death to die: that you have only one life…if you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.

St. Teresa of Avila

16. Truth suffers, but never dies.

17. It is love alone that gives worth to all things.

St. Teresa of Avila

18. When we accept what happens to us and make the best of it, we are praising God.

St. Teresa of Avila

19. In this life our lot is not to enjoy God, but to do His Holy Will.

St. Teresa of Avila

20. Look for Christ Our Lord in everyone and you will then have respect and reverence for all.

St. Teresa of Avila

21. The smallest thing when done for the love of God is priceless.

St. Teresa of Avila

22. Life is to live in such a way that we are not afraid to die.

St. Teresa of Avila

23. The feeling remains that God is on the journey too.

St. Teresa of Avila

24. Learn to suffer for Jesus Christ without letting others perceive it.

St. Teresa of Avila

25. Christ has no body on earth but yours. no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out to the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless others.

Featured, Our Lady, Prayer, Quotes of the Saints

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints about the Rosary

October 3, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

The Feast Day of the Rosary is celebrated on October 7th. The Rosary was a devotion begun by St. Dominic after experiencing a vision. The following quotes reveal the power the rosary had on the lives of the saints.

1. The Rosary is a fortress against evil. It is a sign to satan that you belong to Our Lady.

St. Dominic

2. If you say the Holy Rosary every day, with a spirt of faith and love, Our Lady will make sure she leads you very far along her Son’s path.

St. Josemaria Esriva

3. Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my Blood.

St. Louis de Montfort

4. The Rosary is a school for learning true Christion perfection.

St. John XXIII

5. The Rosary is the weapon for these times.

St. Padre Pio

6. The Rosary is a prayer both so humble and simple and theologically rich in Biblical content. I beg you to pray it.

St. John Paul II

7. Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the World.

Our Lady of Fatima

8. The Rosary is a long chain that links heaven and earth. One end of it is in our hands and the other end is in the hands of the Holy Virgin. The Rosary prayer rises like incense to the feet of the Almighty.

St Therese of Lisieux

9. Where the Rosary is recited, there will be days of peace and tranquility.

St. John Bosco

10. The Holy Rosary is the best artillary against Demons and their followers.

St. Dominic

11. To recite the rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.

St. John Paul II

12. The Rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known.

Bl. Fulton Sheen

14. There is no surer path to Heaven than aiding the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

St. Alphonsus Liguori

15. The Rosary is the prayer which sustains and increases our faith.

St. Lucia of Fatima+

16. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.

St. Lucia of Fatima

17. In times of darkness, holding the Rosary beads is like holding your Blessed Mother’s hand. Pray the rosary everday, abandon yourself in the hands of Mary. She will take care of you.

St. Padre Pio

18. When people love and recite the Rosary the find it makes them better.

St. Anthony Mary Claret

19. Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.

Blessed Pius IX

20. Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary.

Blessed Pius IX

21. When we say the Rosary, we are saying to the Holy Trinity, to the Incarnate Savior, to the Blessed Mothers. I love you, …I love you, I love you.

Blessed Fulton J. Sheen

22. So many rosaries means so many souls saved.

St. Maximillian Kolbe

23. The Rosary is my favorite prayer.

St. John Paul II

24. Blessed is the Rosary which gives us the knowledge of Our Blessed Lord by meditating on His life, death, passion, and glory.

St. Louis de Montfort

25. One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world.

St. Dominic

Franciscan Saints, Quotes of the Saints

Twenty Five Quotes from St. Francis of Assisi

September 18, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

St. Francis is the patron saint of the environment, peace, poverty and animals. The Feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi is celebrated on October 4 because that day marks the anniversary of his passing in 1226.

On September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Francis experienced a vision of a seraph with six fiery wings, which bore the image of the crucified Christ. After the vision he received the stigmata, which is the five wounds of Christ. The Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis is celebrated on September 17.

The following 25 quotes of St. Francis enlighten us to his spirituality.

1. Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

St. Francis of Assisi

2. I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, He can work through anyone

3. All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.

St. Francis of Assisi

12. When I think of the happiness that is in store for me, my sorrow, every pain becomes dear to me.

St. Francis of Assisi

4. Remember, when you leave this earth, you can take nothing with you which you have received, only that which you have been given; a heart full, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.

St. Francis Assisi

5. I am as I am in the eyes of God. Nothing more, nothing less.

St. Francis of Assisi

6. Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.

St. Francis of Assisi

7. Where there is Charity and Wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.

St. Francis of Assisi

8. Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.

St. Francis of Assisi

9. A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.

St. Francis of Assisi

10. We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.

St. Francis of Assisi

11. The deeds you do may be the only sermon some person will hear today.

St. Francis of Assisi

12. I beg you, Lord, let the fiery gentle power of your love take possession of my soul, and snatch it away from everything under heaven, that I may die for love of your love as you saw fit to die for love of mine.

St. Francis of Assisi

13. Jesus is happy to come with us, as Faith is happy to be spoken, as life to be lived, as light to be lit, as love is to be loved, as joy to be given, as Peace to be spread.

St. Francis of Assisi

14. While you are proclaiming peace with your lips be careful to have it even more fully in your hearts.

St. Francis of Assisi

15. Let your way of life among the people be such that whoever sees or hears you will glorify and praise our Heavenly Father.

St. Francis of Assisi

16. Nor did demons crucify Him; it is you who have crucified Him and crucify Him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.

St. Francis of Assisi

17. Lord, make me a channel of Your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, Faith. Where there is despair, hop. Where there is darkness light, and where there is sadness, joy.

St. Francis of Assisi

18. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console to be understood as to understand, to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning, that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Francis of Assisi

19. Lord, help me to live this day, quietly easily, to lean upon thy great strength, trustfully, restfully, to wait for the unfolding of Thy will, patiently, serenely. To meet others, peacefully, joyously. To face tomorrow confidently, courageously

St. Francis of Assisi

20. It was easy to love God in all that was beautiful. The lessons of deeper knowledge, they instructed me to embrace God in all things.

St. Francis of Assisi

21. Most high glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart. Give me right faith, sure hope and perfect charity. Fill me with understanding and knowledge that I may fulfill Your command.

St. Francis of Assisi

22. The only thing ever achieved in life without effort is failure.

St. Francis of
Assisi

23. By the anxieties and worries of this life, Satan tries to dull man’s heart and make a dwelling for himself there.

St. Francis of Assisi

24. Your God is of your flesh, He lives in your nearest neighbor, in every man.

St. Francis of Assisi

25. Be praise, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of You; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy are those who endure in peace, for by You, Most High they will be crowned.

St. Francis of Assisi

Faith, Gratitude, Prayer, Quotes of the Saints, Thanksgiving

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints about Gratitude

September 6, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

As Thanksgiving approaches, we reflect on our blessings and give thanks to God for all He has done for us. Even during times of tribulation, sorrow and stress, if we look for the silver lining…we will find it!

The Saints were always grateful to God. Even during suffering they gave God glory and praise.

The following quotes help us on our journey of faith to always turn to God in gratitude and trust…asking God to lead us.

1. Remember the past with gratitude. Live the present with enthusiasm. Look forward to the future with confidence.

St. John Paul II

2. Jesus does not demand great action from us but simply surrender and gratitude.

St. Therese of Lisieux

3. A single “Blessed be God” in adversity is worth more than a thousand acts of thanksgiving in prosperity.

St. John of Avila

4. Prayer is an aspiration of the heart. It is a simple glance directed to heaven. It is a way of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy.

St. Therese of Lisieux

5. I ought to die of shame to think I have not already died of gratitude to my good God.

St. Julia Billiart

6. If the only prayer, you said in your life was “thank you”, that would suffice.

St. Francis of Assisi

7. “Make it a habit to raise your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Because He gives you this and that… Because someone has despised you… Because you don’t have what you need, or because you do have it. And because He made His Mother, who is also your Mother, so beautiful. Because He created the sun and the moon and this animal or that plant. Because He made that man eloquent and you He left slow of speech… Thank Him for everything, because everything is good.”

St. Josemaria Escriva

8. Joy is prayer; joy is strength, joy is love. God loves a cheerful giver. The best way we can show gratitude to God and the people is to accept everything with joy.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

9. Obedience shows whether you are grateful.

St. Catherine of Siena

10. When you lie down on your bed to sleep, remember with thanksgiving the blessings and the providence of God.

St. Anthony the Great

11. I thank God for this illness and these physical discomforts, because I have the time to converse with the Lord Jesus.

St. Faustina

12, Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward and learning to enjoy whatever life has and this requires transforming greed into gratitude.

St. John Chrysostom

13. I give thanks to God, who has granted me unshaken faith and fervent courage in times of adversity.

St. Patrick

14. Gratitude for suffering is a precious jewel for our heavenly crown. Man, should always firmly believe, that God sends just that trial which is most beneficial for him.

St. Gertrude the Great

15. For me, prayer means launching out of the heart toward God; a cry of grateful love from the crest of joy or the trough of despair; it is a vast supernatural force that opens out my heart, and binds me close to Jesus.

St. Therese of Lisieux

16. My prayers are just an outpouring of gratitude for the assurance of that most completely desired Will of God, which will seem all the more desireable in all that is ahead.

St. Rose Duchesne

17. To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch heaven.

St. John Bosco

18. Let your whole life be spent in self-surrender, in prayer, in work, in humility, in giving thanks to our good God.

St. Padre Pio

19. Believe and adore. Believe that Jesus Christ is in this sacrament as truly as He was nine months in the womb of Mary, as real as He was nailed to the Cross. Adore in humility and gratitude.

St. john Vianney

20. Gratitude is the memory of the Heart.

St. Mary Euphrosa Pelletier

21. Everything fades away, but not our gratitude.

St. John Bosco

22. Would that I exhaust myself in acts of thanksgiving and gratitude toward this Divine Heart, for the great favor He shows us, in deining to accept our help to make Him known, loved and honored. He reserves innfinite blessings for all those who devote themselves to this work.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

23. Ingratitude is the soul’s enemy… Ingratitude is a burning wind that dries up the source of love, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

24. O my God, let me remember with gratitude and confess to thee thy mercies toward me.

St. Augustine

25. Embracing gratitude in the face of adversity requires a heart open to grace.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Franciscan Saints, Poetry, Spirituality

Three Prayers by St. Francis of Assisi

September 4, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

Canticle of the Sun

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessings. To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no man is worthy to mention Your name.

Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures;
especially Brother Sun, who is the day, and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, and bears a likeness to You, Most High One.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene,
and every kind of weather through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night;
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains us and governs us and who produces
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord,
through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord,
through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no living man can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord,
and give Him thanks,
and serve Him with great humility.
Amen.

Saint_Francis_of_Assisi_by_Jusepe_de_Ribera

PEACE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen

PRAYER INSPIRED BY THE OUR FATHER

Our Creator Redeemer, Comforter, and Savior

In The Angels and the Saints, enlightening them So that they may know YOU, for You, Lord, are Light;

Setting them Aflame so that they may Love YOU,

for YOU, Lord, are Love.

Dwelling in Them and Filling Them with Happiness,

For YOU, Lord are the Supreme Good. the Eternal Good, from whom all Good Comes and Without Whom no Good Exists.

May Knowledge of You Shine Within Us,

So that We may know the Greatness of Your blessings, the Breadth of Your Promises, the Height of Your Majesty, and the Depth of Your Judgments.

So that You may reign in us through grace and lead us to Your Kingdom, where we will see Your face without shadows, Love You perfectly, Live in Your Joyful Company, and Rejoice With You Forever,

So That We May Love You With All Our Heart, Always Thinking Of You;

With All Our Soul, Always Desiring You;

With All Our Mind, Directing Our Intentions Toward You and Seeking Your Honor in all Things;

And with All Our Strength,

Placing the Energies and Affections Of Body and Soul

At the Service of Your Love, and Nothing Else.

May We Love Our Neighbor as Ourselves, Drawing everyone, as far as we can, to Your Love;

Rejoicing in the Goodof Others as in Our Own,

Suffering With Them in Their Difficulties, and Offending No One.

Your Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, So that we may Remember, Understand and Revere, the Love He Had For Us and All that He Said, Did, and Suffered for Us.

Through Your Immeasurable Mercy, Through the Power of Your Beloved Son’s Passion, and Through the Merits and Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and All Your Elect.

And What We Have Not: Yet Forgiven Completely, Grant, Lord, That We May Forgive Entirely, So That We May Truly Love Our Enemies For Your Sake, Pray for Them Sincerely Before You, Return Evil for Evil to No One, and Seek to Do Good To Everyone in You.

Hidden or Visible,

Sudden or persistent,

Past, Present, and Future,

Amen

Peace, Prayer, Quotes of Saints, Spirituality

Praying for Peace: Quotes from the Saints

August 29, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let not your heart be troubled, and do not be afraid.” John 14:27.

Quote of Jesus

Peace and serenity of heart are difficult to acquire. The world is a chaotic place to live. Our emotions can make us feel quite helpless. How do we find peace? How do we live in peace? Faith is a gift. With faith, we can pray for peace

The following 25 quotes of the saints are ‘pearls of wisdom’ to help us on our journey

1. Lord, Make me an instrument of Thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

St. Francis of Assisi

2. Keep your soul at peace, in order to be able to be attentive and very faithful to the inner movement of the Holy Spirit.

St. Peter Julian Eymard

3. Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?”

St. Gerard Majella

4. Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.

St. Francis de Sales

5. From humility of heart proceed serenity of mind, gentleness of conduct, interior peace, and every good.”

St. Paul of the Cross

6. While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it more fully in your heart.

Saint Francis of Assisi

7. If you want peace, work for justice. If you want justice, defend life. If you want life, embrace truth.

St. John Paul II

8. Joy, with peace, is the sister of charity. Serve the Lord with laughter.

St. Padre Pio

9. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.

St Faustina

10. Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

11. Let us not be justices of the peace, but angels of peace.

St. Therese of Lisieux

12. But above all preserve peace of heart. This is more valuable than any treasure.

St. Mary Margaret Alacoque

13. Peace in the society depends on peace in family.

St. Augustine

14. Be at Peace. What God has started He will finish.

St Faustina

15. Let peace be your quest and aim.

St. Benedict

16. Be peace loving.Peace is a precious treasure to be sought with great zeal. Live your life that you may receive the blessings of the Lord. Then the peace of God the Father will be with you always.

St. Francis of Paola

17. Maintain a spirit of peace and you will save a thousand souls.

St. Seraphim of Sarov

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

St. Jerome

19. The only way to peace is forgiveness.

St. John Paul II

20. What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

21. Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens, and you will serve God according to His good pleasure and rest in Him.

St. John of the Cross

22. If you remain constant in faith in the face of trial, the Lord will give you peace and rest for a time in this world and forever in the next.

St. Jerome

23. Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ, just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey. They must have the Passion of Christ deeply embedded in their minds and hearts, because only from it, can they derive peace, grace, and truth.

St. Dominic

24. Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of the world disturb it.

St. John of the Cross

25. Peace demands four essential conditions: Truth, Justice, Love, and Freedom.

St. John Paul II

Faith, Prayer, Quotes of Saints, Virtues

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints about Patience

August 26, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

Do you struggle with impatience? Many of us are impulsive, wanting results right now! The saints are people who persevered and patiently waited for God’s help during good times and bad times.

The following quotes will help us to reflect before acting in small and big events of our lives.

1. Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is ‘timing’. It waits on the right time to act for the right principles and in the right way.

Ven. Fullton Sheen

2. Have patience with all things, but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes, with your value as a human being.

St. Francis de Sales

3. The reward of patience is patience.

St. Augustine

4. Let us be glad and bear with patience everything the world throws at us, secure in the knowledge that it is then that we are most in the mind of God.

St. Basil the Great

5. The best penance is to have patience with the sorrows God permits. A very good penance is to dedicate oneself to fulfill the duties of everyday with exactitude and to study and work, with all our strength.

St. Peter Damian

6. It is patience that reveals every grace to you and it is through patience that the saints received all that was promised to them.

St. Pachomius the Great

7. Be not perplexed. Be not afraid. Everything passes. God does not change. Patience wins all things. He who has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.

St. Teresa of Avila

8. The wicked exist in the wotld either to be converted or that through them the good man exercise patience.

St. Augustine

9. Have patience to walk with short steps until you have wings to fly.

St. Francis de Sales

10. What we need is a cup of understanding, a barrel of love, and an ocean of patience.

St. France de Sales

11. Be patient because the weaknesses of the body are given to us in this world by God for the salvation of the soul, so they are of great merit when they are borne patiently.

St. Francis of Assisi

12. We should take as a maxim never to be surprised at current difficulties, no more than at a a passing breeze, because with a little patience we shall see them disappear. Time changes everything.

St. Vincent de Paul

13. There is still time for endurance, time for patience, time for healing, time for change. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand among sinners, but leap aside.

St. Basil the Great

14. For a stalk to grow or a flower to open there must be time that cannot be forced; nine months must go by for the birth of a human child; to write a book or compose music often years must be dedicated to patient research. To find the mystery there must be patience, interior purification, silence, waiting.

St. John Paul II

15. O Loving Jesus, increase my patience according as my sufferngs increase.

St. Rita

16. There is no sin or wrong that gives man a foretaste of Hell in this life as anger and impatience.

St. Catherine Siena

17. When the night is darkest and thy burden feel too heavy,, hold on to patience, for the dawn is surely coming soon.

St. Teresa of Avila

18. Be humble and patient, and the Lord Jesus will give you the will and the means.

St. John Bosco

19. As patience leads to peace, and study to science, so are hmiliations the path that leads to humility.

St. Bernard Clairvieux

St. Bernard Clairvaux
Public Domain Image

20. Do not seek to escape your cross too quickly, for it is through the patient carrying of it that we find true grace.

St. Therese of Lisieux

21. Let your patience be a shield against the arrows of despair that seek to pierce the heart and the faithful believer.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

22. Lord, give me patience in tribulation.

St. Thomas More, Martyr

23. Charity is the bond which unites brothers, the cement of peace, the cross beam which gives solidity to unity…Only take patience from it, however, and it will remain desolate; take from it the sap of suffering and of resignation and it will lose its roots and its vigor.

St. Cyprian

24. Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.

St. John Cantius

25. Gracious and Holy Father, give us the wisdom to discover You, the intelligence to understand You, the patience to wait for You, a heart to meditate upon You, Eyes to Behold You, a life to proclaim You, through the power of the Spirit of Jesus, Our Lord. Amen

St. Benedict

Featured, Prayer, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Monica, Feast Day August 27

St. Monica by
Tristán de Escamilla,

The Feast Day of St. Monica is celebrated on August 27. She is the patron saint of mothers, alcoholism and difficult marriages.

St. Monica was born of a Christian family in Tagaste in Africa in 331. She was given in marriage by her parents to a non-Christian named Patricius. He was known to have a a bad temper and alcoholism. They had three children who survived infancy. One of them was Augustine.

Monica was known for her pious nature. She prayed without ceasing for her family. A year before his death Patricius converted to Catholicism and was baptized. Augustine was 17 at the time of his father’s death. He left the faith and led an immoral life. By eighteen he had a mistress and a son. He joined a group called the Manichees. Manicheeism teaches that the material world is part of the realm of evil. There are two gods one good and one evil.

Monica never ceased praying for the return of her son to the Catholic faith. After more than 15 years of prayer, Augustine heard St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, preach. He decided to study the faith, and eventually returned, being baptized in 387. Eventually Augustine became a priest and then a bishop. St. Augustine is now considered a Doctor of the Church.

Monica is the patron of mothers due to her persistence in prayer.

“Nothing is far from God.”

Quote of St. Monica

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Prayer, Quotes of Saints, Quotes of the Saints, Saint of the Day, Spirituality, Suffering

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints on Suffering and Sorrow

August 9, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

Suffering comes in many forms. Pain, illness, loss, and death of a loved one all cause grief and sorrow. Turning to God during troubled times can be very difficult. Let the words of the Saints help you as you travel on your spiritual journey.

1. I’m suffering very much, but am I suffering very well?

St. Therese of Lisieux

2. Love that does not know of suffering is not worthy of the name.

St. Clare of Assisi

3. I am prepared to suffer more. I know the Lord is with me. He has some plan for me. How can I requite His kindness.

St. Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception

4. I will willingly abandon this miserable bed to hunger and suffering provided that my soul may have its ordinary nourishment.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha

5. O my Jesus, give me Your strength, when my weak nature rebels against the distress and sufferings of this life of exile, and enable me to accept everything with prosperity and peace.

With my whole strength, I cling to Your merits Your sufferings, Your atonement, and Your tears so that I may be able to cooperate with you in the work of Salvation.

Prayer of Padre Pio

6. The Passion of Jesus is a sea of sorrows, but it is also an ocean of love. Ask the Lord to teach you to fish in this ocean. Dive into its depth. No matter how deep you go, you will never reach the bottom

St. Paul of the Cross

7. Mary’s sorrow was less when she saw her only Son crucified, than it is now at the sight of man offending Him by sin.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

8. The virgin may suitably be called a blooming rose. Just as the gentle rose is placed among thorns, so the gentle Virgin was surrounded by sorrow.

St. Brigid of Ireland

9. Suffering gladly borne for others convert more people than sermons.

St. Therese Lisieux

10. Suffering is the greatest treasure on earth; it purifies the soul. In suffering, we learn who our true friend is.

St. Faustina

11. Sorrow for sin is indeed necessary, but it should not be an endless preoccupation. You must dwell also on the glad remembrance of God’s loving kindness; otherwise, sadness will harden the heart and lead it more deeply into despair.

St. Bernard of Clairveaux

12. In every disappointment, great or small, let your heart fly directly to your dear Savior, throwing yourself against every pain and sorrow, Jesus will never leave you or forsake you.

St. Elizabeth Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Public Domain Image

13. Learn to suffer a little for the love of God without telling everyone about it.

St. Teresa of Avila

14. Suffering, no matter how difficult it may be, when compared to the good that is accomplished, makes every pain a joy for the soul.

St. Padre Pio

15. Love without suffering does not exist.

St. Bernadette

16. He will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.

St. Francis de Sales

17. In suffering God gives strength, but in action and in joy the soul does but show its own weakness and imperfection. And in suffering the soul practices and acquires virtue and becomes pure, wiser and more cautious.

St John of the Cross

18. When sorrows and misfortunes, physical or spiritual, afflict you, turn to your Guardian Angel with strong trust and he will help you.

St. John Bosco

19. Pain, suffering and sorrow are but the kiss of Jesus-a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

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

20. All the science of the saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever had done these two things best, has made himself most saintly.

St. Francis de Sales

21. We should strive to keep our hearts open to the suffering and wretchedness of other people, pray continually that God may grant us that spirit of compassion which is truly the Spirit of God.

St. Vincent de Paul

22. To suffer and be happy through suffering, to have ones feet on the earth, to walk on the dirty and rough path of this earth and yet to be enthroned with Christ at the Father’s right hand, to laugh and cry with the children of this world and ceaselessly sing the praises of God with the choirs of angels–this is the life of the Christian until the morning of eternity breaks forth.

St. Edith Stein

23. Those who pray and suffer, leaving action for others, will not shine here on earth; but what a radiant crown they will wear in the Kingdom of Life! Blessed be the “apostolic of suffering!”

St. Josemaria Escriva

24. Suffering is transformed and elevated when in these moments we become aware of God’s closeness and solidarity. This is the certainty that gives inner peace and spiritual joy to the person who suffers generously and offers his pain as a “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12.)

St. John Paul II

25. My Lord Jesus Christ, two graces I beg of you before I die. The first is that in my lifetime I may feel in my soul and in my body, as far as possible, that sorrow which you, sweet Jesus, endured in the hour of your bitter passion. The second is that I may feel in my heart, as far as possible, that abundance of love with which you, Son of God, were inflamed, so as willing to endure so great a passion for us sinners.

St. Francis Assisi, Prayer for Holy Sorrow

Faith, Grace, Prayer, Quotes of Saints, Spirituality

Inspired by Grace: Quotes of the Saints

August 6, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

Grace is a wonderful gift from God. It is not earned but given to us in love. When we become aware that God is with us, guiding us…everything changes. Grace is the present of God’ presence! God is not a distant God. He created us and loves us.

Let’s turn to the saints to find out how they felt about grace.

1. Let us not be afraid to suffer for the truth; for if we suffer for the truth, we shall find grace.

St. Hyacinth

2. Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases.

St. Rose of Lima

3. How great it is to possess Divine Grace, How beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights!

St. Rose of Lima

4. The Grace of God does not find men fit for salvation, but makes them so.

St. Augustine

5. If only we would learn how great it is to possess Divine Grace and how many riches it has within itself, how many joys and delights. We would devote all our concern to winning for ourselves pains and aflictions in order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace.

St. Rose of Lima

6. I am where God wills me to be. I have found rest and security. His wisdom governs me. His grace sanctifies me. His mercy encompasses me. His joy sustains me and all will be well with me.

St. Rose Phillippine Duchesne

7. The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic God’s giving, by grace, through faith and this is not of ourselves.

St. Nicholas

8. Be attentive to the voice of grace.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

9. Grace is like the sun. It shines on all, but only those who open their eyes and look up receive the light. The soul must be willing and awake, or the light passes by unnoticed.

St. Macarius of Egypt

10. In trial, God grants His grace to those who trust in Him.

St. Rita Cascia

11. Let every journey be a prayer, and every road a path of grace.

St. Bona of Pisa

12. Lord, give me the grace to work for the things I pray for.

St. Thomas More

13. The greatest grace God can give someone is to send him a trial he cannot bear with his own powers…and then sustain him with His grace so he may endure to the end and be saved.

St. Justin Martyr

St. Justin Marty
by Theophanes the Cretan
Public Domain Image

14. Without grace there is no hope, but with it there is no shortage.

St. Barnabas

15. Rich is the mercy of our God, and abundantly does He bestow grace upon grace on those who love Him.

St. Elizabeth Schoenna

16. What is true in the order of nature is true in the order of super-nature or grace. Only those who use the graces they are given are given more.

Venerable Fulton Sheen

17. If I am in God’s good grace, may He.keep me there. If I am not, may He put me there.

St. Joan of Arc

18. To receive the grace of God you must go to the desert and stay awhile.

St. Charles de Foucauld

19. Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a grace it is to know God!

St. Josephina Bakhita

20. He who knows how to forgive, prepares for himself many graces from God. As often as I look upon the cross, so often will I forgive with all my heart.

St. Faustina

21. Let us ask three graces of Jesus, to avoid Purgatory, to learn from Purgatory, to empty Purgatory.

Blessed James Alberione

22. What grace is meant to do, is to help good people, not to escape their sufferings, but to bear them with a stout heart, with a fortitude that finds it’s strength in faith.

St. Augustine

I also understood that God’s love shows itself just as well in the simplest soul which puts up no resistance to His grace, as it does in the loftiest soul.

St. Therese of Lisieux

24. The more I reflect on the graces I have received,the more they astonish me and make me tremble.

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

St. Rose Phillippine Duchesne Public Domain Image

25. Take, O Lord and receive my liberty, my memory, my whole understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have given me. I surrender it all to You to be disposed acording to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace, with these I will be rich enough, and will desire nothing more.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Prayer, Pride, Quotes of Saints, Spirituality, Vice

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints on Pride

July 15, 2026 Vicki Scheenstra

Pride often keeps us from having healthy relationships. It prevents us from asking for help when we need it. Turning to God is difficult to do when we have too much pride.

The saints can help us know when pride is detrimental and how to conquer it. The following quotes from the saints can inspire us to be humble of heart.

1. It was pride that changed angels into devils. It is humility that make men as angels.

St. Augustine of Hippo

2. The chief object of the devil’s work on earth is to fill us with pride.

St. Teresa of Avila

3. Do you know where the tree of death is rooted? In the height of pride, which is nourished by their sensual selfishness. Its core is impatience and its offshoot is the lack of any discernment. These are the four chief vices, which together tell the souls of those I have called trees of death, since they have failed to feed on the life of grace. (Pride, selfishness, lack of discernment, impatience)

St. Catherine of Siena

4. If the poison of pride is swelling up in you, turn to the Eucharist.

St. Cyril of Alexandria

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

St. Ephrem

6. You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy – the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good… for God resists the proud.

St. Vincent de Paul

7. Reject pride and consider everyone more righteous than yourself.

St. Anthony of Egypt

8. As pride is the beginning of all sin, so humility is the foundation of all virtue. Learn to be really humble, and not, as the hypocrite, humble in only appearance.

St. Bonaventure

9. The vice is treated with opposite virtues: hatred – with love, pride – with calm, insensitivity with compassion, laziness with love for labor.

St. John Chrysostom

10. Pride dies 20 minutes after death.

St. Francis de Sales

11. The proud person is like a grain of wheat thrown into water – it swells, it gets big. Expose that grain to the fire – it dries up – it burns. The humble soul is like a grain of wheat, thrown into the earth – it descends, it hides itself, it disappears, it dies but to revive in heaven.

St. Mary of Jesus Crucified

12. For what else is pride but, as a saint has defined it, the love of one’s own excellence.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

13. Not to follow the advice of our confessor is pride and a want of faith

St. John of the Cross

14. If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Your self-suffering, your selfishness, and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already full. It is as simple as that.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

15. Be demanding of the world around you; be demanding first of all with yourselves. Be children of God; take pride in it!

St. John Paul II

16. We must all be on our guard against pride and empty boasting and beware of worldly or natural wisdom. A worldly spirit lives to talk a lot, but do nothing, striving for the exterior signs of holiness that people see, with no desire for true piety, and interior holiness of spirit.

St. Francis of Assisi

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

St. Vincent de Paul

18. Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy. it does not boast. It is not proud.

1 Corinthians 13 St. Paul, Apostle

St. Paul, Apostle

19. How can one be pleasing to God when one is inflated with pride and self-love under the pretense of striving for God’s glory wile in fact one is seeking one’s own glory?

St. Faustina

20. The proud always do damage because the grace of heaven cannot fall on them.

St. Frances Cabrini

21. We put pride into everything like salt. We like to see that our good works are known. If our virtues are seen, we are pleased; if our faults are perceived, we are sad. I remark that in a great many people, if one says anything to them, it disturbs them, it annoys them. The saints were not like that- they were vexed if their virtues were known, and pleased that their imperfections should be seen.

St. John Vianney

22. Pride causes us to use our gifts as though they came from ourselves, not benefits received from God, and to usurp our benefactor’s glory.

St. Bernard Clairveaux

23. We must observe also that among the heathen the names of the poor men are more likely to be known than of the rich. Now our Lord mentions the names of the poor, but not the names of the rich, because God knows and approves the humble, but not the proud.

St. Gregory the Great

24. Learn to love humility, for it will cover all your sins. All sins are repulsive before God, but the most repulsive of all is pride of the heart. Do not consider yourself learned and wise; otherwise, all your efforts will be destroyed, and your boat will reach the harbor empty. If you have great authority, do not threaten anyone with death. Know that, according to nature, you are susceptible to death, and that every soul sheds its body as its final garment.

St. Anthony of Padua

25. Lord, free me from every pride, which is the source of all sins. Give me the grace to recognize sick and unbridled ambitions, that make me choose false greatness, or they cause complexes. Jesus, martyred on the cross, obedient to everything to the Father, I am asking for a humble heart like Your Heart. I am asking for humble eyes, who see themselves and others in truth.
Amen

St. John Paul II

When Pride Comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 11.2

The Mystery of Faith

Tag Archives: prayer

Twenty Five Quotes from St. John Paul II

Twenty Five Quotes from St. Teresa of Avila

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints about the Rosary

Twenty Five Quotes from St. Francis of Assisi

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints about Gratitude

Three Prayers by St. Francis of Assisi

Praying for Peace: Quotes from the Saints

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints about Patience

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Monica, Feast Day August 27

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints on Suffering and Sorrow

Inspired by Grace: Quotes of the Saints

Twenty Five Quotes from the Saints on Pride

Discovering the Spirituality of Catholicism

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