I just read an interesting book recently about giving speeches, Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln. Chapter 6 talks about using quotes when you speak and "assembling your arsenal of quotations".
Adapting this to a Catholic approach, we should assemble an arsenal of Saint Quotes and Bible Verses.
Catholic Saint Quote Index - Table of Contents
On Creating a Saint Quote Rolodex: Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln
James C. Humes, the author of Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln, advises creating a "Rolodex" of quotes, organized by category and alphabetically.
Humes says, "File away only quotations from those who are famous, whose observations are crisp and memorable, or whose words strike a ringing echo of agreement in your mind."
Humes provides the following topics to get started on organizing your quotes:
- Action
- Business
- Change
- Decision
- Excellence
- Facts
- Government
- History
- Idea
- Jobs
- Knowledge
- Leadership
- Money
- Necessity
- Opportunity
- Planning
- Question
- Research
- Solution
- Team
- Urgency
- Vision
- Winner
- Youth
- Zero Defects
These topics are obviously business-driven. They follow the target audience of the book: CEOs. Nevertheless, they are a good place to start. Start what?
Assemble an arsenal of Catholic Quotations! A Rolodex of Saint Quotes
Humes also provides "the twenty most popular 'wallet stuffers' for business situations" that he has personally supplied to CEOs for their talks.
- Winston Churchill (Problem-Solution): In critical and baffling situations, it is always best to return to the first principle.
- Confucius (Problem-Analysis): The first rule in being a wise leader is that you must first define the problem.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (Facts-Planning): A little fact is worth a limbo of dreams.
- Benjamin Franklin (Negotiation-Problem): Necessity never made a good bargain.
- Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (New Idea-Change): Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea and never shrinks back to its former dimensions.
- Thomas Jefferson (Problem-Solution): Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.
- John Kennedy (Planning-Solution): Our task is not to fix the blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.
- Abraham Lincoln (Purpose-Planning): If we could first know where we are and whither we are going, we could better judge what to do and how to do it.
- William Shakespeare (Opportunity-Initiative): There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads to fortune.
- Alfred Lord Tennyson (Change-Challenge): The old order changes yielding place to new.
- Louis Pasteur (Simplicity): Do not promote what you can't explain, simplify, and prove early.
- Aldous Huxley (Planning): Dream in a pragmatic way.
- Abraham Lincoln (Dedication): It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
- Charles DeGaulle (Individual): History does not teach fatalism. There are moments when the will of a few free men open up new roads.
- George Patton (Planning): Take calculated risks-that's a lot different from being rash.
- Winston Churchill (Expediency): There are two kinds of success: initial and ultimate.
- Robert Frost (Change): Ah, when to the heart of men was it ever less than treason to go with the drift of things?
- Mark Twain (Change): Loyalty to a petrified opinion never broke a chain or freed a human soul.
- Winston Churchill (Leadership): There is a precipice on either side of you: a precipice of caution, a precipice of over-daring.
- Winston Churchill (Challenge): No one can make you inferior without your consent.
Humes concludes this lists, saying: "If one of these wallet stuffers fits your format, then adopt it; make it your own. Emphasize it, enhance it, empower it. Pick and present a famous Power Quote that will magnify your message."
Saint Quotes: Gratitude (and Purgatory)
If only you knew with what great longing these holy souls yearn for relief from their suffering. Ingratitude has never entered Heaven.
- St. Margaret Mary in her letter to Mother de Saumaise, at Dijon, May 2, 1683 (23), Letters of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, p. 32. Source for "Ingratitude has never entered Heaven"
Saint Quotes: Starting a Project
"Undertake nothing without first dedicating it to God"
- Padre Pio
"God does nothing without a finesse of all details."
- Venerable Fulton Sheen
Saint Quotes: Difficulties, Annoyances, Difficult People
Do not say that person annoys me. Say that person sanctifies me.
- St. Josemaria Escriva
We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.
- St. Teresa of Avila
The more we are afflicted in this world, the greater is our assurance in the next; the more sorrow in the present, the greater will be our joy in the future.
- St. Isadore of Seville
Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.
- St. John of the Cross
Many would be willing to have afflictions provided that they not be inconvenienced by them.
- St. Francis de Sales
There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed.
- Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade (Abandonment to Divine Providence, Chapter 2, Section 1, p. 15)
Saint Quotes: Scripture, Importance of
Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ
- St. Jerome
Saint Quotes: Fear, Anxiety
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. Clare of Assisi
Leave sadness to those in the world. We who work for God should be lighthearted.
- St. Leonard of Port Maurice
Saint Quotes: Protestantism, Apologetics
Either Christ has a Church in the world continually and until the end of the world, or else He has a Church sometimes, and sometimes not at all. Could we think that He had a Church while He was here Himself, and perhaps awhile after, but mysteriously none since? . . . No . . . that can in no way be, since He must necessarily still preserve His Church somewhere; otherwise, how could He be with His followers continually until the end of the world?
- St. Thomas More
Saint Quotes: Saints, Intercession, Apologetics
Those in the Catholic Church, whom some rebuke for praying to Saints and going on pilgrimages, do not seek any Saint as their savior. Instead, they seek saints as those whom their Savior loves, and whose intercession and prayer for the seeker He will be content to hear. For His Own sake, He would have those He loves honored. And when they are thus honored for His sake, then the honor that is given them for His sake overflows especially to Himself.
- St. Thomas More
Considering that when the Saints lived in this world they were at liberty to roam the earth, do you really think that in Heaven God would have them tied to a post?
- St. Thomas More
You say you see no reason why we should pray to the Saints since God can hear us and help us just as well, and will do so gladly, as any Saint in Heaven. Well, then, what need, I ask, do you have to ask any physician to help your fever, or to ask and pay any surgeon to heal your sore leg? For God can both hear you and help you as well as the best of doctors. He loves you more than they do, and He can help you sooner. Besides—–His poultices are cheaper and He will give you more for your words alone than they will for your money!
- St. Thomas More
If Saint Paul exhorts us to pray for one another, and we gladly think it right to ask every poor man to pray for us, should we think it evil to ask the holy Saints in Heaven to do the same?
- St. Thomas More
Saint Quotes: Conversion, Evangelization
First let a little love find entrance into their hearts, and the rest will follow.
- St. Philip Neri
Saint Quotes: Pro-Life, Abortion
A woman who deliberately destroys a fetus is answerable for murder. And any fine distinction between its being completely formed or unformed is not admissible among us.
- St. Basil the Great
>> Mother Teresa (St. Teresa) Pro-Life Quotes, Quotes on Abortion
“How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“And if we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“By abortion the mother does not learn to love, but kills her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women to the same trouble. So abortion leads to more abortion. So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love, that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“Any country that accepts abortion is the poorest of the poor.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“Many people are concerned with children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is the greatest destroyer of peace today—abortion which brings people to such blindness.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“We must remember that life begins at home and we must also remember that the future of humanity passes through the family.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
“How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts.”
- St. Teresa of Calcutta
Saint Quotes: Spiritual Combat, Purity
“Jesus Christ gave up his life that we might live, therefore, whoever wishes to carry the cross for his sake must take up the proper weapons for the contest, especially those mentioned here. First, diligence; second, distrust of self; third, confidence in God; fourth, remembrance of the Passion; fifth, mindfulness of one’s own death; sixth, remembrance of God’s glory; seventh, the injunctions of Sacred Scripture following the example of Jesus Christ in the desert”
- St. Catharine of Bologna, On the Seven Spiritual Weapons
The Devil never runs upon a man to seize him with his claws until he sees him on the ground, already having fallen by his own will.
- St. Thomas More
“The most powerful weapon
to conquer the devil is humility.
For, as he does not know at all,
how to employ it,
neither does he know
how to defend himself from it.”
St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
“Not only the devil is involved in spiritual warfare
but the Holy Spirit is equally involved, or more involved in it,
bringing men and women of goodwill,
the ability to overcome evil in their lives,
so that they too can say:
'Where evil abounded, grace super-abounded!'” (Rom 5:20).
St. Pope John Paul II
"You must never be afraid, if you are troubled by a flood of thoughts, that the enemy is too strong against you, that his attacks are never ending, that the war will last for your lifetime, and that you cannot avoid incessant downfalls of all kinds. Know that our enemies, with all their wiles, are in the hands of our divine Commander, our Lord Jesus Christ, for Whose honour and glory you are waging war. Since He himself leads you into battle, He will certainly not suffer your enemies to use violence against you and overcome you, if you do not yourself cross over to their side with your will. He will Himself fight for you and will deliver your enemies into your hands, when He wills and as He wills, as it is written: ‘The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee’ (Deut. xxii, 14)."
St. Theophan the Recluse (from "Unseen Warfare")
"Do not allow the spark of discord and enmity to smolder. The longer you wait, the more the enemy tries to cause confusion among you. Be watchful, so that he does not mock you. Humility destroys all of his schemes.”
“Rouse yourselves ! The world which you worship only flatters you. The heaviness of your flesh should not keep you back from our Saviour—the God of spirits and of all flesh. If you continue to drowse, you will imperceptibly fall under the influence of the evil spirits, who are anxious for the company even of swine. Be careful that you become not possessed by a devil.”
Saint Sebastian Dabovitch
“Are you fighting against your passions? Fight, fight, and be good soldiers of Christ! Do not give in to evil and do not be carried away by the weakness of the flesh. During the time of temptation, flee to the Physician, crying out with the Holy Church, our mother: “O God, number me with the thief, the harlot, and the publican (i.e., with the repentant), and save me!”
“We must consider all evil things, even the passions which war against us, to be not our own, but of our enemy the devil. This is very important. You can only conquer a passion when you do not consider it as part of you.”
- "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” [Matthew 17:14-23]
- If this kind goes out by the prayer and fasting of another person, then it is even less able to enter one who fasts and prays.
- What protection!
- Although there are a slew of demons and all the air is packed with them, they cannot do anything to one who is protected by prayer and fasting.
- Fasting is universal temperance, prayer is universal communication with God; the former defends from the outside, whereas the latter from within directs a fiery weapon against the enemies. The demons can sense a faster and man of prayer from a distance, and they run far away from him so as avoid a painful blow.
- Is it feasible to think that where there is no fasting and prayer, there already is a demon? Yes, it is.
- The demons lodging in a person, do not always reveal their presence, but lurk there, stealthily teaching their host every evil and turning him away from every good thing; so this person is certain that he is doing everything on his own, but meanwhile he is only fulfilling the will of his enemy.
- Just commence prayer and fasting and the enemy will immediately depart, then wait on the side for an opportunity to somehow return again. And he truly will return, as soon as prayer and fasting are abandoned.
Saint Theophan the Recluse
“My brethren, do all that is in your power not to fall, for the strong athlete should not fall, but, if you do fall, get up again at once, and continue the contest. Even if you fall a thousand times, because of the withdrawal of God’s grace, rise up again at each time, and keep on doing so until the day of your death. For it is written: ‘If a righteous man falls seven times,’ that is, repeatedly throughout his life, ‘seven times shall he rise again’ [Proverbs 24:16].”
“Prayer in church is important. The best thoughts and feelings come in church, yes, and the enemy attacks more violently in church, but with the sign of the Cross and the Jesus Prayer, you drive him away. It is good to stand in some dark corner in church and to pray to God. “Let us lift up our hearts!” the priest exclaims, but our mind often creeps along the ground, thinking about indecent things. Fight against this.”
Saint Barsanuphios of Optina
“All of us sin constantly. We slip and fall. In reality, we fall into a trap set by the demons. The Holy Fathers and the Saints always tell us, ‘It is important to get up immediately after a fall and to keep on walking toward God’. Even if we fall a hundred times a day, it does not matter; we must get up and go on walking toward God without looking back. What has happened has happened – it is in the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God.”
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica (Note: not a saint)
“All possible sins and passions are ready to break into the soul, and strive to do so at every moment. But fight against them valiantly and vigilantly unto your last breath, looking upon them as dreams of your imagination, as illusions of the spirits of evil.”
"A monk complained to St. Arsenius that while reading Holy Scripture he does not feel, neither the power of the words read nor gentleness in his heart. To that the great saint will reply to him: “My child, just read! I heard that the sorcerers of serpents, when they cast a spell upon the serpents, the sorcerers are uttering the words, which they themselves do not understand, but the serpents hearing the spoken words sense their power and become tamed. And so, with us, when we continually hold in our mouths the words of Holy Scripture, but even though we do not feel the power of the words, evil spirits tremble and flee for they are unable to endure the words of the Holy Spirit.”
- My child, just read!
- The Holy Spirit Who, through inspired men, wrote these divine words, will hear, will understand and will hasten to your assistance; and the demons will understand will sense and will flee from you.
- That is: He Whom you invoke for assistance will understand, and those whom you wish to drive away from yourself will understand. And both goals will be achieved."
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich
"Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife."
"If you are suffering for your faith in Christ, the Lives of the Saints will console you and encourage you and make you bold and give you wings, and your torments will be changed into joy. If you are in any sort of temptation, the Lives of the Saints will help you overcome it both now and forever. If you are in danger from the invisible enemies of salvation, the Lives of the Saints will arm you with the ‘whole armor of God,’ and you will crush them all now and forever and throughout your whole life. If you are in the midst of visible enemies and persecutors of the Church of Christ, the Lives of the Saints will give you the courage and strength of a confessor, and you will fearlessly confess the one true God and Lord in all world─Jesus Christ─and you will boldly stand up for the holy truth of His Gospel unto Death, unto every death, and you will feel stronger than all deaths, and much more so than all visible enemies of Christ; and being tortured for Christ you will shout for joy, feeling with all your being that your life is in heaven, hidden with Christ in God, wholly above all deaths."
“He who is ignorant of the enemy’s ambush is easily slain; and he who does not know the causes of the passions is soon brought low.”
"Before the war begins, seek after your ally; before you fall ill, seek out your physician; and before grievous things come upon you, pray, and in the time of your tribulations you will find Him, and He will listen to you.”
>> St. John Bosco Quotes on Spiritual Combat, Purity
Another weapon the devil employs is immodesty, or more frankly, impurity. My dear children, be on your guard. The devil will tempt you with bad books, bad thoughts, or the foul conversation of a companion. When any such fellow approaches you, say to yourself, 'This is a minister of Satan.' And let these wretches who indulge in foul conversation say to himself, I am a minister of Satan because I help him ruin souls!
- St. John Bosco
Do you want to outwit the devil? Never let him catch you idle. Work, study, pray, and you will be surely overcome your spiritual enemy.
- St. John Bosco
When I see the devil has stopped ensnaring souls, I too will cease looking for new ways to save them from his wily deceits.
- St. John Bosco
What I recommend most earnestly is not to lose heart when you are tempted. Do you wish to succeed? The best way is to reveal the temptations to your spiritual director immediately. The devil loves darkness. He always operates in the dark because he knows that if he is discovered he is beaten.
- St. John Bosco
The usual snare with which the devil catches the young is to fill them with shame when they are about to confess their sins. When he pushes them to commit sins, he removes all shame, as if there were nothing wrong with it, but when they are going to confession, he returns that shame magnified and tries to convince them that the priest will be shocked by their sins and will no longer think well of them. Thus the devil tries to drive souls to the brink of eternal damnation. Oh, how many lads does Satan steal from God – sometimes forever – by this trick.
- St. John Bosco
He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor.
- St. Bede the Venerable
I wealthiest am when richest in remorse.
- St. Robert Southwell
Where sin was hatched, let tears now wash the nest.
- St. Robert Southwell
In the active life all the vices are first of all to be removed by the practice of good works, so that in the contemplative life a man may, with now purified mental gaze, pass on to the contemplation of the Divine Light.
- St. Isidore of Seville
The Child, the Lord Jesus Christ . . . Word in our flesh, Wisdom in infancy, Power in weakness, and in true Man, the Lord of Majesty.
- Pope St. Leo the Great
Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day, even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word, Jesus Christ.
- St. Paul of the Cross
Since the Church began aiming more at temporal things than at spiritual, things have gone from bad to worse.
- St. Catherine of Siena
Refusing further service as a Roman soldier: I am a soldier of Christ: combat is not permitted to me.
- St. Martin of Tours
Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state; but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves, a really good beginning will have been made.
- St. Peter of Alcantara
Our greatest gain is to lose the wealth that is of such brief duration and, by comparison with eternal things, of such little worth; yet we get upset about it and our gain turns to loss.
- St. Teresa of Avila
This world and the world to come are two enemies. We cannot therefore be friends to both; but we must decide which we will forsake and which we will enjoy.
- Pope St. Clement I
Proud is many a man who looks down on his neighbor because the wool of his gown is finer! Yet as fine as it is, a poor sheep wore it upon her back before it came upon his back, and all the while she wore it, she was after all still only a sheep. And why should he now think himself better than she was simply by having that wool—–wool that, even though it is now his, is still not so truly his as it was truly hers?
- St. Thomas More
Either we must speak as we dress, or dress as we speak. Why do we profess one thing and display another? The tongue talks of chastity, but the whole body reveals impurity.
- St. Jerome
Saint Quotes on Motherhood
“The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.”
- St. Thérèse of Lisieux
“To be a mother is to nourish and protect true humanity and bring it to development.”
- St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein)
“A society without mothers would be a dehumanized society, for mothers are always, even in the worst moments, witnesses of tenderness, dedication, and moral strength. … Dearest mothers, thank you, thank you for what you are in your family and for what you give to the Church and the world.”
“Thank you, women who are mothers! You have sheltered human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail. This experience makes you become God’s own smile upon the newborn child, the one who guides your child’s first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is the anchor as the child makes its way along the journey of life.”
- St. John Paul II
“Motherhood then becomes a kind of priesthood. She brings God to man by preparing the flesh in which the soul will be implanted; she brings man to God in offering the child back again to the Creator … she is nature’s constant challenge to death, the bearer of cosmic plentitude, the herald of eternal realities, God’s great cooperator.”
- Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen
“That special power of loving that belongs to a woman is seen most clearly when she becomes a mother. Motherhood is the gift of God to women. How grateful we must be to God for this wonderful gift that brings such joy to the whole world, women and men alike!”
“Above all, during the months immediately preceding the birth of her child, the mother should keep close to God, of whom the infant she bears within her is the image, the handiwork, the gift and the child. She should be for her offspring, as it were, a temple, a sanctuary, an altar, a tabernacle. In short, her life should be, so to speak, the life of a living sacrament, a sacrament in act, burying herself in the bosom of that God who has so truly instituted it and hallowed it, so that there she may draw that energy, that enlightening, that natural and supernatural beauty which he wills, and wills precisely by her means, to impart to the child she bears and to be born of her.”
- St. Zélie Guérin Martin, mother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
“Look at the mothers who truly love their children: how many sacrifices they make for them. They are ready for everything, even to give their own blood so that their babies grow up good, healthy, and strong.”
- St. Gianna Beretta Molla
“And now thou didst ‘stretch forth thy hand from above’ and didst draw up my soul out of that profound darkness [of Manicheism] because my mother, thy faithful one, wept to thee on my behalf more than mothers are accustomed to weep for the bodily deaths of their children … And thou didst hear her, O Lord.”
- St. Augustine, son of St. Monica
“The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral — a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body. … The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God’s creative miracle to bring new saints to heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation … What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this; to be a mother?”
- Cardinal József Mindszenty
A “woman by her very nature is maternal — for every woman, whether married or unmarried, is called upon to be a biological, psychological, or spiritual mother — she knows intuitively that to give, to nurture, to care for others, to suffer with and for them — for maternity implies suffering — is infinitely more valuable in God’s sight than to conquer nations and fly to the moon.”
- Alice von Hildebrand
“Do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety, or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?”
- Our Lady of Guadalupe, to St. Juan Diego
Saint Quotes on St. Joseph
“St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event that went to make up his life. That is why Scripture praises Joseph as ‘a just man’. And in Hebrew a just man means a good and faithful servant of God, someone who fulfills the divine will, or who is honorable and charitable toward his neighbor.”
St. Josemaria Escriva
“What could Jesus Christ refuse St. Joseph, who never refused him anything during his mortal life on earth?”
St. Augustine
“He [St. Joseph] is head of the Holy Family, father of the trinity on earth which resembles so closely the Holy Trinity on high.”
St. Peter Julian Eymard
“Joseph carried Jesus Christ first to Egypt, then to Judea, and so traced for us the path of the apostles who preached his name to the Jews and to the Gentiles.”
St. Hilary of Poitiers
“The dignity and glory of St. Joseph is such that the Eternal Father conferred upon him with greatest liberality, a likeness to his own supremacy over his incarnate Son.”
St. Bernadine of Siena
"What many kings and prophets desired to see, and saw not; desired to hear, and heard not; he [St. Joseph] was allowed not merely to hear and see, but also to carry, lead, embrace, kiss, nourish, and protect."
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“Jesus wished to become indebted to St. Joseph for the necessaries of life, and of this holy patriarch alone it may be said that he saved the life of his Savior.”
St. Madaleine Sophie Barat
“Saint Joseph is most powerful against the demons which fight against us at the end of our lives.”
St. Alphonsus de Liguori
“According to [St.] Jerome and Origen, Joseph had no suspicion of adultery because he knew the modesty and chastity of Mary. Moreover, he had read in Scripture that the virgin would conceive and that ‘a shoot shall sprout from the stock of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom’. He knew also that Mary was descended from the line of David. Thus it was easer for him to believe that Isaiah’s prophecy had been accomplished in her than to think that she could have let herself descend into debauchery. This is why, considering himself unworthy to live with a person of such great sanctity, he wanted to send her away secretly—like when Peter says to Jesus, ‘Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!'”
St. Thomas Aquinas
“I know not how anyone can ponder on the sufferings, trials, and tribulations the Queen of Angels endured whilst caring for Jesus in his childhood, without at the same time thanking St. Joseph for the services he rendered the Divine Child and his Blessed Mother.”
St. Teresa of Avila
“Saint Joseph did not do extraordinary things, but rather by the constant practice of the ordinary and common virtues, he attained that sanctity which elevates him above all other saints.”
St. Joseph Marello
What could Jesus Christ refuse St. Joseph, who never refused him anything during his mortal life on earth?
St. Augustine
Quotes on St. Joseph from St. Jose Manyanet y Vives, Apostle of the Holy Family:
When we work for the glory of God it is St. Joseph who pays.
- Complete Works of St. Jose Manyanet, trans. by Scott Smith, Vol. 6, "Loose thoughts on St. Joseph", p. 136, citing RAMÓN OROMÍ, o.c. 128.
His devotion to St. Joseph was very extraordinary; he himself told us that every night, before going to bed, he gave the keys of the house to St. Joseph, and he instilled in us the same devotion, and he reprimanded us if we did not obtain the graces we requested because we did not go with sufficient constancy.
- Complete Works of St. Jose Manyanet, trans. by Scott Smith, Vol. 6, "Loose thoughts on St. Joseph", p. 136, citing Statement of Brother José Vilanova. Cf. also several other witnesses, such as Fathers Luis Tallada y Baynach, Francisco Mascaró y Labat, Antonio Carrió y Grau.
No lesser privilege and excellence of chastity is to honor the soul that possesses it and to raise it to do great things and to undertake marvelous undertakings; contrary to the vice of the flesh that blinds, demeans and debases it to the point of unbelievability, as daily experience attests, for it is seen that the lustful and given to sensual pleasures no longer likes the things of virtue and is grieved by generous deeds; He becomes apathetic, hardened, he forgets what he knew to be good, he loses his understanding, and as if intoxicated, he only thinks and seeks to please himself in that which is more proper to beasts than to rational men and children of God.
- Complete Works of St. Jose Manyanet, trans. by Scott Smith, The School of Nazareth, "Twenty-Sixth Visit: Religious chastity and its excellence," p. 556.
Saint Quotes: Patience
Do not say that person annoys me. Say that person sanctifies me.
- St. Josemaria Escriva
Saint Quotes: Trust
- “He who trusts in himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.”
- “What does it cost us to say, ‘My God help me! Have mercy on me!’ Is there anything easier than this? And this little will suffice to save us if we be diligent in doing it.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori
“Jesus Christ, Lord of all things! You see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am—you alone. I am your sheep; make me worthy to overcome the devil.”
St. Agatha
Saint Quotes: Humility
“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.”
St. André Bessette
“The most powerful weapon
to conquer the devil is humility.
For, as he does not know at all,
how to employ it,
neither does he know
how to defend himself from it.”
St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
Saint Quotes: Trinity
“For to have the fruition of God the Trinity, after whose image we are made, is indeed the fullness of our joy, than which there is no greater.”
St. Augustine
“The three Persons are distinct from one another; a sublime knowledge is infused into the soul, imbuing it with a certainty of the truth that the Three are of one substance, power, and knowledge and are one God.”
St. Teresa of Ávila
“In spite of our sinfulness, in spite of the darkness surrounding our souls, the grace of the Holy Spirit, conferred by baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, still shines in our hearts with the inextinguishable light of Christ ... and when the sinner turns to the way of repentance the light smooths away every trace of the sins committed, clothing the former sinner in the garments of incorruption, spun of the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is this acquisition of the Holy Spirit about which I have been speaking.”
St. Seraphim of Sarov
“Today I put on a terrible strength invoking the Trinity, confessing the Three with faith in the One as I face my Maker.”
St. Patrick (from “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” prayer)
“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 in the Eucharist, but you also gave yourself in the fullness of love for your creature.
St. Catherine of Siena
“The Father loves not only the Son but also himself and us, by the Holy Ghost.”
St. Thomas Aquinas
“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
“A great mystery, a mystery of love, an ineffable mystery, before which words must give way to the silence of wonder and worship. A divine mystery that challenges and involves us, because a share in the Trinitarian life was given to us through grace, through the redemptive Incarnation of the Word and the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
St. John Paul II
“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 that streams from the Most Holy Trinity makes all creation happy; from it springs that life which vivifies and bestows all life which takes its beginning from him.”
St. Faustina
“I vow and consecrate to God all that is in me: My memory and my actions to God the Father; My understanding and my words to God the Son; My will and my thoughts to God the Holy Spirit.”
St. Francis de Sales (from a consecration prayer to the Trinity)
“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, virgin and doctor (1347-1380 A.D.)
“Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself.”
St. Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor (1347-1380 A.D.)
“As the depths of the sea are invisible to human sight, so the Godhead of the Trinity is found to be beyond the grasp of human understanding.”
St. Columban, abbot (545-615 A.D.)
“When we share in the Spirit, we possess the love of the Father, the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Spirit himself.”
St. Athanasius, bishop (296-373 A.D.)
“You are the garment which covers our nakedness, and in our hunger you are a satisfying food, for you are sweetness and in you there is no taste of bitterness, O triune God!”
St. Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor (1347-1380 A.D.)
“The holy Trinity, the one true God, is of its nature unity, equality and love, and by one divine activity sanctifies its adopted sons.”
St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, bishop (467-533 A.D.)
“When the Spirit dwells in us, the Word who bestows the Spirit is in us too, and the Father is present in the Word.”
St. Athanasius, bishop (296-373 A.D.)
“There is in all and through all one God the Father, one Word and Son, and one Spirit, and one salvation for all who believe in him”
St. Irenaeus, bishop (140-203 A.D.)
Saint Quotes on the Holy Spirit
“In the darkness and ignorance of this life the Holy Spirit enlightens the poor in spirit. He is the love that draws them on, the sweetness that attracts them, the way in which a man approaches God.” + William of Saint Thierry, abbot (1075-1148 A.D.)
“The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of goodness: do not grieve him by your evil actions and thoughts, and so deprive yourself of the defense his light affords you.” + Diadochus of Photice, bishop (c. 400-486 A.D.)
“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 the Great, bishop (329-379 A.D.)
“By nature the Spirit is beyond the reach of our mind, but we can know him by his goodness.” + St. Basil the Great, bishop (329-379 A.D.)
“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, bishop (315-387 A.D.)
“Since we have our accuser, we need an Advocate as well.” + St. Irenaeus, bishop (140-203 A.D.)
“Christ’s Holy Spirit has unlocked the doors of heaven, which stand wide open to receive those who rise up from the earth.” + St. Maximus of Turin, bishop (380-465 A.D.)
“The Holy Spirit does not proceed by slow, laborious efforts.” + St. Ambrose, bishop (340-397 A.D.)
“It can easily be shown from examples both in the Old Testament and the New that the Spirit changes those in whom he comes to dwell; he so transforms them that they begin to live a completely new kind of life.” + St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop (375-444 A.D.)
“The spirit of God is indeed a multitude of waters, for the Father is rich and great.” + St. Irenaeus, bishop (140-203 A.D.)
“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, virgin (1566-1607 A.D.)
“The spirit through whom men are reborn is the same Spirit through whom Christ was born.”
St. Augustine, bishop (354-430 A.D.)
“By the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Christ was made both king and priest forever.”
Faustus Luciferanus, priest (Died c. 304 A.D.)
“The river of God is brimming with water; that is to say, we are inundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and from that fountain of life the river of God pours into us in full blood.”
St. Hilary, bishop (315-367 A.D.)
“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 absorbs it.”
St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, virgin (1566-1607 A.D.)
“The Spirit moves itself by its own weight and lightness into all places that are fitting and disposed to receive it.”
St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, virgin (1566-1607 A.D.)
“The strength the disciples received from the Spirit enabled them to hold firmly to the love of Christ, facing the violence of their persecutors unafraid.”
St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop (375-444 A.D.)
“Very true was our Savior’s saying that it was to their advantage for him to return to heaven: his return was the time appointed for the descent of the Holy Spirit.”
St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop (375-444 A.D.)
“The gift of God is the Holy Spirit.”
St. Augustine, bishop (354-430 A.D.)
“The power of the Spirit fills the whole universe, but he gives himself only to those who are worthy, acting in each according to the measure of his faith.”
St. Basil the Great, bishop (329-379 A.D.)
“Happy the man whose words issue from the Holy Spirit and not from himself!”
St. Anthony of Padua, priest (1195-1231 A.D.)
“Through the Spirit we acquire a likeness to God; indeed, we attain what is beyond our most sublime aspirations – we become God.”
St. Basil the Great, bishop (329-379 A.D.)
Saint Quotes and Prayers on Holy Family, Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph
"As soon as she [Mary] had the use of reason, that is, from the first moment of her immaculate conception in the womb of Saint Ann, from that time she began with all her powers to love her God; and thus she continued to do, ever advancing more in perfection and love through her whole life. All her thoughts, her desires, her affections, were wholly given to God; not a word, not a motion, not a glance of the eye, not a breath of hers that was not for God and for his glory, never departing one step, nor separating herself for one moment from the divine love."
- St. Alphonsus Liguori
"Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculata who is Queen even of God's heart."
- St. Maximilian Kolbe
"The day of the Nativity of the Mother of God is a day of universal joy, because through the Mother of God, the entire human race was renewed, and the sorrow of the first mother, Eve, was transformed into joy."
- St. John Damascene

>> Pope St. John Paul II Quotes on the Holy Family, Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph
The Church wishes to bear a particular witness to that too during the Octave of Christmas, by means of the feast of the Holy Family. She wishes to recall that the fundamental values, which cannot be violated without incalculable harm of a moral nature, are bound up with the family.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Homily, December 31, 1978
The Holy Family is the beginning of countless other holy families. The Council recalled that holiness is the vocation of all the baptized. In our age, as in the past, there is no lack of witnesses to the “gospel of the family”, even if they are not well known or have not been proclaimed saints by the Church. The Year of the Family is the appropriate occasion to bring about an increased awareness of their existence and their great number.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Gratissimam Sane (Letter to Families), #23, 1994
To gather round the Bethlehem grotto contemplating there the Holy Family, enables us to appreciate the gift of family intimacy in a special way, and spurs us to offer human warmth and concrete solidarity in those unfortunately numerous situations which, for various reasons, lack peace, harmony, in a word, lack “family”.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Angelus, December 29, 1996
Today, in the joyful atmosphere of Christmas, the Church, reliving with fresh wonder the mystery of Emmanuel, God-with-us, leads us to contemplate the Holy Family of Nazareth. From contemplation of this admirable model, the Church draws the values to hold up to the women and men of all times and all cultures.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Angelus, December 27, 1998
This Sunday we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, and it is very significant that this year it takes place the day after Christmas and the opening of the Great Jubilee. I would therefore like to extend my special good wishes to families: a merry Christmas and a happy Jubilee Year to you all, families of Rome and of the entire world! The Jubilee that marks the 2,000th anniversary of Christ’s birth is yours in a particular way, because it recalls how God chose to enter human history through a family.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Angelus, December 26, 1999
Looking today at that Holy House, our thoughts turn to the many families of our time who are in difficult situations. Some of them suffer from extreme poverty; others are forced to seek in foreign countries what they unfortunately lack in their homeland; still others find within their own families serious problems caused by the rapid cultural and social changes which at times overwhelm them. And what can be said of the many attacks on the family institution itself? All this shows how urgent it is to rediscover the value of the family and to help it in every way to be, as God wanted it, the vital environment where every child who comes into the world is welcomed with tenderness and gratitude from the moment of his conception; a place marked by a serene atmosphere that encourages the harmonious human and spiritual development of all its members.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Angelus, December 31, 2000
For every believer, and especially for Christian families, the humble dwelling place in Nazareth is an authentic school of the Gospel. Here we admire, put into practice, the divine plan to make the family an intimate community of life and love; here we learn that every Christian family is called to be a small “domestic church” that must shine with the Gospel virtues. Recollection and prayer, mutual understanding and respect, personal discipline and community asceticism and a spirit of sacrifice, work and solidarity are typical features that make the family of Nazareth a model for every home.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Angelus, December 30, 2001
The liturgy of this Sunday, a few days after Christmas, invites us to contemplate the Holy Family of Nazareth, a wonderful model of human and supernatural virtues for all Christian families. Let us meditate on the mystery of this unique family: we can find in it values and teachings which today are more indispensable than ever to give human society sound and stable foundations.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Angelus, December 29, 2002
Today, a few days after Christmas, the Church contemplates the Holy Family. At the school of Nazareth every family learns to be a workshop of love, unity and openness to life. In our day a misunderstood sense of rights sometimes troubles the very nature of the family institution and of the conjugal bond. People who believe in the importance of the family based on marriage should join forces at all levels. The family is a human and divine reality that should be defended and promoted as a fundamental social good.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Angelus, December 28, 2003
Today, the Feast of St Stephen gives way to the Feast of the Holy Family. The Son of God prepared himself to carry out his redeeming mission, living a hard-working and hidden life in the holy house of Nazareth. Thus, united by his Incarnation with every man and woman (cf. Gaudium et Spes, n. 22), he was able to sanctify human families.
– Pope St. John Paul II, Angelus, December 26, 2004
“This important Marian feast occurs during Advent, a season of watchful and prayerful preparation for Christmas. She who knew better than anyone how to wait attentively for the Lord guides us and shows us how to make more vital and active our journey to the Holy Night of Bethlehem. With her, we spend these weeks in prayer and, guided by her bright star, hasten to make the spiritual journey that will lead us to celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation with greater intensity.”
- Pope St. John Paul II
“The Immaculate Conception shines like a beacon of light for humanity in all the ages.
- Pope St. John Paul II
>> St. Louis de Montfort on Holy Family, Joseph, Mary
"The Son of God became man for our salvation but only in Mary and through Mary."
- St. Louis Marie de Montfort
>> Pope Leo XIII on Holy Family, Joseph, Mary
Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903)
Ad Te, Beate Joseph
To Thee, O Blessed Joseph
O most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family,
defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ.
and corrupting influence.
O our most mighty protector,
and from heaven assist us
in our struggle with the power of darkness
and, as once you rescued the Child Jesus
so now protect God’s Holy Church
from the snares of the enemy
Shield, too, each one of us
by your constant protection,
so that, supported by your example
and your aid, we may be able
and to obtain eternal happiness in Heaven.
O Gente Felix
O House of Nazareth The Blest
By Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903)
O house of Nazareth the blest,
Fair hostess of the Lord,
The Church was nurtured at thy breast
And shared thy scanty hoard.
In all the spreading lands of earth.
The wandering sun may see
No dearer spot, no ampler worth
Than erst was found in thee!
We know thy humble tenement
Was heaven’s hermitage:
Celestial heralds came and went
In endless embassage.
There, whatsoever Joseph asks
Christ hastens to fulfil;
While Mary loves the household tasks
That wait her joyous will.
There, Joseph toileth at her side
Her joys and griefs to share,
With thousand ties knit to his bride,
Of love and work and prayer.
Yet how their bosoms constant burn
And deeper ardours prove
In love of Christ, whose eyes return
Tokens of mutual love.
O then, in all the homes of earth,
Be Love the bond of life:
May it enthrone at every hearth
The peace that husheth strife.
All praise to thee, O Jesus,
Who parents dost obey;
Praise to the sovereign Father
And Paraclete for aye.
Amen.
Adveniat Regnum Tuum! (Thy Kingdom Come!)
by Katharine Tynan (1861-1931)
Thy Kingdom come ! Yea, bid it come!
But when Thy Kingdom first began
On earth, Thy Kingdom was a home,
A Child, a woman and a man.
The Child was in the midst thereof,
O, Blessed Jesus, holiest One!
The Centre and the Fount of Love
Mary and Joseph’s little Son.
Wherever on the earth shall be
A child, a woman and a man,
Imaging that sweet trinity
Wherewith Thy Kingdom first began,
Establish there Thy kingdom! Yea,
And o’er that trinity of love
Send down, as in Thy appointed day,
The brooding Spirit of Thy Dove!
Katharine Tynan (1861-1931) was an Irish born Poet and Writer and a friend of the Jesuit Poet, Fr Gerard Manley Hopkins. She contributed to many periodicals and magazines such as the Jesuit published Studies, the Dominican published Irish Rosary, Irish Monthly, Hibernia and Dublin University Review, besides her own private publications. After her marriage, the addition of her husband’s name, “Hinkson” is often appended to her publications
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