All Saints' (28) Catherine de Hueck Doherty

This is the last of a series of quotes from saints who have gone before us. I wanted to take the whole month to celebrate All Saints' Day, mostly as a reaction to the over-the-top emphasis on Halloween that completely overshadows this holiday.

I have enjoyed gathering and posting these quotes. It has been good to see how the same Spirit dwells in so many different holy people throughout the ages, inspiring them to a common love and devotion. It is also inspiring to know that He lives and works in me! So, here's the last quote. Glad to be a part of such a beautiful family.

"Deserts, silence, solitude.

For a soul that realizes the tremendous need of all three, opportunities present themselves in the midst of the congested trappings of all the world's immense cities. But how, really, can one achieve such solitude?

By standing still!

Stand still, and allow the strange, deadly restlessness of our tragic age to fall away like the worn-out, dusty cloak that it is--a cloak that was once considered beautiful. The restlessness was considered the magic carpet of tomorrow, but now in reality we see it for what it is: a running away from oneself, a turning from that journey inward that all men must undertake to meet God dwelling within the depths of their souls.

Stand still, and look deep into the motivations of life.

Stand still, and lifting your hearts and hands to God pray that the mighty wind of His holy Spirit may clear all the cobwebs of fears, selfishness, greed, narrow-heartedness away from the soul: that His tongues of flame may descend to give courage to begin again."

All Saints' (27) Francis de Sales

"Preparation: 1. Place yourself in the presence of God. 2. Beseech Him to inspire you. . . . After completing your prayer, go back over it for a moment and out of the considerations you have made, gather a little devotional bouquet to refresh you during the rest of the day."

--from Introduction to the Devout Life, pp. 52, 54

All Saints' (26) George Muller

"It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth...I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord."

I haven't read his biography, but what I've heard about this man's life is amazing. I'd love to learn more about him.

All Saints' (25) Basil

This sermon of Saint Basil's contains some beautiful and inspiring words on prayer...
(I know this quote is a bit long, but it's worth the read.)

"Ought we to pray without ceasing? Is it possible to obey such a command? These are questions which I see you are ready to ask. I will endeavour, to the best of my ability, to defend the charge. Prayer is a petition for good addressed by the pious to God. But we do not rigidly confine our petition to words. Nor yet do we imagine that God requires to be reminded by speech. He knows our needs even though we ask Him not. What do I say then? I say that we must not think to make our prayer complete by syllables. The strength of prayer lies rather in the purpose of our soul and in deeds of virtue reaching every part and moment of our life. ‘Whether ye eat,’ it is said, ‘or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' (1 Cor. 10:31)
As thou takest thy seat at table, pray. As thou liftest the loaf, offer thanks to the Giver. When thou sustainest thy bodily weakness with wine, remember Him Who supplies thee with this gift, to make thy heart glad and to comfort thy infirmity. Has thy need for taking food passed away? Let not the thought of thy Benefactor pass away too. As thou art putting on thy tunic, thank the Giver of it. As thou wrappest thy cloak about thee, feel yet greater love to God, Who alike in summer and in winter has given us coverings convenient for us, at once to preserve our life, and to cover what is unseemly. Is the day done? Give thanks to Him Who has given us the sun for our daily work, and has provided for us a fire to light up the night, and to serve the rest of the needs of life. Let night give the other occasions of prayer. When thou lookest up to heaven and gazest at the beauty of the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible world; pray to God the Arch-artificer of the universe, Who in wisdom hath made them all. When thou seest all nature sunk in sleep, then again worship Him Who gives us even against our wills release from the continuous strain of toil, and by a short refreshment restores us once again to the vigour of our strength. Let not night herself be all, as it were, the special and peculiar property of sleep. Let not half thy life be useless through the senselessness of slumber. Divide the time of night between sleep and prayer. Nay, let thy slumbers be themselves experiences in piety; for it is only natural that our sleeping dreams should be for the most part echoes of the anxieties of the day. As have been our conduct and pursuits, so will inevitably be our dreams. Thus wilt thought pray without ceasing; if thought prayest not only in words, but unitest thyself to God through all the course of life and so thy life be made one ceaseless and uninterrupted prayer.”

--taken from Christian Classics Ethereal Library

All Saints' (23) Athanasius, Abba Isaac

Commenting on the value, the power, and the personal nature of the Psalms:

"The one who hears (the Psalms) is deeply moved, as though he himself were speaking, and is affected by the words of the songs, as if they were his own songs. He who chants will be especially confident in speaking what is written as if it is his own and about him. For the Psalms comprehend the one who observes the commandment as well as the one who transgresses, and the action of each...these words become like a mirror to the person singing them, so that he might perceive himself and the emotions of his soul...he who hears the one reading receives the song that is recited as being about him and either, when he is convicted by his conscience, being pierced, he will repent, or hearing of the hope that resides in God, and of the succour available to believers--how this kind of grace exists for him--he exults and begins to give thanks to God."
--Athanasius (in his pastoral letter to Marcellinus)

"The truly pure and humble 'will take in to himself all the thoughts of the Psalms and will begin to sing them in such a way that he will utter them with the deepest emotion of the heart not as if they were the composition of the Psalmist, but rather as if they were his own utterances'; he will recognise that the words of the Psalms 'are fulfilled and carried out daily in his own case'."
--Abba Isaac

(quoted from a book I'm currently reading, Spes Scotorom, Hope of Scots, Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland, in an essay called "The wisdom of the scribe and the fear of the Lord in the Life of Columba" by Jennifer O'Reilly)

All Saints' (22) Saint Patrick

Though it is uncertain whether Patrick actually used this prayer, many agree that it captures his spirit.

I find it to be beautiful, powerful, and inspiring.

The Breastplate of Saint Patrick

(translation used by Philip Freeman)

I rise today
With a mighty power, calling on the Trinity,
With a belief in the threeness,
With a faith in the oneness
Of the creator of creation.

I rise today
With the power of Christ's birth and baptism,
With the power of his crucifixion and burial,
With the power of his resurrection and ascension,
with the power of his return for final judgement.

I rise today
With the power of the love of the cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection and reward,
In the prayer of the patriarchs,
In the foretelling of the prophets,
In the preaching of the apostles,
In the faith of the confessors,
In the innocence of the holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I rise today
With the strength of the sky,
With the light of the sun,
With the splendour of the moon,
With the brilliance of fire,
With the blaze of lightening,
With the swiftness of wind,
With the depth of the ocean,
With the firmness of earth,
With the strength of rock.

I rise today
With the power of God to guide me,
With the strength of God to raise me,
With the wisdom of God to lead me,
With the vision of God to see for me,
With the ears of God to hear for me,
With the words of God to speak for me,
With the hand of God to protect me,
With the path of God before me,
With the shield of God to guard me,
With the friendship of God to keep me safe from

The contriving of demons,
The temptations of sin,
The inclinations of my nature,
and everyone who wishes me harm,
far and near,
alone and in the crowd.

I summon today all those powers to protect me
Against every cruel force which may attack my body and soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the evil laws of unbelievers,
Against the false laws of our heretics,
Against the subtle temptations of idolatry,
Against the magic of women, blacksmiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge which corrupts body and soul.

Christ protect me today
From poison and burning,
From drowning and wounding,
So that I might gain an abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ below me, Christ above me,
Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me,
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye which sees me,
Christ in every ear which hears me.

I rise today
With a mighty power, calling on the Trinity,
With a belief in the threeness,
With a faith in the oneness
Of the creator of creation.

All Saints' (21) Teresa of Avila

"Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing.
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God.
God alone suffices. "

This thought was found after St. Teresa's death on a prayer card in her breviary.
Thus, the prayer is known as Teresa's Bookmark.

(I know a different version:
"Let nothing disturb thee, nothing affright thee. All things are passing; God never changeth. Patieint endurance attaineth to all things. Whom God possesseth in nothing is wanting; alone God sufficeth.")

All Saints' (20) Saint Francis of Assisi

"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."

All Saints' (19) John Chrysostom

"When we do not love a person we do not wish to be with them, no matter how great or noble that person may be. But when we love someone, we want to be with them, and we view their love for us with great honor even if they are not a person of great rank. For this reason--and not because of our great rank--God values our love. So much, in fact, that he suffered greatly on our behalf.
Let us, then, incur dangers for him, running as if for the greatest of crowns. Let us have no fear of poverty, or disease, or hardship or even death itself. For what is there to fear? Losing all of your money? If you bear it nobly, it will be as great a reward to you as if you gave it all to the poor--as long as you freely lose it because you know that you have a greater reward in heaven.
What else is there to fear? Having people revile and persecute you? If so, those people have weaved a great crown for you if you bear it meekly. Rejoice and be glad, Jesus said, when people speak evil against you falsely, for great is your reward in heaven. And even if they speak the truth against us, it is to our advantage if we bear it humbly, just as the Pharisee spoke rightly about the publican, but only the publican went home justified because he bore it in humility.
Why do we seek profit? What did Judas profit for being with Christ? Or what profit was the law to the Jews? Or paradise to Adam? Or the promised land to the Israelites? We should keep our mind fixed on one point only: how we may do what is best with the resources we have been given."

All Saints' (18) E. Stanley Jones

"Conversion is a gift and and achievement. It is the act of a moment and the work of a lifetime. You cannot attain salvation by disciplines--it is the gift of God. But you cannot retain it without disciplines. If you try to attain salvation by disciplines, you will be trying to discipline an unsurrendered self. You will be sitting on a lid. The result will be tenseness instead of trust. 'You will wrestle instead of nestle.' While salvation cannot be attained by discipline around an unsurrendered self, nevertheless when the self is surrendered to Christ and a new center formed, then you can discipline your life around that new center--Christ. Discipline is the fruit of conversion--not the root.
The passage gives the double-sidedness of conversion: 'As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith' (Col. 2:6-7 RSV). Note, 'received'--receptivity; 'so live'--activity. It appears again, 'rooted'--receptivity, 'built up in him'--activity....The alternate beats of the Christian heart are receptivity and response--receptivity from God and response from us."

"The best Man that ever lived on our planet illustrated this receptivity and response rhythm. No one was so utterly dependent on God and no one was more personally disciplined in his habits.
He did three things by habit: (1) 'He stood up to read as was his custom'--he read the Word of God by habit. (2) 'He went out into the mountain to pray as was his custom'--he prayed by habit. (3) 'He taught them again as was his custom'--he passed on to others by habit what he had and what he had found.
These simple habits were the foundation habits of his life. They are as up-to-date as tomorrow morning. No converted person can live without those habits at work vitally in his life."

-- from Conversion

All Saints' (17) Blaise Pascal

"Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair.
Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because He shows us both God and our own wretchedness. Jesus is a God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair."

--Blaise Pascal

All Saints' (16) John Wesley

"Beware of desiring anything other than God. Jesus said, 'If your eye remains single your whole body shall be full of light.' Do not allow the desire for tasteful food or any other pleasure of the senses, the desire of pleasing the eye or the imagination, the desire for money or praise or power, to rule you. While you have the ability to feel these desires, you are not compelled to feel them. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free!
"Be an example to all of denying yourself and taking up your cross daily. Let others see that you are not interested in any pleasure that does not bring you nearer to God, nor regard any pain which does. Let them see that you simply aim at pleasing God in everything. Let the language of your heart sing out with regard to pleasure or pain, riches or poverty, honor or dishonor, 'All's alike to me, so I in my Lord may live and die!'"

--from Christian Perfection

All Saints' (15) Dietrich Bonhoffer

"Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble. It is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it causes us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'ye were bought at a price,' and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us."

From The Cost of Discipleship

All Saints' (14) Thomas a Kempis

"My son, patience and humility in adversities are more pleasing to Me, than much comfort and devotion when things go well."

"Be of more even mind, and gird yourself to greater endurance. All is not lost, although you feel yourself very often afflicted or grievously tempted."

"What matter is it, what or how much I suffer if I may at length attain to the haven of safety? Grant me a good end, grant me a happy passage out of this world. Remember me, O my God, and direct me in the right way to Thy kingdom."

--quotes taken from chapter 57 of Of the Imitation of Christ, entitled "When Man Falls"

All Saints' (12) Brother Lawrence

"In the way of God, thoughts count for little, love does everything. And it is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God; when it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and adore my God, Who gave me the grace to make it, after which I arise, more content than a king. When I cannot do anything else, it is enough for me to have lifted a straw from the earth for the love of God.
"People seek for methods of learning to love God. They hope to arrive at it by I know not how many different practices; they take much trouble to remain in the presence of God in a quantity of ways. Is it not much shorter and more direct to do everything for the love of God, to make use of all the labors of one's state in life to show Him that love, and to maintain His presence within us by this communion of our hearts with His? There is no finesse about it; one has only to do it generously and simply."

--from The Practice of the Presence of God (a wonderful little book that, in my experience at least, surprisingly few have read)

All Saints' (11) Leo Tolstoy

The following is an excerpt from Resurrection, Tolstoy's final novel.
The main character, Njakyudov, is reflecting on "The Parable of the Vineyard" (aka "The Parable of the Tenants"--Matthew 21:33-44).

"The husbandmen imagined that the vineyard in which they were sent to work for their master was their own, and all that was in was made for them, and that their business was to enjoy life in this vineyard--forgetting the master and killing all those who reminded them of his existence.
'Are we not doing the same' Njakyudov thought, 'when we imagine ourselves to be masters of our lives and that life is given us for enjoyment? This, evidently, is an incongruity. We were sent here by someone's will and for some reason, and we have concluded that we live only for our own joy. And of course we feel unhappy, as laborers do when not fulfilling their master's orders. The master's will is expressed in these commandments [referring to the Sermon on the Mount]. If men will only fulfill these laws, the Kingdom of Heaven will be established on Earth, and men will receive the greatest good that they can attain to.'
'Seek ye first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.'"

All Saints' (10) Jonathan Edwards

The kind of religion that God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak, dull, and lifeless "wouldings"--those weak inclinations that lack convictions--that raise us but a little above indifference. God, in his word, greatly insists that we be in good earnest, fervent in spirit, and that our hearts be engaged vigorously in our religion: "Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord" (Rom. 12:11, modified KJV).
"And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? To fear the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut. 10:12). This fervent, vigorous engagement of the heart is the fruit of a real circumcision of the heart that alone has the promise of life: "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your children, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live" (Deut. 30:6).

--From Religious Affections

Currently available as a free downloadable audiobook at ChristianAudio.com. (It normally costs $29!) They refer to this book as "quite possibly one of the most important books ever written by America's greatest theologian."
CCEL says of Religious Affections:

In this classic work by America's greatest theologian

and philosopher, Edwards considers the nature

of revival and the genuine work of the Holy Spirit.

Don't read this book

if you want to keep worshipping your idols.

All Saints' (9) Thomas Merton

(continuing an "All Saints" tribute by posting great quotes from various saints who have run the race and kept the faith)

"We become saints not by violently overcoming our own weakness, but by letting the Lord give us the strength and purity of his Spirit in exchange for our weakness and misery. Let us not then complicate our lives and frustrate ourselves by fixing too much attention on ourselves, thereby forgetting the power of God and grieving the Holy Ghost.
Our spiritual attitude, our way of seeking peace and perfection, depends entirely on our concept of God. If we are able to believe he is truly our loving Father, if we can really accept the truth of his infinite and compassionate concern for us, if we believe that he loves us not because we are worthy but because we need his love, then we can advance with confidence. We will not be discouraged by our inevitable weaknesses and failures. We can do anything he asks of us. But if we believe he is a stern, cold lawgiver who has no real interest in us, who is merely a ruler, a lord, a judge and not a father, we will have great difficulty in living the Christian life. We must therefore begin by believing God is our Father: otherwise we cannot face the difficulties of the Christian way of perfection. Without faith, the 'narrow way' is utterly impossible."

--from Life and Holiness

All Saints' (8) Gregory Nazianzen

"The Word recognizes three Births for us; namely, the natural birth, that of Baptism, and that of the Resurrection. Of these the first is by night, and is servile, and involves passion; but the second is by day, and is destructive of passion, cutting off all the veil that is derived from birth, and leading on to the higher life; and the third is more terrible and shorter, bringing together in a moment all mankind to stand before its Creator and to give an account of its service and conversation here; whether it has followed the flesh, or whether it has mounted up with the spirit and worshipped the grace of its new creation. My Lord Jesus Christ has showed that He honoured all these births in His own Person; the first, by that first and quickening Inbreathing; the second by His Incarnation and the Baptism wherewith He Himself was baptized; and the third by the Resurrection of which He was the Firstfruits; condescending, as He became the Firstborn among many brethren, so also to become the Firstborn from the dead.
Concerning two of these births, the first and the last, we have not to speak on the present occasion. Let us discourse upon the second, which is now necessary for us, and which gives its name to the Feast of the Lights. Illumination is the splendour of souls, the conversion of the life, the question put to the Godward conscience. It is the aid to our weakness, the renunciation of the flesh, the following of the Spirit, the fellowship of the Word, the improvement of the creature, the overwhelming of sin, the participation of light, the dissolution of darkness. It is the carriage to God, the dying with Christ, the perfecting of the mind, the bulwark of Faith, the key of the Kingdom of heaven, the change of life, the removal of slavery, the loosing of chains, the remodelling of the whole man. Why should I go into further detail? Illumination is the greatest and most magnificent of the Gifts of God. For just as we speak of the Holy of Holies, and the Song of Songs, as more comprehensive and more excellent than others, so is this called Illumination, as being more holy than any other illumination which we possess."

--from "The Oration on Holy Baptism," preached in Constantinople on January 6, 381.

All Saints' (7) Anselm

"I acknowledge, O Lord, with thanksgiving, that You have created this Your image in me, so that, remembering You, I may think of You, may love You. But this image is so effaced and worn away by my faults, it is so obscured by the smoke of my sins, that it cannot do what it was made to do, unless You renew and reform it. I am not trying, O Lord, to penetrate Your loftiness, for I cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to understand Your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand."