Pope Saint John XXIII Quote

Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood.

– Pope Saint John XXIII from his encyclical "Pacem In Terris"

Pope Saint John XXIII's patronage: Papal delegates; Patriarchy of Venice; Second Vatican Council; Christian unity; Diocese of Bergamo; Sotto il Monte; Valsamoggia; Italian Army

Saint Daniel Comboni Quote

Saint Daniel Comboni

We will have to labor hard, to sweat, to die: but the thought that one sweats and dies for love of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the most abandoned souls in the world, is far too sweet for us to desist from this great enterprise.

– Saint Daniel Comboni

Saint Daniel Comboni's patronage: Missionaries; Aid workers; Comboni Missionary Sisters; Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus

Blessed John Cardinal Henry Newman Quote

We have been born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Lord Jesus Christ gave His Spirit to His Apostles; they in turn laid their hands on those who should succeed them; and these again on others; and so the sacred gift has been handed down to our present Bishops, who have appointed us as their assistants, and in some sense representatives.

– Blessed John Cardinal Henry Newman from his writings

Saint Simeon Senex Quote

Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.

– Saint Simeon Senex from Luke: 2: 34-35

Saint Simeon Senex: The man who, in Luke 2, picked up the Infant Jesus and gave the blessing known as the Nunc dimittis.

Saint Louis de Montfort Quote

I have just said that to say the Rosary to advantage one must be in a state of grace “or at least be fully determined to give up mortal sin;” first of all, because, if it were true that God only heard the prayers of those in a state of grace it would follow that people in a state of mortal sin should not pray at all. This is an erroneous teaching which has been condemned by Holy Mother Church, because of course sinners need to pray far more than good people do. Were this horrible doctrine true it would then be useless and futile to tell a sinner to say all, or even part of his Rosary, because it would never help him.”

-- Saint Louis de Montfort

Saint Louis de Montfort's patronage: preachers; Brothers of Saint Gabriel; Company of Mary; Daughters of Divine Wisdom

Saint Bruno of Cologne Quote

For the devil may tempt the good, but he cannot find rest in them; for he is shaken violently, and upset, and driven out, now by their prayers, now by their tears of repentance, and now by their almsgiving and similar good works.

–- Saint Bruno of Cologne

Saint Bruno of Cologne's patronage: diabolic possession; Ruthenia; Germany; Calabria; monastic fraternities; Carthusians; trade marks; possessed people.

Saint Faustina Kowalska Quote

Act in such a way that all those who come in contact with you will go away joyful. Sow happiness about you because you have received much from God; give, then, generously to others. They should take leave of you with their hearts filled with joy, even if they have no more than touched the hem of your garment.

– Saint Faustina Kowalska

Divine Mercy

Saint Francis of Assisi Quote

Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.

– Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi's patronage: against fire; animals; Catholic Action; dying alone; ecology; environment; families; fire; lacemakers; merchants; peace; zoos; Italy; Assisi, Italy; Colorado; Sante Fe, New Mexico; archdiocese of San Francisco, California; archdiocese of Denver, Colorado; archdiocese of Sante Fe, New Mexico; diocese of Salina, Kansas.

Saint Théodore Guérin Quote

If ever this poor little Community becomes settled, it will be established on the Cross; and that is what gives me confidence and makes me hope, sometimes even against hope.

– Saint Théodore Guérin

Saint Théodore Guérin's patronage: Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette,Indiana; The Knights of Columbus of Indianapolis, Indiana; the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Indiana

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Quote on Guardian Angels

Brethren, we will love God's angels with a most affectionate love; for they will be our heavenly co-heirs some day, these spirits who now are sent by the Father to be our protectors and our guides. With such bodyguards, what are we to fear? They can neither be subdued nor deceived; nor is there any possibility at all that they should go astray who are to guard us in all our ways.

– Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's patronage: Cistercians; Cistercian Order; Burgundy, France; beekeepers; bees; candlemakers; chandlers; Gibraltar, Spain; Algeciras; Queens' College, Cambridge; Speyer Cathedral; Knights Templar; wax-melters; and wax refiners

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux Quote

Above all it’s the Gospels that occupy my mind when I’m at prayer; my poor soul has so many needs, and yet this is the one thing needful. I’m always finding fresh lights there, hidden and enthralling meanings.

– Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux's patronage: Gardens of Vatican City; Missionaries; France; Russia; radio care-a-thons; florists and gardeners; loss of parents; the Russicum; Alaska; foreign missions; pilots; against tuberculosis; AIDS sufferers; illness; Australia; France; Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska; Diocese of Fresno, California; Diocese of Juneau, Alaska; Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado.

Saint Jerome Quote

No one should think that I mean to explain the entire subject matter of this great book of the prophet Isaiah in one brief sermon, since it contains all the mysteries of the lord. It prophesies that Emmanuel is to be born of a virgin and accomplish marvelous works and signs. It predicts his death, burial and resurrection from the dead as the Savior of all men. Whatever is proper to holy Scripture, whatever can be expressed in human language and understood by the human mind, is contained in the book of Isaiah.

– Saint Jerome from a commentary on Isaiah

Saint Jerome's patronage: Archeologists; archivists; Bible scholars; librarians; libraries; schoolchildren; students; translators; City of Saint-Jérôme, Quebec; diocese of Saint-Jérôme, Quebec; Taos Indian Pueblo

Saint John Vianney Quote on Angels

The first thing about the angels that we ought to imitate, is their consciousness of the Presence of God.

– Saint John Vianney

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila Quote

I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God; Had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer.

-- Saint Lorenzo Ruiz

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz's patronage: The Philippines; Filipinos; Overseas Filipino Workers and migrant workers; the poor; separated families; Filipino youth; Chinese-Filipinos; Filipino altar servers; Tagalogs; Archdiocese of Manila.

Saint Vincent de Paul Quote

Saint Vincent de Paul

As it is most certain that the teaching of Christ cannot deceive, if we would walk securely, we ought to attach ourselves to it with greatest confidence and to profess openly that we live according to it, and not to the maxims of the world, which are all deceitful. This is the fundamental maxim of all Christian perfection.

– Saint Vincent de Paul

Saint Vincent de Paul's patronage: charitable societies; charities; horses; hospitals; leprosy; lost articles; prisoners; volunteers; spiritual help; Saint Vincent de Paul Societies; Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory; Vincentian Service Corps; Madagascar; diocese of Richmond, Virginia; volunteers.

Saint Marie Victoire Therese Couderc Quote

The surrendered soul has found paradise on earth, since she enjoys that sweet peace which is part of the happiness of the elect.

– Saint Marie Victoire Therese Couderc

Saint Marie Victoire Therese Couderc's patronage: Sisters of the Cenacle

Blessed Herman the Cripple Quote

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy. Hail my life, my sweetness and my hope! To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To you do we send up our sighs; mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn, most gracious Advocate, your eyes of mercy toward me, and after this, our exile, show to us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus Christ! Clement, loving, sweet Virgin Mary! Amen.

– Blessed Herman the Cripple the author of "Salve Regina" and "Alma Redemptoris Mater".

Blessed Anton Martin Slomsek Quote

Blessed Anton Martin Slomsek

When I was born, my mother laid me on a bed of straw, and I desire no better pallet when I die, asking only to be in the state of grace and worthy of salvation.

– Blessed Anton Martin Slomsek

Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina Quote

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You. Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life and without You I am without fervor. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness. Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will. Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You. Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much and alway be in Your company. Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You. Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love. Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes, death, judgment and eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile! Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart. Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love. Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.

– Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina from his Prayer After Holy Communion

Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina's patronage: Civil defense volunteers; Adolescents; Pietrelcina; Stress relief; Italy; Malta

Saint Paul Chong Hasang Quote

I have told you that I am a Christian, and will be one until my death.

-- Saint Paul Chong Hasang

Saint Bede the Venerable Quote on Saint Matthew

"Saint Matthew"
-- by James Tissot

Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: "Follow me.” Jesus saw Matthew, not merely in the usual sense, but more significantly with his merciful understanding of men. He saw the tax collector and, because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him, he said to him: “Follow me.” This following meant imitating the pattern of his life – not just walking after him. Saint John tells us: “Whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” “And he rose and followed him.” There is no reason for surprise that the tax collector abandoned earthly wealth as soon as the Lord commanded him. Nor should one be amazed that neglecting his wealth, he joined a band of men whose leader had, on Matthew’s assessment, no riches at all. Our Lord summoned Matthew by speaking to him in words. By an invisible, interior impulse flooding his mind with the light of grace, he instructed him to walk in his footsteps. In this way Matthew could understand that Christ, who was summoning him away from earthly possessions, had incorruptible treasures of heaven in his gift.

– Saint Bede the Venerable from a homily

Saint Matthew's patronage: Accountants; bankers; bookkeepers; customs officers; security guards; stock brokers; tax collectors; Salerno, Italy.

Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn Quote

This is my last hour of life, listen to me attentively: if I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and for my God. It is for Him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning. Become Christians if you wish to be happy after death, because God has eternal chastisements in store for those who have refused to know Him.

– Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn

Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn's patronage: Korea; Korean Clergy

Trivia note: Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn was the first native Korean priest.

Saint Jerome Quote

Thank God I am deemed worthy to be hated by the world.

– Saint Jerome

Saint Jerome's patronage: archeologists; archivists; Bible scholars; librarians; libraries; school children; students; translators

Saint Joseph of Cupertino Quote

Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession.

– Saint Joseph of Cupertino

Saint Joseph of Cupertino's patronage: air travellers; astronauts; aviators; paratroopers; pilots; students; test takers.

Saint Robert Bellarmine Quote

It is not difficult for one seal to make many impressions exactly alike, but to vary shapes almost infinitely, which is what God has done in creation, this is in truth a divine work.

– Saint Robert Bellarmine

Saint Robert Bellarmine's patronage: canon lawyers; canonists; catechists; catechumens; archdiocese of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Saint Cyprian of Carthage Quote

After this we must subjoin, that being redeemed and quickened by the blood of Christ, we ought to prefer nothing to Christ, because He preferred nothing to us, and on our account preferred evil things to good, poverty to riches, servitude to rule, death to immortality; that we, on the contrary, in our sufferings are preferring the riches and delights of paradise to the poverty of the world, eternal dominion and kingdom to the slavery of time, immortality to death, God and Christ to the devil and Antichrist.

– Saint Cyprian of Carthage from his Exhortation to Martyrdom

Saint Cyprian of Carthage's patronage: Algeria; North Africa

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Quote On the Blessed Virgin Mary

Do not be surprised, brothers, that Mary is said to be a martyr in spirit. Let him be surprised who does not remember the words of Paul, that one of the greatest crimes of the Gentiles was that they were without love. That was far from the heart of Mary; let it be far from her servants.

Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely.

Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his.

– Saint Bernard of Clairvaux from a sermon on the Martyrdom of Mary at the foot of the Cross

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's patronage: Cistercians; Cistercian Order; Burgundy, France; beekeepers; bees; candlemakers; chandlers; Gibraltar, Spain; Algeciras; Queens' College, Cambridge; Speyer Cathedral; Knights Templar; wax-melters; and wax refiners

Saint Andrew of Crete Quote on the Holy Cross

Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation – very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.

-- Saint Andrew of Crete from a discourse on the Glory and Victory of the Cross

Saint John Chrysostom Quote

The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together.

-– Saint John Chrysostom

Saint John Chrysostom's patronage: Constantinople; epilepsy; orators; preachers; speakers; education; lecturers; Istanbul, Turkey

Saint Francis of Assisi Quote

It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look.

-- Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi's patronage: against fire; animals; Catholic Action; dying alone; ecology; environment; families; fire; lacemakers; merchants; peace; zoos; Italy; Assisi, Italy; Colorado; Sante Fe, New Mexico; archdiocese of San Francisco, California; archdiocese of Denver, Colorado; archdiocese of Sante Fe, New Mexico; diocese of Salina, Kansas.