Saint Quote: Saint Bede the Venerable On "The Visitation"

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior". With these words Mary first acknowledges the special gifts she has been given. Then she recalls God’s universal favors, bestowed unceasingly on the human race.

When a man devotes all his thoughts to the praise and service of the Lord, he proclaims God’s greatness. His observance of God’s commands, moreover, shows that he has God’s power and greatness always at heart. His spirit rejoices in God his savior and delights in the mere recollection of his creator who gives him hope for eternal salvation.

These words are often for all God’s creations, but especially for the Mother of God. She alone was chosen, and she burned with spiritual love for the son she so joyously conceived. Above all other saints, she alone could truly rejoice in Jesus, her savior, for she knew that he who was the source of eternal salvation would be born in time in her body, in one person both her own son and her Lord.

– Saint Bede the Venerable

Saint Bede the Venerable's patronage: Lectors; English writers and historians.

Saint Quote: Saint Joan of Arc

If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I would that every one could hear the Voice as I hear it.

– Saint Joan of Arc at her trial responding to a question about whether she believed herself in a state of grace.

Saint Joan of Arc's patronage: Captives; France; imprisoned people; martyrs; opposition of Church authorities; people ridiculed for their piety; prisoners; rape victims; soldiers; WACs; WAVES; Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service; Women’s Army Corps.

Saint Quote: Saint Ursula Ledóchowska

Holiness does not demand anything great, beyond the ability of the person. It depends on God's Love; every daily act can be transformed into an act of love.

– Saint Ursula Ledóchowska

Saint Ursula Ledóchowska's patronage: Sieradz, Poland; Pniewy, Poland; Polish girls; Orphans; Educators.

Saint Quote: Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Early Church Father

Error, indeed is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced more true than truth itself.

– Saint Irenaeus of Lyons

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons' patronage: Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama.

Saint Quote: Saint Athanasius of Alexandria on the Holy Trinity

We acknowledge the Trinity, holy and perfect, to consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this Trinity there is no intrusion of any alien element or of anything from outside, nor is the Trinity a blend of creative and created being. It is a wholly creative and energizing reality, self-consistent and undivided in its active power, for the Father makes all things through the Word and in the Holy Spirit, and in this way the unity of the holy Trinity is preserved. Accordingly, in the Church, one God is preached, one God who is above all things and through all things and in all things [Ephesians 4:6] . God is above all things as Father, for he is principle and source; he is through all things through the Word; and he is in all things in the Holy Spirit.

– Saint Athanasius of Alexandria

Saint Quote: Saint Philip Neri

He who desires anything but God deceives himself, and he who loves anything but God errs miserably.

– Saint Philip Neri

Saint Philip Neri's patronage: Archdiocese of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy; Gravina, Italy; Rome, Italy; United States Army Special Forces; laughter; humor; joy.

Saint Quote: Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Prayer ought to be humble, fervent, resigned, persevering, and accompanied with great reverence. One should consider that he stands in the presence of a God, and speaks with a Lord before whom the angels tremble from awe and fear.

– Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi's patronage: Against bodily ills; against sexual temptation; against sickness; sick people; Naples, Italy.