157 Inspirational Quotes from Saints to Elevate Your Spirit

"Faith is to believe what you do not see. The reward of faith is to see what you believe."

- St. Augustine of Hippo

"We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love."

- St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in You."

- St. Augustine of Hippo

"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire!"

- St. Catherine of Siena

"If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!"

- St. Catherine of Siena

"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us."

- Saint Augustine

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

- St. Francis of Assisi

"What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see the misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."

- St. Augustine

"Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus — a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you."

- St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"A humble soul does not trust itself, but places all its confidence in God."

- St. Faustina

"The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that He, in His goodness, sends to us day after day."

- St. Gianna Beretta Molla

"The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness."

- Pope Benedict XVI

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

- Mother Teresa

"If God sends you many sufferings it is a sign that He has great plans for you, and certainly wants to make you a saint."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

- Mother Teresa

"I will spend my heaven doing good on earth."

- St. Thérèse of Lisieux

"Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing."

- Therese of Lisieux

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you."

- St. Augustine

"To have courage for whatever comes in life — everything lies in that."

- Teresa of Ávila

"He who trusts in himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things."

- St. Alphonsus Liguori

"Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind."

- St. Catherine of Siena

"Totally love Him, who gave Himself totally for your love."

- St. Clare of Assisi

"Pure love … knows that only one thing is needed to please God: to do even the smallest things out of great love – love, and always love."

- St. Faustina

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

- St. Gerard Majella

"At the end of our life, we shall all be judged by charity."

- St. John of the Cross

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

- Pope John Paul II

"He loves, he hopes, he waits. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep us waiting an instant."

- St. Maria Goretti

"Pray, hope and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer."

- St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

"Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved."

- St. Robert Bellarmine

"We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become."

- St. Clare of Assisi

"In God's will, there is great peace."

- St. Josephine Bakhita

"Great love can change small things into great ones, and it is only love which lends value to our actions."

- St. Faustina

"If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

"God would never inspire me with desires which cannot be realized; so in spite of my littleness, I can hope to be a saint."

- St. Thérèse of Lisieux

"You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all."

- Therese of Lisieux

"All of us must be saints in this world. Holiness is a duty for you and me. So let's be saints and so give glory to the Father."

- St. Teresa of Calcutta

"When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now."

- St. Teresa of Calcutta

"Prayer is the oxygen of the soul."

- Padre Pio

"Trust the past to the Mercy of God, the present to His Love, and the future to His Providence."

- St. Augustine of Hippo

"For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."

- St. Thérèse of Lisieux

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

- St. Rose of Lima

"Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again: for forgiveness has risen from the grave!"

- St. John Chrysostom

"Nothing great is ever achieved without enduring much."

- St. Catherine of Siena

"The saints did not all begin well, but they ended well."

- St. John Vianney

"Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about."

- St. Jane Frances de Chantal

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

- Mother Teresa

"If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are."

- Mother Teresa

"The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist."

- Pope St. Gregory the Great

"I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God."

- St. Dominic Savio

"Teach us to give and not count the cost."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

"The future starts today, not tomorrow."

- Pope John Paul II

"I wish not merely to be called Christian, but also to be Christian."

- Saint Ignatius

"Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God, will make a man go to Heaven."

- St. Camillus de Lellis

"Do not lose heart, even if you should discover that you lack qualities necessary for the work to which you are called. He who called you will not desert you, but the moment you are in need he will stretch out his saving hand."

- St. Angela Merici

"When we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard more than that proceeding from the mouth."

- St. Bonaventure

"You are rewarded not according to your work or your time but according to the measure of your love."

- St. Catherine of Siena

"Start being brave about everything, driving out darkness and spreading light as well. Don't look at your weakness, but realize that in Christ crucified you can do everything."

- St. Catherine of Siena

"Love God, serve God; everything is in that."

- Blessed Charles de Foucauld

"I can't do big things. But I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God."

- St. Dominic Savio

"How could I wear a crown of gold when my Lord wears a crown of thorns and he wears it for me?"

- St. Elizabeth of Hungary

"I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know him or have forgotten him."

- St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

"Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly."

- St. Francis de Sales

"One cannot love without suffering or suffer without loving."

- St. Gianna Beretta Molla

"Love ought to show itself in deeds more than words."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

"There are very few men who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves entirely to his hands, and let themselves be formed by His Grace."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

"Be not afraid."

- St. John Paul II

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

- St. Josephine Bakhita

"I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love."

- St. Kateri Tekakwitha

"If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing."

- St. Katharine Drexel

"The most deadly poison of our times is indifference."

- St. Maximilian Kolbe

"The most beautiful act of faith is the one made in darkness, in sacrifice, and with extreme effort."

- Padre Pio

"Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven."

- St. Rose of Lima

"Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to him. That is all the doing you have to worry about."

- St. Jeanne de Chantal

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

- St. Vincent de Paul

"Extend mercy toward others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His Mercy from us?"

- St. Vincent de Paul

"Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you."

- St. Thomas Aquinas

"He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor."

- St. Bede the Venerable

"What do you possess if you possess not God?"

- St. Augustine

"This very moment I may, if I desire, become the friend of God."

- St. Augustine

"Nothing helps a man more than prayer."

- St. Philip Neri

"You either belong wholly to the world or wholly to God."

- St. John Vianney

"Since happiness is nothing else than the enjoyment of the supreme good, and the supreme good is above us, no one can enjoy happiness unless he rises above himself."

- St. Bonaventure

"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

"The glory of God is man fully alive."

- St. Irenaeus of Lyons

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."

- Francis of Assisi

"I would rather die than do something which I know to be a sin, or to be against God's will."

- St. Joan of Arc

"Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could."

- St. Gregory Nazianzen

"Love is the most necessary of all virtues."

- St. Anthony Mary Claret

"I shall spend every moment loving. One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them."

- St. Bernadette Soubirous

"Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin, all hope consists in confession; in confession there is a chance for mercy."

- St. Isidore of Seville

"One must see God in everyone."

- St. Catherine Laboure

"Start by doing what is necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

- St. Francis of Assisi

"It is in pardoning that we are pardoned."

- Francis of Assisi

"I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."

- St. Francis of Assisi

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

- St. Teresa of Avila

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

- St. Pope John Paul II

"The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's history."

- St. Pope John Paul II

"Lord, if your people need me, I will not refuse the work. Your will be done."

- St. Martin of Tours

"We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend upon material success, nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone."

- St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

"To be taken with love for a soul, God does not look on its greatness, but the greatness of its humility."

- St. John of the Cross

"If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself."

- St. Augustine of Hippo

"Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls."

- St. Teresa of Calcutta

"To love God as He ought to be loved, we must be detached from all temporal love. We must love nothing but Him, or if we love anything else, we must love it only for His sake."

- St. Peter Claver

"Satan fears and trembles before humble souls."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcino

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."

- St. Jerome

"You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones."

- St. Augustine of Hippo

"Anxiety is the greatest evil that can befall a soul except sin. God commands you to pray, but He forbids you to worry."

- St. Francis de Sales

"The devil fears hearts on fire with love of God."

- St. Catherine of Siena

"Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak."

- St. Anthony of Padua

"To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them."

- St. Thomas Aquinas

"Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did."

- St. Maximilian Kolbe

"Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven."

- St. Pius X

"Charity is the form, mover, mother and root of all the virtues."

- St. Thomas Aquinas

"Our own evil inclinations are far more dangerous than any external enemies."

- St. Ambrose

"God has no need of your money, but the poor have. You give it to the poor, and God receives it."

- St. Augustine

"Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife."

- St. Leo the Great

"Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desire, and his disposition live and reign there."

- St. John Eudes

"All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example."

- St. Teresa of Avila

"Now I begin to be a disciple. Let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment come upon me, so long as I attain to Jesus Christ."

- St. Ignatius of Antioch

"Christ has made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him Whom the Angels serve."

- St. Agnes

"Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent."

- St. John of the Cross

"When tempted, invoke your Angel. he is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him: He trembles and flees at the sight of your Guardian Angel."

- St. John Bosco

"The greatness of contemplation can be given to none but those who love."

- St. Gregory the Great

"If anyone comes to me, I want to lead them to Him."

- St. Teresa Benedicta

"Tribulation is a gift from God; one that he especially gives His special friends."

- St. Thomas More

"You will accomplish more by kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity."

- St. Angela Merici

"Pain is never permanent."

- St. Teresa of Avila

"Know that even when you are in the kitchen, our Lord moves amidst the pots and pans."

- St. Teresa of Avila

"It is not the actual physical exertion that counts towards a one's progress, nor the nature of the task, but by the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken."

- St. Francis Xavier

"Those whose hearts are pure are temples of the Holy Spirit."

- St. Lucy

"Remember the sufferings of Christ, the storms that were weathered…the crown that came from those sufferings which gave new radiance to the faith…All saints give testimony to the truth that without real effort, no one ever wins the crown."

- St. Thomas Becket

"Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature."

- St. Augustine of Hippo

"The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works."

- St. Augustine of Hippo

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."

- Saint Augustine

"Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword; wear humility rather than fine clothes."

- St. Dominic

"This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections."

- St. Augustine of Hippo

"Nowhere other than looking at himself in the mirror of the Cross can man better understand how much he is worth."

- St. Anthony of Padua

"The greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue, will be the most diligent in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to assist them."

- Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

"If we wish to make any progress in the service of God we must begin every day of our life with new eagerness."

- St. Charles Borromeo

"I am who I am before God, no more and no less."

- St. Francis of Assisi

"It is not the actual physical exertion that counts toward a man's progress, nor the nature of the task, but the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken."

- St. Francis Xavier

"Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to give you few graces? Visit Him seldom."

- St. John Bosco

"The Lord measures out perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them."

- St. John of the Cross

"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving the world and its pleasures."

- St. John Vianney

"The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus."

- St. John Vianney

"Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus."

- St. Louis de Montfort

"The nation doesn't simply need what we have. It needs what we are."

- St. Teresa Benedicta

"Make yourself familiar with the Angels, and behold them frequently in spirit. Without being seen, they are present with you."

- St. Francis de Sales

"Beside each believer stands an Angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life."

- Saint Basil

"True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice."

- St. Francis of Assisi

"Be gentle to all and stern with yourself."

- St. Teresa of Avila

"Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation."

- Saint Augustine

"He is rich enough who is poor with Christ."

- St. Jerome

"It is better to be a child of God than king of the whole world."

"Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance."

"Nothing is far from God."

"No one heals himself by wounding another."