Theme
Witnesses on faith
Those whose whole life rests on a trust — and who put words to it.
A few words
The impulse to pursue God originates with God himself.
It is emptiness like the hollow of a reed, the narrow riftless emptiness which can have only one destiny: to receive the piper's breath and to utter the song that is in his heart.
If someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth, and that in reality the truth were outside of Christ, I should prefer to remain with Christ rather than with the truth.
Seek the truth, listen to the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, speak the truth, hold to the truth, defend the truth to the death.
I resolved, out of love for Mary, to obey her voice and to devote my life in the Congregation of the Rosary, placing my trust in the help of my Mother.
Beloved is the human being, for he was created in the image. Greater still was the love, in that it was made known to him that he was created in the image.
All 326 witnesses on faith
- A. W. Tozer The thirst for God kept alive, and the refusal to settle for a lukewarm faith.
- Abuna Petros Blessing still when all is lost, and not taking back one's word.
- Adam de Saint-Victor Prayer sung, which puts faith in the mouth before it puts it in the head.
- Agathe de Catane The quiet refusal of whatever enslaves; freedom kept even in another's hands.
- Agnès de Rome The freedom of a given heart, untouched by threat or shame.
- Agnès Phila Writing one's refusal calmly, without raising the voice, and signing it.
- Agnès Tsao Kou Ying The fidelity of an ordinary woman who stays standing when everything is designed to make her bend.
- Albert le Grand Seeking God with the mind: the patient study of the world as a path to its Creator.
- Alexandre Men Faith that stays young, even when everything around insists it is dead.
- Alexis Khomiakov Prayer understood as an act that is never solitary, and theology done by working hands.
- Alfred le Grand Giving people back the words they need; wisdom sought by a man of action.
- Alice Meynell Prayer held inside a crowded life, and renunciation that does not put out tenderness.
- Alphonsa Muttathupadathu Suffering offered in silence, without bitterness or display.
- Alphonse de Liguori Praying without ceasing as the great means of salvation, trust in the goodness of God.
- Amanda Berry Smith The inner freedom of someone who no longer waits for permission; joy that passes through contempt.
- Ambroise de Milan Authority turned into service, a faith that is sung before it is argued.
- Anacleto González Flores Forgiving the man who has just signed your death.
- André Bessette The self-effacement of one who refers every grace beyond himself.
- André Dũng-Lạc Ceasing to flee in order to stay faithful, holding the faith to the end.
- André Kim Taegon Faithfulness that holds when believing costs your life, and leaves hope behind as an inheritance.
- Andrew Murray The patient school of prayer, learned day after day like a friendship that abides.
- Angèle de Foligno Dispossession become encounter: as everything is taken away, discovering God present in all things.
- Angélique Arnauld Wanting to be where you are, because God wants it.
- Ann Hasseltine Judson A body worn out by what one carries for another, and the giving of oneself renewed each day.
- Anna Bartlett Warner The certainty of being loved, said in a child's words.
- Anna Hinderer Holding a modest post for a very long time, and still finding reason there to give thanks.
- Anna Wang The simple, unshakable faith of a young person who already knows to whom she belongs.
- Anne Askew A body given over and silence kept about others; a word held to when it costs everything.
- Anne Bradstreet The faith that passes through doubt and loss, and gives thanks from the ordinary of a woman's life.
- Anne Hutchinson Inward freedom before those who sit in judgement, and the word one does not take back.
- Anselme de Cantorbéry Faith seeking understanding, and the mind that prays as it seeks to understand.
- Antoine de Padoue Letting deeds preach before words, seeking what was lost.
- Antonietta Meo The trust of a child who speaks to God as to a friend, and offers even pain without drama.
- Aphraate le Sage persan Prayer measured not by its words but by the clarity of the heart and the deeds it produces.
- Argula von Grumbach Speaking up without a mandate, because one has read and can no longer keep silent.
- Armida Barelli The apostolic boldness of lay people, trusting God where everything seems impossible.
- Athanase d'Alexandrie Holding the faith whole when it would be so easy to shave it down.
- Augustin d’Hippone Conversion as the belated welcome of a presence that had always been waiting.
- Augustus Tolton Quiet faithfulness under contempt, and the God-given dignity that no rejection can take away.
- Baal Shem Tov Fervent prayer: to enter with one's whole being into every word addressed to God.
- Bahya ibn Paquda Trust as rest: setting down what one was never able to carry.
- Bartolomé de Las Casas Taking the side of the oppressed, letting the truth disturb.
- Benedict Daswa The quiet courage of refusing fear and falsehood, to the very end.
- Benoît le More Authority exercised without ever leaving the servant's place; a simplicity that disarms.
- Bernadette Soubirous Littleness embraced without shame: saying what one has received, then disappearing into the ordinary.
- Bernard de Clairvaux The love of God as desire without measure.
- Bernard Mizeki Remaining with those one serves, standing firm in faithfulness.
- Blaise Pascal The heart that knows God where reason alone cannot reach, and the smallness of man before the infinite.
- Blandine de Lyon Strength given to the weakest, when prayer holds upright what everything should bring down.
- Bonaventure Letting knowledge become prayer, seeking God with mind and heart.
- Bruno le Chartreux Inhabited silence; solitude as the place where one becomes available again.
- C. S. Lewis Faith regained through reason and friendship, and the prayer that dares raw truth before God.
- Carlo Acutis Living as an original, not a copy; making the ordinary a path to God.
- Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Ordinary life ordered toward Easter: living each day awaiting the night when all is raised up.
- Caryll Houselander The inner emptiness consented to, so that God's breath may make its music there.
- Catherine Booth Faith that goes down into the street and refuses to settle with what it finds there.
- Catherine de Bologne The spiritual struggle waged in distrust of self and trust in God.
- Catherine de Sienne The audacity of speaking truth (to the powerful and to God) because love demands it.
- Catherine Labouré Staying hidden to leave all the room to God, faithfulness in obscure tasks.
- Cecil Frances Alexander Saying the highest things in words a child can carry.
- Ceferino Namuncurá Preparing oneself to serve one's people, keeping them at the heart of one's prayer.
- Charbel Makhlouf The silent prayer of a hidden life, that says nothing and yet shines.
- Charles de Foucauld “His compassions are new every morning.” Charles de Foucauld made dawn itself a prayer: to begin with open hands, holding nothing back from the day before, and to entrust the coming hour to the One who has already gone ahead of it. His self-abandonment is not resignation. It is receiving the day as a gift already begun.
- Charles Lwanga Young, undivided faith, protecting the weakest and passing through fear in prayer.
- Charles Péguy Hope as a little girl who leads the great virtues on, believing still in the morning.
- Chiara Lubich Making unity itself a prayer, choosing God even in forsakenness.
- Chiara Luce Badano The trusting yes to God in suffering, and the heart that still loves when all is taken away.
- Chundra Lela The long search, and what it costs the body.
- Claire d'Assise The gaze held on Christ until one becomes what one beholds.
- Claire de Montefalco Not praying from a distance about what one has been through.
- Clément d'Alexandrie Faith that runs through the ordinary day, down to its plainest gestures.
- Clément de Rome The prayer of a divided community, which asks first of all to see clearly.
- Clement Marau Holding a distant post alone, and making solitude an inhabited place.
- Colette de Corbie Letting oneself be reformed before reforming, keeping one's gaze on the cross.
- Columba Kang Wan-suk Organizational courage under mortal threat, refusal to betray others even under torture, leadership exercised fully as a laywoman when no other structure existed.
- Conchita Cabrera de Armida Ordinary life (weddings, griefs, household accounts) lived as a place of God.
- Corrie ten Boom Forgiveness received before it is given: when loving is beyond our strength, God gives the love along with the command.
- Crispine de Thagore Calmly repeating the same thing in front of those who have power over everything.
- Cyprian Michael Tansi To give oneself to God without half-measures, and to prefer the hidden life to renown: an ordinary holiness, African and monastic.
- Cyprien de Carthage Common prayer that holds the Church together when all falls apart.
- Cyrille de Jérusalem Taking beginners by the hand, and opening the mysteries step by step.
- Cyrille de Tourov Naming yourself before God, with no one in between.
- Cyrille et Méthode The conviction that every language and culture can carry the Word, and that God speaks to each person in their mother tongue.
- Dag Hammarskjöld The prayer of yes: to consent to God in secret, in the midst of tasks and tensions.
- Daniel Comboni The gift of one's life for a people, to the point of stepping aside for it.
- Devasahayam Pillai Joyful constancy under trial, when faith is costly and the dignity of all is worth more than one's own rank.
- Dhuoda de Septimanie Prayer held across distance, when love can only write and entrust the absent one to God.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer Grace is costly. A faith that cannot be separated from commitment.
- Dominique Savio Holiness at a teenager's height; cheerfulness held to be part of the road.
- Douceline de Digne Prayer held as the tie that holds everything else.
- Edel Quinn Service given to the last of one's strength, without losing joy.
- Édith Stein The search for truth that leads to God, and solidarity held with one's people to the end.
- Égérie Prayer that sets out on the road, curious for the places where God let Himself be found.
- Élisabeth de la Trinité The prayer of the interior: to seek God not far off but in the depths of oneself, and to abide there.
- Elisabeth Dirks Not paying for one's own safety with other people's lives.
- Élisabeth Feodorovna Prayer that forgives: to descend toward the poor and to bless even in the night.
- Élisabeth Leseur Silent radiance: loving without preaching, and letting an offered life speak in one's stead.
- Emily Brontë Faith held alone, with no consolation asked of anyone.
- Enrique Shaw Answering for those who depend on us; other people's work carried as a charge before God.
- Éphrem le Syrien Prayer as a happy thirst: drinking from a spring no one will ever drain.
- Esther Ahn Kim Memory as the last possession, when everything else is confiscated.
- Etty Hillesum Prayer in the midst of darkness. Keeping the heart large.
- Eurosia Fabris The hidden holiness of a home, woven of work and patience.
- Evelyn Underhill Prayer given back to everyone: not a separate career, but an ordinary life turned toward God.
- Fannie Lou Hamer Prayer that rises and sets out walking: believing that God acts through those who refuse to resign themselves.
- Fanny Crosby Gratitude that turns deprivation into song: what is missing becomes the very space of praise.
- Faustine Kowalska Trust in mercy, above all when one knows oneself poor and weak.
- Félix Varela Truth that consoles: serving God by serving others, even in exile, without bitterness.
- Fiodor Dostoïevski Faith that has passed through doubt and bears its scars, without ceasing to choose Christ.
- Flannery O'Connor Praying with what one is (ambition, dryness, doubt) and letting faith deepen there.
- Florence Nightingale Prayer that becomes work: to serve the sick as one would serve God, without display.
- Frances Ridley Havergal The whole and joyful consecration of self, offered limb by limb and day by day.
- Frances Xavier Cabrini Prayer that crosses borders: to stay near the exile and tell him he is not forgotten.
- Francis Thompson God pursuing the one who runs, and reaching him at the end of the running.
- François de Sales Gentleness as strength, and holiness offered to ordinary life.
- François Massabki What cannot be taken from us, even when everything is taken.
- Franz Jägerstätter A conscience that cannot be bought by anyone, even when everyone advises giving in.
- Franz Stock Standing inside hatred without sharing it; remaining brother to those whom everything divides.
- Frédéric Ozanam Turning faith into concrete service, charity invented between equals.
- Frederick Douglass Refusing to confuse God with what is done in his name.
- Gabriele Allegra The long hidden labor in service of the Word, offered day after day without seeing its end.
- George Herbert Prayer woven into the humblest gestures of the everyday.
- George Müller The concrete trust that places each need into God's hands and waits, with the books open.
- George Washington Carver Science as prayer: seeking in creation the secrets patiently entrusted by God, and returning them to serve the poorest.
- Georges Bernanos Hope as a risk to be run, receiving everything as grace.
- Georges Lemaître Seeking the truth by two roads without confusing them, wonder before the beginning.
- Gertrude d'Helfta Prayer as friendship: to let oneself be wounded by love and answer the One who speaks to the heart.
- Gianna Beretta Molla Holiness of the everyday, in a profession and a family held to the end.
- Gladys Aylward The prayer of the unlikely sent one: to know oneself an improbable choice, and to go all the same.
- Grégoire de Nazianze Remembering God as one breathes: a prayer as continual as breath itself.
- Grégoire de Nysse The desire for God that is never satisfied: to move endlessly, from beginning to beginning, toward the One we never finish finding.
- Grégoire Palamas The prayer of the heart: to stand in silence and let the light of God give itself.
- Guigues II le Chartreux Praying out of a slowly read text, and letting reading turn into taste.
- Habib Guirguis Patient stubbornness in the service of beginners; handing on the faith as a whole life's work.
- Hadewijch d'Anvers The love of God lived as a demanding passion, not a quiet feeling.
- Hannah Whitall Smith The plain trust that lays down the burden and believes God, without proof or feeling.
- Harriet Jacobs To pray from a crawl space, and to refuse to lie about what one has lived.
- Harriet Tubman Active trust in God that sets one walking toward freedom, for oneself and for others.
- Héloïse du Paraclet The prayer that refuses to lie to itself about what it feels.
- Henri Nouwen A spirituality of returning to the foundational identity of beloved child.
- Henriette Delille Faith that decides a life: to believe, to hope, to love, and to follow it through to the end.
- Henry Vaughan Light that gives itself at night, and grief that turns into watching.
- Herman d'Alaska Inhabited solitude: never being alone where God is, and beginning to love now, without waiting for tomorrow.
- Hilaire de Poitiers Faith seeking to understand, without shrinking the mystery it adores.
- Hilda de Whitby Governing by wisdom and peace, drawing out the gifts of each.
- Hunayn ibn Ishaq Doing one's work with exactness, and refusing to make a weapon of it.
- Ida B. Wells The refusal to look away, and truth held as a form of faithfulness.
- Ignace d'Antioche Desire that passes through fear: wanting God even in what costs the most, holding nothing back.
- Ignace Kung Pin-Mei The long faithfulness with no one watching, after the moment when everything was decided.
- Ignace Maloyan The quiet refusal, said once and never taken back.
- Ini Kopuria Work shared rather than carried alone, and land given before words.
- Innocent d'Alaska Patient proclamation that draws near to a language and a people.
- Irénée de Lyon The life of the human being as the glory of God, faith handed on from hand to hand.
- Isidore Bakanja Faith held fast even in the flesh, and forgiveness offered to the torturer.
- J. R. R. Tolkien Recognising the light at the heart of the world's story, hope that holds out against the dark.
- Jadwiga de Pologne Political power redirected toward the poor, generosity that outran what was expected, a short life spent building things that would outlast her.
- Jan Tyranowski The inner life of a man with no title; handing on faith through friendship rather than from a pulpit.
- Jean Bosco Joyful patience with beginners; authority exercised only through affection.
- Jean Damascène Incarnate prayer: to raise the mind to God who drew near even in matter.
- Jean de Brébeuf Patient rootedness in a language and a people, to the point of total gift.
- Jean de Cronstadt Daily, stubborn prayer at the heart of the city and its misery, not far from the world, but within it.
- Jean de la Croix Poetry forged in the dark, a map of the soul's darkest nights toward union with God, fidelity to reform even when it cost him everything.
- Jean Hus Holding to what one has understood, even alone, even without support.
- Jean Racine Willingness to abandon fame for conscience, a return to childhood faith after years of glittering distance, mastery of language turned finally toward humbler ends.
- Jean Tauler Descending to the ground of the soul where God speaks, praying in bareness.
- Jeanne d'Arc The boldness of obeying God rather than the powerful, and naked trust before one's judges.
- Jeanne de Chantal Grief transformed into founding purpose, a religious life made possible for women turned away elsewhere, steadiness through repeated loss.
- Jeanne Jugan Chosen littleness, which awaits all from God and serves the forgotten.
- Jérôme de Stridon Prayer fed by Scripture: to seek Christ in the Word and to keep oneself busy there.
- John Bunyan The way of faith as a pilgrimage through trial, grace greater than sin.
- John Donne Shared frailty that binds the living together, and the longing to be wholly seized by God.
- John Henry Newman The prayer of sufficient light: not to demand a distant view, but to consent to today's single step.
- John Sung The call to conversion of heart, held within the body's weakness.
- John Wesley Faith that takes to the road toward those no one reaches.
- José Gabriel Brochero Prayer that takes to the road toward the most distant, and shares their life.
- José Sánchez del Río A child's faithfulness stronger than fear, the gladness of self-gift.
- Joséphine Bakhita Forgiveness that outgrew unspeakable cruelty, a name reclaimed from irony into gratitude, freedom found finally in belonging to God alone.
- Josephine Butler Prayer that pushes outward, toward those society covers with shame.
- Juan Diego The little one whom God chooses as messenger, who dares to voice his sense of unworthiness without shirking.
- Julie Billiart Unshakeable trust in the goodness of God, held even through the ordeal of the body.
- Julien Nakaura The prayer of someone who gives his name when it would be wiser to keep quiet.
- Justin de Naplouse To seek the truth wherever it shines, and to recognize it whole in Christ.
- Kanzo Uchimura Faith rooted in one's own people, and a conscience that bows to God alone.
- Kateri Tekakwitha Stubbornly seeking what pleases God when everyone around opposes it.
- Katharine Drexel Wealth and time poured out without return, for the sake of the despised.
- Krishna Pal Conversion paid for at the cost of family and community, the courage to be first when no one else would follow, hymns written in a mother tongue to carry a faith still foreign to everyone around him.
- Krupabai Satthianadhan Pioneering paths in education and medicine cut short by illness, honesty about the loneliness of belonging fully to no world, a short life converted into words that gave others a language for the same in-between.
- Kuriakose Elias Chavara Prayer that takes flesh in education and the life of families.
- Kyrillos VI Leadership drawn from prayer, when action never leaves recollection.
- Lancelot Andrewes Prayer patiently shaped in secret, made of praise, confession, and remembrance.
- Laura Montoya Seeking God where he has no shrine: love knows how to find him wherever he gives himself.
- Laura Vicuña The hidden gift of oneself for the salvation of those one loves.
- Lilias Trotter A brilliant future set aside for a harder calling, patience among communities others had given up reaching, decades of quiet translation work instead of the fame she could have had.
- Lorenzo Ruiz The faithfulness of the ordinary believer, without rank or eloquence, who discovers in the hour of trial the strength to hold firm.
- Louis Martin A fatherhood that gives its children away without holding them back; the faith of a man stripped even of his dignity.
- Luc de Simferopol Care of bodies and souls held in a single hand, and trial passed through until it becomes purification.
- Lucian Tapiedi The faithfulness that will not save itself alone, but stays beside its own.
- Lucie de Syracuse Keeping the heart free for God, carrying light in the middle of the night.
- Macrine la Jeune Intelligence placed at the service of faith, and peace before death in one who has loved God since childhood.
- Madeleine Daniélou Uniting the love of God and the work of the mind, awakening souls.
- Madeleine-Sophie Barat The education of the heart, patient and humble, in the service of one as of all.
- Mahalia Jackson Sung prayer: to lift up hope when the voice carries what words cannot say.
- Manche Masemola The stubborn faithfulness of a heart that has found something greater than fear.
- Marcel Callo The faith of an ordinary young man held to the end; the friendship of Christ tested in exhaustion.
- Marcel Van The little way of love, when life is reduced to almost nothing.
- Margaret Clitherow The hidden faithfulness of daily life, protecting others at one's own expense and leaving all judgment to God alone.
- Margaret Fell An open house as a form of prayer, and speech claimed for those refused it.
- Margery Kempe The prayer of tears: to bring before God a weeping heart, neither justifying it nor silencing it.
- Marguerite d'Youville Unshakable trust in the Father's Providence, in the very heart of loss and destitution.
- Marguerite-Marie Alacoque The discovery that the heart of God loves first, and that one can answer that love in the most ordinary life.
- María de la Luz Camacho Standing in front of the door, unarmed, because that was where you happened to be.
- Maria Goretti Purity defended to the end, forgiveness stronger than violence.
- Maria Restituta Kafka The quiet refusal to give way on what is essential, even to the gift of one's life.
- Maria W. Stewart Taking the floor when no one has given it to you.
- Marie Dentière Not keeping to oneself what one has received, on the grounds that one has no right to speak of it.
- Marie l'Égyptienne The turning of a life, and the long patience of conversion.
- Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas Constant prayer that takes flesh in teaching the lowly.
- Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta Faithfulness kept in the body itself, and forgiveness offered to the aggressor.
- Marie-Madeleine de Pazzi Thirst for the Love that is neither loved nor known, the fire of the Spirit that purifies.
- Martin Buber Prayer as encounter: to stand before God and before the other with one's whole being.
- Martin de Tours Sharing what one has, serving without shirking the task.
- Martin Luther King Prayer that disarms: to draw from God what it takes to answer hatred with love.
- Mary Dyer Going back where one is forbidden, for love of those who suffer there.
- Mary McLeod Bethune Bequeathing what one did not receive, so that others may have it.
- Mary Ward Faithfulness to a true intuition, held against misunderstanding and rejection.
- Matta el-Meskeen Prayer as God's work in us before it is our effort: stepping into a labor already begun.
- Maxime le Confesseur Love as the summit of the spiritual life, higher than all knowledge.
- Mélanie la Jeune Letting go of possessions in order to become free again; the marriage bond widened into brotherhood.
- Menno Simons The faith that cannot lie down, and that gets up as concrete acts.
- Michael Sattler Refusing the weapon, including when one is the one being struck.
- Michi Kawai The work you begin small, with no guarantee, because no one else will begin it.
- Miguel Pro Joy that refuses to be confiscated, and forgiveness given at the very moment everything is taken away.
- Moïse Maïmonide Attention, without which the right words are still only words.
- Mrs Prest The faith of an unlettered woman, held alone against her own household.
- Nano Nagle The dogged service of the little ones in the dark, a light carried where faith is hindered.
- Narayan Vaman Tilak To recognize the beloved face at the end of a long search, and to hand everything over to him.
- Nersès Shnorhali Prayer hour after hour: to confess one's faith and ask again for mercy through the whole day.
- Nicodème l'Hagiorite Handing on rather than producing; placing the prayer of the ancients into today's hands.
- Nicolas Cabasilas The interior life made possible without leaving one's trade or changing one's state.
- Nicolas du Japon Patient proclamation that draws near to a language and a people, effacing itself before the Church it has served.
- Nino de Géorgie To bear witness to Christ by a simple, unarmed presence, when one has neither rank nor power to impose oneself.
- Nonna de Nazianze The prayer of a mother who forces no one; a household constancy more effective than argument.
- Olivier Messiaen Seeking God in what already sings; making the ear an organ of prayer.
- Olympias de Constantinople Standing with those we love when they fall; giving away without measure what was received.
- Onésime Nesib Giving his people the Word in their own tongue, turning slavery into gift.
- Origène d'Alexandrie Not separating what one does from what one asks for.
- Oswald Chambers The unreserved surrender to God in the present moment, without bargaining over the future.
- Ottobah Cugoano Speech given back to those from whom it was taken, and God held as the father of all without exception.
- Padre Pio Making prayer a daily weapon, handing anxiety over to God.
- Païssy Velitchkovsky Handing on what you did not invent, cleaning it patiently as you go.
- Pandita Ramabai Seeking God without settling for a religion, until you find a person.
- Paul Chong Hasang The perseverance of beginning again: rebuilding without priests, without structures, with fidelity alone.
- Paul Gerhardt The song that keeps standing when everything else falls.
- Paul Miki Forgiveness offered from the cross itself, without hatred.
- Paul VI A lucidity that accepts being alone; dialogue held as the very shape of charity.
- Paula de Rome Stripping oneself bare by choice, late and in full strength, and a taste for the Scriptures learned for good.
- Pauline Jaricot Making prayer and giving into shared works, where the smallest, joined together, carry the whole world.
- Pedro Arrupe A man of action handed over to dependence; availability that outlives the loss of one's powers.
- Pedro de San José Betancur The charity of one who, having known destitution, makes it the place of his prayer.
- Perpétue de Carthage Naming who you are before God, and holding to it when everything urges you to yield.
- Peter To Rot The hidden fidelity of the layperson who keeps the faith alive, and the courage not to stay silent.
- Philipp Jacob Spener Prayer given back into ordinary people's hands, at home.
- Phillis Wheatley Praise wrested from the night: singing mercy without silencing injustice.
- Philon d'Alexandrie Praying at set hours, and letting the whole day order itself around them.
- Philoxène de Mabboug Faith understood as an organ of sight, and simplicity held to be the condition of every other virtue.
- Phoebe Palmer Holiness open to all, given in the moment to whoever surrenders without delay.
- Pier Giorgio Frassati Faith as an upward drive: friendship, mountains and charity pursued with the same ardor.
- Pierre Chanel The trust that God's work holds, even if one falls.
- Polycarpe de Smyrne Keeping and handing on the faith received, and standing firm to the end without raising one's voice.
- Proba Making what you already know into the matter of praise.
- Rabbi Akiva To love God to the last breath, and to hold every person as beloved.
- Rafaravavy Rasalama The singing that holds a person upright when nothing is left but the voice.
- Rafqa Suffering received and offered, without bitterness, joined to Christ's.
- Raïssa Maritain The demand for truth pushed to its limit, and hidden contemplation in the midst of a life of conversations.
- Rani Maria Vattalil Recognizing Christ in the poor, even to giving one's life, and the forgiveness that makes kin again.
- Raymond Lulle The desire for God lived as burning love, even in the meeting with the other.
- Robert Schuman Turning an enemy into a partner; politics held as the patient work of reconciliation.
- Robert Southwell Poetry as the breathing of faith, and gentleness kept under duress.
- Roger Williams Liberty of conscience held as a demand of faith, not as its opposite.
- Rutilio Grande The Gospel given back to the poor as a dignity, and prayer that becomes concrete solidarity.
- Sadhu Sundar Singh Desiring God himself rather than his gifts, and making the whole road a prayer.
- Samson Occom To serve without being repaid, and to say so without falling silent.
- Samuel Ajayi Crowther The prayer of the freed one: to give thanks for deliverance and to pass it on to one's own.
- Sára Salkaházi Offering in advance what you do not yet know you will have to give.
- Sarah Copia Sullam Answering for oneself, when others have spoken in one's place.
- Scholastique Prayer that obtains more by love than by force, the boldness of trust.
- Shushanik A quiet refusal when yielding would be comfortable; the fidelity of a woman standing alone against her own household.
- Sigrid Undset The long search for truth through one's work, unto prayer without deceit.
- Socrate le Scolastique Peace kept in the face of difference: what varies from church to church is not what saves.
- Sojourner Truth Talking to God as to someone (plainly, out loud) and truly expecting something of him.
- Sol Hachuel Refusing to be given another name, even under threat.
- Solanus Casey The trust that gives thanks in advance, and the patient welcome of one who listens at the door.
- Sophie Scholl Praying with a barren heart, and doing what is right when everyone else stays silent.
- Sophrony d'Essex The descent into the hell of despair carried through into light, and the name of God held in the depth of the heart.
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Intelligence held as a gift of God, and an imposed silence inhabited without pretence.
- Søren Kierkegaard Prayer that listens: to fall silent long enough to stop speaking and hear God.
- Stanley Rother The shepherd who does not flee: staying with one's own when danger comes.
- Syméon le Nouveau Théologien The living experience of God as light, offered to all and not to the perfect alone.
- Takayama Ukon The surrender of rank and goods rather than betray what matters most.
- Teresa de Calcutta Service of the poorest as an encounter with Christ, and fidelity held through the night of faith.
- Théophane le Reclus The patience of one who accompanies; prayer learned the way one learns to breathe.
- Thérèse d’Avila Interiority as a place of indestructible peace.
- Thérèse des Andes Joy as witness: a God real enough to make one happy, even behind a grille.
- Thomas a Kempis Preferring to feel rather than to define, and finding a hidden life enough.
- Thomas Becket Not leaving the place where one has been set, even knowing what is coming.
- Thomas d'Aquin Prayer that surpasses knowledge: to seek God with all one's mind, then to fall silent before him.
- Thomas More The fidelity of conscience when everything pushes one to yield, and peace kept in the heart of trial.
- Tikhon de Moscou The fidelity that blesses under persecution, without vengeance or hardening.
- Timothée Ier de Bagdad Giving an account of one's faith before someone who does not share it, without raising one's voice.
- Titus Brandsma Resisting by the truth, keeping Jesus near even in the cell.
- Tiyo Soga Standing straight between two worlds that each claim all of you.
- Toribio de Mogrovejo Service that goes out to people itself, sparing none of its steps.
- V. S. Azariah Faith that asks for friendship between equals, across borders and ranks.
- Venance Fortunat Praise sung while walking, holding up what words alone could not hold.
- Victoire Rasoamanarivo Holding the Church upright when the shepherds are gone, with no authority but faithfulness.
- Vittoria Colonna Changing your subject once you discover what is worth singing.
- Vivian Redlich Holding one's post when nobody would know, and leaving the outcome to another.
- Wang Mingdao Denial passed through and not hidden, and a faithfulness that gets up again after giving way.
- Wang Zhiming The faithfulness that will not be bent, and hands kept pure for God alone.
- Watchman Nee The prayer of weakness: to stop relying on oneself and let Christ live within us.
- William Cowper Faith held by a man who cannot feel it, and friendship keeping alive what the darkness would put out.
- William Tyndale Receiving the words of prayer in one's own language, and discovering that God needs no interpreter.
- Wiremu Tāmihana To stand up for your own people without hurrying into anger.
- Xu Guangqi No truth is foreign to God: searching, calculating, translating can become a way of serving him.
- Yeghishé Holding on to one's faith when told to give it another name.
- Zilpha Elaw Going anyway, without waiting to be equipped.