Theme
Witnesses on family
Those whose prayer ran through a house, parents, children — holiness at kitchen-table height.
A few words
I have this day renewedly given myself to God, to be used and disposed of as he sees best. I feel that I am but an empty vessel, which must be cleansed and filled with grace, or remain forever empty, forever useless.
I will go wherever the Saviour calls me. I know he will be on my right hand.
Every soul that rises lifts the world with it.
In my great grief and for my heart's ease I begin this book.
I am a Catholic, and wholeheartedly do accept death for God. Had I a thousand lives, all these I shall offer to Him.
My Lord and my God, take from me everything that keeps me far from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and my God, take me from myself and give me wholly to you.
All 53 witnesses on family
- Ann Hasseltine Judson A body worn out by what one carries for another, and the giving of oneself renewed each day.
- Anne Comnène Holding the memory of those we have loved, when time would carry everything away.
- Anthousa d'Antioche The voice of a mother who dares to say what she carries, without demanding anything.
- Argula von Grumbach Speaking up without a mandate, because one has read and can no longer keep silent.
- Benedict Daswa The quiet courage of refusing fear and falsehood, to the very end.
- Benoît de Nursie “Some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Benedict made it a rule: every guest who arrives is received as Christ himself. We never welcome only the person we think we see, which is why hospitality is an act of faith before it is a courtesy.
- Brigitte de Suède One life given whole, in marriage as in solitude, without surrendering any freedom of speech.
- Caroline Chisholm Hospitality organised; a charity that gives itself the practical means to keep its word.
- Catharine Brown To know oneself small, and to want to carry one's own people anyway.
- Charles Wesley Doctrine set to song so that busy hands can pray it.
- Chiara Corbella Petrillo Trust that welcomes life as it comes, and looks at everything in the light of eternity.
- Christine de Pizan Holding up a whole household with the only work one knows how to do.
- Conchita Cabrera de Armida Ordinary life (weddings, griefs, household accounts) lived as a place of God.
- Cyprien Rugamba Joy given back to God: art, dance and a whole life turned into praise.
- Dhuoda de Septimanie Prayer held across distance, when love can only write and entrust the absent one to God.
- Dorothe Engelbretsdatter The evening prayer of someone who has counted what is left.
- Élisabeth Leseur Silent radiance: loving without preaching, and letting an offered life speak in one's stead.
- Elizabeth Ann Seton Lifting the heart to God in the midst of everything, without waiting for perfect silence.
- Emma Rooke The prayer of someone writing to another who has lost the same thing.
- Emmélie de Césarée Offering God what one holds dearest, by naming it to him.
- Eurosia Fabris The hidden holiness of a home, woven of work and patience.
- Félicité Niyitegeka Refusing to be saved alone, and staying tender even in the farewell.
- Franz Jägerstätter A conscience that cannot be bought by anyone, even when everyone advises giving in.
- Gianna Beretta Molla Holiness of the everyday, in a profession and a family held to the end.
- Glückel de Hameln Praying in the middle of the accounts, the childbeds and the debts, without separating the two lives.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe The early-morning prayer that asks for nothing but a presence.
- Jane Austen The examination of a day made with irony towards oneself and gentleness towards others.
- Jeanne de Chantal Grief transformed into founding purpose, a religious life made possible for women turned away elsewhere, steadiness through repeated loss.
- Kuriakose Elias Chavara Prayer that takes flesh in education and the life of families.
- Lakshmibai Tilak Faith won slowly through doubt and fury rather than handed down, honesty about the cost a conversion exacts on those not consulted, a memoir that refused to simplify a painful passage.
- Laura Vicuña The hidden gift of oneself for the salvation of those one loves.
- Léonie Martin The hope of new beginnings: when nothing works the first time, trust ends up opening a way.
- 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.
- Madeleine Delbrêl “You prepare a table before me… and my cup overflows.” Madeleine Delbrêl sought that overflow not in the desert, but in the middle of the city, among neighbors and ordinary tasks. Gratitude, for her, is recognizing that the table is already set, that everyday life itself is the place of grace.
- Margaret Clitherow The hidden faithfulness of daily life, protecting others at one's own expense and leaving all judgment to God alone.
- Marguerite d'Youville Unshakable trust in the Father's Providence, in the very heart of loss and destitution.
- Marie de l'Incarnation Union with God that holds fast amid business, crossings and heartbreak.
- Monique Patient, stubborn prayer for those we love, held through the years.
- Mrs Prest The faith of an unlettered woman, held alone against her own household.
- Nicolas de Flue A self-stripping that makes peace: a disarmed man becomes the place where others are reconciled.
- Nonna de Nazianze The prayer of a mother who forces no one; a household constancy more effective than argument.
- Paul Chong Hasang The perseverance of beginning again: rebuilding without priests, without structures, with fidelity alone.
- 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.
- Rebecca Gratz Consoling without claiming to measure another's grief.
- Rita de Cascia Living through what one did not choose; refusing revenge even when it would be owed.
- 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.
- Susanna Wesley Prayer held amid domestic noise, a space kept for God when nothing is quiet.
- Toru Dutt To keep writing to the end of a short life, and to hold in silence the hand of those one loves.
- Victoire Rasoamanarivo Holding the Church upright when the shepherds are gone, with no authority but faithfulness.
- Zélie Martin Holiness in an overloaded daily life: work, children, bereavements, and a trust that holds everything together.