Theme
Witnesses on fear
Prisons, threats, nights: they were afraid, and they said so to God in those words.
A few words
I am a Christian; I would rather die than deny my faith.
I am a Christian, and among us nothing evil is done.
I read the Bible earnestly and had a new concern to memorize important chapters against the day when I would be in prison without my Bible.
I do not know how long I shall be here, but my life is in God's hands.
What will happen to me today, O my God? I do not know. All I know is that nothing will happen to me that you have not foreseen, settled and ordained from all eternity, and that is enough for me.
In the midst of these torments, which usually crush others, I am, by the grace of God, neither sad nor dejected, but full of joy, for I am not alone: Christ is with me.
All 43 witnesses on fear
- Agnès Tsao Kou Ying The fidelity of an ordinary woman who stays standing when everything is designed to make her bend.
- Alfred Delp Adoration that stays standing when everything else is taken away.
- André Dũng-Lạc Ceasing to flee in order to stay faithful, holding the faith to the end.
- 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.
- Apolo Kivebulaya Walking on with your fear, because a voice has said: I am with you.
- Bahya ibn Paquda Trust as rest: setting down what one was never able to carry.
- Blandine de Lyon Strength given to the weakest, when prayer holds upright what everything should bring down.
- Charles Lwanga Young, undivided faith, protecting the weakest and passing through fear in prayer.
- Devasahayam Pillai Joyful constancy under trial, when faith is costly and the dignity of all is worth more than one's own rank.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer Grace is costly. A faith that cannot be separated from commitment.
- Élisabeth de Schönau Speaking when you would rather have kept silent.
- Elisabeth Dirks Not paying for one's own safety with other people's lives.
- Emily Brontë Faith held alone, with no consolation asked of anyone.
- 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.
- Félicité Niyitegeka Refusing to be saved alone, and staying tender even in the farewell.
- Francis Thompson God pursuing the one who runs, and reaching him at the end of the running.
- François Massabki What cannot be taken from us, even when everything is taken.
- Friedrich Spee Taking the side of those whose confession was wrung out of them.
- Harriet Jacobs To pray from a crawl space, and to refuse to lie about what one has lived.
- Janani Luwum The word held firm before violence, and the prayer that does not yield to fear.
- Jean Colobos Humility learned the hard way, the marriage of ordinary work and ceaseless prayer, wisdom compressed into short unforgettable sayings.
- 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.
- Jerzy Popiełuszko Disarming fear; refusing revenge without conceding anything of the truth.
- Katharina Schütz Zell Consoling by letter those one cannot reach.
- Lorenzo Ruiz The faithfulness of the ordinary believer, without rank or eloquence, who discovers in the hour of trial the strength to hold firm.
- Madame Élisabeth de France Calm consent to what was never chosen.
- Manche Masemola The stubborn faithfulness of a heart that has found something greater than fear.
- Margaret Clitherow The hidden faithfulness of daily life, protecting others at one's own expense and leaving all judgment to God alone.
- María de la Luz Camacho Standing in front of the door, unarmed, because that was where you happened to be.
- Maximilien Kolbe A life offered in exchange for a stranger's, courage that turned a death camp into the site of the clearest possible love, a sacrifice witnessed and outlived by the very man it saved.
- Nahman de Bratslav The free, spoken conversation with God, and joy chosen against the sadness that stifles.
- Padre Pio Making prayer a daily weapon, handing anxiety over to God.
- Paul Le Bao Tinh Joy that holds firm at the bottom of the trial, because one is not alone there.
- Perpétue de Carthage Naming who you are before God, and holding to it when everything urges you to yield.
- Rosa Parks The inward decision made before the trial, which makes fear fall away of itself.
- Sol Hachuel Refusing to be given another name, even under threat.
- Sophie Scholl Praying with a barren heart, and doing what is right when everyone else stays silent.
- Thomas Becket Not leaving the place where one has been set, even knowing what is coming.
- Vivian Redlich Holding one's post when nobody would know, and leaving the outcome to another.
- Zilpha Elaw Going anyway, without waiting to be equipped.