Theme
Witnesses on forgiveness
Forgiving what cannot be forgiven on one's own: these witnesses did it, and told how.
A few words
There is no harder work than praying to God. Every time a man wants to pray, his enemies try to stop him. Prayer is a fight to the last breath.
And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.
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.
O thou, my soul, forget no more the friend who all thy misery bore.
My heart trembled in my body. I prayed to God with sighs and tears that he would give to me, a troubled sinner, the gift of his grace and create a clean heart in me.
I come from my own house, but I found it shut and barred against me.
All 54 witnesses on forgiveness
- Abba Agathon Prayer understood as a fight, to the last breath.
- Anacleto González Flores Forgiving the man who has just signed your death.
- André de Crète Beginning again, when one no longer knows where to start.
- Bartolo Longo The turning around of a life given over to the dark; repeated prayer as a way of rebuilding.
- Benedict Daswa The quiet courage of refusing fear and falsehood, to the very end.
- Beruriah To pray for the end of evil rather than for the end of the wicked.
- Cassienne de Constantinople To speak the truth without flattery, and to sing the mercy offered to those who turn back.
- Chiara Gambacorta Prayer that is not ashamed to count what is missing.
- Christian de Chergé Preventive forgiveness and brotherhood beyond religion.
- Corrie ten Boom Forgiveness received before it is given: when loving is beyond our strength, God gives the love along with the command.
- Cyprien Rugamba Joy given back to God: art, dance and a whole life turned into praise.
- Cyrille de Tourov Naming yourself before God, with no one in between.
- Desmond Tutu Justice sought without hatred, and forgiveness held as the only future for wounded peoples.
- Dorothée de Gaza Concrete humility: drawing near to God by drawing near to others.
- Edith Cavell To care for all without picking sides, and to go without bitterness.
- Élisabeth Feodorovna Prayer that forgives: to descend toward the poor and to bless even in the night.
- Faustine Kowalska Trust in mercy, above all when one knows oneself poor and weak.
- Festo Kivengere Forgiveness offered to the enemy as a strength, and the joy of the Gospel carried through trial.
- Fiodor Dostoïevski Faith that has passed through doubt and bears its scars, without ceasing to choose Christ.
- Friedrich Spee Taking the side of those whose confession was wrung out of them.
- Grégoire de Narek Offering God one's very groans, lament turned into prayer.
- Isaac Penington Long inward searching resolved into simplicity, courage to leave comfort and status behind, testimony to the Light that needs no institution to be true.
- Isidore Bakanja Faith held fast even in the flesh, and forgiveness offered to the torturer.
- Jean Colobos Humility learned the hard way, the marriage of ordinary work and ceaseless prayer, wisdom compressed into short unforgettable sayings.
- Jerzy Popiełuszko Disarming fear; refusing revenge without conceding anything of the truth.
- John Newton Repentance that comes late and works anyway, and grace found wider than the memory of the harm one has done.
- Joséphine Bakhita Forgiveness that outgrew unspeakable cruelty, a name reclaimed from irony into gratitude, freedom found finally in belonging to God alone.
- 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.
- Leonella Sgorbati Forgiveness given with the last breath, without strength and without preparation.
- Liliʻuokalani Dispossession borne without hatred, and the prayer that remains when no other recourse does.
- Macaire l'Égyptien The shortest prayer: when words fail, stretching out one's hands and letting mercy do the rest.
- Maria Goretti Purity defended to the end, forgiveness stronger than violence.
- Marie l'Égyptienne The turning of a life, and the long patience of conversion.
- Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta Faithfulness kept in the body itself, and forgiveness offered to the aggressor.
- Martin Luther King Prayer that disarms: to draw from God what it takes to answer hatred with love.
- Mary MacKillop Doing all you can with what you have, and calmly leaving the rest to God.
- 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.
- Miguel Pro Joy that refuses to be confiscated, and forgiveness given at the very moment everything is taken away.
- Moïse l'Éthiopien Not to judge the faults of others while already carrying one's own.
- Nersès Shnorhali Prayer hour after hour: to confess one's faith and ask again for mercy through the whole day.
- Ngākuku Refusing revenge out loud, on the day itself, in front of everyone.
- Patrick d'Irlande Prayer learned in captivity, and the forgiveness that goes back toward those who wounded.
- Paul Miki Forgiveness offered from the cross itself, without hatred.
- Rani Maria Vattalil Recognizing Christ in the poor, even to giving one's life, and the forgiveness that makes kin again.
- Rita de Cascia Living through what one did not choose; refusing revenge even when it would be owed.
- Silouane de l'Athos To pray for all people, even one's enemies, and to hold on to hope at the very edge of despair.
- Sisoès le Grand To begin again each day, never supposing one has arrived.
- Son Yang-won Forgiveness carried as far as adoption, and thanksgiving wrested from the barest grief.
- Thomas Cranmer Praying in words anyone can say, and coming back after giving way.
- Tikhon de Moscou The fidelity that blesses under persecution, without vengeance or hardening.
- Tikhon de Zadonsk Gentleness born of inner trial, and forgiveness given as one has received it.
- Victoire Rasoamanarivo Holding the Church upright when the shepherds are gone, with no authority but faithfulness.
- Wang Mingdao Denial passed through and not hidden, and a faithfulness that gets up again after giving way.