Theme
Witnesses on peace
Peacemakers, and witnesses to an inner peace won slowly.
A few words
Here we are, you and I, and I hope that a third is between us, Christ. There is no one now to make a noise, no one to break in on the talk of friends; into this solitude, so welcome to us, no voice and no tumult creeps.
I have only one spouse on earth: Jesus forsaken. I have no other God but him.
God can only love.
The just man serves God in his works, and rests in Him beyond all works, and this is the crown of his life.
Lord Jesus, I love you, and I would love you greatly, love you for the whole world.
I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear.
All 86 witnesses on peace
- Aelred de Rievaulx Praying two together, and finding that there were not two.
- Agnès Phila Writing one's refusal calmly, without raising the voice, and signing it.
- Albert Luthuli Stubborn patience before a door that will not open.
- Ambroise d'Optina Short advice, given from a bed, that sets a life upright again.
- Amy Carmichael Peace found in acceptance, when the body gives out and love carries on.
- Anacleto González Flores Forgiving the man who has just signed your death.
- Angelus Silesius Brevity as prayer: a few words that are enough to stand before God.
- Aphraate le Sage persan Prayer measured not by its words but by the clarity of the heart and the deeds it produces.
- Benoît le More Authority exercised without ever leaving the servant's place; a simplicity that disarms.
- Boèce The search for truth held fast in the night, and the mind that rises in prayer at the heart of misfortune.
- Bruno le Chartreux Inhabited silence; solitude as the place where one becomes available again.
- Catherine de Bologne The spiritual struggle waged in distrust of self and trust in God.
- Catherine Doherty The inner desert sought in the midst of an active life, where one falls silent to listen to God.
- Charles Eastman (Ohíye S'a) Silence as the first act of prayer, before any word.
- Chiara Lubich Making unity itself a prayer, choosing God even in forsakenness.
- Christian de Chergé Preventive forgiveness and brotherhood beyond religion.
- Christiana Tsai Ceasing to ask why, in order to ask what there is to do.
- Christophe Munzihirwa Staying with those who stay, when leaving would be reasonable (peace paid for in person).
- Clément de Rome The prayer of a divided community, which asks first of all to see clearly.
- Crispine de Thagore Calmly repeating the same thing in front of those who have power over everything.
- 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.
- Ellen Lakshmi Goreh The hidden place one withdraws to, which fits inside the heart.
- Frances Ridley Havergal The whole and joyful consecration of self, offered limb by limb and day by day.
- François de Sales Gentleness as strength, and holiness offered to ordinary life.
- François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận Hope in the present tense: when the future is confiscated, filling with love the minute at hand.
- Frans van der Lugt Staying when leaving would be reasonable, and refusing to the end to give hatred the last word.
- Franz Stock Standing inside hatred without sharing it; remaining brother to those whom everything divides.
- Frère Roger de Taizé Trust of the heart: a simple prayer, sung and silent, that reconciles what was separated.
- Giorgio La Pira Putting prayer at the beginning of action; taking the whole world as the subject of intercession.
- Hannah Whitall Smith The plain trust that lays down the burden and believes God, without proof or feeling.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe The early-morning prayer that asks for nothing but a presence.
- Henri Suso Measure kept in speech, so the heart stays livable.
- Hilda de Whitby Governing by wisdom and peace, drawing out the gifts of each.
- Hillel l'Ancien Kindness held as the heart of the whole Law, and the gentle urgency of the present moment.
- Howard Thurman Going down to one's center: finding again in the inner silence the genuine voice God has placed there.
- Ignace Maloyan The quiet refusal, said once and never taken back.
- Irénée de Lyon The life of the human being as the glory of God, faith handed on from hand to hand.
- Irmã Dulce Concrete love that begins with almost nothing, and the certainty that loving can change the world.
- Isaac le Syrien Radical honesty about the inner life, tenderness toward human weakness, a theology of mercy wide enough to unsettle the strict.
- 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.
- Jakob Böhme Inner stillness as the first place of listening, kept in the middle of a trade and a household.
- Jan van Ruusbroec Mystical depth that refuses to stay private, writing in the common tongue so contemplation belongs to everyone, union with God that flows back out into action.
- Jean de Rila The short prayer repeated in working hands, until it holds up on its own.
- Jean de Shanghai et San Francisco Ceaseless prayer and charity without borders, kept intact under slander.
- Jean XXIII Trusting simplicity, handing the world's cares back to God each evening.
- Jerzy Popiełuszko Disarming fear; refusing revenge without conceding anything of the truth.
- John Greenleaf Whittier Silence asked for in the middle of one's own noise.
- John Woolman A conscience that moves one step at a time, without seeing the road, and the silence in which strength is renewed.
- Joséphine Bakhita Forgiveness that outgrew unspeakable cruelty, a name reclaimed from irony into gratitude, freedom found finally in belonging to God alone.
- Katharina von Schlegel A legacy reduced to almost nothing but a single hymn, stillness urged onto a soul from someone who left almost no trace of her own, anonymity that let one work speak for a whole life.
- Kyrillos VI Leadership drawn from prayer, when action never leaves recollection.
- Leonella Sgorbati Forgiveness given with the last breath, without strength and without preparation.
- Lucretia Mott The inward light recognised in every human being, with no exception and no precondition.
- Madame Élisabeth de France Calm consent to what was never chosen.
- Marguerite Ebner Silence as a place where prayer can live.
- Maria Gabriella Sagheddu Giving one's life so that the divided may be one, praying where one does not understand.
- Maria Restituta Kafka The quiet refusal to give way on what is essential, even to the gift of one's life.
- Mary Dyer Going back where one is forbidden, for love of those who suffer there.
- Michael Sattler Refusing the weapon, including when one is the one being struck.
- Nahmanide Prayer begins in the way one speaks to others the rest of the day.
- Nectaire d'Égine Gentleness in the face of injustice; prayer held as a conversation that is never broken off.
- Ngākuku Refusing revenge out loud, on the day itself, in front of everyone.
- Nicholas Black Elk The peace that begins inside a person, and two inheritances of prayer carried without setting them against each other.
- Nicolas de Flue A self-stripping that makes peace: a disarmed man becomes the place where others are reconciled.
- Ntsikana Finding in one's own language the words to name God, without waiting to be given them.
- Paul VI A lucidity that accepts being alone; dialogue held as the very shape of charity.
- Porphyrios de Kavsokalyvia The way of love rather than of anxious effort, and God sought as one loves.
- Robert Schuman Turning an enemy into a partner; politics held as the patient work of reconciliation.
- Roger Williams Liberty of conscience held as a demand of faith, not as its opposite.
- Rosa Parks The inward decision made before the trial, which makes fear fall away of itself.
- Séraphin de Sarov Paschal joy as the climate of an entire life, the fruit of long hidden prayer.
- Serge de Radonège Seeking God in solitude, serving unity through humility.
- Socrate le Scolastique Peace kept in the face of difference: what varies from church to church is not what saves.
- Stefan Wyszyński Firmness without bitterness; the patience of a man who counts in decades rather than in victories.
- Takashi Nagai Praying and hoping from a sickbed, when everything lies in ruins.
- Théophane le Reclus The patience of one who accompanies; prayer learned the way one learns to breathe.
- Thérèse Couderc Surrendering oneself: a handing over of self deeper than devotion, learned in hiddenness.
- Thérèse d’Avila Interiority as a place of indestructible peace.
- Thomas Ken A day bounded by two prayers, and the polite refusal that costs a man his office.
- Thomas Merton The search for God in silence, and the desire to please him even when the way stays dark.
- 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.
- Watchman Nee The prayer of weakness: to stop relying on oneself and let Christ live within us.
- Wiremu Tāmihana To stand up for your own people without hurrying into anger.
- Zita de Lucques Holiness in work nobody watches; service kept without bitterness.