Theme
Witnesses on the world
Witnesses who never separated prayer from the world: justice, poverty, politics, war.
A few words
Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.
I have only one spouse on earth: Jesus forsaken. I have no other God but him.
The spiritual life is not a special career, involving abstraction from the world of things. It is a life which includes and redeems every department of human existence.
What can we do to change the world? Love. Love can indeed change the world.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
I never pray so well as in the street.
All 86 witnesses on the world
- Abraham Joshua Heschel Wonder as the root of prayer, and prayer that walks out into the street.
- Absalom Jones The thanksgiving of a people who remember their deliverance, and pray for those still waiting for theirs.
- Abuna Petros Blessing still when all is lost, and not taking back one's word.
- Albert Luthuli Stubborn patience before a door that will not open.
- Alberto Hurtado Asking what Christ would do, here, now, and doing it.
- Alice Meynell Prayer held inside a crowded life, and renunciation that does not put out tenderness.
- Anna Julia Cooper Dignity held like a prayer, for a long time, with no one to acknowledge it.
- Antoine de Padoue Letting deeds preach before words, seeking what was lost.
- Antonio de Montesinos Anger at injustice, carried into prayer instead of being swallowed.
- Bartolomé de Las Casas Taking the side of the oppressed, letting the truth disturb.
- Basile de Césarée Gathering the scattered mind back to God, and letting prayer open our hands to the poor.
- Bernard Mizeki Remaining with those one serves, standing firm in faithfulness.
- Carlo Acutis Living as an original, not a copy; making the ordinary a path to God.
- Catherine Booth Faith that goes down into the street and refuses to settle with what it finds there.
- Chiara Lubich Making unity itself a prayer, choosing God even in forsakenness.
- Chiune Sugihara Obedience to God set above obedience to orders, paid for with a career.
- Christian de Chergé Preventive forgiveness and brotherhood beyond religion.
- Christophe Munzihirwa Staying with those who stay, when leaving would be reasonable (peace paid for in person).
- 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.
- Daniel Comboni The gift of one's life for a people, to the point of stepping aside for it.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer Grace is costly. A faith that cannot be separated from commitment.
- Dominique de Guzmán Praying at night for the people one meets by day.
- Dorothy Day Holding together daily prayer and the open table.
- Dorothy Stang Staying on the side of the most exposed when staying costs.
- Élisabeth de Hongrie Royalty that becomes service, charity that lowers the crown.
- Elizabeth Fry Dignity restored to the forgotten, and the conviction that no one is beyond recovery.
- Émilie Gamelin Letting grief open into charity, serving the poor with joy.
- Étienne de Hongrie Responsibility lived out before God: governing, deciding, working while remaining a person of prayer.
- Evelyn Underhill Prayer given back to everyone: not a separate career, but an ordinary life turned toward God.
- Félix Varela Truth that consoles: serving God by serving others, even in exile, without bitterness.
- Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Putting one's faith into poems for those who have no platform.
- François Xavier Desire that never settles: always farther, as long as someone remains who has not heard of God.
- Frans van der Lugt Staying when leaving would be reasonable, and refusing to the end to give hatred the last word.
- Frédéric Ozanam Turning faith into concrete service, charity invented between equals.
- Friedrich Spee Taking the side of those whose confession was wrung out of them.
- Giorgio La Pira Putting prayer at the beginning of action; taking the whole world as the subject of intercession.
- Grégoire de Tours Speaking to God, and of people, in the language you have rather than the one you wish you had.
- Hélder Câmara Hope that takes risks: keeping watch in the night and believing the desert can bloom.
- Howard Thurman Going down to one's center: finding again in the inner silence the genuine voice God has placed there.
- 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.
- Ida Scudder Hearing God's call in the concrete distress that knocks at the door.
- Irmã Dulce Concrete love that begins with almost nothing, and the certainty that loving can change the world.
- Jacinta Marto A child's prayer for the world, the simple offering of small sorrows.
- 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.
- Jean Chrysostome The word that defends the poor, and thanksgiving held even in the loss of all.
- Jean l'Aumônier Seeing in the one who lacks everything someone who has credit with God.
- Jean XXIII Trusting simplicity, handing the world's cares back to God each evening.
- John Donne Shared frailty that binds the living together, and the longing to be wholly seized by God.
- Kanzo Uchimura Faith rooted in one's own people, and a conscience that bows to God alone.
- Liliʻuokalani Dispossession borne without hatred, and the prayer that remains when no other recourse does.
- Marianne de Jésus de Quito Offering one's life for one's people, praying in secret for the whole city.
- Marie Dentière Not keeping to oneself what one has received, on the grounds that one has no right to speak of it.
- Marie Skobtsova Finding God in the face of the other: a hospitality that makes every open table a holy place.
- 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.
- Matteo Ricci The patient meeting of another culture, and friendship held as a path toward God.
- Mélanie l'Ancienne Naming oneself by belonging to God, and not by what one owns.
- Menno Simons The faith that cannot lie down, and that gets up as concrete acts.
- Olaudah Equiano Freedom wrested from injustice, and Providence discerned in the smallest ordeal.
- Óscar Romero A voice that prays aloud on behalf of those who have been silenced.
- Ottobah Cugoano Speech given back to those from whom it was taken, and God held as the father of all without exception.
- Pandita Ramabai Seeking God without settling for a religion, until you find a person.
- Paul VI A lucidity that accepts being alone; dialogue held as the very shape of charity.
- Pedro Arrupe A man of action handed over to dependence; availability that outlives the loss of one's powers.
- Philipp Jacob Spener Prayer given back into ordinary people's hands, at home.
- Pierre Claver Serving with one's hands before speaking, drawing near to the suffering body.
- 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.
- Rosalie Rendu Prayer that carries on into the service of the poorest, contemplation held in the middle of the street.
- Ruth Pfau A life decided by an unplanned stop, and held to the end.
- Rutilio Grande The Gospel given back to the poor as a dignity, and prayer that becomes concrete solidarity.
- Sarah Copia Sullam Answering for oneself, when others have spoken in one's place.
- Satoko Kitahara Not helping from above but joining: drawing so near as to share the other's condition.
- 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.
- Simone Weil Pure attention as the very form of prayer, and solidarity with the affliction of others.
- Sojourner Truth Talking to God as to someone (plainly, out loud) and truly expecting something of him.
- Sophie Scholl Praying with a barren heart, and doing what is right when everyone else stays silent.
- Stephen Kim Sou-hwan Physical courage placed between power and the vulnerable, a church that became sanctuary in fact and not just in name, authority used to shield rather than to command.
- Timothée Ier de Bagdad Giving an account of one's faith before someone who does not share it, without raising one's voice.
- Úrsula de Jesús What the one who serves can see, and was never once asked about.
- V. S. Azariah Faith that asks for friendship between equals, across borders and ranks.
- Vincent de Paul Loving God by the sweat of one's arms, seeing in the poor one's master.
- William Wilberforce The perseverance of a conscience enlightened by prayer, holding firm for decades in a just fight.
- Xu Guangqi No truth is foreign to God: searching, calculating, translating can become a way of serving him.