Every now and then, I take pleasure in reading religious quotes. Not only do the solemn words of saints offer invaluable moral guidance, but they also depart immense life wisdom. Most recently, I devoted myself to studying the thought-provoking St. Francis of Assisi quotes.
St. Francis of Assisi renounced the life of luxury he was born into to pursue his religious beliefs after he had a vision of God calling him to his service. After many years spent partying and enjoying worldly pleasures, he completely turned his life around and devoted himself to the life of an ascetic.
Throughout his monastic years, he preached to the masses with the aim of restoring Christian faith among the population. His sermons revolved around the love for nature and all its beings, the neighborly love between men, and the pursuit of peace. Today, he is a patron saint of animals and the environment. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that ecology and wildlife activists worldwide hold him in the highest regard.
With that said, I encourage you to read through my collection of the most enlightening St. Francis of Assisi quotes.
The Most Inspirational Quotes by St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi Quotes About the Unison With All Nature’s Creatures
#1. “You call it a sin that I love the dog above all else? The dog stayed with me in the storm; the man, not even in the wind.”
#2. “A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world, as the vibrations you are receiving are of pure love and contentment.”
#3. “If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
#4. “All things of creation are children of the Father and thus brothers of man. … God wants us to help animals if they need help. Every creature in distress has the same right to be protected.”
St. Francis of Assisi Quotes That Show His Undisputed Wisdom
#5. “We can never know how patient or humble someone is when everything is going well with him. But when those who should cooperate with him do exactly the opposite, then we can know. A man has as much patience and humility as he has then, and no more.”
#6. “Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall enjoy everything.”
#7. “Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.”
#8. “The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.”
#9. “Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.”
#10. “Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and can be of service to him. And blessed is he who loves his brother as well when he is afar off as when he is by his side, and who would say nothing behind his back he might not, in love, say before his face.”
#11. “While you proclaim peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”
#12. “All the brothers should always be intent on good works, for it is written: ‘Always do something good so that the devil will find you occupied.’ And again: ‘Idleness is the enemy of the soul.’ Therefore, the servants of God must always give themselves totally to prayer or to some good work.”
#13. “Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly, you are doing the impossible.”
St. Francis of Assisi Quotes on Poverty and Helping Those in Need
#14. “It would be considered a theft on our part if we didn’t give to someone in greater need than we are.”
#15. “Each one should confidently make known his need to the other so that he might find what he needs and minister to him. And each one should love and care for his brother in all those things in which God will give him grace, as a mother loves and cares for her son.”
#16. “Let us, therefore, have charity and humility and give alms because it washes the stains of our sins from our clothes. For people lose everything they leave behind in this world; but they carry with them the rewards of charity and the alms which they gave, for which they will have a reward and just retribution from the Lord.”
#17. “We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.”
#18. “My brother, when thou seest a poor man, behold in him a mirror of the Lord, and of His poor Mother. In the sick, in like manner, consider that He bore our sicknesses.”
St. Francis of Assisi Quotes That Show What a Venerable Figure He Was
#19. “If we endure things patiently and with gladness, thinking on the sufferings of our blessed Lord and bearing all for the love of Him — herein is perfect joy.”
#20. “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
#21. “So great is the good which I expect that all pain is, to me, a delight.”
#22. “I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, He can work through anyone.”
#23. “Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given.”
#24. “A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.”
#25. “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
The Final Thoughts
St. Francis of Assisi quotes are some of my favorite religious quotes. I hope that reading them has motivated you to ponder his profound teachings. I firmly believe that doing so will not only give you sound moral instruction but also help you become a more devout Christian.
image source: flickr.com
