Paul Thigpen - A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints

A bba Theodore, a respected abbot among the monks in the deserts of ancient Egypt, once criticized a younger monk as someone who collected the wise sayings of others in order to retail them. The abbots words challenged me as I began to compile this collection: Was I simply marketing the saints wisdom for my own purposes?

Then I reread the account of Abba Theodores remark and took comfort in the context of his complaint. The other monk, the abbot was noting, concealed the sources of his borrowed sayings and took credit for them himself. This collection, on the other hand, gladly notes the sources, because it is the holy integrity of the saints lives that lends such weight to their words and urges us to ponder carefully what they have to tell us.

At the same time, a study of the saints lives shows that few of them would or even could take credit themselves for the insights recorded here. From their perspective, originality is not the goal, but rather faithfulness to a tradition: They aim, not to be novel, but to echo authentically the life and wisdom of Christ as these are expressed in a variety of concrete historical circumstances. The striking parallels between quotes from saints who lived in drastically different conditions of time, place, and culture only confirm the repeated insistence of these men and women that truth is one, that wisdom is ancient, that the human condition is universal, and that the way to God is narrow.

Space constraints forced the omission of countless quite similar quotes that would have reflected this reality even more dearly. Instead, I have had to offer a sampling that suggests the consensus of the saints across the centuries and around the globe. Quotes are arranged in rough chronological order under each heading as a way of reflecting historical continuity and development.

In the choice of subjects, I tried to include the topics that are fundamental to Christian faith and experience; but the whimsical and even the comical appear here as welllest we presume that the saints were humorless. Some topics on which the saints often focused, which are nevertheless ignored by our contemporaries, receive considerable attention here as a way of allowing them to rebuke us for our neglect. The result, I trust, is a collection of thoughts that will inspire and provoke, puzzle and comfort, startle and enlighten.

A list of the sources with brief biographical identifiers appears at the end in alphabetical order by first name. This list includes the titles ascribed to these saintly men and women according to their current place in the process of formal canonizationthat is, the process by which the Catholic Church comes to recognize officially and publicly that a person has entered into eternal glory in heaven.

When an interested party or group approaches a bishop to advocate that a certain (deceased) candidate be canonized, and the bishop submits a report on that individual to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the candidate is first deemed Servant of God. Once the congregation verifies that the candidate practiced virtue to a heroic degree or died a martyrs death, and recommends the cause, if the Holy Father accepts the report the candidate is called Venerable. Next, the process of beatification occurs when miracles associated with the candidate during life or after death have been studied and confirmed; the candidate is then called Blessed. Finally, the process is complete when the Church fully canonizes the candidate and ascribes the title Saint, recommending the person to the universal Church for veneration, imitation, and petition.

Veneration, imitation, and petition: in brief, these are the reasons for producing a dictionary of quotes from the saints, so that the reader can honor them by imitating them and asking their assistance in doing so. My desire is to help you enter more fully into the glorious communion of saints by acquainting you more deeply with these elder brothers and sisters in Christ, to draw you closer to them as friends so that they might draw you closer into their own friendship with God.

Pope St. Clement I said it best: Follow the saintsbecause those who follow them will themselves become saints.

Paul Thigpen