Saint Assisi Quotes & Sayings

What chance has a Saint Francis, if his Assisi is a multicultured, financial, unyieldingly secular northern city, whose lepers and other detrimentals are charges on the public purse? — Robertson Davies

One can look at a plumber, a labourer, and say without a great sense of irony, 'He is a man, capable of the same heroism as Admiral Nelson or Saint Francis of Assisi.' But no one looks at a woman and says, 'She is a woman, she is capable of the same heroism as Lady Godiva or Anne Askew.' Our heroines are separated from us. So instead of trying to make Man accept us as daughters of heroism, we must raise all women to the level of heroines. — Kerry Greenwood

You should never praise anyone until you see how he turns out in the end! — Francis Of Assisi

The vocation of being a 'protector' [ ... ] means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us [ ... ] In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God's gifts! — Pope Francis

As for the spirit of poverty, I do not remember any moment when it was not in me, although only to that unhappily small extent compatible with my imperfection. I fell in love with Saint Francis of Assisi as soon as I came to know about him. I always believed and hoped that one day Fate would force upon me the condition of a vagabond and a beggar which he embraced freely. Actually I felt the same way about prison. — Simone Weil

Forgetting himself for a moment, Francis brought his hand out from under his frock in order to bless the multitude. When the people saw his wound they bellowed madly. The women dashed forward with mantles outstretched to catch the drops; the men thrust in their hands and anointed their faces with blood. The villagers' expressions grew savage, and so did their souls. They longed to be able to tear the Saint limb from limb in order for each of them to claim a mouthful of his flesh, for they wanted to make him their own, to have him enter them so that they could become one with a saint - could be sanctified. Blind rage had overpowered them; their eyes were leaden, their lips ringed with froth. — Nikos Kazantzakis

Among other words used in ordinary conversation, [Francis of Assisi] could never hear "the love of God" without a kind of transformation within himself. For immediately upon hearing "the love of God," he would become excited, stirred, and inflamed, as though an inner chord of his heart had been plucked by the plectrum of the outward voice of the speaker ... . "The love of him," he said, "who loved us much is much to be loved."1 - Thomas of Celano,The Second Life of Saint Francis — Pope Francis

The power of the Bible is most evident in its ability to change lives. It can transform a wealthy Italian playboy into a saint (Saint Francis of Assisi). By its amazing grace, it can transform a debauching, murderous slave trader into a humble abolitionist (John Newton). It can transfigure prostitutes into women of virtue, cowards into rocks of the church, and the proud into the meek. — Anonymous

I pity the village where no one is a saint, but I also pity the village where everyone is a saint! — Nikos Kazantzakis

[Francis of Assisi was one of the] signal figures who are catalysts for rapid change — Jon M. Sweeney

Saint Francis of Assisi understood the power of faith put into action to change the human heart, for it was he who said, "Preach the gospel always; when necessary use words." We had not yet spoken a word in their language, but the village elders had already "heard" the gospel. — Richard Stearns

Love God, serve God; everything is in that. — Clare Of Assisi

To defend his purity, Saint Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, Saint Benedict threw himself into a thorn bush, and Saint Bernard plunged into an icy pond ... You - what have you done? — Josemaria Escriva

Alms are an inheritance and a justice which is due to the poor and which Jesus has levied upon us. — Francis Of Assisi

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. - Saint Francis of Assisi — Joyce Meyer

One of the greatest sermons ever pronounced on missionary work is this simple thought attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: 'Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.' Opportunities to do so are all around us. Do not miss them by waiting too long on the road to Damascus. — Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Small yet strong in the love of God, like Saint Francis of Assisi, all of us, as Christians, are called to watch over
and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its peoples. — Pope Francis