The saints were, above all, people of prayer, and some of their sayings about prayer have helped Christians for centuries: St. Augustine’s “our heart is restless until it rests in thee,” St. Teresa of Ávila’s description of prayer as friendship with God, St. Thérèse’s “uplifting of the heart,” and St. Alphonsus Liguori’s blunt warning that whoever prays will be saved. Below are these quotes in full, each with its source and a public-domain translation, a few words on what it means for our own prayer, and the words of Scripture on which they all rest. Many quotes on prayer that circulate online are wrongly attributed; the ones below are checked against the saints’ own books.
St. Augustine: “Our heart is restless”
The opening of the Confessions (Book I.1), written around the year 400:
Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy power, and Thy wisdom infinite. And Thee would man praise; man, but a particle of Thy creation; man, that bears about him his mortality, the witness of his sin, the witness that Thou resistest the proud: yet would man praise Thee; he, but a particle of Thy creation. Thou awakest us to delight in Thy praise; for Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee.
What it means: we were made for God, and nothing else can satisfy us. Prayer is the heart turning back to its true rest. See the St. Augustine prayer.
St. Teresa of Ávila: prayer as friendship
From her Life, chapter 8:
Mental prayer is nothing else, in my opinion, but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him Who, we know, loves us.
What it means: prayer is not first a technique but a relationship, a conversation with someone who loves us. Teresa urged everyone, even those who struggle and fall, never to give up this friendship. See the St. Teresa of Ávila prayer.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “an uplifting of the heart”
From The Story of a Soul:
With me prayer is an uplifting of the heart; a glance towards heaven; a cry of gratitude and love, uttered equally in sorrow and in joy. In a word, it is something noble, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites it to God.
What it means: prayer can be as simple as a glance or a cry of the heart, in joy or in sorrow. Thérèse added that when she felt dry and could think of nothing, she said a single Our Father or Hail Mary very slowly. See the St. Thérèse prayer.
St. Alphonsus Liguori: “He who prayeth shall be saved”
From his teaching on prayer, the “great means of salvation”:
He who prayeth shall certainly save his soul; he who prayeth not shall certainly lose it.
What it means: God gives everyone the grace to pray, and through prayer we obtain all the other graces we need. Alphonsus repeated this sentence so that no one would neglect prayer. See the St. Alphonsus Liguori prayer.
St. Padre Pio: “Pray, hope, and don’t worry”
Padre Pio’s famous short motto, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry,” sums up the trust that prayer brings. See the Padre Pio prayer.
What Jesus and the apostles said about prayer
Jesus said (Matthew 6:6, Douay-Rheims):
But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.
Ask, seek, knock (Matthew 7:7, Douay-Rheims):
Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.
St. Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Douay-Rheims):
Pray without ceasing.
St. James (James 5:16, Douay-Rheims):
Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.
Frequently asked questions
What did St. Augustine say about prayer?
That our heart is restless until it rests in God (Confessions I.1); he also taught that prayer is the expression of our desire for God.
Who said “Pray as though everything depended on God”?
The saying is often attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola or St. Augustine, but in that exact form it does not appear in their writings; it is a later summary of an idea found in Ignatian spirituality.
What is St. Teresa of Ávila’s definition of prayer?
Mental prayer is “being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him Who, we know, loves us” (Life, ch. 8).
More about prayer
- Catholic prayer journal
- Prayers in the Bible
- How to pray as a Catholic
- Pray without ceasing
- Doctors of the Church
- Prayers to popular saints
- Catholic prayers
- Intercessory prayer
Texts and sources
- St. Augustine, Confessions, Book I.1, trans. E. B. Pusey (1838), Project Gutenberg #3296.
- St. Teresa of Jesus, The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, ch. 8, trans. David Lewis (1904 ed.), Project Gutenberg #8120.
- St. Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul, trans. T. N. Taylor (1912), Project Gutenberg #16772.
- St. Alphonsus Liguori, in St. Alphonsus’ Prayer-Book, ed. St. Omer (New York: Benziger, 1888), archive.org.
- Matthew 6:6 and 7:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:16 (Douay-Rheims).