God speaks highly of the humble. If you want to be a saint, you must be humble!
The devil’s pride caused his downfall, so he hates humility.
St. Francis de Sales said, “The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility.”
Proverbs 16:5 says, “Every proud heart is an abomination to the Lord…”
Jesus says in Matt. 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.”
Jesus also says in Matt. 23:12, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Humility is a vital part of Christian life. The saints knew this too!
Below are 12 saint quotes about humility to inspire you in your journey to holiness and help you ward off evil.
Saint Augustine of Hippo, Public Domain“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
– Saint Augustine of HippoSaint Therese of Lisieux, Public Domain“[Jesus] taught me that the only glory which matters is the glory which lasts forever, and that one does not have to perform shining deeds to win that, but to hide one’s acts of virtue from others, and even from oneself, so that ‘the left-hand does not know what the right hand is doing.’”
– Saint Therese of LisieuxSaint Vincent de Paul, Public Domain“The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility…
Humility and charity are the two master-chords: one, the lowest; the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them.
Therefore it is necessary, above all, to maintain ourselves in these two virtues; for observe well that the preservation of the whole edifice depends on the foundation and the roof.”
– St. Vincent de PaulSaint Theresa of Avila, Public Domain“Humility, however deep it be, neither disquiets nor troubles nor disturbs the soul;
it is accompanied by peace, joy, and tranquility… Far from disturbing or depressing the soul, [humility] enlarges it and makes it fit to serve God better.”
– Saint Teresa of AvilaPadre Pio, Public Domain“You must not be discouraged or let yourself become dejected if your actions have not succeeded as perfectly as you intended.
“What do you expect?
“We are made of clay and not every soil yields the fruits expected by the one who tills it. But let us always humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are nothing if we lack the Divine assistance.”
– Saint Padre PioSaint Francis de Sales, Public Domain“Humility drives Satan away, and cherishes the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit within us, and for that reason, all the Saints– and especially the King of Saints and His Blessed Mother– have always esteemed the grace of humility above all other virtues.”
– Saint Francis de SalesSaint Faustina, Public Domain“A soul does not benefit as it should from the sacrament of confession if it is not humble. Pride keeps it in darkness. The soul neither knows how, nor is it willing, to probe with precision the depths of its own misery. It puts on a mask and avoids everything that might bring it recovery.”
– Saint FaustinaSaint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P., Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED“The gate of heaven is very low; only the humble can enter it.”
– Saint Elizabeth Ann SetonSaint Francis of Assisi, Public Domain“We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh, but, instead, we must be simple, humble, and pure.”
– Saint Francis of AssisiSaint Catherine of Siena, Public Domain“From self-knowledge flows the stream of humility, which never seizes on mere report, nor takes offense at anything, but bears every insult, every loss of consolation, and every sorry, from whatever direction they may come, patiently, with joy.”
– Saint Catherine of SienaSaint Benedict, Public Domain“By that descent and ascent, we must surely understand nothing else than this, that we descend by self-exaltation and ascend by humility. And the ladder thus set up is our life in the world, which the Lord raises up to heaven, if our heart is humbled. For we call our body and soul the sides of the ladder, and into these sides of our divine vocation and inserted the different steps of humility and discipline we must climb.”
– Saint Benedict“My beloved, may every fall, even if it is serious and habitual sin, always become for us a small step toward a higher degree of perfection. In fact, the only reason why the Immaculate permits us to fall is to cure us from our self-conceit, from our pride, to make us humble and thus make us docile to the divine graces.”
– Saint Maximilian Kolbe