12 Times the Saints Dropped Some Serious Truth Bombs

My mama used to say, “There is nothing new under the sun.” I thought of that quote as I read quotes from the saints from centuries past in the newly republished, My Daily Visit with the Saints, published by Sophia Institute Press.

Check out a few of these truth bombs – the saints don’t mince words!

When Fr. Croiset, S.J. got real about ambition

“Conscience is disregarded, religion unheeded, and passion reigns supreme in the ambitious heart. From this arise failures, total disregard of morality, and all that is sacred.”

When St. Basil dropped a truth bomb about anger

“Quickness of temper, ill-natured, inconsiderate words, violence, calumnies, reproaches, injuries, blows, and all other disorders are the result and fruit of anger. It is the vice that sharpens the swords with which men kill each other, that causes brothers no longer to recognize their own flesh and blood, that leads parents and children to stifle the best feelings that nature implants in them.”

That one time St. John Chrysostom kept it real about avarice

“Avarice is an incurable malady, an ever-burning fire, a tyranny that extends far and wide; for he who in this life is the slave of money is loaded with heavy chains and destined to carry far heavier chains in the life to come.”

When St. Cyprian told it like it was about envy and jealousy

“O! ye who are envious, let me tell you that however often you may seek for the opportunity of injuring him whom you hate, you will never be able to do him so much harm as you do harm to yourselves.”

When Guerre Aux Vices minced no words when it came to flattery

“Sins that flatter us are always the most dangerous, because they please our self-love, and they favor the inclination and humor of sinners. It is on this account that there are few who distrust it, and fewer still who guard against it. It is somewhat difficult to look upon a vice as an enemy that so well knows how to flatter the disorderly passions and the corrupt inclinations of our nature.”

When Fr. Louis Bourdalouge told us exactly what he thought about gambling

“You love gambling. It is this that destroys the conscience, this inordinate love of play. It is a mania that is no longer an amusement, but a business, a profession, a traffic, without stint or measure…From that mania arise neglect of your duties, misrule of home, pernicious example you give to your children.”

That time when Fr. Nepoue got real about hardness of heart

“Hardness of heart leads to sad results. Light blinds or dazzles a hardened heart; it does not enlighten it. The just punishments of God, which weigh heavily on it, only makes it rebellious, and do not subdue it. The scourge that God inflicts on it overwhelms but does not humble it; miracles astonish but do not convert it.”

When Dictionnaire Moral pushed the real-o-meter into the red and shared his thoughts on hypocrisy

“Those people whom the world believed to be so generous, so faithful, so affable, so patient, so honest, so sincere are like handsome mausoleums, on the outside of which are depicted representations of every virtue, and inside you find a frightful corruption.”

When St. John Chrysostom told us how he really felt about immodest attire

“There is nothing more deplorable than to be ever running after frivolous fashions, to take a pleasure in studying them. Shameful and shocking must that slavery be when its golden chains are enjoyed.”

When Fr. Vincent Houdry, S.J was so woke and dropped a truth bomb about impurity

“Not only is this passion a sin, but it is the epitome of every sin; it includes sins of the eye, sins of word, sins of thought, sins of desire.”

When St. Augustine got real about John 1:4 and self love

“Two loves: one good, the other bad; on sweet, the other bitter. The two cannot agree or dwell together in a sinner’s heart. It is this, therefore: if anyone loves anything but Thee, O Lord, Thy love is not in him.”

That one time when St. Philip Neri didn’t sugar coat his thoughts about our bad passions 

“To mortify one passion, no matter how small, is a greater help in the spiritual life, than many abstinences, fasts, and disciplines.”

For more on these truth bombs and other life advice from the saints, check out the book, My Daily Visit with the Saints by Charles Kenny. It’s truly amazing how still relevant today the advice of these old saints is.