What Saints Teach Us About Standing Firm?

Brief Overview

• The lives of the saints show us how to remain faithful to God even when facing serious difficulties and pain.
• Fortitude is the moral virtue that helps us stay firm in doing good and constant in following what is right.
• The apostles like Saint Peter and Saint Paul showed us through their choices that faith in Christ matters more than fear of death.
• Saints like Joan of Arc and Monica teach us that standing firm sometimes means going against what everyone around us wants.
• When we study the lives of holy people, we find practical ways to keep going even when things seem impossible or we feel all alone.
• The Church teaches us that the saints in heaven still help us today through their prayers and their shining examples.

Understanding What It Means to Stand Firm in Faith

Standing firm in the Catholic faith means keeping strong in your beliefs about God and the teachings of the Church, even when facing pressure, pain, or loneliness. This does not mean you will never feel afraid or doubt yourself. It means that despite those feelings, you choose to stay true to what you know is right and true. The virtue of fortitude helps us do this; it is the moral virtue that gives us firmness in difficulties and keeps us moving forward in doing good (CCC 1808). When we talk about standing firm, we talk about a deep commitment to God that nothing can shake, not mockery from others, not physical pain, not loss of friends or family, and not even the loss of our own life. The saints give us beautiful examples of this kind of strength. They were not different from us in their basic humanity. Many of them felt fear, loneliness, and doubt just as we do. What made them different was their choice to trust in God anyway and to keep going forward no matter what happened to them. The Church teaches us that we should study these holy people and learn from them how to live our own lives better. Looking at the lives of the saints is not just about history or old stories. It is about finding real people who faced real problems and found real answers through faith.

Fortitude does more than help us face big crises or times of danger. It also helps us in daily life when we are tempted to give up on what is right because it costs us something. Standing firm can mean staying pure when friends pressure us to act badly. It can mean speaking truth when silence would be easier. It can mean forgiving those who hurt us when anger would feel more natural. The virtue of fortitude strengthens our will to say no to temptation and to overcome all the obstacles that keep us from living as Jesus taught us (CCC 1808). This strength does not come from ourselves alone. God gives us grace to help us be strong. When we accept the Sacrament of Confirmation, we receive a special gift of the Holy Spirit that fills us with courage to live out our faith. This gift is not just for big moments in history. It is for you and me in our normal daily lives. Every time we choose to do what is right even though it is hard, we are standing firm. Every time we refuse to give in to a temptation or speak up for truth, we are using the strength that God gives us through His grace. The saints knew this truth well, and they lived it out in their own times.

Saint Paul and the Strength of Conviction

Saint Paul’s life shows us someone who had to completely change what he believed and then stand firm for that new faith. He was born as Saul and he worked hard to stop Christians from spreading their message. He chased them from place to place and worked to put them in jail. But one day, Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and changed his whole life. Paul became one of the greatest teachers of the Christian faith, but this transformation came with a cost. He faced so much suffering for his choice to follow Christ. Paul went through many trials throughout his life. He was beaten by angry crowds, thrown in jail more times than he could count, faced danger from bandits on the roads, and dealt with hunger and cold and lack of sleep. Yet in his writings, Paul tells us not to worry about these things. He said that suffering for Christ’s sake means we are sharing in His suffering and that this brings us closer to Him. Paul never backed away from preaching about Jesus, even when it meant facing more pain. When he was in Rome as a prisoner of the Roman government, he still worked to spread the good news about Christ. He wrote letters that helped communities of Christians stay strong and faithful. These letters are now part of the Bible and have helped millions of people understand the faith better.

What made Paul so strong? He had a clear understanding of what mattered most in life. He knew that following Jesus was worth any price. Paul wrote that he could boast about what he suffered for Christ because suffering meant nothing compared to knowing Jesus and being known by Him. This attitude shaped everything he did. When soldiers or angry mobs tried to stop him from preaching, he did not give up. When political leaders told him to be quiet about his faith, he refused to obey. Paul’s love for Jesus gave him the strength to stand firm no matter what came his way. He did not stand firm because he was not afraid. He stood firm because his faith in God was bigger than his fear. This is an important lesson for us today. We do not have to be without fear to be strong. We just have to have faith that is stronger than our fear. Paul shows us that standing firm in faith means saying yes to God’s plan for us, even when that plan includes suffering and hardship. His example teaches us that what we stand for matters far more than what we stand against.

The Example of Saint Peter’s Courage

Peter was one of the first followers of Jesus, and Jesus told him directly that the Church would be built on his faith. Yet Peter was not born with perfect courage. In fact, when Jesus was arrested and tried, Peter was afraid. He said three times that he did not even know Jesus. But after Jesus rose from the dead and sent His Spirit, Peter became bold and strong. He went from being a man who denied even knowing Jesus to a man who stood before powerful leaders and told them they must believe in Christ. Peter did this even when it meant being beaten by them. After being beaten by the leaders of Jerusalem for speaking about Jesus, Peter left that place, but his courage did not leave with him. Instead, he kept speaking about Christ and kept getting in trouble for it. Peter traveled to many places telling people about Jesus. He worked to build up the community of believers. He gave advice to growing Christian groups through his letters, which we still read in the Bible today. When Peter was finally caught by the Roman government under the rule of Emperor Nero, he faced execution. According to tradition, he asked to be crucified upside down because he felt he was not worthy to die the same way Jesus did. This final act shows us how deeply his faith had grown from that day when he was so afraid.

What transformed Peter? It was his encounter with the risen Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Once Peter knew for certain that Jesus had risen from the dead, nothing could shake his faith. He had seen Jesus with his own eyes after the resurrection. He had eaten with Him. He had felt Him and known He was real. This direct experience made Peter willing to face any trial. But we should also notice that Peter’s courage grew slowly over time. He did not become brave all at once. He had to practice being brave. He had to keep choosing to speak up even after he was beaten. He had to keep standing firm even after facing rejection and anger. This gradual growth in courage is important for us to understand. We might think that courage is something you either have or you do not have. But Peter shows us that courage is a habit that grows stronger through practice. Each time Peter chose to speak about Christ even though it was dangerous, his courage grew stronger. Each time he refused to back down, his faith grew deeper. The same can be true for us if we keep choosing to stand firm, even in small ways, day after day.

Joan of Arc and Trusting God’s Plan

Joan of Arc was born in a small village in France in the year 1412. She was a peasant girl with no education, but she had a deep love of God and spent much time in prayer. When she was thirteen or fourteen years old, she began to hear voices that she recognized as coming from saints and angels. These voices told her that she had a special job to do for God. Her mission was to help save France during a time of war and confusion. Joan had every reason to doubt herself. She was a young woman in a time when women did not lead soldiers or speak to kings. She had no training in warfare. She could not read or write. Most people who heard her message thought she was crazy or lying. Yet Joan believed that God had chosen her, and she held tight to that belief. She went before the king and told him what the voices had told her. Many people at the king’s court did not trust her, but some advisors agreed to let her help. Joan led soldiers into battle and they won important victories. The army that had been losing started winning because Joan’s faith gave everyone courage. She believed so strongly in God’s plan that her belief was like a fire that spread to others around her.

But Joan’s story did not end with victory. She was captured by enemies and put on trial. The people questioning her tried hard to make her say that she had lied about hearing the voices. They used words and arguments designed to trap her. They treated her badly and kept her locked up in difficult conditions. Through it all, Joan would not change her story. She insisted that God had really spoken to her through these voices. She refused to say that what she had done was wrong. Even when they told her they would burn her at the stake, even when they put her through the trial and questioned everything about her, she stayed firm. Joan kept her focus on Jesus right to the end. She asked them to hold up a cross so she could see it as she faced her death. Her final words were about Jesus. Joan’s life teaches us that standing firm does not mean everything will turn out the way we hope. She did lose. She was captured. She was executed. Yet her faith remained strong to the very end. Her standing firm did not change the outcome of her trial, but it changed the meaning of her death. Instead of dying as a failure, she died as a martyr, a witness to her faith.

What made Joan so strong? She had a clear sense that God wanted something from her and she was determined to give it. When she heard the voices, she did not spend years trying to figure out if they were real. She believed them and acted on that belief. She was willing to look foolish. She was willing to be doubted and questioned. She was willing to face death. She made a choice to trust God’s plan more than her own safety or what other people thought about her. This teaches us something important about standing firm. Sometimes standing firm means we have to be willing to be misunderstood. We have to be willing to look strange to people around us. We have to be willing to lose friends or face criticism. Joan could have stayed home, married a local farmer, and lived a quiet life like her neighbors expected. But she said yes to what God asked of her. She stood firm in that choice even though it cost her everything.

Monica’s Patient Perseverance

Saint Monica is remembered for her strength of a different kind. She did not face her enemies on a battlefield like Joan. She faced trials in her own home. Monica was married to a man who was not a Christian, and her husband was not kind to her. He had many affairs and was often unkind. She also had a son named Augustine who made choices that broke her heart. While Augustine was young, he was brilliant but troubled. He lived with a woman he was not married to. He joined a group that taught ideas that went against Christian truth. Monica saw her son moving further and further away from the faith. But she did not give up on him. For more than thirty years, Monica prayed for her son’s conversion. She did not just pray once and forget about it. She prayed regularly, day after day and year after year. She wept over Augustine’s choices, but her tears came from love, not anger or judgment. She kept telling him about the faith, but she did it with gentleness and patience. She showed him forgiveness even when he hurt her. Monica also prayed for her husband and worked to be a good wife to him despite his unkindness. She bore his infidelities with grace and continued to show him love.

Monica’s prayers were answered in a way that changed history. Her son Augustine became a Christian. He became a bishop and one of the greatest teachers the Church has ever known. His writings have helped countless people understand the faith. Augustine’s own mother prayed for him would not have believed it when he was young and pushing away from God. But Monica’s faith and her patient, constant prayers helped prepare Augustine’s heart to finally hear God’s call. Monica shows us that standing firm does not always mean doing big things or facing public trials. Sometimes it means showing up every single day and doing small things with great love. It means praying when you feel like giving up. It means offering forgiveness when you want to hold a grudge. It means hoping for change when everything looks hopeless. These kinds of choices are just as brave and just as strong as Joan leading armies or Peter speaking before rulers. Standing firm can be quiet and patient and long. It can happen in your home and nobody else needs to know about it. But God knows. God sees the mother who keeps praying for her child. God sees the person who keeps loving someone who does not seem to change. God sees the heart that refuses to give up.

Fortitude as a Cardinal Virtue

The Church teaches us that fortitude is one of the four cardinal virtues, which means it is one of the main virtues on which all the others depend (CCC 1805). Fortitude is described as the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in pursuit of the good (CCC 1808). When we break this down, we see that fortitude has two main parts. The first part is firmness, which means not backing away or weakening when things get hard. The second part is constancy, which means staying steady and faithful over a long period of time. Both parts are needed for true standing firm. A person might show firmness in one moment of crisis but then give up when the trial continues. Or a person might be steady for a long time but then fail when a big test comes. Real fortitude means being both firm and constant. The virtue of fortitude helps us overcome fear, even the fear of death (CCC 1808). This is important because fear is one of the main things that stops us from standing firm. When we are afraid, we want to protect ourselves by running away or by giving in to what we are asked to do. Fortitude helps us move forward even though we feel afraid. It also helps us resist temptations that try to push us into sin. When we face a temptation, fear often tells us to give in because resisting will be hard. But fortitude gives us the strength to say no.

Fortitude also helps us overcome obstacles in living a moral life (CCC 1808). These obstacles can come from inside ourselves or from outside. Inside ourselves, we might face laziness, depression, doubt, or the desire for comfort. Outside ourselves, we might face people who mock us, rules that seem unjust, or situations that seem hopeless. Fortitude helps us push through all of these obstacles. It does not make the obstacles disappear. It gives us strength to keep going despite them. The Church teaches that virtues are habits that we build up over time through our own efforts joined with the grace of God (CCC 1810). This means fortitude is not something we are born with. We develop it by practicing it, again and again, in small ways and big ways. Each time we choose to do what is right even though it is hard, we strengthen our habit of standing firm. This is why the saints are so important to us. They show us what fortitude looks like in real life. They show us how it develops slowly through practice. They show us that standing firm is possible because other human beings like us have done it. When we read about the saints and see how they stood firm, we can say to ourselves, if they could do it, maybe I can do it too.

The Saints as Our Help and Guide

The Church teaches us that the saints who have died are not gone from us. They are alive in heaven in the presence of God, and they care about us. The saints use their power with God to pray for us. This is called intercession (CCC 956). When we ask a saint to pray for us, we are not worshipping the saint or putting the saint in place of God. We are simply asking someone in heaven to care about us and to bring our needs before God. Just as we might ask a friend here on earth to pray for us, we can ask the saints in heaven to pray for us. The saints have a special power of intercession because they are with God. They can see our struggles and they want to help us. They remember what it was like to live on earth, and they understand what we go through. Saint Peter might understand when we are afraid to speak up for our faith. Saint Monica might understand when we are praying and hoping for someone to change. Saint Joan might understand when we have to make a hard choice that other people think is foolish. We belong to a huge family made up of living people here on earth, people who are being purified after death, and the saints in heaven (CCC 962). All of us together form the Church. This is called the communion of saints. We are not alone in our struggles because we have each other and we have the saints helping us from heaven.

The examples of the saints also guide us in our own lives. When we read about how they stood firm, we learn different ways of standing firm. Some stood firm through speaking bold truth like Peter and Paul. Some stood firm through patient prayer and love like Monica. Some stood firm through trusting God’s plan even when it seemed crazy like Joan. We might relate to one saint more than another because their story is similar to our own. Perhaps you are facing pressure to give up on your faith. Perhaps you are praying for someone and nothing seems to change. Perhaps you feel called to do something that everyone else thinks is wrong. Whatever your situation, you can find a saint whose life speaks to your situation. You can learn from their example. You can ask them to pray for you. The communion of saints means that we have the whole weight of the Church’s history behind us when we try to stand firm. All the people who lived before us and stayed faithful, they are still with us in spirit and in prayer. They cheer us on. They help us. This is not just a nice idea. It is real spiritual help that God gives us through the communion of saints.

Obstacles We Face in Standing Firm

In the world we live in today, standing firm is not easy. We face many things that push us away from staying strong in faith. Some of these come from the people around us. Friends might mock us for going to church or for refusing to do things that go against Catholic teaching. Family members might pressure us to compromise on important issues. Coworkers might exclude us if we stand up for what is right. Society around us teaches ideas that go against what the Church teaches. We see images and hear messages that tell us that God is not important, that we can do whatever we want without consequences, that the only thing that matters is what makes us feel good right now. Social media gives voice to people who attack the Church and attack people of faith. We can feel very alone when we stand firm. When we refuse to go along with what everyone else is doing, we stand out. We might lose friends. We might be criticized. We might feel like we are strange or foolish. This is a real trial and the saints understood it well. Many of them also faced ridicule and rejection. They also stood out from the people around them.

The obstacles also come from inside ourselves. We might be afraid of what will happen if we really stand firm. We might worry about losing a job or a relationship. We might fear being physically hurt. We might doubt whether we are right about what we believe. We might get tired of trying. We might tell ourselves that it does not matter that much, that we can just go along with things for now and get back to being serious about faith later. We might feel angry that standing firm costs us something. We might feel sorry for ourselves. These inner struggles are sometimes harder than facing external enemies. It is easier to face someone who is clearly against us than to fight our own doubts and fears. But the saints show us that we can overcome these obstacles. They did not have better circumstances than we do. They did not have perfect confidence all the time. But they chose to stand firm anyway. They asked God for help. They drew strength from other believers around them. They remembered why they believed in the first place. These same tools are available to us today.

Finding Strength in Prayer and Sacraments

When we want to stand firm, we need power that comes from God. This power comes to us especially through prayer and through the sacraments. Prayer is talking with God. In prayer, we can tell God what we are struggling with. We can ask Him for help. We can thank Him for His goodness. We can listen to what He wants to say to us. The saints were people who prayed a lot. They knew that their strength came from God, not from themselves. Joan of Arc’s voices kept telling her to go to Mass and pray. This was not because prayer was boring or unimportant. It was because prayer prepares us for what comes next. Prayer connects us to God. It fills us with strength to keep going. When the saints faced trials, they prayed. When they felt afraid, they prayed. When they did not know what to do, they prayed. Prayer is not just for when things are bad. Regular prayer in good times builds up our strength so that when hard times come, we have deep roots of faith to hold onto. The Church recommends that we pray every day, that we go to Mass when we can, and that we pray with other believers when possible. All of these forms of prayer strengthen us.

The sacraments are the special actions that Jesus gave to the Church to give us God’s grace. The most important sacraments for standing firm are Reconciliation and the Eucharist. In Reconciliation, also called Confession, we can admit our sins and receive forgiveness from God. This is important because when we fall down and fail to stand firm, we can get back up through confession. We do not have to stay ashamed or trapped in our sin. We can be forgiven and start again. This makes our journey much easier. We are not expected to be perfect. We are expected to keep trying and to come back to God when we fall. The Eucharist is the sacrament where we receive Jesus Himself in the form of bread and wine. When we receive the Eucharist, we are united directly with Jesus. We receive His body and His blood. This is the closest connection we can have with Him while on earth. The Eucharist gives us strength and grace. It reminds us that Jesus died for us and He is with us now. The more often we receive the Eucharist, the more grace flows through us. Both Reconciliation and the Eucharist help us stand firm by keeping us connected to God. They remind us that we are not doing this alone. We have Jesus with us.

Standing Firm in Small, Daily Ways

We might think that standing firm is something that only happens in big moments, in times of crisis when we have to choose between our faith and our life. But the truth is that standing firm happens mostly in small ways, every single day. It happens when you say no to a small lie instead of going along with what a friend says. It happens when you choose to be kind to someone who was mean to you. It happens when you resist the urge to look at something you know is wrong. It happens when you get up and go to Mass on Sunday morning even though you are tired. It happens when you admit you made a mistake instead of trying to blame someone else. It happens when you choose forgiveness over anger. It happens when you do your work well and honestly instead of taking shortcuts. These small choices might seem tiny. But they are what build our character. They are what strengthen our virtue of fortitude. When we practice standing firm in small ways every day, we are building the habit that will help us stand firm in big ways if we ever have to. The saints did not just become strong. They became strong by practicing virtue day after day, year after year, in small things and big things.

Think about your own life right now. What are the small ways that you can stand firm? Perhaps you can choose not to gossip about someone. Perhaps you can speak up when someone makes fun of your faith. Perhaps you can spend time in prayer instead of scrolling on your phone. Perhaps you can choose to forgive someone who hurt you. Perhaps you can tell the truth even though it will make you look bad. These small choices matter. They matter to you because they help you grow in virtue. They matter to other people because your example might inspire them to also try to do what is right. They matter to God because He sees your heart and your intention. God does not measure our standing firm by how big the choice is. He measures it by how much it costs us. The person who gives up a little thing that they really want in order to do what is right is standing firm just as much as the person who gives up their whole life. God sees both. God honors both. The saints teach us this lesson well. Some of them stood firm in huge ways that changed history. But all of them, including the ones we do not even know about, stood firm in their daily choices.

The Grace That Holds Us Up

An important truth is that standing firm is not something we do by our own power alone. The Church teaches that human virtues are acquired through our education, our deliberate actions, and our work to keep growing in them (CCC 1810). But these virtues are also purified and lifted up by God’s grace (CCC 1810). This means we are not supposed to do it all by ourselves. God helps us. God gives us grace. Grace is God’s free gift to us. It is something we do not deserve and cannot earn. God gives it to us because He loves us, not because we did something to deserve it. This grace flows to us especially through the sacraments but also through prayer and through the presence of others who love God. When we feel weak and like we cannot stand firm anymore, we can ask God for help. We can ask Him to strengthen us. We can ask Him to give us courage. We can ask the saints to pray for us that God will send us His grace. This is what the apostles did after Jesus went back to heaven. They waited in Jerusalem and prayed for the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised them. When the Spirit came at Pentecost, they were filled with power and courage. They went out and were not afraid anymore. The same Holy Spirit is available to us today. When we are confirmed, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This gift is not just given once and then forgotten. We can call on the Holy Spirit whenever we need courage. We can ask the Holy Spirit to fill us again and again. This is how the saints stood firm. They knew that their strength came from God. They asked God for help. They received God’s grace. And that grace held them up when they would have fallen otherwise.

Building Community That Supports Us

We do not have to stand firm alone. One of the wonderful gifts God gave us is other people. The Church is not just a set of rules or beliefs. The Church is a community of people who are all trying to know God and follow Jesus together. When we are part of this community, we help each other stand firm. We pray together. We encourage each other. We remind each other why we believe in God. We help each other through hard times. The saints understood the importance of community. Peter and Paul worked together to build the Church. Joan of Arc’s faith inspired soldiers and common people around her. Monica had friends who prayed with her and supported her in her sadness over Augustine. In our time, we can find community through our parish. We can go to Mass with other people who believe in God just like we do. We can join groups that study the faith or pray together. We can find friends who care about living out their faith. When we spend time with people who are trying to stand firm, it becomes easier for us to stand firm too. It is hard to stay strong when we are always with people who do not care about faith. But when we are with people who care deeply about God, their care becomes contagious. We want to be like them. Their example helps us.

We can also be that source of strength for other people. Maybe there is someone in your life who is struggling to stay strong in faith. You can encourage them. You can tell them that you believe in them. You can pray for them. You can invite them to come to church with you or to join a group of believers. You can show them by your own example that it is possible to stand firm even in a hard world. This is what the communion of saints is about. We help each other. We support each other. We lift each other up when one person is failing. The great saints of the past did not stand firm alone and neither do we. We are part of a huge family of believers all over the world and all through history. When you feel alone in your struggle, remember that you are not alone. You have the saints praying for you. You have other people in your parish praying and believing with you. You have the Holy Spirit working in your heart. You have Jesus Himself who died for you and rose for you and is with you always.

A Living Tradition That Continues

The way saints stood firm in the past is not just old history that has nothing to do with us now. It is a living tradition that continues today. God still calls people to stand firm in their faith. God still gives grace to people who ask for it. God still works through ordinary people to do extraordinary things. There are saints alive in the world right now. We do not know who all of them are because the Church has not yet declared them to be saints. But they are there. They are people who have said yes to God. They are people who stand firm in their faith even though it costs them something. They are people who love God and love other people, and they keep going even when it is hard. In a hundred years or five hundred years, some of these people might be officially recognized as saints by the Church. Their stories will be told. People will read about how they stood firm and will be inspired. But whether or not they are ever officially declared saints, they are saints now in the sense that they are living for God and trying to be holy. You might be one of those saints. I might be one of those saints. We might be the example that someone else needs to see in order to believe that standing firm is possible. This is why how we live matters so much. Our choices matter. Our standing firm matters. Not just for us, but for everyone who sees us and wonders if it is really possible to live faithfully to God in this modern world.

The Hope That Standing Firm Gives Us

When we think about standing firm, we might think it sounds hard and sad, like we are signing up for suffering. In one sense that is true. Standing firm sometimes does mean facing suffering. But in another sense it is deeply hopeful and joyful. The saints teach us that suffering has meaning when we offer it to God. They teach us that the hard things we go through because we are trying to stay faithful are not wasted. They have value. They draw us closer to God. They help other people. They contribute to the work of Christ in the world. The saints show us that standing firm leads to freedom. When they stopped trying to run from God or hide from what was true, they became free. The struggles they faced did not make them less free. They made them more free because they were finally living in truth. They were finally being honest about what they believed. They were finally not wasting energy pretending to be something they were not. This kind of freedom is more valuable than any comfort or pleasure the world can offer. The saints also show us that standing firm is not the end of the story. They are in heaven now. They made it. They got through all the hard things and now they are with God forever. That is the hope. That is what we are standing firm for. Not just to be good people in this world, though that matters. But to get to heaven and to be with God forever. When we keep our eyes on that goal, the hard things become bearable. When we remember that the saints have already made it and are now praying for us from heaven, we get courage to keep going.

Conclusion: You Can Stand Firm Too

The saints teach us that standing firm is possible. They were not superhumans with special powers that we do not have. They were regular people like us who loved God and chose to stay faithful to Him even when it was hard. They faced fear, doubt, pain, loneliness, and failure, just like we do. But they also faced these things with faith. They asked God for help. They prayed. They stayed connected to the Church and to other believers. They kept remembering why they believed. They refused to give up. And because they did these things, they stood firm. Now they are in heaven praying for us, asking God to give us the grace and courage that we need. The Church teaches us to look to the saints as our models and to ask them to pray for us (CCC 2683). This is not superstition or magic. It is using the real connection we have with the whole communion of saints. It is tapping into the power that God gives us through belonging to His Church, both the living Church here on earth and the Church in heaven. You can stand firm too. You might stand firm in a way that is quiet and private like Monica. You might stand firm in a way that speaks truth boldly like Peter. You might stand firm in a way that trusts God’s strange plan like Joan. Whatever way is right for your life, you can do it. You have the example of the saints. You have the prayers of the saints. You have the grace of God. You have the support of other believers in your parish and all around the world. You have Jesus who died for you and rose for you and is with you always. Standing firm is not easy, but it is possible. The saints prove it. Now it is your turn to live it out.