31 Days of Inspirational Catholic Apologetics

Day 1 – Matthew 16:18
“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”

Day 2 – St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 AD)
“Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans)

Day 3 – John 6:51
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Day 4 – St. Irenaeus (c. 180 AD)
“It is not necessary to seek the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from the Church, since the apostles deposited in her, like a rich man in a bank, all that belongs to the truth.”

Day 5 – 2 Thessalonians 2:15
“So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”

Day 6 – St. Augustine (c. 400 AD)
“I would not believe the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.” (Against the Epistle of Manichaeus)

Day 7 – John 20:23
“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Day 8 – Council of Carthage (397 AD)
“It has been decided that nothing except the canonical Scriptures should be read in the Church under the name of divine Scriptures.”

Day 9 – James 5:14
“Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

Day 10 – St. Cyprian of Carthage (c. 250 AD)
“He cannot have God as his Father who has not the Church as his Mother.”

Day 11 – Luke 1:48
“For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.”

Day 12 – St. Athanasius (c. 350 AD)
“Let us note that the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning was preached by the Apostles and preserved by the Fathers.”

Day 13 – 1 Timothy 3:15
“…the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”

Day 14 – St. Jerome (c. 400 AD)
“I follow no one as chief but Christ, and I am in communion with none but your blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that this is the rock on which the Church is built.”

Day 15 – John 17:21
“That they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Day 16 – St. Basil the Great (c. 375 AD)
“Of the dogmas and messages preserved in the Church, some we possess from written teaching and others we have received from the tradition of the Apostles, handed on to us in mystery.”

Day 17 – 2 Maccabees 12:44–45
“For if he had not hoped that they who were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead… it is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.”

Day 18 – St. John Chrysostom (c. 400 AD)
“Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.’”

Day 19 – Revelation 5:8
“…the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

Day 20 – St. Thomas Aquinas (13th century)
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Day 21 – Hebrews 12:1
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin…and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”

Day 22 – St. Vincent of Lérins (c. 434 AD)
“We hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.”

Day 23 – 1 Corinthians 11:24
“…and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”

Day 24 – St. Leo the Great (5th century)
“The faith of Peter, which has been praised in the prince of the apostles, abides also in his successors.”

Day 25 – John 3:5
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Day 26 – St. Clement of Rome (c. 96 AD)
“Our Apostles knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be strife over the office of the episcopate. For this cause, therefore…they appointed bishops and deacons.”

Day 27 – Ephesians 2:19–20
“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”

Day 28 – St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 390 AD)
“Only one who has experienced the mystery knows the difference between reading words and tasting the reality.”

Day 29 – Galatians 1:8
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

Day 30 – St. Polycarp (c. 155 AD, Martyrdom account)
“Eighty and six years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong; how can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”

Day 31 – St. John Henry Newman (19th century)
“To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.”