As I sit here in the library with all the deadlines growing and my meal plan dwindling, the stress of finals is at an all-time high. I am currently living somewhere between being the college student I need to be, and the hibernating bear that I want to be. All of that being said, I have learned to take a little step back and pray about my stress. Trying to constantly remind myself that I am bigger than my stress and that I am more than a grade, even though these grades determine my life. I just have to remember that there are twenty-some thousand other students around me feeling the same way. It’s fine though, really, I’m fine.

Lucky for us, we are not the first people in history to experience stress. We have hundreds of examples of saints who went through some crazy stressful situations and found a way to allow Christ to take that stress from them. So, when finals week rolls around and your stress is through the roof, take a look at this encouragement from the saints.

“Do not have any anxiety about the future. Leave everything in God’s hands for he will take care of you.” — St. John the Baptist de La Salle

“In sorrow and suffering, go straight to God with confidence, and you will be strengthened, enlightened, and instructed.” — St. John of the Cross

“Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” — St. Padre Pio

“And of what should we be afraid? Our captain on this battlefield is Christ Jesus. We have discovered what we have to do. Christ has bound our enemies for us and weakened them that they cannot overcome us unless we so choose to let them. So we must fight courageously and mark ourselves with the sign of the most Holy Cross.” — St. Catherine of Siena

“If certain thoughts bother you, it is devil who causes you to worry, and not God, Who, being the spirit of peace, grants you tranquility.” — St. Padre Pio

“What really matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And, without the love of Jesus, everything is useless.” — St. Pope John Paul II

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We only have today. Let us begin.” — St. Teresa of Calcutta

“Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.” — St. Clare of Assisi

”Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?” — St. Gerard Majella

So, as I get ever closer to Christmas break and as the bags under my eyes become next-level designer, I will go back to these small words of wisdom and remember all they did for us. There is always peace beyond stress and remembering what the saints said reminds us that God is bigger than any fear or anxiety, and that together, we will pass our finals.

Study in the peace of knowing He is with you.