Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be read more

Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found, upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.

No silver saints, by dying misers giv'n,
Here brib'd the rage of ill-requited heav'n;
But such plain read more

No silver saints, by dying misers giv'n,
Here brib'd the rage of ill-requited heav'n;
But such plain roofs as Piety could raise,
And only vocal with the Maker's praise.

When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.
God is more there than thou: for thou art there
read more

When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.
God is more there than thou: for thou art there
Only by his permission. Then beware,
That leads from earth to heaven.

To support those of your rights authorized by Heaven, destroy
everything rather than yield; that is the spirit of read more

To support those of your rights authorized by Heaven, destroy
everything rather than yield; that is the spirit of the Church.
[Fr., Pour soutenir tes droits, que le ciel autorise,
Abime tout plutot; c'est l'esprit de l'Eglise.]

Who builds a church to God, and not to Fame,
Will never mark the marble with his Name.

Who builds a church to God, and not to Fame,
Will never mark the marble with his Name.

I never weary of great churches. It is my favourite kind of
mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily read more

I never weary of great churches. It is my favourite kind of
mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when
it made a cathedral.

Where God hath a temple, the devil will have a chapel.

Where God hath a temple, the devil will have a chapel.

It is not about the pasture of the sheep, but about their wool.
[Lat., Non est de pastu ovium read more

It is not about the pasture of the sheep, but about their wool.
[Lat., Non est de pastu ovium quaestio, sed de lana.]

God never had a church but there, men say,
The devil a chapel hath raised by some wiles,
read more

God never had a church but there, men say,
The devil a chapel hath raised by some wiles,
I doubted of this saw, till on a day
I westward spied great Edinburgh's Saint Giles.