There are many Christians who are virtuous men, and who do great things, but their virtues and good works are utterly useless in the matter of eternal life, because they seek themselves in them, and not solely the honor and glory of God. -St. John of the Cross
In order to reach the ideal life of the soul, I believe we must live in the realm of the supernatural and be persuaded that God dwells in our innermost being, and go to everything with Him. Then nothing can be trivial, no matter how commonplace in itself, for we…
The door by which we can enter this castle is prayer. It is absurd to think that we can enter Heaven without first entering our own souls — without getting to know ourselves, and reflecting upon the wretchedness of our nature and what we owe to God, and continually imploring…
It is in prayer that the soul learns to know Jesus and thus to love him. Since love cannot be satisfied with difference but with equality, the result is union in similarity. – St. Teresa of the Andes
In sum, there is no remedy in this tempest but to wait for the mercy of God. For at an unexpected time, with one word or a chance happening, He so quickly calms the storm that it seems there had not been even as much as a cloud in that…
I have made more acts of faith during the past year than in all the rest of my life. Whenever my enemy provokes me to combat, I try to behave like a gallant soldier. Aware that a duel is an act of cowardice, I turn my back on the foe…
Our Lord became a spring for us, so that we should not die of thirst among all the miseries that surround us. -Bl. Anne of St. Bartholomew
We must keep in mind, for the better understanding of this, that the soul lives there where it loves, rather than in the body which it animates. The soul does not live by the body, but, on the contrary, gives it life, and lives by love in that which it…
We live in a world in which love is condemned: it is called weakness, something to be overcome. Some say: never mind love, develop your strengths; let everyone be as strong as possible; let the weak perish … [But] we shall not give up on love. -Bl. Titus Brandsma
Then gradually, he becomes very small and humble; he grows patient and indulgent toward the splinter in strange eyes because the beam in his own is brought into being; and, finally, he also learns to be patient with himself in the inexorable light of the divine Presence and to surrender…