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One thing is certain, that we are living in our present time and place in order to accomplish our salvation and that of those entrusted to us.

It is not because I am good that our Lord granted me these favors, but that His goodness might be made manifest.
Although I was so unworthy of grace, this Adorable Master sought me out that even when I was least occupied with the thought of Him, in order that I might not be lost, and that His kindness might cause admiration.

There are not two doctrines of St. John of the Cross, one for religious and one for seculars; there is only one, which applies to all Christians indiscriminately and does not require a special state of life, but only a disposition of will, namely the disposition of not wanting to be confined to mediocrity and therefore of not refusing generous renunciation at every privation required for attaining a more intimate union with God.

The soul has made known the manner of preparing oneself to begin this journey: to pursue delights and satisfactions no longer, and to overcome temptations and difficulties through fortitude. This is the practice of self-knowledge, the first requirement of advancing to the knowledge of God.

We object when He hands us the chalice of His suffering. It is so difficult for us to resign ourselves to suffering. To rejoice in it strikes us as heroic. What is the value of our offering of self if we unite ourselves each morning only in word and gesture, rather than in thought and will, to that offering which we, together with the Church, make of Him with whom we are in the one body?

He knows our nature; he takes it into consideration and therefore he has given us everything which can help us to reach our goal.

A Praise of Glory is a silent soul, which remains like a lyre beneath the mysterious touch of the Holy Spirit, so that He may call forth divine harmonies from it.

The good God says to me, "Give always without concerning yourself with results."

Keep in mind what the apostle St. James says: If any man thinks himself to be religious and does not control his tongue, that man's religion is useless." (James 1:26) This is to be understood of inward as well as outward chatter.

Terrible trials are suffered because we don’t understand ourselves, and that which isn’t bad at all but good we think is a serious fault. This lack of knowledge causes the afflictions of many people who engage in prayer; complaints about interior trials, at least to a great extent, by people who have no learning; melancholy and loss of health; and even the complete abandonment of prayer.

Where would your merit be if you fought only when you felt courage? What does it matter if you have none provided that you act as if you had! If you feel too lazy to pick up a bit of thread, and you nonetheless do it for the love of Jesus, you have more merit than some great accomplishment made in a moment of fervor.

‘Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear, forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty’. It seems that this appeal is an invitation to silence; ‘listen ... incline your ear ...’. But to hear, one must forget the house of one’s father, that is, all that binds one to the natural life, that life which was spoken of by the apostle when he said, ‘…if you live according to the flesh you will die’ (Rom. 8:13).