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Do not think we can find love without suffering, for our nature remains and must be taken into account; but suffering puts great treasures within our reach. Indeed it is our very livelihood and so precious that Jesus came down upon earth on purpose to possess it.

We live too much our own individual lives and think much too little of how we are united with each other in and through God and all together with God. And yet therein lies our supreme worth and strength, our dignity.

Wait upon God with loving and pure attentiveness, working no violence on yourself lest you disturb the soul's peace and tranquility. God will feed your soul with heavenly food since you put no obstacle in His way... And it is not remarkable that the soul does not see this, for our senses cannot perceive what God does in the soul. . . if the soul stays in God's care it will certainly make progress.

All passes! In the evening of life, love alone abides ... all must be for love, one must without ceasing, forget oneself ... Oh, if only I had always done so!

Oh, then, when everything was dark, when the present was so painful and the future seemed even more gloomy to me, I closed my eyes and abandoned myself like a child in the arms of this Heavenly Father... We look at ourselves too much, we want to see and understand, we do not have enough confidence in Him who envelops us in His love.

I know that I was made only for Him, that I am going only to Him, that 'union' is 'our desires' or rather 'our desire.' And if I wish it, all in me will be only for Jesus, by Jesus, in Jesus, In Christo. He will take possession of me, He will annihilate me, and I will be lost, annihilated in Him - for all His merits are mine, and my vocation is to offer them to His Father.

It is very important to consult people of experience; for otherwise you will imagine that you are doing yourselves great harm by pursuing your necessary occupations. But, provided we do not abandon our prayer, the Lord will turn everything we do to our profit, even though we may find no one to teach us.

Think not that pleasing God lies so much in doing a great deal as in doing it with good will, without possessiveness and human respect.

These aridities, then, make people walk with purity in the love of God. No longer are they moved to act by the delight and satisfaction they find in a work, as perhaps they were when they derived this from their deeds, but by the desire of pleasing God.

Trials help greatly to detach us from earth. They make us look to God, rather than to this world.

Perseverance through all misfortunes confers strength and courage on it (the soul). The painful purification from all sensible desires and pleasures leads it to freedom of spirit in which the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit mature.

What a pity it is that through we are on earth simply to prepare for Heaven, we hardly ever speak of it. How we waste our life and our energies!