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…
To secure a hearing there is no need to recite set prayers composed for the occasion. . . .I have not the courage to search through books for beautiful prayers; they are so numerous, that it would only make my head ache, and besides, each one is more lovely than…
Since Jesus wants to sleep why will I hinder Him? I am only too happy that He doesn’t bother with me, for He is showing me that I am not a stranger when treating me this way, for I assure you, He is going to no trouble about carrying on…
Our Beloved does not need our brilliant deeds nor our beautiful thoughts. If He wanted sublime concepts, has He not the angels, who surpass in knowledge the greatest geniuses of the world? -St. Therese
In savoring a finite joy the very most one can expect is to enfeeble and destroy our taste, leaving the palate wrecked; for all the sweetness there may be I’ll never throw away my soul… – St. John of the Cross
…or if, as I have said, you are very careful about your prayer, you will soon find yourselves gradually reaching the summit of the mountain without knowing how. But how harsh it sounds to say that we must take pleasure in nothing, unless we also say what consolations and delights…
The fly that clings to honey hinders its flight, and the soul that allows itself attachment to spiritual sweetness hinders its own liberty and contemplation. – St. John of the Cross
I invited the whole earth to bless you, to serve you. Forever and always, never to end! I invited the entire sea to bless you, to serve you. Forever and always, never to end! I called him, invited ungrateful man, to bless you, to serve you, to praise and to…
Everything with which the soul occupies itself on the natural plane should be rooted out; thus it can be taught to know God, placing all its satisfaction in Him alone. – St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein)
Hope creates an emptiness in the memory constraining it to occupy itself with something it does not yet possess. It teaches us to hope for everything from God and for nothing from ourselves or from other creatures; to hope for eternal happiness from Him and therefore to renounce every pleasure…