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One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer.

If God tells me through the prophets He is a faithful God, like a father and mother for me, that He is absolutely Love itself, then I ought to admit that my confidence in the arm that upholds me is reasonable, and that on the contrary, fear of falling into nothingness is foolish, unless I myself am the one who draws away from the arm that supports me.

Everyone, in the world, or in religion, who has devotion to the Holy Spirit and who invokes Him, will not die in error.

I wish...I could help you find consolation near the Cross. In its shadow, every kind of bitterness fades. No one has suffered like Jesus has and, from His cross, He teaches us to bear with every pain in silence and in resignation. From the cross and with open arms He invites us saying; "Come to me all you who are burdened under the weight of suffering and I will give you rest."

When I accepted the fact that I might spend my life suffering from these troubles and anxieties-which in no way diminished the trust I had in God and served only to increase my faith-I found myself changed all at once. And my soul, until that time always in turmoil, experienced a deep inner peace as if it had found its center and place of rest.

If you have confidence in Him and have courageous spirits--for His Majesty is very fond of these--you need not fear that He will fail you in anything.

The darker it becomes around us, the more we ought to open our hearts to the light that comes from on high.

If a person is not quite blind, that person often refuses to be led by a guide. Since he sees a little, he thinks it is best to go in whatever direction he can distinguish because he sees no better direction. So he can lead astray a guide who sees more than he, for after all, he tells the guide where to go. Also a soul may lean on any knowledge or feeling of its own. However great this knowledge might be, it is small and far different from what God is. A soul must pass beyond everything to unknowing.

I saw an angel appear in bodily form close by my left side .... He was not large, but small, and extremely beautiful," Teresa wrote. "His face was aflame with fire so much that he appeared to be one of the highest ranks of angels, those that we call seraphim or cherubim. Their names, angels never tell me, but I'm well aware that in heaven there are great differences between different types of angels, though I can't explain it.

True poverty of spirit...means being at rest in labors and dryness and not seeking consolation or comfort in prayer...but seeking consolation in trials for love of Him who always lived in the midst of them.

We ought to receive everything as coming directly from our Father’s divine hand, who loves us and who, in all our trials, is working out His own end end — that of uniting us more closely to Himself. Launch your soul upon the sea of courage and holy abandonment to Him! Remember that nothing that troubles you and makes you afraid comes from God, for He is the Prince of Peace and has promised peace to men of good will.

If I ask You to free me from a trial, and the purpose of that trial is my mortification, what is it that I'm asking for, my God?