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God, wishing His elect to realize their own misery, often temporarily withdraws His favors: no more is needed to prove to us in a very short time what we really are.

She no longer feels "hunger or thirst," for in spite of her consuming desire for Beatitude, she is satisfied by this food which was her Master's: "The will of the Father." "She no longer feels the heat of the sun," that is, she no longer suffers from suffering. Then the Lamb can "lead her to the fountain of life," where He wills, as He wills, for she does not look at the paths on which she is walking; she simply gazes at the Shepherd who is leading her.

More effective than the mortification one practices according to one's own choice is the cross that God lays upon one, exteriorly and interiorly.

Christ's love knows no bounds, is never ending, does not draw back before ugliness and filth. He came for sinners and not for the just, and if the love of Christ lives in us we ought to do as He did and set ourselves to seek the lost sheep.

Believe me, the question is not whether we wear the religious habit or not, but whether we practice the virtues and submit our will in all things to the will of God.

The cross and peace are my portion. But the cross and discouragement are the portion of the enemy and of those who listen to the enemy.

Oh, then, spiritual soul, when you see your appetites darkened, your inclinations dry and constrained, your faculties incapacitated for any interior exercise, do not be afflicted; think of this as a grace, since God is freeing you from yourself and taking from you your own activity.

The Beloved cares for nothing else but love. The soul therefore, anxious to please him perfectly, occupies itself unceasingly in pure love of God.

I do not desire sensible affection, a love that I feel, but only a love that is felt by Jesus. Oh! to love Him and cause Him to be loved!

Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything.

The exemplar of the soul is God, who must be stamped thereon as the seal on the wax, as the stamp on the object. Now that is fully realized only if the reason is completely enlightened by the knowledge of God, the will riveted into the love of the sovereign Good, and the memory totally absorbed in contemplating and enjoying the eternal happiness.

When, with a truly filial confidence, we cast our faults into the consuming furnace of love, they will for certain be entirely consumed.