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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.

The soul in which God dwells has no other function than of an altar.

It is right that the soul, as far as it is able, should work to purify itself, that it may merit that God take it into His Divine care and heal it of those imperfections before which it is helpless.

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 people of Israel did not find the manna sweet above all else, although it was so in fact, because they would not limit their desires to it alone. The sweetness and nourishment of the manna was not perceived by them, not because it was lacking, but because they longed for other foods beside it.

How impossible it is for a soul to judge the things of God aright!  To do so it must completely get rid of its desire and pleasures apart from God.

He should not go seeking after new things which can only satisfy the desires in a superficial manner (and even here cannot satisfy fully) while leaving the spirit weak and empty, without deep inner virtue.

Let the soul, then, be 'enclosed' without anxiety.  He who, when the doors were shut, entered bodily among His disciples and said 'Peace be with you' in an unexpected and inconceivable way, will enter spiritually into the soul when it keeps the door of its powers closed-that is, memory, understanding and will.

When the soul reflects that God is the guide of its blind self, then its main preoccupation will be to see that it sets no obstacle in the way of its Guide, the Holy Spirit, upon the road by which God is leading it.

They must not be anxious about their meditation, being content simply with directing their attention lovingly towards God; and all this without anxiety or effort, or any desire to feel and taste His presence.

What do you ask, then, and seek, my soul? Yours is all of this, and all is for you. Do not engage yourself in something less, nor pay heed to the crumbs which fall from your Father's table. Go forth and exult in your Glory! Hide yourself in It and rejoice, and you will obtain the supplications of your heart.

Live in faith and hope even though you are in darkness, for in this darkness God enfolds the soul. Cast your cares upon God, for you are His, and He will never forget you.