Archive

Be sure, my daughters, that true perfection consists in the love of God and our neighbor, and the better we keep both these commandments, the more perfect we shall be.

It also happens very quickly and ineffably that God will show within Himself a truth that seems to leave in obscurity all those that are in creatures, and one understands very clearly that God alone is Truth, unable to lie.

...some books on prayer tell us where one must seek God. Within oneself, very clearly, is the best place to look.

Here there is no more to do than surrender our intellects and reflect that they are of no avail when it comes to understanding the grandeurs of God.

Therefore we need not let ourselves be disturbed, nor give up prayer, as the devil is striving to persuade us. As a rule, all our anxieties and troubles come from misunderstanding our own nature.

Oh, humility, humility! I know not why, but I am always tempted to think that persons who complain so much of aridities must be a little wanting in this virtue. However, I am not speaking of severe interior sufferings, which are far worse than a want of devotion.

The understanding aids by showing that however many years life might last, no one could ever wish for a better friend than God; that the world is full of falsehood, and that the worldly pleasures pictured by the devil to the mind were but troubles and cares and annoyances in disguise.

... nothing good in us springs from ourselves but comes from the waters of grace near which the soul remains like a tree planted beside a river, and from that Sun which gives life to our works. She realized this so vividly that on seeing any good deed performed by herself or by other people she at once turned to God as to its fountain head--without whose help she knew well we can do nothing--and broke out into songs of praise to Him. Generally she forgot all about herself and only thought of God when she did any meritorious action.

I know, too, that our bodies are not the chief factors in the work we have before us; they are accessory: extreme humility is the principal point. It is the want of this, I believe, that stops people's progress. It may seem that we have made but little way: we should believe that is the case, and that our sisters are advancing much more rapidly than we are.

Show us, then, O our good Master, some way in which we may live through this most dangerous warfare without frequent surprise. The best way that we can do this, daughters, is to use the love and fear given us by His Majesty. For love will make us quicken our steps, while fear will make us look where we are setting our feet so that we shall not fall on a road where there are so many obstacles. Along that road all living creatures must pass, and if we have these two things we shall certainly not be deceived.

We should fix our eyes on the true and everlasting kingdom which we are trying to gain. It is very important to keep this kingdom always in mind.

I started to love the most Sacred Humanity. Prayer began to take shape as an edifice that now had a foundation.