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When the soul is so deeply rooted in Him, the divine sap flows freely through it, and everything that is imperfect, commonplace, unspiritual, is destroyed ... the soul that is thus divested of itself and clothed with Jesus Christ, need no longer fear anything either from relations with the external world or difficulties from within, since far from being a hindrance, these things only root it more firmly in its love for its Master.

As the soul abode in solitude, abandoning all created help and consolation in order to obtain fellowship and union with the Beloved, it deserved thereby the peace of solitude in the Beloved, in whom it reposes alone, undisturbed by any anxiety.

Let us live in close union with our Beloved and be wholly given to Him as He is given to us ... commune with Him all the day long, since He is living in your soul ... there you have the whole of the Carmelite life, to live in Him ... in everything that happens the soul sees Him whom it loves and everything leads it to Him. Cherish silence and prayer for they are the essence of our life. Ask the Queen of Carmel, our Mother, to teach you to adore Our Lord in deep recollection ... pray also to our seraphic Mother, St Teresa. She loved Our Lord so ... ask her to obtain for you her passionate love of souls, for the Carmelite must be apostolic.

O Eternal Word, utterance of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you, to become totally teachable so that I might learn all from you. Through all darkness, all emptiness, all powerlessness, I want to keep my eyes fixed on you and to remain under your great light. O my Beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may never be able to leave your radiance.

Saint Catherine of Siena loved to say in the silence of her soul: "I am sought, I am loved."  That is what is true.

Rather than continually dwelling on her misery and worthlessness, she merely let all thought of self fall away before the infinite majesty of God; and truly the most profitable and genuine way of despising self is to forget oneself altogether.

from God is Love

If through my intercession I could play a part in getting a soul to love and praise God more, even if it be for just a short time, I think that would matter more to me than being in glory.

Today I had the joy of offering Jesus several sacrifices with respect to my dominant fault, but how much they cost me! There I recognized my weakness. When I am unjustly reproved, I feel as though the blood were boiling in my veins. My whole being rises in revolt! ... but Our Lord was with me. I heard His voice deep down in my heart and then I was ready to bear everything for love of Him.

To be truly a victim of love, we must give ourselves up entirely; for we are only consumed by love in the degree that we give ourselves to love.

I am glad to recognize that when we love God our heart expands, and we can give incomparably more tender love to those who are dear to us than when our love is selfish and barren… Love is fed by and develops from sacrifice.

He will see that whoever loves Him much will be able to suffer much for Him; whoever loves Him little will be capable of little. I myself hold that the measure for being able to bear a large or small cross is love.

Prayer is a repose, a relaxation. One must come in total simplicity to the One whom one loves, holding oneself near to Him as a small child in its mother’s arms, allowing one’s heart to go out ...