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And I saw a river over which every soul must pass to reach the Kingdom of Heaven, and the name of that river was suffering...and then I saw a boat which carried souls across the river, and the name of the boat was Love.

Death can hold no bitterness for the soul that loves. It brings with it all the sweetness and delights of love. There is no sadness in the remembrance of it when it opens the door to all joy.

"To watch in prayer"- this is to say the same thing that Elijah said with the words, "to stand before the face of God." Prayer is looking up into the face of the Eternal. We can do this only when the spirit is awake in its inmost depths, freed from all earthly occupations and pleasures that benumb it. Being awake in body does not guarantee this consciousness, nor does rest required by nature interfere.

What have I to do on heaven and on earth except to please my God and give myself up to Him continually?

O Eternal Father, that You are blessed and glorious in Yourself is no cause for wonder. That all creatures are blessed and glorious through You is no cause for wonder. But that You communicate Yourself to, and take pleasure in, a creature so vile, this is a cause for wonder....

Our life is the life of heaven. St John of the Cross has said that the contemplative has no task here below that she will not have in heaven. The difference is that on earth that task is done in the obscurity of faith; in heaven there will be no veil between God and us.

It is by the Blood of the cross that He will make peace in my little heaven, so that it may truly be the repose of the Three. He will fill me with Himself; He will bury me with Him; He will make me live again with Him, by His life.

What a pity it is that through we are on earth simply to prepare for Heaven, we hardly ever speak of it. How we waste our life and our energies!

To the extent that we know this God made man, we come to love him madly. I would like you to know him in order to be truly in love with him… How not to love this Jesus of our soul? He is uncreated Beauty, eternal Wisdom, Goodness, Life, Love… Oh! Love Jesus. Who can love you better? He thirsts for your heart.

I'm going to be doing only one thing: I shall begin to sing what I must sing eternally; the mercies of the Lord.

In the light of eternity, God is making me understand many things and I come to tell you, as from Him, not to fear sacrifice and struggle, but rather to rejoice in it. If your nature provides you with ... a battleground, do not be discouraged ... love your wretchedness, for it is upon that that God exercises His mercy!

I found myself so constricted on every side that the only remedy I discovered was to raise my eyes to heaven and call upon God...For there is no stable help but in God.