"In perfect love this law holds:
that the lover become like the one he loves;
for the greater their likeness the greater their delight.
Surely your bride's delight would greatly increase
were she to see you like her, in her own flesh."
"My will is yours," the Son replied,
"and my glory is that your will be mine...
When one cannot put oneself right by speaking, it is better to have recourse to prayer and silence; and thus to keep one's peace alone with God.
To be a child of God, that means to be led by the hand of God, to do the will of God, not one's own will, to place every care and every hope in the hand of God and not to worry about oneself or one's future. On this rests the joy of the child of God.
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.
Why should we defend ourselves when we are misunderstood and misjudged? Let us leave that aside. Let us not say anything...O blessed silence, which gives so much peace to the soul.
I like to find at least a few moments each day spent in doing good for others out of love for God. These few moments, almost noticeably used, bring something like rays of peace and comfort behind them; they unite us with people and God by a pure feeling of tender sweetness.
Thus, no one ... can disturb the soul that is liberated and purged of all things and united with God. She enjoys now in this state a habitual sweetness and tranquility which is never lost or lacking to her.
Jesus,...wills to receive a gift from you. He knows it is much sweeter to give than to receive. We have only the short moment of this life to give to God...and He is already preparing to say: 'Now my turn.' What a joy to suffer for Him who loves us unto folly and to pass as fools in the eyes of the world.
I like to find at least a few moments each day spent in doing good for others out of love for God. These few moments, almost unnoticeably used, bring something like rays of peace and comfort behind them. They unite us with people and God with purity and sweetness.
Charity enlightens where selfishness makes one blind; it widens where selfishness narrows; it is joyful where selfishness is miserable.
And so in spite of this trial which robs me of all sense of enjoyment, I can still say: ' You have given me O Lord, a delight in Your doings.' Ps. 91: 5. For is there a greater joy than to suffer for Your love, O my God? The more intense and more hidden the suffering the more do You value it.
Contemplation is nothing else but a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion of God, which, if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the spirit of love.
