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Under the old law, the altar of sacrifice was to be hollow within. It is the will of God that the soul should be empty of all created things, and thus become a fitting altar for the King of heaven.

I give Him my body with all its strength, without the least reservation of myself. I give Him my soul with all its powers and faculties. In a word I give my entire being, desiring only one thing: that my life may be from now on incense perpetually rising toward God in order to please Him.

It is good to serve God in darkness and trial! We have only this life to live by faith.

O my God, what must a soul be like when it is in this state! It longs to be all one tongue with which to praise the Lord. It utters a thousand pious follies, in a continuous endeavor to please Him who thus possesses it.

Mental prayer consists of what was explained: being aware and knowing that we are speaking, with whom we are speaking, and who we ourselves are who dare to speak so much with so great a Lord. To think about this and other similar things, of how little we have served Him and how much we are obliged to serve Him, is mental prayer. Don’t think it amounts to some other kind of gibberish, and don’t let the name frighten you.

...ask Him to give us strength of soul to dig until we find this hidden treasure, which lies buried within our hearts, as I wish to show you if it please God to enable me. I said 'strength of soul,' that you might understand that strength of body is not indispensable when our Lord God chooses to withhold it. He makes it impossible for no one to gain these riches, but is content that each should do his best. Blessed be so just a God!

To obtain the granting of requests that we have at heart, there is no better means than that of directing the energy of our prayer to asking for what is most pleasing to God.

My God, how well you know my great need of your help. I trust in your infinite mercy, and I shall always do so, regardless of the spiritual state in which I find myself. Always and everywhere I shall endeavor to recognize Your will in all things, even though my eyes see only contradiction and uncertainty. I know that I cannot depend upon myself, and so I shall trust completely in You.

During these painful times when you feel a terrible void, think how He is enlarging the capacity of your soul so that it can receive Him, making it, as it were, infinite just as He is infinite. So, as far as your will is concerned, try to remain perfectly joyous beneath the hand that is crucifying you ... look upon each pain as a token of love coming to you directly from God, in order that He may unite you to Him.

His Majesty knows what is good for us; it is not for us to advise Him how to treat us, for He has the right to tell us that we know not what we ask. Remember, it is of the greatest importance- the sole aim of one beginning to practice prayer should be to endure trials, and to resolve and strive to the utmost of her power to conform her own will to the will of God.

My prayer almost always consists of an intimate conversation with Our Lord. I imagine that like Magdalene I am at His feet, listening to Him. He tells me what I must do to please Him.

Mary, a sublime woman is, like us, what she became through the grace and goodness of God. It is true that by the will of God she was chosen by a special grace, but she responded to it without the slightest hint of hesitation and allowed herself to be taken over. She opened her heart to God and God gave himself completely to her.