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Virtue does not consist in apprehensions and feelings of God, however sublime they may be, or in any similar experience. On the contrary, it comprises... deep humility, contempt for themselves and all things. All heavenly visions, revelations, and feelings are not worth as much as the least act of humility. Consequently souls should not look for their happiness in these supernatural apprehensions.

That is not true virtue which does not suffer a real test through opposition.

The sum of perfection: forgetfulness of creation, remembrance of the creator, attention to what is within and to be loving the beloved.

But because being one with Christ is our sanctity, and progressively becoming one with him our happiness on earth, the love of the cross in no way contradicts being a joyful child of God. Helping Christ carry his cross fills one with a strong and pure joy, and those who may and can do so, the builders of God's kingdom, are the most authentic children of God.

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

I know that the more rapidly one advances on the way of perfection, the further one considers one’s self from the goal.

Since I have no other desire than to unite myself to the heart of Jesus, for that reason I try to keep up my effort in the practice of those virtues that can render me a true copy of my dear God.

Believe me, the question is not whether we wear the religious habit or not, but whether we practice the virtues and submit our will in all things to the will of God.

This sweet Savior has long since forgotten your infidelities. He sees only your longing after perfection, and the sight makes His heart glad.

We come to the great King of Heaven with empty hands, in debt to Him for everything: life itself, and grace, and all the gifts He lavishes on us. Yet all we can say is, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all I owe,’ while all the time we could never pay anything towards the remission of our own debts, if God did not put into our hands the means to do so. And then, how often do we go away and refuse pardon for some slight fault in our neighbors, withholding our love, remaining aloof, or even nursing a grievance against them, and building up grudges that cool charity.

If a person has more patience in suffering and more forbearance in going without satisfaction, it is a sign that he is more proficient in virtue.

God is ready to pardon a sinner who humbles himself. He looks with more love on a soul who returns to Him in Humility, than on a faithful soul who finds pleasure in its virtues.