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But please do tell me, O child Mary, which way could one follow to acquire a love so high?... An anxious and constant desire for that love, and removing from ourselves self- love! For, love hinders love. The loves that hinder this high love are of three kinds: a great and grand self love; a great and anxious love of created things; and a great and restless love of creatures.

Souls are guarded jealously in the heart of God and what we think we sometimes understand of our soul is nonetheless always a fleeting reflection of that which will remain God's secret until the day in which everything will come to light. The hope in this future revelation gives me great joy.

...‘Shake off the yoke that is weighing upon you. What are you doing with these bonds which shackle you to yourself and to things that are beneath you?'

I desire neither death nor life. Were Our Lord to offer me my choice, I would not choose. I only will what He wills, and I am pleased with whatever He does. I have no fear of the last struggle, or of any pain, however great, which my illness may bring. God has always been my help; He has led me by the hand since I was a child and I count on Him now. Even though suffering should reach its furthest limits I am certain He will never forsake me.

The very pure spirit does not bother about the regard of others or human respect, but communes inwardly with God, alone and in solitude as to all forms, and with delightful tranquility, for the knowledge of God is received in divine silence.

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.

In the case of a soul that through its own fault withdraws from this fount and plants itself in a place where the water is black and foul smelling, everything that flows from it is equally wretched and filthy.

The more interior the suffering is and the less apparent to the eyes of creatures, the more it rejoices You, O my God!

For often when a person is distracted and forgetful of God, His majesty will awaken it.

The center of the soul is God. When the soul loves and understands and enjoys God to its utmost capacity it will have reached its deep center, God.

I must immerse myself in the sacred darkness by putting all my powers in darkness and emptiness...for He wants me to be luminous with His light alone.

If you want to find a hidden treasure you must enter the hiding place secretly, and once you have discovered it, you will also be hidden just as the treasure is hidden. Since, then, your beloved Bridegroom is the treasure hidden in a field for which the wise merchant sold all his possessions [Mt. 13:44], and that field is your soul, in order to find him you should forget all your possessions and all creatures and hide in the secret inner room of your spirit and there, closing the door behind you (your will to all things), you should pray to your Father in secret [Mt. 6:6]. Remaining hidden with him, you will experience him in hiding, that is, in a way transcending all language and feeling.