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The soul that leaves the house of its own will, and abandons the bed of its own satisfaction, will find the Divine Wisdom, the Son of God, the Bridegroom, waiting at the door without.

When the time had come
for him to be born,
he went forth like the
bridegroom
from his bridal chamber,
embracing his bride,
holding her in his arms,
whom the gracious Mother
laid in a manger
among some animals
that were there at that time.
Men sang songs
and angels melodies
celebrating the marriage
of Two such as these.
But God there in the manger
cried and moaned;
and these tears were jewels
the bride brought to the
wedding.
The Mother gazed in sheer wonder
on such an exchange:
in God, man's weeping,
and in man, gladness,
to the one and the other
things usually so strange.

We must let ourselves be transformed into one and the same image with Him, and that, quite simply, by loving all the time.

That gaze of the soul at its Bridegroom inflames it with love. You can always look at Him. That sight of Jesus will bring you peace, if you are disturbed or exalted. It will fortify you, if you are cast down; it will bring you recollection, if you are dissipated.

"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...

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.

How people delude themselves as to the real meaning of union with God! There are those who think they have reached it because they enjoy sensible consolations; they make one think of children playing with ashes which the wind blows away. No. no! True union lies not in enjoyment, but in self-abnegation.

A Carmelite sanctifies herself in order to make all the Church's members holy... Let's live intimately united with Him, since one who loves tends to be united with the one loved. The fusing of two souls is done through love.

They must not be anxious about their meditation, being content simply with directing their attention lovingly towards God; and all this without anxiety or effort, or any desire to feel and taste His presence.

Your wisdom, O Word, is like the bush you showed to Moses, which burned, but was not consumed...Those who seek and go after the wisdom that is human abhor your wisdom, but to God human wisdom is foolishness....In addition, by abhorring your wisdom, they deny themselves union with you, for by offending you they deprive themselves both of you and of it....

There is a Being who is Love and who desires to have us live with Him. Oh! It is delightful! He is there, keeping me company, helping me to suffer, making me rise above my suffering to rest in Him. Do as I do, and you will see how everything becomes transformed.

...He brought about the reconciliation and union of the human race with God through grace. The Lord achieved this...at the moment in which he was most annihilated... The journey, then, does not consist in consolations, delights, and spiritual feelings, but in the living death of the cross, sensory and spiritual, exterior and interior.