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If I Should Say Anything That Is Not In Conformity With What Is Held By The Holy Roman Catholic Church, It Will Be Through Ignorance And Not Through Malice. This May Be Taken As Certain, And Also That, Through God's Goodness, I Am, And Shall Always Be, As I Always Have Been, Subject To Her.

-Teresa Of Avila

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If I Should Say

Teresa Of Avila

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If I Should Say Anything That Is Not In Conformity With What Is Held By The Holy Roman Catholic Church, It Will Be Through Ignorance And Not Through Malice. This May Be Taken As Certain, And Also That, Through God's Goodness, I Am, And Shall Always Be, As I Always Have Been, Subject To Her.

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Let Nothing Disturb You, / Nothing Dismay You; / All Things Are Passing: / God Never Changes.

We Should Blush For Shame To Show So Much Resentment At What Is Done Or Said Against Us, Knowing That So Many Injuries And Affronts Have Been Offered To Our Redeemer And The Saints.

Our Body Has This Defect That, The More It Is Provided Care And Comforts, The More Needs And Desires It Finds.

Oh, My Lord! How True It Is That Whoever Works For You Is Paid In Troubles! And What A Precious Price To Those Who Love You If We Understand Its Value.

Souls Who Do Not Practice Prayer Are Like People Whose Limbs Are Paralyzed.

When The Soul, Through Its Own Fault... Becomes Rooted In A Pool Of Pitch-black, Evil Smelling Water, It Produces Nothing But Misery And Filth.

All The Troubles Of The Church, All The Evils In The World, Flow From This Source: That Men Do Not By Clear And Sound Knowledge And Serious Consideration Penetrate Into The Truths Of Sacred Scripture.

Be Gentle And Kind With Every One, And Severe With Yourself.

Let Nothing Disturb You. Let Nothing Frighten You. Everything Passes Away Except God. God Alone Is Sufficient.

God Has No Hands Or Feet Or Voice Except Ours And Through These He Works.

How Friendly We Should All Be With One Another If Nobody Were Interested In Money And Honor.

His Majesty Knows Best What Is Suitable For Us. There's No Need For Us To Be Advising Him About What He Should Give Us, For He Can Rightly Tell Us That We Don't Know What We're Asking For (cf. Mt. 20:22). The Whole Aim Of Any Person Who Is Beginning Prayer ? And Don't Forget This, Because It's Very Important ? Should Be That He Work And Prepare Himself With Determination And Every Possible Effort To Bring His Will Into Conformity With God's Will.

I Say The Same Of Humility And Of All The Virtues; The Wiles Of The Devil Are Terrible, He Will Run A Thousand Times Round Hell If By So Doing He Can Make Us Believe That We Have A Single Virtue Which We Have Not. And He Is Right, For Such Ideas Are Very Harmful, And Such Imaginary Virtues, When They Come From This Source, Are Never Unaccompanied By Vainglory; Just As Those Which God Gives Are Free Both From This And From Pride.

Never Exaggerate, But Express Your Feelings With Moderation.

We Cannot Know Whether We Love God, Although There May Be Strong Reason For Thinking So; But There Can Be No Doubt About Whether We Love Our Neighbor Or Not. Be Sure That, In Proportion As You Advance In Fraternal Charity, You Are Increasing Your Love Of God, For His Majesty Bears So Tender An Affection For Us That I Cannot Doubt He Will Repay Our Love For Others By Augmenting, And In A Thousand Different Ways, That Which We Bear For Him.

If You Seek To Carry No Other Crosses But Those Whose Reason You Understand, Perfection Is Not For You.

Jacob Did Not Cease To Be A Saint Because He Had To Attend To His Flocks.

Let Nothing Disturb Thee, Let Nothing Affright Thee. All Things Are Passing. Patience Obtains All Things. He Who Has God Has Everything - God Alone Suffices.

What Friends Or Kindred Can Be So Close And Intimate As The Powers Of Our Soul, Which, Whether We Will Or No, Must Ever Bear Us Company?

We May Speak Of Love And Humility As The True Flowers Of Spiritual Growth; And They Give Off A Wonderful Scent, Which Benefits All Those Who Come Near.

Our Souls May Lose Their Peace And Even Disturb Other People's, If We Are Always Criticizing Trivial Actions - Which Often Are Not Real Defects At All, But We Construe Them Wrongly Through Our Ignorance Of Their Motives.

Those Seeking The Life Of The Spirit Should Be Cheerful And Free, And Not Neglect Recreation. Married People Must Act In Conformity With Their Vocation--but Their Progress Will Of Necessity Be But The Pace Of A Hen.

We Can Only Learn To Know Ourselves And Do What We Can - Namely, Surrender Our Will And Fulfill God's Will In Us.

God Gave Us Faculties For Our Use; Each Of Them Will Receive Its Proper Reward. Then Do Not Let Us Try To Charm Them To Sleep, But Permit Them To Do Their Work Until Divinely Called To Something Higher.

We Know Only That We Are Living In These Bodies And Have A Vague Idea, Because We Have Heard It, And Because Our Faith Tells Us So, That We Possess Souls. As To What Good Qualities There May Be In Our Souls, Or Who Dwells Within Them, Or How Precious They Are, Those Are Things Which Seldom Consider And So We Trouble Little About Carefully Preserving The Soul's Beauty.

What A Great Favor God Does To Those He Places In The Company Of Good People!

How Is It That We Do Not Die Of Love In Seeing That God Himself Could Do No More Than Shed His Divine Blood For Us Drop By Drop? When As Man He Was Preparing For Death, He Made Himself Our Food In Order To Give Us Life. God Becomes Food, Bread For His Creatures. Is This Not Enough To Make Us Die Of Love?

After You Die, You Wear What You Are.

Near Death Experience

Christ Has No Body Now On Earth But Yours.

He Who Has God Finds He Is Lacking Nothing.

Mental Prayer Is Nothing Else But Being On Terms Of Friendship With God, Frequently Conversing In Secret With Him.

Contemplative Prayer [oración Mental] In My Opinion Is Nothing Else Than A Close Sharing Between Friends; It Means Taking Time Frequently To Be Alone With Him Who We Know Loves Us.

Nothing Is Small If God Accepts It.

Seldom Or Never Is A Poor Man Honored By The World; However Worthy Of Honor He May Be, He Is Apt Rather To Be Despised By It.

Blessed Be He, Who Came Into The World For No Other Purpose Than To Suffer.

If I Should Say Anything That Is Not In Conformity With What Is Held By The Holy Roman Catholic Church, It Will Be Through Ignorance And Not Through Malice. This May Be Taken As Certain, And Also That, Through God's Goodness, I Am, And Shall Always Be, As I Always Have Been, Subject To Her.

Untilled Soil, However Fertile It May Be, Will Bear Thistles And Thorns; So It Is With Man's Mind.

It Is A Great Folly To Be Willing To Violate The Friendship Of God, Rather Than The Law Of Human Friendship.

As To The Aridity You Are Suffering From, It Seems To Me Our Lord Is Treating You Like Someone He Considers Strong: He Wants To Test You And See If You Love Him As Much At Times Of Aridity As When He Sends You Consolations. I Think This Is A Very Great Favor For God To Show You.

If We Do Not Use Great Care To Mortify Our Will, There Are Many Things Which Can Deprives Us Of The Holy Freedom Of Spirit That We Are Seeking In Order To Fly More Freely To Our Creator, Without Always Being Bogged Down With The Clay Of This Earth. Moreover, There Can Never Be Solid Virtue In A Soul That Is Attached To Its Own Will.

People In The World Pay Little Heed To Reason Where Their Own Interests Are Involved.

Happy The Heart Where Love Has Come To Birth.

While The Soul Is In Mortal Sin, Nothing Can Profit It; None Of Its Good Works Merit An Eternal Reward, Since They Do Not Proceed From God As Their First Principle, And By Him Alone Is Our Virtue Real Virtue.

To Reach Something Good It Is Very Useful To Have Gone Astray, And Thus Acquire Experience.

What A Miserable Life Is This! There Is No Happiness That Is Secure And Nothing That Does Not Change.

Vocal Prayer . . . Must Be Accompanied By Reflection. A Prayer In Which A Person Is Not Aware Of Whom He Is Speaking To, What He Is Asking, Who It Is Who Is Asking And Of Whom, I Don't Call Prayer-however Much The Lips May Move.

It Will Be As Well, I Think, To Explain These Locutions Of God, And To Describe What The Soul Feels When It Receives Them.

Anyone Who Truly Loves God Travels Securely.

The Life Of Prayer Is Just Love To God, And The Custom Of Being Ever With Him.

Christ Has No Body Now On Earth But Yours, No Hands, No Feet But Yours. Yours Are The Eyes With Which Christ Looks Out His Compassion To The World. Yours Are The Feet With Which He Is To Go About Doing Good. Yours Are The Hands With Which He Is To Bless Us Now.

All Things Must Come To The Soul From Its Roots, From Where It Is Planted.

God Prefers Your Health, And Your Obedience, To Your Penance.

Prayer Is An Act Of Love. Words Are Not Needed.

The True Penance Comes When God Takes Away The Soul's Health And Strength For Doing Penance. Even Though I Have Mentioned Elsewhere The Great Pain This Lack Causes, The Pain Is Much More Intense Here. All These Things Must Come To The Soul From Its Roots, From Where It Is Planted.

Accustom Yourself Continually To Make Many Acts Of Love, For They Enkindle And Melt The Soul.

We Cannot Be Sure If We Are Loving God, Although We May Have Good Reasons For Believing That We Are, But We Can Know Quite Well If We Are Loving Our Neighbor. And Be Certain That, The Farther Advanced You Find You Are In This, The Greater The Love You Will Have For God.

It Is Not So Essential To Think Much As To Love Much.

It Is The Nature Of Love To Work In A Thousand Different Ways.

With All This Wide And Beautiful Creation Before Me, The Restless Soul Longs To Enjoy Its Liberty And Rest Beyond Its Bound.

The Saints Rejoiced At Injuries And Persecutions, Because In Forgiving Them They Had Something To Present To God When They Prayed To Him.

Do Not Think You Have Gained A Virtue Unless You Have First Been Tried By Its Opposite.

The Tree That Is Beside The Running Water Is Fresher And Gives More Fruit.

Trust God That You Are Exactly Where You Are Meant To Be.

Infinite Possibilities

Let Nothing Disturb You, Let Nothing Frighten You, Though All Things Pass, God Does Not Change. Patience Wins All Things. But He Lacks Nothing Who Possesses God; For God Alone Suffices.

How Often I Failed In My Duty To God, Because I Was Not Leaning On The Strong Pillar Of Prayer.

When We Accept What Happens To Us And Make The Best Of It, We Are Praising God.

All Blessings Come To Us Through Our Lord. He Will Teach Us, For In Beholding His Life We Find That He Is The Best Example.

Any Real Ecstasy Is A Sign You Are Moving In The Right Direction.

Love Draws Forth Love.

Christ Has No Body Now But Mine. He Prays In Me, Works In Me, Looks Through My Eyes, Speaks Through My Words, Works Through My Hands, Walks With My Feet And Loves With My Heart.

I Often Thought My Constitution Would Never Endure The Work I Had To Do, (but) The Lord Said To Me: 'daughter, Obedience Gives Strength.'

In Order To Profit From This Path [of Prayer] And Ascend To The Dwelling Places We Desire, The Important Thing Is Not To Think Much But To Love Much; And So, Do That Which Best Stirs You To Love.

Prayer Is A Friendly Conversation With The One We Know Loves Us.

Her Heart Is Full Of Joy With Love, For In The Lord Her Mind Is Stilled. She Has Renounced Every Selfish Attachment And Draws Abiding Joy And Strength From The One Within. She Lives Not For Herself, But Lives To Serve The Lord Of Love In All, And Swims Across The Sea Of Life Breasting Its Rough Waves Joyfully.

Every Part Of The Journey Is Of Importance To The Whole.

Before Prayer, Endeavour To Realise Whose Presence You Are Approaching And To Whom You Are About To Speak, Keeping In Mind Whom You Are Addressing. If Our Lives Were A Thousand Times As Long As They Are We Should Never Fully Understand How We Ought To Behave Towards God, Before Whom The Very Angels Tremble, Who Can Do All He Wills, And With Whom To Wish Is To Accomplish.

There Is No Affliction, Trial, Or Labor Difficult To Endure, When We Consider The Torments And Sufferings Which Our Lord Jesus Christ Endured For Us.

God, Deliver Me From Sullen Saints.

Patience Obtains Everything.

The Most Potent And Acceptable Prayer Is The Prayer That Leaves The Best Effects. I Don't Mean It Must Immediately Fill The Soul With Desire . . . The Best Effects Are Those That Are Followed Up By Actions-when The Soul Not Only Desires The Honor Of God, But Really Strives For It.

Half-instructed Confessors Have Done My Soul Great Harm; For I Could Not Always Have Such Learned Ones As I Would Have Desired. They Certainly Did Not Wish To Deceive Me, But The Fact Was That They Knew No Better. Of Something Which Was A Venial Sin, They Said It Was No Sin, And Out Of A Very Grave Mortal Sin They Made A Venial Sin. This Has Done Me Such Harm, That My Speaking Here Of So Great An Evil, As A Warning To Others, Will Be Readily Understood.

The Closer One Approaches To God, The Simpler One Becomes.

From Heaven Even The Most Miserable Life Will Look Like One Bad Night At An Inconvenient Hotel.

Never Compare One Person With Another: Comparisons Are Odious.

They Deceive Themselves Who Believe That Union With God Consists In Ecstasies Or Raptures, And In The Enjoyment Of Him. For It Consists In Nothing Except The Surrender And Subjection Of Our Will - With Our Thoughts, Words And Actions - To The Will Of God.

Suffering Is A Great Favor. Remember That Everything Soon Comes To An End . . . And Take Courage. Think Of How Our Gain Is Eternal.

It Is Here, My Daughters, That Love Is To Be Found - Not Hidden Away In Corners But In The Midst Of Occasions Of Sin. And Believe Me, Although We May More Often Fail And Commit Small Lapses, Our Gain Will Be Incomparably The Greater.

Let Him Never Cease From Prayer, Who Has Once Begun To Pray, Even Though His Life Is Ever So Bad. For Prayer Is The Only Way To Amend One's Life And Without Prayer It Will Never Be Mended. Let Him Not Be Tempted Of The Devil, As I Was, To Give Up Prayer On Account Of One's Unworthiness. Let Such A One Rather Believe That If He Will Only Repent And Pray, Our Lord Will Still Hear And Answer.

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.

Union Is As If In A Room There Were Two Large Windows Through Which The Light Streamed In; It Enters In Different Places But It All Becomes One.

Those Who In Fact Risk All For God Will Find That They Have Both Lost All And Gained All.

Discontent With This World Gives Such A Painful Longing To Quit It That, If The Heart Finds Comfort, It Is Solely From The Thought That God Wishes It To Remain Here In Banishment.

Humility Does Not Disturb Or Disquiet Or Agitate, However Great It May Be; It Comes With Peace, Delight, And Calm. . . . The Pain Of Genuine Humility Doesn't Agitate Or Afflict The Soul; Rather, This Humility Expands It And Enables It To Serve God More.

I Am Quite Sure I Am More Afraid Of People Who Are Themselves Terrified Of The Devil Than I Am Of The Devil Himself.

We Are Always In The Presence Of God, Yet It Seems To Me That Those Who Pray Are In His Presence In A Very Different Sense.

Humility, However Deep It Be, Neither Disquiets Nor Troubles Nor Disturbs The Soul; It Is Accompanied By Peace, Joy And Tranquillity.

So Dearly Does His Majesty Love Us That He Will Reward Our Love For Our Neighbor By Increasing The Love Which We Bear To Himself, And That In A Thousand Ways.

It Is No Small Misfortune And Disgrace That, Through Our Own Fault, We Neither Understand Our Nature Nor Our Origin.

Learn To Self-conquest, Persevere Thus For A Time, And You Will Perceive Very Clearly The Advantage Which You Gain From It. As Soon You Apply Yourself To Orison, You Will At Once Feel Your Senses Gather Themselves Together: They Seem Like Bees Which Return To The Hive And There Shut Themselves Up To Work At The Making Of Honey. At The First Call Of The Will, They Come Back More And More Quickly. At Last, After Countless Exercises, Of This Kind, God Disposes Them To A State Of Utter Rest And Of Perfect Contemplation.

It Is Certain That The Love Of God Does Not Consist In This Sweetness And Tenderness Which We For The Most Part Desire; But Rather In Serving Him In Justice, Fortitude, And Humility. His Majesty Seeks And Loves Courageous Souls.

Oh, How Everything That Is Suffered With Love Is Healed Again!

We Need No Wings To Go In Search Of Him, But Have Only To Look Upon Him Present Within Us.

I Once Heard A Spiritual Man Say That He Was Not So Much Astonished At The Things Done By A Soul In Mortal Sin As At The Things Not Done By It. May God, In His Mercy, Deliver Us From Such Great Evil, For There Is Nothing In The Whole Of Our Lives That So Thoroughly Deserves To Be Called Evil As This, Since It Brings Endless And Eternal Evils In Its Train.

Our Soul Can Find In The Blessed Sacrament All The Joys And Consolations It Desires.

Holy Church-that Mother Who Is Also A Queen Because She Is A King's Bride.

Thank God For The Things That I Do Not Own.

A Soul Which Gives Itself To Prayer, Either Much Or Little, Should On No Account Be Kept Within Narrow Bounds.

Much More Is Accomplished By A Single Word Of The Our Father Said, Now And Then, From Our Heart, Than By The Whole Prayer Repeated Many Times In Haste And Without Attention.

It Is Love Alone That Gives Worth To All Things.

If You Fall Sometimes, You Must Not Be Discouraged.

How Is It That There Are Not Many Who Are Led By Sermons To Forsake Open Sin? Do You Know What I Think? That Is Because Preachers Have Too Much Worldly Wisdom.

Ah, How True It Is That We Love Ourselves Too Much And Proceed With Too Much Human Prudence, That We May Not Lose An Atom Of Our Consideration! Oh, What A Great Mistake That Is! The Saints Did Not Act Thus.

It Is Only Mercenaries Who Expect To Be Paid By The Day.

If We Learn To Love The Earth, We Will Find Labyrinths, Gardens, Fountains And Precious Jewels! A Whole New World Will Open Itself To Us. We Will Discover What It Means To Be Truly Alive.

Learn To Self-conquest, Persevere Thus For A Time, And You Will Perceive Very Clearly The Advantage Which You Gain From It.

Each Of Us Has A Soul, But We Forget To Value It. We Don't Remember That We Are Creatures Made In The Image Of God. We Don't Understand The Great Secrets Hidden Inside Of Us.

Dream That The More You Struggle, The More You Prove The Love That You Bear Your God, And The More You Will Rejoice One Day With Your Beloved, In A Happiness And Rapture That Can Never End.

Never Affirm Anything Unless You Are Sure It Is True.

The Best Thing Must Be To Flee From All To The All.

Don't Let Your Sins Turn Into Bad Habits.

It Is Impossible For Human Tongue To Exaggerate The Riches Which A Vision From God Brings To The Soul: It Even Bestows Health And Refreshment On The Body.

I Am Quite Sure That If We Could But Once Approach The Most Holy Sacrament With Great Faith And Love, It Would Suffice To Make Us Rich. How Much More So If We Approach It Often!

There Is More Value In A Little Study Of Humility And In A Single Act Of It Than In All The Knowledge In The World.

Whoever Has God Lacks Nothing. God Alone Suffices.

This Body Of Ours Has One Fault: The More You Indulge It, The More Things It Discovers To Be Essential To It. It Is Extraordinary How It Likes Being Indulged.

Whenever We Think Of Christ, We Should Recall The Love That Led Him To Bestow On Us So Many Graces And Favors, And Also The Great Love God Showed In Giving Us In Christ A Pledge Of His Love; For Love Calls For Love In Return. Let Us Strive To Keep This Always Before Our Eyes And To Rouse Ourselves To Love Him.

There Is More Security In Self-denial, Mortification, And Other Like Virtues, Than In An Abundance Of Tears.

How Friendly All Men Would Be One With Another, If No Regard Were Paid To Honour And Money! I Believe It Would Be A Remedy For Everything.

Desire To See God, Be Fearful Of Losing Him, And Find Joy In Everything That Can Lead To Him. If You Act In This Way, You Will Always Live In Great Peace.

A Beginner Must Look On Himself As One Setting Out To Make A Garden For His Lord's Pleasure, On Most Unfruitful Soil Which Abounds In Weeds. His Majesty Roots Up The Weeds And Will Put In Good Plants Instead. Let Us Reckon That This Is Already Done When The Soul Decides To Practice Prayer And Has Begun To Do So.

When I Took The Habit, The Lord Immediately Showed Me How He Favours Those Who Do Violence To Themselves In Order To Serve Him. No One Saw What I Endured... At The Moment Of My Entrance Into This New State I Felt A Joy So Great That It Has Never Failed Me Even To This Day; And God Converted The Dryness Of My Soul Into A Very Great Tenderness.

God Has Been Very Good To Me, For I Never Dwell Upon Anything Wrong Which A Person Has Done, So As To Remember It Afterwards. If I Do Remember It, I Always See Some Other Virtue In That Person.

If Christ Jesus Dwells In A Man As His Friend And Noble Leader, That Man Can Endure All Things, For Christ Helps And Strengthens Us And Never Abandons Us. He Is A True Friend.

However Much We Do To Avoid Them, We Shall Never Lack Crosses In This Life If We Are In The Ranks Of The Crucified.

Never Do Anything Which You Could Not Do In The Sight Of All.

The Devil Put Before Me That I Could Not Endure The Trials Of The Religious Life, Because Of My Delicate Nurture. I Defended Myself Against Him By Alleging The Trials Which Christ Endured, And That It Was Not Much For Me To Suffer Something For His Sake; Besides, He Would Help Me To Bear It.

No One Should Think Or Say Anything Of Another Which He Would Not Wish Thought Or Said Of Himself.

For Pity's Sake, Don't Start Meeting Troubles Halfway.

One Always Goes On As One Begins.

It Is Of Great Importance, When We Begin To Practise Prayer, Not To Let Ourselves Be Frightened By Our Own Thoughts.

To Want To Become Angels While We Are Still On Earth ... Is Ridiculous.

For Prayer Is Nothing Else Than Being On Terms Of Friendship With God.

Anyone Who Has The Habit Of Speaking Before God's Majesty As If He Were Speaking To A Slave, Careless About How He Is Speaking, And Saying Whatever Comes Into His Head And Whatever He's Learned From Saying Prayers At Other Times, In My Opinion Is Not Praying. Please, God, May No Christian Pray In This Way.

You Ought To Make Every Effort To Free Yourselves Even From Venial Sin, And To Do What Is Most Perfect.

The Same Know Contentment, For Beauty Is Their Lover, And Beauty Is Never Absent From This World.

Patient Endurance / Attaineth To All Things.

In All Created Things Discern The Providence And Wisdom Of God, And In All Things Give Him Thanks.

Be Kind To All And Severe To Thyself.

Lord, How Thou Dost Afflict Thy Lovers!

True Perfection Consists In The Love Of God And Our Neighbour, And The Better We Keep Both These Commandments, The More Perfect We Shall Be.

True Love Grows By Sacrifice And The More Thoroughly The Soul Rejects Natural Satisfaction The Stronger And More Detached Its Tenderness Becomes.

I Was Living An Extremely Burdensome Life, Because Every Time I Prayed, I Became More Clearly Aware Of My Faults. On The One Hand, God Was Calling Me. On The Other, I Was Following The Way Of The World. Doing What God Wanted Made Me Happy; But I Felt Bound By The Things Of This World.

[on Her Father:] ... In Losing Him I Lost My Greatest Blessing And Comfort, For He Was Always That To Me.

Let Nothing Disturb Thee; Let Nothing Dismay Thee; All Things Pass; God Never Changes. Patience Attains All That It Strives For.

Hope, O My Soul, Hope. You Know Neither The Day Nor The Hour.

Consider Seriously How Quickly People Change, And How Little Trust Is To Be Had In Them; And Hold Fast To God, Who Does Not Change.

I Don't Know What Heavy Penance Could Have Come To Mind That Frequently I Would Not Have Gladly Undertaken Rather Than Recollect Myself In The Practice Of Prayer.

If We Practice Love Of Neighbor With Great Perfection, We Will Have Done Everything.

From Silly Devotions And From Sour-faced Saints, Good Lord, Deliver Us.

The Surest Way To Determine Whether One Possesses The Love Of God Is To See Whether He Or She Loves His Or Her Neighbor. These Two Loves Are Never Separated. Rest Assured, The More You Progress In Love Of Neighbor The More Your Love Of God Will Increase.

All Times Are Dangerous Times.

In The Presence Of Jesus In The Holy Sacrament We Ought To Be Like The Blessed In Heaven Before The Divine Essence

Be Happy When You Are Blamed And Accused Wrongly, For Then You Have The Chance To See All The Bitter, Hostile Or Self-pitying Responses That Your Sinful Soul Wants To Spew Out - As If These Puny Things Could In Any Way Defend You! Watch And See If Any Of These Poisons Come Out Of You When Your Spirit Is Pricked By An Accusation. Only Then Can You See Yourself As You Are, And Confess Thy Sin That Is Within You And Forsake Yourself Again Into The Lord's Care.

There Seem To Me A Great Many Blessings Which Come From True Poverty And I Should Be Sorry To Be Deprived Of Them.

To Argue Over Who Is The More Noble Is Nothing More Than To Dispute Whether Dirt Is Better For Making Bricks Or For Making Mortar.

How Is It, Lord, That We Are Cowards In Everything Save In Opposing Thee?

I Felt A Great Dislike To Journeys, Especially When They Were Long. But Once I Had Started, I Thought Nothing Of Them, Thinking Of Him For Whose Service They Were Undertaken And Remembering That Our Lord Would Be Praised And The Most Holy Sacrament Would Dwell In The House I Was Going To Found... It Should Be A Great Consolation To Us - Though Many Of Us Do Not Think Of It - That Jesus Christ, True God And True Man, Dwells As He Does In So Many Places In The Most Holy Sacrament

We Always Find That Those Who Walked Closest To Christ Were Those Who Had To Bear The Greatest Trials.

Don't Imagine That, If You Had A Great Deal Of Time, You Would Spend More Of It In Prayer. Get Rid Of That Idea; It Is No Hindrance To Prayer To Spend Your Time Well.

Patience Attains All That It Strives For. He Who Has God Finds He Lacks Nothing: God Alone Suffices.

Our Greatest Gain Is To Lose The Wealth That Is Of Such Brief Duration And, By Comparison With Eternal Things, Of Such Little Worth; Yet We Get Upset About It And Our Gain Turns To Loss.

The Hour I Have Long Wished For Is Now Come.

But The Fact Is, Things Always Seem To Come Slowly When You Are Longing For Them.

I Am Really Much More Afraid Of Those People Who Have So Great A Fear Of The Devil, Than I Am Of The Devil Himself.

The Soul Of The Just Man Is But A Paradise, In Which, God Tells Us, He Takes His Delight. What Do You Imagine, Must That Dwelling Be In Which A King So Mighty, So Wise, And So Pure, Containing In Himself All Good, Can Delight To Rest? Nothing Can Be Compared To The Great Beauty And Capabilities Of A Soul; However Keen Our Intellects May Be, They Are As Unable To Comprehend Them As To Comprehend God, For, As He Told Us, He Created Us In His Own Image And Likeness.

Always Think Of Yourself As Everyone's Servant; Look For Christ Our Lord In Everyone And You Will Then Have Respect And Reverence For Them All.

Mental Prayer In My Opinion Is Nothing Else Than An Intimate Sharing Between Friends; It Means Taking Time Frequently To Be Alone With Him Who We Know Loves Us. The Important Thing Is Not To Think Much But To Love Much And So Do That Which Best Stirs You To Love. Love Is Not Great Delight But Desire To Please God In Everything.

[last Words:] My Lord, It Is Time To Move On. Well Then, May Your Will Be Done. O My Lord And My Spouse, The Hour That I Have Longed For Has Come. It Is Time To Meet One Another.

Time To Move On

God Never Changes; Patient Endurance Attains To All Things; Who God Possesses In Nothing Is Wanting; Alone God Suffices.

The Feeling Remains That God Is On The Journey, Too.

It Is A Most Certain Truth, That The Richer We See Ourselves To Be, Confessing At The Same Time Our Poverty, The Greater Will Be Our Progress, And The More Real Our Humility.

Let There Be No Disappointment When Obedience Keeps You Busy In Outward Tasks. If It Sends You To The Kitchen, Remember That The Lord Walks Among The Pots And Pans.

Don't Be Curious Of Matters That Don't Concern You; Never Speak Of Them, And Don't Ask About Them.

Let Us Consider The Glorious Saint Paul: It Seems That No Other Name Fell From His Lips Than That Of Jesus, Because The Name Of Jesus Was Fixed And Embedded In His Heart.

The Important Thing Is Not To Think Much But To Love Much; Do, Then, Whatever Most Arouses You To Love.

Teach By Works More Than Words.

One Must Not Think That A Person Who Is Suffering Is Not Praying. He Is Offering Up His Sufferings To God, And Many A Time He Is Praying Much More Truly Than One Who Goes Away By Himself And Meditates His Head Off, And, If He Has Squeezed Out A Few Tears, Thinks That Is Prayer.

I Made You, Dear, And All I Make Is Perfect. Please Come Close, For I Desire You.

I Thought Of The Soul As Resembling A Castle, Formed Of A Single Diamond Or A Very Transparent Crystal, And Containing Many Rooms, Just As In Heaven There Are Many Mansions.

Keep This In Mind, For It Is Very Important Advice, So Do Not Neglect It Until You Find You Have Such A Fixed Determination Not To Offend The Lord That You Would Rather Lose A Thousand Lives And Be Persecuted By The Whole World, Than Commit One Mortal Sin, And Until You Are Most Careful Not To Commit Venial Sins.

I Would Never Want Any Prayer That Would Not Make The Virtues Grow Within Me.

What Misery To Live In This World! We Are Like Men Whose Enemies Are At The Door, Who Must Not Lay Aside Their Arms, Even While Sleeping Or Eating, And Are Always In Dread Lest The Foe Should Enter The Fortress By Some Breach In The Walls. O My Lord And My All! How Canst Thou Wish Us To Prize Such A Wretched Existence?

If We Plant A Flower Or A Shrub And Water It Daily It Will Grow So Tall That In Time We Shall Need A Spade And A Hoe To Uproot It. It Is Just So, I Think, When We Commit A Fault, However Small, Each Day, And Do Not Cure Ourselves Of It.

I Had Many Friends To Help Me To Fall; But As To Rising Again, I Was So Much Left To Myself, That I Wonder Now I Was Not Always On The Ground. I Praise God For His Mercy; For It Was He Only Who Stretched Out His Hand To Me. May He Be Blessed For Ever! Amen.

Love Turns Work Into Rest.

If God Should Desire To Raise Us To The Position Of One Who Is An Intimate And Shares His Secrets, We Ought To Accept This Gladly.

God Deliver Me From People Who Are So Spiritual That They Want To Turn Everything Into Perfect Contemplation, Come What May.

In Light Of Heaven, The Worst Suffering On Earth Will Be Seen To Be No More Serious Than One Night In An Inconvenient Hotel.

It Constantly Happens That The Lord Permits A Soul To Fall So That It May Grow Humbler.

His Majesty [the Lord] . . . Rewards Great Services With Trials, And There Can Be No Better Reward, For Out Of Trials Springs Love For God.

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Richard John Neuhaus

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