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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.

-Teresa Of Avila

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We Know Only That

Teresa Of Avila

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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.

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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.

He Who Has God Finds He Is Lacking Nothing.

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

Anyone Who Truly Loves God Travels Securely.

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.

The Words Are Very Distinctly Formed; But By The Bodily Ear They Are Not Heard. They Are, However, Much More Clearly Understood Than They Would Be If They Were Heard By The Ear. It Is Impossible Not To Understand Them, Whatever Resistance We May Offer... There Is No Escape, For In Spite Of Ourselves We Must Listen...

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.

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.

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.

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

It Is Love Alone That Gives Worth To All Things.

It Is True That We Cannot Be Free From Sin, But At Least Let Our Sins Not Always Be The Same.

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.

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

We May Think It Humility Not To Realize That The Lord Is Bestowing Gifts Upon Us. Let Us Understand Very, Very Clearly, How This Matter Stands. God Gives Us These Gifts For No Merit Of Ours. Let Us Be Grateful To His Majesty For Them, For, Unless We Recognize That We Are Receiving Them, We Shall Not Be Aroused To Love Him. And It Is A Most Certain Thing That, If We Remember All The Time That We Are Poor, The Richer We Find Ourselves, The Greater Will Be The Profit That Comes To Us And The More Genuine Our Humility.

Granting That 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; For They, As It Were, See That He Is Looking Upon Them, While Others May Go For Days On End Without Even Once Recollecting That God Sees Them.

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?

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.

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

Happy The Heart Where Love Has Come To Birth.

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

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.

Life Is A Night Spent In An Uncomfortable Inn.

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!

The Life Of The Spirit Is Not Our Life, But The Life Of God Within Us.

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

In A State Of Grace, The Soul Is Like A Well Of Limpid Water, From Which Flow Only Streams Of Clearest Crystal. Its Works Are Pleasing Both To God And Man, Rising From The River Of Life, Beside Which It Is Rooted Like A Tree.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Christ Does Not Force Our Will, He Only Takes What We Give Him. But He Does Not Give Himself Entirely Until He Sees That We Yield Ourselves Entirely To Him.

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.

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

About The Injunction Of The Apostle Paul That Women Should Keep Silent In Church? Don't Go By One Text Only.

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.

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

If You Fall Sometimes, You Must Not Be Discouraged.

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

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.

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

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.

Untilled Ground, However Rich, Will Bring Forth Thistles And Thorns; So Also The Mind Of Man.

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

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

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

The Custom Of Speaking To God Almighty As Freely As With A Slave - Caring Nothing Whether The Words Are Suitable Or Not, But Simply Saying The First Thing That Comes To Mind From Being Learnt By Rote By Frequent Repetition - Cannot Be Called Prayer: God Grant That No Christian May Address Him In This Manner.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Let Us Remember That Within Us There Is A Palace Of Immense Magnificence.

Strive To Close The Eyes Of The Body And Open Those Of The Soul And Look Into Your Own Heart.

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

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

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

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

I Only Wish I Could Write With Both Hands, So As Not To Forget One Thing While I Am Saying Another.

God, Deliver Me From Sullen Saints.

Don't Let Your Sins Turn Into Bad Habits.

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

God Aids The Valiant...both To You And To Me He Will Give The Help Needed.

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

From Moment To Moment One Can Bear Much.

Let Thy Words Be Few When In The Midst Of Many.

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

Do You Suppose That God Has Any Need Of Our Works? What God Needs Is The Resoluteness Of Our Will.

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.

Prayer Is An Act Of Love; Words Are Not Needed. Even If Sickness Distracts From Thoughts, All That Is Needed Is The Will To Love.

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

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.

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.

How Poor Is The Wisdom Of Men, And How Uncertain Their Forecast!

My Good Works, However Wretched And Imperfect, Have Been Made Better And Perfected By Him Who Is My Lord: He Has Rendered Them Meritorious. As To My Evil Deeds And My Sins, He Hid Them At Once. The Eyes Of Those Who Saw Them, He Made Even Blind; And He Has Blotted Them Out Of Their Memory.

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.

To Have Courage For Whatever Comes In Life - Everything Lies In That.

Remember That You Have Only One Soul; That You Have Only One Death To Die; That You Have Only One Life. . . . If You Do This, There Will Be Many Things About Which You Care Nothing.

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

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.

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

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.

Truth Suffers, But Never Dies.

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

May Nothing Wind You Up, Nothing Affright You; Everything Comes And Goes. God, Still, Just There; Through Patience All Will Be Achieved. If You Have God, You Lack Nothing: God Alone Will Do.

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

Out Of Suffering Comes The Serious Mind; Out Of Salvation, The Grateful Heart; Out Of Endurance, Fortitude; Out Of Deliverance Faith. Patient Endurance Attends To All Things.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Infinite Possibilities

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.

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.

To Converse With You, O King Of Glory, No Third Person Is Needed, You Are Always Ready In The Sacrament Of The Altar To Give Audience To All. All Who Desire You Always Find You There, And Converse With You Face To Face

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

Let Us Consider What The Glorious Virgin Endured, And What The Holy Apostles Suffered, And We Shall Find That They Who Were Nearest To Jesus Christ Were The Most Afflicted.

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

Whenever Conscience Commands Anything, There Is Only One Thing To Fear, And That Is Fear.

Do You Know When People Really Become Spiritual? It Is When They Become The Slaves Of God And Are Branded With His Sign, Which Is The Sign Of The Cross, In Token That They Have Given Him Their Freedom.

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.

Teach By Works More Than Words.

However Softly We Speak, God Is Near Enough To Hear Us.

I Am Afraid That If We Begin To Put Our Trust In Human Help, Some Of Our Divine Help Will Fail Us.

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

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?

There Are More Tears Shed Over Answered Prayers Than Over Unanswered Prayers.

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.

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

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

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

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

May I Not Come Before You With Empty Hands, Since We Are Rewarded According To Our Deeds.

We Shall Never Learn To Know Ourselves Except By Endeavoring To Know God; For, Beholding His Greatness We Realize Our Own Littleness; His Purity Shows Us Our Foulness; And By Meditating Upon His Humility We Find How Very Far We Are From Being Humble.

The More We See That Any Action Springs Not From The Motive Of Obedience, The More Evident Is It That It Is A Temptation Of The Enemy; For When God Sends An Inspiration, The Very First Effect Of It Is To Infuse A Spirit Of Docility.

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.

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

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.

All Things Pass... Patience Attains All It Strives For.

Do You Think It Is Only A Little Thing To Possess A House From Which Lovely Things Can Be Seen?

Everything Seems To Me To Pass So Quickly That We Must Concentrate On How To Die Rather Than On How To Live. How Sweet It Is To Die If One Has Lived On The Cross With Christ.

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.

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.

I Fully Realize That This Gratitude Of Mine Is Not In The Least A Sign Of Perfection: It Must Be My Nature - I Could Be Suborned With A Sardine.

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.

As God's Beloved, I Live In The Bliss Knowing That My Soul Is Never Separated From Him, For I Learn To Know Her In All That I See. God Dissolved My Mind-my Separation. I Cannot Describe Now My Intimacy With Him.

Those Who Give Themselves To Prayer Should In A Special Manner Have Always A Devotion To St. Joseph; For I Know Not How Any Man Can Think Of The Queen Of The Angels, During The Time That She Suffered So Much With The Infant Jesus, Without Giving Thanks To St. Joseph For The Services He Rendered Them Then.

All Times Are Dangerous Times.

Alas, O Lord, To What A State Dost Thou Bring Those Who Love Thee!

In Order That Love Be Fully Satisfied, It Is Necessary That It Lower Itself And That It Lower Itself To Nothingness And Transform This Nothingness Into Fire.

One Always Goes On As One Begins.

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.

The Hour I Have Long Wished For Is Now Come.

Be Gentle To All And Stern With Yourself.

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.

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

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

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

Let Us Live In Such A Way As Not To Be Afraid To Die.

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

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.

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.

Praised Be The Lord, Who Has Redeemed Me From Myself.

Christ Moves Along The Pots And Pans.

Never Exaggerate, But Express Your Feelings With Moderation.

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.

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.

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.

[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

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.

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.

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.

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

What Peace Can We Hope To Find Elsewhere If We Have None Within Us

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 This Is The Way You Treat Your Friends, No Wonder You Have So Few!

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.

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

Whoever Has God Lacks Nothing. God Alone Suffices.

Lord, How Thou Dost Afflict Thy Lovers!

Christ Has No Body Now On Earth But Yours.

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

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.

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.

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

Nothing Is Small If God Accepts It.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

I Have Always Had This Failing - That I Cannot Explain Myself, As I Have Said, Except At The Cost Of Many Words.

Patient Endurance Attends To All Things.

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 Has Told Us, He Created Us In His Own Image And Likeness.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Love Makes Labour Light. Love Alone Gives Value To All Things.

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.

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

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.

A Slight Failing In One Virtue Is Enough To Put All The Others To Sleep.

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

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.

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

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

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

Pain Is Never Permanent.

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.

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.

All The Trials We Endure Cannot Be Compared To These Interior Battles.

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