Vivo sin vivir en mí… muero porque no muero. (I live without really being alive… I die because I am not dying.)
Let nothing disturb you,Let nothing frighten you,All things are passing away:God never changes.Patience obtains all things.Whoever has God lacks nothing;God alone suffices.
The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.
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.
Untilled ground, however rich, will bring forth thistles and thorns; so also the mind of man.
I am quite sure I am more afraid of people who are themselves terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself.
If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so many enemies.
The devil frequently fills our thoughts with great schemes, so that instead of putting our hands to what work we can do to serve our Lord, we may rest satisfied with wishing to perform impossibilities.
…Since in the centre of the soul there is a mansion reserved for God Himself…
It is of great importance, when we begin to practise prayer, not to let ourselves be frightened by our own thoughts.
All the trials we endure cannot be compared to these interior battles.
Reflect carefully on this, for it is so important that I can hardly lay too much stress on it. Fix your eyes on the Crucified and nothing else will be of much importance to you.
. . . you must not build upon foundations of prayer and contemplation alone, for, unless you strive after the virtues and practice them, you will never grow to be more than dwarfs.
Mental prayer is, as I see it, simply a friendly intercourse and frequent solitary conversation with Him who, as we know, loves us.
But always when I was without a book, my soul would at once become disturbed, and my thoughts wandered. As I read, I began to call them together again and, as it were, laid a bait for my soul
Give me, if you will, prayers;Or let me know dryness,An abudance of devotion,Or if not, then barrenness.In you alone, Sovereign Majesty,I find my peace,What do you want of me?Yours I am, fo ryou I was born:What do you want of me?
Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you, all things are passing, God is unchanging. Patience gains all; nothing is lacking to those who have God: God alone is sufficient.
. . . it is presumptuous in me to wish to choose my path, because I cannot tell which path is best for me. I must leave it to the Lord, Who knows me, to lead me by the path which is best for me, so that in all things His will may be done.