On Union with God

Wouldst thou draw nigh unto God without let or hindrance, freely and in peace, as we have described? Desirest thou to be united and drawn to Him in a union so close that it will...

Whatever exists outside of God is the work of His hands. Every creature is, therefore, a blending together of the actual and the possible, and as such is in its nature limited....

The more truly a man knows his own misery, the more fully and clearly does he behold the majesty of God. The more vile he is in his own eyes for the sake of God, of truth, and o...

Wouldst thou journey by the shortest road, the straight and safe way unto eternal bliss, unto thy true country, to grace and glory? Strive with all thy might to obtain habitual...

The author of the book entitled "De Spiritu et Anima" tells us (chap. xxi.)[33] that to ascend to God means nothing else than to enter into oneself. And, indeed, he who enters i...

Cast from thee, therefore, all phantoms, images, and forms, and whatsoever is not God,[22] that all thy intercourse with Him may proceed from an understanding, affection, and wi...

It is by love alone that we turn to God, are transformed into His likeness, and are united to Him, so that we become one spirit with Him, and receive by and from Him all our hap...

Of ourselves we are utterly unable to attain to charity or any other good thing. We have naught to offer to the Lord, the Author of all, which was not His already.

There is also another practice which will tend greatly to thy progress in spiritual perfection, and will aid thee to gain purity of soul and tranquil rest in God. Whatever men s...

From all that has hitherto been said, thou hast understood, if I mistake not, that the more thou separatest thyself from earthly images and created objects, and the closer thy u...

As thou goest forward in this work of ridding thee of every earthly thought and entanglement thou wilt behold thy soul regain her strength and the mastery of her inward senses,...

Seek not too eagerly after the grace of devotion, sensible sweetness and tears, but let thy chief care be to remain inwardly united to God by good will in the intellectual part...

If thou art tempted to blasphemy or any shameful sin, be well assured thou canst do nothing better than to utterly despise and contemn such thoughts. Blasphemy is indeed sinful,...

I have felt moved to write a few last thoughts describing, as far as one may in this waiting-time of our exile and pilgrimage, the entire separation of the soul from all earthly...

First, close, as it were, thine eyes, and bar the doors of thy senses. Suffer not anything to entangle thy soul, nor permit any care or trouble to penetrate within it.

In proportion as the mind is absorbed in the thought and care of the things of this world do we lose the fervour of our devotion, and drift away from the things of Heaven.