The most perfect prayer, one well nigh omnipotent, and the worthiest work of all is the outcome of a quiet mind. The quieter it is, the more powerful, the worthier, the deeper, the more telling and more perfect prayer. The quiet mind is one which nothing weighs on, nothing worries, which is free from ties and all self-seeking, is wholly merged into the will of God and dead to its own.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
The hindrances that prevent Jesus from uniting himself to our souls are our disordered affections. The moment we are entirely free of them, our heart will expand and cast itself completely into the Heart of Jesus. Then he will give himself to us without reserve. Is it right for us to keep retarding the consummation of our love and our union with Jesus because of some trifling affections that really do not amount to anything?
–Luis M. Martinez (1881-1956)
To make ourselves disaffected to the things of the world, it is a good thing to think seriously of the end of them, saying to ourselves, “And then? And then?”
–Saint Philip Neri (1515-1595)
If the heart is pure, simple, attached only to God, if the will is pure, simple, intent only on doing what God wills, on wanting what he wants, we will walk in full daylight during this life, for we shall be in the fullness of truth, and our life will be founded on the truth; our path will be in the light of our life at all times for the one who is the light of the world will enlighten it ceaselessly; and, at the end of our pilgrimage, we shall see God.
–Blessed Charles De Foucauld (1858-1916)
Let us always remember death, and in this thought draw near to God in our heart– and the pleasures of this world will have our scorn.
–Saint Isaac of Syria (Seventh Century)
When we are spiritually free, we do not have to worry about what to say or do in unexpected, difficult circumstances. When we are not concerned about what others think of us or what we will get for what we do, the right words and actions will emerge from the center of our beings because the Spirit of God, who makes us children of God and sets us free, will speak and act through us.
–Henri Nouwen (1932–1996)
