the soul

The soul must forget about {understanding}, and abandon itself into the arms of love,
and His Majesty will teach it what to do next…
St Teresa of Avila

(blooming thrift / Julie Cook / 2018)

“The soul, who is lifted by a very great and yearning desire for the honor of God and the
salvation of souls, begins by exercising herself, for a certain space of time,
in the ordinary virtues, remaining in the cell of self-knowledge,
in order to know better the goodness of God towards her.

This she does because knowledge must precede love, and only when she has attained love,
can she strive to follow and to clothe herself with the truth.

But, in no way, does the creature receive such a taste of the truth,
or so brilliant a light therefrom, as by means of humble and continuous prayer,
founded on knowledge of herself and of God;
because prayer, exercising her in the above way, unites with God the soul that follows
the footprints of Christ Crucified, and thus, by desire and affection,
and union of love, makes her another Himself.”
St. Catherine of Siena,
An Excerpt From
Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena