It is characteristic of the good spirit to give courage and strength, consolation, tears, inspiration, and peace, making things easy and removing all obstacles so that the soul may make further progress in good works.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
Here is the difference between the joys of the world and the cross of Jesus Christ: after having tasted the first, one is disgusted with them; and on the contrary, the more one partakes of the cross, the greater the thirst for it.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
Deny your desires and you will find what your heart longs for.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Faith and love are like the blind man’s guides. They will lead you along a path unknown to you, to the place where God is hidden.
— Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
If you desire that devotion be born in your spirit and that the love of God and the desire for divine things increase, cleanse your soul of every desire, attachment, and ambition in such a way that you have no concern about anything.
— Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
This path to God does not consist in having a multitude of meditations or particular practices, nor in having ecstasies… but rather in the one thing necessary… earnestly to deny oneself interiorly as well as exteriorly, and for Christ’s sake to be ready to suffer and die to self in every respect.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
