For this reason let all our actual contemplation, life and activity take place in him alone, about him, for him and towards him who is able and capable to produce with a single nod of his will things infinitely more perfect than any that exist now.
–Saint Albert the Great (c. 1206-1280)
Contemplation is a science of love. It is an infused, loving knowledge of God.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Just as in earthly life lovers long for the moment when they are able to breathe forth their love for each other, to let their souls blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he can, as it were, creep into God.
–Soren Kierkegaard (1830-1855)
These two stages sum up the whole of the spiritual life: when we contemplate ourselves we are troubled, and our sadness saves us and brings us to contemplate God; that contemplation in turn gives us the consolation of the joy of the Holy Spirit.
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
The grace of contemplation is granted only in response to a longing insistent desire.
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
The mind stolen from itself by the ineffable sweetness of the Word
–Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
