You must seek earnestly the grace of devotion, ask for it fervently, await it patiently and hopefully, receive it gratefully, guard it humbly, cooperate with it carefully and leave to God, when it comes, the length and manner of the heavenly visitation.
–Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
You must believe in truth that whatever God gives or permits is for your salvation.
–Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Prayer is our personal response to God’s presence. We approach the Lord reverently with a listening heart. God speaks first. In prayer, we acknowledge the Divine presence and in gratitude respond to God in love. The focus is always on God and on what God does.
–Jacqueline Syrup Bergan and Marie Schwan (1983)
Repentance brings an intense desire for God, deep gratitude, and a growth in self-awareness that increases our freedom to love.
–Anthony de Mello (1931-1987)
Formerly, I had never heard anyone speak to me of a totally spontaneous intimacy in relations with God. However, at the bottom of my heart I thought that a soul can be intimate with God by using all ways to express its love for him; that it can converse with him by using no matter what sort of ordinary words, according to its needs and circumstances. Of course it is not a waste of time to recite prayers; however, it might be that it is not so profitable as a conversation of the soul conversing gently with God in terms which spring spontaneously from the heart.
–Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân (1928-2002)
Pray with words, pray with your sighs, pray with your desires. Of these three ways of praying, you will be able to use the latter two more easily.
–Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân (1928-2002)
