The soul must also be ready to pass through the fire of sufferings, for purity of heart should grow with contemplation through the purifying trials which God sends to those humbly and ardently desiring His divine intimacy. As Scripture tells us, he is jealous; He removes the persons and the things to which the soul might become attached and makes it pass through a crucible to cleanse it of all its blemishes. When inordinate inclinations and the disorders of sensuality, egoism, self-love, and intellectual and spiritual pride have disappeared, the purified heart is like a spotless mirror reflecting the beauty of God.
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP (1877–1964)