In mental prayer, the soul is purified from its sins, nourished with charity, confirmed in faith, and strengthened in hope; the mind expands, the affectiond dilate, the heart is purified, truth becomes evident; temptation is conquered, sadness dispelled; the senses are renovated; the drooping powers revive; tepidity ceases; the rust of vices disappears. Out of …
Tag Archives: Purification
A Saint Today
Today in Rome Pope Francis has canonized Elizabeth Catez, also known as Elizabeth of the Trinity, a discalced Carmelite nun who lived in Dijon almost contemporaneously with Thérèse in Lisieux. Of course, Elizabeth, who is a favourite of myself and I’m sure many others on this blog, has been a saint for a long time …
Responding to Criticism: The Radical Newness of the Gospel and “Meditation Techniques”
After I published my most recent commentary on the differences between Christian contemplation and various non-Christian “mystical” techniques, at least one reader contacted me to express disappointment that I have softened my stance on these latter techniques and diluted the Gospel. It was claimed that I had compromised Christianity by “permitting” other meditation techniques; it …
Continually Purified
Jesus, let my heart be continually purified, so that I may be more and more united to you. Little Brother Marcel Văn CSsR (1928–1959)
God’s Love Cannot Fail Its Work in Us
Once there is a state of grace, there is the indwelling of the divine Persons; and once there is this indwelling [in the soul there is] grace. Of course, we bear this treasure in weak vessels as Saint Paul says (see 2 Cor 4:7): our heart is weakened by the original wound and the accumulated …
Twofold, Deep, Purifying Faith
To believe in God means to open our hearts and our intelligence to a purification: we must accept that we are not masters of the One who approaches us, and we are even not masters of ourselves. Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger (1926–2007)
Seeking the Divine Fire
As long as my will desires that which is alien to the divine will, has preferences for one thing or another, I remain like a child; I do not walk in love with giant strides. The fire has not yet burnt away all the dross, and the gold is not yet pure. I am still …
The Same Fire
The fire that burns away the dross during the suffering, dryness, and distaste of the long dark night of the soul is the same fire that, upon completion of purification and the unearthing of the deepest well of freedom, will leap out and lip and run and warm a soul set free from sin and attachments to …
Burned to Shine
Our hearts must be changed; they must be purified as gold from which the dross is melted by fire before it comes from the crucible bright and glittering. Saint John of Ávila
Are Alienation and Purification the Same?
Some people speak about the spiritual life as if the only detachment that we must embrace is that which purifies the deep-seated tendencies to sin which have invaded, infested, festered in, and boiled over our soul. Some people speak as if the desolations, dark nights, and purifications worked by God in our soul affect only …
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Contemplative in the Mud 