Spiritual love

“ For, as the communications of the Beloved are in the soul itself, through the adornment of the virtues, it follows that what He feeds on is the soul which He transformed into Himself, now that it is prepared and adorned with these flowers of virtues, graces, and perfections, which are the things whereby, and among which, He feeds. These, by the power of the Holy Spirit, are sending forth in the soul the odors of sweetness to the Son of God, that He may feed there the more in the love thereof; for this is the love of the Bridegroom, to be united to the soul amid the fragrance of the flowers. ”

“ So believing, so aspiring, so meditating, divinely sweet and beautiful will be your spiritual experiences, and glorious the revelations that will enrapture your inward vision. As you realize the divine Love, the divine Justice, the divine Purity, the Perfect Law of Good, or God, great will be your bliss and deep your peace. ”

“ That soul that is attaining real spiritual wisdom, that is growing daily in the love that loves everything, that is living in the peace that passeth understanding, that is being filled more and more with life and power from on high, that is gaining conscious realization of all the divine elements of pure, spiritual being—that soul is laying up treasures in heaven. ”

“ And because He humbles souls and wearies them, while He is exalting them and making them glorious, He sends into the soul, in the midst of its weariness, certain divine rays from Himself, in such gloriousness and strength of love as to stir it up from its very depths, and to change its whole natural condition. ”

“ To lift up the heart to God in deepest aspiration and prayer is to come into an increasing knowledge of one's own spiritual self, and into increasing harmony with the divine world in whose atmosphere, alone, we live and breathe and have our being. In love and sympathy lie the daily solution of all the problems of the spiritual life. ”

“ Which, then, shall be our choice, — the sinful, material, and perishable, or the spiritual, joy-giving, and eternal?
The spiritual sense of Life and its grand pursuits is of itself a bliss, health-giving and joy-inspiring. This sense of Life illumes our pathway with the radiance of divine Love ”

“ These words describe the effect of the divine union of the soul with God, wherein it shares the very goods of God Himself, Who communicates them graciously and abundantly to it. Thus the Beloved is Himself the supper which revives, and enkindles love, refreshing the soul with His abundance, and enkindling its love in His graciousness. ”

“ Then shall we possess it, for these powers of the mind and heart wait with sure benediction upon the prayers of earnest souls. This desire lies at the threshold of spiritual-mindedness. It is synonymous with love. Do I love God? Is my eye single and my heart pure? ”

“ Therefore, when the soul says that the Beloved will give it all that is mentioned in this stanza, and that they will be its possession in love absolute and perfect, all of them and itself with them in perfect love, and that without pain, its purpose is to show forth the utter perfection of love. Love, to be perfect, must have these two properties: it must consume and transform the soul in God; the burning and transformation wrought in the soul by the flame must give no pain. ”

“ It is today the symbol of love, of purity, of virtue. His dream came true. Once only did a man dream that by dying upon a cross would He teach men to say that God is love, that love is universal, that there is hope for sinners, and that the worship of God must be spiritual. ”

“ He is given to the soul to strengthen its love; ministering to it, and supplying in it, because of its transformation in glory, that which is defective in it. In the perfect transformation, also, of the state of spiritual marriage, such as is possible on earth, in which the soul is all clothed in grace, the soul loves in a certain way in the Holy Spirit, Who is given to it in that transformation. ”

“ When the Spirit comes as the initiator of this abundant life, then we "know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit," and it becomes possible for the Spirit-led person to be guided "into all the truth," to "love even as He loved," and to "overcome the world." ”

“ The mystical wisdom — that is, the love, of which these stanzas speak — does not require to be distinctly understood in order to produce the effect of love and tenderness in the soul, for it is in this respect like faith, by which we love God without a clear comprehension of Him. ”

“ When the soul has arrived at this state all the acts of its spiritual and sensual nature, whether active or passive, and of whatever kind they may be, always occasion an increase of love and delight in God: even the act of prayer and communion with God, which was once carried on by reflections and diverse other methods, is now wholly an act of love. So much so is this the case that the soul may always say, whether occupied with temporal or spiritual things, "My sole occupation is love." ”

“ Service to the friends is service to the Kingdom of God, and consideration shown to the poor is one of the greatest teachings of God.
12: Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of ... Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God’s holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. ”

“ "God, of Thy Goodness, give me Thyself;—only in Thee I have all"
IN this same time our Lord shewed me a spiritual [1] sight of His homely loving. ”

“ Thus the soul loves God with the will and strength of God Himself, being made one with that very strength of love with which itself is loved of God. This strength is of the Holy Spirit, in Whom the soul is there transformed. ”

“ 5 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all. ”

“ Accordingly, we deem it philosophical to consider words as symbols of mental faculties, and to classify together such spiritual unities as joy, hope, faith, and love, the tendencies of which are to quicken and transform the ultimates of carnal life into the rudiments of an immortal one, the beginning of heaven on earth. ”

“ Besides these benefits which have been mentioned, the soul attains innumerable others by means of this arid contemplation. For often, in the midst of these times of aridity and hardship, God communicates to the soul, when it is least expecting it, the purest spiritual sweetness and love, together with a spiritual knowledge which is sometimes very delicate, each manifestation of which is of greater benefit and worth than those which the soul enjoyed aforetime ”

“ Observe, however, that if the soul has not reached the state of unitive love, it is necessary for it to make acts of love, as well in the active as in the contemplative life. But when it has reached it, it is not requisite it should occupy itself in other and exterior duties — unless they are matters of obligation — which might hinder, were it but for a moment, the life of love in God, though they may minister greatly to His service; ”

“ Natural life, which consists in the union of the soul and body. Spiritual life, which consists in the union of God and the soul, by faith and love. Eternal life, which consist in the communion of the body and soul with God, by holiness, in the realms of bliss. ”

“ Their kindred spirits, their guardian angels then hover about them with the fondest affection, the most anxious solicitude. Spirit communes with spirit, thought meets thought, soul blends with soul, in all the raptures of mutual, pure, and eternal love. ”

“ Draw my soul to thyself, O perfect beauty, and bind it fast to thee by the indissoluble chain and bond of eternal love! What shall I seek and desire beyond thee, who art the fulness of all good, the source, the end, the sweetness, the strength, and marrow of all good! Farewell, all other things, that I may ever love and think of thee, praise and bless thee, and serve thee only, with all the powers of my soul, and for the whole of my life. Let all transitory things be to me worthless or precious, only as far as they agree with thy goodness. ”

“ They come—I do not know where they come from; yes, I do too, they come from beneath. The fruits of the Spirit of God are love, peace, joy, gentleness, long-suffering, kindness, affection, and everything that is good and amiable. ”

“ Are you concerned about the peace of your soul? Is a happy life worth anything to you? Do you have any desire to become more like Jesus? Do you want to do all you can for him? Do you want to dwell in heaven with him forever? Then let your meditation be upon him, and your soul sipping at the fountain of Heaven's love as the flower drinks up the dew. ”

“ These four causes when properly understood, demonstrate that the true object of our love is God and therefore it has been enjoined: “Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind”. ”

“ And, beholding in many souls the traits of the divine beauty, and separating in each soul that which is divine from the taint which it has contracted in the world, the lover ascends to the highest beauty, to the love and knowledge of the Divinity, by steps on this ladder of created souls. ”

“ O God, to whom every heart is open, every wish speaks, and from whom no secret is hid, purify the thoughts of our hearts by the infusion of the Holy Spirit, that we may merit to love thee perfectly and to praise thee worthily. ”

“ It touches the inner spirit. It moves in upon the motives, the loves, the heart. It moves out upon the myriad spirit-beings and forces that swarm ceaselessly about the earth staining and sliming men's souls and lives. It moves up to the arm of God in cooperation with His great love-plan for a world.
Shall we follow for a day one who has gotten the true perspective? ”

“ Lord, if my heart had the love of all hearts, my conscience the purity of all angels, and my soul the beauty of all souls, so that by Thy grace I should be worthy of Thee, I wish to receive Thee to-day so affectionately, and so to bury and sink Thee to the bottom of my heart and soul, that neither joy nor sorrow, neither life nor death, could separate me from Thee. ”

“ And then will the Lord by his Holy Spirit remove them, and introduce heavenly affections in their stead, and inspire love to God and man, and re-mould our spirits, and regenerate our hearts, and prepare us for our heavenly home. ”

“ A great flame of love springs up in my heart, Father, when I clearly perceive, in the time of meditation, how the most holy Humanity of the Lord shows how much He deserves our love, by that which He bears to us, while He loves us even as He loves Himself. ”

“ It is nothing higher and nothing lower than this,--the pure love of God and man; the loving God with all our heart and soul, and our neighbour as ourselves. It is love governing the heart and life, running through all our tempers, words, and actions. ”

“ Hidden deep in every human heart, though frequently covered up with a mass of hard and almost impenetrable accretions, is the spirit of Divine Love, whose holy and spotless essence is undying and eternal. It is the Truth in man ”

“ Love sees with faultless vision, judges true judgement, acts in wisdom. Look through the eyes of Love, and you shall see everywhere the Beautiful and True; judge with the mind of Love, and you shall err not. shall wake no wail of sorrow; act in the spirit of Love, and you shall strike undying harmonies upon the Harp of Life.
Make no compromise with self. Cease not to strive until your whole being is swallowed up in Love. To love all and always—this is the Heaven of heavens. ”

“ It draws the great God down into the small heart, it drives the hungry soul out to the full God, it brings together the two lovers, God and the soul, into a blissful place, where they speak much of love. ”

“ Here we have the genuine utterances of religious sensibility,—fresh, natural, and original, as they come from a mind of singular fertility and beauty, and a heart overflowing with love to God and love to man. ”

“ Teach us, we beseech Thee, how to cleanse and purify, how to illumine and adorn, how to beautify and sanctify our hearts and souls that Thou mayest deign to enter them. All the world's charm of light and colour and fragrance we would gather into our hearts that Thou, our best Beloved, mayest accept them as the favourite retreats of Thy love. ”

“ Love, as thyself, every soul that he hath made. Desire nothing but God. Aim at God in every thought, in every word and work. Swerve not, in one motion of body or soul, from him, thy mark, and the prize of thy high calling; and let all that is in thee praise his holy name, every power and faculty of thy soul, in every kind, in every degree, and at every moment of thine existence. `This do, and thou shalt live:' Thy light shall shine, thy love shall flame more and more, till thou art received up into the house of God in the heavens, to reign with him for ever and ever. ”

“ Because the God I love is here.
They know, who thus oppress me,
'Tis hard to be alone;
But know not One can bless me
Who comes through bars and stone.
He makes my dungeon's darkness bright
And fills my bosom with delight.
Thy love, O God! restores me
From sighs and tears to praise;
And deep my soul adores thee
Nor thinks of time or place:
I ask no more, in good or ill,
But union with thy holy will.
'Tis that which makes my treasure,
'Tis that which brings my gain;
Converting woe to pleasure.
And reaping joy from pain.
Oh, 'tis enough, whate'er befall,
To know that God is All in All. ”