St. Francis of Assisi

“And St. Francis said: 'My dear son, be patient, because the weaknesses of the body are given to us in this world by God for the salvation of the soul. So they are of great merit when they are borne patiently.”

The Character of Brother Lawrence

"Everything came alike to him, every station, every duty.  The good Brother found God everywhere, as near when he was at the humblest task as when praying with the Community.  He found no urgency for retreats, inasmuch as in the common task he met the same God to love and worship, as in the stillness of the desert."

"His one method of going to God and abiding in His Presence was to do all for the love of Him.  It was a matter of no consequence to him, whether he was employed on one thing or the other, provided that therein he sought God's glory.  It was to Him he looked, and not to the work in hand.  He knew that the more opposed the task was to his inclination, the greater and more blessed was the love which made him sacrifice his will to God; that the littleness of the work lessened not one whit the value of the offering, for God regards not the greatness of the work, but the love which prompts it."

"He marveled at nothing, nothing astonished him or gave him cause for fear.  This stability of soul sprung from the same source as did all his other virtues. The high notion which he had of God revealed in his heart a perfect picture of his Creator in all His Sovereign Justice and Infinite Mercy.  Resting on this he was assured that God would never deceive him, and would send such things only as were good for him."

Brother Lawrence - Spiritual Maxims

"We must go about our labors quietly, calmly, and lovingly, entreating Him to prosper the works of our hands; by thus keeping heart and mind fixed on God, we shall bruise the head of the evil one, and beat down his weapons to the ground."

"In very truth we can render to God no greater or more signal proofs of our trust and faithfulness, than by thus turning from things created to find our joy, though for a single moment, in the creator."

"To worship God in truth is to acknowledge Him to be what He is, and ourselves as what in very fact we are.  To worship Him in truth is to acknowledge with heart-felt sincerity what God in truth is,  -that is to say, infinitely perfect, worthy of infinite adoration, infinitely removed from sin, and so of all the Divine attributes.  That man is little guided by reason, who does not employ all his powers to render to this great God the worship that is His due."

"The union of the soul with God (paraphrased) is intensely active; quicker than fire are its operations, more luminous than the sun, unobscured by any passing cloud.  Yet we can be deceived as to this union by our feelings; it is not a mere fleeting emotion, such as would prompt a passing cry "My God, I love Thee with my heart's full strength"; it is rather a state of soul - if I can but find words- which is deeply spiritual, and yet very simple, which fills us with a joy that is calm indeed, and with a love that is very humble and very reverent, which lifts the soul aloft to heights, where the sense of the love of God constrains it to adore Him, and to embrace Him with a tenderness that cannot be expressed, and which experience alone can teach us to understand.

"God's love is in very truth a consuming fire, burning to ashes all that is contrary to His will:  the soul thus kindled cannot live save in the Presence of God, and this Presence works within the heart a consecrated zeal, a holy ardor, a violent passion to see this God known and loved, and served and worshiped by all His creatures."

"For me the time of action does not differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are together calling for as many different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as when upon my knees as the Blessed Sacrament."

'"We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for the love of Him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before Him, Who has given me the grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king.  It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."

"O Loving-Kindness so old and still so new, I have been too late of loving Thee.  You are young, my brethren; profit therefore I beseech you from my confession, that I cared too little to employ my early years for God.  Consecrate all yours to His Love.  If I had only know Him sooner, if I had only had some one to tell me then what I am telling you, I should not have so long delayed in loving Him.  Believe me, count as lost each day you have not used in loving God."

"Ah, did I know that my heart loved not God, this very instant I would pluck it out."

"If you would go forward in the spiritual life, you must avoid relying on the subtle conclusions and fine reasonings of the unaided intellect.  Unhappy they who seek to satisfy their desire therein!  The Creator is the great teacher of Truth.  We can reason laboriously for many years, but fuller far and deeper is the knowledege of the hidden things of faith and of Himself, which He flashes as light into the heart of the humble."