Carmelite Quotes

“Prayer and comfortable living are incompatible.”
― Teresa of Ávila, The Way of Perfection

“Humility cannot exist without love, and love cannot exist without humility. It is impossible for these virtues to exist except where there is great detachment from all created things.”
― Teresa of Ávila, The Way of Perfection

“Remember that true humility consists in being ready for what the Lord wants to do with you and happy that he should do it, and in considering yourselves unworthy to be called his servants.”
― Teresa of Ávila, The Way of Perfection

“When a great multitude is making a pilgrimage, I should never advise him to do so, for as a rule people return on these occasions in a state of greater distraction than when they went. And many set out and make these pilgrimages for recreation rather than devotion.”
― Saint John of the Cross, The Complete Works of Saint John of the Cross, of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

“O Lord, all our troubles come to us because we do not have our eyes fixed on you. If only we looked at the path we're walking, we would soon arrive. But, we stumble and fall a thousand times and we stray because we do not set our eyes on the true Way.”
― Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection

“They place more reliance upon methods and kinds of ceremony than upon the reality of their prayer, and herein they greatly offend and displease God.

I refer, for example, to a Mass which is said with so many candles, neither more nor fewer; which is said by a priest in such and such a way; and must be at such and such an hour, neither sooner nor later; and the prayers and stations must be made at such time and with such ceremonies and in no other manner; and the person who makes them must have such qualities or qualifications.

And there are those who think that if any of these details which they have laid down be wanting, nothing is accomplished.

What is worse, and indeed intolerable, is that certain persons desire to feel some effect in themselves, or to have petitions fulfilled, or to know that the purpose of these ceremonious prayers of theirs will be accomplished.

This is nothing less than to tempt God and to offend Him greatly, so much so that He sometimes gives leave for the devil to deceive them.”
― Saint John of the Cross, The Complete Works of Saint John of the Cross, of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

“When the Lord is pleased to withdraw, the soul is left in great loneliness; yet all the possible efforts that it might make to regain His companionship are of little avail, for the Lord gives this when He wills and it cannot be acquired. Sometimes again, companionship comes from a saint which is also a great help to us.”
― Saint Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle

“At the outset I must confess that I am no longer very good at telling the difference between good things and bad things. Of course there are many events in human history that can only be labeled as evil, but from the standpoint of inner individual experience the distinction has become blurred for me. Some things start out looking great but wind up terribly, while other things seem bad in the beginning but turn out to be blessings in disguise. I was diagnosed with cancer in 1995, which I thought was a bad thing. But the experience brought me closer to God and to my loved ones than I'd ever been, and that was wonderfully good. The chemotherapy felt awful, but it resulted in a complete cure, which I decided was good. I later found out it may also have caused the heart disease that now has me waiting for a heart transplant. At some point I gave up trying to decide what's ultimately good or bad. I truly do not know....Although not knowing may itself seem like a bad thing, I am convinced it is one of the great gifts of the dark night of the soul. To be immersed in mystery can be very distressing at first, but over time I have found immense relief in it. It takes the pressure off. I no longer have to worry myself to death about what I did right or wrong to cause a good or bad experience-because there really is no way of knowing. I don't have to look for spiritual lessons in every trouble that comes along. There have been many spiritual lessons to be sure, but they've given to me in the course of life; I haven't had to figure out a single one.”
― Gerald G. May, The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth

“One of the biggest lessons-and another gift of the dark night-is the realization that I'm not as much in control of life as I'd like to be. This is not an easy learning, especially for take-charge people like me, people who think the can-and more important, should-be in control of things. Other people are more naturally able to go with the flow of life. They deal with things as best they can and then go on to the next moment. They too have their dark nights, but they don't pester themselves. Either way, each experience of the dark night gives its gifts, leaving us freer than we were before, more available, more responsive, and more grateful. Like not knowing and lack of control, freedom and gratitude are abiding characteristics of the dark night. But they don't arrive until the darkness passes. They come with the dawn.”
― Gerald G. May, The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth

“Cuando a los sabios se les agota la sabiduría, conviene escuchar a los niños.”
― Georges Bernanos, Dialogues des carmélites

“It is like casting our pearls before swine. Swine are not evil; they are simply ignorant of the worth of pearls and trample upon them unaware.”
― Marc Foley, The Love That Keeps Us Sane: Living the Little Way of St. Thérèse of Lisieux