“We don’t walk to God with the feet of our body, nor would wings, if we had them, carry us to Him; but we go to Him by the affections of our soul.” St. Augustine (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church)

“Lord, since eternity is Yours, are You unaware of what I am saying to You? Or do You see in time what takes place in time? Therefore, why do I give You an account of so many things? It is surely not that You may learn them from me. Rather, I say them to You that You may arouse my own love and that of my readers for You, so that we may all say: The Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised. I have already said, and I will say again, that it is for the love of Your love that I am writing this book.” St. Augustine

“It is not so much by hope as by bonds of love that I am drawn. It is not for gifts, but for the Giver that I ever yearn…It is not for joyous passions that I yearn, but it is because of a desire for Him Who is preparing them that my heart bursts out in tears. It is not rest that I seek, but it is the face of Him Who offers rest that I seek in prayer. It is not for the nuptial banquet, but it is for the bridegroom that I long.” St. Gregory of Narek (10th-11th centuries, Doctor of the Church)

“Day by day, day by day, O dear Lord, three things I pray: To see Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, follow Thee more nearly, Day by day.” St. Richard of Chichester (12th-13th centuries)

“Love God not for your own sake, for your own profit, but love Him for His sake, because He is the highest Good and is worthy of being loved. Then your love will be perfect and not mercenary. You will be unable to think of anything except Christ crucified and the wine you have drunk – that is, the perfect charity which you see God has shown and given you before the creation of the world, since He was in love with you before you even came to be.” St. Catherine of Siena (14th century, Doctor of the Church)

“This is why I want you, as I said, to be engulfed and set on fire in Him, constantly gazing into the gentle eye of His charity, for then you will love perfectly what He loves, and hate what He hates. Lift up, lift up your puny heart, your small disordered conscience! Don’t give any leverage to the wicked devil, who wants to prevent so much good and doesn’t want to be thrown out of his city. No, I want you, with courageous heart and perfect zeal, to realize that the Holy Spirit’s law is quite different from ours. Imitate that dear Paul, who was so in love, and be a vessel of affection that bears and proclaims the Name of Jesus. It seems to me that Paul gazed into this eye and lost himself in it…Paul was in love with whatever God was in love with.” St. Catherine of Siena

“My sweet Jesus, give me a great love for the cross, and if I do not die at the hands of others as You did, may I die by the intensity of my love.” St. Bernadette Soubirous (19th century)

“My heart is melting; my heart is mine no more; it has melted into God. All my powers are fixed on God. I shall see my God. I shall see my God…O happy death which will bring me to the sight of God. I am going to leap and dance with joy when I see my God.” Bl. Mariam Baouardy (19th century)

“I ask Jesus to draw me into the flames of His love, to unite me so closely to Him that He live and act in me. I feel that the more the fire of love burns within my heart, the more I shall say: ‘Draw me.’” St. Therese of Lisieux (19th century, Doctor of the Church)

“How can I realize the desires of my poor little soul?…I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach Your name and to plant Your glorious cross on infidel soil. But O my beloved, one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages. But above all, O my Beloved Savior, I would shed my blood for You even to the very last drop.” St. Therese of Lisieux

“What God wants from you is your heart.” St. Luigi Guanella (19th-20th centuries)

“If I could only put into everybody’s heart the flame that burns in my breast, making me love the Hearts of Jesus and Mary so much!” St. Jacinta Marto (19th century)

“O Love, O queen! Love knows no fear. It passes through all the choirs of angels that stand on guard before His throne. It will fear no one. It reaches God and is immersed in Him as in its sole treasure. The Cherubim who guards paradise with flaming sword, has no power over it. O pure love of God, how great and unequalled you are! Oh, if souls only knew your power!” St. Faustina Kowalska (20th century)