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Teresa of Avila Quotes

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Famous Teresa of Avila Quotes

“We cannot know whether we love God, although there may be strong reason for thinking so; but there can be no doubt about whether we love our neighbor or not. Be sure that, in proportion as you advance in fraternal charity, you are increasing your love of God, for His Majesty bears so tender an affection for us that I cannot doubt He will repay our love for others by augmenting, and in a thousand different ways, that which we bear for Him.”

ThinkingKnowsWayMayDifferentReasonStrongDoubtBearsThousandCharityAffectionNeighborGod LoveDifferent WaysNo DoubtProportionOur LoveMajestyFraternal
Author:Teresa of Avila
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“I have often thought with wonder of the great goodness of God; and my soul has rejoiced in the contemplation of His great magnificence and mercy. May He be blessed for ever! For I see clearly that He has not omitted to reward me, even in this life, for every one of my good desires.”

MaySoulDesireWonderGoodnessMercyBlessedRewardsMy SoulThis LifeContemplationMagnificenceBeing BlessedGoodness Of God
Book:The Life of St. Teresa of Avila
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“If I should say anything that is not in conformity with what is held by the Holy Roman Catholic Church, it will be through ignorance and not through malice. This may be taken as certain, and also that, through God's goodness, I am, and shall always be, as I always have been, subject to her.”

IfsShouldMayHas BeensCertainChurchTakenSubjectsIgnoranceHolyGoodnessCatholicConformitySay AnythingMaliceCatholic ChurchRoman CatholicRoman Catholic Church
Book:Complete Works St. Teresa Of Avila
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“We may think it humility not to realize that the Lord is bestowing gifts upon us. Let us understand very, very clearly, how this matter stands. God gives us these gifts for no merit of ours. Let us be grateful to His Majesty for them, for, unless we recognize that we are receiving them, we shall not be aroused to love Him. And it is a most certain thing that, if we remember all the time that we are poor, the richer we find ourselves, the greater will be the profit that comes to us and the more genuine our humility.”

IfsThinkingGivingMayMatterRememberCertainRealizingPoorLordGreaterHumilityGratefulProfitGenuineMeritReceivingBe GratefulMajesty
Author:Teresa of Avila
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“We know only that we are living in these bodies and have a vague idea, because we have heard it, and because our faith tells us so, that we possess souls. As to what good qualities there may be in our souls, or who dwells within them, or how precious they are, those are things which seldom consider and so we trouble little about carefully preserving the soul's beauty.”

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Book:Interior Castle
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“I once heard a spiritual man say that he was not so much astonished at the things done by a soul in mortal sin as at the things not done by it. May God, in his mercy, deliver us from such great evil, for there is nothing in the whole of our lives that so thoroughly deserves to be called evil as this, since it brings endless and eternal evils in its train.”

MenMaySoulDoneWholeSpiritualEvilSinOur LivesHeardEternalDeserveMercyTrainEndlessMortalsThings DoneMortal Sin
Book:The Interior Castle
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“The soul of the just man is but a paradise, in which, God tells us, He takes His delight. What do you imagine, must that dwelling be in which a King so mighty, so wise, and so pure, containing in Himself all good, can delight to rest? Nothing can be compared to the great beauty and capabilities of a soul; however keen our intellects may be, they are as unable to comprehend them as to comprehend God, for, as He told us, He created us in his own image and likeness.”

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Book:The Interior Castle: or the Mansions
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