Friday, June 14, 2013

In the Inner Cloister of Her Heart


      "We absorb more and more of His Spirit until - in the midst of crowds or secluded in our cells - we are alone with our Master and inseparable Guide.  Jesus Christ is very nigh to the soul that seeks and loves Him, and she speaks to Him in the inner cloister of her heart.
      No one can measure how precious a thing this is, who has not experienced the strength and power, the joy and peace that is derived from it.  The soul talks familiarly with God in her own words and her own way.  She has no set form of speech, for none is needed.  She is at home with God, and He with her.  Jesus Christ is no far off Divinity, but very nigh, dwelling in her heart.  There is nothing she cannot tell Him about, whether it be joy or sorrow, success or failure.  It is all poured into His ears."   
                   (from Sheltering the Divine Outcast, by a Religious, Peter Reilly Co., Philadelphia, 1931, pp. 14-15)

Painting: Almeida Júnior  - Moça com Livro, US public domain