(The Spiritual Doctrine of Saint Catherine of Genoa):
“…to sin voluntarily is to be separated from God.” p. 35
“…it is very useful to subject our will to that of some other creature, and to do its bidding for the love of God. And the more we so subject ourselves for that divine love, so much the more shall we emancipate ourselves from that evil plague of our self-will which is so subtle and hidden within us, and works in so many ways, and defends itself by so many pleas that it is like the very demon.” p. 40
“The same must be said of the soul, which was also created immortal, that it might attain to beatitude; for if there were no immortality there could be no happiness.” p. 42
“And therefore I say that I cannot desire any created love, that is, love which can be felt, enjoyed, or understood. I do not wish love that can pass through the intellect, memory, or will; because pure love passes all these things and transcends them.” p. 45
“Therefore I have resolved so long as I live to say always to the world that it may do with my exterior as it wills, but with my interior this cannot be allowed, because it cannot, it will not occupy itself excerpt in God, nor could it possibly wichi to do otherwise, for He has locked it up within Himself and will discover it to no one.” p. 46
“…in my soul, therefore, I can see no one but God, since I suffer no one else to enter there, and myself less than any other, because I am my own worst enemy.” p. 46
* “…because all pains of hell, however great they may be, are as nothing in comparison to the privation of the beatific vision which is caused by our own resistance.” p.54
“As to the evil, I know well that is all my own, the good I could not possibly do of myself, for nothing cannot produce something.” p. 56
“…thou art unworthy even to be called worthless, because to speak of thee at all lends thee a fictitious value.” p. 57
“I never wish you to turn your eyes towards anything but love, and there rest, unmoved by any novelty that may present itself, within and without, but be like one dead to all things; because he who trusts in Me must never doubt himself. For all the reasoning, cogitations, alternations, and doubts which man has concerning the spirit proceed from that very evil root of self, for pure love transcends all human thoughts, and will not live in the soul, still less in the body of man according to their nature, but will do all things above the capacity of that nature, and all that it thinks and speaks is always above nature.” p. 71
“Thou hast commanded me to love my neighbor, and I am unable to love anyone but Thee, or to admit any partner with Thee; how then shall I obey Thee? And interiorily He responded thus: “He who loves Me loves also all whom I love. It suffices that for the welfare of the neighbor thou shouldst do all that is necessary for his soul and body. Such a love as this is sure to be without passion: because it is not in himself but in God that the neighbor should be loved.” p. 78
“Self-love is so subtle a robber that it commits its thefts, evn upon God Himself, without fear or shame, employing His goods as if they were its own, and assigning as a reason that it cannot live without them. And this robbery is hidden under so many veils of apparent good that it can hardly be detected except by the penetrating light of true love, which always desires to remain uncovered and bare, both in Heaven and earth, because it has nothing shameful to conceal.” p. 85
“..pure love sees not, nor can it ever see, anything but truth itself, which, being by its nature communicable to all, can never be monopolized by any.” p. 85
“It [Divine Love] is benignant and gentle in all things and to all men; it renounces its self-will, and accepts instead the will of God, to whom it always submits. God, moreover, by His incomparable love, so inflames, purifies, illuminates, and fortifies its will that it no longer fears anything but sin, because that alone displeases God; and, therefore, rather than commit the least sin, it would choose to undergo the most atrocious torments that can be imagined.” p. 87
“The Soul, by her natural instinct, seeks enjoyment; and when she is blinded by the Body, she procures her pleasures through its means. So the Body leads her on from one thing to another, as they seek their food together; and though the Soul has an infinite capacity, and cannot, by means of the Body, find aught that will content her, yet she foolishly allows herself to be led by it, without receiving any satisfaction.” p. 166
“…for the all-merciful God never abandons one of His creatures while it remains in this life, but often visits it with some inspiration, by which man finds himself aided when he listens to it, although, if he resists it, he often becomes worse, by reason of his ungrateful neglect of preventing grace.” p. 172
“From henceforth all that befalls me I will receive as from the benign hand of God, excepting my sins, for they are all my own; committing them is always contrary to the divine will, and therefore they are our own property; nothing is ours but voluntary sin…Now, when God sees that man distrusts himself, and places his whole confidence in Providence, He immediately stretches forth His holy hand to help him.” p. 175
“He allowed her to see the great patience with which He had waited for her, and borne with so many of her sins, in which, if she had died, she would have been lost forever. He reminded her how often she had been in danger of death; and how, through pure love alone, He had rescued her, that she might have time to know her error and escape eternal damnation. He also reminded her of the many inspirations He had given her to save her from sin, and although she had not only disregarded, but even gone contrary to His will, yet in His goodness, He did not cease to send them, now in one way, now in another, and so allured her free-will that He had, as it were, forced her to do that which in His goodness He required. And this, too, He did so gently and patiently, that no example of human love was ever known on earth which could compare with it.” p. 178
* “Occupy me wholly with Thy love, which will extinguish in me every other love and keep me wholly lost in Thee, holding me so engrossed by Thee that I shall find neither time nor place for self.” p. 193
“…better to suffer for a thousand years every woe possible to this body in this world, than to remain one hour in Purgatory.” p.206
“Yet what seems cruelty to us is truly a great mercy of God, although a hidden and unsuspected one. To him who is enlightened, this work is evidently done by love; only the blind would endeavor to escape it, but in vain.” p. 225
“O happy soul that has tasted this love! Thou canst no longer enjoy or behold aught beside, for thou hast attained thy rest for which thou wert created! O sweet and secret love: whoever tastes thee can no longer exist without thee!” p. 231
“Therefore, it is necessary for us to comprehend that every grace proceeds from Thee, and to Thee it must be returned, if we would not be robbers…” p. 246
“To remain thus steadily occupied in God, without a moment’s wavering, is a thing for the blessed in Heaven, who, lost to themselves, live only in Him.” p. 251
* “He offends Me only when he puts hindrances in the way by which I am endeavoring to lead him to his end; that is, when he hinders Me, by mortal sin, from accomplishing My loving designs according to his necessities. But that love which you desire to know is beyond your comprehension, for it has neither form nor limit; neither can you know it through the intellect, for it is not intelligible; it is in part made known by its effects, which are small or great in proportion to the measure of love which is brought into action.” p. 255
“That deep, sweet and penetrating love which man feels in his heart is unknown, and c an neither be described nor understood except by the light of the affections in whose exercise he feels himself occupied, bound, transformed, in peace and harmony with the bodily sensations, and without any contradiction, so that he has nothing, wills nothing, and desires nothing. He remains quiet and satisfied in his inmost heart, knowing this love and knowing it alone. He is kept closely bound by a very subtle thread, held secretly by the hand of God, who leaves him to struggle and combat with the world, the devils, and himself, while fainting weak, and helpless, he fears ruin on every side – but God does not let him fall.” p .256
“Thou canst not live without love, for it is thy life, both in this world and in the other.” p. 261
“O food without taste, O taste without flavor, O flavor without food, O food of love on which angels, saints, and men are nourished! O beatific food, he who tastes thee knows not what thou art! O real food, satisfying the appetite, thou doest destroy every other desire! He who enjoys this food esteems himself already blessed even in this life, where God communicates it but in the smallest measure: if He should bestow only a little more, man would die of that subtle, penetrating love, for the Spirit would be so inflamed that the weak body would perish. O celestial love! O divine Love! Thou has sealed my lips: I know now how to speak, nor will I seek what never can be found. I am conquered and overpowered.” p. 262
“Love exhales a continual sweet perfume, by which man suffers himself to be allured, and so powerful is this fragrance that however great may be the torments through which he passes to salvation, there is no martyrdom he would not suffer gladly to attain it.” p. 267
“For God, who is simple and pure, can receive into Himself nothing but pure and simple love; and being a sea of love in which all the saints are plunged, it is impossible that even the slightest imperfection should enter therein: hence the Soul, naked of charity when she is separated from the body (aware of her condition), would cast herself into Hell rather than approach so bright and pure a presence.” p. 273
“My love so delights the Soul that it destroys every other joy which can be possessed by man here below. The taste of Me extinguishes every other taste; My light blinds all who behold it; all the faculties of the Soul are so possessed and bound by love that she is lost and understands neither what she had done nor what she should do. She is raised above herself and bereft of reason, memory, and will. Creatures like these no longer take part in the things of this world, save through necessity, and then as if they knew them not. They are always occupied interiorly, and this prevents their being nourished by temporal things. God sends into their hearts rays and flames of love so subtle and penetrating that they know not where they are, but remain silently plunged in the serene depths of that love. And if God did not sometimes deprive them of this vehement love, the Soul could not remain in the body; yet, when He thus departs, He leaves the Soul so sweetly occupied in Him that naught beside is seen, known, or understood. Rarely does she remember anything but what she has felt, and until the impression grows weaker, it is impossible for her to think of her own affairs, however pressing they may be.” p. 277
“They live in great liberty and take little heed of earthly things. They are in a manner taken out of themselves, especially as they near the close of this life, of which they are stipped remaining immersed in that love into which the Soul has already found by long experience that God, by the operation of His gracious love, has taken both Soul and body, so that He allows them to want for nothing. God shows the Soul also, that all the benefits bestowed on her by creatures ( whether spiritual or temporal) are given because God moves them to it: and hence she learns to take no heed of creatures, what service soever they may have rendered her, for she perceives clearly that it is God who has done it by the action of His providence.” p. 279
“A heart enamored of God is unconquerable, for God is its strength; Hell does not afright it nor Heaven allure it, for it is so disposed that it receives all that befalls as from the hand of God, remaining with Him in immovable peace, and inwardly strengthened and fortified by Him.” p. 280
“Thy will is our best good.” p. 290
“The pure, simple, and boundless love which I bear toward all men, impels Me to grant him this grace, to knock at his heart, to see whether he will open and give Me entrance, that so I may make My abode there and banish all things else.” p. 293
“The soul was created by God for Himself, and is governed by Him, and it can find no repose but in Him alone.” p. 298
On Purgatory:
“They see not that they suffer their pains in consequence of their sins, nor can they for a moment entertain that thought, for should they do so it would be an active imperfection, and that cannot exist in a state where there is no longer the possibility of sin.” p. 300
“Being established in charity, they can never deviate therefrom by any defect, and have no will or desire, save the pure will of pure love, and can swerve from it in nothing. They can neither commit sin, nor merit by refraining from it.” p. 300
“There is no peace to be compared with that of the souls in Purgatory, save that of the saints in Paradise, and this peace is ever augmented by the inflowing of God into these souls, which increases in proportion as the impediments to it are removed.” p. 301
“It is evident that the revolt of man’s will from that of God constitutes sin, and while that revolt continues, man’s guilt remains. Those, therefore, that are in Hell, having passed from this life with perverse wills, their guilt is not remitted, nor can it be, since they are no longer capable of change. When this life is ended, the soul remains forever confirmed either in good or evil according as she has here determined. As it is written: Where I shall find thee, that is, at the hour of death, with the will either fixed on sin or repenting of it, there I will judge thee. From this judgment there is no appeal, for after death the freedom of the will can never return, but the will is confirmed in that state in which it is found at death. The souls in Hell, having been found at that hour with the will to sin, have the guilt and the punishment always with them, and although this punishment is not so great as they deserve, yet it is eternal. Those in Purgatory, on the other hand, suffer the penalty only, for their guilt was cancelled at death, when they were found ating their sins and penitent for having offended the Divine Goodness.” p. 305
“I will say furthermore: I see that as far as God is concerned, Paradise has no gates, but he who will may enter. For God is all mercy, and His open arms are ever extended to receive us into His glory. But I see that the Divine Essence is so pure – purer than the imagination can conceive – that the soul, finding in itself the slightest imperfection, would rather cast itself into a thousand hells than appear, so stained, in the presence of the Divine Majesty. Knowing, then, that Purgatory was intended for her cleansing, she throws herself therein, and finds there that great mercy, the removal of her stains.” p. 311
*“For, to the perfection of our works it is necessary that they be wrought in us but not of us. In the works of God it is He that is the prime mover, and not man.” p. 318
“His goodness should constrain you to His will, not encourage you to persevere in your own.” p. 322
“As a man who suffers death rather than offend God does not become insensible to the pains of death, but is so illuminated by God that his zeal for the divine honor is greater than his love for life, so the soul, knowing the will of God, esteems it more than all outward or inward torments, however terrible.” p. 327