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He who avoids prayer is avoiding everything that is good.

John of the Cross

God passes through the thicket of the world, and wherever His glance falls He turns all things to beauty.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Beautiful Fall God World
He who interrupts the course of his spiritual exercises and prayer is like a man who allows a bird to escape from his hand; he can hardly catch it again.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Escape Exercise Hands Hard Himself Prayer Spiritual
Obedience is a penance of reason, and, on that account, a sacrifice more acceptable than all corporal penances and mortifications.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Acceptance Obedience Reason Sacrifice
Strive always to confess your sins with a deep knowledge of your own wretchedness and with clarity and purity.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Clarity Confession Purity Sin Strive
Let my soul live as if separated from my body.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Body Myself Separate Soul Spirit
In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Darkness God Night River Soul
The soul that journey’s to God, but doesn’t shake off it’s cares and quiet it’s appetities, is like someone who drags a cart of dirt uphill.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Care God Journey Quiet Soul
However softly we speak, God is so close to us that he can hear us; nor do we need wings to go in search of him, but merely to seek solitude and contemplate him within ourselves, without being surprised to find such a good Guest there.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

God Goodness Need Ourselves Seek Soft Solitude Surprise Talk Wings
Never relax, for you will not attain to the possession of true spiritual delights if first you do not learn to deny your every desire.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Delight Desire Learning Possession Spiritual True Yourself
Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Desire Difficult Give Up God Love Prayer Reason Satisfaction Soul
If you do not learn to deny yourself, you can make no progress in perfection.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Learning Perfection Progress Yourself
Yearning: It needs to hurt in order to be worthy of the word. Otherwise it is just wanting.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Hurt Need Word Worth
To reach satisfaction in all desire its possession in nothing, To come to the knowledge of all desire the knowledge of nothing. To come to possess all desire the possession of nothing. To arrive at being all desire to be nothing.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Desire Knowledge Possession Reach Satisfaction
God desires the smallest degree of purity of conscience in you more than all the works you can perform.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Conscience Desire God Performance Purity Small Work
If it were given to a man to see virtue’s reward in the next world, he would occupy his intellect, memory and will in nothing but good works, careless of danger or fatigue.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Care Intellectual Man Memories See Virtue
In search of my Love I will go over mountains and strands; I will gather no flowers, I will fear no wild beasts; And pass by the mighty and the frontiers.
JOHN OF THE CROSS

Fear Flower Love Mountain Myself Search Wild

He who avoids prayer is avoiding everything that is good.

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He who avoids prayer is avoiding everything that is good.

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