St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) was a Spanish Carmelite saint and mystic. She wrote extensively but in a simple and understandable way. Here is a selection of her best quotes, suitable for newsletters and parish communication media.
"Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything."
"May there be today peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."
"The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes."
"Reflect upon the providence and wisdom of God in all created things and praise Him in them all."
"Truth suffers, but never dies."
"To have courage for whatever comes in life — everything lies in that."
"Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world."
"Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul."
"You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him."
"Our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works
as for the love with which they are done".
‘And I see clearly…that God desires that if we are going to please him and receive his great favours, we must do so through the most sacred humanity of Christ, in whom he takes his delight…we must enter by this gate…on this road you walk safely. This Lord of ours is the one through whom all blessings come to us’.
‘If you are joyful, look at Him as risen. If you are experiencing trials or are sad, behold Him on the way to the garden’.
‘Whoever lives in the presence of so good a friend…who went ahead of us to be the first to suffer, can endure all things. The lord helps us, strengthens us, and never fails; he is a true friend’,
‘To be humble is to walk in truth, for it is a very deep truth that of ourselves we have nothing good but only misery and nothingness. Whoever does not understand this walks in falsehood’
‘It is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without entering into ourselves, coming to know ourselves, reflecting on our misery…and begging him often for mercy’.
“Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience turns a very short time into a long one.”
‘This self-reliance was what destroyed me’
‘The soul understands that it was called by God…it feels that it is wounded in the most exquisite way …It knows clearly that the wound is something precious and it would never wat to be cured’.