Holy Simplicity

"Many fail in simplicity through a certain tendency to self-esteem. They nurse their reputation. When taking action, they ask themselves in what light they will appear most favorably, and reap the greatest measure of approbation. Here the duality is flagrant, as it is in those human considerations that stifle action between the dictates of conscience and fear of public opinion." (15-16)

"A soul of holiness does not strive for that holiness. It strives to love, to love wholeheartedly; there lies the difference. In the desire for sanctity there is still a deviation of motive. The simple soul loves; that is all. It would love still more.... It knows itself in all its nakedness, and if it finds in itself something that is good, it esteems this gift of God as wonderful without any personal vanity. It knows that of itself it can do nothing; but that knowledge does not distress it, anymore than a child is distressed by his helplessness. When he slips, he keeps no count of it. Does a mother count how many times her child tumbles in learning to walk? And is not God better than the best of mothers?" (25-26)

"The more a soul simplifies itself, the more God works in it; and, conversely, the more God works in it, the simpler does the soul become. The spiritual writers St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa [of Avila] have carefully studied this plasticity of the soul under divine action when the successive purgations have prepared the ground, and we cannot do better than refer to their descriptions. In the outcome the divine Master has taken possession of the soul. The 'ego' appears definitely nonexistent. It is the fullness of liberty, the self with its tangles and brambles no longer attempting (or at least not succeeding, for it can still make itself felt in the imagination or the emotions) to disturb the resolute unity....If 'I' is to die, there muse be many deaths: victory is only for the valiant." (30-31)

"It is far harder to rid oneself of self than of some material possession, for we have always to struggle against self-esteem. We must not hesitate---and see how freely the soul moves, in joy at its liberation." (61)

"The world is building itself afresh; let us find once more the undying novelty of simplicity. It is not a matter of barring wise customs or politeness (which is unfortunately only too often forgotten), but of preventing oneself from becoming artificial. If every man examines himself, it will be much." (71)

"[E]veryone should build into his life [St. Therese of the Child Jesus's] spirit of trust, of love, of willing self-surrender, and of zeal increased by little things.... The fact that some have misjudged the childlike way of living, finding in it nothing but mere sweetness of childish art, proves only that they have judged things amiss. Our little---our great St. Therese has shown many through her example and her teaching what the freedom of the child of God meant. She stands as a delightful and comparatively approachable example, in the midst of our modern complexities, of simplicity in its strongest and most attractive form." (79)