In his explanation of another metaphor, the Living Flame of Love, St. John draws Our Lady as closely as possible into the circle of his imagery. In speaking about the glittering and shining of the lamps of God in us, about our absorption of that divine light like the pane of glass, about our participation …
Jesus said to his disciples:“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.But I say to you,everyone who looks at a woman with lusthas already committed adultery with her in his heart.If your right eye causes you to sin,tear it out and throw it away.It is better for you to lose one …
“A much loved comparison of the saint which he employs to express the necessity of our being susceptible and pure in order to partake of the grace of God, and even share the divine nature, is the image of the window through which the sunlight passes. The painters of the Flemish country, the land of …
Jesus said to his disciples:“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses thatof the scribes and Pharisees,you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brotherwill …
“How often does the saint employ imagery that can generally be applied to Our Lady. It is next to impossible that he has not thought of his Holy Mother in this connection. But even if this should not be the case, nevertheless the use, and therefore the suitability, of these images stamp his mysticism as …
Jesus said to his disciples:“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letterwill pass from the law,until all things have taken place.Therefore, …
“As an example of a soul that always followed the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, he cites in the same chapter the example of Our Lady ‘la gloriosa’, the glorious one, Mother of God. From her earliest existence she was raised to this state. Never was the image of any creature impressed in her mind, …
Jesus said to his disciples:“You are the salt of the earth.But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?It is no longer good for anythingbut to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.You are the light of the world.A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.Nor do they light a lamp and …
“Particularly does he praise in her the fact that she, who is indeed called by the angel “full of the Holy Ghost”, always let herself be led by the Holy Spirit, an ideal which we must strive after in our intercourse with God, however difficult it may be and however few will be found who …
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his motherand his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,and Mary of Magdala.When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved,he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”Then he said to the disciple,“Behold, your mother.”And from that hour the disciple took her into his …