Excerpts from Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda

[Therese]

'...renounce all human esteem and consolation, all the delight and pleasure of the world.  All that thy earthly inclinations demand, refuse to thyself, although it may be small and licit in itself; turn thy back on all sensible things, seeking only to love and to suffer.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. I, 645

[Therese]

'We make ourselves unworthy of such great blessing in raising an outcry against creatures whenever we are injured and our proud heart rises up against God himself, who arranges all things; for it refuses to subject itself to its Creator and Justifier, who knows what is necessary for our salvation.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. I, 708

[Therese]

'I wish thee, O soul, to understand, that that to suffer injuries with equanimity and to pardon them entirely for the Lord, will be more acceptable in his eyes, than if thy choose of thy own to do the most severe penance and shed thy own blood for Him.  Humble thyself before those who persecute thee, love them and pray for them from thy true heart; thereby shalt thou turn toward thee in love the heart of thy God and rise to the perfection of holiness, and thou shalt overcome hell in all things.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. I, 711

[Shin]

'We make ourselves unworthy of such great blessing in raising an outcry against creatures whenever we are injured and our proud heart rises up against God himself, who arranges all things; for it refuses to subject itself to its Creator and Justifier, who knows what is necessary for our salvation.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. I, 708

If we stub our toes, we should bless God!

[Therese]

'We make ourselves unworthy of such great blessing in raising an outcry against creatures whenever we are injured and our proud heart rises up against God himself, who arranges all things; for it refuses to subject itself to its Creator and Justifier, who knows what is necessary for our salvation.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. I, 708

If we stub our toes, we should bless God!

Yes, that's right, Shin.

[Therese]

'The counsels of the Gospel are forgotten, its precepts trodden underfoot, charity almost extinct.  My son and true God offers his cheeks in patience and meekness to be buffeted and wounded (Thren. 3, 30).  Who pardons an insult for the sake of imitating Him?  Just the contrary is set up as a law in this world, not only by the infidels, but by the very children of the faith and of light.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 555

[Therese]

'Thou canst not imitate me under like conditions, since thou art a partaker in his [Adam's] sin and guilt.  But I herewith impose upon thee to labor without ceasing for thyself and for thy neighbor, and to humiliate thyself to the very dust; since a contrite and humble heart draws down mercy from the divine goodness.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 571

[Therese]

'Let us then, making use of this situation with increased astuteness, foil as far as in us lies the effects of what this Godman has wrought for men.  Let us begin strenuous warfare against mankind by suggesting new attractions, exciting them to follow their passions in forgetfulness of all else.  Thus men, being taken up with these dangerous things, cannot attend to the contrary.'

Lucifer to his fellow-demons, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 717

[Therese]

All [of the fallen angels] agreed to sow among men the seeds of discord, hatred and vengeance, proud and sensual thoughts, desire of riches or honors, and by suggesting sophistical reasons against all the virtues Christ has taught; above all they intended to weaken the remembrance of his Passion and Death, of the means of salvation, and of the eternal pains of hell.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 719

[Therese]

'But against this law and those that follow it, I intend to direct all my wrath and fury and I shall most bitterly persecute those who hear the doctrine of this Redeemer and become his disciples; against these must our most relentless battle be waged to the end of the world.  In this new Church I must strive to sow my cockle (Matth. 14, 25), the ambitions, the avarice, the sensuality, and the deadly hatreds, with all the other vices, of which I am the head.'

Lucifer to his fellow-demons, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 720

[Shin]

It's often a little startling to me to read these quotes, as I am expecting a saint's quote!

[Therese]

It's often a little startling to me to read these quotes, as I am expecting a saint's quote!

Yes, it is startling, Shin.  Lucifer sounds the very opposite of a saint because he is the very opposite of a saint.  His words are very dark.

[Therese]

'My daughter, in all that thou art made to understand and write concerning these mysteries, thou drawest upon thyself (and upon mortals) a severe judgment, if thou dost not overcome thy pusillanimity, ingratitude and baseness by meditating day and night on the Passion and Death of Jesus Crucified.  This is the great science of the saints, so little heeded by the worldly; it is the bread of life and the spiritual food of the little ones, which gives wisdom to them and the want of which starves the lovers of this proud world (Wis. 15, 3).'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 526

[Therese]

'Eternal rest is incompatible with the shame of not having duly labored for its attainment.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 527

[Therese]

'Therefore, my daughter, embrace the Cross and do not admit any consolation outside of it in this mortal life.  By contemplating and feeling within thyself the sacred Passion thou wilt attain the summit of perfection and attain the love of a spouse.  Bless and magnify my most holy Son for the love with which He delivered Himself up for the salvation of mankind.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 528

[Therese]

'I tell thee truly, my dearest, only my intercession and the merits of his Son, which I offer to the eternal Father, can delay the punishment and placate his wrath, can retard the destruction of the world  and the severe chastisement of the children of the Church, who know his will and fail to fulfill it (John 15, 15).'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 554