The Soul's Growth in Love

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There are three stages of the soul's growth in love, of its advance toward perfection. First comes the forgiveness of sins, then the grace that follows on good deeds, and finally that contemplative gift by which a kind and beneficent Lord shows himself to the soul with as much clarity as bodily frailty can endure.

The heartfelt desire to admit one's guilt brings a person down in lowliness before God, as it were to his feet; the heartfelt devotion of a worshiper finds in God renewal and refreshment, the touch, as it were, of his hand; and the delights of contemplation lead onto that ecstatic repose that is the fruit of the kiss of his mouth.

ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX


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