Remain in Me

With regard to the fear about whether or not I was in the state of grace, the Lord told me:  "Daughter, light is very different from darkness.  I am faithful.  Nobody will be lost unknowingly.  They who find security in spiritual favors will be deceived.  True security is the testimony of a good conscience.  But people should not think that through their own efforts they can be in light or that they can do anything to prevent the night, because these states depend upon grace.  The best help for holding on to the light is to understand that you can do nothing and that it comes from me.  For even though you may be in light, at the moment I withdraw, the night will come.  This is true humility:  to know what you can do and what I can do..."

In explaining the nature of union to me, he said:  "Don't think, daughter, that union lies in being very close to me.  For those, too, who offend me are close, although they may not want to be.  Neither does it consist in favors and consolations in prayer, even though these may reach a very sublime degree.  Though these favors may come from me, they are often a means for winning souls, even souls that are not in the state of grace."

Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa (1582), Doctor of the Church, reformed the Carmelite Order.