Know Yourself

A statement like this is what draws me to the Mystics: “Those who see themselves not selfishly but for God, and who see God for God (as he is supreme eternal Goodness and is deserving of our love), when they contemplate God in blazing, consumed love discover the image of the human person in God. And they discover themselves, God’s image, in God.” This extraordinary expression was written by St. Catherine of Siena, a 14th Century 3rd Order Dominican.

Catherine’s letters, and later her Dialogue based on a letter to Friar Raymond of Capua of the Order of Preachers, describe the continuous link between a person knowing him/herself and knowing God, and how this knowledge is the basis of an ever-growing love between us and our Lord: the better we know ourselves in the Light of our Lord, the more clearly we see the sins that stand in the way of Him, and desire more and more to rid ourselves of them. The prize is union with God, who is constant, and IS, alive within us.

My Nature is Fire
(Prayer XXII)

In your nature,
eternal Godhead,
I shall come to know my nature.
And what is my nature, boundless love?
It is fire,
because you are nothing but a fire of love.
And you have given humankind
a share in this nature,
for by the fire of love
you created us.
And so with all other people
and every created thing;
you made them out of love.
O ungrateful people!
What nature has your God given you?
His very own nature!
Are you not ashamed to cut yourself off from such a noble thing
through the guilt of deadly sin?
O eternal Trinity,
my sweet love!
You, light,
give us light.
You, wisdom,
give us wisdom.
You, supreme strength,
strengthen us.
Today, eternal God,
let our cloud be dissipated
so that we may perfectly know and follow your Truth
in truth,
with a free and simple heart.
God, come to our assistance!
Lord, make haste to help us!

Amen.

(source: www.drawnbylove.com)