God says of the soul: “By knowing me, it will ignite with indescribable love. This love keeps it in constant pain; it is not a crushing pain that dries up and exhausts the soul, but rather one that nourishes it. It has known my truth and at the same time its own guilt, its ingratitude, and the blindness of its neighbor, and it experiences unbearable pains. If it suffers, it is because it loves; if it did not love, it would not suffer.”
(Catherine of Siena /1347–1380/, Dialogue 4)