Souls will be unable to reach perfection who do not strive to be content with having nothing, in such fashion that their natural and spiritual desire… - John of the Cross

O killing north wind, cease! Come, south wind, that awakenest love! Blow through my garden, And let its odours flow, And the Beloved shall feed among the flowers. ~ 17

love is the inclination, strength, and power for the soul in making its way to God, for love unites it with God. The more degrees of love it has, the more deeply it enters into God and centers itself in him.

Finally, as the soul is purified from all sensual affections and desires, it attains to liberty of spirit, wherein the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost are had. It is also delivered in a most wonderful way from the hands of its three enemies — the devil, the world, and the flesh; for when all the delight and sweetness of sense are quenched, the devil, the world, and the flesh have no weapons and no strength wherewith to assail