Vincent Van Gogh; ‘Street in Auvers-sur-Oise ,’ 1890,

“[T]HE DIVINE must work within me in the same conditions as the human does now. Like the needle of a compass the soul must be set and magnetized so as to point constantly towards God, and finally to be fixed on Him. Then I shall have reached perfection, and I shall go to God as easily, as readily, I was about to say, as naturally, as I now go towards myself. Oh, when will this be? . . .

In fine, there is almost an entire subversion to be made. My whole life has to be more or less revolutionized: my thoughts, feelings, and actions have to be turned upside down. It is the deep and radical modification of my hitherto too human manner of seeing, loving, and
acting. I must form new notions about everything, new feelings about everything, and a new behaviour with regard to everything. The old man must be stripped off once for all and the new man must be put on. How deep are these simple words : seeing, loving, and seeking God in all things, and all things for God ! . . .

Without knowing or reflecting on it, by the inclination of my nature, I have come to see, love, and seek everything for self. The place unduly assigned to my own satisfaction must now be given to the glory of God. What a work ! It is only when the latter has been put in the first place in my thoughts, in the front rank of all my affections, at the root of all my actions, that I shall be able to say : I have reached perfection. When shall I attain it, my God?”

— Dom François de Sales Pollien, The Interior Life Simplified and Reduced to its Fundamental Principle, 1912

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