“O Love, Who are ever burning and are never extinguished, O Charity, my God, set me totally afire.” St. Augustine (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church)

“Lucky the man who loves and longs for God as a smitten lover does for his beloved…Someone truly in love keeps before his mind’s eye the face of the beloved and embraces it there tenderly. Even during sleep the longing continues unappeased, and he murmurs to his beloved. That is how it is for the body. And that is how it is for the spirit. A man wounded by love had this to say about himself – and it really amazes me – ‘I sleep (because nature commands this) but my heart is awake (because of the abundance of my love)’ (song of Songs 5:2) St. John Climacus (6th-7th centuries)

“Our heart is to be the altar of God. Fire should burn there constantly. There we should constantly feed the flame of our love for God. He who stokes within himself this fire of charity offers himself as a holocaust in the midst of this flame which consumes him. He puts himself as a victim on the altar of his own heart, burning with the ardor of charity.” Pope St. Gregory the Great (6th-7th centuries, Doctor of the Church)

“Great deeds are forbidden me. I cannot preach the Gospel nor shed my blood – but what does it matter? My brothers toil instead of me and I, a little child, keep close by the throne of God and I love for those who fight. Love proves itself by deeds. I will scatter flowers, perfuming the Divine Throne, and I’ll sweetly sing my hymn of love. These flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least of actions for love.” St. Therese of Lisieux (19th century, Doctor of the Church)

“God is love and He loves us; that is the heart of the Christian faith. God gave us the commandments and it is in observing them that we show whether we love God. Pray that you may obtain a true love of God. God loves us so much. He wants us to love Him.” St. Andre Bessette (19th-20th centuries)

“In the morning, let us awake in Love. All day long let us surrender ourselves to Love, by doing the will of God, under His gaze, with Him, in Him, for Him alone…And then, when evening comes, after a dialogue of love that has never stopped in our hearts, let us go to sleep still in love.” St. Elizabeth of the Trinity (18th-19th centuries)

“The very sense of loss you feel in this world is in itself a proof that once you were possessed by God. Though your passions may have been satisfied, you were never satisfied, because while your passions can find satisfaction in this world, you cannot…Look at your heart! It tells the story of why you were made. It is not perfect in shape and contour, like a Valentine heart. There seems to be a small piece missing out of the side of every human heart. That may be to symbolize a piece that was torn out of the Heart of Christ, which embraced all humanity on the Cross. I think the real meaning is, that when God made your human heart, He found it so good and so lovable that He kept a small sample of it in heaven. He sent the rest of it into this world to enjoy His gifts, and to use them as stepping-stones back to Him, but to be ever mindful that you can never love anything in this world with your whole heart because you have not a whole heart with which to love. In order to love anyone with your whole heart, in order to be really peaceful, in order to be really whole-hearted, you must go back again to God to recover the piece He has been keeping for you from all eternity.” Ven. Fulton Sheen (19th-20th centuries)

“Dear Jesus the Crucified, I love You so much. I love You so I want to stay with You on Calvary and I suffer with joy because I know I’m on Calvary. Dear Jesus, I thank You for having sent me this illness because it is a means to get to Paradise. Dear Jesus tell God the Father that I love Him, too. Dear Jesus I want to be Your lamp and Your lily dear Jesus. Dear Jesus give me the strength to bear this pain that I offer to You for sinners. Dear Jesus tell the Holy Spirit to enlighten me with love and fill me with Its seven gifts. Dear Jesus tell sweet Virgin Mary that I love her so much and I want to stay with her on Calvary because I want to be Your victim of love dear Jesus. Dear Jesus I entrust my father confessor to You and grant him every necessary favor. Dear Jesus I entrust my parents and my sister Margherita to You. Dear Jesus, greetings and kisses.” Ven. Antonietta Meo (20th century)

“Our prayers should be burning words coming forth from the furnace of a heart filled with love…offer your praise to God with the whole of your heart and soul.” St. Teresa of Calcutta (20th century)