Love

You have said, O Lord:

blest are the pure in heart,

for they shall see You.

O sight to be wished, desired and longed for;

because once to have seen You

is to have learnt all things.

Nothing can bring us to this sight but love.

But what love must it be?

Not a sensible love or a childish love,

a love that seeks itself more than the beloved.

It must be an ardent love,

a constant love:

not worn out with labours,

not daunted with any difficulties.

For the soul that has set her whole love and desire on You

shall never find any true satisfaction,

but only in You.

--Dame Gertrude More (1606-1633) English Benedictine nun and founder of Stanbrook Abbey, collected by Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), in Evelyn Underhill's Prayer Book.