Flower of Devotion

St. Agnes once said to St. Bridget:

“When God sees that a man’s heart, out of the infirmity of the flesh or through the temptations of Satan, contrary to the spirit, rises up against God, He destroys his sinful thoughts immediately by means of the inspiration of sorrow and repentance, and causes man to return to Him. If, however, the poison of the lusts of the flesh or of riches enters the heart, then God pierces the heart with His love, so that man will not be separated from Him by continuing in sin. If, on the other hand, something unclean out of pride or the mire of fornication defiles the soul, then God, by constancy in faith and hope, casts out impurity from the soul, lest the spirit become hardened in transgression, or that the soul united to God may not suffer permanent injury.