This Prayer of Quiet is no Longer Our Work

I think it would be good here to give some counsels for those of you, Sisters, whom the Lord, solely through His goodness, has brought here, for I know there are some of you.

The first is that since they see themselves in that contentment and do not know how it came on them - at least they see they cannot obtain it by themselves - they experience this temptation: they think they'll be able to hold on to that satisfaction and they don't even dare take a breath. This is foolish, for just as there's nothing we can do to make the sun rise, there's little can do to keep it from setting. This prayer (of quiet) is no longer our work, for it's something very supernatural and something very much beyond our power to acquire by ourselves. The best way to hold on to this favor is to understand clearly that we can neither bring it about nor remove it; we can only receive it with gratitude, as most unworthy of it; and this not with many words, but by raising our eyes to Him, as the publican did.

- St. Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection, 31:6