I came across this from Visions and Longings (Monica Furlong, 1996), which gives a taste/overview of the writings of medieval women mystics. This comes from the pen of Beatrijs of Nazareth, who lived from 1200 - 1268.

The Power of Love

Sometimes it happens that love is sweetly awoken in the soul and joyfully arises and moves in the heart of itself without us doing anything at all. And then the heart is so powerfully touched by love, so keenly drawn into love and so strongly seized by love, and so utterly mastered by love and so tenderly embraced by love, that it entirely yields itself to love. And in this it experiences a great proximity to God, a spiritual radiance, a marvelous bliss, a noble freedom, an ecstatic sweetness, a great overpowering, by the strength of love, and an overflowing abundance of immense delight. And then she feels that all her senses are sanctified by love and her will has become love, and that she is so deeply immersed and so engulfed in the abyss of love that she herself has turned entirely into love. Then the beauty of love has bedecked her, the power of love has devoured her, the sweetness of love has submerged her, the grandeur of love has consumed her, the nobility of love has enveloped her, the purity of love has adorned her, and the sublimity of love has drawn her upward and so united herself with her that she always must be love and do nothing but the deeds of love.

With Love,

Lilie

[This message was edited by bracha on Monday June 23rd, 2003 at 01:06 AM.]

Beatrijs of Nazareth I love you through the centuries and through eternity ...what a wonderful outpour of LOVE! I have been caught in a whirlwind of Love through her words! Such deeply inspired words, a river of love ...
Thank you dear Lilie for this gem.
I'll print this out.
Love, Margherita

Dear Lilie,

Thank you for the profound message of love.
Absolutely beautiful.

Love, Inda

I am so glad to be able to share
these words of love and beauty
with you

Lilie

Oh heart, sit with someone
who knows the heart;
Go under the tree
which has fresh blossoms.
~Rumi

Oh, how Rumi
found words
for us!



Love,

Lilie

Rumi seems to have
a lot of words for everything.

Come, come
the Beloved has arrived!
The rosegarden is blooming.
Run and offer your life and the world
to the rising Sun.
Rumi

I don't know how I missed this beautiful post.
I was probably away. This is such a lovely message that I wanted to remind everyone of it.

Love,
Sue

I missed this lovely post as well. We must have been on holidays.

Thank you Sue for going through the archives and bringing it back.

Love,
Vicky

This is a very lovely old post.
I think it is very appropriate for the coming St.Valentine's day.

Love,
Vicky

Thank you Vicky, for bringing back
this very timely post.



Love, Inda

This is a lovely old post.

I am also looking through the old posts, but it will take quite a lot of time to do so, but whatever I find I truly enjoy reading.

Love,
yoko