The soul must not be a public square, where there is always a crowd of gossipers or of persons recalled from the past with their tales of suffering and rebuke. Such types, seething at their imagined foes and smarting in their own self-love, are seriously at fault.
There should be nothing like that among us. Silence should penetrate deep within us and occupy every area of our inner home. Thus is our soul transformed into a sanctuary of prayer and recollection.
Servant of God Père Jacques de Jésus
Retreat to the Carmel of Pontoise
Conference 8, Silence
Thursday evening, 9 September 1943
Jacques, P 2005, Listen to the silence: a retreat with Père Jacques, translated from the French and edited by Murphy F, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: My Love She Speaks Like Silence captures the beauty of San Francisco’s bay and famous bay bridge called the Golden Gate at sunset. Thanks to world-renowned photographer Thomas Hawk for making this photo available to all on Flickr (Some rights reserved).
Carmelite Quotes 
Reading this with loud organ music in my headphones, at prayer time…. the good Father is right, I have a lot of room for improvement! I love Carmel’s deep silence, and,actually, don’tplay music much,and watch little TV…