The words of our mother Saint Teresa show us that she knew precisely how to communicate the fundamental doctrine of the state of abandonment. “God is all-powerful and he loves me,” she used to say* [Cf. The Book of her Life, ch. 25, no. 17]. All is said when that is said!
Consequently, all that comes from God is wise and loving. We have only to accept his will with thanksgiving and adoration; it is what is best for us. The love he gives us is a gift from the best of fathers to the child whom he loves; it is supernatural wealth poured out on his child who cries out to his father.
Servant of God Père Jacques de Jésus
Retreat for the Carmel of Pontoise
Conference 11 on Hope and Abandonment
Saturday morning, 11 September 1943
* The quote, “God is all-powerful and he loves me”, which Père Jacques cited, refers to this passage from the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, chapter 25, no. 17:
O my Lord, how You are the true friend; and how powerful! When You desire You can love, and You never stop loving those who love You! All things praise You, Lord of the world! Oh, who will cry out for You, to tell everyone how faithful You are to Your friends! All things fail; You, Lord of all, never fail! Little it is, that which You allow the one who loves You to suffer! Oh my Lord! How delicately and smoothly and delightfully You treat them! Would that no one ever pause to love anyone but You! It seems, Lord, You try with rigor the person who loves You so that in extreme trial she might understand the greatest extreme of Your love. Oh my God, who has the understanding, the learning, and the new words with which to extol Your works as my soul understands them? All fails me, my Lord; but if You do not abandon me, I will not fail You. Let all learned men rise up against me, let all created things persecute me, let the devils torment me; do not You fail me, Lord, for I already have experience of the gain that comes from the way You rescue the one who trusts in You alone.
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.
Carmelite Quotes 
It always does me so much good to gaze into the eyes of a contented, vitally alive celibate: it aids me in my own vocation. I love both quotes very much. I wish my heart were so fully converted to have all this on board. Yes, I know = keep reading The Life!! I was thinking of beginning with Practising The Presence Of God. though. They have a saying in a support group to which I belong, “When you have nothing left but God, you find that God is enough”…
Solid! Brother Lawrence is a perfect disciple of St. Teresa 😊