Our Novice Mistress was really a saint [Sr. Marie of the Angels], the finished product of the first Carmelites. I was with her all day long since she taught me how to work. Her kindness toward me was limitless and still, my soul did not expand under her direction. It was only with great effort that I was able to take direction, for I had never become accustomed to speaking about my soul and I didn’t know how to express what was going on within it.
One good old Mother [Sr. Fébronie of the Holy Childhood] understood one day what I was experiencing, and she said laughingly during recreation: “My child, it seems to me you don’t have very much to tell your Superiors.”
“Why do you say that, Mother?”
“Because your soul is extremely simple, but when you will be perfect, you will be even more simple; the closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.”
The good Mother was right; however, the difficulty I had in revealing my soul while coming from my simplicity, was a veritable trial; I recognize it now, for I express my thoughts with great ease without ceasing to be simple.
Carmelite Quotes 
I have a very long way to go before I become simple…