Some sayings of Mother Mectilde

Nothing so charms God as does a person who is humble. He rushes into this soul with the same speed as lightening before thunder or like an arrow shot from the bow [. . .]
Conference nº 659, 34.

The saints are as full of God as they are empty of themselves. Alas! If we were squeezed out and reduced to a liqueur, one would see in it nothing but love of ourselves.
Conference nº 1075, 39.

If the cross frightens you too much and you prefer love, then love.
Familiar Conversations, F.C. 2401, 40.

God, in Himself, is independent of all creatures; the creature is nothing itself and must be nothing for itself. God is, and you are not at all.
nº 340, July 1662, 84.

Have no repugnance for being in the presence of God without doing anything, since all He wants of you is silence and ennothingment. When you let go and abandon yourself without reserve to His omnipotence, you will always be doing much.
nº 1746, To Mother Marie de Jésus Chopinel, Caen, 24 May 1649, 104.

Prayer of the heart is nothing other than believing that God is in one’s heart, adoring Him there, and leaving oneself to Him in love. This kind of prayer requires no instruction other than the findings with which the Holy Ghost inspires the soul. Divine love is the master and the director. Therein lies the secret. Creatures must in no way interfere with what is His office.
To the Countess of Châteauvieux, F.C. 2032, 105.

But, you will say to me, “I’m upset because I believe that my dryness comes from my infidelities and that they are the mark of Our Lord’s displeasure.” Such reasons are nothing but self–love. If your infidelities have brought you to this state, suffer it as the penance you deserve. Don’t reflect so much; abandon yourself [ . . .] Think only of loving Him, of making Him happy. This is the one thing necessary. All the rest is nothing.
To a particular religious, F.C. 2548, 107.

Even if, inside it seems like the organs of the soul are in darkness and seemingly powerless to raise themselves to seek God, the truth is that we possess Him in faith since it is true that He compasses us about, and that He is all our being, more us than we are ourselves. And if the soul should say, “I cannot be united to God because of my impurities” I will answer that the soul is in God, that she lives in God [ . . .] If one only knew the good that the soul receives from this presence when she applies herself to it in faith at every hour! The soul finds herself all immersed in God, even to penetrations that cannot be explained. All our problem is that we do not want to be taken captive under this law of love and of simple application to God who is present.
Chapter, 592, 107.

But, you will say to me, “I’m upset because I believe that my dryness comes from my infidelities and that they are the mark of Our Lord’s displeasure.” Such reasons are nothing but self–love. If your infidelities have brought you to this state, suffer it as the penance you deserve. Don’t reflect so much; what you must do is abandon yourself [ . . .]  Walk in the pure lights of faith and not at all in the vanity of our senses. Leave it there! Think only of making God happy. Admire the goodness with which He puts up with us. Think only of loving Him, of giving Him happiness. This is the one thing necessary. All the rest is nothing.
L. to a religious, F.C., 2548. Écoute, 107.