June 9th
St Anselm (1033-1109), Confessor, Bishop; Aosta, Burgundy; Feast day April 21st

"Still, Thou are hidden, O Lord, from my soul in Thy light and Thy blessedness; and therefore my soul still walks in darkness and wretchedness.  For it looks, and does not see Thy beauty.  It hearkens, and does not hear Thy harmony.  It smells, and does not perceive Thy fragrance.  It tastes, and does not recognize Thy sweetness.  It touches, and does not feel thy pleasantness.  For Thou hast these attributes in Thyself, Lord God, after Thine ineffable manner, who hast given them to objects created by Thee, after their sensible manner; but the sinful senses of my soul have grown rigid and dull, and have been obstructed by their long listlessness."

Bl John Henry Newman (1801-1890), Cardinal, Confessor; London, England

"We must contemplate the God of our conscience as a Living Being, as one Object and Reality, under the aspect of this or that attribute.  We must patiently rest in the thought of the Eternal, Omnipresent and All-knowing, rather than of Eternity, Omnipresence and Omniscience; and we must not hurry on and force a series of deductions, which, if they are to be realized, must distill like dew into our minds, and form themselves spontaneously there, by a calm contemplation and gradual understanding of their premises."