19. Continuing the same subject, she begins to describe the effects upon the soul of this stage of prayer.

[John]

19. Continuing the same subject, she begins to describe the effects upon the soul of this stage of prayer. She earnestly exhorts those who have attained it not to turn back, even if they should afterwards fall, nor ever to give up prayer. She describes the ham that they would suffer if they did so. All this is most noteworthy and will be of great comfort to the weak and to sinners

[Sheila]

If a soul perseveres in prayer it will be lost to the devil, i.e., hang in there!
She continues to try to explain and understand God's choices, why this one gets the gift of rapture and that one doesn't--perhaps we do the same without realizing it.
According to her, the Lord forgave St. Peter once, but He must have forgiven Peter daily, right?
Goodness of God is greater than all the evil we can do. Amen to that.

[Jill]

She uses the image of sun so bright that every cobweb shows up clearly, relevant to our earlier dialogue about how she can see herself as such a great sinner.
I also like her image that trials, calumny, etc. serve to break up our hard soil so the water of the Lord's grace can sink in deeper.
"[I] wearied of offending His Majesty before He ceased forgiving me. Never does He weary of giving and never can his mercies be exhausted; let us, then, not grow weary of receiving."

[John]

I loved this chapter, and noted quite a few quotes.

"Now that it clearly understands that the fruit are not its own, it can begin to share them with others, without lacking any itself."

"Even if they fall after the Lord has raised them as high as this, they must not faint unless they wish to be utterly lost For tears gain everything; and one kind of water attracts another."

"But, if he persists in prayer, he may be sure that it will bring him to the haven of light"

"The deceiver knows that any soul who resolutely persists in prayer is lost to him, and that, thanks to the goodness of God, every time he brings it down he only helps it to leap up again even higher in His service."

"It seemed that all You were waiting for was that I should be willing and prepared to receive them."

"may His Majesty never allow me the power to oppose Him in the slightest degree. Rather than that, let Him destroy me just as I am."

"What folly to run away from the light, in order to go on stumbling! What proud humility did the devil plant in me, when I gave up my hold on that pillar and staff whose support I needed to save me from making a great fall."

"let all those who practise prayer reflect well on this, and realize that when I gave up prayer my life became much more depraved."

"Still, anyone who does not stop walking onwards arrives in the end, though late."

"Now because of this and for other reasons, we have great need of a director and of conversation with spiritual persons."

"When we know ourselves and want to return to His friendship, He does not remember our ingratitude, or how we have misused the favours He has granted us."

"Let men remember His words and consider what He has done for me, who grew tired of offending before He grew tired of forgiving."