“No one can fully understand how ready God is to receive our souls, meeting us every instant halfway and with all eagerness as we advance toward Him. How does it happen that we hold back, and that we refuse this invitation, that we do it so often and for such frivolous reasons?”
“A man once thought that God drew some men even by pleasant paths, while others were drawn by the path of pain. Our Lord answered him thus: “What think ye can be pleasanter or nobler than to be made most like unto Me? that is by suffering.”
“He who always dies to self, is always beginning to live unto God, and that without ceasing. In the truest death of all created things, the sweetest and most natural life lies hidden.”
“We cry out every day and say in the Lord’s Prayer: “Lord, Thy Will be done!” but then we feel angry, and are not so content with His will as that all He does should seem for the best. They who do accept it as the best, are kept in perfect peace in all things.” – Johannes Tauler
“You must know that God’s gifts are to come to us through suffering; and if they come before suffering, then are they none the less to be preserved by suffering. God gives great suffering to his dear, holy friends, and He did especially to His only begotten Son.” – John Tauler
“Let man do God’s will simply, passively and not actively, acknowledging as God’s his every effort, act and word. Surrender thy will to God in all things, and live and act interiorly. Draw thyself in to the innermost recesses of thy soul, for it is there that God dwells.” – Johannes Tauler
“Cast all care upon God and rest in Him. Turn to The Eternal God with unshaken trust in His goodness and mercy. If it comes even to the end of life, and a man in deep distress shall but anchor all his hopes in God and die in that mind, it is truly a happy and a holy death.” – Johannes Tauler
“Bend thy back obediently under all afflictions coming from God, whether direct or through men, suffering with all willingness, as under His chastening hand. Carry all burdens back again to Him. Lay every sorrow at His feet with unfeigned gratitude.” – Johannes Tauler
See also, Fr. Johannes Tauler’s excerpt on suffering.
Under Mary's Mantle 