John of the Angels (1536–1609)

“That in this one dialogue is the sum of all mystic theology and that it will serve as the fountain of everlasting life and the true road to perfect union with the Divine.”

Oh, absent and vain heart! gather yourself a bit into yourself, or better said, into your Christ, who is no other than yourself, and finally understand that from here forward you have nothing more to desire than to be man-god in Christ.

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Although I confess to be, up to the present, lacking in works, I am not lacking in those earlier desires, and other new ones—and the foremost of all is to be inwardly that which I appear to be on the outside.

Originally published in two parts in Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Summer, 1969) and Vol. 3, No. 4 (Autumn 1969). © World Wisdom, Inc., reproduced here with warm thanks.