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And thus, in the words of St. Thomas, man lives no longer for
himself, but for God. [177] He may say, with St. Paul:
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'To me to
live is Christ, and to die is gain.' [178]
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Life for me is not
study, not work, or natural activity of any kind, but Christ.
Such is the way that leads to this quasi-experimental and almost
continuous knowledge of the Blessed Trinity dwelling within us.
And this is what makes St. Catherine say at the end of her
Dialogue:[179]
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' O eternal Trinity, O Godhead, O divine Nature that gavest to the
Blood of Thy Son so great a price, Thou, O eternal Trinity, art a
bottomless sea into which the more I plunge the more I find, and
the more I find the more I seek Thee still. Of Thee it is never
possible to say- Enough. The soul that is sated in Thy depths
desires Thee yet unceasingly, for it hungers ever after Thee....
Thou art the fire that burns ever and is never quenched, the fire
that consumes in itself all the self-love of souls, that melts all
ice and gives all light. This light is an ocean into which the
soul plunges ever more deeply and there finds peace.'
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What better commentary could we find on those sublime words of St.
Paul to the Philippians:[180]
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' the peace of God, which surpasseth
all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.'
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This is the fruit of the third conversion, in very truth a prelude
to the life of heaven.
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