Where is My Sanctuary?

'Faith tells us that our heart is a Sanctuary, because it is the Temple of God, the dwelling-place of the Holy Trinity.  Let us often visit this Sanctuary, and see that the lamps are alight - that is to say, Faith, Hope and Charity...' (St. Paul of the Cross)  

'To be with God it is not necessary to be always in church.  We may make a chapel of our heart, whereto to escape from time to time to talk with Him quietly, humbly and lovingly.... Begin then; perhaps He is waiting for a single generous resolution.'  (Brother Lawrence) 

'No other traffic will He allow to be carried on within the temple of your soul but the traffic for eternal wealth... ' (from Sheltering the Divine Outcast, compiled by A Religious, Peter Reilly Co., 1952, pp. 81-82) 

 'A cloistered heart accepts God’s grace to love Jesus Christ in the midst of a world that does not love Him; to embrace His will in a world which does not embrace it. Thus the cloistered heart becomes a place of refuge not only for us, but for Christ Himself. To create such a refuge is a primary part of the cloistered heart’s apostolate. (from book The Cloistered Heart, Nancy Shuman)

'"When you use the analogy of the grille of God’s will and imagine yourself protected by it," wrote our friend Jane some time ago, "you really do see things in a new light. I think a perfect example of this was when I placed myself there on my 40 minute drives back and forth to work, battling very unpleasant traffic."  Jane's car became a monastery on wheels.  It was as if grillwork had been stretched across her windshield. Through the noise and the bustle and the rush and the traffic, her gaze was set firmly on God....' (from Cloistered Heart blog archives, April 2012)