Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Health Vailankanni

De virginitate, PL 16, 283-286 (The nun's ideals, trans. James Shiel: Scepter Publications, 1963, pp. 101-105, rev.)

"I held him and I would not let him go" (Sg 3:4)

You are one of the virgins who illumine the beauty of your body with the light of the mind, you are all the more fit to be compared with the Church. In the hours of the night think always on Christ and hope for his coming at every moment. (…) Christ enters at the open door. He will not fail to do so for he has promised to enter. Embrace him whom you have sought. Approach him and be illumined. Hold him and ask him not to go away quickly. Beg him not to depart. For "His Word runs swiftly" (Ps 147:15) and will not be held by the slothful or negligent soul. Let your soul run to his call and follow closely the sound of his heavenly voice, for his passing is swift. (…) With what ties is Christ to be held? Not by force, not by chains, but rather by the bonds of charity. He is kept and held by the ties of the mind, by the love of the heart. So if you want to hold Christ, seek him continually and fear no fatigue. It is often in pain of body, amid the very hands of the persecutors, that Christ may really be found. (…) In a little while, in a brief moment, when you have escaped the hands of your persecutors and have not succumbed to the powers of the world, Christ will meet you and will not allow you to be tempted further.

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"I held him and I would not let him go" (Sg 3:4)

Saint Ambrose (c.340-397)

"I held him and I would not let him go" (Sg 3:4)

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