Our inner and outer lives should be pure...

"The life of a good religious should be distinguished by virtue, being inwardly as one appears outwardly, for He Who sees the heart is God, Whom we should always reverence.  We should walk in His Presence as pure as the Angels."

Imitation of Christ, Book One, Chapter Nineteen

Do not fall off in fervor...

"How sad it is that through our own negligence and wasting of time we have fallen so quickly from our first fervor, and are even tired of life itself!  God grant that the desire to advance in virtue be not dormant in you, who so often have had the examples of the Saints before you!"

Imitation of Christ, Book One, Chapter Eighteen

On the fervent holy religious of old...

"The history of their deeds bears witness to their holiness and perfection by which they were able to subdue the world and trample it beneath their feet.  Nowadays, those who can keep the rule and maintain patience in what they have undertaken are thought the world of."

Imitation of Christ, Book One, Chapter Eighteen

The grace of obedience...

"How fervent were the religious when their institutions were founded! What devotion in prayer, what zeal for virtue and what strict discipline was maintained!  Reverence and obedience under the rule of the Superior prospered!"

Imitation of Christ, Book One, Chapter Eighteen

More on holy souls...

"This is why they grew spiritually every day, gaining great grace from God.  They were given as an example to all who desire to be holy; how much more, therefore, should they inspire us to advance spiritually than the number of the lukewarm influence us to grow lax."

Imitation of Christ, Book One, Chapter Eighteen

They were strangers to the world...

"They were strangers to the world, but to God they were dear and intimate friends.  In the world's eyes and in their own they were despised as nothing; but in the eyes of God and His Saints they were beloved and precious indeed.  True humility, simple obedience, charity, patience--in fact all the virtues shone forth in them."

Imitation of Christ, Book One, Chapter Eighteen

…but inwardly they were filled with grace...

"They abandoned riches, honors, friends and families; they wanted nothing of this world, scarcely even taking what was necessary for the body.  Outwardly they were in need, but inwardly they were filled with grace and spiritual consolation."

Imitation of Christ, Book One, Chapter Eighteen

Forgetting oneself for God

"They worked by day and they prayed by night.  Their time was always profitably spent, for even in their physical labors they turned their minds to God and considered the time in His service all too short. Often they forgot the need for food, so consoling were their contemplations."

Imitation of Christ, Book One, Chapter Eighteen