He Desired Me So I Came Close | by St. Teresa of Avila

The Nymphs 1890 Émile Bernard (French, 1868–1941)

He desired me so I came close,

No one can near God unless He has 

prepared a bed for

you.

A thousand souls hear His call every second,

but most every one then looks into their life’s mirror and

says, “I am not worthy to leave this 

sadness.”

When I first heard His courting song, I too

looked at all I had done in my life 

and said,

“How can I gaze into His omnipresent eyes?”

I spoke those words with all 

my heart,

but then He sang again, a song even sweeter,

and when I tried to shame myself once more from His presence

God showed me His compassion and spoke a divine truth,

“I made you, dear, and all I make is perfect.

Please come close, for I 

desire

you.”

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St. Teresa of Avila (1515—1582) is the most influential female saint in the Western World and has made many great contributions to spiritual literature and poetry.