Cécile Bruyère

Mère Cécile Bruyère (12 October 1845 – 18 March 1909) was the first abbess of St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes (Abbaye Sainte-Cécile de Solesmes) and a follower of Dom Prosper Guéranger in the revival of Benedictine spirituality in 19th century France.

Quotes

 * “Simply put, this idea of prayer is the process of slowly infusing of the soul with the mind of God as He has revealed Himself to us…”
 * “It’s a somewhat alarming truth of the Faith that we are all — every one of us in every station and condition of life — required to attempt the great heights. And we are all given exactly the same means to make the attempt. Every spiritual writer from the earliest centuries to our own time has said the same thing: the means is prayer. Without this key ingredient — the striving of the soul for union with God — even the power of the sacraments is muted. It is only and exclusively through prayer that a soul is made capable of receiving the sacramental grace dispensed by God through the Church. Prayer is the rain that softens the hard earth of our souls to receive the seed of the Divine Sower, the grace of the Holy Ghost.”
 * “There is a happiness beyond that which comes from the enjoyment of visible things; no good less than God will satisfy us, neither will any happiness lessthan fulfillment of God’s promise to pour His own eternal joy into our souls.”