Contentment through restriction

"I find my mind more restricted upon God every day.  It is like a man who at first is free to roam the city, and then is confined to a house, and then to a room, then to a smaller room, then to the cellar, and finally bound and blind-folded until there is no way to escape.  With no comfort except in God who was doing this all along through love and great mercy, I came to a place of great contentment."

"When God finds a soul that rests in Him and is not easily moved, He operates within it in His own manner.  That soul allows God to do great things within it.  He gives to such a soul the key to the treasures He has prepared for it so that it might enjoy them.  And to this same soul He gives the joy of His presence which entirely absorbs such a soul."

--- From Life and Teachings, by Catherine of Genoa