1. The object of all virtues is to bring us into union with God, in which alone is laid up all the happiness that can be enjoyed in this world. Now, in what does this union properly consist? In nothing save a perfect conformity and resemblance between our will and the will of God, so that these these two wills are absolutely alike----there is nothing in one repugnant to the other; all that one wishes and loves, the other wishes and loves; whatever pleases or displeases one, pleases or displeases the other.----St. John of the Cross
The Blessed Virgin possessed this perfect union, and St. Bernard says of her that she kept her eyes on the watch and her consent fully prepared for every token of the Divine Will.
The Venerable Mother Seraphina di Dio had advanced far on this road, for in an account which she gave of herself to her director, she was able to say: "My soul seems to be so much in harmony with Our Lord, that whatever He operates in it always appears most fitting, for it is the very thing which it wills for itself. Whatever comes to my soul is a sweet morsel made on purpose for it, and it seems unable to desire anything else, so that it never experiences bitterness or trouble." Once when she accused herself of want of conformity to the Divine Will, she received at that moment a ray of light by which she saw how beautiful is the will of God so clearly that she remained for some time overcome with astonishment that a creature, sprung from nothing, should fail to love the most holy and beautiful will of its Creator.
2. Those deceive themselves who believe that union with God consists in ecstasies or raptures, and in the enjoyment of Him. For it consists in nothing except the surrender and subjection of our will with our thoughts, words and actions, to the will of God and it is perfect when the will finds itself separated from everything, and attached only to that of God, so that every one of its movements is solely and purely the volition of God. This is the true and essential union which I have always desired, and which I constantly ask of the Lord. Oh, how many of us there are who say this, and who think we desire only this! But, wretched that we are, how few are ever to attain it!----St. Teresa
This Saint never ceased to wonder at the great privilege which man possesses in being able to unite himself to his Creator, and at the wonderful desire which so great a sovereign entertains to see him united to Himself. This, therefore, was the object of her keenest desires, and for this she strove more ardently than for anything else.
St. John the Baptist abode in the desert for twenty-four years. God knows how his heart was touched with love for his Saviour even from his birth, and how earnestly he desired to enjoy His presence; and yet, devoted to the simple will of God, he remained there discharging his duty, without even once seeing Him. And after he had Baptized Him, he did not follow Him, but continued in his office. What can we say of all this, if not that his was a spirit detached from all things and from God Himself, to perform His will? "This example," said St. Francis de Sales, "overwhelms my soul with its grandeur."
3. Union with God takes place in three ways: by conformity, by uniformity, and by deiformity. Conformity is a complete subordination of our will to the Divine Will in all our actions, and in all occurrences and events, so that we will and accept all that God wills and sends, however painful and repulsive it may be. Uniformity is a close union of our will with the Divine Will, by which we will, not only all that God wills, but we will it solely because He wills it, and so all repugnances are banished. Deiformity is a transformation which renders our will one with that of God, so that it is no longer conscious of itself, as if it were no longer in existence, but only feels in itself the Divine Will, and, as if it were changed into it, no longer desires in any of its acts and operations anything, even what is most holy, with or through the created will, but only in the uncreated, made its own by transformation.----Fr. Achilles Gagliardi