My soul was often filled with admiration for the great goodness of the Lord. I loved to contemplate His majesty and mercy. May He always be praised! (…) Although my deeds were as humble and imperfect as they were, He improved, perfected, and gave them value, while allowing my sins and mistakes to fall into oblivion. Indeed, He even permitted those who saw that I committed them to be blinded and to forget them. He gilds my faults and adds luster to the virtue that He Himself gives me, as if it were mine, and thus He almost compels me to keep it.
(Teresa of Jesus, Life Book IV,10)
