Joy (St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata / St. Mechtilde of Magdeburg)

Joy is a net of love by which we can catch souls.

--St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata

I cannot dance, Beloved, unless you lead me. 

If you want me to leap with abandon, 

You must intone the song. 

Then I shall leap into love, 

From love into wisdom, 

From wisdom into joy, 

And from joy, reach beyond all human sensations. 

There I will seek to remain, 

Yet long also to soar higher still. 

-- St. Mechtilde of Magdeburg
(13th century mystic)

Image source: Still shot, Pam Tanowitz & David Lang's staging of the Song of Songs, in which the human soul prays that God will draw her to him, New York City, November 2023, https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2023-2024/pam-tanowitz-artists-at-the-center/

Quotation 1 source
Quotation 2 source