We should never neglect to listen to any discourse that supports piety, virtues, and good behavior, for it is a way by which the salvation of God is manifested…. If you are not only moved to compunction by the conversation, but even converted totally to the Lord, swearing and promising to keep the judgment of [God’s] justice, you will also know that [God] is already present, especially if you feel yourself burning with [God’s] love.
– Bernard of Clairvaux
from “On the Song of Songs,” Quoted in Essential Monastic Wisdom: Writings on the Contemplative Life by Hugh Feiss.