Ch. XIV
“

In God is my being, my me, my strength, my beatitude, my good, and my delight. I say mine at present because it is not possible to speak otherwise, but I do not mean by it any such thing as me or mine, or delight or good, or strength or stability, or beatitude; nor could I possibly turn my eyes to behold such things in heaven or in the earth; and if, notwithstanding, I sometimes use words which may have the likeness of humility and of spirituality, in my interior I do not understand them, I do not feel them. In truth, it astonishes me that I speak at all, or use words so far removed from the truth and from that which I feel. I see clearly that man in this world deceives himself by admiring and esteeming things which are not, and neither sees nor esteems the things which are

— Catherine of Genoa

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "In God is my being, my me, my strength, my beatitude, my good, and my delight. I say mine at present because it is not possible to speak otherwise, but I do not mean by it any such thing as me or mine, or delight or good, or strength or stability, or beatitude; nor could I possibly turn my eyes to behold such things in heaven or in the earth; and if, notwithstanding, I sometimes use words which may have the likeness of humility and of spirituality, in my interior I do not understand them, I do not feel them. In truth, it astonishes me that I speak at all, or use words so far removed from the truth and from that which I feel. I see clearly that man in this world deceives himself by admiring and esteeming things which are not, and neither sees nor esteems the things which are" in the context of "Ch. XIV" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Catherine of Genoa" (Quotes: From, Martin Buber, Ecstatic Confessions , Life and Doctrine: From, "Life and Doctrine of Saint Catherine of Genoa" by CHRISTIAN PRESS ASSOCIATION PUBLISHING CO. (1907) ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Catherine of Genoa

About Catherine of Genoa

Saint Catherine of Genoa (Caterina Fieschi Adorno, 1447 – 15 September 1510) was an Italian saint and mystic of the Catholic Church. She is recognised for her contributions to the development of the doctrine of purgatory.