When God is seen in darkness it does not bring a smile to the lips, nor devotion, fervor, or ardent love; neither does the body or the soul tremble or move as at other times; the soul sees nothing and everything; the body sleeps and speech is cut off. God spoke to me, all those which you ever wrote - I now understand that these were so much less than that which I see with such great darkness, that in no way do I place my hope in them, nor is there any of my hope in them. Even if it were possible that all these previous experiences were not true, nonetheless, that could in no way diminish my hope - the hope that is so secure and certain in the All Good which I see with such darkness. Christ's faithful one told me, that her soul had been elevated only three times to this most exalted and altogether ineffable way of seeing God with such darkness, a vision which was a superlative and utterly wonderful grace. For in this state it seems to me that I am standing or lying in the midst of the Trinity!'

(Angela of Foligno)