Seek the understanding of faith
From The Mirror of Faith, William of Thierry, abbot (d. 1148)
St. William of Thierry, a theologian and mystic, was abbot of the monastery at Liege. He was born of a noble family, and made his studies at the Benedictine Monastery of Saint Nicaise at Reims together with his brother Simon. Both embraced the religious life, and both became abbots. Prior to becoming abbot in 1119, William had known St. Bernard, and formed a life-long bond with him. He was most interested in joining him at Clairvaux, but instead, continued his duties as abbot of the monastery at Reims for the next eighteen years until infirmities brought him to retirement in 1135. He then withdrew to the Cistercian abbey at Signy. Here, amid almost constant suffering, he divided his free time between prayer and study. According to a contemporary annalist his death at the age of 63 occurred about the time of the council of Reims under Pope Eugenius 1148.
William left behind many written works including letters to St. Bernard, “On the solitary life”, ” On the contemplation of God”, “The nature and dignity of Divine love” “The Mirror of Faith”; “The Enigma of Faith” “On the Sacrament of the Altar” a commentary on the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist; a defense of the true idea of the Trinity. “Commentaries on the Canticle of Canticles”
Seek the understanding of faith from the Holy Spirit
When in your life of faith you are confronted with the deeper mysteries it is natural to become a little frightened. When this happens, take heart faithful Christian. Do not raise objections, but ask with loving submission, “How can these things be?” Let your question be a prayer, an expression of love and self-surrender to God. Let it be an expression of your humble desire not to penetrate his sublime majesty, but to find salvation through the saving deeds of God our Savior.
Then the Angel of good counsel will reply: When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send you from the Father, he will remind you of everything and teach you all truth. Even as no one knows a man’s secret thoughts except his own spirit within him, so no one comprehends the mysteries of God except the Spirit of God.
Hasten therefore to receive the Holy Spirit. He is with you when you call upon him; you can call upon him only because he is already present. But when he comes in answer to your prayer, he comes with an abundance of divine blessings; he is the river whose stream gives joy to the city of God.
If when he comes he finds you humble, silent and trembling at the words of God, he will rest upon you and reveal what God the Father has hidden from the wise and the prudent of this world. You will then begin to understand the things holy Wisdom could have told his disciples on earth, but which they were unable to bear until the Spirit of truth came who was to teach them all truth. For this reason we cannot hope to learn from the lips of any man truths that Truth himself could not convey. As he himself has told us: God is Spirit. As those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth, so those who wish to know him must seek understanding of their faith and perception of its pure and simple truth only in the Holy Spirit.
In the darkness and ignorance of this life, the Holy Spirit enlightens the poor in spirit. He is the love that draws them on, the sweetness that attracts them, the way in which a man approaches God. He is the love of the lover. He is devotion. He is piety. From one degree of faith to the next he is ever revealing to believers the justice of God, so that grace follows grace, and the faith that comes from hearing yields to a faith enlightened by understanding.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings