The second time, when I was twenty-three, I was thinking of getting married. It never occurred to me that I should do anything else.

I met a doctor who spoke to me of the Church and of the beauty of serving her with one’s whole being, while remaining in the world. I do not know what happened at that time nor how it happened; the fact is that I was praying in an empty church where I had gone to escape from my state of inner confusion. I heard the same voice the I had heard during my confession with the old missionary. “Marriage is not for you. You will offer your life to me. I shall be your Lover for ever.”

Letters from the Desert 
Carlo Carretto