How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Page)
Quote #7
"Daughter, if you knew how sweet your love is to me, you would never do anything else but love me with all your heart. And therefore, do believe, daughter, that my love is not so sweet to you as your love is to me." (I.64.196)
Kempe and Jesus are having one of those cute couple arguments over who loves the other more. Jesus wants the last word (naturally) by asking her to trust him—his love for her will always be greater, just as everything about him will always be greater, because, you know, he's Jesus. He also says there's only so much she can comprehend with her mortal brain. In this case, she can never truly understand the extent of his love, even though she feels loved by him.
Quote #8
"Therefore, my beloved daughter, do not be weary of me on earth, to sit alone by yourself and think of my love, for I am not weary of you, and my merciful eye is ever upon you. Daughter, you may boldly say to me, Jesus est amor meus, that is to say, 'Jesus is my love [...].'" (I.65.200)
Kempe receives some serious encouragement from Jesus here, especially when he gives her permission to own him. Kempe presents him as a bridegroom who asks his wife to be devoted and true to him and never to get tired of him, no matter how long they are together. This is one of Kempe's more successful uses of conjugal imagery.
Quote #9
[...] he often repeated these words: "Our Lord Jesus languishes for love." Those words so worked in her mind, when she heard speak of the perfect love that our Lord Jesus Christ had for mankind [...] that she could no longer keep the fire of love enclosed within her breast [...]. (I.78.225)
Kempe listens to a priest's sermon during Holy Week (which celebrates Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection), which acts as a trigger for a very real emotional response. The idea that Christ dies for the love of all humanity awakens all Kempe's compassion and feelings of love for the God who has revealed himself to her in her visions.