A voluntary subjection

      "What is being referred to is that subjection about which the divine apostle spoke, when the Son subjects to the Father those who freely accept subjection [1 Cor 15:28].  This subjection will be voluntary, and through it the last enemy, death, will be destroyed.  That which is in our power, our free will, through which the power of corruption entered into us, will surrender voluntarily to God and will have mastery of itself because it had been taught to refrain from willing anything other than what God wills. . . .
     "Do not be disturbed by what I have said.  I have no intention of denying free will.  Rather I am speaking of a firm and steadfast disposition, a willing surrender [(θέσιν . . . τὴν κατὰ φύσιν παγίαν τε καὶ ἀμετάθετον, ἤγουν ἐκχώρησιν γνωμικὴν)], so that from the one from who we have received being [(τὸ εἶναι)] we long to receive being moved [(τὸ κινεῖσθαι)] as well."

     St. Maximus the Confessor, Ambiguum 7, trans. Blowers & Wilken (On the cosmic mystery of Jesus Christ:  selected writings from St Maximus the Confessor, trans. Paul M. Blowers and Robert Louis Wilkin, Popular patristics series 25 (Crestwood, NY:  St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003), 51-52).  Greek from PG 91, col. 1076B.

"Time, in which we have found nothing to offer up to God, is lost for eternity"

      "Every offering has value only insofar as one snatches it away from one's own benefit and dedicates it to God through this self-conquest. One loves and gives precisely because one loves, and because one considers what is given as a good, as a treasure. Love of creatures must be subordinated to the love of God, whom one is pledged to love above all things.
     "Time, in which we have found nothing to offer up to God, is lost for eternity. If it is only the duties of our vocation that we fulfill with dedication to the will of God; if it is the sweat of our faces that, in resignation, we wipe from our brow without murmuring; if it is suffering, temptations, difficulties with our fellowmen—everything we can present to God as an offering and can, through them, become like Jesus his Son. Where the sacrifice is great and manifold, there, in the same proportion, is the hope of glory more deeply and more securely grounded in the heart of him who makes it."

     St. Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867), Letter, as translated for the Liturgy of the hours, 5 October, Archives of the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province, (variously (?) translated and) published now, presumably, in Sincerely, Seelos:  the collected letters of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, ed., trans., and introduced Carl Hoegerl, C.Ss.R. (New Orleans:  Seelos Center, 2008).

Aquinas in the first person

"Therefore, with trust in divine mercy, pursuing the task of a wise man, although this surpasses our own powers, our intention is to clarify, in our own small way, the truth which the Catholic faith professes, eliminating contrary errors.  [At this point St. Thomas speaks, as he very rarely does, in the first person:]  I do this so that I may make my own the words of Hilary:  I am mindful that I owe this to God as the greatest task of my life, that my every word and thought may speak of him."

"Assumpta igitur ex divina pietate fiducia sapientis officium prosequendi, quamvis proprias vires excedat, propositum nostrae intentionis est veritatem quam fides Catholica profitetur, pro nostro modulo manifestare, errores eliminando contrarios: ut enim verbis Hilarii utar, ego hoc vel praecipuum vitae meae officium debere me Deo conscius sum, ut eum omnis sermo meus et sensus loquatur."

     St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles I.2[.2], as translated Fr. Simon Francis Gaine, O.P., "Introduction to the life and work of St. Thomas Aquinas," Angelicum Thomistic Institute 2022 Student Summer Seminar "Aquinas, Philosophy, & Contemporary Science," 3-6 July 2022, at c. 22:13.  The Latin from here, where the Shapcote (FEDP) translation (with my emendations) appears: 

"Therefore, assuming the office of the wise man with confidence from God’s loving kindness, although it surpasses our own powers, the purpose we have in view is, in our own weak way, to declare the truth which the Catholic faith professes, while weeding out contrary errors; for, in the words of Hilary [(for, in order that I might make my own the words of Hilary)], I acknowledge that I owe my life’s chief occupation to God [(I am conscious of this, that I owe the chief office of my life to God)], so that every word and every thought of mine may speak of him [(On the Trinity 1, 37 =PL 10, col. 48)]."

Trans. Pegis:

"And so, in the name of the divine Mercy, I have the confidence to embark upon the work of a wise man, even though this may surpass my powers, and I have set myself the task of making known, as far as my limited powers will allow, the truth that the Catholic faith professes, and of setting aside the errors that are opposed to it.  To use the words of Hilary:  'I am aware that I owe this to God as the chief duty of my life, that my every word and sense may speak of Him.'"

Gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit

"Love alone, properly speaking, proves that the human person is in the image of the Creator, by making his self-determination submit to reason, not bending reason under it, and [by] persuading the inclination to follow nature and not in any way to be at variance with the logos of nature.  In this way we are all, as it were, one nature, so that we are able to have one inclination and one will with God and with one another, not having any discord with God or one another, whenever by the law of grace, through which by our inclination the law of nature is renewed [(whenever by the law of grace, through which we deliberately renew the law of nature)], we choose what is ultimate."

Αὔτη μόνη, κυρίως εἰπεῖν, κατ' εἰκόνα τοῦ Κτίσαντος τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὄντα παρίστησι, τῷ μὲν λόγῳ σοφῶς τὸ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ὑποτάσσουσα· τούτῳ δὲ τὸν λόγον οὐχ ὑποκλίνουσα· καὶ πείθουσα τὴν γνώμην κατὰ τὴν φύσιν πορεύεσθαι, μηδαμῶς πρὸς τὸν λόγον τῆς φύσεως στασιάζουσαν· καθ' ὃν ἄπαντες ὥσπερ μίαν φύσιν, οὕτω δὲ καὶ μίαν γνώμην καὶ θέλημα ἓν, θεῷ καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἔχειν δυνάμεθα, οὐδεμίαν πρὸς θεὸν καὶ ἀλλήλους διάστασιν ἔχοντες, ὅτ' ἂν τῷ νόμῳ τῆς χάριτος, δι' οὗ τὸν νόμον τῆς φύσεως γνωμικῶς ἀνακαινίζομεν, στοικεῖον προαιρούμεθα.

     Maximus the Confessor, Letter to John the Cubicularius On charity dated c. 626, trans. Louth and quoted in the Introduction to On the cosmic mystery of Jesus Christ:  selected writings on St. Maximus the Confessor, trans. Paul M. Blowers and Robert Louis Wilken, Popular patristics series 25 (Crestwood, NY:  St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003), 43, underscoring mine.  The Greek should be checked for errors-in-transcription against a more crisply printed copy of PG 91, col. 396C-D.  On ἀνακαινίζω see Heb 6:4 on renewal again to repentance, but also ἀνακαινόω at 2 Cor 4:16 and Col 3:10 (there are a few occurrences in the Septuagint as well (e.g. Ps 102 (103):5 and 103 (104):30)).