Lord God, how can you be both compassionate and above passion? If you are above passion, you cannot share people's suffering; but if you cannot share suffering, you cannot be compassionate - since compassion consists in feeling miserable at the misery of others. The answer must be that you are compassionate in terms of our experience, and not compassionate in terms of your own being. When you look upon us in our misery, we experience the effect of compassion, but you do not experience the feeling. You demonstrate compassion when you heal the sick and pardon the sinner; but you do not feel their suffering within yourself.
St. Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion: 8