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Let yourself be seen by all as you really are. Just as we are in the sight of God, so let us be in the sight of all.

Perseverance through all misfortunes confers strength and courage on it (the soul). The painful purification from all sensible desires and pleasures leads it to freedom of spirit in which the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit mature.

In the Passion and death of Christ our sins were consumed by fire. If we accept that in faith, and if we accept the whole Christ in faith-filled surrender, which means, however, that we choose and walk the path of the imitation of Christ, then He will lead us "through His Passion and cross to the glory of His Resurrection." This is exactly what is experienced in contemplation: passing through the expiatory flames to the bliss of the union of love. This explains its twofold character. It is death and resurrection.

Therefore the whole perpetual sacrificial offering of Christ at the cross, in the holy Mass, and in the eternal glory of heaven can be conceived as a single great thanksgiving as Eucharist: as gratitude for creation, salvation, and consummation. Christ presents himself in the name of all creation, whose prototype he is and to which he descended to renew it from the inside out and lead it to perfection. But he also calls upon the entire created world itself, united with him, to give the Creator the tribute of thanks that is his due.

God is love, and love is goodness giving itself away. It is a fullness of being that does not want to remain enclosed in itself, but rather to share itself with others, to give itself to them and to make them happy.

Charity liberates the will from everything, imposing as a duty to love God above all else. This however is possible only when anxious desire for creatures is removed.

When under the action of detachment and spiritual darkness, faith plants firm roots in the soul, hope and charity likewise flow into it; a charity that logically does not manifest itself by giving a sensation of sweetness, but rather by producing in the soul a strength, a more decisive courage, a vigor hitherto unknown.

Have patience with yourself, the Lord does.

Human activities cannot help us, but only the suffering of Christ. It is my desire to share in it.

When night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed, just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God's hands, and leave it with Him. Then you will be able to rest in Him - really rest - and start the next day as a new life.

My life begins anew each morning and ends each evening; beyond that I have no plans or intentions; that is, it may be part of one's daily duties to plan ahead, but one must never worry about the next day.

The divine life which is enkindled in the soul is the Light that came into the darkness-the mystery of the Holy Night. The one who bears it within himself understands its meaning...God is in us and we in Him; that is our portion of the kingdom of God, established by the Incarnation.