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I see clearly that you are mistaking the road, and that you will never arrive at the end of your journey. You want to climb the mountain whereas God wishes you to descend it. He is waiting for you in the fruitful valley of humility.

Let us avoid all display; let us love our lowliness; let us be affected by nothing. Then we shall be poor in spirit and Jesus will come to seek us.

I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be enameled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our lord's living garden.

God does not despise these hidden struggles with ourselves, so much richer in merit because they are unseen: "The patient man is better than the valiant and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh cities. (Prov. xvi. 32)".

How sweet is the way of love. True, one can fall or commit infidelities, but, knowing how to draw profit from everything, love quickly consumes everything that can be displeasing to Jesus; it leaves nothing but a humble and profound peace in the depths of the heart.

Would you like to be the plaything
Of this Child so fair and sweet?
Would you, dear one! like to please Him?
Then lie humbly at His feet.
If He chooses to caress you,
If He lifts you to His breast,
Yes, if He seems tired of you,
Count yourself among the blest.
Be His happy Christmas plaything,
Seeking just to do His will;
And in heaven with countless blessings
He, your happy heart, will fill.

I should rather simply confess, ‘The Mighty One has done great things for me,’ and the greatest of these is to have shown me my littleness, my incapability of all good.

The remembrance of my faults humbles me and makes me afraid to rely on my own strength, which is nothing but weakness.

Just as a mother is proud of her children so we shall be proud of one another without the least trace of jealousy.

The nothingness of me is strangely loved:
Sustaining ever
The all of love, my need is strangely here:
Departing never.

O Jesus! how happy I would be if I had been faithful, but alas! often in the evening I am sad because I feel I could have corresponded better with your graces... If I were more united to You, more charitable with my sisters, more humble and more mortified, I would feel less sorrow when I talk with you in prayer. And yet, O my God, very far from becoming discouraged at the sight of my miseries, I come to you with confidence, recalling that "those who are well do not need a doctor but the sick do."

How sweet is the way of Love! True, one may fall and be unfaithful to grace, but Love knows how to draw profit from everything, and quickly consumes whatever may be displeasing to Our Lord, leaving in the heart only a deep and humble peace.