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There is a Being who is Love and who desires to have us live with Him. Oh! It is delightful! He is there, keeping me company, helping me to suffer, making me rise above my suffering to rest in Him. Do as I do, and you will see how everything becomes transformed.

True spirituality seeks for bitterness rather than sweetness in God, inclines to suffering rather than consolation. It knows that this is to follow Christ and deny self, while the other course is perhaps nothing but seeking oneself in God, which is the very opposite of love.

Run a thousand miles from such expressions as: "I was right." "They had no reason for doing this to me." "The one who did this to me was wrong." God deliver us from this poor way of reasoning. Does it seem to have been right that our good Jesus suffered so many insults and was made to undergo such injustice?

Just as the Lamb had to be killed to be raised upon the throne of glory, so the path to glory leads through suffering and the cross for everyone chosen to attend the marriage supper of the Lamb. All who want to be married to the Lamb must allow themselves to be fastened to the cross with him. Everyone marked by the blood of the Lamb is called to this, and that means all the baptized. But not everyone understands the call and follows it.

Love is swift, sincere, pious, pleasant and delightful; strong, patient, faithful, prudent, long-suffering, courageous, and never seeking itself: for where a man seeks himself, there he falls from love.

Oh my God, how much You suffer for one who grieves so little over Your pains! ... Behold Christians, let us consider it carefully and we shall never finish understanding the splendor of the Lord's mercies and what we owe Him.

Forgetting yourself with respect to your health does not mean neglecting to take care of yourself, for that is your duty and the best of penances, but do it with great abandonment, saying 'thank you' to God no matter what happens. When your soul is burdened and fatigued by the weight of your body, do not be discouraged, rather go by faith and love to Him who said 'Come to me and I will refresh you.' As for your spirit, never let yourself be depressed by the thought of your sufferings.

Suffering makes us good; it makes us indulgent towards others, because suffering brings us nearer to the good Lord.

You will be consoled according to the greatness of your sorrow and affliction; the greater the suffering, the greater will be the reward.

She no longer feels "hunger or thirst," for in spite of her consuming desire for Beatitude, she is satisfied by this food which was her Master's: "The will of the Father." "She no longer feels the heat of the sun," that is, she no longer suffers from suffering. Then the Lamb can "lead her to the fountain of life," where He wills, as He wills, for she does not look at the paths on which she is walking; she simply gazes at the Shepherd who is leading her.

As to the aridity you are suffering from, it seems to me our Lord is treating you like someone He considers strong: He wants to test you and see if you love Him as much at times of aridity as when He sends you consolations. I think this is a very great favor for God to show you.

Oh, humility, humility! I know not why, but I am always tempted to think that persons who complain so much of aridities must be a little wanting in this virtue. However, I am not speaking of severe interior sufferings, which are far worse than a want of devotion.