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In the first place, we ought to be astonished by this fact: when we praise God or give him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not particularly concerned whether or not our prayer is acceptable to him. On the other hand, we demand to see the results of our petitions. What is the image of God that motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

By love and not by fear, does a soul avoid committing the least voluntary fault.

You know that our Lord does not look at the greatness or difficulty of our action, but at the love with which you do it. What, then, have you to fear?

We come to the great King of Heaven with empty hands, in debt to Him for everything: life itself, and grace, and all the gifts He lavishes on us. Yet all we can say is, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all I owe,’ while all the time we could never pay anything towards the remission of our own debts, if God did not put into our hands the means to do so. And then, how often do we go away and refuse pardon for some slight fault in our neighbors, withholding our love, remaining aloof, or even nursing a grievance against them, and building up grudges that cool charity.

Knowing ourselves is something so important that I wouldn’t want any relaxation ever in this regard… While we are on this earth, nothing is more important to us than humility.

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.

More effective than the mortification one practices according to one's own choice is the cross that God lays upon one, exteriorly and interiorly.

I long to behold the light of his gaze.
Oh! What splendor must shine in his eyes!
In contemplating this Only Begotten of the Father
I will have the Three and I will have all of Heaven!
He will make his light shine in my soul,
He will purify me in divine flames.

O my adored Word
Luminous Beauty,
Look upon me!

One fall is not sufficient for a person to be lost nor are many, if they love You and not the things of the world. They journey in the valley of humility. I cannot understand what it is that makes people afraid of setting out on the road of perfection.

Perhaps all the graces that I have received in abundance have come to me through the prayers of some little soul whom I shall know only in heaven!

The soul which has no other aim than the perfect observance of the law of God and the carrying of the cross of Christ will be a true ark, containing the true manna which is God.

It is noteworthy that this general knowledge is at times so delicate (especially when purer, simpler, and more perfect), spiritual, and interior that the soul does not perceive or feel it, even though employed with it.