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

You, my God, have declared yourself my captain; you have raised the standard of the Cross, saying: ‘Take up the cross and follow in my footsteps.’ To correspond with this invitation, I promise to resist your love no longer; rather, I will follow you to Calvary without hesitation.

For on this road there is room only for self denial (as our Savior asserts) and the cross. The cross is a supporting staff and greatly lightens and eases the journey.

One does not die carrying the cross. And yet to pass completely through the night, the man of sin has to die. He can abandon himself to crucifixion, but he cannot crucify himself. That is why the operation has to be brought to completion by God himself.

One cannot attain the end without adopting the means, and as Our Lord made me understand that it was by the Cross He would give me souls, the more crosses I met with the stronger grew my attraction to suffering.

Our Lord kept nothing for Himself when He loved me from the wood of the Cross. And will I give myself to Him by halves?

Strive to get to know Jesus who is the intimate Friend of our souls. In Him is found the tenderness of a mother to an infinite degree: comfort to those who are suffering, strength to fulfill our obligations. Gaze at Jesus annihilated in the manger, on the Cross, in the tabernacle. There He tells us how much He loves us.

There is no wood like that of the Cross to kindle the fire of Jove in the soul, and Our Lord so wants to be loved, to find in the world … souls that are completely surrendered to Him and to His good pleasure … I tell you from Him that He thirsts for your soul.

Our Rule is the Cross, and the three Promises the nails that fasten us to it.

Knowing, O my God, that my sins made Your cross so heavy that You had to sink beneath it, this makes me even more convinced that I must carry my cross together with You and that I should not shy away from it, even should I sink beneath its weight.

There is no wood like that of the Cross to kindle the fire of love in the soul, and Our Lord so wants to be loved, to find in the world … souls that are completely surrendered to Him and to His good pleasure … I tell you from Him that He thirsts for your soul.

We can do this much; endeavor to conform ourselves to Christ Crucified.