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The devil through very small things drills holes through which very large things enter.

The soul in this state must remember that if it is not conscious of making progress, it is making much more than when it was walking on foot, because God Himself is bearing it in His arms. Although outwardly it is doing nothing, it is in reality doing more than if it were working, since God is doing the work within it. And it is not remarkable that the soul does not see this, for our senses cannot perceive what God does in the soul. . . if the soul stays in God's care it will certainly make progress.

If we plant a flower or a shrub and water it daily it will grow so tall that in time we shall need a spade and a hoe to uproot it. It is just so, I think, when we commit a fault, however small, each day, and do not cure ourselves of it.

It is He alone who wants to work in you, even though you will have done nothing to attract this grace except that which a creature can do: works of sin and misery ... He loves you like that. He loves you "more than these," He will do everything in you. He will go to the end: for when a soul is loved by Him to this extent, in this way, loved by an unchanging and creative love, a free love which transforms as it pleases Him, oh, how far this soul will go!

Keep yourself from setting your thoughts upon what happens in the community, and still more from speaking of it except to the proper person at the proper time...For if you want to ponder on all that happens you would always discover something amiss even if you lived among angels.

We ought not to get tired of doing little things for the love of God, because He looks at the love rather than at the work.

The bread of life that we need each day to augment eternal life in us renders our will a docile instrument of the divine will, establishes in us the kingdom of God, and purifies our lips and heart to glorify His holy name.

If I did not simply live from one moment to another, it would be impossible for me to be patient, but I only look at the present, I forget the past, and I take good care not to forestall the future.

We come home exhausted, shattered. New vexations possibly await there....and there is still so much to do until evening. Should we not immediately go to it? No, not before calm sets in at least for a moment. Each one must know, or get to know, where and how she can find peace. The best way, when it is possible, is to shed all cares again for a short time before the tabernacle. Whoever cannot do that...should take a breathing space in her own room...When there is no place in which to retreat, if duties prohibit a quiet hour, then at least she must for a moment seal herself inwardly against all other things and take refuge in the Lord. He is indeed there and can give us in a single moment what we need.

I am not disturbed at seeing myself weakness itself. On the contrary it is in my weakness that I glory, and I expect each day to discover new imperfections in myself.

To remain in prayer without obtaining any advantage is not lost time, but a season of great gain, because then we labor without interest, and only for the glory of God. And though at first it may seem as if we labored in vain, it is not so; but it is like what happens to sons who work on their father's estate, and who, though at night they receive not wages for the day's work, yet at the end of the year they receive everything.

Work, especially great work, is a burden and a pain, a suffering precisely because intense activity cannot fail to generate in us that disagreeable phenomenon that is called fatigue, which eventually degenerates into depression or prostration or some other form of real and actual suffering. This painful aspect of work renders it particularly adapted to share as an instrument in the work of our sanctification.