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As soon as God sees that, having co-operated with His initial grace, we are capable of receiving His grace, His free goodness is ready to bestow upon us the gift that makes us resemble Him. Our aptitude to receive grace depends upon the interior integrity wherewith we move towards Him, and when He brings His gifts, God can also bestow Himself, stamp His likeness upon us, absolve and deliver us.

In sum, there is no remedy in this tempest but to wait for the mercy of God. For at an unexpected time, with one word or a chance happening, He so quickly calms the storm that it seems there had not been even as much as a cloud in that soul, and it remains filled with sunlight and much more consolation.

Then gradually, he becomes very small and humble; he grows patient and indulgent toward the splinter in strange eyes because the beam in his own is brought into being; and, finally, he also learns to be patient with himself in the inexorable light of the divine Presence and to surrender himself to the divine mercy which can take care of all that ridicules our energy.

Each morning I resolve to be humble, and in the evening I recognize that I have often been guilty of pride. The sight of these faults tempts me to discouragement; yet I know that discouragement is itself but a form of pride. I wish therefore, O my God, to build all my trust upon You. As You can do all things, deign to implant in my soul this virtue which I desire, and to obtain it from Your infinite mercy.

I tell you, Sisters, so that you will see the mercy of our Lord and how His Majesty does not abandon the one who desires to serve Him.

The door by which we can enter this castle is prayer. It is absurd to think that we can enter Heaven without first entering our own souls -- without getting to know ourselves, and reflecting upon the wretchedness of our nature and what we owe to God, and continually imploring His mercy.

Do not let your weakness make you unhappy. When, in the morning, we feel no courage or strength for the practice of virtue, it is really a grace: it is the time to 'lay the axe to the root of the trees,' (Matt. 3:10) relying upon Jesus alone.

Do not let your weakness make you unhappy. When, in the morning, we feel no courage or strength for the practice of virtue, it is really a grace: it is the time to 'lay the axe to the root of the trees,' (Matt. 3:10) relying upon Jesus alone.

If we abandon ourselves, and place our confidence in God, while making every small effort and hoping for everything from His mercy, we shall be rewarded as much as the greatest saints.

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.

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!

...God has an immense desire to enrich us with His graces, but it is we who determine the amount to the extent that we know how to let ourselves be immolated by Him...