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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.

My being, as I see it and as I see myself in it, is null; by myself I am not and I am nothing by myself; at each moment I am faced with nothingness and I ought to receive being anew, moment by moment. And yet "being" is exactly this non-being, and therefore each moment I touch the fullness of being.

I believe that it is Jesus Himself, hidden at the bottom of my poor, little heart, who acts in me in some mysterious way and tells me everything He wishes me to do at the present moment.

Do as perfectly as you can the tasks of your everyday life, even the most trivial. It is quite simple. Follow Our Lord like a little child. I skip after him as best I can. I put my trust in him and abandon all care.

Without any need for us, He created us. Every work of His power was directed to mankind. Everything has been put at our disposal.

He...taught me, that while for a soul whose faith equals but a tiny grain of mustard seed, He works miracles, in order that this faith which is so weak may be fortified; yet for His intimate friends, for His Mother, He did not work miracles until He had put their faith to test.

Never take a man for your example in the tasks you have to perform, however holy he may be, for the devil will set his imperfection before you. But imitate Christ, who is supremely perfect and supremely holy, and you will never err.

As the earthly body has need of daily bread, so the divine life in us demands continual nourishment. "This is the bread of life come down from heaven." And each day in us, who make it become our daily bread, is accomplished the mystery of Christmas, the Incarnation of the Word.

If I did not suffer from moment to moment, I would not be able to keep patience, but I see only the present moment; I forget the past and take care not to peer into the future.

On another occasion when I was engaged in the laundry, the Sister opposite to me, who was washing handkerchiefs, kept splashing me continually with dirty water. My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face in order to show her that I wanted her to be more careful. The next moment, however, I saw the folly of refusing treasures thus generously offered, and I carefully refrained from betraying any annoyance. On the contrary I made such efforts to welcome the shower of dirty water that at the end of half an hour I had taken quite a fancy to the novel kind of aspersion, and resolved to return as often as possible to the place where such precious treasures were freely bestowed.

Those who work for God with purest love not only care nothing about whether others see their works, but do not even seek that God himself know of them. Such persons would not cease to render God the same services, with the same joy and purity of love, even if God were never to know of these.

To prove to Our Lord how much you love Him, learn to forget yourself always ... and be very faithful to all your duties and all your resolutions. Live by will rather than by imagination. If you feel your weakness, God wants you to make use of it in order to make acts of the will which you will offer Him as so many acts of love ... He so loves you and He so wants you for His own, whatever may be the path whereby you must follow Him here below.