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I thank You, O my God, for all the graces You have bestowed on me, and particularly for making me pass through the crucible of suffering. It is with joy I shall behold You on the Last Day bearing Your scepter - the Cross; since You have deigned to give me for my portion this most precious Cross, I have hope of resembling You in Heaven and seeing the sacred stigmata of Your Passion shine in my glorified body.

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.

We must keep in mind, for the better understanding of this, that the soul lives there where it loves, rather than in the body which it animates. The soul does not live by the body, but, on the contrary, gives it life, and lives by love in that which it loves.

We have to be on our guard against wanting to judge for ourselves what point we have reached in the way of pure love. Only God knows this. What we recognize of ourselves, also of our faults and failings, is only the illuminated part on the surface. The deep roots are also hidden from us. God, who knows these, can purify them.

I'm keeping a rendezvous with you in the shadow of the Cross to learn the science of suffering.

Whoever lives in the presence of so good a friend and excellent leader, who went ahead of us to be the first to suffer, can endure all things. The Lord helps us, strengthens us, and never fails.

Instead of becoming discouraged, I say to myself, “The good God does not inspire us with desires that could not be realized. Therefore, in spite of my lowliness, I can aspire to sanctity.”

May He Who by coming upon Mary caused the Word to be Incarnate...do in us by grace what He did in her by nature.

Souls without prayer are like people whose bodies or limbs are paralyzed: they possess feet and hands but they cannot control them.

Oh, by how many things was I offended! I am ashamed now...I didn't consider or pay any heed to the honor that is beneficial; that is, the honor that benefits the soul.

God sustains every soul and dwells in it substantially, even though it be that of the greatest sinner in the world,
and this union is natural. The supernatural union exists when God’s will and the soul’s will are in conformity.
Therefore the soul rests transformed in God through love.

We do not climb Calvary as heroes, like the champion who has won the race. A saint is not a hero: he is someone filled with God and with God's strength.