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Let us go to Him who would have us be wholly His...

And so in spite of this trial which robs me of all sense of enjoyment, I can still say: ' You have given me O Lord, a delight in Your doings.' Ps. 91: 5. For is there a greater joy than to suffer for Your love, O my God? The more intense and more hidden the suffering the more do You value it.

Allow yourself to be taught, allow yourself to receive orders, allow yourself to be subjected and despised, and you will be perfect.

Some of these beginners, too, make little of their faults, and at other times become over-sad when they see themselves fall into them, thinking themselves to have been saints already; and thus they become angry and impatient with themselves, which is another imperfection.

Our faith is so dead that we desire what we see more than what faith tells us.

The devil does a great deal to incapacitate us when he sees a little fear.

To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus to have acquired experience.

Contemplation is nothing else but a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion of God, which, if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the spirit of love.

You are the true peace of the heart, You are its only rest; outside of You all things are hard and uneasy.

Each morn You come to me at early Mass,
Your flesh and blood become my food and drink;
And wonders are accomplished.

Your body permeates mine mysteriously,
I feel Your soul becoming one with mine:
I am no longer what I used to be.

You come and go, but still the seed remains
Which You have sown for future splendor,
Hid in the body made from dust.

For, after all the efforts of the soul, it cannot by its unaided labors make itself fitted for union with God in love.  God must take it to Himself into His own hands and purify it in the dark fire.

If you know how to accept the trials, worries, sufferings, and fatigue arranged by God throughout the days and hours of life, you will practice a lot of asceticism, and you will not have to look for more of it.