If this is the way You treat Your friends, no wonder You have so few!

I am afraid that if we begin to put our trust in human help, some of our Divine help will fail us.

The true penance comes when God takes away the soul's health and strength for doing penance. Even though I have mentioned elsewhere the great pain this lack causes, the pain is much more intense here. All these things must come to the soul from its roots, from where it is planted.

Do you think it is only a little thing to possess a house from which lovely things can be seen?

From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us.

For, as I said a little way back, perfect souls are in no way repelled by trials, but rather desire them and pray for them and love them. They are like soldiers: the more wars there are, the better they are pleased, because they hope to emerge from them with the greater riches.

Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart.