...it is difficult to master one's feelings and be exact in everything in the midst of many affairs

...Seek counsel of very pious, disinterested persons, and follow the call of O[ur] L[ord] and the advice of those persons.

Even convicts, with whom I have spent some time, are not won over in any other way. Whenever I happened to speak sharply to them, I spoiled everything; on the contrary, when I praised them for their resignation and sympathized with them in their sufferings; when I told them they were fortunate to have their purgatory in this world, when I kissed their chains, showed compassion for their distress, and expressed sorrow for their misfortune, it was then that they listened to me, gave glory to God, and opened themselves to salvation.

[A] sick mind cannot be cured by the sheer force of persuasion.

You know that you yourself are not always in the same state. If you are exact today, closely united to God, and a consolation to the whole house, tomorrow you will be out of sorts, indolent, and a source of affliction to others. Then you will need their support, as you have supported them.

We should take as a maxim never to be surprised at current difficulties, no more than at a passing breeze, because with a little patience we shall see them disappear. Time changes everything.

I have made to God the offering you made to me of your heart and have asked him to unite mine with yours in that of Our Lord.