Dear companion! blessed messenger of God's mercy! you are, without knowing it, the means for my sanctification, and I will not be ungrateful.
Yes! though the exterior be rude and repellent, yet to you I owe it that I am kept from greater sin; you, against whom my whole nature rebels ... how I ought to love you!
XXXIX.
Who is anxious for a beloved one's eternal welfare?
We interest ourselves for their success, their prosperity; we ask God to keep them from harm and misfortune; we try to start them well in the world, to make them of reputation, to procure them pleasure.
To spare them trouble, we sacrifice our own ease and enjoyment....
Oh, that is all very beautiful, very right; but what should we do for the soul?
Do we pray to God that this soul may become humble, pure, devoted?
Do we take as much pains to procure him the little devotional book that will really help him, as we should to obtain a transient pleasure?