Every day, not in prayer, but in your walks, you should recall to mind our Lord amid the thorns of our redemption, and consider what happiness it would be to share them.
50.
Let us faithfully cultivate that resignation and pure love of God which is never wholly practised but amid sufferings; for to love God, when He feeds us with sweetness is nothing more than children do; but to love Him when He feeds us with gall is to offer Him the cup of our loving fidelity.
51.
I recommend you to God, that you may obtain the gift of holy patience; and it is not in my power to propose to Him anything for you, save that He may, according to his holy will, fashion your heart for his dwelling, and reign there eternally; and whether He fashion it with the brush, the hammer, or the chisel, must be according to his good pleasure.
52.
The heart which unites itself to the Heart of God cannot help loving and accepting with sweetness the arrows with which God pierces it.
53.
I desire that your cross and mine should be wholly the cross of Jesus Christ; and as to the imposition of this or that burden, or making any choice, God knows what He is doing and why He does it—it is certainly for our good.