List of points

So now it's tears! It hurts, doesn't it? Of course, man! It was meant to.

You write: 'Father, I have a… toothache in my heart'. — I won't laugh, because I realize that you need a good dentist to do a few 'extractions' for you.

If only you were willing!…

A strict fast is a penance most pleasing to God. But, what with one thing and another, we have become a bit too easy-going. There is no objection — on the contrary — if you, with the approval of your Director, fast frequently.

Don't do more penance than your Director allows you.

For you, who complain to yourself because you are treated severely and feel the contrast between this harshness and the conduct of those back home, I copy these lines from the letter of an army doctor: 'There are two ways of approaching each case: the conscientious professional attitude — cold and calculating, but objective and useful to the patient: or the tearful fussing of the family. At the height of a battle, when the stream of casualties begins to arrive and to accumulate because they can't be dealt with fast enough, what would become of a first-aid post if a family stood around each stretcher? One might just as well go over to the enemy.'