List of points

My Father — talk to him like that, confidently — who art in heaven, look upon me with compassionate Love, and make me respond to thy love.

—Melt and enkindle my heart of bronze, burn and purify my unmortified flesh, fill my mind with supernatural light, make my tongue proclaim the Love and Glory of Christ.

A day of salvation, of eternity, has come for us. Once again the call of the Divine Shepherd can be heard, those affectionate words: Vocavi te nomine tuo — I have called you by your name.

Just like our mother, he calls us by our name, even by the name we were affectionately called at home. —There, in the depths of our soul, he calls us and we just have to answer: Ecce ego quia vocasti me —here I am, for you have called me, and this time I’m determined not to let time flow by like water over rounded stones, leaving no trace behind.

O Jesus…, strengthen our souls, open out the way for us, and, above all, intoxicate us with your Love! Make us into blazing fires to kindle the earth with the heavenly fire you brought us.

What are you so proud of? — Every impulse that moves you comes from Him. Act accordingly.

Thank you, Lord, because — as well as allowing us to be tempted — you also give us the strength and beauty of your grace so that we can win through! Thank you, Lord, for the temptations you allow us to have so that we may be humble!

Ure igne Sancti Spiritus! — burn me with the fire of your Spirit, you cried. You then added: “My poor soul needs to fly again as soon as possible…, and not stop flying until it rests in God!”

—I think your desires are admirable. I will pray for you often to the Paraclete. I will invoke him continually, so that he may nestle in the centre of your being, presiding and giving a supernatural tone to all your actions and words, thoughts and desires.

Mary’s humble song of joy, the Magnificat, recalls to our minds the infinite generosity of the Lord towards those who become like children, towards those who abase themselves and are sincerely aware that they are nothing.

Don’t be afraid to be demanding on yourself. Many souls do so in their hidden life, so that only Jesus may shine out.

I wish you and I would react as that person did who wanted to be very close to God, on the feast of the Holy Family. In those days it was celebrated within the octave of the Epiphany.

—“I have had a number of little crosses. There was one yesterday that hurt so much it made me weep. Today it made me think that my Father and Lord Saint Joseph, and my Mother, Holy Mary, won’t have left this child of theirs without its Christmas present. The present was the light that made me see my thanklessness to Jesus in my failing to correspond to his grace; and to see how mistaken I was to resist, by my boorish behaviour, the most Holy Will of God, who wants me as his instrument.”

This is the prayer of a soul who wanted to belong wholly to God, and, for his sake, to all mankind: “Lord, I beg you to work on this sinner, to rectify and purify my intentions, to pass them through the crucible.”

God loves us infinitely more than you love yourself… So let him make demands on you!

Let yourself be formed by the rough or gentle strokes of grace. Strive to be an instrument rather than an obstacle. And, if you are willing, your most Holy Mother will help you; and you will be a channel for the waters of God, rather than a boulder which diverts their flow.

Dominus dabit benignitatem suam et terra nostra dabit fructum suum — the Lord will grant his blessing and the earth will bring forth its fruit.

That blessing is indeed the source of all good fruit, the necessary climate for producing saints, men and women of God, in this world of ours.

Dominus dabit benignitatem — the Lord will grant his blessing. Notice, however, that he goes on to point out that he awaits our fruit — yours and mine. Nor is this crop to be meagre or blighted because we have not really given ourselves completely. He expects abundant fruit since he fills us with his blessings.