List of points

Allow me to give you the advice of an experienced soul: your prayer — and your whole life should be to pray always — ought to be as trusting as “a child’s prayer”.

You should pray at all times, always.

—You should feel the need to go to God after every success and after every failure in your interior life.

May your prayer always be a real and sincere act of adoration of God.

It is indeed just that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit should crown the Blessed Virgin as Queen and Lady of all created things.

—You have to make use of her power! With the daring of a child join in this celebration in Heaven. — For myself, I crown the Mother of God and my Mother with my purified failings, since I have no precious stones or virtues.

—Take courage!

Whenever I go into the oratory, having become a little child once more, I say to Our Lord that I love him more than anyone.

Ask him without any fear, and insist. Remember that scene of the multiplication of loaves we read about in the Gospel. Notice how magnanimously he says to the Apostles, How many loaves do you have? Five?… How many are you asking for?… And he gives six, a hundred, thousands… Why?

—Because Christ sees all our needs with divine wisdom, and with his almighty power he can and does go far beyond our desires.

Our Lord sees much farther than our poor minds can discern and he is infinitely generous!

Make your way to Bethlehem, go up to the Child, take him in your arms and dance, say warm and tender things to him, press him close to your heart…

—I am not talking childish nonsense: I am speaking of love! And love is shown with deeds. In the intimacy of your soul, you can indeed hug him tight!

You lack faith… and you lack love. Were it not so you would go immediately and much more often to Jesus, asking for this thing and that.

—Don’t delay any further; call out to him and you will hear Christ speaking to you: “What do you want me to do for you?” Just as when he stopped for that poor blind man by the roadside who continued to insist, without giving up.

Make me into a saint, my God, even if you have to beat me into it. I don’t want to be a hindrance to your Will. I want to respond, I want to be generous… But what sort of wanting is mine?

Say slowly to the Master: Lord, all I want is to serve you. All I want is to fulfil my duties and love you with all my heart. Make me feel your firm step by my side. May you be my only support!

—Say this to him slowly… and really mean it!