Apostolic responsibility

We are given these gifts so we can make them known to others. Hence you are well aware that the easiest and most fruitful way to pass on these gifts is to be at these young persons’ side, to help them and to teach them to make use of the spiritual means. These means will enable them to be victorious from the early stages of the ascetical struggle, when their passions begin to awaken and there appear the first signs of rebellion, the first desires for independence.

Working with young people

Novellas adhuc vix firmae radicis arbusculas, dum ad omnem ductum sequaces sunt, in quamlibet partem flecti facile est; quae natura plerumque curvatae cito ad colentis arbitrium corriguntur;¹² “recently planted trees, which are not firmly rooted, move under the influence of the pushes they receive, and are easily misdirected in any direction; but these young trees, normally twisted by the buffeting of nature itself, can be easily and quickly straightened, following the will of the person tending to them.”