word said to you as a thorn in the head; a mockery as a spit
in the face; an unkind act as a nail in the hand; a hatred which
takes the place of friendship as a lance in the side; all that
which hurts, contradicts, or humiliates us as the blows, stripes,
the gall and vinegar, the crown of thorns and the cross. The work
proceeds always, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. Let us not
complain. We will one day thank these workmen, who, without
intending it, give to our soul the most beautiful, the most
glorious, and the noblest traits. We ourselves are sculptors as
well as statues, and we will find that, on our part, we have
materially helped to form in them the same traits.

"If all were perfect," says the "Imitation," "what, then, should
we have to suffer from others for God's sake?"

It is not forbidden us to seek consolation. But from whom? Is it
from those discontented spirits whose ears are like public sewers,
the receptacle of every filth and dirt? They increase our pain by
pouring the poison of their own discontent instead of the oil of
the Good Samaritan. They will take our disease and give us theirs,
and, like Samson's foxes, spread destruction around by repeating
what we said to them. May God preserve us from this misfortune! If
we cannot carry our burden alone, and if we find it no relief to
lay our griefs in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us go to him whom
the rule appoints to be our friend and consoler, our confidant and
director, and who, as St. Augustine relates of St. Monica, after
having listened to us with patience, charity, and compassion,
after having at first appeared to share our sentiments, will
sweeten and explain all with prudence, will lift up and encourage
our oppressed heart, and by his counsel and prayers will restore
us to peace and charity.

XXXII

SECOND MEANS TO BEAR WITH OTHERS

RECALL the words of our Lord to Blessed Margaret Mary: "With the
intention of perfecting thee by patience I will increase thy
sensibility and repugnance, so that thou wilt find occasions of
humiliation and suffering even in the smallest and most
indifferent things."

What would be considered, when we were in the world, as the prick
of a needle, we look upon in religion as the blow of a sword. What
we looked upon in our own house as light as a feather, becomes in
community life as heavy as a rock. An insignificant word becomes
an outrage, and a little matter which formerly would escape our
notice now