n this respect; for
if the Community thought me incapable, unintelligent, and wanting
in judgment, I could be of no possible use to you, dear Mother.
This is why the Divine Master has thrown a veil over all my
shortcomings, both interior and exterior. Because of this veil I
receive many compliments from the novices--compliments without
flattery, for they really mean what they say; and they do not
inspire me with vanity, for the remembrance of my weakness is ever
before me. At times my soul tires of this over-sweet food, and I
long to hear something other than praise; then Our Lord serves me
with a nice little salad, well spiced, with plenty of vinegar--oil
alone is wanting, and this it is which makes it more to my taste.
And the salad is offered to me by the novices at the moment I
least expect. God lifts the veil that hides my faults, and my dear
little Sisters, beholding me as I really am, do not find me
altogether agreeable. With charming simplicity, they tell me how I
try them and what they dislike in me; in fact, they are as frank
as though they were speaking of someone else, for they are aware
that I am pleased when they act in this way.

I am more than pleased--I am transported with delight by this
splendid banquet set before me. How can anything so contrary to
our natural inclinations afford such extraordinary pleasure? Had I
not experienced it, I could not have believed it possible.

One day, when I was ardently longing for some humiliation, a young
postulant came to me and sated my desire so completely, that I was
reminded of the occasion when Semei cursed David, and I repeated
to myself the words of the holy King: "Yea, it is the Lord who
hath bidden him say all these things."[7] In this way God takes
care of me. He cannot always provide that strength-giving bread,
exterior humiliation, but from time to time He allows me to eat of
"the crumbs from the table of the children."[8] How magnificent
are His Mercies!

Dear Mother, since that Infinite Mercy is the subject of this my
earthly song, I ought also to discover to you one real advantage,
reaped with many others in the discharge of my task. Formerly, if
I saw a Sister acting in a way that displeased me, and was
seemingly contrary to rule, I would think: "Ah, how glad I should
be if only I could warn her and point out where she is wrong."
Since, however, this burden has been laid upon me my ideas have
changed, and when I happen to see something not quite