le for me to be patient; but I only look at the
present, I forget the past, and I take good care not to forestall
the future. When we yield to discouragement or despair, it is
usually because we think too much about the past and the future.
But pray much for me, for it is often just when I cry to Heaven
for help that I feel most abandoned."

"How do you manage not to give way to discouragement at such
times?" "I turn to God and all His Saints, and thank them
notwithstanding; I believe they want to see how far my trust may
extend. But the words of Job have not entered my heart in vain:
'Even if God should kill me, I would still trust in Him.'[6] I own
it has taken a long time to arrive at this degree of
self-abandonment; but I have reached it now, and it is the Lord
Himself Who has brought me there."

Another time she said: "Our Lord's Will fills my heart to the
brim, and hence, if aught else is added, it cannot penetrate to
any depth, but, like oil on the surface of limpid waters, glides
easily across. If my heart were not already brimming over, and
must needs be filled by the feelings of joy and sadness that
alternate so rapidly, then indeed would it be flooded by a wave of
bitter pain; but these quick-succeeding changes scarcely ruffle
the surface of my soul, and in its depths there reigns a peace
that nothing can disturb."

And yet her soul was enveloped in thick darkness, and her
temptations against Faith, ever conquered but ever returning, were
there to rob her of all feeling of happiness at the thought of her
approaching death. "Were it not for this trial, which is
impossible to understand," she would say, "I think I should die of
joy at the prospect of soon leaving this earth."

By this trial, the Divine Master wished to put the finishing
touches to her purification, and thus enable her not only to walk
with rapid steps, but to run in her little way of confidence and
abandonment. Her words repeatedly proved this. "I desire neither
death nor life. Were Our Lord to offer me my choice, I would not
choose. I only will what He wills; it is what He does that I love.
I do not fear the last struggle, nor any pains--however great--my
illness may bring. God has always been my help. He has led me by
the hand from my earliest childhood, and on Him I rely. My agony
may reach the furthest limits, but I am convinced He will never
forsake me."

Such confidence in God, of necessity stirred the fury of the
devil--of him w