Will that in this world souls shall dispense to each
other, by prayer, the treasures of Heaven, in order that when they
reach their Everlasting Home they may love one another with
grateful hearts, and with an affection far in excess of that which
reigns in the most perfect family on earth.

"There no looks of indifference will meet us, because all the
Saints will be mutually indebted to each other. No envious glances
will be cast, for the happiness of each one of the Blessed will be
the happiness of all. With the Doctors of the Church we shall be
like unto Doctors; with the Martyrs, like unto Martyrs; with the
Virgins, like unto Virgins; and just as the members of one family
are proud one of the other, so without the least jealousy shall we
take pride in our brothers and sisters.

"When we see the glory of the great Saints, and know that through
the secret working of Providence we have contributed to it, who
knows whether the joy we shall feel will not be as intense,
perhaps sweeter, than the happiness they themselves possess?

"And do you not think that the great Saints, on their side, seeing
what they owe to all little souls, will love them with a love
beyond compare? The friendships of Paradise will be both sweet and
full of surprise, of this I am certain. The familiar friend of an
Apostle, or of a great Doctor of the Church, may be a shepherd
boy, and a simple little child may be united in closest intimacy
with a Patriarch. . . . I long to enter that Kingdom of Love!"

* * * * * *

"Believe me, the writing of pious books, the composing of the
sublimest poetry, all that does not equal the smallest act of
self-denial. When, however, our inability to do good gives us
pain, our only resource is to offer up the good works of others,
and in this lies the benefit of the Communion of Saints. Recall to
mind that beautiful verse of the canticle of our Father, St. John
of the Cross:

'Return, my dove! See on the height The wounded Hart, To whom
refreshment brings The breeze, stirred by thy wings.'

"Thus the Spouse, the wounded Hart, is not attracted by the
height, but only by the breeze from the pinions of the dove--a
breeze which one single stroke of wing is sufficient to create."

* * * * * *

"The one thing which is not open to envy is the lowest place. Here
alone, therefore, there is neither vanity nor affliction of
spirit. Yet, 'the way of a man is not his own,'[6] and sometimes
we find