We should take as a maxim never to be surprised at current difficulties, no more than at a passing breeze, because with a little patience we shall see them disappear. Time changes everything.
There are good, God-fearing persons who still fall into certain faults, and it is better to bear with them than to be hard on them.
We must be full reservoirs in order to let our water spill out without becoming empty, and we must possess the spirit with which we want them to be animated, for no one can give what he does not have.
With God’s help, you will continue to succeed in your leadership and in your duties, because Our Lord’s work is accomplished not so much by the multitude of workers as by the fidelity of the small number whom He calls.
I feel so strongly about the truths Our Lord taught us by word and example that I cannot help but see how everything done according to that teaching always succeeds perfectly well, while things done the opposite way have a quite different result.
A doctor who keeps a person from becoming ill deserves more merit than one who cures him.
And what are we doing if we are not doing God’s Will?
He also always blesses humble beginnings much more than those accompanied by a lot of show.
Nature makes trees put down deep roots before having them bear fruit, and even this is done gradually.
Far from rejecting such a good man as you, He never even abandons a wicked man who hopes for His mercy.
Let us be submissive to Providence, He will see to our affairs in His own time and in His own way.
Who will excuse us before God for the loss of such a great number of people, who could be saved by the slight assistance we could give them?
If God is the center of your life, no words are necessary. Your mere presence will touch hearts.
When we receive with an entire and perfect resignation the afflictions which God sends us they become for us favors and benefits; because conformity to the will of God is a gain far superior to all temporal advantages.
We must endeavor to have God reign sovereignly in us, and then in others. The trouble with me is that I take more care to have Him reign in others than in myself.
With whose imperfections will you bear, and what insult are you capable of enduring, if a thoughtless word from your own Superior is unbearable?
Peace is worth more than all worldly possessions; in addition, God rewards it even in this life.
Scandal often does as much harm to the listeners as to those who devise it, even if it were to do no other harm than disturb the mind, as it does, and give rise to temptations to speak or write about it to others.
Experience teaches that what is feasible at the beginning is sometimes harmful as things go on, or subject to troublesome inconveniences.
It is a maxim of ours to work in the service of the people, with the good pleasure of the pastors, and never to act contrary to their wishes. And, at the opening and closing of each mission, we get their blessing in a spirit of dependence.