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The Voice of Christ
MY CHILD, I came down from heaven for your salvation
and took upon Myself your miseries, not out of
necessity but out of love, that you might learn to be
patient and bear the sufferings of this life without
repining. From the moment of My birth to My death on
the cross, suffering did not leave Me. I suffered
great want of temporal goods. Often I heard many
complaints against Me. Disgrace and reviling I bore
with patience. For My blessings I received
ingratitude, for My miracles blasphemies, and for My
teaching scorn.
The Disciple
O Lord, because You were patient in life, especially
in fulfilling the design of the Father, it is fitting
that I, a most miserable sinner, should live
patiently according to Your will, and, as long as You
shall wish, bear the burden of this corruptible body
for the welfare of my soul. For though this present
life seems burdensome, yet by Your grace it becomes
meritorious, and it is made brighter and more
endurable for the weak by Your example and the
pathways of the saints. But it has also more
consolation than formerly under the old law when the
gates of heaven were closed, when the way thereto
seemed darker than now, and when so few cared to seek
the eternal kingdom. The just, the elect, could not
enter heaven before Your sufferings and sacred death
had paid the debt.Oh, what great thanks I owe You,
Who have shown me and all the faithful the good and
right way to Your everlasting kingdom! Your life is
our way and in Your holy patience we come nearer to
You Who are our crown. Had You not gone before and
taught us, who would have cared to follow? Alas, how
many would have remained far behind, had they not
before their eyes Your holy example! Behold, even we
who have heard of Your many miracles and teachings
are still lukewarm; what would happen if we did not
have such light by which to follow You?
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The Voice of Christ
What are you saying, My child? Think of My suffering and that of
the saints, and cease complaining. You have not yet resisted to
the shedding of blood. What you suffer is very little compared
with the great things they suffered who were so strongly tempted,
so severely troubled, so tried and tormented in many ways. Well
may you remember, therefore, the very painful woes of others, that
you may bear your own little ones the more easily. And if they do
not seem so small to you, examine if perhaps your impatience is
not the cause of their apparent greatness; and whether they are
great or small, try to bear them all patiently. The better you
dispose yourself to suffer, the more wisely you act and the
greater is the reward promised you. Thus you will suffer more
easily if your mind and habits are diligently trained to it.Do
not say: "I cannot bear this from such a man, nor should I suffer
things of this kind, for he has done me a great wrong. He has
accused me of many things of which I never thought. However, from
someone else I will gladly suffer as much as I think I should."
Such a thought is foolish, for it does not consider the virtue of
patience or the One Who will reward it, but rather weighs the
person and the offense committed. The man who will suffer only as
much as seems good to him, who will accept suffering only from
those from whom he is pleased to accept it, is not truly patient.
For the truly patient man does not consider from whom the
suffering comes, whether from a superior, an equal, or an
inferior, whether from a good and holy person or from a perverse
and unworthy one; but no matter how great an adversity befalls
him, no matter how often it comes or from whom it comes, he
accepts it gratefully from the hand of God, and counts it a great
gain. For with God nothing that is suffered for His sake, no
matter how small, can pass without reward. Be prepared for the
fight, then, if you wish to gain the victory. Without struggle you
cannot obtain the crown of patience, and if you refuse to suffer
you are refusing the crown. But if you desire to be crowned, fight
bravely and bear up patiently. Without labor there is no rest, and
without fighting, no victory.
The Disciple
O Lord, let that which seems naturally impossible to me become
possible through Your grace.
You know that I can suffer very little, and that I am quickly
discouraged when any small adversity arises. Let the torment of
tribulation suffered for Your name be pleasant and desirable to
me, since to suffer and be troubled for Your sake is very
beneficial for my soul.
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