on the ground, so why should I be disquieted?
V LETTER TO HER SISTER CÉLINE
Life is often irksome and bitter; it
is hard to begin a laborious day, above
all when Jesus hides Himself from us.
What is this tender Friend doing?
Does He not then see our anguish,
the load that oppresses us; where is
He? Why does He not come to console
us?
Ah, fear not. . . . He is there, quite near! He is watching us; He, it is, who begs for these our labours and our tears. . . . He has need of them for souls, for our soul; He wants to give us so glorious a recompense. Ah! truly, it costs Him to make us drink of this bitter cup, but He knows that it is the one way by which to prepare us to know Him as He knows Himself and to become ourselves God-like. What a destiny! How great is the soul. Let us rise above all that passes away, let us hold aloof from the earth, up on high the air is so
