suffer much, ever to seek after that which is most perfect, and to forget self. I understood that in sanctity the degrees are many, that each soul is free to respond to the advances of our Lord, to do little or much for His sake, in a word, to choose between the sacrifices that He asks. Then, as in the days of my childhood, I exclaimed: "My God, I choose all! I do not wish to be a saint by halves; the thought of suffering for Thee does not frighten me, one thing only do I fear—my own will; take Thou my will, for I choose all that Thou willest."
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. I
My Father took me for a pleasant
tour during which I began to know a little
of the world. Around me all was gaiety
and delight; I was made welcome,
petted, admired, in short, for fifteen
days the pathway of my life was strewn
with naught but flowers. Holy Wisdom
well says that the bewitching of trifles
overturneth the innocent mind.[1] At the
- ↑ Cf. Wisdom, iv, 12.