“If you make a blunder
which brings a cross upon you,
whether it be inadvertently
or even through your own fault,
bow down under the mighty hand of God
without delay,
and as far as possible do not worry over it…
"If there is anything wrong in what you have done,
accept the humiliation as a punishment for it;
if it was not sinful,
accept it as means of humbling your pride.
"Frequently, even very frequently,
God allows his greatest servants,
those far advanced in holiness,
to fall into the most humiliating faults
so as to humble them in their own eyes
and in the eyes of others.
"He thus keeps them from thoughts of pride
in which they might indulge
because of the graces they have received,
or the good they are doing,
so that ‘no one can boast in God’s presence.’”
Friends of the Cross, no. 46
