3. Mortification.

Thou must not be pusillanimous, nor imagine thyself to be remote from God, because, perchance, thou canst not practise great austerity of life, or because thou dost not feel thyself inwardly impelled and attracted towards it. For it is not in this that true perfection and true holiness consist; they consist in the mortification of self-will and of evil inclinations, 152and in true humility and charity. We do not read that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, led so hard a life as did the holy widow Judith; and yet she was by far more perfect than Judith. All the elect walk not outwardly in the same path; but all must surely follow inwardly the same path, namely, the path of humility, and true charity or holy love. For St. John Baptist followed one mode of life, and St. John the Evangelist another; and yet, because both were truly humble, and truly loved God and their neighbour, both were very pleasing to God.

Rejoice and praise God, that many, being assisted by His grace, lead and have led austere lives; for thus, by pious congratulation and sincere love, thou wilt make their merits in a manner thine own, and thou wilt receive from God reward and glory for the virtues which thou purely lovest in others.

Moreover, thou mayest offer to God the Father, in stead of the austerity in which thou art wanting, the fasts, the vigils, the tribulations, and the most bitter Passion of Christ. And if, with the help of God, thou shalt embrace a somewhat more austere manner of life, do it simply for the glory of God, and make not much account of this austerity, nor put trust in thy merits, but rather rest all thy hopes on the Passion of Christ, and on His satisfaction, expiation, and merits.

Although the imperfect must never lay aside the holy fear of God, they have not much reason to fear, providing they are always striving to be better; they have not, I say, reason to be inordinately fearful. 153For Christ loves, in His mystical body, not only the eyes, that is to say, the perfect; He loves also the hands and the feet, He loves the lowest of His members, He loves the minute vessels of mercy which He purchased with His Blood and Precious Death. The great sons of God quickly walk and run; but the little ones learn to walk slowly and with difficulty. Happy wilt thou be if thou be found in the number even of the little children; for they also shall all be heirs of the heavenly kingdom. He who created the great ones created also the little ones; and Christ is the Saviour of both. He shed His Blood for all. He willed to redeem all by His Death; and no one is excluded from so great a benefit, unless he unhappily deprive himself of it by his own fault.