Let the little children come to me, for I have the milk that strengthens the weak. Let all come to me who are fearful and feeble, and in need of support and consolation. Let the unlearned come to me so that I may enlighten them. Let all those who suffer come to me – the multitudes of the afflicted and unfortunate. I will teach them about the great remedy that softens the ills of life, and I will give them the secret of healing for their wounds! My friends, what is this supreme balm possessing virtue par excellence, this balm that may be applied to all the wounds of the heart to heal them? It is love, it is charity! If you possess this divine fire, what will you fear? Every moment of your life you will say, “My Father, may your will be done and not mine. If it pleases you to try me through pain and tribulation, may you be blessed, for it is for my own good and I know that it is your hand that is weighing on me. O Lord, if it pleases you to have mercy on your weak creature, if you give my heart permissible joys, may you be more blessed. But do not allow your divine love to sleep in my soul; may I unceasingly lift up to your feet the voice of my thanksgiving!”

If you have love, you have everything there is to be desired on the earth. You possess the most excellent pearl that neither circumstances nor the evils of those who hate and persecute you will be able to take away. If you have love, you will have put your treasure where worms and rust cannot reach it, and you will see everything that might stain its purity erased from your soul. You will feel the weight of matter grow lighter day by day, and like a bird soaring in the sky with no memory of earth, you will ascend without ceasing, you will ascend forever until your exhilarated soul satiates itself with life in the bosom of the Lord.

A Protector Spirit (Bordeaux, 1861)