8. God consoles the humble and gives strength to the afflicted who ask for it. God’s power covers the earth, and everywhere, beside a tear he places a consoling balm. Devotion and self-denial are a continual prayer and they contain a profound teaching. Human wisdom resides in those two words. May all suffering spirits understand this truth instead of complaining about their pain, about the moral sufferings which in this world are your lot. Take these two words as your motto: devotion and self-denial, and you will be strong, for they summarize all the duties that charity and humility impose on you. The sentiment of a duty fulfilled will provide resignation and rest for your spirit. The heart beats better, the soul becomes serene and the body is no longer feeble, because the body suffers all the more depending on how deeply the spirit is struck.

The Spirit of Truth (Havre, 1863)