“A time of trial is beneficial to everyone: the diligent are tried so that their wealth may increase; the lax, so that they be preserved from harm; those spiritually asleep, so that they may prepare themselves for watchfulness; those who…

“I think it best that a man should have a little bit of all the virtues. Therefore, get up early every day and acquire the beginning of every virtue and every commandment of God. Use great patience in the love…

“Came then the men from the East, telling how the frontiers were closing one by one on the Christian idea. And how one by one the old missionary foundations were being destroyed while the idea of an earthly paradise took…

“Everything that you gain in your inner battles will be reflected in your life in God. Struggle against every passion which arouses in you critical thoughts about others. Do not accept what the enemy suggests to you against someone who…

“Let us strive to enter by the narrow gate. Just as trees, if they have not stood before the winter’s storms, cannot bear fruit, so it is with us. This present age is a storm, and it is only through…