from the imitation of christ.

[God wants you to learn to endure troubles without comfort, to submit yourself totally to him, and to become more humble through adversity.]

[And the more we progress in the spiritual life, the heavier our crosses will be, for the pain of our separation from God increases in proportion to our love of God.]

[And the more a person's body is weakened by affliction, the more his spirit is strengthened by inner grace.]

[To endure the kingdom of God, we must endure many hardships.]

help me to see my faults.

encourage me to grow in virtue.

let my sinfulness always displease me.

help me to willingly embrace every hardship and bitterness.

[Neither does a person show enough courage, who caves in to despair at the time of adversity, thinking thoughts and harboring feelings that show less trust in me than he should.]