Take courage, therefore, and be valiant, as well in doing as in suffering things repugnant to nature. Thou must put on the new man, and be changed into another person. That which thou wouldst not, thou must oftentimes do; and that which thou wouldst, thou must leave undone. What pleaseth others shall prosper, what is pleasing to thee shall not succeed. What others say shall be harkened to; what thou sayest shall be reckoned as naught. Others shall ask, and shall receive; thou shalt ask, and not obtain. Others shall be great in the esteem of men; about thee nothing shall be said. To others this or that shall be committed; but thou shalt be accounted as of no use. At this nature will sometimes repine, and it will be a great matter if thou bear it with silence. In these, and many such-like things, the faithful servant of the Lord is wont to be tried how far he can deny and break himself in all things. There is scarce anything in which thou standest so much in need of dying to thyself as in seeing and suffering things that are contrary to thy will, and more especially when those things are commanded which seem to thee inconvenient and of little use. And because, being under authority, thou darest not resist the higher power, therefore it seemeth to thee hard to walk at the beck of another, and wholly to give up thy own opinion. But consider, son, the fruit of these labors, their speedy termination, and their reward exceeding great; and thou wilt not hence derive affliction, but the most strengthening consolation in thy suffering. For in regard to that little of thy will which thou now willingly forsakest, thou shalt forever have thy will in heaven. For there thou shalt find all that thou willest, all that thou canst desire. There shall be to thee the possession of every good, without fear of losing it. There thy will, always one with Me, shall not covet any extraneous or private thing. There no one shall resist thee, no one complain of thee, no one obstruct thee, nothing shall stand in thy way; but every desirable good shall be present at the same moment, shall replenish all thy affections and satiate them to the full. There I will give thee glory for the contumely thou hast suffered; a garment of praise for thy sorrow; and for having been seated here in the lowest place, the throne of My kingdom forever. There will the fruit of obedience appear, there will the labor of penance rejoice, and humble subjection shall be gloriously crowned. Now, therefore, bow thyself down humbly under the hands of all, and heed not who it was that said or commanded this. But let it be thy great care, that whether thy superior or inferior or equal require anything of thee, or hint at anything, thou take all in good part, and labor with a sincere will to perform it.