"Heaven In Faith"

36.  When the soul considers deep within itself, its eyes burning with love, the immensity of God, His fidelity, the proofs of his love,  His favors which can add nothing to His happiness; then, looking at itself it sees its crimes against this immense Lord, it turns to its own center with such self-contempt that it does not know how it can endure its horror.  The best thing for it to do is to complain to God, its Friend, of the strength of its self-love which betrays it by not letting it place itself as low as it would wish.  It resigns itself to the will of God, and in self-abnegation, finds true, invincible, and perfect peace, which nothing can disturb.  For it has plunged into such a deep abyss that no one will seek it there.


37.  If anyone should affirm to me that to find the bottom of the abyss is to be immersed in humility, I would not contradict him.  However, it seems to me that to be plunged into humility is to be plunged into God, for God is the bottom of the abyss.  That is why humility, like charity, is always capable of increasing.  Since a humble heart is the vessel needed, the vessel capable of containing the grace  God wants to pour into it, let us be humble.  The humble can never rank God high enough nor themselves low enough.  But here is the wonder:  their weakness turns into wisdom, and the imperfection of their acts, always insufficient in their eyes, will be the greatest delight of their life.  Whoever possesses humility has no need of many words to be instructed; God tells him more things than he can learn; such was the case with the Lord's disciples.