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284 done with indiscreetness and eagerness, they may serve to weaken, and perhaps to harden you, and to render you incapable of them. Take the advice of those who are experienced, and seek to make it a habit, always in desire, and as frequently as possible in act, to give yourself to the contemplation of God's Goodness, and of His constant and tender blessings, and to receive with humility the drops which from His inestimable Goodness distil into your soul. Be on your guard against forcing yourself to shed tears or feel sensibly affected in your devotions, but be still, and with an interior solitude, wait until the Will of God be wrought in you; and when He gives you the feeling of devotion, it will be sweet, and come without effort or constraint on your part, and then accept it with all gentleness and tranquillity, and, above all, with all lowliness.

The key with which you can open the secrets of the spiritual treasury is, the knowledge how to deny yourself always and in all things; and the same key fastens the door upon distaste and dryness of spirit, when it springs from our own fault; for that dryness which God sends must be classed with the other treasures of the soul.

Delight to remain with Mary at the feet of Christ, and to listen to the words of your Lord. Take care that your enemies (of whom you are yourself the chief) do not hinder this holy