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 to submit to the divine ordinances and arrangements, and to say candidly: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: as the angels, Lord! do Thy will in heaven, so may men also do it on earth. Let this be our resolution, our promise, and let us fulfil it by way of honoring and thanking our holy guardian angels: as I shall further explain in the

Yes, one might say, the angels can do all this easily enough; it is not a difficult matter for them to be perfectly united with the will of God. Oh, what a difference and great inequality there is between those happy spirits in heaven, in the abode of joys and delights, and us poor mortals who have still to live in this vale of tears and sorrows! To the angels in heaven everything happens according to their will and pleasure, and there is nothing that can cause them grief; but to us, on the other hand, who are still far from our fatherland, everything goes contrary; wherever we turn we find trials and annoyances; seldom do we meet with any one who has all he wishes; countless are the things that displease us daily. In heaven it is a pleasant and an easy thing to be satisfied with the will of God, and be always content with it, for there is no contradiction there, nor can there be any; while here on earth one trial comes after another, one cross after another, one difficulty after another. Therefore, just as the satiated who have eaten and drunk enough dance and sing differently from the hungry and thirsty, so we cannot say and pray as the angels do: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Take us up to them, God, and we will do as they do, and with all our hearts we will be satisfied with Thy arrangements; but to do that now is a difficult and troublesome thing! All this is quite true, my dear brethren; we do indeed find a greater difficulty in fulfilling and accomplishing the will of God than the angers; but why? Because we do not yet wish from our hearts all that God wishes, but would rather have things according to our own will. If we only had this one virtue of conformity and union with the will of God, then would almost every difficulty be removed; for even crosses and trials would be pleasing to us, be cause they are pleasing to God, and because, as long as we are sojourning on this earth, God has ordained them for us.

In one way, although it is much more difficult for us in many things to be as satisfied with the divine will as the angels are,