Consider first, that 'tis a most certain truth that nothing happens in the world, excepting sin, which does not come directly from the hand of God, and which is not the effect of his holy will. So that all our sufferings, of what kind soever they may be, are all ordained by him, and all thus pass through his hands before they can reach us. Which is so true, that even those sufferings, which seem to be brought upon us immediately by the wickedness of men, are in effect , all of them sent by the ordinance of God; who, though he abhors whatsoever there is of malice and sin in the will or design of the men or devils, whom he suffers to afflict or persecute us; yet most certainly he not only permits, but absolutely wills, the afflictions, trials, or punishments which we suffer on these occasions. And 'tis his intention and our duty that in all these sufferings we should not look so much at the visible hand of the unjust creature, as at the invisible hand of the just God; and that in all these cases we should in such manner detest the malice or wickedness of the men that afflict us, as ever to submit to, and even to embrace the chastisements of the Lord, as of a tender father, who often makes use of a rod for the correction of his children, which he afterwards casts into the fire. O how resigned should we be if we always remembered these truths!

Consider 2ndly, that all our sufferings not only come to us from the hand of God, but all are designed by him for our greater good. He is the best of fathers; his fatherly providence and his tender love for us exceeds all that we can express or conceive. The holy scriptures are full of repeated declarations of this truth; it cannot be called in question without contradicting both the divine word and the perpetual experience of the servants of God. So that we ought to be always fully assured, considering God's infinite wisdom, goodness, and love for us, that all that he sends is for the best, and is indeed the best for us. See, my soul, that thou always remember this truth, in all thy pains, sicknesses, crosses, and afflictions; and in general in all things that happen to thee contrary to thy desire, expectation, or inclination. Upon all these occasions thou must consider Jesus Christ himself as offering thee this cup, or this cross, desiring thee to receive it for his sake; and assuring thee that it shall be the means to bring thee to heaven. O! how true it is, as we shall clearly see one day in the light of God, that these very things which we are apt to consider as evils, are indeed great and solid goods; and that through them, millions of souls shall be brought to eternal happiness, which without them might have been eternally miserable. O let us learn then to resign ourselves without reserve to all the appointments of a merciful and loving providence!

Consider 3rdly, the degrees by which we ought to endeavour to advance towards the perfection of this great virtue of the resignation of ourselves in all things to the divine will. The first and lowest is, to support at least with patience the evils that befall us; and this because they come from the hand of God; and humbly to submit to them as the just punishment of our sins, saying with the prophet: 'I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him,' Mic. vii. 9, and with the psalmist, under afflictions, 'I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because it is thy doing,' Ps. xxxviii. 10. The second degree, which is much more perfect than the first, is when we not only endeavour to bear our sufferings with patience, so as not to murmur or repine on those occasions, or otherwise offend God; but also are ready and willing to suffer, because such is the will of God; so that the consideration of God's holy will and pleasure makes the cross (which according to nature we dread and abhor,) agreeable to us, inasmuch as the will of God is thereby accomplished in us. The third and most perfect degree of resignation, which carries with it the perfection of divine love and charity, is when we do not only readily and willingly accept of the cross from the hand of God but even rejoice in suffering for the love of him; and take an unspeakable content in crosses, in adversities, in humiliation, in poverty, in being condemned by the world, & c., so that we would not even wish to be without them, out of the pure love of him who chose a suffering life for the love of us; and because the accomplishment of his will is the whole object of our desire, of our love, and of our joy, O! what a heaven should we find upon earth if we could once arrive at this third degree of divine resignation! For what can disturb that soul that always rejoices at the accomplishment of the will of God, and finds her pleasure and content in suffering?

Conclude to make it thy study to ascend by these steps of resignation to the holy will of God in all things, from virtue to virtue, till thou arrive at the top of the ladder where thou shalt find thy God, and be for ever inseparable united to him.

Consider first, that the capital enemy of the love of God and of all our good, especially of the resignation and conformity of our will to the will of God, is the vice of self-love, or a disorderly inclination to gratify and please ourselves; which is the unhappy consequence of the corruption of man by sin, and the fruitful parent of all our evils. All our vices and passions spring from this poisonous root; all the seven capital sins are but so many branches of this inordinate inclination to ourselves: take away self-love and you will shut up all the avenues of hell, and establish everywhere the reign of the love of God, and a most blessed heaven upon earth. Hence the virtue of self-denial, the business of which is to suppress and root out this dreadful evil of self-love, is one of the most necessary of all Christian virtues, and must ever go hand-in-hand with the great virtue of conformity to the will of God, which can never take root in our souls as long as we are unhappily attached to our own wills and fond of gratifying our own inclinations. Hence the very first condition the Son of God requires of all that would be his disciples is to deny themselves, Matt. xvi. 24. This self-denial is the great lesson he came down from heaven to teach. Happy we if by his grace we can but effectually learn it in practice.

Consider 2ndly, that this virtue of self-denial is usually called mortification, from a word signifying slaying or putting to death: inasmuch as by this continual fighting against ourselves and against our own corrupt inclinations and passions, we put to death, as it were, and crucify the old man of corruption, Rom. vi. 6, with his vices and sins, (according to that of the apostle, Gal. v. 24 that they that are of Christ have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences,) and so die to ourselves, that we may put on the new man, Jesus Christ, and live in such manner to him as to be able to say with the same apostle, 'I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in me,' Gal. ii. 20. See, my soul, what this virtue of mortification means which is much talked of and but little understood, and less practiced, and yet no virtue is more necessary for our true welfare. We may even apply to it what St. Paul says of charity, 1 Cor. xiii., 'That if we speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have the gift of prophecy, and all knowledge, and all faith, so that we could remove mountains, and are not mortified, we are nothing;' and that whatsoever other qualifications we may have, or whatsoever good we may do, as long as our passions and corrupt inclinations remain unmortified, we shall still be nothing in the eyes of God.

Consider 3rdly, how this general mortification of our passions and our inordinate inclinations is everywhere strongly inculcated in the Word of God. We are even assured there that we must hate ourselves in this life if we hope to be either true disciples of Christ here, or to be eternally happy with him hereafter; (St. Luke xiv. 26, and St. John xii. 25); 'that if we live according to the flesh we shall die, but if by the spirit we mortify the deeds of the flesh we shall live,' Rom viii. 13. 'And that they who are in the flesh,' that is, they who are unmortified, 'cannot please God,' v. 8, besides many other texts which abundantly demonstrate that no one can be a good Christian without waging a perpetual war against his own sensual inclinations, and diligently taking up the cross of daily mortification. Hence the flesh with its passions and lusts is always reckoned by divines amongst the three great enemies of the soul, and is indeed of all the three by far the most dangerous enemy, because the world and the devil, with all their suggestions, would not easily draw us into sin and hell if our own flesh, that is, our corrupt inclinations and passions, did not pave the way and furnish them with the arms with which they fight against us. The world and the devil besiege us from without, but could never force their way into the soul, if our own evil inclinations did not hold a correspondence with them, and open the gates of the soul to let them in.

Conclude if thou desirest to overcome the world and the devil, to make it thy business to subdue the flesh and to bring it under subjection by wholesale self-denials and mortifications. Without this restraint upon the passions and inclination, there will be no soundness in thy soul--the whole head will be sick, and the whole heart sad, Isaia i. 5.

Consider first, that as the business of mortification in general is to reform the whole man, and to retrench all that is evil and vicious in us, or that might disqualify us for that union with God, by divine love, for which he made us, and gave us these immortal souls, by tying down our hearts and minds to created objects; so that kind of mortification in particular ought to be most diligently exercised by a Christian that refines, polishes, and reforms our interior, in which we ever carry about with us the image of God, and in which he delights to reside, provided he finds it in a proper condition to receive and entertain him, that is, provided he finds it mortified. O my soul, what ought we not then to do to qualify ourselves for so great a happiness as this, of having God with us, and of being interiorly united to him! In order to this, thou must observe well all the irregularities which thy inward powers and faculties are liable to, that thou mayest retrench them by mortification, and so purify thy interior. Believe me, this mortification of the interior is an exercise far from difficult, but withal far more necessary for thee, and far more acceptable to God than any corporal austerities whatsoever.

Consider 2ndly, what those irregularities are of thy inward powers and faculties that stand in need of being retrenched by mortification. Alas! if thou wilt but give thyself the leisure to study well what passes in thy own interior, and to know thyself, thou wilt find thy understanding liable to pride, self-conceit, self-sufficiency, presumption, a variety of empty curiosities, and many errors of dangerous consequence in practice; such errors I mean as oppose the maxims of the gospel and represent things in false lights, and weigh them in false weighs, so as to influence the poor soul to prefer the temporal before the eternal. Thou wilt find thy judgment liable to be rash and precipitate, and quite clouded with the exhalations that arise from thy passions and self-love. Thou wilt find thy memory liable to many vain wanderings and evagations, ever full of empty things, and forgetful of God. Thou wilt find thy imagination ever dissipated in the pursuit of worldly toys, vain schemes, or sinful objects, and all thy affections, appetites, and desires, strangely bent upon evil, and averse to everything that is painful or laborious. See, my soul, what a piece of work is here cut out for thee, and how much thou hast to mortify in thy interior, to qualify it for a union with God!

Consider 3rdly, that amongst the powers of the soul, that which most of all stands in need of being mortified is the will--as the will is, or should be, the mistress of the rest; and is obliged to keep them all in order, which she can never do, if she herself be disorderly. Hence the Holy Ghost admonishes us by the mouth of the wise man, Eccles. xviii. 30, 31, 'Go not after thy own lusts, but turn away from thy own will; if thou give to thy soul her desires, she will make thee a joy to thy enemies.' Hence also he tells us, Prov. xxix. 15, 'The child that is left to his own will bringeth his mother to shame.' Because this will of ours, when indulged, is capable of hurrying us away to all that is evil. and therefore we are called upon in the gospel to hate our own soul, (animam suam,) that is, our own wills in this world, if we hope to be happy in the next. For the fire of hell, says St. Bernard, can burn nothing but our own will.

Conclude to apply thyself seriously to this most necessary mortification of thy interior, and more especially of thy own will and desires. This mortification is to be exercised, first, by denying to thy own will whatever it craves contrary to the will of God; secondly, by accustoming thyself in things indifferent often to contradict thy own will, and never to do anything merely to gratify thy own inclinations; thirdly, by curbing, even in things that appear to be good, that eagerness and hurry which nature, passion, and self-love are apt to prompt thee to; and setting before thy eyes, and quietly following on these occasions the will of God, and not thy own.

Prayer for Grace to do the Will of God

Grant me grace, O merciful God,
to desire ardently all that is pleasing to Thee,
to examine it prudently,
to acknowledge it truthfully,
and to accomplish it perfectly,
for the praise and glory of Thy name.

" My Father, if if be possible, let this chalice pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt " (Matt. xxvi. 39). "For what have I in heaven? and besides Thee, what do I desire upon earth? . . . Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever" (Ps. lxxii. 25, 26). As the Lord willeth, so be it. "I will take the chalice of salvation and I will call upon the name of the Lord" (Ps. cxv. 13). "My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready" (Ps. cvii. 2). Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Illness, pains and death do I accept from Thy hand, O God, willing as I am to suffer for the love of Thee. "Cut, burn, in this life, O Lord, only spare me in the next" (St . Augustine). If Thou wilt, O my God, that I should continue to live longer, let me live only for Thee; if Thou wilt that I die, let me die in Thy peace. O Jesus, to Thee I resign myself; into Thy hands do I commend myself, as Thou didst commend Thyself to Thy heavenly Father. I give myself up to Thee, and all that is mine; dispose of it as Thou pleasest. I am ready to suffer as much and as long as Thy divine wisdom has decreed. My only wish, O Jesus, is that Thy divine will be accomplished; I will live and die according to this will. Amen.

1. I gratefully receive this sickness from the hand of my God.
2. I shall constantly beg God's grace that, by His aid, I may soon be equally ready to die or live.
3. I will be patient in my sufferings.
4. I pardon all who have offended me.
5. I beg pardon of all I have in any way offended.
6. I grieve with all my heart for having offended Thee, O God, my sovereign Good!
7. I firmly believe all that God proposes to my belief, through His Holy Church.
8. I hope for the remission of all my sins, and life everlasting.
9. I love Thee, O Lord my God, above all things, and with all my heart.
10. I wish to gain all the indulgences of which I am capable.
11. From this moment, and especially in the hour of my death, I wish to give token of sincere sorrow for my sins, to be absolved of them, and if my disease increases, and it is possible, to receive the most holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction, and make Christ, my Savior, heir of my soul and body.