“Accept lovingly all the trials which are sent you, as if they were the most precious gifts God could confer upon you. Do not think it possible that anything could happen to you outside the economy of divine Providence, because unless our Lord permitted it, you would never have to suffer. Never entertain any feelings of contempt against people who clash with you; look upon them as instruments made use of by God for the accomplishment of His designs, love them, and give thanks to Providence. The present life is the path which leads us to our country, and thus we are often exposed to tribulations here below, in order that we may not prefer the path to our true country. God scatters obstacles on the road of His elect for fear that, abandoning themselves to repose in this life on a path strewn with flowers, they should wish to prolong their journey instead of hastening on, for fear also that the pleasures of the journey should make them lose the desire for their own country.”
– Louis de Blois (Blosius), a devout monk and mystical writer
Littlest Souls 