33. One single thought will direct and animate my apostolate : the glory of God and the sanctification of souls.

34. All souls with whom I come into contact have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. I receive them for a short time in trust. One day God will ask me to account for the way in which I have contributed to their sanctity.

35. Always accomplish your works of charity in a spirit of faith, with your eyes fixed on God. Give yourself. Forget yourself, in all generosity. When you are worn out and have given everything, go and grumble to Jesus, knock at your master's door. Imitate St. Thomas and St. John of the Cross. One day Jesus asked them what they wanted as a reward, and Thomas replied : Yourself, Lord, and St. John of the Cross said, To suffer, Lord, and to be unknown for you.

36. The Brothers will esteem their work not with vanity to nourish pride, and which inclines us to look with scorn to others, but with an esteem which takes its root in the dignity of charity and humble recognition of their own unworthiness.

37. The spiritual gifts we have differ, according to the special grace which has been assigned to each. If a man is a prophet, let him prophesy as far as the measure of his faith will allow him. The administrator must be content with his administration, the teacher with his work of teaching, the preacher with his preaching. Each must perform his own task well, giving alms with generosity, exercising authority with anxious care, or doing works of mercy smilingly.

38. St. Paul considers here the different gifts of the Holy Spirit. He attributes the different gifts from each of them. So from mercy, joy is born. It does not mean the palpable joy which distracts the heart and turns it from God, but a joy created by the Spirit of Love in the depths of the soul.

39. You must approach the sick with respect and see the suffering Christ in them. A lively faith enables us to do this. If your feelings are repulsed by the sight of repugnant wounds, put your faith to work. It is quite true that certain tasks are repugnant to nature, but in the light of faith nature gives place to love. Love gives a strength which nature has no power to give.

40. Those who always maintain harmony and peace among their fellowmen prolong the work of Christ. Did He not come to reconcile humanity to His father?

41. A wife inherits from her husband, a sister from her brother, a Sister (Brother) of Charity from God. You are the heirs of Christ. What does Christ bequeath to you? His love for the father; His love for men; His love for the poorest among men. He bequeaths to you the work which He began Himself, and in order to accomplish it, you inherit His virtues; humility and love. From His field of apostolate you inherit the hungry, the blind, the deaf, the incurables, the old people, and all those that the world rejects with harshness or disgust. Such is your inheritance. You have accepted it on your profession day.

42. Apparently Christ lived for the poor alone, He was always in the midst of them.

43. You are, then, in all humility, other Christs, you Brothers of Charity, when you go to help the disinherited, disinherited of bodily well-being, of the gifts of mind and heart, of the gifts of the soul. You are other Christs when you give them food or knowledge or kindness, when you teach them to be open to God's grace.

44. If we are faithful to this mission, we are serving Christ. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you have done it to Me. But if we neglect the poor in order to serve the rich, we are swerving from our spirit. When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends who are rich, your neighbor, your brethren or your kindred to come; it may be they will send you invitations to return and so you will be recompensed for your pains. Rather when you give hospitality, invite poor men to come; the crippled, the lame, the blind; so you shall win a blessing, for these cannot make you any return; your reward will come when the just rise again.

45. Personal interest does not enter into the question with regards to the service of the poor. To be on the lookout for the realization of one's own ends is a sort of covetousness. The religious infected with this fault is to be pitied because he risks sliding into great disgrace if he does not correct himself diligently by doing penance and by insistently asking for God's grace.

46. It is striking to notice that our Divine Savior washed only the feet of the poor, of the apostles who had given up all the things of the earth.

47. I do not find words beautiful enough to speak of your vocation. If I called you The Lord's Servants I do not say enough. Spouses and Images of God, still I do not say enough. I prefer to use the expression of the Gospel : Vos estis dii - You are Gods. Gods on earth. In reality you are imitating Divine Providence. Don't you quench the thirst of those who are thirsty? And isn't this as good as making manna fall from heaven, and opening rocks to let water flow from them?

48. You know the miserable state of the disinherited and sick. They have hardly ever a joyful day. It seems to them that on this earth, flowers bloom for the rich alone., while for the rest it grows only prickly thistles.

49. Deprived as they are and rejected by all, they feel more dead than alive; you can awaken their sleeping desire to live. You can feed and clothe them, alleviate their pain by medicines, care and kindness. Isn't this bringing them out from the depths of the earth and resurrecting them? Isn't it creating, as it were, another sun, making a new world for them?

50. Yes, by the works of charity and goodness and by your imitation of the perfection of God, you are like unto him, and you participate in the work of Christ. In the person of the wretched you see His suffering members and they find His consolation and redemption in you.

51. You who receive the visitors, remember that your Brothers have confided to you all the affection that they have for their family, welcome them, therefore, calmly and joyfully with an open heart. Remember that you are receiving Jesus Himself.

52. Take your task as educator to heart. Work for the spiritual and material well-being of your children. Form them according to the direction of the superiors.

53. Be always amiable; are you obliged to reprimand? Then do it with gentleness. Do not show any liking, any preference, but see the child Jesus in every child.

54. Why, soul consecrated to God, (says Saint Bonaventure), why do you anxiously search for Jesus your spouse? Come, I will show you where He lives. He lives there in this sick person's room. There he suffers in pain and sadness. Run to him and serve him! Ease His pain and comprehend His sadness.

55. The nurse will serve Christ in her patients with great affection. She will also put up with what she receives from them, and will neglect nothing that might be helpful to them, her joviality will make them joyful, and her patience will help them to be resigned.