CHAPTER 68

That we do not always receive the fruit of our prayers immediately.

AS ANOTHER person complained that she did not receive the fruit of the prayers which were offered for her, the Saint laid the matter before God, and received this reply: “Ask this person what she would think most advantageous to a cousin or any other relative for whom she ardently desired a benefice— whether the right to it should be conferred on him as a child, or whether he should be allowed the revenues also, and permitted to use them as he pleased? According to human prudence, she could only reply that it would be more advantageous to confer on him the right to the benefice, and the revenue when he could use it properly, than when he might squander it wastefully. Let her, then, confide in My wisdom and My Divine mercy, since I am her Father, her Brother, and her Spouse, and I will obtain what will be advantageous for her body and soul with far more care and fidelity than she would for any relative; and let her believe that I preserve carefully the fruit of all the prayers and desires which are addressed to Me for her, until a suitable time comes to permit her the enjoyment of them; then I will commit them to her entirely, when no one will be able to corrupt them, or to deprive her of them by their importunities. And let her be persuaded that this is far more useful to her than to pour into her soul some sweetness which might, perhaps, be an occasion of vainglory to her, or become tarnished by her pride; or than to grant her some temporal prosperity, which might prove an occasion of sin.”