Chapter 20: How God desires to be sought for by the soul that loves Him ; and how He loves us when we suffer

ON one occasion, when the Saint was prevented from assisting at Vespers, by some infirmity, she exclaimed : " Lord, wouldest Thou not be more honoured if I were in choir with the community, engaged in prayer, and fulfilling the duties of my Rule, than by my being here, passing my time uselessly, in consequence of this illness ? " Our Lord replied : " Be assured that the bridegroom takes moie pleasure in conversing with his bride familiarly in his house, than when he displays her before the world, adorned with her richest ornaments." By these words she under stood that the soul appears in public, and clothed with all her state, when she occupies herself in good works for the glory of God ; but that she reposes in secret with her Spouse, when she is hindered by any infirmity from attend ing to those exercises, for in this state she is deprived of the satisfaction of acting according to her own inclination, and she remains abandoned entirely to the will of God ; and therefore it is that God takes most pleasure in us when we find least occasion of pleasing and glorifying ourselves.