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Oh no! That must never be! Let us at once get ‘busy’ and do
what our loving Lord wants from us. Let us frequently go with
our thought to the sacred Crib, and seek advice, now from
Jesus, now from Mary, on what we can do. They will tell us to
drop that vanity, to dress in a more sober way during this time,
to mortify our taste in food or drink: that coffee, that fruit, that
sweet, to drop that fun, however innocent, to deprive ourselves
of some pleasure, though in itself allowed, to keep our eyes
cast down in certain circumstances, to stop ourselves from
saying that word, to forgive that wrong: in short, to seek to
please Jesus and Mary. And then, how happy we shall be
when evening comes and we have some little gift to offer
them!

The dear Babe is pleased with even the tiniest things,
and richly rewards them, too. Come on, then, dear Marianna,
let us try to outdo each other in loving God. I am sure you will

win, but it doesn’t matter. I will at least try to compete with you,
and your virtue will encourage me to love God ever more
passionately.
There is something else you must let me suggest to you,
and it is this: in all simplicity and confidence you could ask
your Confessor permission to do some penance, for instance:
one time to apply the discipline, another time to wear the
penance chain, to fast once a week; more especially, ask him
to let you receive Holy Communion at least twice a week on
ferial days. Keep in mind that if you don’t do this, you fail to do
as our Lord desires. Ask him: if he says No, patience, but as

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