Page 15 - practices
P. 15

I  will  hold  my  ears  prisoners  in  the  Crib  of  my  heart,  by
               depriving myself of the pleasure of hearing talk of indifferent or
               useless things. There too I will station my whole body, so that
               everything may be at the service of the Heavenly Babe, and I
               will  do  this  by  abandoning  it  totally  in  the  arms  of  Divine
               Providence. I will not talk about physical indisposition unless I
               am asked to, nor will I fully satisfy my body in food, drink and
               clothing;  I  will  pay  no  heed  to  its  demands  for  delicate
               attentions; I will appoint it a servant to the Heavenly Child, and
               so its only concern should be that of pleasing Him alone.
               Outside the Crib I will leave all other creatures: my self-love,
               desire  for  appreciation,  worldly  pastimes  or  anything  earthy.
               Instead, I will let in the girls of my school, just like little lambs
               that  the  Lord  wishes  me  to  bring  up  beautifully  adorned  for
               Him.
               And so I will redouble all my watchfulness, concern, care and
               trouble towards these lambs of Baby Jesus, driven on by the

               happy motivation of pleasing the king, the owner of my Crib.
               With the same aim I will let into the Crib the Hospital (patients),
               the poor, the sick, sinners, Souls in Purgatory, our Oratorio, all
               the girls; I will think of all these for the sake of Jesus alone; I
               will work hard for them, but with Jesus and for His sake; for
               their  good  I  will  act,  but  only  in  the  way  that  is  pleasing  to
               Jesus.

                     The  loveable  Child  lies  in  the  Crib  of  my  heart:  poor,
               abandoned, icy cold, deprived of company and even of bare
               necessities. I will do my best to provide him with all these by



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