the mystical temple of god 598 but because sometimes you have offended God, who is the highest good, or your neighbor; to hope, but for the Kingdom of Heaven; to be consumed with sorrow, but in penitence for evils you have committed or good deeds you have omitted; to fear, but only God, as a son fears his father; to love, but this same God alone, or, for His sake, your neighbor, and much more so your enemy. I shall summarize everything in this brief saying of St. Anthony of Padua: “Just as a ship easily sinks when a storm arises at sea, unless the helmsman steers it with diligence; thus emotions make man worse, unless they are ruled by right reason.”70 Be then on your watch, excellent captain, lest the ship of your soul deviates from the course leading to the heavenly harbor; try to reach it with all your might, and have domination over the waves and storms like Neptune; “the lust should be under you, and you shall have dominion over it” (Gen 4:7) [LV]. Do you have a sacrifice? Call the Priest. Love alone has the function of offering it. I already wanted to end [this chapter], when, for ending it, that famous saying of the Imitator of Christ71 burst into my mind. “You ought to undergo all things willingly for the love of God, namely labors and pains, temptations, vexations, anxieties, privations, infirmities, injuries, slanders, rebukes, humiliations, confusions, corrections, and contempt: these forge a heavenly crown,” (Bk. 3, Ch. 35):72 these are a sacrifice pleasing to God. 70 This quotation could not be verified, as the work of St. Anthony of Padua from which it comes was not specified. 71 See Ch. III, footnote 42 (p. 584). 72 IC, Bk. III, Ch. 35.
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