When the heart is heavy, and we suffer from depression or disappointment, how thankful we should be that we still have work and prayer left to comfort us. Occupation forcibly diverts the mind; prayer sweetly soothes the soul.

“Then,” writes one who had been sorely tried, “I tell my griefs to God, as a child tells its troubles to its mother; and when I have told all I am comforted, and repeat with a lightened heart the prayer of S. Françoise de Chantal (who certainly suffered more than I), ‘Thy will be done for ever and ever, O LORD, without if or but;’ … and then, for fear a murmur may arise in my heart, I return immediately to my work, and become absorbed in occupation.”