The practice of Humility - 54

Let no day pass without reproaching yourself as your enemies would do, not only to soften these insults in advance, but also to keep yourself in self-abasement and contempt. If, in the midst of the storm of a violent temptation, you become impatient and complain interiorly for the way God is trying you, repress these motions in time and tell yourself: “I am a vile and miserable sinner, should I complain about this suffering?  Have I not deserved harsher punishments?  Don’t you know, my soul, that these humiliations and sufferings are like bread received from the charity of the Lord to bring you out of your misery and poverty?  Ah, if you refuse this God-given trial, you are not worthy of it and reject a rich treasure; it will be given to someone else who will make better use of it. “The Lord wants to number you among his friends, the disciples of Calvary; will you be a coward and flee from the combat?  Do you try to be crowned without having fought?  And how will you have the reward without having borne the burden of the day and of the heat?” These and similar reflections will re-enkindle your fervor and arouse in you the desire to accept suffering and humiliations, as our Lord did.

J. Pecci (later Pope Leo XIII)