„There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves entirely to His hands, and let themselves be formed by His Grace. A thick and shapeless tree trunk would never believe that it could become a statue, admired as a miracle of sculpture … and would never consent to submit itself to the chisel of the sculptor who, as St. Augustine says, sees by his genius what he can make of it. Many people who, we see, now scarcely live as Christians, do not understand that they could become saints, if they would let themselves be formed by the grace of God, if they did not ruin His plans by resisting the work which He wants to do… In this life a thing is good only in the degree in which it serves eternal life. And it is evil in that degree in which it makes us turn aside or away from it. In this way the soul, suffering contradictions on this earth, enlightened and purified by the eternal dew, builds its nest on the heights, concentrates all its desires on the search for Christ crucified since, after being crucified in this life, will rise to life with Him in the next.”
Rome, April 25, 1543. Letter of St. Ignatius to Ascanio Colonna.
Dios y Padre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, que conoces nuestra flaqueza y, sin embargo, nos has llamado al seguimiento de tu Hijo en la Compañía de Jesús, realiza en nosotros lo que conseguiste en San Ignacio y en todos nuestros Santos y Beatos y ayúdanos a trabajar generosamente bajo la bandera de la Cruz. Por nuestro Señor Jesucristo, tu Hijo y nuestro hermano, en la unidad del Espíritu Santo.
Amén.