When should we love God most...

amid the roses, or amid the thorns?

(Roses in Annecy, France, hometown of St. Francis de Sales)

Of course, we should love Almighty God with all our minds, with all our hearts, and with all our strength at all times, but St. Francis de Sales offers us this beautiful meditation:

"Love Him well...in the retreats which you make to pray and adore; love Him when you receive Him in Holy Communion; love Him when your heart is inundated with His holy consolations; but, above all, love Him when you meet with trials, aridities, and tribulations; for thus He loved you in Paradise, but He testified more love in your regard amid the scourges, the nails, the thorns, and the darkness of Calvary."

When did Our Lord testify the most love for us? When He suffered for us. Let us testify our love for Him, by suffering our trials and tribulations patiently - for Him!

This quote was excerpted from Consoling Thoughts of St. Francis de Sales on the Trials of an Interior Life by Rev. Pere Huguet, available from TAN/St. Benedict Press.