CVL 

Do not be afraid ; you insult God by mistrusting His 
Goodness ; He knows better than you what you want 
and are able to bear ; He will never try you beyond your 
strength. So I repeat it ; fear nothing, O you of little 
faith ! The experience of your own weakness shows 
you how little you can reckon on yourself or your best 
resolutions. Sometimes one might suppose, to see the 
warmth of one's feelings, that nothing could throw one 
back, and .then, after having exclaimed, like S. Peter, 
" Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny 
Thee ! " one ends like him by being frightened at a 
servant maid, and denying our Lord ! Weak indeed we 
are ! but while such weakness is deplorable, the realisa- 
tion thereof is most useful if it strips us of all self- 
reliance. A weakness which we know and which 
humbles us is worth more than the most angelic good- 
ness complacently self-appropriated ! So be weak and 
depressed if God permits it; but at all events be humble, 
frank, and docile in your depression. Some day you 
will laugh at all your present fears, and will thank God 
for all that I say so harshly to drive you out of your 
timid prudence.