April 7: Saint Albert, Confessor

Consilium meum iustificationes tuae. ps. 118.
Your justifications are all the counsel I need: That is to say that I need not deliberate over Your orders, Oh Lord, because I ask for no further explaination than Your Will, to which I submit entirely and without reserve.
Quod tribulationis sustines, momentaneum est, quod gloriae praestolaris, aeternum est. S. Pet. dam. l. 8. ep. 6.
The pains that you suffer are fleeting and will last but for a moment. The reward that you await is eternal. He who rejoices in immense pleasure after enduring a bit of pain will not be disappointed in the conversion. It is easy to submit to a Will infinitely just and wise which, having afflicted us for a short while, consoles us for all eternity.

Example: Saint Albert, animated by this philosohpy, found ample satisfaction in the most rigorous austerities. He loved solitude. By the continuous mortifications that he practiced, he accustomed himself to joyfully receive the challenges which God was pleased to send his way. One day a flood kept a patron of his from being able to bring him the necessities he needed to survive. The Mother of God, surrounded by a host of virgins, put a piece of bread in his mouth which was enough to feed him for twenty-two years. He dressed himself in a cilice and slept on a board. He willingly heard the confessions of sinners, for whom he had the lovingkindness of a father sooner than the severity of a judge.

Practice: Lover of God, if you despise yourself, then you should be merciful to your neighbor and submit to God. Never say that others inconvenience you with their disorder, or that their hostile disposition renders them unworthy of love. Always give charitably towards their salvation -- if they make it difficult, then just know that God who suffered first is giving them to you to test your patience. Their hostility will prove meritorious to the extent that you gently extend your love to them. There's nothing else that you can do to make your days joyful.