Flower of Devotion

The Lord once said to St. Gertrude:

“The excess of my love, by which I seek the salvation of men, often compels me to believe that my elect, in all the good things they wish, desire me alone, because I am the source in which all goods are
contained and from which all things flow. When, for instance, a man wishes for health, peace, comfort, wisdom, or other such things, My goodness often looks upon it as if he wished for Me alone in all these things, that I might thereby increase the value of his reward. If, for this purpose, he does not consciously arouse these wishes in order to distance himself from Me, if, for example, he does not wish for wisdom in order to satisfy his presumptuousness and pride, or for health in order to be able to do evil. Wherefore I visit My dearest friends often with bodily sicknesses, inward restlessness and confusion of spirit, and similar afflictions, so that the ardent love which I carry in My heart for their good may impart to them the more abundant efficacy of My generosity, when they demand goods which are contrary to these burdens.