comfort is given from God receive it with thanksgiving; but understand that it is the gift of God, not your merit. Be not puffed up, be not too joyful or vainly presumptuous; but rather be more humble for that gift, more wary too and fearful in all your actions; for that hour will pass away and temptation will follow. When consolation is taken from you, do not immediately despair; but with humility and patience wait for the heavenly visitation; for God is able to give ample consolation. This is nothing new or strange to them who have experience in the way of God; for the great saints and ancient prophets often experienced these changes.
When grace was present with him, David, said, “When I felt secure, I said, ‘I will never be shaken’ ”.† But when this grace was absent, what he found in himself he goes on to speak of, saying: "but when you hid your face, I was dismayed". Yet in the midst of all this he does not despair, but more earnestly beseeches the Lord: “To you, O Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy”. At length, he received the answer to his prayer,“ ‘Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord, be my help’... You turned my wailing into dancing... and clothed me with joy.” † If the great saints were so dealt with, we who are weak and poor ought not to despair if we are sometimes fervent and sometimes cold; for the Spirit comes and goes,
