Chapter 12:
Maxims of Hope


Maxim 12:1
In the practice of hope,
confide more in God
when in your trials and difficulties
there is less likelihood of human aid.
However, in your greatest afflictions, dangers, and difficulties,
do not always hope
that God will deliver you, or comfort you, or make your undertakings succeed,
but hope that God will accomplish in you
and by you God's adorable will.
Live content with this thought.


Maxim 12:2
Moreover, in the difficulties and opposition you meet in carrying out your praiseworthy enterprises,
be fortified against human fears
and do not let your heart be overcome by them.
If they are not of God,
you ought to be the first to desire that they be opposed and
that others work to destroy them.
Moreover, if they are not of God, they cannot last,
since the Saviour Jesus has said
that every plant not planted by his Father will be uprooted.


Maxim 12:3
Hope for every good that you expect
from divine mercy
with as much confidence as if you already possessed it.
Base your hope on the goodness of God,
on God's fidelity to his promises,
on the merits of the Saviour Jesus,
and also on your own correspondence with grace.
For God, who made you without your help
will not save you without it.
That is, he will not save you
if you do not profit from his graces
by the good use of your free will.