Holiness

May 10

 Holiness means being greater than ourselves, means perfect victory over all our passions, it means real and constantly despise ourselves and the things of the world to prefer poverty to wealth, the humiliation to glory, the pain pleasure. Holiness is to love our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Holiness, in this point, it is also love who curses us, hate us, haunts us, even to do good. Holiness is living humble, unselfish, prudent, fair, patient, charitable, chaste, gentle, hardworking, observant of one's duties, for no other purpose than to please God, and receive only reward he deserved.
In summary, in the language of the sacred books, holiness, oh Raffaelina, possesses in itself the virtue of transforming man into God.
(December 30, 1915, to Raffaelina Cerase - Letters. II, p. 541)