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I saw a bower of leaves within the soul. He said that it had been prepared by all the heartaches I had accepted, and by my prayers.

Heartache, humiliation and helplessness were the worst of Christ's sufferings; how few bear such sufferings for His sake.

Where a married couple really love one another, and love God, they want to do His Will. He wants them to be faithful to one another, and to refuse to use sinful means of seeking pleasure or avoiding conception. They can be sure, by their faithfulness to God's Will (even if this means abstinence, pain or heartache) that they offer an unmarred expression of love to their Creator and also to one another.

Where a married couple really love one another, and love God, they want to do His Will. He wants them to be faithful to one another, and to refuse to use sinful means of seeking pleasure or avoiding conception. They can be sure, by their faithfulness to God's Will (even if this means abstinence, pain or heartache) that they offer an unmarred expression of love to their Creator and also to one another.

Christ wants us to know that we never suffer alone. He knows and sees our every pain and heartache. He invites us to bring everything to Him in prayer, and to find rest in His presence.

It is possible to bear constant heartache 'side-by-side' with spiritual joy, as Jesus Himself experienced in earthly life. His heart ached whenever people showed misunderstanding or malice towards Him, yet He remained in blissful union with the Father.

They are close to God, and safe; yet like the Chinese statues hidden from sight, the Holy Souls wait in a dimly-lit place, enduring their purification, as they think about their past lives, and suffer heartache because they were lukewarm in the Faith, or lacked faith in some of the Church's teachings - or prayed only occasionally, or made little effort to resist temptations, or to become really holy.

When we suffer heartache, in earthly life, because our own children are sad or in trouble, we do well to remember Our Lady, and the heartache she suffered: not just at her son's Passion, in Jerusalem, but earlier in Galilee, when she waved to Christ as He left her to set out at last on His adult Ministry.

Christ is overjoyed by those who love and obey Him. One of the worst experiences of Christ's Passion, as He hung on the Cross, was the sight He saw - by His Divine insight - of those who would take no notice of His words, or of His desire to save them. His heartache was indescribable, as He saw souls walking away, towards damnation, through their own choices.

A woman's body, instincts, heart and mind are designed to enable her to cherish life within herself, should she conceive. A woman who seeks an abortion is seeking an evil act that will harm her as well as her baby. To have an abortion is to act against her own body, even if she persuades herself otherwise. Her heartache will begin.

Jesus Christ is swift to console His friends in their heartache, pain or exhaustion. If we call out to Him in faith and humility, asking for the privilege of a spiritual Communion, He is very close to us, bringing peace that only He can give, and guiding us in our actions by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit.

It is important to remain joyful, and hopeful, trusting in Christ. We might sometimes find our minds dwelling on sad or horrible events of our life, of many years earlier, and we experience heartache, just as we do when we dwell on the sufferings of other people - especially starving children - in the present day. But sad memories should propel us not towards despondency but action, whether thanks to God for His many gifts to us, or help for the needy.