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THOSE who follow the way of generosity, self-denial, and self-
sacrifice which the saints have taught, will come at length to
know and taste the joys of God's complete dominion within us.
Truly spiritual delights have their source in the cross, in the
spirit of sacrifice which causes disordered inclinations to die in
us and gives the first place to the love of God and the love of
souls in God, which installs in the throne of our souls that
charity which is the source of peace, the tranquility of order.
These deep joys cannot enter into the soul until the senses and
the spirit have been purged and refined by tribulations and
sufferings which detach us from things created. As we read in the
Acts of the Apostles:
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'Through many tribulations we must enter
into the kingdom of God.' [161]
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