The devil, seeing that there is no shorter road to the summit of perfection than that of obedience, artfully insinuates many repugnances and difficulties under color of good, to prevent us from following it. - Saint Teresa of Avila
On account of Saint Bridget's extreme attachment to penances, her spiritual father once forbade her to perform so many. She obeyed, but with reluctance, for she feared the loss of a spirit of mortification. The Blessed Virgin then appeared to her and said: "Suppose, my daughter, that two of my children desire to fast on a certain day. One, being mistress of her own actions, fasts; the other, who is under obedience, does not fast. The second gains two rewards - one for her desire, the other for her obedience." This instruction completely reassured the Saint.
- text taken from A Year with the Saints, composed by an unknown Italian, translated by a member of the Order of Mercy; it has the Imprimatur of Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan, Archdiocese of New York, New York, 21 January 1891