In November, my health deteriorated and all my fellow sisters became ill except for one and another postulant who had just recently arrived. We had to enlist worldly helpers to assist us in our time of need. Because of all this, our convent fell into great distress, which caused me great pain. It was a hard trial without any consolation. I found myself in the depths of despair. On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, as I was losing strength more and more in every way, I asked for a cross to be placed before me, and all I could do was to occasionally lift my eyes, look at the cross, and repeat with all my heart: “I entrust to You Your work, I entrust to You these dear beings of Yours and mine! It seems that all this will end and fall apart when I die. Therefore, I entrust everything into Your hands. Fiat.” On that same day, the Lord graciously provided me with miraculous relief.
(bl. Marie Teresa Scrilli, founder of the Institute of Our Lady of Carmel, 1825–1889, excerpt from autobiography)
