he never told a lie himself; neither should I have done so,
considering the relation we were in. I told him, in order to be
the more easily believed, that it was much for me to be able to
attend in choir, though I saw clearly that this was no excuse
whatever; neither, however, was it a sufficient reason for giving
up a practice which does not require, of necessity, bodily
strength, but only love and a habit thereof; yet our Lord always
furnishes an opportunity for it, if we but seek it. I say
always; for though there may be times, as in illness, and from
other causes, when we cannot be much alone, yet it never can be
but there must be opportunities when our strength is sufficient
for the purpose; and in sickness itself, and amidst other
hindrances, true prayer consists, when the soul loves, in
offering up its burden, and in thinking of Him for Whom it
suffers, and in the resignation of the will, and in a thousand
ways which then present themselves. It is under these
circumstances that love exerts itself for it is not necessarily
prayer when we are alone; and neither is it not prayer when we
are not.

20. With a little care, we may find great blessings on those
occasions when our Lord, by means of afflictions, deprives us of
time for prayer; and so I found it when I had a good conscience.
But my father, having that opinion of me which he had, and
because of the love he bore me, believed all I told him;
moreover, he was sorry for me; and as he had now risen to great
heights of prayer himself, he never remained with me long; for
when he had seen me, he went his way, saying that he was wasting
his time. As I was wasting it in other vanities, I cared little
about this.