Here is another little excerpt from Father Lasance on happiness with the cross.   As Father Libietis has said, "A saint who is sad, is indeed a sad saint."   It is given as a thanks to all of you, for your sacrifices for the little souls:

    "Shall I be happy, if I am good? I know I shall be happy in heaven, but that seems a long way off.  Shall I be happy on earth? I ask the question in some anxiety, because I hear a great deal about carrying the cross; and I cannot conceive how any one can carry the cross and be happy.  Carrying the cross means, I suppose, making oneself miserable.  Now, though I should like to be good, I have no mind to make myself miserable.  

What am I to do? I am to put out of my head forever the notion that carrying the cross means making oneself miserable.

There is one indeed, who, if I try to be good, will do everything in his power to make me miserable.  That is my enemy, the devil, whom St. Peter bids me to 'resist, strong in faith' (I Pet, v.9).  St. Chrysostom says that as a Christian resists thoughts of impurity, so he should resist thoughts of sadness; indeed, the one often leads to the other.  And St. Ignatius:  'It is proper to the evil spirit to sting, to sadden, to put obstacles in the way, making the soul restless by false reasonings to prevent its getting on. And it is proper to the Good Spirit to give courage and strength, consolation and rest of soul, making things easy and removing all obstacles, that the soul may go on further doing good'.  And St. John Chrysostom again:  'It is proper to the devil to create trouble and excitement and to shroud the mind in darkness: whereas it belongs to God to shed light, and with understanding to teach us what we need to know.'  In short, there are two crosses, Our Lord's cross and the devil's cross.  Our Lord's cross consists of the labors of my state, and the pain and sorrow that go with labor, of whatever sort it be, as God said in the beginning to Adam: 'in the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat thy bread:  thorns and briers shall the earth bear to thee' (Gen. iii, 18, 19).  This cross I must submit to be nailed to, and never come down till death releases me, never abdicate, never resign.  

The devil's cross consists of feelings of wretchedness, black discontent, irritation, complainings, downheartedness, and misery -- as it were whiffs from the cloud that envelopes Satan in eternal despair.  This cross I must fling far from me.

    There is no virtue in long faces, even when pious people pull them.  To carry Christ's cross manfully one should be reluctant to avow that one has got any great weight of it on one's shoulder."

    And St. Therese says, "Love alone can make us pleasing to God, so I desire no other treasure."