'A
severe winter kills and destroys all the plants and flowers in the
country...
Sin, that sad and terrible winter of the soul, destroys all
the holy works it finds there...
'But when sin is driven out, and the
grace of Divine Love returns to the soul,
not only the new affections
which the return of this holy springtime produces
bud forth into rich
merits and blessings,
but the works faded
and withered under the
harshness
of the bygone winter of sin -
as if freed from their mortal
enemy -
resume their strength and vigour
and, as if raised from death,
flourish anew and are fruitful
in merits for eternal life.'
St. Francis de Sales