Charity.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart. This is the greatest and the first commandment,
and the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” — St. Matt. 22:38
NINETEENTH DAY.
It is a work most agreeable to Our Saviour to visit the sick and inform, and to comfort them, as He Himself recommended this kind of mercy. But to perform it with greater zeal and merit, you must see Jesus Christ in the person of the sick, for Jesus Christ says He will regard as done to Him what we do for the poor and infirm. — St. Vincent de Paul.
St. Magdalene of Pazzi showed an inexpressible charity towards all the sick and weak in her monastery. She served them as well as she possible could, solely for the love of God, looking upon them sometimes as temples of the Holy Ghost, sometimes as sisters of the angels, sometimes as Jesus Christ Himself.
St. Louis, King of France, served the poor upon his knees, with head uncovered. He saw in them members of Jesus Christ, united in their sufferings with their Chief, and nailed like Him to the cross.
St. John Berchmans found an inexpressible satisfaction in being with the sick. He had the gift of making them esteem and love their condition. It was his custom to read for them something pious, and to speak to them on subjects that might animate their devotion towards Mary, the consoler of the afflicted.
Prayer.
My God, inspire me with what to say to the sick, the poor, and all who are afflicted, that they may better love the state in which they are placed.