Patience
“He that does not take up his cross and follow Me, is not worth of Me.” — St. Matt. 10:38.
EIGHTEENTH DAY.
If we knew the precious treasure which is hidden in our infirmities, we would receive them with the same joy that we receive the greatest benefits, and we would bear them without complaining. — St. Vincent de Paul.
This saint suffered from many infirmities, which gave him no repose night or day. He bore them with admirable patience. His face was always serene, his countenance affable, as if he enjoyed perfect health. From his lips was never heard a complaint. He never ceased to thank God for his infirmities, looking upon them as favors. When his sufferings were extreme, his only strength was to look upon his crucifix and to utter aspirations of patience. “I suffer little in comparison with what my sins deserve, and what Jesus Christ has suffered for our love,” he would say. A brother-missionary one day said: “The pains which you endure must be almost insupportable.” The saint replied: “How can you can that insupportable which is the work of God? May God forgive you for what you have said. It is not thus one should speak in the school of Jesus Christ. Is it not just that the guilty suffer and be chastised? Has not the Lord a right to do with us as He wills?”
Prayer.
O my God, can I complain, can I suffer with impatience, seeing what my Saviour suffered in the Garden of Olives and on Calvary, and thinking of what I should suffer in hell if Thou hadst not treated me according to Thy great mercy?