it makes a man know himself,rely on himself,and have faith in his neighbour.Suffering keeps the soul humble and teaches patience.It is the guardian of purity,and confers the crown of eternal salvation.There is probably no man living but who derives good from suffering,whether he be in a state of sin,or on the eve of conversion,or in the fruition of grace,or on the summit of perfection;for it purges the soul as fire purges iron and purifies gold;it adorns the wrought jewel.Suffering takes away sin,lessens the fire of purgatory,expels temptation,consumes imperfections,and renovates the spirit.It imparts true confidence,a clear conscience,and constant loftiness of mind.Know that it is a healthy beverage,and a wholesome herb above all the herbs of paradise.It chastises the body which,at any rate,must rot away,but it nourishes the noble soul which shall endure for ever.Behold,the noble soul blooms by suffering even as the beautiful rose by the fresh dews of May!Suffering makes a wise mind and an experienced man.A man who has not suffered what does he know?Suffering is affection's rod,a paternal blow given to My elect.Suffering draws and forces men to God,whether they like it or not.He who is always cheerful in suffering,has for his servants joy and sorrow,friend and foe.How often hast thou not thrust an iron bit between the gnashing teeth of thy enemies,and rendered them,with thy joyous praise,and thy meekness in suffering,powerless?Sooner would I create suffering out of nothing than leave my friends unprovided with it;for in suffering,every virtue is preserved,man adorned,his neighbour reformed,and God praised.Patience in suffering is a living sacrifice,it is a sweet smell of balsam before My divine face,it is an appealing wonder before the entire host of heaven.Never was a skillful knight in a tournament so gazed at as a man who suffers well is gazed at by all the heavenly court.All the saints are on the side of the suffering man;
for,indeed,they have all partaken of it before him,and they call out to him with one voice that it contains no poison,but is a wholesome beverage.
Patience in suffering is superior to raising the dead,or the performing of other miracles.It is a narrow way which leads direct to the gates of heaven.Suffering makes us companions of the martyrs,it carries honour with it,and leads to victory against every foe.Suffering clothes the soul in garments of rose colour,and in the brightness of purple;in suffering she wears the garland of red roses,and carries the sceptre of green palms.
Suffering is for her as a shining ruby in a young maiden's necklace.Adorned with it,she sings with a sweet voice and a free heart a new song which not all the angelic choirs could ever sing,because they never knew suffering.
And,to be short,those who suffer are called the poor before the world,but before Me they are called the blessed,for they are My elect.
The Servant.--Oh,how plainly does it appear that Thou art the Eternal Wisdom,since Thou canst bring the truth home with such cogency that no one doubts it any longer.No wonder that he,to whom Thou dost make suffering appear so lovely,can bear sufferings.Lord,in consequence of Thy words,all sufferings in future must be easier and full of joy for me.Lord,my true Father,behold,I kneel before Thee this day,and praise Thee fervently for my present sufferings,and also for the measureless sufferings of the past,which I deemed so very great,because they appeared so hostile to me.
Eternal Wisdom.--But what is thy opinion now?
The Servant.--Lord,my opinion in very truth is this:that when I look at Thee,Thou delight of my eyes,with looks of love,the great and violent sufferings with which,in so paternal a manner,Thou hast disciplined me,and at the sight of which Thy pious friends were filled with such terror on my account,have been like a sweet fall of dew in May.
(Now,when the same preacher had begun to write on suffering,there appeared to him,in the way already mentioned above,the same two persons that were in sorrow and trouble,sitting before him,and one of them prayed him to play on the harp to her.This he took amiss,and answered that it would be an unpriestly thing.Then he was told that it would not be unpriestly,and presently there entered a youth who prepared a harp,and when he had turned it,he spun the two threads crosswise over the strings,and gave it into the hands of the brother,and then the brother began to write on suffering).
CHAPTER XIV.On The Unspeakable Advantages to Be Derived From Meditating on The Divine Passion The Servant.
--Truly,Lord,the unfathomable good which is found in Thy Passion for those who avail themselves of the time and place to meditate on it is a thing hidden from all hearts.Oh,what a sure path is the way of Thy Passion,along the way of truth,up to the very pinnacle of all perfection.
