Catholic during the Great Apostasy

The means of acquiring patience.

Thus we have passed through a wide field of sufferings; – how many painful and heavy crosses the Lord put on the shoulders of the sons of Adam. Doubtless you, too, are not free from them, and so you also need patience, but how will you acquire it?

ASK FOR PATIENCE
Behold, first of all, ask for patience, but a holy patience prompted by the love of God, – a universal patience, which would embrace all sorrows, all crosses, – a valiant and persevering patience, which even the greatest sufferings would not be able to shake. Such patience is a strangely great and beautiful virtue, that the holy Fathers call it “the mother and crown of Martyrs, the stronghold of faith, the friend of love, the queen of all things.” Such patience is a gift of God, a gift so precious that St. King Louis rightly said:

“I thank God more for the patience He lent me in captivity than I would have thanked after winning the battle for the Saracen country ,,

Ask for such patience, after all, God himself encourages you: “Call upon me in the day of affliction, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt honour me” (1): and the Lord Jesus sets thee an example, for when he began to “grieve and long for himself”, he went to pray.

MEDITATE ON THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST
Meditate on the repeated sorrows and patience of the King of Martyrs Jesus, the Queen of Martyrs Mary and the great lovers of the cross. If any cross falls on you, carry it immediately in spirit under the cross of Jesus, and it will lose much of its weight and bitterness. If your suffering seems great to you, look at what our Master and Saviour suffered. You lie on a bed of sorrow – but the bed of the cross was more terrible; you are poor – but Jesus was poorer for love of you; you lost a case, you lost your possessions – but even Jesus’ clothes were torn off; your friends abandoned you – one disciple betrayed Jesus, another denied him, all deserted you; your fame was taken from you – the same was done to the Son of God; the world persecutes you – but has not taken your life yet; can you complain?

When Saint Julia was beaten with rods, she prayed in the midst of this torment: “Blessed be Thou for ever, O my Saviour, for the ineffable mercy Thou dost bestow upon Thy handmaid. May I share in all the torments you have endured for me. But what a difference! Thy head was pierced with a crown of thorns, and I was but a little hair torn out; I was flogged, and Thy Most Holy Body was torn in pieces with iron scourges; I was maligned, and Thou was saturated with blasphemies and insults.” This consideration strangely added to her power.

REMEMBER YOUR OWN SINFULNESS
Remember also that no one is free from the cross, and that for your sins you have earned the cross. He who has a dangerous and painful wound does not fear the iron and the fire; likewise, he who feels a wound in his soul because of his sins, calmly endures the knife and the fire of suffering. When, therefore, the Lord sends you what kind of cross, think immediately: this cross is a boon to me rather than a punishment, for I have deserved a heavier one. How good the Lord is, that by a little suffering he saves me from eternal torment or the punishment of purgatory. It was reported to Margaret, the queen, who was already on her deathbed, that her husband and her son Edward had fallen in battle against their enemies in the same day. At this sad tidings, she raised her eyes to heaven and pronounced: “Praise be to thee, O Lord, that thou sendest me such sorrow at my death, for by this thou wilt purge me from my sins.”

Remember that sufferings pass quickly, like a summer storm or an overflowing stream, and that they are not beyond strength. Just as a skilful master does not strain the strings, otherwise they would break, so the Lord Jesus does not give such crosses, which would break the soul; and if sometimes the soul breaks, that is, falls into despair, that is where it comes from, that it relies on its weakness.

Remember that all things come from God, happiness as well as misery; so if the cup of suffering seems too bitter for you, remember that God’s hand gives it to you and sweeten it with this thought: God wills it so. “The truly patient,” said the author of the book “On the Imitation of Jesus Chr.” – does not care who afflicts him, whether a superior, an equal or an inferior; whether a good and holy man or a disreputable and perverse one. But however much, whenever and from whichever creature an adversity befalls him, he accepts it gratefully and esteems it as immeasurable gain at the hand of God” (2).

Remember that in your sufferings the Most Holy Saviour supports you with His grace and is constantly by your side to help you carry your cross. Saint George, the martyr, while suffering terrible torments, heard a voice from heaven: “Saint George, fear nothing, for I am with you”; and at that moment there stood before him a grave man, clothed in robes shining like the sun, who embraced him and encouraged him to courage. Likewise to you, suffering soul, says the Lord: Fear not, for I am with you always.

SUFFERING AS PROOF OF LOVE
Remember that there is nothing you can do to show your love for the Lord God more than to willingly endure sufferings for him, and that there is no better means of willingly enduring sufferings than to love him who loved us so much that he suffered and died for us.

Remember that sufferings are a great honour for us , because they make us like the King of Christ’s sorrows, – and a rich gain , because they are the jewels of the future crown which the Lord will one day crown us with. When St Agapitus, after long torments, had his head sprinkled with glowing coals and, he cried out: “Let my head burn, which the Lord will crown with glory. O how beautiful shall my crown be, how splendid shall the dyad shine on the wounds received for Jesus Christ!” Such a crown the Lord is preparing for you too, if you persevere under the Cross.

OFFER UP YOUR SUFFERINGS
Often, when praying, offer yourself to the Lord for the sufferings he may send upon you and which await you with certainty, so that when the cross falls upon you, he will not find you unprepared.

At the very least, say often: Thy will be done, O Lord; whatever Thou doest with me, whatever Thou sendest upon me, be blessed for all things.

But, on the other hand, do not seek out crosses for yourself, especially if you are of a weak spirit, worrying unnecessarily about the future, for example, because the future is not yet yours, and when it becomes yours, it will not be as terrible as your imagination portrays it. Superfluous anxiety about the future is a poison to the present, because it discourages the soul from living, and it is a distrust of God, who will not let you out of his protection as he has not let you out so far. Therefore [entrust] your future to the Lord God, being ready to accept whatever his wisdom and love chooses, and strive to live well this day, for “it is enough of your misery” (3).

Bear small annoyances in order to harden yourself for greater ones.

But if the cross weighs you down and you long for relief or refreshment, seek it from the sweetest Saviour, for He is “the vine, which the press of the cross has squeezed so that the wine of sweet consolation may flow from it” (4); look to Mary, the Comforter of the afflicted, for “she is the cloud that covers us from the pangs of sorrow”; look to prayer, for she is the lute that cheers the soul; look to Holy Communion, for she is the “Bread of the Strong” and the manna of sweet consolation.

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Bp. Józef Sebastian Pelczar – Życie duchowne czyli doskonałość chrześcijańska według najcelniejszych mistrzów duchownych , Tom II, Kraków, Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 1886, pp. 103 – 106.