Catholic during the Great Apostasy

The need for patience in illness. Who is free from sickness and who endures it properly? Almost everyone flees from them with horror, and when they cannot avoid them, they suffer with resistance and loathing, and hence without relief and without merit.

Yet sickness is no small blessing, that ‘if people knew what treasure is contained in them, they would welcome them’ (1).

FOR SICKNESS TEARS AWAY FROM SIN AND DRAWS ONE TO GOD.

If you put a weight on one scales of scales, the other immediately rises upwards; similarly, the Lord loads the body with sickness, so that the soul, too attached to the earth, rises up towards God and the things of God.

Sickness sanctifies the soul, because it purifies it from imperfection and makes it sensitive to the influence of God’s grace. If a soul is to be stamped with the seal of God and perfected in virtue, it must be prepared for this by means of sickness and affliction; then it becomes soft and suitable for the Lord to express His image on it.

This effect was caused by an illness on that Roman woman Blazyla, of whom St. Jerome writes. Jerome writes of her: ‘Let us look at our Blazilla, – formerly she stood all day long before a mirror, and rolled her hair in plaits, and charmed her face; but the Lord visited her with a fever of thirty days, and threw her into the furnace of sufferings, and behold, now she stands before the mirror of her soul, Jesus Christ, and prays; she who formerly was all heart set on the world, now despises the pleasures of life, already at dawn she rises to pray; She who formerly was a stumbling block to others, now calls them to the glory of God; she who formerly was so vain, now kneels on the bare ground and is not afraid to soil her dress; she who formerly had no time to look at heaven, now, after her illness, finds all her consolation in Christ’.

Sickness is a school for the soul, because it teaches it how powerful God is, who can humble even the greatest of mighty men in a moment, – how weak a creature man is, who lives a short life amidst various sufferings, – how small the world is, when its consolations are changed by the slightest pain into bitterness, – how grave is sin, which brings illness and other punishments upon people, – how dear heaven is, when it must be ransomed at such a cost.

FINALLY, SICKNESS IS A FIELD OF MERIT FOR THE SOUL, FOR THROUGH IT THE SOUL CAN ATONE FOR TEMPORAL PUNISHMENT ON EARTH AND EARN A HIGH DEGREE OF HEAVENLY GLORY.

Is not sickness, then, a boon? When St Felix of the Order of the Capuchin Fathers was advised in his illness to ask to be dismissed, he replied: ‘What do you advise me to do? What do you mean, I should invoke the help of the Lord Jesus to remove the pains that haunt me? Never, never, – for they are not sorrows, but flowers of heaven, which blossom in paradise, and which the Lord bestows on his sons’.

Moreover, the Saints grieve if the Lord does not haunt them with sickness, and when they are haunted, they do not want to get rid of such a precious gift. May you also view sickness with such an eye.

 

You might say: I am not afraid of suffering, there is only one thing I am sorry about, that in sickness I cannot pray.

You cannot pray? – But then God asks you to be patient, not to pray.

Do what pleases God, not what pleases you, and be convinced that a single ‘Thy will be done’, uttered in suffering with love, is more valuable than praying for hours on end.

Besides, if you sacrifice your sickness to the Lord and kiss His Wounds in spirit, or move for a moment before the Blessed Sacrament, you are praying most perfectly. It may torment you that you cannot then hear Mass or receive Holy Communion; let the Altar then be your lodge, and Communion the fulfilment of God’s will.

You will say: Others are suffering because of me. And if someone else were ill, would it pain you to see someone toiling for them? Not at all, – so you see that it is a temptation of self-love, because it flows from this desire to please everyone.

He who agrees with God’s will accepts not only illness, but all the annoyances connected with it.

Besides, if others suffer, they will also have merit. ‘Long illnesses,‘ said St Francis de Sales,’ are a good school of mercy for those who serve the sick, and of patience for those who suffer; some are at the foot of the cross with the Blessed Virgin and St John, whom they follow in co-suffering, while others are on the cross with the Saviour, in whose passion they share’ (2).

 

You will say: I can do nothing good.

But you can suffer; “it is more excellent to endure adversity patiently than to do good works ’ (3).

To avoid this temptation, do not look at what you would do if you were healthy; but think how you can please the Lord in your illness.

With all this, it is undeniable that sickness is not easy to bear, even for slightly more perfect souls, especially when it is vexatious and long.

It is also certain that sickness does not sanctify many; on the contrary, it causes deterioration in many; for as a result of sickness, they become effeminate, selfish, irritable, fond of complaining against God and people, lazy in prayer, vigils and other spiritual practices, so that in many, sickness of the body is followed by sickness of the soul.

 

What is the reason for this?

It is that people are unable or unwilling to bear their illness properly.

Some of them complain loudly, if not to God then at least to those who take care of them, or to the doctor, or to the illness itself. Others do not complain loudly, but become impatient in their souls and maintain a sullen silence. Others, again, are happy to talk about their sufferings in order to have sympathy for them or praise their patience. Others demand no compassion, but instead a variety of comforts to sweeten their suffering, if possible. Others suffer without consolation, but at the same time are desperate to recover. All of them do not behave properly in their illness.

How then to behave?

First, accept your illness without murmuring, as an earthly purgatory and as the Lord’s trial, destined for you from eternity; but at the same time ask for the grace of patience.

‘Then call for the doctor, and in everything but sin follow his prescription, but place the hope of recovery in God alone, ‘for from God is all remedy’.

St Francis de Sales was characterised by an extraordinary patience in his illness, and when his doctor prescribed anything to him, however unpleasant, he replied: ‘Do with the sick man as you please; God has given me over to your will’. When asked how he felt, he would neither increase nor decrease his suffering, because he considered increasing his illness a lie and decreasing it a sinful insincerity. Here is also a hint for you.

As to the healing itself, whether and when it is to take place, trust completely in the will of God, who determines not only the illness itself but also all its circumstances.

The Lord Jesus appeared to St Gertrude during her weakness, holding her health in one hand and her illness in the other, and said: ‘Now choose’. But the Saint turned her eyes away from both health and sickness, and throwing herself into the Heart of Jesus, she cried out: ‘This is, Lord, what I choose; I want neither health nor sickness, but I desire only your Heart and the fulfilment of your will. Likewise, you also choose; and if you pray for health, always add: not my will, but Yours be done.

But bear your sickness patiently, and do not complain that God visits you; but rather say humbly, ‘Thank you, Lord, that you have punished me; behold, I kiss your right hand.

When your pains trouble you, remind yourself that you have hardly any sense that you have not used to sin, so let the flesh repent of having been an instrument of sin; then look again with the eye of the spirit on the Passion of Christ; or finally, imagine that this suffering is sent to you by the Most Gracious Father to test your love.

Once when St. Francis was lying gravely ill, a religious brother, pitying his suffering, said: ‘Ask, Father, the Lord God, after all, not to afflict thee so severely, for His hand has fiercely clasped thee too much’. Which, hearing the Saint, he gave a sorrowful groan and cried out: ‘If I had not known thy simplicity, I would have rejected nothing from thyself, that thou didst esteem thyself to condemn the rule of God mercenary.’

After these words, in spite of his great sorrows, he suddenly threw himself folded on the ground, and, kissing the floor, cried out in an agitated voice: ‘I bless Thee and thank Thee, O Lord my God, for all the sorrows which Thou sendest me; I beseech Thee to send me a hundredfold more severe, if it be Thy will. I will rejoice exceedingly when you flog me without sparing me, for the fulfilment of your will is the greatest consolation I can receive from you”(4).

Finally, try to make proper use of your illness. While it is true that sickness has its privileges, because it frees you from heavier mortifications and longer prayers, on the other hand, do not indulge your body excessively, nor completely abandon prayer and remembrance.

Also, do not complain before people, and do not cause anguish to those who nurse you, by renouncing their service or exaggerating your sufferings.

 

St. Clare, during her long illness, never uttered an impatient word; St. Vincent de Paulo, even in the greatest sufferings, kept his serenity, that no one could know his weakness for God, ‘lest the sickness of the body should pass to the soul’ ‘). Replace mortification with patience, and meditation with acts of acquiescence to God’s dispensation. The saints do not indulge in sickness either. St. Gregory W. u. p. although afflicted by the most painful sufferings, nevertheless did not cease in his work, and despite constant weakness wrote many great works. St. Peter Damian, after nights digested in sleeplessness and pains, went to the pulpit as if he were most healthy. And when St. Lawrence Justiniani, Patriarch of Venice, wanted to induce his household to at least lie down on a bed for a few days before his death, since he usually slept on the ground, he replied, “The Lord Jesus died on the cross, how do you want a sinner like me to die on a comfortable bed?”

To find relief and gain merit, pray with soaring acts and connect your sufferings with the sorrows of the Lord Jesus. Picture yourself following Him to Calvary, and even have before you an image of the Lord Jesus hanging on the cross, and the Mother of Sorrows standing beneath the cross.

The holy martyr Jonas lay, by order of the tyrant, all night stripped bare on the ice; when he was asked the next day by the judge how he had passed the night, he replied: “I have never had a more pleasant rest”; for all night he gazed in spirit at the Crucified Savior. St. Vincent a Paulo in his greatest sorrows only repeated these words: “0 my Jesus! O my most beloved Jesus !” – and this was the sweetest relief for him.

Also seek comfort and help in Holy Communion, as the Saints did. When the Lord Himself strengthens you, sickness will lose its horror and even become pleasant that you will thank the Lord for it. Blessed Humiliana of Florency amidst the most violent sufferings, she raised her hands to heaven, then folded them on the cross, and with a joyful heart , a serene face, she praised God: “Be blessed, my love”.

If your illness is severe, be ready to die as soon as it pleases the Lord, and prepare in advance for death.

If you recover, give thanks to God, and use your health to serve God all the more zealously. If, on the other hand, there is no hope of recovery, await death calmly, as a sheep led to the slaughter, and even with joy, as a bride going to her betrothed. Break out then with longing for God. Thus St. Paula, in the midst of severe sorrows, looked up to heaven and sighed: “Who will give me wings as a dove, that I may fly away and rest in the tabernacles of heaven.”

Finally, console yourself with the hope of a happy eternity, where there will be no more sickness or sorrow.

Let the Saints be your model and encouragement, especially Saint Ludwina, who in her patience reached the height of heroism. At the age of fifteen, she broke a rib as a result of a fall while slipping, and from then on she did not get out of bed for thirty years, and in the last seven she was stricken with paralysis and only had some power in her head and left arm. Her wounded insides kept producing bad blood, running out of her mouth, nose and ears; the wounds were infested with vermin, and her head ached as if someone had hammered nails into it.

To this joined, digesting fever, shortness of breath. nausea, equal to almost dying. There was also no shortage of internal trials and insults from people, and shortly before she died, highwaymen invaded her home and beat her severely, so that her wreath was finished. Despite this, this holy soul endured everything calmly, and even fell in love with suffering, and looking at Jesus Crucified, she often repeated: “Still more, my Lord, still more sufferings send me, if it be Thy will, only increase Thy grace in measure.” After fifty-three years of such a life, she went for the crown.

 

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Bp. Jozef Sebastian Pelczar – Spiritual Life or Christian Perfection according to the most learned spiritual masters , Volume II, Cracow, Jagiellonian University Printing House, 1886

 

1) St. Vincent a Paulo
2) Spirit of St. Franc. Sal. Part V, R. I.
3) St. Bonaventure De, grad. vir. c. 24.
4) Vita s. France