hat is it you say, My son? Cease to complain when you consider My passion, and the sufferings of others. You “have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood”.† It is but little which you suffer in comparison with those who suffered so many things, who were so strongly tempted, so heavily afflicted, in so many ways tried and exercised.† You ought therefore to call to mind the severer sufferings of others, that you may the easier bear your own small troubles. And if they seem not very small, then beware lest your impatience be the cause. However, whether they be small or great, endeavor patiently to endure them all. The better you prepare yourself to suffer, the wiser you are, and the greater reward will you receive. You will also more easily endure, if both in mind and by habit you have diligently prepared to meet suffering. Do not say: “I cannot endure to suffer these things at the hands of this man, nor ought I to endure things of this sort. He has done me grievous harm and reproaches me with things which I never thought of. But of another I will willingly suffer, and will look upon them as things which I ought to suffer.”
Foolish is such a thought. It considers not the virtue of patience, nor by
