Page:Complete ascetical works of St Alphonsus v6.djvu/321

Rh duce me to destroy them? Oh, hush! and never make the like request to me, for such is not according to my spirit. And, in fact, with what meekness did Jesus Christ treat the adulteress! Woman, said He, ''hath no man condemned thee? Neither will I condemn thee! Go, and now sin no more.'' He was satisfied with merely warning her not to sin again, and sent her away in peace. With what meekness, again, did he seek the conversion of the Samaritan woman, and so, in fact, converted her! He first asked her to give him to drink; then he said to her: If thou didst know who He is that saith to thee, Give me to drink! and then he revealed to her that he was the expected Messiah. And, again, with what meekness did he strive to convert the impious Judas, admitting him to eat of the same dish with him, washing his feet and admonishing him in the very act of his betrayal: Judas, and dost thou thus betray me with a kiss? Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss? And see how he converted Peter after his denial of him! And the Lord turning, looked on Peter. On leaving the house of the high-priest, without making him a single reproach, he cast on him a look of tenderness, and thus converted him; and so effectually did he convert him, that during his whole life long Peter never ceased to bewail the injury he had done to his Master.

Oh, how much more is to be gained by meekness than by harshness! St. Francis de Sales said there was nothing more bitter than the bitter almond, but if made into a preserve, it becomes sweet and agreeable: thus corrections, though in their nature very unpleasant, are rendered pleasant by love and meekness, and so are attended with more beneficial results. St. Vincent of Paul said