Page:HalfHoursWithTheSaints.djvu/69

 mortal; and,  seeing  himself  so  near  that  fearful  passage which he  had  not  before  thought  of,  he  cannot  but  be much  alarmed  at  finding  that  he  is  compelled  to  ponder on the  danger  he  is  in,  and  of  the  necessity  of  preparing for the  salvation  of  his  soul.

This, then,  is  the  short  road  by  which  the  Divine  Mercy leads worldlings  and  draws  them  back  to  His  service.

That libertine  would  have  gone  on  carelessly  for  ten years more,  had  not  God  in  His  mercy  sent  him  a  malignant fever,  which  has  frightened  him  and  made  him  return to his  duty.

Doctors are  accustomed  to  wound  one  part  of  the  body  in order  to  cure  another  part;  they  open  a  vein  in  a  sound  arm to relieve  a  feverish  brain;  they  make  use  of  the  cupping-glass  to  remove  inflammation;  they  keep  a  wound  open in order  to  be  able  to  close  another;  and,  as  St  Jerome says, the  secret  of  their  science  consists  in  restoring  health through pain. ''Ars medicorum  est,  per  do  lore,  reddere  sanitatem.

The Son  of  God,  who  is  the  Physician  of  souls,  follows the same  method  to  cure  sinners. He smites  the  flesh  to cure  the  mind,  and  from  illnesses,  which  are  the  forerunners of  the  death  of  the  body,  He  frames  a  good provision for  the  life  of  the  soul.

All the  holy  Fathers  teach  us  that  illness  is  the  school of Christian  wisdom,  the  dawning  of  virtue  whereby  the mind is  invigorated,  and  the  grand  means  of  grace,  which redoubles its  strength,  through  the  weakness  of  the  body. When I  am  weak,  says  St.  Paul,  it  is  then  that  I  am strong. I am  never  more  vigorous  in  mind  than  when  my body  is  exhausted  with  illness  and  wearied  with  weakness. More than  this,  illness  may  be  said  to  be  victorious  over vice, through  the  triumph  of  grace  over  the  passions  of  the soul, and  a  triumph  of  the  soul  over  the  appetites  of  the flesh.