Page:MyPrayerBookHappinessInGoodness.djvu/63

 these clubs  of  optimists  may  be  a  desideratum,  but  it  is not  a  necessity  to  a  practical  Catholic;  for  there  can be no  doubt  that  the  best  "don't-worry  club"  in  the world is  the  Catholic  Church,  because  she  directs  her members to  lead  a  pure  and  holy  life,  to  do  their  duty, to rejoice  in  the  Lord  always,  and  to  preserve  their  peace of soul  by  a  simple,  childlike  confidence  in  the  providence of  Our  Father  in  heaven,  in  accordance  with  the words of  St.  Paul:  "We  know  that  to  them  that  love God  all  things  work  together  unto  good"  (Rom.  viii.  28).

"Happy is  the  man,"  says  the  dear  St.  Francis  of Assisi,  "who  does  not  worry,  nor  grieve  himself,  about anything  in  this  world,  but  leads  a  holy  life,  without any  inordinate  attachment,  and  abandons  himself cheerfully  to  the  will  of  God."

St. Francis  of  Sales,  knowing  that  all  the  accidents  of life,  without  exception,  happen  by  the  order  of  Providence, reposed  in  Him  with  the  greatest  tranquillity, like a  child  on  the  bosom  of  its  mother. This gentle saint was  filled  with  so  great  a  confidence  in  God  that in the  midst  of  the  greatest  disasters  nothing  could  disturb the  peace  of  his  soul. "I can  not  but  be  persuaded," he  often  said,  "that  he  who  believes  in  an infinite  Providence,  which  extends  even  to  the  lowest worm,  must  expect  good  from  all  that  happens  to  him."

In the  same  spirit,  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  exhorts  us:

"Let us  place  our  confidence  in  God  and  establish ourselves  in  an  entire  dependence  on  Him.  Then  fear not  what  men  may  say  or  do  against  us,  all  will  turn  to our  advantage.  Yes,  if  all  the  earth  should  rise  up against  us,  nothing  will  happen  but  as  God  pleases, in  whom  we  have  established  our  hopes."

Says the  author  of  the  "Spiritual  Combat":  "Nothing is  impossible  to  God,  since  His  power  is  infinite.