Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/429

 persuaded that  whatever  he  does,  he  does  for  our  good, and because  he  loves  us. Many things  appear  to  us  to be  misfortunes,  and  we  call  them  misfortunes;  but  if  we understood  the  end  for  which  God  sends  them,  we  should see that  they  are  graces. It appeared  a  calamity  to King  Manasses  to  be  deprived  of  his  kingdom,  and  to  be made  a  slave  of  the  prince  of  the  Assyrians:  but  these misfortunes were  blessings;  for  after  his  downfall  he returned  to  God,  and  did  penance  for  the  wickedness  of his  life. And after  that  he  was  in  distress,  he  prayed  to  the Lord  his  God;  and  did  penance  exceedingly  before  the  God  of his  fathers.  We  labor  under  a  vertigo,  and  therefore many things  appear  to  us  to  go  to  ruin;  and  we  know not that  it  is  our  giddy  head  that  makes  them  appear  to us  different  from  what  they  are  in  reality. Such a  nun may say:  How  does  it  happen  that  everything  goes astray with  me? No, sister,  but  you  go  astray:  your will is  crooked;  for  all  that  happens  comes  from  God. He does  all  for  your  welfare,  but  you  know  it  not.

And whom  can  we  ever  find  more  solicitous  for  our welfare and  for  our  salvation  than  God? To make  us understand  this  truth,  he  likens  himself  at  one  time  to  a shepherd,  going  through  the  desert  in  search  of  his  lost sheep; at  another  to  a  mother  who  cannot  forget  her  own child. Can a  woman  forget  her  infant,  so  as  not  to  have  pity on  the  son  of  her  womb.  Again,  to  a  hen  gathering  and sheltering her  chickens  under  her  wings,  that  they  may suffer no  injury:  ''Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,. . .  how  often  would I  have  gathered  together  thy  children,  as  the  hen  doth  gather  her chickens  under  her  wing,  and  thou  wouldst  not.''     In  a  word,