The Lives of the Saints Volume 1 - St. Patrick's Basilica

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unwilling to take upon herself the task of instructing, but charity, on
the other side, opened her mouth. Her pious discourses were inflamed
with so much zeal, and accompanied with such an unfeigned humility, and
with so many tears, that it cannot be expressed what deep impressions
they made on her hearers. "Oh," said the saint, "how happy should we be,
did we but take as much pains to gain heaven and please God, as
worldlings do to heap up riches and perishable goods! by land they
venture among thieves and robbers; at sea they expose themselves to the
fury of winds and storms; {094} they suffer shipwrecks, and all perils;
they attempt all, try all, hazard all; but we, in serving so great a
master, for so immense a good, are afraid of every contradiction." At
other times, admonishing them of the dangers of this life, she was
accustomed to say, "We must be continually upon our guard, for we are
engaged in a perpetual war; unless we take care, the enemy will surprise
us, when we are least aware of him. A ship sometimes passes safe through
hurricanes and tempests, yet, if the pilot, even in a calm, has not a
great care of it, a single wave, raised by a sudden gust, may sink her.
It does not signify whether the enemy clambers in by the window, or
whether all at once he shakes the foundation, if at last he destroys the
house. In this life we sail, as it were, in all unknown sea. We meet
with rocks, shelves, and sands; sometimes we are becalmed, and at other
times we find ourselves tossed and buffeted by a storm. Thus we are
never secure, never out of danger; and, if we fall asleep, are sure to
perish. We have a most intelligent and experienced pilot at the helm of
our vessel, even Jesus Christ himself, who will conduct us safe into the
haven of salvation, if, by our supineness, we cause not our own
perdition." She frequently inculcated the virtue of humility, in the
following words: "A treasure is secure so long as it remains concealed;
but when once disclosed, and laid open to every bold invader, it is
presently rifled; so virtue is safe so long as secret, but, if rashly
exposed, it but too often evaporates into smoke. By humility, and
contempt of the world, the soul, like an eagle, soars on high, above all
transitory things, and tramples on the backs of lions and dragons." By
these, and the like discourses, did this devout virgin excite others to
charity, humility, vigilance, and every other virtue.
The devil, enraged to behold so much good, which all his machinations
were not capable to prevent, obtained permission of God, for her trial,
to afflict this his faithful servant, like another Job: but even this
served only to render her virtue the more illustrious. In the eightieth
year of her age she was seized with an inward burning fever, which
wasted her insensibly by its intense heat; at the same time an
imposthume was formed in her lungs; and a violent and most tormenting
scurvy, attended with a corroding hideous stinking ulcer, ate away her
jaws and mouth, and deprived her of her speech. She bore all with
incredible patience and resignation to God's holy will; and with such a