Untitled - Saints' Books

"
"
O
INSTR. vn.i Meekness. 335
spised. Brother Juniper, of the Order of St. Francis,
when treated with insult held out his habit as if to
receive precious gems. When St. John Francis Regis
saw himself made an object of laughter he not only
rejoiced at the humiliation, but sought
still more to
excite derision. To St. John of the Cross the Redeemer
once appeared with a cross on his shoulders and a crown
of thorns on his head, and said: "John,
ask what you
1
desire of me." The saint answered: Lord ! to suffer
and to be despised for Thee." As 5 if he said: Lord,
since I see you so afflicted and despised for my sake,
what else can I ask but sufferings. and contempt?
To conclude: He who wishes to belong entirely to God,
and to assimilate himself to Jesus Christ, must love to
be unknown and disregarded. Love to be unknown
and to be regarded as nothing,"
was the great lesson of
3
St. Bonaventure, which St. Philip Neri constantly incul
cated to his spiritual children. Jesus Christ tells us to
esteem ourselves happy, and to exult with joy when we
are hated, cast off, and censured by men for his sake.
He tells us that the more galling the insults which we
accept with joy, the greater the reward will he give us
in heaven. Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and
when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast
out your name as evil, for the Son of Man s sake. Be glad
in that day and rejoice; for, behold, your reward is great in
heaven? And what greater joy can a soul feel than that
which arises from seeing herself despised for the love of
Jesus Christ? Then, says St. Peter, she obtains the
1
"Joannes, pete quid vis a me."
2 "
3 " Ama
4 "
Domine, pati et contemni pro te."
nesciri et pro nihilo reputari." Alphab. rel.
Beati eritis, cum vos oderint homines, et cum separaverint vos,
et exprobraverint, et ejecerint nomen vestrum tanquam malum, propter
Filium hominis. Gaudete in ilia die, et exsultate; ecce enim merces
vestra multa est in ccelo." Luke, vi. 22.