❀ ❀ ❀
I know full well, my dear daughter, that you who are about to embark on the stormy sea of life will encounter many a trial, many a conflict, many an affliction; I know that sorrow will come to you and to those who are near and dear to you: I also know how easy it is for an inexperienced young girl to grow fretful and disheartened in such hours of suffering, and to say within herself: “God is not treating me in a just or kind manner, but like a harsh stepfather!” You must be armed beforehand against so insidious a temptation and by the help of God you must engrave upon your heart the words: God doeth all things well!
When Our Lord worked a stupendous miracle on behalf of the man who was deaf and dumb, restoring to him both speech and hearing, the assembled multitude exclaimed with admiration. “He hath done all things well!” This saying still holds good, and can be applied to all that God has created, both in general and in particular. No proof of this will be required by any one who reflects a little on the manner in which all things, both great and small, are ordered and arranged so as best to serve their ends. It is certain that the further the pious inquirer penetrates into the wonders of the heavenly bodies which move above our heads in the azure firmament, the more his mind dwells upon the mysterious forces which govern the earth, the more he notes the formation of even lifeless stones, the life of plants, the anatomy of man and of the lower animals, the more forcibly will he feel himself compelled to exclaim: “How great and good art Thou, O Lord; how wisely and how well hast Thou ordained and ordered all things!”
Listen therefore to the lesson which all creation teaches, for it proclaims that God is Himself the supreme Good, because He has so wisely ordered all things. If we had more faith and more love, we should feel that everything in nature has a voice—a voice which proclaims to the whole world the wisdom, power, and goodness of God. To the saints, whose hearts glowed with such pure and fervent love of God, the stars in their nightly courses seemed to say: “How good is God who made all so wisely and so well!” They heard the blades of grass which sparkled in the morning dew and the spring flowers arrayed in their bridal loveliness exclaiming aloud: “How good is God, who made all so wisely and so well!” And in their ears the humming of the bees, the twittering of the feathered songsters in field and forest, uttered the same joyous refrain: “How good is God, who made all so wisely and so well!”
But you may perhaps raise and objection by saying: “I am thoroughly convinced that the heavens and the earth and all things in them have been well and wisely made. But how about the misfortunes, the sorrows and sufferings, by which man is so frequently and so heavily afflicted? Is God equally good when He sends these visitations upon His creatures?”
This most important question must at all times be answered in the affirmative with full conviction and unwavering decision. For God is also good to us when He sends us afflictions; He acts thus in order to promote our spiritual advancement and His honor and glory. He teaches us this in the words of Holy Scripture: “Thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things that Thou hast made.” Again, St. Paul says: “We know that to them that love God all things work together for good.”
Numerous indeed are the instances to be found in the pages of history, and in the experience of men, to prove the truth of this assertion. To take our illustrations from Scripture only: remember the story of Joseph. Who could be more un-fortunate than he was? Sold into slavery by his own brothers, torn away from his native land, though perfectly innocent, accused of a shameful crime, and on account of this cast into prison! Yet from his prison he was raised to a throne second only to that of the king. Thus did his misfortune prove to be for his good, and not for his good alone, but for that of his country, of his beloved father, and of his brethren. God certainly ordered everything for the best, as far as he was concerned. Yet He brought this about by secret means, in ways unseen by human eyes. In order to become ruler over the land of Egypt, Joseph was first made a slave, loaded with fetters, and cast into prison.
Now take the case of the chaste Susanna. Why did God permit the diabolical scheme of the wicked old men so far to succeed that the innocent woman was publicly scorned, and branded as an adulteress, led forth in deep disgrace to suffer a shameful death? He allowed it in order that her innocence might shine forth all the more brightly in the sight of all the people, in order that her own joy and the universal exultation might be all the greater, in order that the scandalous deeds of the old men might appear to be even darker and more disgraceful. In this case also it was clearly proved that God doeth all things well. Or, as St. Jerome says: “What we take to be a poison is in reality a medicine.” Afflictions are blessings in disguise.
St. Chrysostom also exhorts us thus: “When any event is beyond our comprehension, it does not follow that on this account it is not for the best; but as we recognize, in part at least, the hand of divine Providence in ordering and governing the world, we must, in regard to events which we fail to understand, adore the unsearchable wisdom of God.” Wonderful indeed are His ways; who is able to search them out?
What then should be your resolution, Christian maiden? It ought to be none other than the following: Never for one single moment to murmur or complain, as if God had not done all things wisely and for the best, but always to cling closely to that gift of Heaven, Christian hope. My dear daughter, if sometimes as you go on in life, waves of trouble and sorrow break upon your poor forlorn heart; if those whom you love most dearly are torn from your side and consigned to the grave; if poverty and painful family circumstances weigh upon you like lead; if anxiety, if the contempt of those around you, and strange misunderstandings, secretly torture you like some gnawing worm; if wearisome illness confines you to a sick-bed for weeks, or even months; if the serpent’s fangs of envy and jealousy rend your poor heart, while all the time you are conscious of your own innocence, then strive, I beseech you, to possess your soul in patience, however great may be the struggle it costs you, and cease not to extol the goodness and wise providence of God. Say, not with your lip alone, but from your heart: ‘Whatever God does or leaves undone, is just and right.” Try to adopt as your own the words of holy Job, that most patient of sufferers: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
But, in order that this may be your habitual frame of mind, you must endeavor, while the sunny days of youth still last, to see that the ivy plant of Christian hope is firmly rooted in your heart. And:
Is not the pilgrim’s toil o’erpaid
By the clear rill and palmy shade?
And see we not, up earth’s dark glade,
The gate of heaven unclose?