recognize and cheerfully accept God's will or permission in all things. Humility bows the heart before the wind of adversity, like a young tree swept by the storm. Patience gives us strength above nature to enable us to bear the heaviest burden. Obedience tells us that there is no holocaust more pleasing to God than that which we make of our will by our perfect submission to Him. Penance urges that it is but just that one who has so often resisted God's will should have his own will denied in many things. Fidelity pleads that we should rejoice to be able to prove our devotion to Him who unceasingly showers His benefits upon us. Finally, the memory of Christ's Passion and the lives of the Saints show us how trivial our sufferings are, and how cowardly it would be to complain of them. Yet, among all the virtues, hope consoles us most effectually. "Rejoice in hope," says the Apostle; "be patient in tribulation,"[1] thus teaching us that our patience is the result of our hope. Again, he calls hope an anchor,[2] because it holds firm and steady the frail bark of our life in the midst of the most tempestuous storms.
Strengthened by these considerations and by God's unfailing grace, the just endure tribulation not only with invincible fortitude, but even with cheerfulness and gratitude. They know that the duty of a good Christian does not consist solely in praying, fasting, or hearing Mass, but in proving their faith under tribulation, as did Abraham, the father of the faithful, and
