CHAPTER XIX.
OF THE ENDURANCE OF INJURIES, AND OF THE PROOF OF TRUE PATIENCE.
HAT is it thou sayest, My son? Cease to complain, when thou considerest My Passion, and the sufferings of holy saints.
Thou hast not yet resisted unto blood. It is but little which thou sufferest in comparison of those who suffered so much, who were so strongly tempted, so grievously afflicted, so many ways tried and exercised.
Thou oughtest therefore to call to mind the more heavy sufferings of others, that so thou mayest the more easily bear thine own very small troubles.
And if they seem unto thee not very small, then beware lest thy impatience be the cause thereof.
However, whether they be small or whether they be great, endeavour patiently to undergo them all.
2. The better thou disposest thyself to suffering, the more wisely thou doest, and the greater thy reward. Thou shalt more easily endure it, if both in mind and by habit thou art diligently prepared thereunto.
Do not say, "I cannot endure to suffer these things at the hands of such an one, nor ought I to endure such things; for he hath done me great wrong, and reproacheth me with things which I never thought of; but of another I will willingly suffer, that is, if they are things which I shall see I ought to suffer."
