It is then that the sensualist thinks more of his health than of his pleasures; it is then that the miser dreams not of his riches, but sighs for the treasure of health; then that the ambitious man throws aside his vanity and builds no more castles in the air. The gormandiser sobers down at the sight of death, the envious and vindictive proclaim a truce; for the pains of the body soften the bitterness of the mind.
Is it not, then, a wonderful blessing that Almighty God should allow the infirmities of the body to arrest the impetuosity of our passions?
That illness has been your salvation. You have suffered, but your life has not been in danger. This is what the Lord has said, " I will strike him, and I will cure him."
He has struck you, your illness has awakened your faith, and that has been your cure.
