" (5)
St. Francis de Sales treats the same topic from the Christian's
point of view. "How carefully," he says, "we should cherish the
little virtues which spring up at the foot of the Cross!" When
the saint was asked, "What virtues do you mean?" he replied:
"Humility, patience, meekness, benignity, bearing one another's
burden, condescension, softness of heart, cheerfulness,
cordiality, compassion, forgiving injuries, simplicity, candour--
all, in short of that sort of little virtues. They, like
unobtrusive violets, love the shade; like them are sustained by
dew; and though, like them, they make little show, they shed a
sweet odour on all around." (6)
And again he said: "If you would fall into any extreme, let it be
on the side of gentleness. The human mind is so constructed that
it resists rigour, and yields to softness. A mild word quenches
anger, as water quenches the rage of fire; and by benignity any
soil may be rendered fruitful. Truth, uttered with courtesy,
is heaping coals of fire on the head--or rather, throwing
roses in the face. How can we resist a foe whose weapons
are pearls and diamonds?" (7)
Meeting evils by anticipation is not the way to overcome them. If
we perpetually carry our burdens about with us, they will soon
bear us down under their load. When evil comes, we must deal with
it bravely and hopefully. What Perthes wrote to a young man, who
seemed to him inclined to take trifles as well as sorrows too much
to heart, was doubtless good advice: "Go forward with hope and
confidence.
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