Chapter III. Pity

1. The second "wing" of the ecclesiastical superior is pity or fraternal compassion. As the love of God inflames him with zeal for justice, so fraternal love should imbue him with affection. For if the rod should be held over evil-doers, the staff is required for the support of the weak. ' Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me." l St. Paul says : " Shall I come to you with a rod ; or in charity, and in the spirit of meekness?"2 Thus also the Samaritan poured into the wounds of the half dead wanderer the wine of fervent zeal and the oil of compassion.3

2. There are two kinds of infirmities that need to be treated with compassion, — the one corporal, the other spiritual. Corporal infirm- 2 i Cor. 4, 31. ity is threefold. There are first the sick who are forced to remain in bed on account of an acute or serious disease. There are, secondly, those who, though confined to their cells, are able to be up and about now and then and sometimes even venture out, yet are subject to frequent and severe attacks of painful ailments, such as gallstones, ulcers, obesity, and the like. A third kind of sick are those that have no specific ailment, but are weak and exhausted, as, for instance, the aged and those who have been over-worked or are depressed by natural weakness and momentarily worn out by accidental languor. These classes of patients must be severally treated in a threefold way, namely, with drugs, if it can be properly done, or relaxation of rigor in food, raiment, hours of sleep, etc., exemption from work in the shops, from serv ices, from attending choir and the like, accord ing as their needs may require. Each of these remedies is to be applied to the sick according to their condition, as indicated above, so that they may find relief.

3. Pity and compassion must be shown to the sick and ailing because they are afflicted by the Lord. If they are molested because of their condition their very misfortune will cry out to the Father of mercies against their tormentors. " They have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten ; and they have added to the grief of my wounds." 4 For a side man is harassed in his affliction a great deal more when those who are in duty bound to do so, fail to comfort him, to relieve him from work, to supply his wants, and have no pity for him. " In thy sight," says the Psalmist, " are all they that afflict me ; I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none; and for one that would comfort me, and I found none. And they gave me gall [reproach] for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar [censure] to drink. Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense and a stumbling block." 6

4. A good superior realizes that he is the father and not the task-master of his brethren, * Ps. 68, 27. B Ps. 68, 21, 23. Pity 33, and acts like a physician, not like a tyrant. He does not consider his subjects as beasts of burden or slaves, but as children, who are destined to partake of the eternal inheritance, and does unto them " as he would have it done unto himself," 6 if he were in a similar position. The strong and healthy do not suffer as a sick person does, and hence have no compassion with the sick. But they will know it later on when they themselves suffer affliction. They object that sick persons often imagine themselves to be weaker than they really are. Are all, then, to be considered hypocrites for this reason ? Should they not on the contrary recall that the Lord was willing, to spare many wicked men for the sake of a few who were just?7

5. The sick stand in greater need of assistance and compassion than the hale and strong, for three reasons. First, on account of the necessity of sustaining life, which they cannot do for themselves. If the necessaries of life are not procured for them by others, they become enfeebled and cannot endure. " He that is cast off should not altogether perish." 8 Secondly, on account of the necessity of restor ing health and strength, which they have lost by sickness. If even a strong and healthy person needs assistance in order to sustain his health, one who is sick and weak needs a twofold relief in order not to lose the strength he still has, and to recover that which he has lost. For, says the Lord : " From him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away." 9 Thirdly, on account of the relief which consolation brings. For those who are much afflicted it is a solace to see others having compassion upon them and faithfully assisting them in the endeavor to recover their health. " Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my case." 10

6. But, says some one, those for whom there is hope of recovery are indeed worthy of assistance, but it is a useless waste to assist those who are hopelessly ill. This would be correct if consideration were asked for the sick not for the sake of charity, but for reasons of worldly utility. But he who comes to the relief of an invalid for the sake of receiving a return for the favor, deprives himself of the merit of charity. The greater the misery, the brighter is mercy and the purer is charity. It is, therefore, well for a superior occasionally to suffer himself, so that he may learn to have compassion on his subjects. " We have not a high priest, who cannot have compassion on our infirmities: but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin." n

7. Spiritual infirmities are also threefold. The first class of sufferers comprises those who, because of lack of devotion or under the influence of temptations, are prone to commit faults and incur imperfections, are easily led astray by temptations, and apt to fall into sin. " There are many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep." 12 In the second class are those who, though devout and well disposed, become discouraged "H'eb. 4, 15. "i Cor. n, 30. by a slight correction or a severe reprimand, or fall a prey to a kind of diffidence akin to despair, or give way to great impatience and excitement, which causes them to grieve afterwards and sometimes to annoy others. Of such St. Paul says : " We that are stronger, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak." 13 To the third class belong all imperfect religious, who waver in the pursuit of virtue, and, through the impulse of the passions, feel themselves intermittently, even though reluctantly, urged to turn to irritation, anger, slotH, lust, intemperance, and other carnal as well as spiritual vices. They may cry in the words of the Psalmist : " Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, for my bones are troubled." 14

8. The remedies to be applied to these in firmities are : to remove the occasion of the scandal and the opportunity of sinning, in order that they may not see or hear anything that would cause them to grow infirm, and hence they should not be permitted to roam "Rom. 15, i. "Ps. 6, 3. about outside the house. Dina was ravished when she left her house.15 Through frequent exhortations they should be strengthened in the practice of patience, and should be spared severe reproaches and other measures that would tend to excite them until they have re covered from their frailty. St. Paul says: " Fathers, provoke not your children to indignation, lest they be discouraged." 16 He who nags an excited person, so to speak, pro vokes a barking dog to bite him. — Their idiosyncrasies and imperfections should be borne with equanimity. " All things cannot be in men." 17

9. As doctors, in treating rude and inexperienced persons, are wont to disregard their ignorance, because they are simple, so virtuous persons kindly bear with the faults of others, knowing that all cannot be equally perfect, and hence do not impose upon those who are like tender children in Christ heavier burdens than they are able to carry, or expect of them anything that exceeds their strength. In reference to this the words of Jacob are appropriate : " Thou knowest that I have with me tender children and sheep, and kine with young, which if I cause to be overdriven, in one day all the flock will die." 18 In other words, he who drives those who are like children and have a certain measure of good will, resembling a fruit in the womb, as it were, in an effort to make them practice virtue above their strength, destroys in them what, with the help of grace, they have already acquired. " We became little ones," says St. Paul, " in the midst of you, as if a nurse should cherish her children." 19 He means, I have humored you humbly and gently, out of consideration for your sensitiveness and inexperience. On the other hand, the Lord, through the Prophet Ezechiel, chides harsh and unfeeling shepherds : " The weak you have not strengthened, and that which was sick you have not healed, that which was broken you have not bound up, ... neither have you sought that which was lost; but you have ruled over them with rigor and with a high hand." 20 St. Bernard says : " Learn to be towards your subjects like mothers, and not like masters; strive to beloved rather than feared; and if severity is sometimes necessary, let it be paternal and not tyrannical. Show yourselves as mothers in loving, as fathers in chastising. Be gentle, avoid harshness ; hang up the rod, and give the breasts. A mother's breasts should bulge with milk, not swell with fever. Why do you load your subjects down with your burdens when you ought to be bearing theirs? " 21 " Carry them in your bosom," says the Lord to Moses, " as the nurse is wont to carry the little infant, and bear them into the land, for which thou hast sworn to their fathers." 22