Life of St John Vianney.pdf - the Catholic Kingdom!

"AtDISTRUST AND PERSECUTION OF THE CLERGY. 137get there, we must be trampled on, vilified, despised,crushed. None are happy in this world but those whosehearts are at peace in the midst f earthly sorrows. Theytaste the joy of the children of God. All troubles aresweet when we suffer in union with our Lord. To suffer,what does it matter ? It is but for a moment. If wecould but go and pass a week in heaven, we should knowwhat this moment of suffering is worth. We should thinkno cross heavy enough, no trial bitter enough.The crossis the gift of God to His friends. Oh, how blessed a thingit is to offer ourselves every morning as a sacrifice to ourgood God, arid to accept whatever may oefall us in expiation of our sins ! We must ask for the love of crosses,and then they will become sweet. I had some experienceof this during the course of four or five years. I waswell calumniated, well contradicted, well despised.I hadplenty of crosses, almost more than I could carry. I setto work to ask for the love of crosses ;then I was happy.I said to myself, Truly there is no happiness but in this.We must never look from whence crosses come. They allcome from God. He gives them to us as means wherebywe may prove our love to Him."He welcomed these humiliations for another reason.They delivered him from the continual dread of hypocrisy,with which he was filled, by the homage so generally paid"him.least," he said to himself, I am not deceivingevery body. There are some who estimate me atmy truevalue ; how thankful ought I to be to them !They willhelp me to know myself."Here we recognise the attitudein which saints meetcalumny and reproach ; even as the King of saints stoodbefore Pilate with His eyes cast down as a convicted criminal. Men of the world suffer wrong as heroes; ordinary