present. And this same charity kept Him continually exalted towards
His Father, with veneration, love, praise, respect, with internal
prayers for the need of all men, and with the offering of all His
works to the glory of God the Father. And this same charity made
Christ still overflow with love and kindness towards all the
material or spiritual needs of mankind. This is why He has given, by
His life, the model after which all men should fashion their lives.
He has given spiritual nourishment to all well-disposed men by real
internal teachings, as well as by outward miracles. We cannot
comprehend His charity to its full extent, for it flowed from the
unfathomable fountains of the Holy Spirit, above all the creatures
who have ever received charity, for He was God and man in one
Person. This is the second point of charity.

ON THE PATIENCE OF CHRIST, EVEN UNTO DEATH

THE third point is to suffer in patience. We will examine this
seriously, for it is this which adorned Christ, our Bridegroom,
during all His life. He suffered when He was newly born, from
poverty and cold. He was circumcised and shed his blood. He was
obliged to fly into a foreign country. He served Joseph and His
mother, He suffered from hunger and thirst, from shame and contempt
and from the wicked words and deeds of the Jews. He fasted, He
watched, and was tempted by the enemy. He was subject to all men, He
went from district to district, from town to town, to preach the
gospel painfully and zealously. Finally, He was taken by the Jews,
who were His enemies and whom He loved. He was betrayed, mocked,
insulted, scourged, struck, and condemned on false testimony. He
carried His cross with great pain to the mount of Calvary. He was
stripped naked as at His birth, and never was seen a body so