Beneficence

In this world, my friends, beneficence will give you the purest and sweetest joys, those joys of the heart that are disturbed neither  by  remorse nor  indifference. Oh!  If  you  could  but comprehend all that is great and gentle in the generosity of beautiful souls, that sentiment that makes people look at one another in the same way that they look at themselves, joyfully shedding their clothes in order to give their brother or sister something to wear! My friends, if only you could have no sweeter occupation than that of making others happy! What worldly festivities could compare to those blissful moments, when, as representatives of the Divinity, you deliver joy to families who have known only the vicissitudes and bitterness of life; when you suddenly see these emaciated faces brighten with hope because they had no bread; these unfortunates and their children, who, not knowing that living means to suffer, scream, cry and repeat these words that pierce their mother’s heart like a sharp dagger: “I’m hungry!...” Oh! Understand well how delightful are the feelings of those who see joy reborn where just moments before they saw only desperation! Understand what your obligations are toward your brothers and sisters! Go, go to meet misfortune; go especially to help hidden miseries, for they are the most heartbreaking. Go, my dear ones, and remember these words of the Savior: “Whenever you clothe one of these little ones, remember that you are doing it to me.”

Charity! O sublime word that summarizes all virtues, it is you who must lead the peoples of the world to happiness. By practicing you, they shall create infinite joys for themselves in the future, and during their exile on the earth, you shall be their consolation, the foretaste of the joys they shall delight in later when they are reunited in the bosom of the loving God. It was you, O divine virtue, who provided me with the only moments of happiness that I enjoyed on the earth. May my incarnate brothers and sisters believe the voice of the friend who is speaking to them and tells them: It is in charity that you must seek the peace of the heart, the contentment of the soul, and the remedy for the afflictions of life. Oh! Whenever you are at the point of accusing God, cast an eye beneath you; behold how many miseries need relief, how many poor children have no families, how many old people do not have one friendly hand to help them or to close their eyes when death reclaims them! How much good there is to do! Oh! Do not complain; on the contrary, thank God and lavish handfuls of your sympathy, your love and your money on all those who, bereft of the things of the world, languish in suffering and loneliness! Then you shall reap in this world the sweetest joys, and later… only God knows! ...

Adolphe, Bishop of Alger (Bordeaux, 1861)