" And Peter says: "Your adversary, the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about and seeketh whom he may devour."
Not in vain, however, has God made known to us the causes of our misery.
We should not only consider the greatness of our necessity, but also
discern the causes of it, and recognize His righteous anger against sin,
to the end that we may, on the other hand, perceive the Redeemer and the
greatness of His compassion; and as witnesses to these, His
declarations, He adds the raising of dead men to life, and other
miracles.
Let us banish from our hearts, therefore, the unbelieving opinions which
imagine that evils befall us by mere chance, or from physical causes.
But when thou considerest the wounds in thy own circle of relations, or
dost cast a glance at the public disorders in the State, which again
afflict the individual also (as Solon says: "The general corruption
penetrates even to thy quiet habitation"), then think, first, of thy own
and others' sins, and of the righteous wrath of God; and, secondly,
weigh the rage of the devil, who lets loose his hate chiefly in the
Church.
In all men, even the better class, great darkness reigns.
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