Many Religious and others have been Saints without meditation, but without obedience no one. - Saint Francis de Sales
A lay-brother of Saint Bernard's Order being dangerously ill, the Saint visited him and encouraged him with the hope that he would soon pass from labor to eternal rest. "Yes," replied he, "I confide in the Divine Mercy, and feel certain that I shall soon go to enjoy God." The Saint, feeling that this might be presumption, said reprovingly: "What do you mean, brother? When you were so wretched and had nothing to live on, God put you in this place, where you have lived so well; and instead of being thankful for this favor, do you now claim His Kingdom, as if it were your inheritance?"
"Father," replied the sick man, "what you say is true, but have you not preached that the Kingdom of God is purchased not by riches or nobility, but by the virtue of obedience? Now, I have kept these words in mind, and have never failed to obey anyone who has given me an order, as all in the monastery will tell you. Why, then, have I not reason to hope for what you have promised me?" The Saint was much pleased at this, and told it to all in the house after the brother's death.
- text taken from A Year with the Saints, composed by an unknown Italian, translated by a member of the Order of Mercy; it has the Imprimatur of Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan, Archdiocese of New York, New York, 21 January 1891