God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That healthy state of the soul, that sobered and clear-seeing mind, is His gift, not a thing produced by our own nature, and no spirit of psychosis or confusion can claim one who has been marked by the cross. That very cross, by which our Lord slept untroubled on the pillow in the storm-tossed boat, has made even death to be nothing but a sleep, and has trampled the devils underfoot so that they are contemptible. So do not let your heart sink or give way to terror; the enemy’s assault is already defeated for those who cling to Christ.
When you seek healing for your son, seek as one who searches for lost gold, with your hands by night, with your whole mind bent on the task, not grudging the labor. Do not only ask, but rouse yourself, and teach him also to shake off that evil slumber which comes from worldly thoughts and from the stupor of affliction. For the night was not given for idleness: think how the Church rises even at midnight to sing hymns, and how Paul and Silas, with stripes laid on their backs, sang praises in the inner prison at the darkest hour. Their measured affliction made their souls purer than the sky, full of delight and watchfulness. Let this trial not cast you down, but become to you a sobering that cuts away excess and draws you nearer to the Master.
Be of that sober mind which is neither downcast nor dissolute, but wakeful, healthy, and full of a holy freedom. The wolves may seem to surround you, but the sheep who keep the harmlessness of the dove are not consumed; they even work a change on the wolves. Stand with your son, then, as one who is clear in spirit, without wrinkle of despair, eye of the soul alert and sharp. Picture him quieted, not by the drunken stupor of sickness, but by the peaceful sleep that comes to those who in the deep silence behold the order of the heavens and contemplate the end of all earthly noise. As night falls and the world lies hushed as in a tomb, let it lead you not to heaviness but to compunction and to the presence of the Lord.
May the One who rebuked the wind and the waves and gave calm rest to His terrified disciples grant your son a sound mind, a sleep that is truly rest, and unshaken protection. And may you, together with him, join the watchful soul in singing hymns, made purer by this brief affliction, until the daybreak of perfect healing arrives.