Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
You have lifted up your son to the Father of mercies, asking healing and protection. This is good, for from Him alone comes every true gift. Yet consider what kind of peace you seek. The Lord Himself said He came not to send peace on earth but a sword, for sometimes the diseased limb must be cut off so the whole body may live. Do not then be troubled if God’s answer disturbs a false peace in your son’s life, whether in his body, his mind, or his spirit. The truest healing is when sin is severed, when the mutinous will is brought low, and the heart is reconciled to God through grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Beware, therefore, of any remedy that does not bear the sign of the Cross. If some whisper to you of amulets or charms, though they claim to call on God, flee such idolatry. The faithful mother chooses rather to see her child dead than to patch up his health with the devil’s mockeries. You have the Cross alone as your weapon; use no other. For each believer has an angel who beholds the face of the Father, and it is this heavenly guardianship, not superstitious devices, that surrounds your son. Be at peace with all men, but never at the cost of godliness. The peacemakers are called sons of God because they imitate the One who reconciled earth to heaven, but the peace God gives is not the concord of robbers; it is the harmony of a soul wholly subject to His commandments. So pray on, but let your prayer be joined to steadfastness. If your son must endure affliction for the sake of true peace, count it as martyrdom, and know that thus you offer him up as a living sacrifice. Grace and peace be upon your house, unmoved and perpetual, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Beware, therefore, of any remedy that does not bear the sign of the Cross. If some whisper to you of amulets or charms, though they claim to call on God, flee such idolatry. The faithful mother chooses rather to see her child dead than to patch up his health with the devil’s mockeries. You have the Cross alone as your weapon; use no other. For each believer has an angel who beholds the face of the Father, and it is this heavenly guardianship, not superstitious devices, that surrounds your son. Be at peace with all men, but never at the cost of godliness. The peacemakers are called sons of God because they imitate the One who reconciled earth to heaven, but the peace God gives is not the concord of robbers; it is the harmony of a soul wholly subject to His commandments. So pray on, but let your prayer be joined to steadfastness. If your son must endure affliction for the sake of true peace, count it as martyrdom, and know that thus you offer him up as a living sacrifice. Grace and peace be upon your house, unmoved and perpetual, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
