Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You beseech the Lord to heal her and keep her steady on her feet. This is a right and fitting prayer, for Christ alone bestows wholeness. Yet learn from the paralytic at the pool: after He made him well, He found him in the temple and said, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." Do you see? Bodily affliction often springs from the soul's sickness, and the merciful Physician strikes the inferior part that the superior might be cured. So while you ask for steady feet, entreat also for a steadier heart. Let her search her conscience, and if she has wronged anyone, let her reconcile; let her wash her tongue with tears and almsgiving, for the tongue is the hand that grasps God's knees in prayer, and if it be defiled, He will not hear. Despise not this good adjuration, when you plead for her in Christ's name, do not pass by like those who melt at a compliment but harden at the name of the Lord.
Consider too the body of the faithful. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of thee," nor the head to the feet. When one member is unsteady, all suffer. So persist in prayer, and do not grow weary if relief delays. Many hear the word ten times without visible fruit, yet the hidden root is being watered, and in due season the tree falls at a single stroke. God may be storing up a greater deliverance. Meanwhile, become her feet by your service; hold her up with mercy, and commend her to the Lord not only with words but with deeds. For Christ ate with publicans to heal them, and He sent the women with joy to proclaim His resurrection, honoring the dishonored. So He will meet her in her fear, cast it out, and say, "Be not afraid." Only do not seek carnal things alone, but spiritual; that she may rise not merely from her bed but from the death of sin, and stand firm, whole and rejoicing, in the congregation of the faithful.
Consider too the body of the faithful. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of thee," nor the head to the feet. When one member is unsteady, all suffer. So persist in prayer, and do not grow weary if relief delays. Many hear the word ten times without visible fruit, yet the hidden root is being watered, and in due season the tree falls at a single stroke. God may be storing up a greater deliverance. Meanwhile, become her feet by your service; hold her up with mercy, and commend her to the Lord not only with words but with deeds. For Christ ate with publicans to heal them, and He sent the women with joy to proclaim His resurrection, honoring the dishonored. So He will meet her in her fear, cast it out, and say, "Be not afraid." Only do not seek carnal things alone, but spiritual; that she may rise not merely from her bed but from the death of sin, and stand firm, whole and rejoicing, in the congregation of the faithful.
