Reflection.
In enumerating the miracles of the Christian Faith, we must never forget the countless and great miracles of change of heart and disposition in people truly converted to the Faith. How many are the raging criminals that this Faith has tamed! How many bloodthirsty robbers has the Faith transformed into innocent lambs! How many debauched ones has the Faith turned into chaste ones! How many persecutors has the Faith turned into defenders of the Faith! How many selfish, avaricious men has the Faith taught compassion! How many fearful ones has the Faith directed on the road to extreme self-sacrifice! Metropolitan Philaret writes thus about Russian Prince Vladimir: “A lover of all pleasures who could not have loved them more, the pagan Vladimir became in Christianity a model of chaste married life. He dismissed all his wives and concubines and lived with one wife, the devout Anna. An evil, vindictive and bloodthirsty fratricide in paganism, Vladimir was in Christianity the most compassionate friend of the poor. The poor always had access to him, and he distributed both money and food with a generous hand.” More than that: “The sick are unable to come to my palace,” he said, and he commanded that meat, fish, bread, yeast and honey be carted about the streets. The Gospel words Blessed are the merciful (St. Matthew 5:7) penetrated into the depth of his heart and became his rule of life.