Flower of Devotion

To this be added another explanation, quite similar to the above, by which St. Gertrude knew that the Lord, whose delight it is to dwell among the children of men” (Prov. 8), sends bodily and spiritual sicknesses in those in whom he finds nothing worthy of his presence, in his goodness and love, in order that he may have a reason to dwell with them. according to the words of Scripture: “The Lord is near to those who are afflicted in heart” (Ps 33:19), and in another place: “I am with him in his sorrow.”
May the sincere appreciation of human misery in contemplating this excessive goodness manifested in one circumstance or another lead us to cry out from the depths of our souls: “O the depth of the riches, wisdom and knowledge of God, as are his judgments and his ways unfathomable.” (Romans 11:33), i.e., the ways of goodness and love that God chooses to save people.