Restraining Evil

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Wimmer Wednesday. I greatly fear that we are moving toward very evil times, which the Christian must consider not just as an accident or as the result of political forces, but rather as a judgment for the evil and a purifying trial for the good. Human wisdom cannot avert it, and even if it could, human wisdom is not present to do so for the Lord blinds those whom He wants to punish. Nor can human courage overcome evil times, nor profitably use them. There is nothing to do but resist evil by all possible means and bear it in such a manner that it will profit us. We must pray and implore God to protect and strengthen the good and enlighten them so that they may endure the trials manfully and meritoriously, supporting the weak and restraining the evil as much as possible.
—Boniface Wimmer, Letters of An American Abbot, December 12, 1860.