nings of heart, with just a spark of
faith left to wrest victory from the flesh. In the same way that Paul
suffered from Satan's messenger, we may believe that Noah felt himself
stabbed in the heart, and that he often argued thus within himself:
Dost thou believe that thou alone art so beloved of God? Dost thou
believe that thou will be kept safe to the end, when waters are
boundless, and those immense clouds seem to be inexhaustible?

9. When, then, such broodings found their way also into the weak souls
of the women, what cries, wails and tears may we surmise to have been
the result? Almost overcome by sadness and grief, he was forced to
lift up and comfort those with the cheer his own heart did not feel.

10. It was, therefore, no jest or frolic for them to live so long
locked up within the ark, to see the endless downpour of rain and to
be carried to and fro floating upon the waves. This was the experience
of having been forgotten by God which Moses implies when he says that
God at last remembered Noah and his sons.

11. Though the occupants of the ark overcame this feeling by faith,
they did not do so without great vexation of the flesh; just as a
young man who leads a chaste life overcomes lust, but surely not
without the greatest vexation and trouble. In this instance, where the
trial was greater, where all evidence was at variance with the fact
that God was gracious and mindful of them, they indeed triumphed, but
not without fearful tribulation. For the flesh, weak in itself, can
bear nothing less patiently than the thought of a God who has
forgotten. Human nature is prone to be puffed up and haughty when God
remembers it, when he vouchsafes success and favor. Is it a wonder,
then, that we become broken in spirit and desperate when God seems to
have cast us away and everything goes against us?

12. Let us remember that this story sets before us an example of
faith, of endurance, and of patience, to the end that, having the
divine promise, we should not only learn to believe it, but should
also consider that we are in need of endurance. Endurance is not
maintained without a great struggle, and Christ calls upon us, in the
New Testament, to acquire it when he says: "He that endureth to the
end, the same shall be saved," Mt 24, 13.

13. This is the reason why God hides for a time, as it were, seeming
to have forgotten us, suspending his grace, as they say in the
schools. As in this temptation not only the spir