ater because, having his scapulars on, the Blessed
Virgin ought to save him by a miracle. Again, it is wrong to look for
miracles from God when natural help will answer. Thus it would be wrong
for a man who broke his leg to refuse to have the doctors set it,
because he wanted God alone to heal it. "Dreams" are caused by the mind
being at work while the body is sleeping or at rest. The mind never
sleeps; it is always awake and working. Thus when we are asleep the
imagination, without the reason to guide it, mixes together a number of
things we have seen, heard, or thought of, and gives us strange scenes
and pictures. Sometimes what we dream of seems to happen; but that is
only because we dream so much that it would be strange if none of the
things ever happened. We will generally dream about whatever was on our
mind shortly before. We read in the Holy Scriptures that God at times
made known His will to certain persons by dreams; as when the king of
Egypt dreamt of the great famine that was to come; or when the angel
appeared in sleep to St. Joseph, telling him to take Our Lord into
Egypt, where Herod the king could not kill him. (Matt. 2).

The dreams mentioned in the Holy Scripture were more frequently visions
than dreams. In a vision the things we see are really present, whereas
in dreams they are not, but we imagine they are. God no longer makes use
of dreams as a means of communicating with His creatures, because His
Church will make known to us His will. He sometimes, however, makes
known certain things to His holy servants on earth in a very special and
private manner: as, for example, when Our Lord appeared to Saint
Margaret Mary and told her He would like to have the devotion to the
Sacred Heart established. We must always believe what the Church tells
us God has made known to it; but when holy people tell us that God
revealed special things to them, we are not obliged to believe what they
say, unless the Church confirms it. I say we are not obliged--that is,
we may if we please; but we would not be heretics and commit sin if we
did not believe all the revelations and wonderful things we find
recorded in the lives of saints, though they may all be true.

"Mediums and spiritists" are persons who pretend they can talk with the
dead in the other world, and learn where they are and what they are
doing. They have figures to move and apparently speak, and other
contrivances to deceive those who confide in them. Their w