Gentleness of Christ

“St. Denis the Areopagite relates that a certain bishop, Carpas by name, had, after a great deal of trouble, converted a pagan. On hearing afterwards that a fellow-pagan had lost no time in making the new convert abjure the faith, Carpas earnestly prayed to God all night to wreak vengeance and punishment upon the guilty one for his attack on the supreme authority of God. Suddenly, when his fervor and his entreaties were reaching their peak, he saw the earth opening and on the brink of hell he saw the apostate and the pagan whom the demons were trying to drag into the abyss. Then lifting up his eyes, he saw the heavens open and Jesus Christ accompanied by a multitude of angels coming to him and saying, ‘Carpas, you asked me for vengeance, but you do not know me. You do not realize what you are asking for, nor what sinners have cost me. Why do you want me to condemn them? I love them so much that if it were necessary I would be ready to die again for each one of them.’ Then our Lord approached Carpas, and, uncovering his shoulders, said to him, ‘Carpas, if you want to take vengeance, strike me rather than these poor sinners.’”
~St. Louis de Montfort (from The Love of Eternal Wisdom)