And, Oh my brethren, O kind and affectionate hearts,
O loving friends,
should you know anyone whose lot it has been,
by writing or by word of mouth,
in some degree to help you thus to act;
if he has ever told you
what you knew about yourselves,
or what you did not know;
has read to you your wants or feelings,
and comforted you by the very reading;
has made you feel that there was a higher life
than this daily one,
and a brighter world than that you see;
or encouraged you,
or sobered you,
or opened a way to the inquiring,
or soothed the perplexed;
if what he has said or done
has ever made you take interest in him,
and feel well inclined towards him;
remember such a one in time to come,
though you hear him not,
and pray for him,
that in all things he may know God's will,
and at all times he may be ready to fulfill it.
John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890)