Mrs. Brown, a Christian woman, was seriously ill and had to be rushed to the nearest hospital. The doctor, speaking to his staff, stressed the seriousness of her case. He also told the padre that Mrs. Brown, in room 12, might not live long and would need spiritual consolation.
One day when Mrs. Brown awoke from sleep, the padre was sitting at her bedside, reading out of a little book. "What are you doing?" she asked him.
"I am praying for you, dear madam," he replied.
"It is indeed kind of you to pray for me, but what are you praying for me to get?" inquired Mrs. Brown. "That the good God may be gracious to you when your last hour comes," was the reply.
Mrs. Brown rejoined: "You need not pray for that for me. I am already pardoned; I am sure of my soul's salvation. I know for certain that I shall go to heaven.”
The padre now inquired: "Of what faith are you?”
"I belong to the people of God," Mrs. Brown answered.
Said the padre: "But we all belong to God's people!”
"No," replied Mrs. Brown, "only those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb. By nature all men are lost and must be born anew, whether priests or laymen.”
The padre's reply was, "Be calm, my dear lady! You are very ill and must not excite yourself. I will see you again tomorrow.”
Meanwhile a marked improvement in Mrs. Brown's condition took place. When the padre called on her the following day she was able to speak to him very earnestly. He listened most attentively, and his occasional objections were met one by one from the Word of God.
Suddenly he reached out his hand, saying, "Oh, pray for me! I am still without peace in my heart!”
After this interview the padre did not appear again for several days. Mrs. Brown gradually gained strength, and one day the bright sunshine tempted her to go on the veranda. As she sat there, she heard a voice from a room nearby, praying: "Oh God, have mercy on me, that I may not be like the man who entered without the wedding garment. Oh God, have mercy on me!”
These words reminded her of the conversation with the padre and she now recognized the voice as being his. She returned to her room and after an hour or so the padre entered there, his face beaming with joy. He said: "Now I have found the same peace that you have." From that day, as long as Mrs. Brown was in the hospital, he came often to talk with her of things concerning Christ, of His all-sufficiency, of the sacrifice of Himself, and of His last three hours upon the Cross. They rejoiced together in Him, the perfect sin offering and propitiation.
When Mrs. Brown was leaving the hospital she reminded him that they were now one in Christ and that they should have before them the same love that the Apostle speaks of in Rom. 9:1-31I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (Romans 9:1‑3): "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing the witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”