A woman came to St Vincent Ferrer and complained bitterly that her husband was so impatient and short tempered that she could not stand it anymore. She asked if St Vincent could give her some remedy to bring peace and quiet back into the household.
“I’ll tell you what to do,” said the saint. “You go over to the monastery and ask the brother at the entrance to give you some water from the monastery well. When your husband comes home, take a good drink of this water, but don’t swallow it. Just keep holding it in your mouth, and you will witness a miracle.”
So the wife went home and followed those directions carefully. No sooner had her husband come home in the evening than he began to complain and criticise. The wife hurriedly took a big mouthful of the mysterious water and kept her lips tightly sealed. Soon the husband stopped ranting and raving.
The housewife repeated the water treatment again and again with amazing results. Her husband changed completely. He began to speak loving words to her and even praised her patience and tolerance.
The lady was overjoyed with the change that had come over her husband and so she went back and told St Vincent all about the miracle water. But the saint just smiled and said, “My dear, it was not the monastery water that caused the big change in your husband. It was your silence. Formerly your answers just made him all the more angry; but now your silence soothes and calms him down.”
Authors-choice: Hope & Revival 