Sir 44:10

“The third exercise of the gift of piety is in the abundance of interior compassion. Of this it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "These are men of mercy, whose acts of piety have not failed; with their seed good things endure." Dearest ones! You ought to run through the lives of the holy Fathers, and you will see that these are men of mercy, namely Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and Samuel. What was the piety of Noah! For a hundred years he did nothing but build the ark, so that he might save the human race. How great was the piety in the most sacred Abraham! God descended to strike the cities in which there were abominations of sin; and Abraham interceded with the Lord for them and wrested from the Lord that if He should find ten just men in the cities, the Lord would spare them. How great was the piety of Joseph! Who, sold by his brothers — indeed his brothers wanted to kill him — yet he guarded his brothers, governed and enriched them and their sons; and he had piety toward preserving the whole world by gathering and storing grain. How great was the piety of Moses! Who loved the people provoking the Lord and prayed to the Lord for them saying: "Hear me, Lord, this people has sinned: either forgive this people this offense, or if you do not, blot me out of your book which you have written." Bernard gives the example of a woman who has her little child and is outside the house. If it were said to her: leave your little child outside the house, and you enter the house; she would not want to enter the house, such that the child would remain outside. So Moses willed that the Lord would forgive the people their sin, or that He would blot him from the book of life. So it was with Samuel, when the people sought a king; afterwards the people recognized that Samuel had governed the people well, and when the people had sinned, they feared that Samuel would not want to pray to the Lord for them. And the people asked him to pray for them, and Samuel said: "Far be it from me that I should cease to pray for you." Of how great piety was David, king of Israel! Saul was seeking to kill him, and David had Saul in his hand: he could have killed him, with God not prohibiting it, because God said to him: "I will deliver him into your hands." He could have killed him, with no man prohibiting it, nor the law prohibiting it; and yet he spared him and his house. These therefore are men of mercy, whose acts of piety did not fail.”