“Jesus was silent and made no answer at all” (cf Mk 14v 61.)
Silence is more instructive than many volumes. I see by it, O my Master that one ought to remain silent instead of excusing oneself. I see that you wish me to remain silent in calumnies and in injustices. Silence in suffering and in humiliation! O Jesus, your silence troubles the Jews, Pilate and hell. Silence is the most beautiful homage on can pay to divine Providence to which one abandons ones cause! The silent soul possesses peace.
To keep silence when one ought to speak is a fault and a vice; but silence is a virtue. The truly silent person knows when to speak and how to speak.
(Letter of LMB 31 March 1814 vol 2)