It is very good and holy to think about the Passion of the Lord and to meditate on it, for by this sacred path we reach union with God. In this most holy school one learns true wisdom: in her all saints have learned it. When the Cross of our sweet Jesus has spread deep roots in your hearts, then you will sing: "To suffer and not to die", or better, "Suffer or die", or even better: "Neither to suffer, nor to die, but instead to achieve a perfect conversion to the will of God".

In effect, love is a unifying force; love makes the torments of the Supreme Good One, its own by excellence who is loved by us. This fire, that reaches into the most deep recesses of our very being, transforms the lover into the beloved and, profoundly mingling love with pain, and pain with love, it results in a fusion of love and pain so vast that it is no longer possible to separate love from pain nor pain from love; and thus, the enamoured soul is gladdened in its pains and rejoices in its painful love.

Be, therefore, constant in the practice of all virtues, principally in the imitation of the sweet and patient Jesus, because this is the summit of pure love. Act in such a manner that all may see that you carry, not only in your interior, but also in your exterior, the image of Christ crucified, model of all sweetness and meekness. For the one who is interiorly united to the living Son of God, also exhibits exteriorly the image of Him, by means of the continual practice of a heroic virtue, principally of a patience that is full of fortitude, that never complains neither secretly nor in public. Hide yourselves then in Jesus crucified, without desiring any other thing except that all be converted to His will, in everything.

Thus converted into true lovers of the Crucified One, you will always celebrate the Feast of the Cross in your inner temple, bearing in silence and not confiding in any creature; and, since the Feasts are to be celebrated with joy, those who love the Crucified One will procure celebrating that Feast of the Cross suffering in silence, with a happy and serene rostrum, in such manner that it remain hidden to men and only known to The One that is the Supreme Good. In this Feast solemn banquets are continously celebrated, in which the food is the Divine Will, in accordance with the example that our Crucified Love left us.

Let Us Pray

Grant Lord, that Saint Paul of the Cross, whose only love was Christ crucified, will reach for us Your grace so that, stimulated by his example, we will embrace with fortitude the Cross of each day. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.