All kinds of sorrow, insults, and persecutions, even to death on the Cross: this is what You gave the One whom You loved above all others. As long as we are in this world, these are Your gifts. You proportion them according to Your love for us. You give more to those You love more, …
Tag Archives: Cross
Ever Planted in Our Hearts
May the Holy Cross of our good Jesus be ever planted in our hearts so that our souls may be grafted onto this tree of life and by the infinite merits of the death of the Author of life we may produce worthwhile fruits of penance. Saint Paul of the Cross
A Blissful Cross
Take your Cross from God and suffer, and then it will become a blissful Cross. Johannes Tauler OP (1300–1361)
Love of the Cross
Truly spiritual delights come from the Cross, from the spirit of sacrifice which puts to death all that is inordinate in us in order to assure the first place to the love of God and of souls in God. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP (1877–1964)
Calvary and Tabor
[The theologian] Richard of Saint Victor says: “I receive Christ not alone on the Cross, but also in His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor…” That is to say, in all our distresses, in all our painful inward destitution, we may boldly believe that Christ is present with us. Johannes Tauler OP (1300–1361)
All His Life
All his life, from the Manger to the Cross, was mingled grief and joy. Johannes Tauler OP (1300–1361)
Not to be Returned
Jesus, my crucified Love, I give you again my heart, and I do not wish you to give it back to me in return. Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity
Mercy Unknown
I wish everyone could understand the great grace that God, in his mercy, sends when he sends suffering, especially suffering devoid of consolation. Then, indeed, we’re purified like gold in the furnace. Without knowing, we become radiant and set free to fly to our Good, to a blessed transformation. We carry the cross with Jesus …
Responding to Criticism: The Radical Newness of the Gospel and “Meditation Techniques”
After I published my most recent commentary on the differences between Christian contemplation and various non-Christian “mystical” techniques, at least one reader contacted me to express disappointment that I have softened my stance on these latter techniques and diluted the Gospel. It was claimed that I had compromised Christianity by “permitting” other meditation techniques; it …
It Was Not In Jest
O Christ, Son of God, as I contemplate the great sufferings You endured for us on the Cross, I hear You say to my soul, “It is not in jest that I have loved you.” These words open my eyes, and I see clearly all that Your love has made You do for me. I …
Contemplative in the Mud 