31
Every Christian has an obligation to
make Reparation. We must love God
with all our heart. Animated by love,
we will have the courage to:
SUFFER for those who live
for pleasure,
LOVE for those who blaspheme,
BE HUMBLE for the proud,
weep for sinners and give
our whole soul for those
who reject the Crucified!
Suffering is the most powerful of all
prayers because it purifies and uplifts
souls. Prayer gives strength to our
souls; it is the KEY of Heaven. The
Church needs Saints. The holiness
and heroism of the early Christians
who gave their lives in the arena, was
no sudden impulse or fervor which
urged them to make this immolation
of Reparation. In each case, it was
the result of a long preparation of selfdenial
in the drab environment of
daily life, and the practicing of
mortification, chastity and zeal which
prepared them to give themselves
spontaneously, generously and totally
as victim souls.
Let us not be weepers when crosses
come our way. Let us make use of
them to save souls! May we Will to
Will the Will of God to the very end.
Man can offer nothing more to His
Creator. There is nothing beyond total
self-immolation! When God wants to
fill a heart, He begins by emptying it.
S
t. Catherine of Siena said, “Let the
tree of the Cross be planted in your
heart and in your soul. Become like
unto Jesus Crucified. Hide yourself in
His Sacred Wounds, bathe yourself
in the Blood of Jesus Crucified.”
BEHOLD, O kind and most sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon
my knees in Thy sight and, with the most fervent desire
of my soul, I pray and beseech Thee that Thou wouldst
impress upon my heart lively sentiments of Faith, Hope
and Charity, with true repentance for my sins and a firm
desire of amendment, whilst with deep affection and grief
of soul, I ponder within myself and mentally contemplate
Thy five most precious wounds, having before my eyes
that which David spoke in prophecy: “They have pierced
my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones.”
A Plenary Indulgence may be gained under the usual conditions,
if said before an image or picture of Christ Crucified.