<http://ecceagnusdei.blogspot.com/2006/03/saints-interpretation-of-meaning-of.html>A
saint's interpretation of the meaning of the Cross and 14 rules to
abide by in carrying our daily crosses
THE FRIENDS OF THE CROSS by St. Louis De Montfort (1673-1716)
III -- SUFFERING.
18. Let him take up his cross, the one that is his. Let this man or
this woman, rarely to be found and worth more than the entire world
(Prov. 31, 10-31), take up with joy, fervently clasp in his arms and
bravely set upon his shoulders this cross that is his own and not
that of another; his own cross, the one that My Wisdom designed for
him in every detail of number, weight and measurement; his own cross
whose four dimensions, its length, breadth, thickness and height
(Eph. 3, 18), I very accurately gauged with My own hands; his own
cross which all out of love for him I carved from a section of the
very Cross I bore on Calvary; his cross, the grandest of all the
gifts I have for My chosen ones on earth; his cross, made up in its
thickness of temporal loss, humiliation, disdain, sorrow, illness and
spiritual trial which My Providence will not fail to supply him with
every day of his life; his cross, made up in its length of a definite
period of days or months when he will have to bear with slander or be
helplessly stretched out on a bed of pain, or forced to beg, or else
a prey to temptation, dryness, desolation and many another mental
anguish; his cross, made up in its breadth of hard and bitter
situations stirred up for him by his relatives, friends or servants;
his cross, finally, made up in its depth of secret sufferings which I
will have him endure nor will I allow him any comfort from created
beings, for by My order they will turn from him too and even join Me
in making him suffer.
19. Let him carry it, and not drag it, not shoulder it off, not
tighten it, nor hide it. Let him hold it high in hand, without
impatience or peevish Ness, without voluntary complaint or grumbling,
without dividing or softening, without shame or human respect. Let
him place it on his forehead and say with St. Paul: "God forbid that
I should glory save in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6,
14) Let him carry it on his shoulders, after the example of Jesus
Christ, and make it his weapon to victory and the sceptre of his
empire (Is. 9, 16)
Let him root it in his heart and there change it into a fiery bush,
burning day and night with the pure love of God, without being consumed.
20. The cross: it is the cross he must carry for there is nothing
more necessary, more useful, more agreeable and more glorious than
suffering for Jesus Christ.
21. All of you are sinners and there is not a single one who is not
deserving of hell; I myself deserve it the most. These sins of ours
must be punished either here or hereafter. If they are punished in
this world, they will not be punished in the world to come.
If we agree to God's punishing here below, this punishment will be
dictated by love. For mercy, which holds sway in this world, will
mete out the punishment, and not strict justice. This punishment will
be light and momentary, blended with merit and sweetness and followed
up with reward both in time and eternity.
22. But if the punishment due to our sins is held over for the next
world, then God's avenging justice, which means fire and blood will
see to the punishing. What horrible punishment! How incomprehensible,
how unspeakable! "Who knoweth the power of thy anger?" (Ps. 89, 11).
Punishment devoid of mercy (James 2, 13), pity, mitigation or merit,
without limit and without end. Yes, without end! That mortal sin of a
moment that you committed, that deliberate evil thought which now
escapes your memory, the word that is gone with the wind, that act of
such short duration against God's law -- they shall all be punished
for an eternity, punished with the devils of hell, as long as God is
God! The God of vengeance will have no pity on your torments or your
sobs and tears, violent enough to cleave the rocks. Suffering and
still more suffering, without merit, without mercy and without end!
23. Do we think of this, my dear Brothers and Sisters, when we have
some trial to undergo here below? Blessed indeed are we who have the
privilege of exchanging an eternal and fruitless penalty for a
temporary and meritorious suffering, just by patiently carrying our
cross. What debts we still have to pay! How many sins we have
committed which, despite a sincere confession and heartfelt
contrition, will have to be atoned for in Purgatory for many a
century, simply because in this world we were satisfied with a few
insignificant penances! Let us settle our debts with good grace here
below in cheerfully bearing our crosses, for in the world to come
everything must be expiated, even the idle word (Matt. 12, 36) and
even to the last farthing. If we could lay hands on the devil's
death-register in which he has noted down all our sins and the
penalty to be paid, what a heavy debit we would find and how joyfully
we would suffer many years here on earth rather than a single day in
the world to come.
24. Do you not flatter yourselves, Friends of the Cross, that you
are, or that you want to be, the friends of God? Be firmly resolved
then to drink of the chalice which you must necessarily drink if you
wish to enjoy the friendship of God. "They drank the chalice of the
Lord and became the friends of God" (Common of Apostles, Lesson 7).
The beloved Benjamin had the chalice while his brothers had only the
wheat (Gen. 44, 1-4). The disciple whom Jesus preferred had his
Master's heart, went up with Him to Calvary and drank of His chalice.
"Can you drink my chalice?" (Matt 20, 22). To desire God's glory is
good, indeed, but to desire it and pray for it without being resolved
to suffer all things is mere folly and senseless asking. "You know
not what you ask (Matt. 20, 22) . . . you must undergo much
suffering" (Acts 14, 21): you must, it is necessary, it is
indispensable! We can enter the kingdom of heaven only at the price
of many crosses and tribulations.
25. You take pride in being God's children and you do well; but you
should also rejoice in the lashes your good Father has given you and
in those He still means to give you; for He scourges every one of His
children (Prov. 3, 11; Heb. 13, 5-6; Apoc. 3, 19). If you are not of
the household of His beloved sons, then -- how unfortunate! what a
calamity! -- you are, as St. Augustine says, listed with the
reprobate. Augustine also says: "The one that does not mourn like a
stranger and wayfarer in this world cannot rejoice in the world to
come as a citizen of heaven" (Sermon 31, 5 and 6). If God the Father
does not send you worth-while crosses from time to time, that is
because He no longer cares for you and is angry at you. He considers
you a stranger, an outsider undeserving of His hospitality, or an
unlawful child who has no right to share in his father's estate and
no title to his father's supervision and discipline.
26. Friends of the Cross, disciples of a crucified God, the mystery
of the Cross is a mystery unknown to the Gentiles, repudiated by the
Jews and spurned by both heretics and bad Catholics, yet it is the
great mystery which you must learn to practice at the school of Jesus
Christ and which you can learn only at His School. You would look in
vain for any philosopher who taught it in the Academies of ancient
times; you would ask in vain either the senses or reason to throw any
light on it, for Jesus alone, through His triumphant grace, is able
to teach you this mystery and make you relish it.
Become proficient, therefore, in this super-eminent branch of
learning under such a skilful Master. Having this knowledge, you will
be possessed of all other branches of learning, for it surpassingly
comprises them all. The Cross is our-natural as well as our
supernatural philosophy. It is our divine and mysterious theology. It
is our philosopher-stone which, by dint of patience, is able to
transmute the grossest of metals into precious ones, the sharpest
pain into delight, poverty into wealth and the deepest humiliation
into glory. He amongst you who knows how to carry his cross, though
he know not A from B, towers above all others in learning.
Listen to the great St. Paul, after his return from the third heaven
where he was initiated into mysteries which even the Angels had not
learned. He proclaims that he knows nothing and wants to know nothing
but Jesus Christ crucified (1 Cor. 2, 2). You can rejoice, then if
you happen to be a poor man without any schooling or a poor woman
deprived of intellectual attainments, for if you know how to suffer
with joy you are far more learned than a doctor of the Sorbonne who
is unable to suffer as you do.
<*}}}>< <http://halfthekingdom.mofuse.mobi/>Half the Kingdom!
on your Mobile <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/>Half the Kingdom!
Blog <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom! Main Site
<*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/by-the-by/>Half the
Kingdom! By the by <*}}}><
Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue
with Your help,
so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
<*}}}>< <http://halfthekingdom.mofuse.mobi/>Half the Kingdom!
on your Mobile <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/>Half the Kingdom!
Blog <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom! Main Site
<*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/by-the-by/>Half the
Kingdom! By the by <*}}}><
Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue
with Your help,
so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Catholics on Fire" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/Catholics-on-Fire
May the blessing of Jesus and our Blessed Mother be with you
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
