These monologues were written by Sister the year before she entered the monastery. She hopes they will help you in your own meditation and prayer on this day dedicated to accompanying Christ in His sufferings. May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ be ever in our hearts!
Read MoreAt the last supper, Jesus offered up His Body and Blood in sacrifice “for you” (see Luke 22:19). I allow those two little words to echo in my own heart: for me … Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection … for me. The Gospel accounts of Christ’s Passion give us seven sayings or seven “words” that Jesus spoke from the Cross, and I hear the “for you” spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper re-echoed there.
Read MoreSt. Augustine is famous for saying, among other things, that the New Testament is concealed in the Old and the Old revealed in the New … Several years ago, I first came upon what was for me a particularly poignant foreshadowing of Christ’s Passion, hidden within the depths of the Book of Leviticus.
Read MoreThe arms and heart of Jesus Crucified are wide open to receive us all. It is good to be here with Mary, so good. Yet how can we be glad, how can we lift up songs of rejoicing, here of all places? What place can joy possibly have on Calvary?
Read MoreIn God’s infinite generosity and love, He gives us the dignity of “making up for what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, on behalf of His body, the Church” by the sufferings of our lives. Nothing is wasted! The first person to share in the sufferings of Christ was His Mother Mary. As we ponder the Passion and seek to be united with Jesus, Mary’s Mother-heart gives us a unique entryway into the sufferings of Christ.
Read MoreA number of Psalms are particularly applicable to the Passion and Death of Our Lord. They contain some of the more poignant descriptions of physical, psychological, and spiritual suffering, as well as powerful prayers of trust and even prophecies of specific elements of the Passion narrative. The most famous of these is, of course, Psalm 22.
Read MoreIn His infinite mercy, God has come down to our level in Jesus Christ, embracing human weakness in order to win for us the graces – and give us an example to imitate – in every challenge we face. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Passion, where He chooses to exercise His omnipotence precisely through weakness.
Read MoreWherever you fall on the “Lenten preparedness” spectrum, we have an opportunity for you to enter more deeply into the spirit of this season: a new blog series entitled Ponder His Passion! Each Friday of Lent, beginning a week from today, we will share a brief reflection on Our Lord’s Passion, written by one of the Sisters.
Read More“The words, ‘God’s Will be done,’ or similar sayings, are common in the monastery. This struck me. I thought of God’s will in terms of His overall plan for my life, but the sisters saw God’s Will and surrendered to it in the smallest, concrete details of everyday life, and this amazed me.”
Read MoreThe Passionist Fathers recently released the newest issue of their publication, the Passionist International Bulletin (PIB), and we thought you might be interested in a couple of articles in particular … reflections written by our Sisters Frances Marie and Miriam Esther!
Read MoreAs we accompany Jesus in His sufferings, His Heart is really and truly comforted by our presence and our love. What an awesome mystery!
Read MoreThis week’s readings, continuing the theme of light and holiness, proved particularly fruitful as we connected them with our Passionist charism.
Read MoreIn past years, we have shared with you all the beautiful reflections of Mother Catherine Marie on this, the holiest week of the year. Here are all her musings, gathered into one place.
Read MoreToday we find ourselves immersed in the Sacred Passion of the Crucified Christ. It is an immersion into Revelation’s greatest truth…. Wisdom’s greatest enlightenment, Love’s greatest gift. Paul of the Cross says: "...the immersion of the soul in the sea of his most holy passion … is his greatest and most astounding work of divine love.”
Read MoreJesu, I have come into the Garden / Where You are lying silent and apart— / To place beside Your Sacrifice, Beloved, / The Promises of my believing heart. / And now, with life behind me, it is certain— / As certain as the dawn of Easter Day— / It had to be the sharing of Your Passion. / There never could have been another way.
Read MoreToday, we reflect on how God’s Agape love is revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and how this love is made present to us in the Holy Eucharist in order to transform our hearts and lives. St. Paul of the Cross had an infused understanding of the Passion and death of Jesus as the work of God’s infinitely powerful love for us.
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