2 CORINTHIANS 4:17
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all”.
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PICCARRETA:
Jan. 27. “Courage, courage. All other things are left; while sufferings are brought to Heaven, and form our most beautiful throne and never ending glory.”
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BOH VOL 1
Other times, I remember that, in renewing these crucifixions, my sweet Jesus said to me:
“My beloved, the cross allows one to distinguish the reprobates from the predestined. Just as, on the Day of Judgment, the good will rejoice upon seeing the cross, so even now it can be seen whether one will be saved or lost.
If, as the cross presents itself to the soul, she embraces it, carries it with resignation, with patience, and she kisses and thanks that hand which is sending it – here is the sign that she is saved.
If, on the contrary, as the cross is presented to her, she gets irritated, despises it, and even reaches the point of offending Me – you can say that that’s a sign that the soul is heading on the way to hell. So will the reprobates do on the Day of Judgment: upon seeing the cross, they will grieve and curse.
The cross tells everything; the cross is a book that, without deception and in clear notes, tells you and allows you to distinguish the saint from the sinner, the perfect from the imperfect, the fervent from the lukewarm.
The cross communicates such light to the soul that, even now, it allows one to distinguish not only the good from the evil, but also those who are to be more or less glorious in Heaven – those who are to occupy a higher or a lower place. All other virtues remain humble and reverent before the virtue of the cross, and grafting themselves to it, they receive greater glory and splendor.”
Who can say what flames of ardent desires this speaking of Jesus would cast into my heart? I felt devoured by hunger for suffering, and in order to satisfy my yearnings – or rather, to better say it, in order to satisfy that which He Himself infused in me – He would renew for me the crucifixion.
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PRAYER OF THE DAY:
“My beloved Jesus, You ardently desire not only to crucify my soul and to communicate the pains of the cross to my body, but also to mark my body with the mark of Your wounds; may I obtain this grace.
Therefore, my Jesus, I present myself before the Supreme Throne of God, bathed in the Blood of Jesus Christ, praying You, by the merit of Your most luminous virtues and of Your Divinity, to concede me the grace to be crucified‟.”
Adapted from BOH VOL 1