Alter Christus-Devotion to the Passion of Our Lord

Lent and the coming Passion tide afford us a good oppor­tunity to strengthen our devotion to the Passion of Our Lord. This devotion ought at all times to be one of the mainsprings of our fervour in the spiritual life. At every stage of that life the Christian soul can draw a most powerful inspiration from the sufferings of Christ: whether to atone for sin and carry on the fight against unruly passions, or to progress in the exercise of virtue, or to grow in the life of union with God. The Passion of Our Lord is a school of perfection for sinners and saints alike: "Et ego si exaltatus fuero a terra omnia traham ad meipsum."

If, then, we are solicitous for our perfection, and for the sanctification of our flock, we must endeavour to cultivate in ourselves and to spread around us a solid, habitual devotion to the Passion. Let us try to arouse ourselves to renewed confidence and generosity in that devotion, by considering some of its advantages and some means to grow in it.

ITS ADVANTAGES

A deep spirit of compunction is one of the most solid fruits of devotion to the Passion. Alas! how superficial our compunction often is : we hardly realize the grievousness of sin and feel but little sorrow for it ; our penance performed, we soon lose sight of our infidelities. But if we live in the remembrance of Christ's sufferings, and train ourselves to read in His bruised body the story of our sinful life, our callousness will melt away and we shall nurse in our soul an abiding, burning regret for having inflicted those wounds on our Beloved, and from this will flow into our spiritual life the inestimable benefits that accompany true com­punction of heart.

Strength and courage - the great need of all souls that would follow after Christ in the imitation of His virtues - ­the lack of which is responsible for so much mediocrity in spiritual lives: where shall we find them more effectively than in Christ's sacred Passion?

True, Our Lord has given us throughout His life the example of every virtue: but in His Passion He did it in a heroic degree which cannot but stir all noble souls. Can we behold the lengths to which He went without being spurred on to fervour and generosity and feeling ashamed of our own cowardice and of the low standards to which we have sunk?

How soon we think we have done enough, - relax in our fight against temptations and evil inclinations, - and give up aiming at Christ's ideals because we lack the courage to do the hard thing! If only we could keep our eyes habitually fixed on our crucified Saviour: "Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum ut sequamini vestigia ejus."

Magnanimity in sacrifice and immolation. . . The perfection of Christian souls, of priests especially, is not confined to resisting evil and practising virtue; it must lead us on to union with Christ "and Him Crucified". This spells magnanimity, the complete surrender to a life of sacrifice and immolation: such, undoubtedly, is the ideal of a fervent priest. But how difficult it is to brace oneself to continued heroism; how soon we fall away from once cherished ideals! If we want to persevere in that magnanimity, let us seek it where all Saints have found it: at the foot of the Cross. Let us take our stand there with the Queen of Martyrs: "juxta Crucem tecum stare", and live in the habitual remembrance of what His love has done for us and calls us to: "In fide vivo Filii Dei qui dilexit me et tradidit semetipsum pro me."

This leads us to the most precious of all fruits of devotion to the Passion: a passionate love for Christ. In as far as such a love takes hold of our soul, so far shall we be generous in dying to sin, practising virtue and living a life of sacrifice and immolation. And surely there is no greater incentive to that love than the devout contemplation of what Christ suffered for our sake: as the love of the Sacred Heart for men is the key to that suffering, so a tender devotion to the sacred Passion will unlock our heart to love for Christ.

"Calvary is the mountain on which sacred lovers are formed" (St Francis de Sales).

Briefly, here are some of the means:

Meditating on the Passion: frequently, - intimately. Many Saints made this subject of meditation the most habi­tual food of their soul. - To enter into intimate communion with Christ, we must endeavour always to bear in mind that He suffers for the love of us and with the thought of each one individually present to His Sacred Heart.

The Way of the Cross, one of the easiest manners to derive abundant fruit from our contemplation on the Passion and to associate ourselves with Christ's sufferings. Abbot Marmion goes so far as to say: "After the Sacraments and liturgical worship there is no practice more useful for our souls than the Way of the Cross made with devotion."

The cult of our crucifix: living in its companionship, ­handling it devoutly, - loving it dearly. . . What revelations and what inspirations will not come to us from this contact with our "Love Crucified".

Holy Mass, of all the means of union with the Passion by far the most efficacious. The renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary at every Consecration, the partaking of the immolated Victim in every holy Communion, will bring the fervent priest, every morning, nearer to his ideal of oneness with Christ crucified: "Christo confixus sum Cruxi".

Union with Our Lady: when we say the rosary or make the Way of the Cross or meditate on the Passion, try to share the sentiments that filled her soul when she saw Jesus suffer; and through her ask for the grace of understanding and compassion. - "Eia, mater, fons amoris, me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam . . ."

"Pro omnibus mortuus est Christus ut et qui vivunt iam non sibi vivant sed ei qui pro ipsis mortuus est et resurrexit" ( 2 Cor 5:15 ).
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Adapted from Alter Christus, Meditations for Priests
by F.X. L'Hoir, S.J. (1958)
Meditation 27.
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Please pray for our priests and pray for vocations to the priesthood.