St. Francis of Assisi could not think of the Passion without weeping. God, to reward him for the ardor of his love, imprinted in his hands and feet and side the marks of the nails and of the lance.
These are special graces. There is no question at all of my aspiring to them.
But can I not, on this feast day of the stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, examine myself on my love of Jesus Crucified?
Do I love to contemplate my good Master dying on the Cross? I was given a crucifix the day of my profession, do I use it? Do I look at it often? Does it make Calvary and the painful martyrdom of my Savior live for me again?
It is not merely a question of compassionating Jesus, but of reproducing my Savior. And without doubt it will not be through nails, or sword thrust, or visible imprints in my flesh, that I reproduce my Savior crucified. It will depend rather upon my interior generosity, my aptitude for renunciation through love. How generous am I?
The stigmata of Francis were apparent; mine are entirely interior; but there is no need for anyone to see them; it is much better that they remain hidden from all. God alone knows them. They must, however, exist; they must be deeply imprinted. I am too easily contented with transports; my achievements do not correspond to them, not through disloyalty but rather through weakness. I must learn to study Jesus crucified, to be strong. The Master that I serve did not spare himself at all. Forward, then, humbly but valiantly!
Today, particularly, I will refuse nothing to God, for love of my Savior on the Cross.
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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