Posted in GOD ALONE!, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, OUR Cross, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, ROSARY QUOTES, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY ROSARY/ROSARY CRUSADE, The PASSION

Thought for the Day – 12 October – The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery – The Road to Calvary

Thought for the Day – 12 October – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

“Month of the Holy Rosary”
The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery
The Road to Calvary

“Scourged, crowned with thorns and derided, Jesus is finally condemned to death.
Burdened with the Cross, He sets out for the place of execution in the midst of a crowd of enemies, blasphemers and idle speculators.
Among them , there is only a tiny group which sympathises with Jesus, namely, Mary His Mother, the devout women and the beloved Apostle, St John.

The divine Redeemer goes forward laboriously beneath the heavy weight of the Cross.
He has already lost a large quantity of blood in Gethsemane and during the scourging and crowning with thorns.
His strength seems to be failing but love sustains Him.
Looking feebly around Him, He sees the mocking Jews, the indifferent and disrespectful Roman soldiers and a throng of curious spectators looking for something to amuse them.
Is there nobody else?
Where are those whom He cured miraculously and those whom He comforted and forgave?
Has nobody any pity for Him?
Suddenly the crowd falls silent.
A woman, pale and tearful, is approaching Him, supported by her friends.
She defies the commands of soldiers and the scowls of the executions and comes close to Him.

Here and there, a murmur is heard – It must be His Mother, poor woman!
Jesus and Mary gaze at one another.
It would be impossible for us to guess at the immense depths of love contained in that loving exchange of glances.
Neither utters a word, for no words could express their anguish, nor manifest their love.
They look and understand one another, offering themselves as a holocaust for the redemption of wayward humanity.

Nevertheless, in this silent meeting, there was great consolation for the Heart of Jesus, for He had found someone who loved and understood Him, amongst those malicious throngs.
Why do we not sympathise with Him too and love Him with all our hearts?

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, QUOTES on DESPAIR, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on SIN, ROSARY REFLECTIONS and QUOTES, The HOLY ROSARY/ROSARY CRUSADE, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION

Thought for the Day – 12 October – The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery – The Road to Calvary

Thought for the Day – 12 October – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

“Month of the Holy Rosary”
The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery
The Road to Calvary

The Moment soon pases.
The executioners urge Jesus forward once more, towards the place of execution.
His strength is exhausted and He stumbles several times beneath the weight of the Cross.
Each time, however, He rises, covered with blood and dust and again, embraces the Cross.

How often we also fall!
Sometimes because of the weight of our cross, we fall in discouragement or in despair.
On these occasions, let us look towards the divine Sufferer and embrace our cross again, for it is the ladder by which we must ascend to Heaven.

Sometimes, it is sin which causes us to fall.
If we have yielded to the violence of temptation, let us look towards Jesus, just the same.
He Who loved us so much on the way to Calvary and on the tree of the Cross, is certainly ready to forgive and comfort us.

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/10/11/thought-for-the-day-11-october-the-fourth-sorrowful-mystery-the-road-to-calvary/

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, The PASSION

Thought for the Day – 11 October – The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery – The Road to Calvary

Thought for the Day – 11 October – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

“Month of the Holy Rosary”
The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery
The Road to Calvary

“Scourged, crowned with thorns and derided, Jesus is finally condemned to death.
Burdened with the Cross, He sets out for the place of execution in the midst of a crowd of enemies, blasphemers and idle speculators.
Among them , there is only a tiny group which sympathises with Jesus, namely, Mary His Mother, the devout women and the beloved Apostle, St John.

The divine Redeemer goes forward laboriously beneath the heavy weight of the Cross.
He has already lost a large quantity of blood in Gethsemane and during the scourging and crowning with thorns.
His strength seems to be failing but love sustains Him.
Looking feebly around Him, He sees the mocking Jews, the indifferent and disrespectful Roman soldiers and a throng of curious spectators looking for something to amuse them.
Is there nobody else?
Where are those whom He cured miraculously and those whom He comforted and forgave?
Has nobody any pity for Him?
Suddenly the crowd falls silent.
A woman, pale and tearful, is approaching Him, supported by her friends.
She defies the commands of soldiers and the scowls of the executions and comes close to Him.

Here and there, a murmur is heard – It must be His Mother, poor woman!
Jesus and Mary gaze at one another.
It would be impossible for us to guess at the immense depths of love contained in that loving exchange of glances.
Neither utters a word, for no words could express their anguish, nor manifest their love.
They look and understand one another, offering themselves as a holocaust for the redemption of wayward humanity.

Nevertheless, in this silent meeting, there was great consolation for the Heart of Jesus, for He had found someone who loved and understood Him, amongst those malicious throngs.
Why do we not sympathise with Him too and love Him with all our hearts?

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS

Thought for the Day – 16 April – The Road to Calvary

Thought for the Day – 16 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Road to Calvary

After having been condemned to death, Jesus is delivered into the hands of the Jews to be crucified as a malefactor.
Two rough beams of wood are fixed together, in the form of a cross and placed upon His shoulders.
He is already worn out with suffering and has lost large quantities of blood as a result of the scourging and of the crowing with thorns.
Jesus does not reject the Cross, but embraces it.
He has come into this world to show forth His infinite love and to redeem us from our sins by His suffering and death.
In the garden of Gethsemane, He has said with sublime resignation to the Heavenly Father:  “Not my will but thine be done” (Lk 22:42).
The Cross is too heavy for His human strength but what does that matter?
He embraces it, takes it upon His weary shoulders and sets out for Calvary.

Perhaps we have often kissed the Crucifix with reverence and affection.
Let us keep it hanging upon the walls of our home where we can gaze on it, with love and hope.
Let us pray before it in our moments of need.
But what about our own cross?
Do we love our cross as Jesus loved His?
Do we embrace it as Jesus did?
Do we bow willingly beneath the load as He did and, do we carry it, with resignation and without useless complaints?
It is not enough to love the Crucifix.
We must love our own cross as well, in silence and in prayer, knowing, that only in this way, can we imitate Jesus, Who has said to us:  “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23).

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

our cross - the road to calvary - bacci - 16 april 2020