Source: Lent with Saint Francis de Sales • Istituto Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice (cgfmanet.org)
Day 1:
From the Letters of Saint Francis de Sales
Do you know what Arabian Shepherds do when they see lightning, they hear thunder and realize that the air is crossed by lightning? They retreat under the laurels with their flocks. When we see that persecutions or contradictions threaten us strongly painfully we must withdraw, with all our actions, under the Holy Cross, firmly believing that “when men love God, he himself does everything to contribute to their good” (Rom 8,28).
O Holy Mother, engrave deep in my heart the wounds of Jesus Crucifed. Mt 27, 24-26
Day 2
Just be brave, my dear Daughter. Spiritual roses are not like material roses in which the thorns remain and the roses pass; among the roses spiritual, thorns will pass away and roses will stay. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you because you have redeemed the world by your Holy Cross. Jn 19, 16-17 O Holy Mother, engrave deep in my heart the wounds of Jesus Crucifed.
Day 3
You have to stand on the cross with humility, as unworthy to endure something for the love of Him, and with patience, so as not to want to come down from the cross only after death, please the Eternal Father. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you because you have redeemed the world by your Holy Cross. O Holy Mother, engrave deep in my heart the wounds of Jesus crucified.
Day 4
For a long time you wanted to serve God and you went to the school of the Cross; And so not only do you accept it with patience, but I’m sure you embrace it with serenity and love, thinking of Him . We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you because you have redeemed the world by your Holy Cross. O Holy Mother, engrave deep in my heart the wounds of Jesus crucified.
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Day 5
Yesterday I gave a conference on the Passion to nuns of Sainte-Claire who had so much begged, . And when I arrived to the point where I contemplated how the Cross was laden on the shoulders of our Lord and how He embraced it saying that by His Cross and with it, He accepted and took all our small crosses on Him and with Him saying He embraced our aridities, our contradictions, our bitterness, I assure you, dear Daughter, that I felt completely consoled and struggled to hold back the tears […]. May our little crosses always unite with his, so great! We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you because you have redeemed the world by your Holy Cross. O Holy Mother, engrave deep in my heart the wounds of Jesus crucified.
Day 6
From the Letters of Saint Francis de Sales
Remembering that outer cross that you carried on your heart when I had the joy to see you, I will tell you to love your cross very much, my dear Lady, because, if you look at her with eyes full of love, it is all gold. And even if, on one side, you see the Love of your heart dead and crucified between the nails and the thorns, on the other you will find a gemstone to compose the crown of glory that waits if, while waiting to possess it, you lovingly wear the crown of thorns with your King who wanted so much to achieve happiness. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you because you have redeemed the world by your Holy Cross. O Holy Mother, engrave deep in my heart the wounds of Jesus crucified
Day 7
From the Letters of Saint Francis de Sales The other day, when the good lady of this neighboring town came here, I got to know the many pains you go through, dear one Sister, my Daughter. And, of course, I experienced compassion, but even more, of consolation, for I am sure that God will hold with his holy hand and lead you, to through the way he himself opened for you, towards a high perfection; because I want to believe, my dear Sister, that you will stay eternally linked to the most holy will of this divine Majesty to which you have devoted your whole life. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you because you have redeemed the world by your Holy Cross. Collar 1, 24 – 26 O Holy Mother, engrave deep in my heart the wounds of Jesus crucified
Day 8
From the Letters of St. Francis de Sales
Lady, if God has made you stronger and more courageous in the face of adversity, glory to his goodness, that he is always ready to rescue the souls that hope in Him. Therefore always hope in Him, Lady, and, in order to be able to hope in Him, Immolate your heart often to him ; on the altar of the Cross, on which He immolates himself for love of you. The Cross is the royal door that introduces us to the path of holiness: those who seek it elsewhere, he will never find a crumb.
Day 9
From St Francis de Sales’ Letters
What a grace it is to be not only at the foot of
the Cross, but on the Cross, or at least somewhat crucified with Our Lord!
Be courageous, my dear Sister; make a virtue of necessity and do not miss the opportunity to give God a great proof of your love for Him in the midst of tribulations, as He gave you a great proof of His in the midst of thorns.
We adore you O Christ and bless you,
because by your holy Cross you have
redeemed the world.
Day 10
From St Francis de Sales’ Letters
Live in peace, with a great love for the will and providence of God; live with our crucified Saviour in the centre of your heart. Some time ago, I saw a young girl carrying a bucket of water on her head, at the centre of which she had placed a piece of wood. I wanted to know why, and she told me that she had put it there to break the movement of the water and thus prevent it from spilling. So,I said, from now on we must put the Cross at the centre of our hearts to draw our actions to this wood and by means of this wood, so that they will not spill over on other things such as anxieties and disturbances
of spirit.
We adore you O Christ and bless you,
because by your holy Cross you have
redeemed the world.
Day 11
From St Francis de Sales’ Letters
The best crosses are the heaviest ones, and the heaviest ones are the ones that are most repugnant to the lower part of our hearts. The crosses found on the street are excellent, but more excellent still are the ones found at home. And when they are more troublesome they are better than hairshirts, disciplines, fasts, and anything else that has been invented by austerity. In these is revealed the generosity of the children of the Cross and the inhabitants of the holy mountain of Calvary.
We adore you O Christ and bless you,
because by your holy Cross you have
redeemed the world.
Day 12
From St Francis de Sales’ Letters
But let us speak a little about this heart of my dearest Daughter: is it not surprising that this heart allows itself to be so deeply disturbed when faced with a little daughter who is a bit stubborn and rash, as if it were faced by armed enemies?
But do not be upset at all, my dearest Daughter! There is no more unbearable annoyance than one made up of small but pressing and continuous disturbances.
Our Lord allows us to be unable to overcome these little inconveniences so that we may learn humility and understand that if we have been able to overcome certain great temptations, we owe it not to our own strength, but to the special assistance of His divine Goodness.
We adore you O Christ and bless you,
because by your holy Cross you have
redeemed the world.
Day 13
From St Francis de Sales’ Letters
The crosses we make or invent for ourselves are always a bit too delicate: there is something of ourselves in them, so they are a
little less crucifying. So humiliate yourselves then, and joyfully receive the ones that are imposed on you without your asking for them. The duration of the Cross gives it value, for there is no punishment harsher than one that continues for a long time. “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10)
We adore you O Christ and bless you,
because by your holy Cross you have
redeemed the world.
Day 14
From St Francis de Sales’ Letters
No one ever knew with certainty what wood our Lord’s Cross was made of; and I think it happened so that we might love all the crosses He would send us equally, whatever wood they were made of, and not say: “This or some other cross is not worthy of being loved because it is made of this or some other wood”.
We adore you O Christ and bless you,
because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.