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The Passion of Jesus Christ

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Palm Sunday
J.M.J.

The Passion and The Death of Jesus Christ

By St. Alphonsus de Liguori

To the Reader

In my book on the Glories of Mary, I promised to write for

you another that should treat of the love of Jesus Christ;

but on account of my corporal infirmities, my Director

would not permit me to keep my promise.

I have been scarcely able to publish these short Reflections

on the Passion of Jesus Christ. These Reflections, however,

contain the gist of what I had gathered for my subject,

withholding only what had reference to the Incarnation

and birth of our Saviour, as I intended to compose

from it a little work for the Novena of Christmas,

which I shall afterwards publish,

if I obtain permission.

Nevertheless, I hope that the little work that I offer

you to-day will be pleasing to you, especially since

it will put before you, in regular order, the passages

of Holy Scripture referring to the love that Jesus Christ

showed us in his death; for there is nothing more

apt to stimulate a Christian to the love of God than

the word of God itself that is drawn from Holy Writ.

Let us, therefore, love Jesus Christ, who is our Saviour,

our God, and our supreme good. This is the reason

why I invite you to cast a glance at the Passion; for you

will find therein all the motives that we can have to

hope for eternal life and to love God;

and in this our salvation consists.

All the saints cherished a tender devotion towards

Jesus Christ in his Passion; this is the only means

by which they sanctified themselves.

Father Balthasar Alvarez, as we read in his life,

used to say that one should not think of having done

anything so long as one has not succeeded in constantly

keeping in one's heart Jesus crucified. His method

of prayer consisted in placing himself at the feet

of Jesus crucified, by meditating especially on his

poverty, his humiliations, sorrows, and by listening

to the lesson that our Lord made him hear from the

height of the cross. You may also hope to sanctify

yourself if you continue in like manner to consider

what your divine Redeemer has

done and suffered for you.

Ask him, without ceasing, to give you his love;

and this grace you should never weary to ask from

your Queen, the Blessed Virgin, who is called the

Mother of beautiful love. And when you ask this

great gift for yourself, ask it also for me, who have

desired to contribute to your sanctification in

offering you this little work. I promise to do the same

thing for you in order that, one day, in paradise,

we may embrace each other in a holy charity,

and may recognize each other as devoted servants

of our most amiable Saviour, finding ourselves

united there in the society of the elect to see forever,

face to face, and love for all eternity,

Jesus, our Saviour and our love.

Amen.

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The Way of the Cross according to the method

of St. Alphonsus Liguori online

at http://olrl.org/pray/wayofcross/


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Sincerely in Christ
Our Lady of the Rosary Library
"Pray and work for souls"
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