Page:PassionDeathOfJesusChristV5.djvu/29

 “He who  desires,"  says  St.  Bonaventure,  “ to  go  on advancing  from  virtue  to  virtue,  from  grace  to  grace, should  meditate  continually  on  the  Passion  of  Jesus." And he  adds  that  “ there  is  no  practice  more  profitable for the  entire  sanctification  of  the  soul  than  the  frequent meditation of  the  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ."

St. Augustine  also  said  that  a single  tear  shed  at  the remembrance of  the  Passion  of  Jesus  is  worth  more  than a pilgrimage to  Jerusalem,  or  a year  of  fasting  on  bread and water. Yes, because  it  was  for  this  end  that  our Saviour suffered  so  much,  in  order  that  we  should  think of his  sufferings;  because  if  we  think  on  them,  it  is  impossible not  to  be  inflamed  with  divine  love:  The  charity of Christ presseth  us,   says  St. Paul. Jesus is  loved  by  few, because few  consider  the  pains  he  has  suffered  for  us; but he  that  frequently  considers  them  cannot  live  without loving  Jesus. “The charity  of  Christ  presseth  us." He  will  feel  himself  so  constrained  by  his  love  that  he will  not  find  it  possible  to  refrain  from  loving  a God  so full  of  love,  who  has  suffered  so  much  to  make  us  love him.

Therefore the  Apostle  said  that  he  desired  to  know nothing but  Jesus,  and  Jesus  crucified;  that  is,  the  love that he  has  shown  us  on  the  cross:  I judged  not  myself  to knew  anything  among  you  but  Jesus  Christ, and  Him  crucified. And, in  truth,  from  what  books  can  we  better learn the  science  of  the  saints — that  is,  the  science  of loving  God — than  from  Jesus  crucified? That great servant of  God,  Brother  Bernard  of  Corlione,  the  Capu-