The gift of the Cross…

How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return… A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory!
–Saint Theodore the Studite (c. 759-826)

Passion of our Lord…

Fix your minds, then, on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.
–Saint Francis of Paola (1416-1507)

Death on the Cross…

Our Lord saved the world even more by His heroic love on the Cross than by His sermons. His words gave us light, pointed out the way for us to follow; His death on the Cross obtained for us the grace to follow this way.
–Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964)

The Cross of Christ…

If I try by myself to swim across the ocean of this world, the waves will certainly engulf me. In order to survive I must climb aboard a ship made of wood; this wood is the Cross of Christ. Of course, even on board ship there will be dangerous tempests and perils from the sea of this world. But God will help me remain on board the ship and arrive safely at the harbor of eternal life.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)