Like Mary at the foot of the Cross, let us suffer with Christ

Today is Friday, the day in which we pray the sorrowful mysteries. Let us meditate on the third sorrowful mystery, the crowning with thorns ("The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head", Jn 19:2), whose fruit is the mortification of our mind and spirit.

There is no middle ground: if we want to serve Jesus, the world will persecute us. Let us not falter before the enemy, but act as true disciples of a poor and humble God, suffering for our love.

Suffering with Jesus, for Jesus, is already heaven! Who will say with what humility, with what love Jesus accepted all his sufferings?

In order to console his divine Heart from the revolt of the great number of men, let us obey those whom Providence has placed above us, even if they hate or persecute us.  If he, who was innocent, didn't open his mouth in protest, how could we complain? It is by patiently bearing reproaches or difficulties that our silence will glorify the divine Heart! In this way, we will weave for ourselves a rich crown for Heaven!

A Meditation by Sister Bernaud and the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart

Note: Formed as an Association of the Faithful, the Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart began on March 13th, 1863, at the Monastery of the Visitation of Holy Mary at Bourg-en-Bresse, France. The result of much hard work on the part of Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud, the Guard of Honor quickly spread throughout the whole world. It focuses on the Hour of Watch, which consists in choosing an hour and offering it each day to the Heart of Jesus, without changing our ordinary activities (work) and uniting the offering of our daily life to the offering of the Blood and the Water that sprang forth from the Wound of Jesus' Heart.