Expressions applied to the cross by St. John Chrysostom:The hope of the despairing; for what ho
Expressions applied to the cross by St. John Chrysostom:The hope of the despairing; for what hope of salvation would sinners have were it not for the cross on which Jesus Christ died to save them?The guide of the voyager; for the humiliation of the cross (that is, of tribulation) is the cause which, in this life that is like a sea of dangers, gives us grace to keep the divine law, and to amend ourselves after our trangressions; as the prophet says, It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that I might learn Thy justifications.The counselor of the just; because in adversities the just learn wisdom, and gain motives for uniting themselves more closely to God.The rest of the troubled; for where can the troubled find relief but in beholding that cross on which their Redeemer and God died of pain for love of them?The glorying of the martyrs; because in this consists the glory of the holy martyrs, that they were able to unite their deaths to the pains and death which Jesus Christ suffered on the cross; as St. Paul says, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.The physician of the sick; and great indeed is the remedy of the cross to those who are sick in spirit; tribulations make them repent, and detach them from the world.The fount for the thirsty; the cross, that is, suffering for Jesus Christ, being the desire of the saints, as St. Teresa was wont to say, “Oh that I might suffer! oh that I might die!” and as St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi said, “May I suffer, and not die;” meaning that she would refuse to die and to go to rejoice in heaven, in order that she might continue to suffer upon this earth. -- source link
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