Redemptive Suffering

[AfroNova No Limit Soldier]

If you haven't yet, I would recommend reading St. Therese's STORY OF A SOUL, and also a biography on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. They were both very "depressed" (I put this word in quotes because it's not depressed in a wordly sort of way where one loses all hope, but in the way that we know we will never be deserving of our Lord).

St Catherine of Siena said that if we could see the state of our souls, we would die of despair. I bet she also experienced those feelings of depression.

St. Theresa of Avila said that we should not despair, even knowing that we will never love our Lord enough. We should always turn to the only one who was indeed worthy of our Lord's love and loved Him enough in return - Our Lady.

I would encourage you & everyone here to say a simple prayer to Our Lady, putting our life, work, school, worries, hopes, dreams, marriages, relationships, etc. entirely in her hands. She will lead us home to her Son.

Also, experiencing bouts of "depression" when one seems very alone & unworthy is an integral part of the journey towards becoming a Saint. I would also recommend reading "DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL" by St. John of the Cross.

St. Therese the Little Flower said that she would offer up many little sacrifices every day for our Lord, like taking the smaller piece of cake of sweeping the floor when it wasn't her turn.

Yes, we must make up for the lack of suffering in the mystical body of Christ! Surely JPG was embracing redemptive suffering in the last years of his life! Oh, sweet meritorious suffering!

Now talk about SUPERMERITORIOUS suffering... now that's what makes us Saints.

Yes, when I am sitting in traffic I give it to our Lord for the souls in purgatory. When I was hooked up to a mammogram machine & was in tons of pain, I gave it to our Lord for the conversion of poor sinners! Sometimes I reflect on all the souls who were in purgatory and now are in heaven because of my prayers. How many friends I must have! They will support me now & in the hour of my death.

Mother Theresa said she experienced a dryness, a dark night, a time when God left her completely alone for THIRTY years.