Starting Saturday Off Right: Suppose That You Had Fallen Into the River Edition

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

St. Paul of the Cross

“Suppose that you had fallen into the river, and that a charitable person threw himself into the water to save you. What would you say to such kindness? Moreover, suppose that, hardly drawn from the water, you had been attacked by assassins, and that your rescuer again came to your assistance, and saved your life at the risk of his own. What would you do in return for such friendship? It is certain that you would do all in your power to heal the bruises he received on your account. So ought we to act towards Christ: we must contemplate Him engulfed in an ocean of sorrows to save us from the eternal abyss; consider Him all covered with wounds and bruises to purchase for us eternal life. Then let us make His pains our own, sympathize with His sorrows, and consecrate to Him all our affections.”
-St. Paul of the Cross

One of the benefits of the modern era is the ability to cheaply and easily publish books in both paper form and digital form. To this end, many people are compiling, typesetting and publishing all manner of works from the Saints and Doctors of the Church that can be purchased for very little money. This is a wonderful thing.

Here is another example – another compilation of St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionist Order, whose feast day is today. I linked to another compilation in this series at the beginning of Lent, and here is even more St. Paul, and paperback priced at only $15.95.

FLOWERS OF THE PASSION
by St. Paul of the Cross

Contents include “Flowers of the Passion,” Appendix including meditations on the Passion, the Devotions of the Five Wounds of Jesus, the Chaplet of the Seven Dolors, the Way of the Cross, and other prayers.