First Point. Contemplate today, Friday of the Passion, Christ, our Lord risen and glorious, with the signs of His Passion, each one more resplendent than the Sun; look at the glory that His Eternal Father gave Him for all that He suffered for the sake of all men; considering that, while He could have risen without those signs, as He did without those of the stripes and of the thorns, and those made on His Divine Face by the buffets they gave Him, He wanted to keep the Wounds of the the nails and the spear, because they were signs of His Cross by which, and in which, He consummated our Redemption. From these you are to draw great courage and consolation in your sorrows and labours, remembering that they are garments of Divine Glory, and the means to attain such glory; and that, in a few days they will lead you to the eternal repose, in which you will enjoy eternal blessing.

Second Point. Consider the causes why Christ preserved the Wounds of His Passion on His Sacred Body after His Resurrection, which were most advantageous to awaken our memory, and refresh our recollection of His Passion within us, and lead us to understand that, as the Apostle Saint John tells us in his Apocalypse: in Heaven the Angels and the blessed will sing canticles of His Passion, so here on earth His chosen ones should also sing them, having His Passion always present, meditating on it and contemplating it, as there is nothing more pleasant and agreeable to the Lord. Ask God for the grace to meditate on His Passion as you should, with the tenderness and gratitude for such a great mercy, as you have the obligation to do so.

Third Point. Consider another reason Saint Bernard brings us, which is so that He can intercede for men before the Eternal Father, showing His Open Wounds, and asking through them the forgiveness of your sins, and that they may impart good graces and mercies. O Lord, what thanks will I give You for the love You have for me, since not once, but many times, You have wanted to open the Wounds of Your Sacred Body for me! O my soul! Look at what an Advocate you have before the presence of God, and the signature signed by His Blood which He presents in His Tribunal for you! Pray with Him and offer those Most Thrice Precious Wounds in satisfaction for your sins, and ask the Eternal Father through them to grant you new mercies, as their value is infinite; no matter how much you ask and receive, they are worth more. And ask for you and for the entire whole Church abundance of celestial goods; let the Wounds of Christ supply with their value what is lacking in your own.

Fourth Point. Consider what Saint Paul says, who carried, stamped on his body, the Wounds of Christ, and who, by the mortification and penance suffered, made them his own image, through which he was honored by them, becoming worthy of the ignominity of Christ, more than from all the honors of the world, by the grateful memory Saint Paul always had from such a signal benefit. To do this I must always look into the mirror image of the Redeemer so as to transform myself into Him, and make my body a living stamp of His, by the mortification and penance of the Lord, and honor myself in His ignominities, as He was honored in suffering them for me, and animate with His example to suffer the Cross and death, if it were necessary to do so, for His service.


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