From the Eighteenth Hour of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ :
Jesus embraces the Cross – My tortured Good, with You I repair, with You I suffer. But I see that your enemies hurl You down the stairs; the people await You with fury and eagerness; they make You find the Cross ready, which You long for with many sighs. And You – with love You gaze on It, and with firm step You approach It and embrace It. But, before that, You kiss It, and as a shiver of joy runs through your Most Holy Humanity, with highest contentment You gaze on It again, measuring Its length and breadth. In It, already, You establish the portion for each creature. You dower them all, enough to bind them to the Divinity with a bond of marriage, and make them heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Then, unable to contain the love with which You love them, You kiss the Cross again, and say:
“Adored Cross, finally I embrace you. You were the longing of my Heart, the martyrdom of my love. But you, O Cross, have delayed until now, while my steps were always toward you. Holy Cross, you were the goal of my desires, the purpose of my existence down here. In you I concentrate my whole being, in you I place all my children, and you will be their life, their light, defense, custody and strength. You will assist them in everything, and will bring them gloriously to Me in Heaven. Oh Cross, Pulpit of Wisdom, you alone will teach true sanctity; you alone will form the heroes, the athletes, the martyrs, the Saints. Beautiful Cross, you are my Throne, and since I have to leave the earth, you will remain in my place. To you I give all souls as dowry – keep them, save them; I entrust them to you!”
V9 – October 17, 1910 – “My daughter, I do not look so much at the sacrifices, but at the love with which they are made and at the union with Me that they have. So, the more the soul is united with Me, the more I take into account her sacrifices. If the soul is more tightly united with Me, I take great account of her littlest sacrifices, because in the union there is the measure of love, and the measure of love is eternal measure, which has no end and no boundaries. On the other hand, with a soul who may sacrifice herself very much but is not united with Me, I look at her sacrifice as that of a stranger, and I give her the remuneration she deserves – a limited one. Imagine a father and a son who love each other. The son makes small sacrifices, and the father, because of the bond of union of paternity, of sonship and of love, which is the strongest bond, looks at these small sacrifices as a great thing; he is triumphant, he feels honored, he gives all of his riches to his son, and dedicates all of his attentions and cares to his son. Now consider a servant, who works all day long, is exposed to heat and to cold, is at the command of his master, and if necessary, stays up even at night on his behalf – and what does he receive? The miserable remuneration of one day, such that, if he does not work every day, he will have to starve. Such is the difference that passes between the soul who possesses union with Me and the soul who does not possess it.”
