Living Holy Week in the convent is a special experience of intimacy with Jesus. This Holy Week, we ask you to pray for the five young women who have joined us for our Holy Week Discernment Retreat. We will be praying for you throughout the Triduum, and we hope you enjoy this brief Holy Week reflection from our Founder, Blessed James Alberione.

Be compassionate towards others; this is the second commandment: love one another. In these days the Church invites us to consider the Crucified Jesus. This is the Master who, from the cross, explains where true charity lies. He does so not through parables, but in his own living flesh.

Let us contemplate the Master whose hands and feet are nailed to the cross. His body is bruised and full of wounds. His face is dirtied with spit and bruised through beatings and slapping; his head is crowned with thorns, and his side is pierced by a sword, that reached the very heart of the divine Master.  This is how Jesus has loved us! He loved us greatly! Jesus loved everyone. He immolated himself for everyone, and it even seemed initially that he had more solicitude for those who had treated him badly, who had nailed him. As soon as the cross was raised up, he exclaimed that beautiful prayer which can only come from a new and infinite love for everyone: “I give you a new commandment.” And what does it consist in? “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing."

It is sweet to rest in the Lord; it is sweet to feel anew intimacy with Jesus; it is sweet to remove those things that can divide you from Jesus. Certainly we are not talking of rocks, or sins, but there may be “sheets of paper” that separate you from him. And so it is a delight to feel again a renewed intimacy with Jesus.

Have trust; you accepted his invitation and he will maintain his promise to “speak to your heart.” Jesus is awaiting you to give you great graces. As a result, there should not be room for lack of trust and discouragement. You are all called to sanctity. Trust that as he calls you, the Lord gives his grace. Live in intimacy with Jesus; live in solitude.

If we truly understood what “our life in Christ” truly means, we would always be happy, full of enthusiasm, courage and joy. Life would become even more beautiful, although it is always full of sorrow. But we must have the intentions of Jesus Christ, his viewpoints, his thoughts and his desires. Our good works are inferior, but in Christ they acquire infinite value because we are Christ’s members, and as a result they give God great glory!

For this reason, let us try to have the thoughts, intentions, desires and sentiments of Jesus Christ in order to be able to live in him, and give to God the greatest glory possible.

-Bl. James Alberione, Founder of the Daughters of St. Paul