“Were anyone to ask me how a sad soul may be delivered from interior suffering, I would answer by an example. There was a servant of God, a friend of the Eternal Wisdom, who, in the beginning of his conversion, was subject to deep fits of melancholy; not only did he lose all relish for reading and prayer, but he found it impossible to work. One day, as he sat in his chamber, abandoned to dejection, he heard an interior voice, which said to him: ‘
Why remain thus, sad and doing nothing? Why be consumed and wasted in the anguish of melancholy? Take courage, arise, do violence to thyself, meditate on My Passion and cruel sufferings, and thou wilt overcome thy grief.’
The servant of God obeyed; meditation on the Passion of Jesus Christ banished his sadness, and by continuing in this holy exercise, he cured his soul, and was nevermore subject to melancholy.” – Bl. Henry Suso
“I am not a little pleased with those who honour the image of My crucifixion very devoutly… “
– Jesus to St. Gertrude
(In other words, Jesus is very pleased with this pious practice! According to St. Alphonsus, all the saints had a great devotion to Jesus Crucified, and they meditated frequently on His Passion.)
“The Cross is the way to Paradise, but only when it is borne willingly.”
– St. Paul of the Cross
“Life is a struggle, and the best remedy for it is to do everything for the love of God, and to endure everything for the love of Jesus.”
– Fr. Paul of Moll
“Suffering + Love = Joy”
-St. Maximilian Kolbe
Littlest Souls 