Figure of Christ Crucified, Sant’Angelo Retreat, Vetralla
(Photograph © John Pole)
“I know that I also held colloquies on the sorrowful Passion of my beloved Jesus. When I speak to Him of His sufferings, for example, I say: ‘Ah, my Supreme Good. What were the sentiments of your Sacred Heart when you were scourged? My beloved Spouse, how greatly did the sight of my grievous sins and my ingratitude afflict You! Oh, my only Love, why do I not die for You? Why am I not overwhelmed with sorrow? And then I feel that sometimes my spirit can say no more but remains thus in God with His sufferings infused into the soul- and sometimes it seems as if my heart would break.”
Diary of Saint Paul of the Cross
Laus Crucis 