Did Christ Die by Crucifixion?
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As we near Easter with its brightly colored eggs, candy, and cute pictures of bunnies and chicks, don't forget the real reason for the holiday. As St. Josemaria Escriva says, “The tragedy of the passion brings to fulfillment our own life and the whole of human history. We can’t let Holy Week be just a kind of commemoration. It means contemplating the mystery of Jesus Christ as something which continues to work in our souls.”
As we enter into holy week, here are some words of wisdom from holy men and women to guide us to that Easter joy!
“When we contemplate the sufferings of Jesus, He grants us, according to the measure of our faith, the grace to practice the virtues He revealed during those sacred hours.” – St. Angela Merici
“Humility, obedience, meekness, and love are the virtues that shine through the Cross and the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. O my Jesus, help me imitate you!” – St. Anthony Mary Claret
“When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now.” – St. Teresa of Calcutta
“What does Jesus Christ do in the Eucharist? It is God, who, as our savior, offers himself each day for us to his Father’s justice. If you are in difficulties and sorrows, he will comfort and relieve you. If you are sick, he will either cure you or give you strength to suffer so as to merit Heaven. If the devil, the world, and the flesh are making war on you, he will give you the weapons with which to fight, to resist, and to win victory. If you are poor, he will enrich you with all sorts of riches for time and eternity. Let us open the door to his sacred and adorable Heart and be wrapped about for an instant by the flames of his love, and we shall see what a God who loves us can do. O my God, who shall be able to comprehend?” – St. John Vianney
"Do you realize that Jesus is there in the Tabernacle expressly for you – for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart." – St. Therese’ of Lisieux
"The washing of the feet and the sacrament of the Eucharist: two expressions of one and the same mystery of love entrusted to the disciples, so that, Jesus says, “as I have done… so also must you do” (Jn 13: 15)." – St. John Paul II
“Behold, Jesus Christ crucified, who is the only foundation of our hope; He is our mediator and advocate; the victim and sacrifice for our sins. He is goodness and patience itself; His mercy is moved by the tears of sinners, and he never refuses pardon and grace to those who ask it with a truly contrite and humbled heart.” – St. Charles Borromeo
"What Our Lord did say on the cross was to forgive. Forgive your Pilates, who are too weak to defend your justice. Forgive your Herods, who are too sensual to perceive your spirituality. Forgive your Judases, who think worth is to be measured in terms of silver." – Ven. Fulton J. Sheen
“In the passion of our blessed Savior, six things chiefly are to be meditated upon. First, the bitterness of his sorrow, that we may be compassionate with him. Secondly, the greatness of our sins, which were the cause of his torments, that we may abhor them. Thirdly, the greatness of the benefit, that we may be grateful for it. Fourthly, the excellency of the divine charity and bounty therein manifested, that we may love him more fervently. Fifthly, the convenience of the mystery, that we may be drawn to admiration of it. Lastly, the multiplicity of virtues of our blessed Savior which did shine in this stupendous mystery, that we may partly imitate and partly admire them.” –Saint Peter of Alcantara
“Why did you suffer for me, dear Jesus? For love! The nails…the crown…the cross…all for the love of me!” –St. Gemma Galgani
“Even on the Cross, He did not hide himself from sight; rather, He made all creation witness to the presence of its maker. Then, having once left it be seen that is was truly dead, He did not allow that temple of his body to linger long, but forthwith on third day raised it up, impassible and incorrupt, the pledge and token of his victory.” – St. Athanasius of Alexandria
“O souls! Seek a refuge, like pure doves, in the shadow of the crucifix. There, mourn the Passion of your divine Spouse, and drawing from your hearts flames of love and rivers of tears, make of them a precious balm with which to anoint the wounds of your Saviour.” — St. Paul of the Cross
“Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great stillness because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and has raised up all who have slept since the world began… ” I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead.” — (Liturgy of the Hours, Holy Saturday)
"Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat. Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity. But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the Cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory." – Ven. Fulton J. Sheen
"In the hours of this day, a great silence overtakes the Church. Our silence commemorates that God in Christ descended to where no human word is uttered or heard— the silence of the grave. Yet even in that silence, God is speaking." — Fr. Steve Grunow
"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled." — Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday
“…He slept, so that we might be awakened, He died, so that we might live.” — St Augustine
“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” — St. Francis of Assisi
“At the Easter Vigil, the journey along the paths of sacred Scripture begins with the account of creation. This is the liturgy’s way of telling us that the creation story is itself a prophecy. It is not information about the external processes by which the cosmos and man himself came into being. The Fathers of the Church were well aware of this. They did not interpret the story as an account of the process of the origins of things, but rather as a pointer towards the essential, towards the true beginning and end of our being.”— Pope Benedict XVI
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is Risen and you are overthrown. Christ is Risen and the demons are fallen. Christ is Risen and the Angels rejoice. Christ is Risen and Life reigns. Christ is Risen and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being Risen from the dead is become the First Fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.” — St John Chrysostom
“At Easter, we rejoice because Christ did not remain in the tomb, his body did not see corruption; he belongs to the world of the living, not to the world of the dead; we rejoice because he is the Alpha and also the Omega, as we proclaim in the rite of the Paschal Candle; he lives not only yesterday, but today and for eternity (cf. Heb 13:8).” — Pope Benedict XVI
“Why should we today sing Alleluia, Praise the Lord? Because this day we are fed, freed, assured of the truth, and given promises of being endowed, in our resurrection, with the gifts of clarity, agility, brightness, and impassibility, which Christ showed in his resurrection.” — St. Vincent Ferrer
"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song." - Pope John Paul II
“All I want to know is Christ and the power flowing from His Resurrection!” — St. Francis of Assisi
"Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult, let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King’s triumph! Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness. Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lightning of his glory, let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples…" — Excerpt from The Exsultet
Jessica Dickenson is a marketing professional and freelance writer from Milwaukee, WI. Her work appears in the 2023 anthology Along the Shore: Strategies for Living with Grief. Beyond her university marketing role, she runs a small business and contributes as an ARC reviewer and interviewer of emerging authors. Jessica's insights, reviews, and musings are shared on her blog at https://jessicadickenson.wordpress.com/
