Jesus in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and Mary in agony somewhere in Jerusalem, unable to do anything, having to stand helplessly by and let her only son suffer the terrible inner struggle that no one else can suffer for us. Such was St. Francis's feeling, his compassion for Christ, his Savior. He wanted somehow to suffer with Jesus, and so, two years before he died, this prayer rose from the depths of his love for the Crucified Christ: "O Lord, I beg you two graces before I die - to experience personally and in all possible fullness the pains of your bitter passion, and to feel for you the same love that moved you to sacrifice yourself for us."
Little Flowers of St. Francis
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