Spiritual Corner - The Passion of Christ

In this Holy Week, let us contemplate the Passion of Christ through the vision of the Dominican saint, St. Catharina dei Ricci.

On September 1540, St. Catharina dei Ricci began to experience the passion of the Son of God. From 6pm Thursday evening, she entered a state of ecstasy for the whole night, until 10pm on Friday, as desired and in accordance with the will of God.

With Jesus, St. Catharina dei Ricci bade farewell to the Virgin Mary. She followed Jesus from Bethany to the place where their supper was prepared. There, she saw how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and instituted the Eucharist. She prayed with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, witnessed how Judas betrayed Him and the arrest of Jesus. She also saw Jesus at the trial in front of the High Priest and Roman officials, being insulted, mocked and humiliated. She watched our Lord being scourged, wearing the crown of thorns, carrying the cross and finally being nailed on the cross. She witnessed Jesus hanging on the cross for three hours, struggling and fighting against death until He was finally being taken down from the cross.

Not only did St. Catharina dei Ricci witness all these, she also suffered with our Lord together. The Lord suffered once, but mysteriously, she experienced the Good Friday Passion every Thursday through Friday.

According to St. Catharina dei Ricci; emotionally, she did not want to endure such extreme penalty. Hence, sometimes during her state of ecstasy, it could be heard that she begged Jesus to relieve her cross. But rationally, one could also hear her infinite gratitude to God for the fathomless love bestowed on her, the unworthy disciple. She once declared, there is really no way to express how much our Lord had suffered for us!

On April 14, 1542, in the Octave of Easter, the Lord’s Stigmata were deeply imprinted on St. Catharina dei Ricci, which never faded. She often said, the wound in her side hurt so much that she was dying from it, although she fully understood that it would not kill her. The wounds on her hands and feet were often clearly visible. All those who saw them would involuntarily say that she seemed to have just been taken down from the cross.

The more we are inflicted with the sufferings of Christ, the more graces and consolations we are to receive through Christ!

Yours,
Sr. Magdalena Yang
<An Excerpt from The Daily Recitations II of Dominican St. Catharina dei Ricci>