NEWSLETTER INSERTS - FOR THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS

‘He will provide the way and the means, such as you could never have imagined. Leave it all to Him, let go of yourself, lose yourself on the Cross, and you will find yourself entirely’.

St Catherine of Siena

‘Those who are beginning in the school of fear carry the cross of Christ with patient submission; those who are progressing in hope bear it willingly and readily; but those who are consumed with love embrace it with ardour’.

St Bernard of Clairvaux

‘We are accustomed to thinking of crying out as something disorderly, to be repressed. The Gospel confers an immense value to our cry, reminding us that it can be an invocation, a protest, a desire, a surrender. It can even be the extreme form of prayer, when there are no words left. In that cry, Jesus gave all that he had left: all his love, all his hope’.

Pope Leo XIV, General Audience, 10th September 2025

‘To cry out therefore becomes a spiritual gesture. It is not only the first act of our birth, when we come into the world crying: it is also a way of staying alive. One cries when one suffers, but also when one loves, one calls, one invokes. To cry out is saying who we are, that we do not want to fade away in silence, that we still have something to offer’.

Pope Leo XIV, General Audience, 10th September 2025

‘In the journey of life, there are moments in which keeping something inside can slowly consume us. Jesus teaches us not to be afraid to cry out, as long as it is sincere, humble, addressed to the Father. A cry is never pointless, if it is born of love. And it is never ignored, if it is delivered to God. It is a way to not give in to cynicism, to continue to believe that another world is possible’.

Pope Leo XIV, General Audience, 10th September 2025

‘Let us learn this too from the Lord Jesus: let us learn the cry of hope when the hour of extreme trial comes. Not to hurt, but to entrust ourselves. Not to shout at someone, but to open our hearts. If our cry is genuine, it can be the threshold of a new light, of a new birth. As with Jesus: when everything seemed to be over, in reality salvation was about to begin. If it is made manifest with the trust and freedom of the children of God, the suffering voice of our humanity, united with the voice of Christ, can become a source of hope for us and for those around us’.

Pope Leo XIV, General Audience, 10th September 2025