Lord Jesus, here I stand before your Glorious Cross.

May its contemplation convert me.

May your Word come true for me:

"Raised from the earth, I will draw all men to myself."

Near your Cross stood Mary.

You said to her: "Woman, behold your son."

She doesn't shut herself up in her immense pain.

She immediately acquiesces and collaborates freely with you in the salvation of the world.

She offers up the suffering of her heart, "pierced by a sword."

and becomes the mother of all men.

Thank you for saying "Behold your mother" to us at this hour!

You die in the greatest suffering.

You are the Innocent, the victim of absolute violence.

Your words take on extraordinary force:

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"

Not the slightest bad feeling in you in the face of the worst injustice!

Your infinite mercy even finds excuses for your tormentors.

Thank you for your immeasurable forgiveness!

You are in terrible distress:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

You feel an indescribable inner wrench:

without ceasing to be perfectly one with your Father,

you bear the sin of the world, the sin that separates you from God!

Thank you for delivering us from evil by taking it upon yourself, whatever the cost!

Because you consent to the most extreme solitude

and even seem abandoned by God,

you can promise the good thief the happiness of Communion:

"Today you will be with me in Paradise!"

What an amazing exchange!

Thank you for opening up the kingdom of love to those who were irremediably excluded from it!

It is an unspeakable joy for you

to bring the repentant evildoer into your light.

Yet you cry out, "I thirst!"

for you came for all men.

You don't want a single one to be lost.

So your Heart begs for a loving response from each of them.

Thank you for your ardent desire for the salvation of all!

The mission entrusted to you by the Father has been fulfilled.

You came from Him and are returning to Him.

"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!"

Nothing and no one can shake your union with the Father,

neither the sin of the multitude that crushes you, nor the Enemy who persists.

Thank you for your unconditional filial surrender!

Holy Spirit, you love your people "to the end".

You surrender your life and communicate it abundantly, giving us rebirth.

We have nothing more to wait for: "All is accomplished."

It's by speaking these words that you "restore the spirit."

Thank you for showering us with the breath of the Spirit of Life!

Even in death, you are still at work.

A soldier opens your Heart with a spear:

"Immediately, blood and water came out."

Sin pierces your Heart, and you respond with a surfeit of love:

the blood of the Eucharist and the water of Baptism.

Thank you for responding to the scandal of evil with the sacraments!

Here is your omnipotence:

"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."

And your crucifixion, the gravest sin ever committed by man,

becomes the source of the greatest blessing they have ever received:

salvation for the multitude!

Thank you for overcoming evil through the perfection of your merciful love!

From now on, "everything contributes to the good of those who love God,"

even the suffering of the men I entrust to you.

With the centurion who stood before the Cross, I say to you:

"You are truly the Son of God!"

Thank you for your Cross, which is indeed the Glorious Cross!

Amen