Lest You Remain

only wonders why there are so many misunderstandings between Christians who are supposed to be united by mutual love, that it is really difficult to single out one person who would not have an adversary or a persecutor. It seems to him that it happens with God’s dispensation so that people have a chance to forgive their neighbor thus meriting for themselves God’s forgiveness. No less the forgiveness of a fault, but more so the love of an enemy, this is a difficult matter. This is why it is so important to penetrate ever deeper the prayer that Christ offered on the Cross for sinners and to ponder it’s every word, which is full of mystery. Jesus urges them and pleads with the Father, and nobody deserves more heed than He does. He asks for a true absolution, begs for forgiveness of an unusual offense, of which no one ever heard before. For whose intentions is He interceding? He pleads for those who nailed Him to the Cross and scorned Him. Jesus forgave those people and obtained for them His Father’s favor. And He did it with great goodness, so that the forgive- ness can be obtained more easily. Because He could not justify the deeds of his per- secutors, He justified their intentions. He referred to their incompetence and mis- understanding of what they were doing. For a Christian, this breadth of nobility is a magnificent example of love for their enemies. 42 Father Stanislaus’s practical approach is noticeable throughout his entire med- itations. Having perceived a call to following Christ in His prayer for His enemies, Fr. Papczy < ski tries also to find it in Christ’s words, with which He put His spirit into the Father’s hands. By giving His soul to the Father, Christ teaches us that we also ought to entrust our spirit to our Savior, namely: “our thoughts, our souls and our conscience.” 43 Thus, the following of Christ is to guide us to a complete union with Him and to entrusting everything to Him—the depth of our conscience, our whole soul, and every thought. This is the consequence of our personally embrac- ing the Crucified Savior and accepting the teaching that He imparts to us through the stages of His passion. While striving to bring men to the suffering Christ, Fr. Stanislaus also wants to establish a heartfelt union with the Sorrowful Mother. The Founder of the Marians tells us to direct our special attention to her and to ponder her behavior during Christ’s suffering. A Christian ought to deeply comprehend the magnitude of pain, which Mary felt upon seeing Christ burdened with the Cross, for she could not utter a sin- gle word. Her silence at her meeting with Jesus is particularly meaningful. Greatly unusual had to be the pain of this Mother, if it prevented her from expressing her feel- ings that she felt at meeting with her Son on the way of the cross. 44 L EST Y OU R EMAIN W ITHOUT W ORK IN THE V INEYARD OF THE L ORD 208 42 Ibid., I, s. 11 n. 43 „Et en Servator noster animam sacratissimam in durissimo crucis lecto exhalans exemplo nos inci- tat suo, ut, qualiter ipse tum aeterno Patri suum commendabat, ita nos assiduo nostrum ipsi spiritum commendemus. Cogitationes, inquam nostras, Animas nostras, Conscientias nostras”. Ibid., VII, s. 78. 44 Christus Patiens , V, 4, s. 45.