Chapter Ten The Virtue of Sorrow or Compassion, 10th among the virtues mentioned in the Gospel, which you should possess and cultivate in three ways, in imitation of the Virgin. The Virgin Mary was always most sorrowful and was always full of compassion for the death of her Son. In order to please God, from compassion of her Son, she thought, spoke, and acted in the following ways: She often pondered the words of Simeon: “ ... and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword...” [cf. Lk 2:35]. She stood near the Cross of her dying Son [cf. Jn 19:25], often contemplated His wounds, and kept visiting the stations of the Passion. According to the example and in imitation of the Virgin, devoted souls, in order to please Christ, should always carry in their hearts a packet of myrrh. This 10th virtue, of the Cross, is the last and final, because in it, while we live in this valley of sorrows, consists the perfection of our souls. In order to possess this grace of the Cross, or of compassion for the Crucified and for His Virgin Mother [cf. Eph 4:24], the members should consider that this grace is not found in 65
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