Third Day
Our Lord desires that we should think of His Passion, in order that we may imitate Him in our own sufferings: for we have many things to endure in this life on account of the original fault of our first parents. You will learn to die with Christ, and your sympathetic heart will avoid sin. By the frequent thought of the Passion the Lord will have you love the sacrifice of the Mass, where in an unbloody manner the Passion of Our Lord is repeated, and we begin to appreciate it the more the better we understand their relation to each other. The Lord will have you show sympathy for Him in His sufferings; for you must remember that it was for you that He suffered, that you caused His suffering by your sins. Now, if you have inflicted these punishments on the Lord, would it not be an act of horrible ingratitude if you were not to show your sympathy for Christ? Another effect of the contemplation of the Passion will be that you shall be stirred up to do great things for Christ. Your time of labor will be sanctified, and your life will be given to the service of Jesus.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.