For St. Paul of the Cross, Lent was a sacred season to return again and again to the Cross, where God’s love is most clearly revealed.
“The Passion of Jesus Christ is the greatest and most overwhelming work of the love of God.”
St. Paul of the Cross
For Paul, Lent was a privileged time to contemplate that love and allow it to change the heart.
The Passion at the Center of Paul’s Life
For St. Paul of the Cross, the Passion of Jesus was the center of his spiritual life. He believed that in Christ crucified we see who God truly is — a God who enters fully into human suffering out of love. Born in 1694 in Italy, Paul was drawn early to prayer and solitude, but it was his deep meditation on the Passion that shaped his vocation and mission.
Paul encouraged others to keep the Cross close, saying, “Let the Passion of Jesus be always in your hearts.” During Lent especially, he believed that reflecting on Christ’s suffering opened the door to real conversion and renewed faith.
Learning to Love at the Cross
Paul taught that meditation on the Passion was not meant to lead to sadness, but to love. The wounds of Christ revealed mercy, patience and compassion. Lent, for Paul, was a school of love where prayer, fasting and sacrifice helped believers grow in generosity and tenderness toward others.
He often reminded those he guided, “Place yourself at the foot of the Cross, and you will learn all virtues.” True devotion to the Passion, he insisted, always showed itself in how we treat others.
Standing With the Crucified Today
One of Paul’s most powerful insights was that Christ continues to suffer in the world. To remember the Passion means standing with the crucified of today — the poor, the lonely, the sick and the forgotten. Lent calls the Church to open its eyes and heart to this reality.
Paul urged believers not to turn away from suffering, but to meet it with love shaped by the Cross. “Compassion,” he wrote, “is born from union with the Crucified.”
The Passionists and the Lenten Journey
Out of Paul’s devotion came the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, known as the Passionists. Founded in 1720, the community exists to keep alive the memory of the Passion through prayer, preaching and service. Lent remains a central season for Passionists, renewing their call to contemplation and mission.
The Passionist sign worn on the habit serves as a visible reminder that the Passion is not only a past event, but a living call to love wherever suffering is present.
From the Cross to New Life
St. Paul of the Cross never separated the Passion from the Resurrection. The Cross always points toward hope. Christ enters suffering not to glorify pain, but to redeem it and bring new life. Paul expressed this trust simply and beautifully: “In the Cross is found the true light.”
Lent, then, is a journey of trust — walking with Christ through suffering toward Easter joy.
A Lenten Invitation
The wisdom of St. Paul of the Cross invites us to live Lent not as a private project, but as a shared journey. By remembering the Passion, we learn to love more deeply, stand more faithfully with those who suffer and trust that God’s love is at work even in the hardest moments.
As Paul reminds us, “The Cross is the way of love.”
Reflection Questions
- Which image or word from the Passion speaks most deeply to your heart this Lent?
- Where do you see Christ suffering in the world around you, and how are you called to respond?
- How might keeping the Passion “alive in your heart” shape your prayer and actions this week?
