This book offers 40 days of reflection on the Cross of Christ through the eyes of our Blessed Mother. It is a book of meditation and prayer recommended for the following situations:
- Use this book as a Lenten meditation so that you can gently and continually enter more deeply into the Cross. If you spend Lent carefully and prayerfully meditating on the pages of this book, Good Friday and Easter will take on a much greater significance. There are forty days in Lent, not counting Sundays or the Triduum (Good Friday through Holy Saturday). Counting Sundays and the Triduum, there are actually forty-six days from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday. Therefore, you may begin these daily meditations for Lent any time within the first six days of Lent so as to finish by Easter Sunday. The goal, however, is not to be scrupulous about when you start. The goal is to use these meditations in a way that helps you enter more deeply into the mystery of our Lord’s Cross during Lent.
- This book is also ideal for someone who has been burdened with a heavy cross of their own. Perhaps it is the death of a loved one, a broken family relationship, hardships with work or finances, physical illness or any other heavy burden. By spending 40 days looking at the Cross of Christ, the reader will be invited to unite their own burdens to Christ’s Cross and receive from Him the strength needed to press on with faith and hope.
- Since the Cross of Christ is the central mystery of our faith, this book is a fruitful “retreat” for any time of year for the person who is willing to plunge deeper into their faith. The content of this book is challenging in that it invites the reader to gaze at the Crucifixion day after day for 40 days. This requires commitment, but for those who are willing, the fruit of these meditations will be abundant any time of year.
- Perhaps you are making a weekend retreat and are looking for good material for meditation. Though it may not be helpful to read this book from cover to cover in one weekend, you may feel called to go through several meditations in one day. If that is the case, make sure you pause and reflect when something affects you.
- Instead of 40 days in a row, this book would be a fruitful source of meditation for 40 weeks in a row. It could be used during a weekly holy hour of adoration at church or a set time of private prayer at home.