Deep down in the soul of everyone who determinedly follows Christ, there is peace which the world is as powerless

to steal as it is to give. Union with Christ cannot be accomplished except through our sufferings - intellectual, physical and moral. These, Jesus permits to cleanse our hearts and bring us to perfect purity of love. And, did not Mary, His own beloved Mother, and even He Himself have to undergo suffering? In the process of His Passion, Jesus was forsaken by His own Apostles, denied vehemently by St. Peter, betrayed by Judas and abandoned by His Heavenly Father as He hung upon the Cross. We, too, must abandon ourselves to God's Will. "Love Him and keep Him for thy Friend! When all go away, He will not leave thee, nor suffer thee to perish in the end."