Carmelite Quotes<p><strong>Quote of the day, 4 April: Père Jacques de Jésus</strong></p><p>There are two ways of dealing with suffering. The first way is to eliminate its causes by taking every precaution against it. When it does come, we try to whisk it away or suppress it by all the means at our disposal. However, there is a second way to deal with suffering: we can “baptize” it.</p><p>There is not a single human being who does not experience suffering in one form or another. Sooner or later, even those who now seem to go through life singing, with the assurance of health and strength, are going to have their share of bitterness, grief, and sadness.</p><p>To be sure, most people want to destroy misery. They want to eliminate it by avoiding it, strangling it, brushing it aside, or dismissing it. They do not want to tolerate it…. Christ knew that this way of dealing with suffering is simply a kind of stopgap measure, and does not strike the root of the evil. It can work for only a few hours or days or months. </p><p>Christ has taught us to overtake suffering at its source. There, where it springs up, we can seize and transform it; there, we can change its nature and make it a source of happiness. Since Christ chose suffering for himself, suffering is not a curse or a plague to be avoided at any price. Christ welcomed the cross and even said, <em>He who wishes to come after me must take up his cross every day and follow in my footsteps</em> (Mt 16:24).</p><p><strong>Servant of God Père Jacques de Jésus, O.C.D.</strong></p><p><em>Conference 10, “The Cross: To baptize suffering and happiness”<br>Friday evening, 10 September 1943</em></p><p><strong>Note:</strong> Father Didier-Marie Golay, o.c.d. comments on this passage from Père Jacques: <strong>“Let’s be clear: in the face of suffering, silence is essential. Only those who suffer can try to make sense of what they are going through, no matter how poor or modest that attempt may be. But we must dare to speak up, to give meaning to what seems senseless. Let’s take the time to welcome these words full of fire, to read and reread them so that they may open within us a path of life and true happiness in union with Christ Jesus, crucified and risen”</strong> (2024 Carmelite Online Lenten Retreat).</p> <p>Jacques, P 2005, <em>Listen to the silence: A retreat with Père Jacques</em>, translated from the French and edited by Murphy F, <a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.icspublications.org/products/listen-to-the-silence-a-retreat-with-pere-jacques" target="_blank">ICS Publications</a>, Washington DC.</p><p><strong>Featured image:</strong> Photograph by Jaclyn Moy. A <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/man-in-gray-washed-denim-jacket-m0r3EmnnMvg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">man in a gray washed denim jacket</a> sits, visibly anxious, in a Los Angeles coffee shop. Image credit: Jaclyn Moy / Unsplash (<a href="https://unsplash.com/license" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Some rights reserved</a>)</p> <p><strong>💠 Appreciate these quotes from the Carmelites?</strong><br><strong>Subscribe for more Carmelite wisdom delivered straight to your inbox.</strong></p><p>💠 <strong>Reflection question:</strong><br><em>What would it mean to ‘baptize’ your suffering in union with Christ?</em><br>Share your thoughts in the comments.</p><p></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://carmelitequotes.blog/tag/jesus-christ/" target="_blank">#JesusChrist</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://carmelitequotes.blog/tag/lucien-bunel/" target="_blank">#LucienBunel</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://carmelitequotes.blog/tag/misery/" target="_blank">#misery</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://carmelitequotes.blog/tag/pere-jacques-de-jesus/" target="_blank">#PèreJacquesDeJésus</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://carmelitequotes.blog/tag/spirituality/" target="_blank">#spirituality</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://carmelitequotes.blog/tag/suffering/" target="_blank">#suffering</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://carmelitequotes.blog/tag/theology/" target="_blank">#theology</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://carmelitequotes.blog/tag/transformation/" target="_blank">#transformation</a></p>