How to Look at the Cross of Jesus

·29 min·2 clips

A small 15th-century painting in Toronto shows St. Gregory the Great having a vision of Christ's Passion during Mass.

The episode begins with Fr. Eric Nicolai describing a small 15th-century oil painting by Simon Marmion in the Art Gallery of Ontario. It depicts St. Gregory the Great having a vision of Christ's Passion during Mass, with all the instruments of the Passion arranged around Him. This painting serves as a devotional piece meant to help viewers meditate on the Cross. Fr. Nicolai explains that such artworks were popular in the Middle Ages to integrate the truth of the Passion into daily life. He connects this to the idea that the Mass is the unbloody renewal of Christ's Passion. The discussion shifts to the need for a restoration of the Cross's meaning in interior life, linking it to love and sanctity. Fr. Nicolai warns that self-denial without love can lead to bitterness. He references biblical passages, such as Christ's call to deny oneself and take up the cross daily. Pope John Paul II's encyclical 'Salvifici Doloris' is cited, framing suffering as a vocation and call to co-redemption. A personal story about Father Gregory Haddock illustrates finding peace and joy in physical weakness. St. Paul's words about rejoicing in suffering are mentioned to highlight the value of offering hardships. Fr. Nicolai encourages listeners to ask if daily mortifications are worthwhile, like keeping quiet or forgoing dessert. He recalls St. Josemaría Escrivá carrying a crucifix and holding it out in Madrid after the civil war. The episode concludes by emphasizing that mortification should be an act of love, not toughness, and frames the Cross as the royal highway to God.

As heard by us

A Simon Marmion painting opens a Catholic meditation on repentance, suffering, and the cross carried with Christ.

In Your Presence considers how a believer can look at the cross without making suffering feel like a tidy theory. It begins with a small 15th-century Simon Marmion panel at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, where St.

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If the cross feels abstract, you can approach it through a small 15th-century painting and the pressure of ordinary suffering.

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