Katarzyna (Catherine) Szymon – A stigmatic from Poland

"If there is anyone who wants to follow Me, let them renounce themselves,

let them bear their Cross every day and let them follow Me”

Modern, civilized man who has come to live in the era of amazingly fast transformations of civilization and is very often unable to perceive the perspectives of eternity, preoccupied with the chores of everyday life, he’ll live, to be some sixty or seventy years, and not until on his deathbed, will he ask himself with anxiety at heart: what will become of me next? Does God truly exist, and what about Trial by Ordeal?

Following the death of a close relative such as wife, husband, daughter, son, sister or brother, our heart is filled with sadness and sorrow.

Blessed Virgin Mary suffered most of all people, when the body of Her beloved Son and God Jesus Christ was removed from the Holy Cross. The sight of his Most Holy Countenance streaming with blood, and of pierced hands, feet and side penetrated Her Virgin Heart as though it had been a sword.

The detailed accounts of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ are contained in the four canonical Gospels, written almost two thousand years ago, these are received with faith and love but not by everyone. Many people just as Thomas the Believer hold an opinion "seeing is believing". Let us try to see Christ’s sufferings with the eyes of contemporary Thomas the Believer, for whom the world of computers, videos, satellite TV programs and other inventions of the second half of 20th century is frequently the only recognizable reality Whereas the Bible accounts of Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection are barely unconfirmed tales and legends.

According to statistics, every second two, every minute a hundred, every hour, as long as this film takes, over six thousand people die on earth.

No matter whether they believed in God and lived according to His commandments, or were atheists, or declared to be believing Christians, but were not practising Catholics, they all turned out to be equal in the face of death. They all had to face Ordeal before Christ. The Eternal Bliss in Heaven, absolving suffering in Purgatory, or the eternal damnation in Hell are now for them their reality and present.

We, too, still walking the paths of our earth’s pilgrimage, will unavoidably sooner or later face the Divine Justice to account for our deeds, words, thoughts and negligence. Death is only the bridge joining earthly life with eternity. On the other end of the bridge our Divine Lord – Jesus Christ is awaiting each one of us.

“Come to Me all who work and bend under the weight of your burden, I will strengthen you, take My Harness and learn from Me, to be silent and of humble heart, and you will find rest for your souls, as My Harness is sweet, and my Burden is light”.