The Lives of the Saints and Suffering

Bob and Penny wrote about Catholic Saints in the Church of yesterday and today, and shared them in a way that can be understood by all.

They wrote about these Saints in their simple and engaging style, which has placed them among the most popular Catholic writers of the day.
These Catholic Saints suffered rejection by their peers, discrimination because of sex, and how they rose above all of it to 
become movers and shakers of the world.  

There is a common thread, which gave them the strength to go on when others would have backed down - their devotion to the Holy Eucharist and Mother Mary and an unbending commitment to their vows,

most especially that of obedience. 

and acceptance of their Crosses and suffering!

Mother Angelica wrote this about Saints and Suffering.

"If there is any subject that needs to be addressed in  this day and age, it's suffering!  That is precisely why this particular book is so necessary.  Many of us shirk from suffering and run from the Cross.  In the face of suffering, how many of us can muster up the courage and faith to proclaim with Saint Andrew, the Apostle, "O Good Cross, made beautiful by the Body of the Lord: long have I desired you, ardently have I loved you, unceasingly have I sought you out; and now you are ready for my eager soul.  Receive me from among men and restore me to my Master - so that by means of you He may receive me, who by means of You dying redeemed me"?

To the obstinate and irreligious, suffering is a cruel mystery.  But to those sincerely striving for union with God, suffering is a coveted treasure.  To prove this point, we can look to the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Saints.  The Prophets considered suffering to be a call from God to repentance, while Apostles saw it as "a happy privilege" to imitate their Master.  The Saints ardently desired a share in the Passion of Christ and thought of His Cross as a rare and beautiful diamond.  But above all, to discover the true value of suffering, we look to Mary, the Queen of All Saints.  It was her silent "fiat" at the Foot of the Cross that revealed the hidden grandeur of every cross.

If we desire holiness, we-like all the holy ones who have gone before us-must follow in the blood-stained Footprints of Our Savior.  To do this, we must accept our crosses with love.  Let us not be afraid to boldly proclaim: "Jesus, I accept all of the sufferings in my life with the same love that You accepted the pain in Your Life.  I do not understand Your Plan, but I trust Your Love and my love reaches out to You with the hope of being lost in Your embrace!"

Stretched out upon the Cross, Jesus' arms are opened wide to receive us-"And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32).  At that moment, a moment of "great weakness", the act of Redemption was wrought.  At that moment of humiliation and infamy, all men of faith obtained the strength to endure the sufferings that the Father permitted in their lives.

Jesus continually tells us that the cross is a vital part of our lives: "If anyone wants to be a follower of Mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow Me" (Luke 9:23).  But along with this admonition, Our