What are you reading for Lent?

Prayer and study are an important element of the Catholic life, especially during the season of Lent when we are invited to grow closer to the Lord. Since "ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ" obviously it's important to read the Bible. I usually focus on the four passion narratives during Lent and always read Pierre Barbet's meditation from Doctor at Calvary on Good Friday. You can read it free online. 

The Passion of Christ as Told by Surgeon Pierre Barbet

Every Good Friday my husband and I read Dr. Barbet's description of the passion from A Doctor at Calvary. The meditation is based on his expertise as a surgeon and a student of the Shroud of Turin. It's not too late to enter into this moving description of Jesus' sufferings. You can find it here and you will never look at the crucifix in the same way. 

Lord Jesus, our crucified Savior, have mercy on us. 

Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

The Corporal Passion of Jesus Christ from Doctor at Calvary by Dr. Pierre Barbet

Every Good Friday between 12 noon and 3 p.m. I try to read Pierre Barbet's meditation on the Passion. Barbet was a surgeon who studied the wounds on the Shroud of Turin and wrote a book about his finding, A Doctor at Calvary.

It is a difficult meditation and one that I can never read without tears as he admits he does himself. But if you truly want to walk the way of the cross with Jesus, you can hardly find a more truthful companion than Barbet.

 If you would like to read it, the book is online here. The meditation begins on page 187 in the book, page 213 of the PDF.

May God bless your meditations on this oh-so-strange Good Friday of 2020. And may you receive all the blessings of Our Divine Lord's passion and resurrection.

I also invite you to respond to Archbishop Vigano's call for all the bishops and priests of the world to join in Pope Leo XIII's exorcism prayer against the virus tomorrow, Holy Saturday, at 3:00 p.m. Rome time which is 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Passion of the Christ: Not for the Squeamish

Larry and I watched Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ last night as our Good Friday meditation. During the day I read St. Francis de Sale's Lenten talk for Good Friday. What a world of difference between words on a page and visceral images of the beatings and scourgings!

This is only the second time I've seen the film. I could never bring myself to put it on again remembering how graphic and gruesome it was, how barbaric his torturers were. I'm reminded of the surgeon, Pierre Barbet, who wrote in his book, A Doctor at Calvary, that he can no longer walk the way of the cross because he is so aware of what our salvation cost the Savior:

Our Lord Suffered and Died for Us

Do any of us have any real comprehension of what it means when we say, "The Lord suffered and died for us?" Maybe those who have reflected deeply and often on the passion get a small glimmer. Mel Gibson certainly presented a graphic portrayal of it in his film, The Passion of the Christ. Pierre Barbet, a French surgeon who studied the shroud and wrote a book called Doctor at Calvary, reached the point he could no longer make the stations of the cross because of his understanding. But most of us look at the sanitized crucifixes over our altars and how much do they touch us?


The truth of Christ's suffering is bloody and awful. When I saw the photos of the sculpture by  Juan Manuel Miñarro based on the Shroud of Turin, I remembered all of Barbet's descriptions of Christ's wounds. Barbet offers a meditation on the passion as an appendix to his book. I usually read it on Good Friday between 12:00 and 3:00 to remind me of the great love God has for us -- that He sent His only Son to die a gruesome death, the death of a criminal, to save the REAL criminals -- US. Now Miñarro provides the illustrations to go with the words. They are a graphic reminder of the price Jesus paid for us. "By His stripes we are healed."