My faithful friends, with faithful hearts,
I beg you, do not from your Lord depart!
We all have our challenges and I have mine too –
And from my hospital bed, I talk now to you.
Take courage, take stock of your souls –
Perform your small duties, humbly conform to your roles.
The Lord has not forgotten you or me –
He’s not forgotten the world or even one country.
What is pain to the flesh is medicine to soul –
This has been our Christs teaching both ancient and old.
Be like sweet Mary who didn’t even have a midwife,
But gave to the Lord everything, the totality of her life.
Be like Saint Jude though they hacked him to bits,
Still he would not renounce his Lord and call it quits.
Be like Saint Sebastian though covered in arrows,
Refusing to leave the straight and the narrow.
It is we who are forgetful, not our Lord –
It is we who are insensitive, not our Christ –
It is we who are negligent, not our Jesus –
For He gave up for us His very life.
The reason I can suffer such pains of illness and disease,
Is not any merit of my own.
I join my suffering to my Lord, then I do not suffer alone.
I give all this pain for reparation of sins,
And beg the Lords pardon of the blasphemer –
I give to join my sadness to that of my Redeemer.
To suffer with Him by His side,
I am part of the Church, part of the bride –
Because just as I join Him in my injuries
I may then join Him in His victories.
So stay faithful, stay true to love,
This is the Highest virtue from God above.
I love you and miss you and I have no fear –
I will see you again, either here or up there
