April 4

By Thy cross and passion, good Lord, deliver me.

TO many this seems a hard saying: Deny thyself, take up thy Cross and follow Jesus. . . . This sign, the sign of the Cross, will be in heaven when the Lord shall come to judgment. Then all the servants of the Cross, who in their lifetime have made themselves like to the Crucified, will draw near with great confidence to Christ, the Judge. Why, then, fearest thou to take up thy Cross, through which is the way to the kingdom?

The Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection from enemies.

In the Cross is infusion of sweetness from above; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit. . . .

There is no health of the soul, nor hope of eternal life, but in the Cross.

The Imitation of Christ

THE CROSS

The precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

ALL in the April evening April airs were abroad; The sheep with their little lambs Passed by me on the road

The sheep with their little lambs Passed by me on the road: All in an April evening I thought on the Lamb of God.

The lambs were weary, and crying With a weak human cry; I thought on the Lamb of God Going meekly to die.

Up in the blue, blue mountains Dewy pastures are sweet; Rest for the little bodies, Rest for the little feet.

But for the Lamb of God Up on the hilltop green, Only a cross of shame Two stark crosses between.

All in the April evening April airs were abroad I saw the sheep with their lambs And thought on the Lamb of God.