St Lidwina of Schiedam

Reading the lives of many woman saints (both mediaeval and modern), one is struck by the way in which suffering is heaped upon suffering – often in the form of distressing physical illness – as the individual becomes progressively conformed with the suffering Christ, giving expression at the root of her being to the vocation (repeatedly referred to in St Paul’s letters) to share in Christ’s passion and death in order that she might be more fully united with him in his resurrection. Read more...