Suffering is a gift. There I said it. Actually, the saints said it.
Often we think of suffering as something we must endure in order to be sanctified or a test of our faith. These can both be true but in either case God has allowed the suffering so that it can bring us closer to Him. That, is truly a gift.
In her Diary, St. Faustina says:
“Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Savior; in suffering love becomes crystalized; the greater the suffering, the purer the love” (Diary, 57)
Numerous saints and those on the path to sainthood have shown the salvific and sanctifying power of suffering. There are numerous examples of holy men and women who suffered greatly and yet not only remained loving, generous, joyful but became those things moreso.
Chiara: God Only Takes Away to Give Even More
After losing her first two children shortly after birth, Chiara Corbella Petrillo was diagnosed with cancer during her third pregnancy. She delayed treatment until her son was born but only lived a little over a year more. On the occasion of their son’s first birthday, Chiara and her husband wrote him a letter. Knowing that the cancer would soon take her life, Chiara wrote:
“God never takes anything away. And if He takes away, it is because He wants to give you so much more….God has taken from us only in order to give us a heart that is bigger and more open to welcome eternity already in this life.”
Chiara speaks directly to St. Faustina’s point, that because of suffering her love became “crystalized”. She acknowledged that her heart had grown because of the suffering she had gone through in losing her children and later in fighting a losing battle with cancer. Chiara, undoubtedly lost much but, with faith, knew that much more was being given to her.
St. John Paul II: Suffering Draws us Closer to God
Less than a hundred years later, St. John Paul II wrote on suffering. He said:
Down through the centuries and generations it has been seen that in suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws man interiorly close to Christ.” — Salvifici Doloris, Section 26
Pope St. John Paul II was no stranger to suffering. Not only had he lost his entire family by a young age, but he watched the Nazi occupation of his country and was aware of the horrors that occurred under both Nazism and Communism there during his life.
This apostolic letter was published less than 3 years after a gunman attempted to assassinate him in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope survived, though only by a narrow margin he acreditted to Mary’s intercession. Later, he would be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease with which he would suffer for the rest of his life. Through this, he continued to shepherd the Church as one of the most beloved modern popes. The joy and serenity that people encountered in John Paul II came from that interior closeness to Christ not in spite of, but because of, his suffering.
St. Josemaria: Allowing God to Polish Us
Another sufferer of political difficulties and his own health issues, St. Josemaria Escriva saw value in suffering. He said:
Don’t complain if you suffer. It is the prized and valued stone that is polished. Does it hurt? Allow yourself to be cut, gratefully, because God has taken you in his hands as if you were a diamond. An ordinary pebble is not worked on like that.” – St. Josemaría Escrivá
In St. Josemaria’s view, suffering indicates God’s special preference for humanity. Only humans, in all of creation, can suffer. We are not pebbles but precious stones that the Divine cuts and polishes. Through suffering we become more and more the diamonds God desire us to be. We need only allow Him to work on us.
St. Teresa: Eternal Gains
St. Teresa of Avila also knew the value of suffering. She wrote:
“Suffering is a great favor. Remember that everything soon comes to an end… and take courage. Think of how our gain is eternal.”
Her attempts to reform the Carmelites were often uphill battles. Yet, she remained hopeful knowing that her earthly critics and adversaries could not compete with the Lord and the heavenly reward she aimed for. St. Teresa’s guiding light, the source of her courage was he God who awaited her in eternity.
St. Therese: The Courage to Suffer
Years later, St. Teresa’s spiritual descendant in the Carmelites, a young girl named Therese Martin would also find courage in the face of sufferings.
“God gives me courage in proportion to my sufferings. I feel at this moment I couldn’t suffer any more, but I’m not afraid since if they increase, He will increase my courage at the same time.” St. Therese
St. Therese and her family are often presented as a holy model of a serene home life. Yet, Therese’s life certainly involved suffering. When she was a child, her mother died of breast cancer. Her older sister took on a mothering role with Therese until she also left the family home to join the Carmel. Later, Therese’s father suffered strokes and had to stay in a psychiatric hospital. Therese’s last visit with him at the convent was two years before he passed. Her parents lost four children, Therese’s siblings, before the Saint was even born. Therese herself nearly died as a child as well before she received a miraculous vision of Mary that cured her. At just 24, less then 10 years after entering the Carmelite convent in Lisieux, Therese died from tuberculosis. Yet, because of what she was asked to suffer, God also provided her the courage to endure it well.
Jesus, of course, suffered immensely as a gift for us. Our suffering too is a gift for ourselves and for those we offer our sufferings for. Not only is Jesus’ suffering redemptive for all humanity but our suffering, united to his, can be redemptive. As St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans “We know that all things work for good for those who love God” and yes, even, if not especially suffering.