Suffering

Silhouette of a father holding his baby son at the beach with the quote: "Only in self-giving does man find himself, and only by opening himself to the other, to others, to children, to the family, only by letting himself be changed through suffering, does he discover the breadth of his humanity."—Pope Benedict XVI, Address on the Occasion of Christmas Greetings to the Roman Curia, December 21, 2012
Self-Giving
Dramatic time lapse of an outstretched hand catching water and creating a splash in the palm with the quote: "It is from tears, freely flowing, that once-jagged rocks are transformed into polished stones. And in this truth, I bow low and, for the trials, the storms, the laboring and loss, give thanks."—Jennifer Hubbard, Magnificat
I Bow Low and Give Thanks
A mother cradles her crying son to comfort him with the quote: For thus says the Lord: carried in her arms, cradled upon her knees, as a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.—cf. Isaiah 66:12-13 (NABRE)
As a Mother Comforts Her Son
A wooden cross outside, on top of a hill overlooking a valley in front of a reddish sky with the quote: The cross, instrument of torture and death, raised aloft as a sign of glory, continues to confound the wisdom of this world. God’s work of salvation stands human expectations on their head: humility is exaltation, wounds are healing, death is life.
A Sign of Glory
Artwork of Jesus in a glass/crystal prism with the quote: "Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Savior; in suffering love becomes crystallized; the greater the suffering, the purer the love."—Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul
In Suffering Love Becomes Crystallized
Photo of a sad woman with teary eyes veiled behind a cloth with the quote: At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.—Hebrews 12:11 (NABRE)
Discipline
Bear through the pain to find peace
Closeup photo of the bare rock in Gethsemane on which Jesus' agony is commemorated, preserved inside The Church of the Agony (also known as the Church of All Nations) in Jerusalem with the quote: "The illusion that we are deprived of everything all at once, this sentiment of complete dispossession, is the divine sign that, to the contrary, everything is just beginning."— Georges Bernanos, from Saint Dominic
Everything is Just Beginning
Photo of a maroon cross overlooking a green horizon and sky among foliage at Egan Camp and Retreat Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma with the quote: "You are having to bear a large, weighty cross. But what a great happiness for you! Have confidence. For if God, who is all goodness, continues to make you suffer he will not test you more than you can bear. The cross is a sure sign that he loves you."—Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, God Alone: The Collected Writings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort
A Sure Sign
Photo of a man praying in a church during Eucharistic Adoration with a quote from Saint Faustina Kowalska.
Two Things
Photo of a woman with an orange hijab walking away with a quote from Antonietta Meo.
Pain is Like Fabric