Compiled and illustrated by Sister Joseph Marie, C.H.T. (Carmelite Hermit of the Trinity). THE CARMELITE SAINTS in their prayers and reflections reveal a deep communion with the Passion of Jesus. In the light of Christ crucified they beheld the depths of the heart of God and discovered there as well the meaning of the human heart. We cannot reach the thicket of God's riches for which we were created, Saint John of the Cross says, without peering into the thicket of his sufferings. One of the most fruitful practices of Christian piety is known as The Way of the Cross (or Stations of the Cross), a devotion that in all probability dates back to the era of the first Christians. As practiced today, the devotion centers on fourteen chosen representations of the sufferings of Christ on his way to Calvary. Each station or stop is a place for contemplation, a moment to gaze on the sorrowful Christ who remains close to us in the mystery of human suffering. One day while making the Way of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux was seized with a forceful love of God and totally plunged in fire and sweetness. Theologians see this grace as of special importance for the transmission of her Little Way.