Heroic Call to Save Souls Through Suffering

As we approach the Holy Triduum during these sacred weeks of Lent, we reflect on a season of sacrifice that draws us closer to Christ. For many, however, sacrifice is not confined to Lent but defines their daily lives through profound suffering. When offered with surrender and united to Christ’s Passion, such suffering holds immeasurable value—not only for the individual but for countless souls.

Suffering takes many forms: physical, emotional, and spiritual. As a former Stephen Minister, I witnessed stories of immense pain: parents grieving a child lost to addiction or suicide, families battling a loved one’s cancer, individuals facing incurable conditions like scleroderma or multiple sclerosis, and others enduring financial ruin, abuse, or the death of a spouse. In these moments, platitudes like “this is your cross” or “it could be worse” offer little comfort. True compassion lies in listening deeply and responding with empathy, acknowledging the weight of another’s burden.

The Redemptive Power of Suffering

In 2006, while vacationing with my family in Cabo San Lucas, I was reading St. Faustina’s Diary when I felt called to offer myself as a victim soul for the salvation of others. With both conviction and trepidation, I told Jesus, “Yes, Lord, I will offer myself to save souls.” Shortly thereafter, I began experiencing chronic migraines, now diagnosed as intractable status migrainosus, resistant to medication. Each episode is immense suffering, yet I unite it with Christ’s Passion, praying for my soul, my family, the Church, and all humanity—that no soul may be lost to hell.

I am no one extraordinary. Like many Catholics, including Fr. Fasching and others I know personally, I offer my trials for souls. One friend, facing melanoma surgery this Easter week, does the same. Yet, it surprises me that some Catholics remain unaware of suffering’s redemptive potential—a truth that feels like the Church’s best-kept secret.

Saints Who Suffered for Souls

The call to redemptive suffering echoes through the lives of the saints, who show us how to transform pain into a path to salvation. Below, we explore five modern and historical figures who embraced this mission, presented from the most recent to the earliest.

St. Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938)

St. Faustina, a 20th-century Polish nun, received direct messages from Jesus about suffering’s role in salvation. In her Diary, she records His words:

• “Every conversion of a sinful soul demands sacrifice” (Diary 961).
• In March 1937, seeing Jesus on the cross, she heard, “Help Me, My daughter, to save souls. Join your sufferings to My Passion and offer them to the Heavenly Father for sinners” (Diary 1032).
• In February 1938, Jesus told her, “I have need of your sufferings to rescue souls” (Diary 1612).
  Faustina’s physical ailments and spiritual trials became offerings for sinners, aligning her heart with Christ’s mercy.

St. Gemma Galgani (1878–1903)

St. Gemma, a young Italian mystic, burned with desire to suffer for souls. Seeing Jesus bloodied in a vision, she wrote, “A great desire to suffer something for Him [was born], seeing how much He had suffered for me” (quoted in Mystics of the Church). Jesus affirmed that her pains aided sinners’ conversion. Gemma offered her illnesses and spiritual battles for specific souls, trusting in the redemptive power of her union with Christ’s Passion.

St. Padre Pio (1887–1968)

St. Padre Pio, known for his stigmata, endured physical, spiritual, and vicarious suffering for souls. In 1913, he wrote to his spiritual director, Fr. Benedetto, that God revealed his life would be a “martyrdom” for others. He described his stigmata as a “gift” to share in Christ’s sorrows, telling others God chose him to “cooperate in the salvation of souls.” In 1922, he shared with a bishop that a soul from Purgatory sought his prayers, underscoring his suffering’s role in aiding their release.

St. Veronica Giuliani (1660–1727)

St. Veronica, an Italian nun and stigmatist, lived with a profound sense of solidarity with those journeying to heaven. She offered every suffering for the world’s salvation, writing, “The Eternal Father made [Jesus] see and feel… all the sufferings that his elect would have to endure, his dearest souls, those who would know how to benefit from his Blood and from all his sufferings” (Diary, II, 170). Her physical penances and spiritual trials were acts of love for souls, uniting her to Christ’s redemptive work.

St. Catherine of Siena (1347–1380)

St. Catherine of Siena, a Dominican tertiary and Doctor of the Church, embraced physical penances and spiritual trials to atone for the sins of others, acting as a bridge between God and humanity. In her Dialogue, God told her, “Never cease offering me the incense of fragrant prayers for the salvation of souls, for I want to be merciful to the world” (Dialogue, Ch. 75). Her intense fasting and prayers often targeted the conversion of sinners and the reform of the Bishops and the Church. Catherine also suffered for her father’s soul, reportedly securing his immediate entry into heaven by taking on his purgatorial pains, demonstrating her belief in suffering’s redemptive power.

Embracing Our Call

These saints remind us that suffering, when united with Christ, becomes a powerful instrument of grace. Whether facing migraines, illness, or loss, we are invited to offer our pain for the salvation of souls—our own, our loved ones’, and even strangers’. This is not reserved for the extraordinary but is a call for every Christian.
As we enter the Triduum, let us contemplate Christ’s Passion and our share in it. May we listen to those who suffer, offer our trials with love, and trust in the redemptive promise of the Cross. I invite you to join me in this prayer for the Triduum:

 

Prayer for Redemptive Suffering

O Jesus, who suffered and died for our salvation, we unite our pains to Your sacred Passion. Grant us the grace to offer our sufferings with love, for the conversion of sinners, the relief of souls in Purgatory, and the sanctification of Your Church. As we walk with You through these holy days, may our hearts burn with hope in Your resurrection, trusting that no suffering offered to You is ever wasted. Amen.