Amen, I say to thee: if thou meditate with attention and devotion upon my passion thou shalt find therein in abundance all that is useful and necessary for thee.
Open therefore thy heart to me, and permit me, thy crucified Saviour, to enter therein, and soon thou shalt be wonderfully instructed.
Fix the eyes of thy heart upon my cross and soon thou shalt be drawn to it.
See and understand what is the breadth, the length, the height and the depth of my supereminent charity towards thee.
I could indeed have freed thee by a word, by a movement of the lips; but, to manifest the intensity of my desire, I have willed to save thee by my works.
I have willed to lay down my life for thee; that thou mightst know that greater love than my love for thee there is none.
I have willed to stand before thee wounded for thine iniquities, that thou mightst understand how great is the sorrow that thy sins engender in the depths of my heart.
Lastly, I have willed to suffer for thee, O priest, to leave thee an example that thou mightst follow in my footsteps.
Those whom my Fathr has foreseen to be conformable to the image of his Son, the same he has predestined.
Behold me in my agony praying the longer, and learn to persevere in prayer despite weariness or fatigue.
Behold me receiving that most bitter chalice from the hand of my Father, and learn to endure patiently and submissively labors, contradictions and all the hardships of the sacred ministry.

(The Epitome of the Priestly Life)