Apostolate of the Cross

Would you like to learn how to take up your daily cross with love, serenity, and strength, and drink the cup of the Lord?

Transformation into Christ is not exclusively part of ministerial priesthood but belongs to the universal priesthood of the baptized.
"An encounter with the Lord brings about a profound transformation in all who do not close themselves off from him. The first impulse coming from this transformation is to communicate to others the richness discovered in the experience of the encounter. This does not mean simply teaching what we have come to know but also, like the Samaritan woman, enabling others to encounter Jesus personally: "mission" (Jn 4:29).
"They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed that day with him" (Jn 1:38-39).  This "staying" is not limited to the day of one's call, but rather extends to the whole of life".  (Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America, 68).
To follow is to respond to the invitation of  Jesus: "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me". This leads us to follow Christ in the mystery of His Victimal Priesthood, for which he offers himself to the Father for the salvation of all. It implies living with and like Jesus, adopting his ideals, taking on his mission and his destiny, even being transformed in him.

Nature, origins, and symbol of the Apostolate of the Cross (Statutes 1-6).

1.  The Apostolate of the Cross is a Catholic association of Christians who, moved by the Holy Spirit, follow Jesus Christ Priest and Victim, Contemplative and Compassionate, and in communion with Jesus collaborate with his salvific mission.
2.  The Apostolate of the Cross is open to all of the People of God: laypersons, religious, and ordained ministers.
3. The Apostolate of the Cross is a work inspired by God to Blessed Concepcion Cabrera. It was founded on May 3, 1895, by Archbishop Ramón Ibarra y González with the collaboration and support of Father Alberto Mir, SJ.  Pope Leo XIII approved the Work on May 25, 1898. On July 9, 1926, Pope Pius XI entrusted the care and direction of the Work to the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. At the time the enthusiastic driving force behind the Apostleship of the Cross was Venerable Felix of Jesus Rougier, Superior General of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit.
4. The Apostolate of the Cross was the first of the five Works founded. The other four Works are: the Sisters of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Covenant of Love with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Fraternity of Christ the Priest, and the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit.
5. The Apostolate of the Cross and the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit are two distinct works united by a common spirituality, mission, and history. Both works are entrusted with the responsible governance and guidance of the Apostolate of the Cross.
6.  Our symbol is the Cross of the Apostolate, and the intercessory cry of Blessed Concepcion Cabrera, Jesus, Savior of all people, save them! embodies our life long mission.

The Apostolate of the Cross, in the Church, is a group of Christians who, moved by the Holy Spirit, follow Jesus Christ Priest and Victim, Contemplative and Compassionate, and in communion with Jesus collaborate with his salvific mission to:

• Discover in their lives the salvific meaning of suffering accepted in love.
• Offer to the Father, through the hands of Mary, Christ, Priest and Victim.
• Offer the daily sacrifices and crosses of their lives with Christ, Priest and Victim, for the salvation of the world and the priests.
• Work efficiently to communicate to others the Spirituality of the Cross through their apostolic action. 

And thus give glory to the Heavenly Father, console the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and extend the Kingdom of the Holy Spirit.

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They offer themselves with Jesus, Priest and Victim in their daily cross, that is, in their work and rest, in their sorrows and joys. United with Jesus, and through the hands of Mary, they make of their lives a priestly offering, so the Holy Spirit reigns for the glory of the Father. Imploring graces for the world, the Church, and especially for priests.
The Chain of Love is the characteristic way of living the baptismal priesthood for those who live the Spirituality of the Cross.

By divine will, we have been called to participate through Baptism in the common priesthood of the faithful, following Christ, Priest, and Victim, in his sacrifice for love, emphasizing his fidelity to the Father and his salvific solidarity with his brothers and sisters. With Mary, we offer him, and we offer ourselves with him to the Father, above all in the Eucharist, to extend the Kingdom of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of humanity, the sanctification of the Church, especially of priests. In this way, the Heart of Christ may receive consolation for the glory of God the Father.
In the process of identification with Christ, the supreme objective of the Spirituality of the Cross lies in the complete transformation in Christ to continue his work for the salvation of humanity.
Within this Priestly Spirituality, moved by the Holy Spirit, as members of the Apostleship of the Cross, we contemplate Jesus crucified. We understand the mystery of the Cross and the call to take on the cross to follow Him (Lk 9,23). We accept, and we offer for love, the suffering because we understand its salvific value if it is lived according to Christ; and we give testimony of this truth with our surrender to the Father and all men.
That is why the Offering of the Incarnate Word is essential to those who live the Spirituality of the Cross.
Like any other spiritualities, the Spirituality of the Cross has its motto, a plead of salvation, that encourages its members to follow Jesus, be faithful to his/her mission until the transformation into Jesus:

Jesús, Savior of all people, save them!

This expression of the Blessed Concepcion Cabrera, who inspired in the Church the Works of the Cross, has its origin on January 14, 1894.
Conchita, as she is affectionately known,  writes in her diary this historic moment, "...I felt a supernatural force that threw me, face down, on the floor, my eyes filled with tears and a burning flame within my heart. Vehemently and zealously I then asked the Lord for the salvation of souls: Jesus, Savior of all people, save them, save them!
"I remember nothing more: souls, souls for Jesus! That was all I desired... The ardor of my soul far surpassed the burning sensation of my body, and I experienced an ineffable joy and feeling I belonged wholly to Jesus, just as a branded animal to its owner. Yes indeed. I belonged wholly to Jesus, to my Jesus who will save so many poor souls called to bring Him glory. Enraptured, I spent the rest of the day with an ardent desire of solitude and prayer..." (Aut. 205-206).
Christ continues his priestly ministry through the Church. Only by uniting ourselves to him we can grow in union with him and fruitfully exercise and promote the common priesthood. This commits us to love the Church and be an active part of the Church, taking particular interest in its priests, instruments of Christ’s priestly mediation, and servants of the Christian community.  Consequently, "nothing that refers to the priesthood must be indifferent to us" (Venerable Felix of Jesus Rougier).
The Cross of the Apostolate, emblem of the Work of the Cross, symbolizes in its diverse elements the spirituality that gives it life.

What is the Chain of Love?
It is a way of how to live the baptismal priesthood. Blessed Concepción Cabrera, inspired by Christ, called this practice the "Chain of Love." 
The Chain of Love is also the exercise of the spiritual priesthood by which "all their works, prayers and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body if they are accomplished in the Spirit--indeed even the hardships of life if patiently borne--all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (L.G. No. 34; cf. I P 2,5).

This is what our Bylaws say about the Chain of Love:
The Chain of Love is the characteristic way of living the baptismal priesthood for those who live the Spirituality of the Cross.
We will live the Chain of Love, taking on its existence like Jesus, in faithfulness to God and all people, making a permanent offering of one's life. We will study its fundamentals and rules and encourage its practice.
As a consequence of our loving attention to God, we will, each day, with the possible frequency for us, make the Offering of the Incarnate Word.
Let us live the notable grace of our baptismal priesthood or the Chain of Love. Jesus is asking us for it: "I wish for a mighty stimulus to be given to this expiatory act, joining victims to the Great Victim... and that in unity, everybody would offer me and offer themselves in my union" (CC 49,18).
"I, from the moment of My Incarnation in Mary's most pure womb, acquired graces. I want you, transformed into Me, living out of My own life, not to do from now on anything else.
Offer yourself in my union and offer me at each instant to the Eternal Father with the so noble goal of saving souls and giving him glory".
"Listen, you are going to make a Chain.  Each hour of your life will be one of its golden links, offering it for this intention; I want you to stop only on your death. (June 21, 1906).

The Fourteen Rules of the Chain of Love

1. I want the souls that make up the Chain of golden links, which I have asked you for, to be far advanced in virtues, above all in humility and sacrifice.
2. They must be pure of body and soul.
3. They must be prayerful souls.
4. They must be souls with a tendency to keep to themselves with the perfect spiritual modesty.
5. They must have a vow of poverty or at least a great affection for this virtue experiencing, by love, its effects.
6. They must forget about themselves and have Me as the sole object of all their aspirations.
7. They must have their heart empty of all earthly affections so that I may fill it in entirely.
8. They must have a very great love to my Mother, imitating her in her perfect obedience towards God and others.
9. They must live a supernatural life with the purity of intention, my presence being familiar to them.
10. Those souls must tend towards all that is right and holy.
11. They must be souls tempered for sorrow and loving the Cross in all its ways.
12. They must love me without self-interest, just for Who I am, with generosity, without interruption, and abandoned to my will.
13. They must always be prompt to be faithful and correspond, just as I want the exercise of this virtue.
14. And lastly, they must live in me, dead to everything that is not me or that leads to me.