Pascal's bleak intuition provided impetus for the French painter, Georges Rouault's equally dark "Miserere" series of prints.An item in the October 19th issue of America brings further stark confirmation:

Gangs affiliated with the Lords Resistance Army in Northern Uganda have been crossing the border into Sudan, crucifying Christians during raids. Near the town of Nazra, seven recently died. On discovering the bodies, villagers described what they found as a grotesque crucifixion scene. The guerillas nailed the victims to pieces of wood on the ground before killing them. Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio blames the government in Khartoum for not increasing security in that area and has called upon the international community for help.

The Church's Friday Morning Prayer always begins with Psalm 51: the Miserere. May we pray it for the Christifideles in many places who bear in their bodies the agony of Christ.