<p><em>Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam, Prior</em></p>
<p />In Pope Benedict's book <em>Great Christian Thinkers</em> he has an essay on our Saint Peter Damian that reminded me that "the Cross was Christian mystery that was to fascinate Peter Damian more than all others." He is quoted as saying, "Those who do not love the cross of Christ do not love Christ" and he called himself <em>Petrus cruces Christi servorum famulu</em>–"Peter, servant of the servants of the cross." But, severe ascetic and disciplinarian that he was, the cross was not a symbol of penance or pain and suffering; it was "the example of the supreme act of God's love for humankind of God, who has given us salvation." Jesus shows us who God is, and so by the cross we know that God too is crucified love.