There were only charred remnants of the church left. The monks had gone to the basement. The provincial, having sustained wounds, wrapped a bloodstained bandage around his head. I asked him : “ Where can I find Wounded Christ?” Surprised, as I did not introduce myself, he replied : “There is nothing left, everything has been burned to the ground.” “ No, it couldn’t have been. I am going to look for Wounded Christ ”. I went to the burned down church. A pall of smoke was hanging over the blackened ruins. They were still in a glow, giving off heat, even the glass on the windows had melted down.

On my right hand side I noticed a wooden statue of Christ lying in one of the chapels. He was injured by fire and completely blackened. He seemed to be covered with blisters. Still, not even one of his parts was missing and His beauty impressed me. St. Anthony was standing next to Him. I approached Wounded Christ and raised Him as gently as possible. On the inside the wood was intact.

In this church, hit by thousands of shells, where even steel and glass were devoured by fire, a wooden statue of Christ suffered burns, but none of its parts was destroyed, and, moreover, the inside of the statue remained unburned. St. Anthony, made of the same wood and being the same size, survived the fire, but appeared seriously damaged.

The man is unable of enduring hardships of the same magnitude as Christ, but following Christ the man can endure the most.