The passion of Christ is one of the central themes of Christian, especially Catholic, spirituality. The believers seek to engage their own emotionality in compassion for the suffering Christ, while interpreting their own difficulties and pains in the spirit of the evangelical call to take up one's cross (cf. Lk 9:23). Suffering together with Christ and for him is a frequent strand in writings considered classics of Christian spirituality and mysticism. From the spiritual union with Christ in his passion emerges a model of enduring one's own suffering - physical and emotional - in the manner of Christ. Over the centuries, this model has been elevated in Catholicism to a moral norm in dealing with suffering. In doing so, however, a dangerous shift of emphasis seems to have taken place: from seeking the meaning of suffering to making suffering a purpose in itself. In this view, the search for relief from suffering has taken on a negative valence, since it appears as an escape from bearing one's own cross. This paper will demonstrate, using examples from different times, countries, and continents (e.g. Catherine of Siena, Rose of Lima, Teresa of Lisieux, Faustina Kowalska), the central components of the Christ-like model of enduring suffering, for instance: humble submission to the will of God, keeping silence about the own suffering, voluntary ascetic practices involving physical discomfort or even pain. The normative model of bearing suffering will be confronted with critical questions: How does this model affect the perception of the suffering and of the persons who suffer - both by themselves and by their environment? To what extent can this model result in downplaying of physical and psychological violence within the church in the past and nowadays?