The Catholic Prayer Book and Manual of Meditations/Fifteen Meditations
Fifteen Meditations
ON THE PASSION OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
O GOOD and gracious Jesus! who, being most high in the glory of thy Father, and of one essence with him, didst vouchsafe, of thy infinite love, to be made man, to be born in a stable, to be laid in a manger, to be circumcised, and to fly into Egypt; afterwards to be baptized, to be tempted, to fast, to watch, to teach the ignorant, and to heal the diseased; in thy whole life to suffer continual afflictions and persecutions; and at length voluntarily to suffer death upon the cross; and all this for me, and such wretched creatures as myself.
2. O good and gracious Jesus ! who, having eaten the paschal lamb with thy dearly beloved disciples, didst arise from supper, gird thyself with a towel, pour water into a basin, and on bended knees didst humbly wash the feet of thy disciples, and wipe them with thy own hands.
3. O good and gracious Jesus! who, when the time of thy death approached, didst bequeath a most excellent legacy to thy children, leaving us thy most sacred body to be our meat, and thy most precious blood to be our drink: no wit can teach, no understanding penetrate the bottomless depth of this thy charity.
4. O good and gracious Jesus ! who, having entered into the garden of Olives, didst begin to fear and to be sad; whereupon thou saidst to thy disciples, My soul is sorrowful, even unto death; and then leaving them, didst kneel upon the ground, and falling flat on thy face, didst pray to thy Father, If it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. And yet with perfect submission, wholly resignest thyself to him, saying, Father, not my will, but thine he done: and at length, through most painful agony, thy afflicted and fainting body sweated drops of blood.
5. O good and gracious Jesus! who, inflamed with an ineffable desire to redeem me, didst go to meet thine enemies, and didst suffer Judas the traitor to kiss thee, and thyself to be taken and bound with cords, and as a malefactor disgracefully led by the basest of the people to Annas, where with admirable meekness thou didst receive a cruel stroke on thy face, most unjustly given thee by a vile wretch and slave.
6. O good and gracious Jesus! who wast led, fast bound like a notorious malefactor, from Annas to the house of Caiphas the high priest, where the Jews most unjustly accused thee, and with barbarous insolence spat upon thy meek and amiable face, buffeting thy cheeks and blindfolding thine eyes, scornfully mocking, and maliciously affronting thee with injuries all that night.
7. O good and gracious Jesus! who in the morning wast brought to the presence of Pilate, and with a most sweet and humble countenance, casting thine eyes down, stoodst before him in the judgment-hall; and when thou wast most falsely calumniated by the Jews, and many insults and provocations were given thee, thou meekly heldest thy peace, and patiently sufferedst their unjust proceedings.
8. O good and gracious Jesus! who wast sent from Pilate to Herod; he out of vain curiosity coveting to see some miracle at thy hand, demanded many things of thee, and the Jews continuing their perverseness against thee; but to all these thy meekness replied not a word: wherefore Herod and all his court despised thee, and putting on thee a white garment in scorn and derision, sent thee thus back again to Pilate. O unspeakable humility and obedience to the will of thine enemies! thou wentest forth and returnedst again, and wast led up and down from place to place without gainsaying, but suffering them to do whatever they would.
9. O good and gracious Jesus! who in the judgment-hall wast stripped naked, and without any compassion most cruelly scourged. There was thy blessed virginal and tender flesh torn with stripes, and altogether mangled and deformed; so that the streams of thy most precious blood ran down on every side upon the earth.
10. O good and gracious Jesus! after thy sharp and bloody scourging, to put thee to more shame and confusion, as also to increase thy torments, they clothed thee with an old purple garment, and platting a crown of thorns, pressed it on thy holy head, till the sharp points pierced thy temples, and thy most precious blood ran down and covered thy face and neck; they gave thee in derision a reed for thy sceptre, and kneeling down before thee in scorn, saluted thee, saying, Hail, King of the Jews; then took they the reed out of thy hand, and with it struck thy sacred head, and again spat upon thy sacred face.
11. O good and gracious Jesus! who wast brought forth from Pilate to the Jews to be gazed on, wearing the crown of thorns and purple garment, Pilate showing thee to the people, and saying, Behold the man; but they cried out, with a loud voice and insatiable malice, Crucify him , crucify him.
12. O good and gracious Jesus! thou wast delivered up to the will and pleasure of the Jews, who immediately led thee to be crucified, laying thy heavy cross upon thy sore and bloody shoulders; thus didst thou humbly bear thy own cross, whose weight pained thee excessively, and coming to the place all weary and breathless, thou didst not refuse to taste wine mingled with gall and myrrh, which was the only relief there given thee.
13. O good and gracious Jesus! being come to Mount Calvary, thou wast again stripped naked, when thy wounds were renewed by the violent pulling off of thy clothes. What bitter pains didst thou suffer when thou wast fastened to the cross with rough nails, and the joints of thy limbs stretched as on a rack ! Oh, with what love and sweetness of charity didst thou suffer thy hands and feet to be pierced through, whence, as from a fountain, thy precious blood gushed out.
14. O good and gracious Jesus ! who, hanging on the cross between two thieves, wast assailed with blasphemies, and after so long a continuance of thy tortures, prayedst to thy Father to forgive them: and even when their fury was at the highest, didst exercise the greatest bounty, promising Paradise to the repenting thief, and bequeathing thy dearly beloved Mother (who, pierced with sorrow, stood by the cross,) to thy beloved disciple, St. John, and in him to us all; and after thou hadst suffered for three long hours intolerable pains and extreme thirst, they gave thee vinegar to drink, which when thou hadst tasted, bowing down thy venerable head, thou gavest up thy spirit.
15. O good and gracious Jesus ! O good Shepherd! thus thou bestowedst thy life for thy sheep, and even after death still thou wouldst suffer for us, the sacred side of thy dead body being opened with a spear, out of which flowed water and blood. Thus at last ended all thy sufferings; and thy enemies having slaked their thirst for thy blood, and being gone away, thy disciples came and took thy immaculate body down from the cross, reposed it on the knees of thy blessed Mother, and after all imaginable expressions of piety, reverence and love, wrapped it up in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre.
PRAYER.
O MILD and innocent Lamb of God, thus heartily thou didst love me, these things thou didst for me, these pains most patiently and lovingly thou sufferedst for me. What shall I render unto thee? I adore and glorify thee, I praise thee and give thee thanks, with all the powers of my soul. Jesus, Son of the living God, King of kings, and Lord of lords! Hail, most glorious Redeemer of our souls, whose death quickens and gives life to the world.
O blessed Saviour, have mercy on me, for thy goodness’ sake; forgive me all my sins, destroy and mortify in me whatever displeaseth thee. Make me live according to thy heart, and grant that to the utmost of my power I may most diligently imitate thy holy life. O blessed Father of heaven ! behold I offer the most holy incarnation, life, and passion of thy dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ, in full satisfaction for all my sins, and perfect amendment of my life. Grant, most merciful Father, for the merits of thy only-begotten Son, to the living mercy and grace and to souls departed rest and life everlasting. Amen.