THE THIRTIETH DAY.
Our Saviour on the cross.
CONSIDER how the bloody executioners, having now nailed our Saviour fast to the cross, begin with ropes to raise him up in the air. O! what shouts did his enemies now make, when he appeared above the people's heads. With what blasphemies did they salute him, whilst his most afflicted mother, and other devout friends are pierced to the heart at the sight! At length they let the foot of the cross fall into the hole prepared for it, with a jolt, by which our Saviour's mangled body was not a little injured, and the wounds of his hands and feet widened, and thus he now hangs, poised in the air, in most dreadful pangs and torments, the whole weight of his body sustained by his pierced hands and feet, by which his wounds are continually increased; no place to rest his head on. but upon thorns; no other bed for his wearied and wounded body, but the hard wood of the cross.
2. Consider the infinite charity of our Saviour, and the unparalleled malice of his enemies. He, amidst his torments, cries out: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. They grin and shake their heads at him, saying: Vah! thou that destroyest the temple of God and in three days dost rebuild it, save now thy own self: if thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross: with a thousand other reproaches and blasphemies, with which he is loaded, not only by the common people and soldiers, but also by the chief priests, scribes and elders, which he hears and bears in patience and silence. But, O! who can tell us the interior employment of his blessed soul all this while that he hangs upon the cross, — his thoughts of peace towards us, his prayers for us, the anguish and dreadful agonies of the interior part of his soul, and the inexpressible joy in the supreme part thereof, in the glory of his Father, which was to arise from that plentiful redemption, which he was then imparting to poor sinners!
3. Consider the part that the blessed Virgin Mother bore in the sufferings of her son: and how truly here was verified that prophecy of old Simeon: Thy own soul a sword shall pierce, O! how killing a grief must have oppressed this most tender and most loving of all mothers, when, during the whole course of the passion of her dearest Son, whom she loved with an incomparable love, she was an eye-witness to all the injuries, outrages and torments that he endured. Ah! blessed Lady, may we not truly say that the whips, thorns and nails, that pierced thy Son's flesh, made as deep a wound in thy virgin heart: and that nothing but a miracle could have supported thy life under such excess of pain? But, O! what a deep wound didst thou feel in thy soul, when thy dying Son recommended thee to his beloved disciple, St. John, giving to thee the son of Zebedee in exchange for the son of God! Blessed Virgin, we gladly acknowledge thee for our mother, bequeathed to us all in the person of St John. Oh! by all thy sufferings, remember us poor banished children of Eve, before the throne of grace. Christians, learn the admirable lessons which our Lady teaches you at the foot of the cross; learn her unshaken faith and undoubted hope; learn her perfect resignation, patience and fortitude. Oh! learn from her to love Jesus, and detest sin, the true cause of his sufferings.
4. Consider how all things seem now to have conspired against our dearest Lord. His father has forsaken him; his mother's presence and grief pierce him to the heart. As for his own apostles, one of them has betrayed him; another has denied Him; all have abandoned him; his friends, and those whom he had most favoured and miraculously cured, now either join with his persecutors, or at least are ashamed of him: his enemies triumph and insult over him; his own body by its weight is a torment to him. But what most of all afflicts him, is to see the ingratitude of Christians, the little benefit they will make of his death and passion, and the eternal loss of so many souls redeemed by his precious blood. Ah! sweet Jesus, suffer me not to be one of that unhappy number: suffer me not to be so miserable, as to join with thy enemies in crucifying thee by sin!
5. Consider the lessons that our Saviour gives us by his last words upon the cross: 1st. Of perfect love and charity to his enemies, by praying for them, and excusing them to his eternal Father: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Oh! let us learn from our dying Redeemer this necessary lesson, to love and pray for those that hate and persecute us: and instead of aggravating their crime, to excuse it and impute it to their ignorance. Oh! how true is it of every sinner, he knows not what he is doing, otherwise he would never dare to fly in the face of infinite majesty: he would never be so mad as to renounce heaven for a trifle, and cast himself down the precipice that leads to hell. 2dly, learn the efficacy of a sincere conversion, and an humble confession of sins, in the plenary indulgence given by our dying Saviour to the good thief: Amen, I say unto thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. 3dly, learn a filial devotion to the Virgin Mother, recommended to us all by her Son, in the person of St. John: Behold thy mother. 4thly, learn the greatness of the interior anguish of thy Saviour's soul, from these words: My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me? Alas! it was for no other reason, but that poor sinful man might not be forsaken. 5thly, from that word of thy crucified Jesus, I thirst: take notice of two violent thirsts which thy Saviour endured upon the cross; the one corporal, proceeding from his having fasted so long, passed through so many torments, and shed so much blood: the other spiritual, in his soul, by the vehement desire of our good and salvation. But, Oh! cruel wretches, who would give him nothing but vinegar to quench his corporal thirst! More cruel sinners, who instead of satisfying his spiritual thirst by gratitude and devotion, give him nothing but the gall and vinegar of sin and wickedness! 6thly, from these words of our dying Saviour, It is consummated, learn to rejoice that the whole work of man's redemption is now perfected; that the figures and prophecies of the law are fulfilled; and the handwriting that stood against us is now completely cancelled by the blood of our Redeemer. 7thly, from these last words of our expiring Lord: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, learn both in life and death to commit thyself wholly to thy God. Happy they that study well these lessons which their great Master teaches them from the chair of his cross.
THE THIRTY-FIRST DAY.
On the Death of our Saviour.
CONSIDER how our Lord having spoken these last words: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, with a loud and strong voice, bowing down his head in perfect submission to his Father's will, and perfect charity to us poor sinners, to whom in this posture, he offered as it were the kiss of peace, breathed forth his pure soul, and thus ended his mortal life; which from the moment of his birth till now, had been nothing else but a series of sufferings endured for us. Hasten now, my soul, and approach boldly to kiss the sacred feet of thy Redeemer, view his pale limbs, count at leisure all his wounds, and lament all thy sins, for which he suffered such exquisite torments.
2. Consider in the passion of our Saviour the truth of these words, which were delivered by him on another occasion, He that humbleth himself shall be exalted: and see how our Lord, having humbled himself to the death of the cross, was even at the very time honoured and exalted by his heavenly Father, and that many ways; for during the time he hung upon the cross, the sun for three whole hours withdrew his light; and at his death, the earth trembled, the rocks were split, and the monuments opened; the veil of the temple, which hung before the sanctuary, was rent from top to bottom; the people, touched by these wonders, went home striking their breasts; and the centurion, or captain of the guards, publicly professed, that this man whom they had crucified, was truly the Son of God. Rejoice, O Christian soul, to see thy Saviour's death thus honoured; and learn under all events to confide in God, who will at last convert the malice of thy enemies to thy honour and advantage. Sit now down at the foot of the cross, and there at leisure meditate.
3. Consider, and repeat in thy mind, the multitude and variety of the sufferings, which thy Saviour has endured for thee, from his entrance into the garden of Gethsemani, till his expiring on the cross. View them one by one, and thou shalt see that not one part of his sacred body (which being the most perfect, was at the same time the most sensible of pain of any that have ever been), was free from its peculiar torment: his head crowned with thorns; his face defiled with spittle, bruised, and swollen black and blue with blows; his hair and beard plucked and torn; his mouth drenched with gall and vinegar; his shoulders oppressed with the weight of the cross; his hands and feet pierced with nails; his whole body exhausted with a bloody sweat; mangled and laid open with whips and scourges; his limbs wearied out, and all disjointed upon the cross. What he suffered in his soul was not one jot less, but rather infinitely more than what he suffered in his body. Witness that mortal anguish which cast him into his agony in the garden; witness that grievous complaint on the cross: My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me? He suffered moreover in his reputation (which is often dearer to a man than life). by false witnesses, and outrageous calumnies and depositions. He suffered in his honour by all kinds of reproaches and affronts; he suffered in his goods, being despoiled of his very clothes, and hanging naked upon the cross; he suffered in his friends, being forsaken by them all: not to speak of other sufferings, which are usually most sensible to flesh and blood: viz. the ingratitude of those whom he had favoured with his miracles, the triumphs of his enemies, their insults over all his disciples, &c.: — and in all these sufferings, he denied himself those comforts which he usually affords his servants under their crosses, and which have made the greatest torments of the martyrs not only tolerable, but oftentimes sweet and comfortable. But he would allow himself no other comfort, than that of doing the will of his Father, and purchasing our redemption.
4. Consider who it is that suffers all this; and thou shalt find, that he is the eternal Son of God, equal and consubstantial to the Father: the great Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, infinite in power, infinite in wisdom, infinite in all perfections. But for whom does he suffer all this? For poor man, a wretched worm of the earth; for ungrateful sinners, traitors to his eternal Father, and to himself; for those very Jews that crucified him; for us mortals, who for the most part were likely never to thank him, or even so much as to think of his sufferings. O, how admirable, art thou, O Lord, in all thy ways, but in none more than in the contrivances of thy mercy! O, how does this passion of our Redeemer set out and illustrate all the attributes of God! It is here we discover his infinite goodness and charity, in thus wonderfully communicating himself to us. It is here we discover his unparalleled mercy, in taking upon himself our miseries, and enduring the stripes due to our sins. Here we see the admirable wisdom of his providence, in opening to us by his own death the fo mi tain of life. Here we learn to fear his justice, which fell so heavily upon his own Son, who had but clothed himself in the resemblance of a sinner, in order to make atonement for our sins. Oh! what must the guilty themselves one day expect at his hands, if they do not prevent the terrors of his justice, by laying hold of his present mercy!
5. Consider, in the sufferings of thy Saviour, the infinite malice, the unparalleled heinousness of mortal sin, which was not to be cancelled, but by the last drop of blood of the Son of God. This is one of the chief lessons which thy Saviour desires to teach thee from the cross; thou canst not please him better than by studying well this lesson. Oh! never be so ungrateful as to crucify him again by mortal sin. Oh! let not that monster live in thee, for the destroying of which Christ himself would die.