Whether, therefore, Christ is spoken of as about to be crowned or
about to be crucified, it is said that he "went forth"; to signify
that the Jews, who were guilty of so great wickedness against him,
were given over to reprobation, and that his grace would now pass to
the vast extent of the Gentiles, where the salvation of the Cross,
and his own exaltation by the gain of many peoples, in the place of
the one nation of the Jews, has extended itself. Whence, also,
to-day we rightly go forth to adore the Cross in the open plain;
showing mystically that both glory and salvation had departed from
the Jews, and had spread themselves among the Gentiles. But in that
we afterwards returned (in procession) to the place whence we had
set forth, we signify that in the end of the world the grace of God
will return to the Jews; namely, when, by the preaching of Enoch and
Elijah, they shall be converted to him. Whence the Apostle: "I would
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, that
blindness in part has fallen upon Israel, until the fullness of the
Gentiles shall be come, and so all Israel shall be saved." Whence
the place itself of Calvary, where the Lord was crucified, is now,
as we know, contained in the city; whereas formerly it was without
the walls. "The crown wherewith his Mother crowned him in the day of
his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart." For
thus kings are wont to exhibit their glory when they betroth queens
to themselves, and celebrate the solemnities of their nuptials. Now
the day of the Lord's crucifixion was, as it were, the day of his
betrothal; because it was then that he associated the Church to
himself as his bride, and on the same day descended into Hell, and,
setting free the souls of the faithful, accomplished in them that
which he had promised to the thief: "Verily I say unto thee, to-day
shalt thou be with me in Paradise."
"To-day," he says, of the gladness of his heart; because in his body
he suffered the torture of pain; but while the flesh inflicted on
him torments through the outward violence of men, his soul was filled
with joy on account of our salvation, which he thus brought to
pass. Whence, also, when he went forth to his crucifixion, he
stilled the women that were lamenting him, and said, "Daughters of
Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and your
children." As if he said, "Grieve not for me in these my sufferings,
as if by their means I should fall into any real destruction; but
rather lament for that heavy vengeance which hangs over you and your
children, because of that which they have committed against me." So
we, also, brethren, should rather weep for ourselves than for him;
and for the faults which we have committed, not for the punishments
which he bore. Let us so rejoice with him and for him, as to grieve
for our own offenses, and for that the guilty servant committed the
transgression, while the innocent Lord bore the punishment. He
taught us to weep who is never said to have wept for himself, though
he wept for Lazarus when about to raise him from the dead.