During the month of April we generally celebrate Holy Week, and so this
month is dedicated to the Passion of Our Lord. The followers of Christ
should be acquainted with the history of their leader, Jesus, the Master;
they should know what He has endured for His followers, and they should
think frequently of His sufferings, especially in Lent, when the Church,
in all her offices, keeps the commemoration of the Passion foremost in her
mind. There are many things to be done during this month. You ought to
recite the stations of the cross privately, or be present when they are
publicly performed; hear sermons on religious topics, practise a little
fast or abstinence. This last is not so much to do, yet God takes note of
it, and makes a great fuss over it, like a father that has received an
insignificant present from his child. Take from any book the meditations
on the Passion, read them slowly, and with sympathy; slowly, so as to be
able to follow the recital and to be able to realize it; with sympathy,
that you should bring to it a feeling for Our Lord, and show that you are
touched with all that He endured for you. The God‐man going to a
disgraceful death, after a most apparently unsuccessful life, should make
us feel for the loving Jesus. St. Augustine remarks that nothing is so
useful to our advancement in the spiritual life, as daily to meditate on
the Passion of Our Lord. Certainly the most appropriate time for these
considerations and prayers is during Lent, which happens about this time.
We shall give forty short considerations for every day in Lent. They can
be begun upon Ash Wednesday; we will then strive to gain spiritual benefit
from these considerations, by perusing them with piety and with a great
love for our crucified Lord. Before the time of Augustine, Origen writes
that it is impossible for a man to remain in sin, as long as he often
remembers the sufferings of Our Lord, and nothing will so inflame our
hearts with love for Christ. Father Alvarez said that so many Christians
are lost, because they ignore the treasures that are concealed in the
Passion of Our Lord; and he led his penitents to perfection by enjoining
on them frequent contemplation of the Passion. St. Francis de Sales tells
us, “That every wound of Our Lord is a tongue, which teaches what the Lord
suffered for us.” What flames of love will naturally burn in our hearts,
when we see the love with which Our Lord regarded us! Happy, therefore,
the soul who will find leisure for this holy exercise of the mind and
heart. “You will draw water with joy from the fountains of the Saviour.”
The sinner will receive confidence in the mercy of God, and know that his
case is not so desperate as long as he has the wounds of the Lord to plead
to the Father for mercy and forgiveness—for all our transgressions have
been laid upon the shoulders of Jesus.
How, then, can we have any fear, says St. Paul, that God will refuse us
His graces? “He that spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all.”
Considerations and Prayers for Every Day.
First Day.
Before Our Lord’s suffering took place, He disclosed to His disciples the
story of the cross. It was good for them to understand and to remember
what the sufferings of Jesus were to be. The prophets of the Old Testament
had declared that the Son of man must suffer. Daniel, especially,
describes the Passion of Our Lord very minutely. This was the future that
was before Our Lord, and it was well that the disciples should know it and
think of it. So it should be with ourselves. We, too, are the disciples
and followers of Christ, and we, too, must make the Passion a subject of
serious thought. The Church has chosen the Lenten time as the most
appropriate for this exercise. She joins penance with this meditation, as
being the most efficacious means of stirring ourselves up to a pious life.
Let us approach these meditations with a conviction that we are really
unworthy to be admitted to the graces of this holy contemplation; but
Jesus will help us.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, whilst before Thy face I humbly
kneel, and with burning soul pray and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart
lively sentiments of faith, hope, and charity, true contrition for my
sins, and a firm purpose of amendment; the while I contemplate with great
love and tender pity Thy five wounds, pondering over them within me,
whilst I call to mind the words which David, Thy prophet, said of Thee, my
Jesus: “They pierced My hands and My feet; they numbered all My
bones.”—Ps. xxi. 17, 18.
Second Day.
It is not hard to understand why the Lord desires us to think of His
Passion. St. Francis Xavier is said to have gone over the Passion once
every month; but we know, too, with what love he was attached to the Lord,
with what wonderful patience and perseverance he continued to labor. It
was the effect of the meditation on the Passion. We, too, should grow in
the love of Our Lord. But how will we grow, unless by contemplating all
that Jesus has done for us in His Passion, until He died on the cross? As
the Apostle says, “He loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” In this
way the Lord wants us to study His Passion, so that we may learn how
intensely He loved us; that although He was God, and we poor miserable
creatures, still He did not hesitate to sacrifice His life in order to
redeem us from eternal perdition.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Third Day.
Our Lord desires that we should think of His Passion, in order that we may
imitate Him in our own sufferings: for we have many things to endure in
this life on account of the original fault of our first parents. You will
learn to die with Christ, and your sympathetic heart will avoid sin. By
the frequent thought of the Passion the Lord will have you love the
sacrifice of the Mass, where in an unbloody manner the Passion of Our Lord
is repeated, and we begin to appreciate it the more the better we
understand their relation to each other. The Lord will have you show
sympathy for Him in His sufferings; for you must remember that it was for
you that He suffered, that you caused His suffering by your sins. Now, if
you have inflicted these punishments on the Lord, would it not be an act
of horrible ingratitude if you were not to show your sympathy for Christ?
Another effect of the contemplation of the Passion will be that you shall
be stirred up to do great things for Christ. Your time of labor will be
sanctified, and your life will be given to the service of Jesus.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Fourth Day.
We should think often of the Passion of Our Lord, but not with coldness or
repugnance. It is a sad subject, and not at all pleasing to the human
feelings, but when we have learned to love Jesus it will be an exercise
that will make us very happy. We are dreadfully poor spiritually, and
nowhere will we be able to find more spiritual wealth than in the Heart of
Jesus in His Passion. “There flow living fountains of blessed waters,
there is the bread of life.” Approach, then, with a lively faith to the
foot of the cross, and remain there faithfully; let the blood of the Lord
flow upon your body and soul, realize that Jesus died for you, see Mary,
our dear Mother, beneath the cross; St. John and Mary Magdalen, with some
other faithful followers of Christ at a short distance from it; associate
yourself with them and study what were their sentiments; try to bring them
home to yourself, and your heart will surely fill up with love, gratitude,
and confidence.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Fifth Day.
The feeling of love towards Our Lord must be specially aroused. We are
supposed to have the faith: but we need more love, so that we may
understand why Our Lord underwent such terrible sufferings for poor
humanity. Let us look upon the Lord: He is an innocent, holy person, an
untiring benefactor, a true friend, a wonderful consoler, a man of peace
and of blessings, the noble Son of the great King, the Son of God Himself.
This good Jesus has saved you from eternal damnation. He descended from
heaven and did the work of a miserable slave. And the worst and bitterest
consideration is that you really, individually and personally, are the
cause of the sufferings of Christ. You have struck Him in the face and
spit upon Him, you have crucified Him, you have mocked and derided Him,
and cried out, “Vah; if Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
The Lord, reflecting upon all His sufferings, declared that all this
happened in the house of His beloved ones. What did the Lord do to you,
that you should treat Him in this manner? Now then return Jesus love for
all this, and He will be satisfied.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Sixth Day.
The Jews now began to consult among themselves how to catch Jesus by some
intrigue or other. Our Lord could have avoided the Passion; He might have
prolonged His life, but He wanted to die just then. The machinations of
the Jews could only furnish an occasion for the death of Our Lord, but it
was His own divine will that regulated time, place, and circumstance.
Judas the disciple makes a contract with the high priests that on a
certain night, when the Lord would go out to Gethsemani to pray according
to His custom, the high priests would be ready with their guards to bind
Him. For the miserable price of thirty pieces of silver was the Lord sold,
by a man whom He had befriended so much in His career of public
ministration.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Seventh Day.
Let us consider the case of Judas in another reflection and apply it to
ourselves. Judas began as well, perhaps, as any of the other disciples;
but now he is approaching the dreadful abyss of sin into which he fell, as
we know from the Gospel. How much the Lord did for that disciple! By kind
words and patience, He made him understand that though He knew of his
impending fall, still He did not cast him off, but tried to win him back.
When Judas had eaten the morsel which Our Lord had presented to him, the
devil seemed to have entered into him. It was only then that the Lord gave
him up, and bade him go and do quickly what he had in his mind. Now His
mercy is at an end, and with terrible severity Our Lord speaks of the
scandal, and says it would have been better that Judas had never been
born. All this shows that unless we co‐operate with the grace which God
almighty offers us, we, too, shall fall into sin, notwithstanding all the
good instruction and good example given us. It shows that if we follow our
own bent of evil intentions, we will go from bad to worse in spite of all
that God has done. There are times of grace that are all‐important for us.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Eighth Day.
When the Lord sat at the Last Supper He made all the apostles aware of
their future infidelity. Simon Peter spoke for himself rather than for
all, when he said: “Although all should be scandalized in Thee, I will
not: I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison and to death.” Our Lord
foresaw his frailty and corrected him for his presumption, though no doubt
it was well meant at the time, and said to him, “Simon, Simon, behold
Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat.” Peter
followed the Lord from afar, to see what the end would be, and entering
the courtyard of the prison, he was accosted by a maid‐servant, and before
her and the bystanders he cursed and blasphemed that he “did not know the
man.” As in the case of Peter, so Our Lord knows our frailty—that we
cannot stand by ourselves. We ought to distrust ourselves, and remember
how sinful we have been, and now that we stand be careful lest we fall.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Ninth Day.
The Lord called His disciples together in order to eat the Pasch with them
for the last time on earth, and also take a long farewell of them. They
would not meet again until after the resurrection. St. John the Evangelist
gives us much of the discourses which the Lord held with His disciples.
“Let not your heart be disturbed,” He says, “at what is going to happen to
Me.” The sorrow at parting, and the dreadful suffering which the Master
was to undergo, acted in a most depressing manner on their spirits. No
wonder they felt so downcast. He was their great friend, the joy of their
heart, and now He is about to leave them. It is related that when Jesus
was a boy, His companions felt such consolation in His presence that when
any of them were distressed, they would say, “Let us go to the Son of
Mary; He will console us.” Even now Jesus is our great joy and
consolation; now that He is to be found in the Blessed Sacrament, now that
He is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, to Him we can always go,
and find refuge in His kindness.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Tenth Day.
At the Last Supper Our Lord continued His discourse, consoling and
encouraging His disciples by telling them: “In My Father’s house there are
many mansions; if not, I would have told you: that I go to prepare a place
for you.”—John xiv. 2. Lift up your eyes, My beloved disciples, from this
vale of tears to heaven, where you are to dwell for all eternity. My
separation from you will be but short. I will go to heaven, and where I
am, My faithful servants shall be. This earth is a desert for the one that
loves God; there is no hope of peace and perfect happiness. Eternal joys
are reserved for us in heaven if we are faithful to Jesus, and confide in
Him. Though our sins may be many and great, we will be washed clean in the
blood of the Lamb, and we may still hope to enter the realms prepared for
us by Christ Himself. Resolve now to be noble‐hearted in the service of
God, and shrink not from work or suffering.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Eleventh Day.
After the discourse at the Last Supper Jesus takes off His outer garments,
girds Himself with a towel, pours water into a vessel, and approaches
Peter to wash his feet. For this purpose the Lord kneels down and prepares
to wash Peter’s feet. Peter is really shocked at this self‐abasement; he
revolts at the thought that he should allow this to be done to him by his
divine Master, Whom he had acknowledged, and Whom he knew to be God. Our
Lord practised this out of humility, at this solemn moment just before
parting from His disciples, to show how important this humility is, and to
make a great impression on all of us. We, too, must be humble, and
humiliate ourselves as did Our Lord. We cannot practise virtue without
humility; we cannot enter heaven unless we possess this virtue. He washes
the feet of the apostles just before the two great acts of His life: the
institution of the Blessed Sacrament and the beginning of His sacred
Passion.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twelfth Day.
Our Lord was determined to perform the ceremony of the washing of the feet
of St. Peter and the apostles. He advised Peter to be obedient, and to
allow the washing to take place, otherwise he would have no part with Him.
When Peter heard this he became very much afraid, and with his usual ardor
he cried out: “Lord, not only my feet, but my head, my whole body.” Our
Lord answered: “He that has his feet washed is entirely cleansed. You are
washed clean, still not all.” By this, reference was made to the condition
of Judas. Why does the Lord make reference to the washing of the feet?
Because it is the feet that are soiled when we come in contact with the
world; but if our feet do not touch the world, if our hearts are above the
things of this world, we may be sure that we have not contracted any filth
on the soul.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirteenth Day.
After the ceremony of the washing of the feet, Our Lord concludes His
discourse by telling His apostles that now He will not say much more to
them, for the prince of this world, Satan, is about to approach to claim a
share in His sacred humanity: but in that He has no part. This He tells
them, that the world may acknowledge that the Son loves His Father, and
that He does all that is required of Him.—John xiv. 30. There are many who
love to sit at the table of the Lord, to be filled with consolation, and
to enjoy the spiritual luxury of His company. But few there are who would
follow Christ to the cross. We must not only love the table of the Lord,
but we must also be with Him in His Passion. We should suffer the trials
sent to us, as good followers of the Lord Jesus. Remain then with the Lord
under all circumstances, whether it be for consolation or bitterness of
suffering. Some of the saints understood this so well that they prayed for
afflictions.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Fourteenth Day.
And now, after the Last Supper, the Lord goes forth with His disciples to
the Garden of Gethsemani, where He is so overcome with fear and sorrow,
that He seems to cling to the society of the apostles for consolation.
Falling down on His face, He prays that the chalice might pass, yet not as
He would, but as the Father willed it. The disciples slept as if they had
lost all sympathy for the Lord. But why is Our Saviour so distressed? Why
is He so downcast? The sins and the consequences of sin appear before Him
so vividly, and He is so overwhelmed with them, that He feels His soul
oppressed unto death. He sees all the misery of humanity, all the cruelty
practised by man, all the ignorance and degradation of the world; and for
this He must suffer, to bring God’s mercy again to man. He is to take upon
Himself all the sins of mankind. He is to be degraded to the level of a
slave, to die the same death, and all for us.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Fifteenth Day.
In the terrible agony of Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemani, the Lord
saw all the sins of mankind. He sees the injustice of man in comparison to
the eternal justice of God. He beholds their ingratitude to His
everlasting love, their obduracy against the sweet mercy of God. This
leprosy of sin has been laid on the Lord, so that, as the Psalmist says:
“The confusion of my face hath covered me.”—Ps. xliii. 16. He is filled
with the confusion of shame, because sin is so horrible. His soul is
overwhelmed with bitterness, because sin is so full of malice and insult
to God. Thus covered with our shame, He appears before His heavenly
Father, prone on His face on the ground. The heavenly Father does not
recognize His Son; Jesus prays, but is not heard. The justice of God casts
Him away. He begs the Father for help, but He will not bend His ear to the
supplication of His Son. Jesus waits for consolation, but instead receives
His death sentence. He must drink the cup of sorrow to the very dregs.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Sixteenth Day.
The Lord bade His disciples watch and pray, but hardly has He left them to
themselves than they fall asleep. Judas is not asleep; he is actively
engaged in getting his company together, giving them instructions how to
proceed, so that they might elude the power of the Lord. But the disciples
sleep, and are careless of the Lord’s interests. No wonder that the
indifference of the disciples gave Him an additional pang. We, too, are
the disciples of the Lord. Why do we sleep while the enemy is sowing the
seed of error and irreligion? What effect has the instructions, the
counsels of the divine Master, had upon us? They are all forgotten, and we
look to our own comfort and to our pleasures; we go after the world, money
and honors, but think little of God. Let us then watch and pray; the
spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. The soul would act
otherwise, if the body had not been allowed an almost limitless freedom
while the soul is dying of spiritual starvation. Give your soul an
opportunity to rise above the low necessities of the body, and the spirit
will then be strong to compel the body to obey.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Seventeenth Day.
When Our Lord had prayed and struggled in this mortal agony, He arose and
assembled His disciples about Him, and awaited the coming of the traitor.
And as He was yet speaking, behold, the crowd arrived, and Judas, one of
the twelve, was with them; coming up to Jesus, he kissed Him, and the Lord
said: “Judas, with a kiss you betray the Son of man.” Judas thus betrays
the Lord with the sign of friendship. He comes up to Him as of old, when
returning from a missionary tour, he was met by the Lord with open arms,
and he, as well as the other disciples, would tell of their labors, their
successes, and the good they had done. And now, as if to throw the Lord
off His guard, he pretends to have the same spirit within his breast. O
Lord Jesus! with what kindness didst Thou not even then receive Judas,
that he might see that Thou didst still love him. In our frequent
infidelities the Lord comes to us with the same sweetness and goodness. He
would lead us back to our duties and the recognition of our faults. O that
we would listen to the words of Our Lord!
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Eighteenth Day.
When Judas had given that traitorous sign, the kiss of peace, the
disciples all fled. Our Lord had commanded, “If therefore you seek Me, let
these go their way.” No sooner had the disciples seen that the Lord
presented His hands to be tied, than they ran off in the greatest hurry.
They had forgotten the assurance they had given that they would remain
faithful. They whose feet had been washed in all humility by Our Lord, Who
had fed them a short time before with His sacred body and blood. We are
not far inferior in infidelity to the disciples. In the morning we have
gone to communion, and before the day is over we have fallen into grievous
sin. We had made many resolutions at our last confession, and at the
approach of the first temptation we have fallen into the same sins again.
We leave, without much concern, Jesus, the best friend we have in this
world. Oh, let us remain faithful to the good Master of our souls, Who,
after this life is over, promises us eternal rewards.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Nineteenth Day.
Then the soldiers came up, and bound the Lord’s hands as He willingly
offers them. He makes no opposition whatsoever. He might have continued
the exhibition of His power by which they fell back three times, and He
might have walked away. But the time of the Passion had come, and He
allows the soldiers to have the mastery over Him. Christ has dissolved our
bonds, and He is bound Himself; in fact, by that binding Christ has
merited to loosen us from the slavery of Satan. But Christ was also bound
that we, too, may bind ourselves in the law of God, and be faithful to its
observance all the days of our life. Tie your will to the chains of the
Lord Jesus; honor those chains, yes, even love them, as they are the bonds
of the union between you and Him. Make up your mind to follow Christ, to
be united to Him, and never desire to be freed from this close friendship.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twentieth Day.
The priests, the high priests and the Pharisees, the great enemies of the
Lord, had held a meeting in expectation of bringing the prisoner for
accusation and condemnation. This was the court to which the innocent
Jesus was dragged; these were all His enemies. They all tried to destroy
Him, and now the opportunity seems to present itself, and they are going
to make the best of it. They are going to condemn Jesus; they encourage
false witnesses, that they may make a show, at least, of the justice of
the condemnation. It is considered necessary to put Jesus out of the way.
“It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that
the whole nation perish not.”—John xii. 50. In all this Our Lord is
silent; not a word does Jesus utter in self‐defence. How easily could the
divine wisdom confound human ingenuity, the skill of the lawyers, and the
malice of the high priests. But Jesus held a mysterious silence, in which
we must adore Him.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐first Day.
Peter, the great disciple of Jesus, he to whom the Lord had given so much,
whom He had brought to Mount Thabor, for whom He paid taxes as for
Himself; this Peter denied His Master. When Our Lord had been apprehended,
Peter followed from afar, to see what would be the end of all this
tragedy. He went on at some distance from Our Lord, until he reached the
courtyard, where he could see all that was passing. There, among the
soldiers, servants, and curiosity‐seekers, he stood, as if he had no
interest in the affair except that which would bring any stranger there.
They would not have known him, only for a woman who sat in such a way that
the light fell on Peter’s face, and she immediately declared, “This man
was with Him.” But Peter denied that fact; another and a third asserted
that Peter was with Christ, for he was a Galilean—but Peter denied the
accusation with an oath.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐second Day.
We ought, right here, to think of the reasons of the terrible treason of
Peter. We may suppose that his crime was no smaller than was that of
Judas. We know what was the fate of Judas—what will be the fate of Peter?
The cause of Peter’s fall was his presumption. He imagined that he was
strong enough to go to heaven, and to lead a good life without watching or
praying—of course he would go to prison or death with Jesus. Instead of
following the Lord closely, right among the soldiers who apprehended Him,
he followed a long way off, giving as an excuse that he wished to see the
outcome of the affair. He follows, and places himself in the very occasion
of sin. He knew he could not be there long without being detected, but he
resolved to deny, and even to take false oaths to secure himself.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐third Day.
When Peter had thus, with indescribable meanness, denied Our Lord, Jesus
turned and gave him a look of compassion. Then Peter recollected the words
of Jesus, that before the cock would crow he would have denied Him thrice.
Great was the sorrow in the heart of Peter after this look; he remembered
himself, and filled with shame walked out and wept bitterly. This look
which the Lord gave Peter was merciful and kind; so loving that it drew
him back again from the sin into which he had fallen; it encouraged him to
look for forgiveness, and did not drive him to despair. Judas too
acknowledged his sin, but he felt no repentance; he despaired of the great
kindness of God. Instead of throwing himself at the feet of Jesus, he
committed another crime—that of suicide. To Peter came a flood of tears.
There is no doubt that his sorrow for this great offence lasted all his
lifetime; he could not think of the circumstance but the picture of his
infidelity arose before him.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐fourth Day.
The infidelity of Peter should lead us to think of our own condition. How
often have we sinned? how often have we been unfaithful to Jesus Christ?
how often have we betrayed Him? Did we ever feel the tears of sorrow
gushing from our hearts? and if we did have sorrow and repentance in the
Sacrament of Penance, did we not soon forget it all, as if our faults were
less serious than they really are? Often the Lord looks at us when we are
in sin, often have we felt that His eyes were on us, full of love, of
mercy and goodness; but we were in sin, in the occasion of it, and we
would not give it up even though we added more sorrow to that which Our
Lord was already suffering. Set your hope, however, in the Lord; look up
to Him with pleading eyes, that He may give you the strength, the will,
and the grace to rise from your fall. Say to your sins, and your
companions in sin, go away from me. Yes, our sins more than any other
misfortune should make us despise the world, with all its sinful
allurements.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐fifth Day.
Pilate put the question to the Lord, “Art Thou the King of the Jews?” He
wanted to hear from Christ’s own lips whether He pretended to the earthly
crown of a kingdom, over which the Roman power held sway. But Our Lord had
no kingdom on this earth, and He answered, “For this was I born, and for
this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth.”
Pilate did not want to be convinced of the truth, and he answered
indifferently, “What is truth?” The Lord came into this world to spread
the truth of the Gospel; He wished to teach us that truth which makes us
truly free. The Lord wishes to show us the way in which we should walk in
order to reach Him. But the world is not anxious for such enlightenment,
any more than Pilate. For nineteen hundred years the Church of God has
been teaching truth. But the world does not accept the teaching of Jesus
as truth; the world is too proud to receive this humble teaching. And yet
Our Lord’s voice rings clear, “Every one that is of the truth, heareth My
voice.”
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐sixth Day.
Pilate went out to consult with the Jews, the accusers of Christ, and he
told them that he found no cause of death in Christ. He admitted that
there might be some rebellion which ought to be punished, and that he
would administer a severe punishment and then would set Him free. See Our
Lord, humbly standing before this unjust judge; see the soldiers, as soon
as the order was given, tear off His garments, drag Him over to the column
of marble, and there bind Him. Then they take the stout cords, on the ends
of which are leaden balls with spikes, and whirling them over their heads,
they let them fall cruelly on Christ’s shoulders. The blood spurts from
every wound, and soon the place about the column is covered with blood.
The crime of that flagellation was so great that no human words can
express it. In what a dreadful state Our Lord was left after it was
over—how exhausted! From the soles of His feet to the crown of His head
there was no sound spot in Him.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐seventh Day.
When the Lord had been scourged, the soldiers platted a crown of thorns
and placed it on His head, pressing it down, striking the crown with
sticks that they might save their hands from wounds, and then they put a
purple garment on Him. All this was done to mock Him, because He said He
was a king: the crown of royalty He bore on His head, and the purple
garment which kings generally wore covered His body. They carried out
their derision still farther; they bent their knees before Him, and having
blindfolded Him, they struck Him in the face, asking Him to point out who
was the one that had given Him the blow. O loving face of Jesus! upon
which the angels desired to gaze; look with pity on poor humanity that
dost treat Thee so cruelly; look with pity on our inordinate desires to
satisfy the demands of our passions. Ah, Thou knowest who hast heaped
these insults upon Thee! In Thy omnipresence Thou seest the sins which we
commit. The Jews, indeed, treated Thee as a mock king, and like a fool,
whilst poor mankind in its ignorance hast prepared all these torments for
Thee.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐eighth Day.
Pilate must have witnessed much of this cruelty, as it was inflicted right
in his court, with his consent, perhaps even by his orders. What a
frightful spectacle it was to look upon this figure of a man, scourged
almost beyond recognition, with a crown of thorns on His head, bound, and
a cloak thrown over His shoulders. Pilate thought that this spectacle
would render the Jews merciful, that the punishment had been sufficient.
So he led Our Lord over an archway and placed Him in full view of the
assembled multitude, saying: “Behold the man!” Yes, O Christian heart,
look at the Lord exhausted after the scourging, the crown of thorns on His
head, clotted blood in His face, burning with a fever heat, ready to die
from loss of blood. O my Jesus, what sufferings didst Thou not endure to
satisfy the cruelty of man! Thou hast become a spectacle before God and
the world. But the Jews were hardened. The sight of Christ in this
condition did not move them. They cried, “Away with Him, away with Him,
crucify Him.”
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Twenty‐ninth Day.
When the Jews demanded the death of Christ so vehemently, Pilate had water
brought to him, in which he washed his hands, as a sign that he was
innocent of the great crime of condemning Our Lord to the death of the
cross. Still he condemned Him, and wrote the inscription of the cross
himself. The Lord was led out to be crucified. St. Catharine of Emmerich
saw in a vision the rapture with which Jesus received the cross. That He
knelt down and addressed the wood with loving words. It was the
consummation of the Lord’s desires. His whole aim in life was that He
should die on the cross, so now He stretches out His arms to receive that
precious burden, the seat of His love, the instrument of His mercy, and
the sign of triumph. Dear cross! no longer are you the wood of disgrace on
which malefactors are to die; you are now the sign of glory. No longer are
you the accursed wood, but the glory of the elect. Cross and altar are now
the same thing to us; the altar is our joy and happiness, so also is the
cross. The Christian who has no love for the cross is to be pitied.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirtieth Day.
The Lord takes the holy cross on His shoulders, at the foot of Calvary,
and carries it up to the summit. What a journey that was, full of sorrow
and pain! He falls several times; He meets His holy Mother on the way and
exchanges some words of consolation with her. He meets the weeping women
of Jerusalem, and bids them weep over themselves and over their children.
Simon the Cyrenean is compelled to help carry the heavy weight of the
cross. Veronica, a devout woman, offers a handkerchief, that the Lord may
wipe His sacred countenance. Two malefactors are also to be crucified with
the Saviour. He does not despise their company: He wished to be numbered
among the most abject of sinners, for He carries in His cross all the sins
of mankind. He has to make reparation to the heavenly Father for them all.
At this sight let us no longer grumble at our crosses, but let us bear
them lovingly and cheerfully.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐first Day.
After terrible exertion in consequence of His exhaustion, loss of blood,
want of food and rest, Our Lord arrives at the summit of Mount Calvary,
called Golgotha, the place of execution, the mount of skulls. Our Lord
would have died in consequence of the terrible punishment He had received,
only the power of His heavenly Father kept Him alive. Arriving on the
spot, His clothes are cruelly torn off His sacred body, the wounds are
reopened and bleed afresh. He kneels down, and at the command of His
executioners He extends His arms and feet to the places to which they were
to be attached. The soldiers take nails and hammers, and drive nails into
the palms of His hands, fixing them to the cross; then His feet are nailed
also. When all this has been done they raise the cross to an erect
position and set it in the ground. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is present;
she hears the strokes of the hammer—every sound pierces her heart. O
Mother of sorrows! make me feel the dreadful crucifixion in my soul;
divide thy sorrows with me. Mary Magdalen, the penitent woman, hastens to
the foot of the cross. St. John, the beloved disciple, is there also.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐second Day.
The executioners then sat down before the cross, and watched Our Lord.
They played dice for His garments; it was their sinful perquisite to take
possession of anything that a dying criminal left. Our Lord was poor and
had nothing but His garments, and these were accordingly distributed. Our
Lord hung on the cross; not a word had so far passed His lips;
uncomplaining, sunk in deep prayer, the sacrifice of the cross was going
on for our sins, the Lamb of God was on the slaughter bench, pouring forth
His blood without giving a sign of pain. He hangs between two murderers.
He is not distinguished from them in misery, except that He prays and they
blaspheme. The Jews now celebrate their triumph; they are gathered about
in knots, mocking and laughing. They invite Him to descend from the cross:
that then they would believe in Him. Jesus still wears the crown of
thorns, and over His head, attached to the wood, are the words: “Jesus of
Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐third Day.
The first words which Our Lord utters after a long silence, are words of
mercy, and a prayer for forgiveness: “Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do.” Jesus prays for His enemies, for His executioners,
before He speaks a word of comfort to His holy Mother. He looks for no
revenge, casts no threats at them, does not complain of their inhuman
conduct. He only thinks that by His prayer He may save them. In the
meantime the thief on His right acknowledges his faults, defends the Lord,
and begs for mercy, which he receives on the spot with a promise of being
with Christ in paradise on that very day. The centurion also acknowledges
the divinity of Christ, and many who are around the cross strike their
breasts, and are converted. Now that the sacrifice had been offered Jesus
sees His Mother at the foot of the cross, and the disciple whom He loved.
Turning to Mary He said “Woman, behold thy son,” and to the disciple,
“behold thy Mother,” and from that hour John, as a dutiful son, took Mary
under his protection.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐fourth Day.
After Our Lord had hung on the cross for three hours, a great darkness
came over the whole universe. The sun refused to give light. Amid this
weird darkness and silence Our Lord completes His sacrifice. When the
world seems to desert you, and the horror of God’s vengeance appears to
surround you, take heart, raise your eyes to Jesus crucified, and pray Him
to strengthen you in patience and endurance until the darkness is over,
and you can again find comfort in God’s mercy. The Apostle Paul tells us
that Jesus, in the days of His flesh, poured forth prayers and
supplications with a great cry, and was heard out of reverence.—Heb. v. 7.
So the sacrifice of Christ was accepted, and the debt which you owed for
your sins was expiated on the cross. You need no longer be afraid that
your wretchedness will bring on you eternal damnation; by the merits of
this sacred Passion you have a hope that you may enter into eternal glory.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐fifth Day.
“I thirst.” The greatest affliction Our Lord had to endure on the cross
was the thirst. The fever after loss of blood and the severe and cruel
sufferings, the torments of a whole night, had dried up the moisture of
His body. “My strength is dried up like a potsherd,” was said of Him by
the Prophet: “and My tongue hath cleaved to My jaws.”—Ps. xxi. 16. We
honor this holy thirst by abstaining during Lent from all intoxicating
drink, and many souls have received great blessings from God for this
veneration. It is the intention that ennobles the act, and the smallest
offering accompanied by a good will pleases God. Our Lord suffered this
thirst to atone for our sins, that we might not go to hell, where we would
thirst for all eternity. Remember Dives in the Gospel, who begged for one
drop of water to be placed on his tongue. Our Lord, dying with thirst,
yearned for the salvation of your soul. This was the thirst symbolized by
His bodily thirst.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐sixth Day.
At last the hour has come, in which Jesus considers that He has made
reparation to His heavenly Father for all the sins of mankind. The chalice
has been drained—all possible humiliation had been heaped upon Him. Jesus
cried, “It is consummated.” All the work of salvation is now at an end.
All the sufferings that the Father has ordained in His eternal providence
have been undergone. “The work which Thou gavest me, I have performed.”
The work of grace is accomplished. About the ninth hour, Our Lord cried
out, with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” The
Father had demanded the death of the Son. He must be exterminated with the
most cruel torments; nothing less than death will satisfy the Father. He
turns to the Father for one look of kindness, but He receives none, until
that hated human flesh has been punished.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐seventh Day.
O my dear Jesus, Thou art altogether forsaken; there is nothing from which
Thou canst gather consolation and support. Even in the hour of death Thou
dost enter the portals of the other world without one friendly face before
Thine eyes. Yes, Thou art forsaken; Thy strength, the assistance of Thy
Father, the light of Thine eyes, Thy holy Mother, hath no consolation for
Thee. The people that stood around the cross did not know what that great
cry meant. Only Jesus knew it. He felt it. How few people understand the
language of divine love! Who could think that the Father would desert His
Son, and would not be satisfied but with the most extreme punishment! We
should sympathize with Our Lord in His cruel abandonment, we who have been
the cause of this agony. Our Lord suffers the same feeling of desertion
when we do not visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Let it be our joy, our
pastime, our recreation, to go to Him, and to thank Him for His great love
for us.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐eighth Day.
The last words which Our Lord uttered were, “Father, into Thy hands I
commend My spirit.” Again Jesus calls God His Father. God has accepted the
sacrifice, and has taken His divine Son to His bosom, hence the Lord calls
Him Father. The sacred countenance of Jesus takes on the pallor of death,
the lips are parted and the last breath is gone. His soul has flown to the
Father; the adorable spirit of Jesus has entered the realms of eternal
bliss, where He is joyfully received. Jesus is dead, but by the infinite
merits of His death and Passion He has freed us from death. Jesus is dead,
but by His death we have become children of God. Jesus is dead, but we
acknowledge Him to be our good Lord, our Master and our King. The death of
Christ is our life, but we must exterminate sin, and let the love of Jesus
flame up in our hearts.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty‐ninth Day.
“It is consummated.” All the sufferings of Our Lord are now over. The
depth of humiliation has been reached, the bitter chalice has been
drained, the soul of Jesus has left the body, and the body is dead. How
often, dear Jesus, have I tried to shake off the cross which God has
imposed on me! I, too, ought to remain fixed to the cross, until all is
over and the soul leaves my body. The fact is that I have not the virtue
of perseverance, that sister virtue of patience, which protects our
sanctity. I ought to be able to say with Our Lord, “The work which I was
to do is completed.” The day will come when I, and the whole world, will
see the mystery of my crosses: when I shall see clearly the purpose for
which I had to bear them. Give me the grace, gracious Jesus, that I may
welcome that day, because I am conscious that I have done my duty. With
the consummation of the work will also come my reward.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Fortieth Day.
When Our Lord had given up the ghost great events took place, that struck
terror to the hearts of those who witnessed them, and which were told from
mouth to mouth. The great veil of the Temple, behind which stood the holy
of holies, was rent. A terrible earthquake shook the earth, so that the
rocks were burst asunder. The graves opened and men buried for years came
forth and stalked about the streets of the city. Then the centurion, who
stood beneath the cross and witnessed these supernatural manifestations,
exclaimed to those who stood by him that truly this must have been the Son
of God. The soldier saw that all was over, and he had but one duty more to
perform before he could go away: that of piercing the Heart of Jesus with
the lance. Then they took the body of the Lord from the cross, and laid it
for a moment in the arms of Mary. Preparations were made by Joseph of
Arimathea and Nicodemus for the burial; hurried preparations, for it was
the eve of the Pasch. They laid the body in the tomb, whence, on Easter
Sunday, Jesus rose triumphantly.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
A Method of Hearing Mass by Way of Meditation.