Meditation for Friday

On this day we have to contemplate the Mystery of the Cross, and to meditate, upon the Seven Words then spoken by our Lord. Awake, then, now, my soul, and think upon this Mystery of Holy Cross, through the fruit of which is repaired the loss incurred by the fruit of the forbidden Tree. See, first, how, so soon as the Saviour had come to the place, those enemies sét against Him, to make His Death more shameful, stripped Him of His garments, even to the inner “coat, which “was without seam, woven from the top throughout.” ?

Behold, here, with what patience this most innocent Lamb of God suffered Himself to be so stripped, not opening His mouth, nor saying one word against those so treating Him! With goodwill, rather, He was willing to be stripped of His raiment, and to become an open shame, that the nakedness into which we had fallen through sin, might be better covered by His robes than by the leaves of the fig-tree.

Some of our teachers say that, in order to strip off this tunic from our Lord, His enemies with great cruelty tore off from Him'the Crown of Thorns which He had upon His Head; and that, after having stripped Him, they replaced it, and thrust the thorns again into the skull, causing the utmost pain. And we may certainly believe that in the course of the Passion they- exercised this, as well as many other cruelties upon Him, since the Evangelist especially declares that they did to Him all that they would.

And as the tunic was now fast adhering to the wounds caused by the scourge, the Blood congealed became fastened to the vesture itself; and so pitiless were those savages that in dragging it off with impetuous violence they tore the skin from the Sacred Body, and re-opened all the wounds of the scourges, in such a way that the Body was wholly flayed, and became one great wound from which the Blood flowed in every direction.

Think here, my soul, upon the greatness of the Divine goodness and mercy, which shine forth so brightly in this Mystery. See how He Who spreadeth the heavens with clouds, and the fields with flowers and beauty, is here before you stripped of all clothing! Think of this Holy One in ‘His cold and nakedness and open wounds !

If S. Peter, clad and shod in the Judgment Hall, felt-the cold, how much more did He naked and wounded !

Then, too, think of the nailing to the Cross, and of the suffering each nail increased. Well may we think of the Holy Mother in those moments, and feel how the nails piercing those Hands and Feet of her Divine Son were piercing, too, and wounding her own heart also!

Then, when they raised the Cross on high, and fixed it in the socket which they had made for it, letting it fall into its place, think what must have been the pain to that holy Body! O my Saviour and Redeemer, what heart could there be so stony as not to open with grief while thinking of Thy sufferings on that day, when even “the earth did quake, and the rocks were rent,” as saith S. Matthew ? O Lord, “the sorrows of death have compassed Thee.” “Waves and storms have gone over” Thee. Thou hast been “cast into the deep in the midst of the seas,” and hast found no stay for Thy Feet. Thy Father in heaven hath left Thee alone, what couldst Thou expect from men? Enemies 1 xxvii, 51. 2Ps: cxvi. 3; Ps. xlii. 9; Jonah ii. 3.

cry out against Thee, friends break Thine heart, Thy “soul is- exceeding sorrowful,” neither is there any to comfort Thee. Surely my sins were so heavy a weight for Thee to bear, and my penitence should confess it. I see Thee, my King, fastened to a wooden Cross, and Thou hast but three nails of iron to sustain Thee; on them hangs Thy Sacred Body, and it has no other rest. When Thou wouldst support Thy Body upon Thy Feet, their wounds are rent against the nails, which hold them fastened. When Thou dost support it with Thy Hands, the wounds of these, too, are re-opened by the weight of the Body. Thy Sacred Head, tormented and wearied with its Crown of Thorns, what pillow could sustain and ease ?

O most holy Virgin Mother, fain wouldst thou have given thine arms to hold Him: but, then, not thine, but the arms of the Cross serve this purpose. Upon them shall the Sacred Head recline, when it would take repose, and the refreshment it shall receive from them shall be the pressing closer of the thorns! The sorrows of the Son increased with the presence of the Mother ; for no less was the heart crucified from within than was the Sacred F Body from without. Two Crosses hadst Thou, Blessed Jesus, on that day : one for Thy Body, one for Thy Soul; the one of Thy Passion, the other of Thy Compassion ; on the one was Thy Body transfixed with nails of iron, on the other Thy Soul with nails of grief. Who could declare, Blessed Jesus, what Thou didst feel, when Thou sawest the anguish of Thy most Holy Mother, whose soul Thou knewest to be crucified with Thee ?

After this, thou mayest think upon those Seven Words which the Saviour spoke upon the Cross, “ Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do;” “To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise ;” “ Woman, behold thy Son; Son, behold thy Mother ;” “I thirst ;” “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me;” “Tt is finished;” “Father, into Thy Hands, I commend My Spirit.”

Observe then, O my soul, with what charity He, in those first words, commended His enemies to the Father: with what mercy, then, He received the robber confessing Him; with what deep feeling 1 It will be observed that the word we count to be the fifth, is counted here by the Saint to be the fourth.

He commended the Holy Mother to the beloved disciple ; with what burning thirst He longed for men’s salvation; with what sorrowful voice He declared . His tribulation in the Divine forsaking: then, observe, the perfectly completed obedience to the Father’s Will; and, lastly, the commending of His Spirit into the Father's most blessed Hands! Observe, how, in each of those words, there is enshrined the teaching of some special virtue. In the first there is enjoined the duty of charity towards our enemies. In the second, pity for sinners. In the third, pious affection for our parents. In the fourth, desire of the salvation of others. In the fifth, prayer in time of tribulation, when we seem to be without God. In the sixth, the virtue of obedience and perseverance. And in the seventh, complete resignation into the hands of God, which is the summit of all perfection.