Chapter 22. Meditation on the Behaviour of Our Redeemer When Taken Before the High Priest and Judges, and on the Scourging at the Pillar; for Wednesday Morning

Having made the sign of the cross with the preparation mentioned in the second chapter, take for the subjects of thy meditation the arraignment of our Lord before the Priests and the Judges, first before Annas, secondly before Caiphas, thirdly before Herod, fourthly before Pilate, and afterwards the scourging at the pillar.

§ 1.—The following is taken from the teat of the Evangelists.

1.—“ When our Lord was brought before Annas who was father-in-law to Caiphas the High Priest of that same

HENCE year, the High Priest asked him of his AS disciples and of his doctrines. Jesus ANG asst answered him: I have spoken openly to the Jobnixviti. world; I have always taught in the synagogue, and in the temple where all the Jews resort; and in secret I have spoken nothing, why askest thou me? Ask them who have heard what I have spoken unto them, behold they know what things I have said. And when he had said these things, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow saying; Answerest thou the High Priest so? Jesus answered him; if I have spoken evil, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou me ?” 2.—‘‘ Now Annas had sent him bound to Oaiphas the High Priest where the Scribes and the Ancients were assembled. Matt. xvi. And the Chief Priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found not, whereas many, false witnesses had come in. And last of all there came two false witnesses ; and they said: This man said I am able to destroy the temple of God, and after three days to rebuild it. And the High Priest rising up said to him; Answerest thou nothing to the things which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the High Priest said to him: I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us if thou be the Christ the Son of God. Jesus saith to him; Thou hast said it. Nevertheless I say to you,

. hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Then the High Priest rent his garments, saying; He hath blasphemed, what further need have we of witnesses ? Behold now you have heard the blasphemy, what think you? But they answering said; He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face, and buffet him, and others struck his face with the palms of their hands, saying ; Prophecy unto us, Oh Christ, who is he that struck thee ?”

3.—“And the following morning the whole multitude of

Eo So, them rising up, led him to Pilate. And they began to accuse him saying, We have found this man perverting our nation and forbidding to give tribute to Casar, and saying that he is Christ the King. And Pilate asked him, saying: Art thou the King of the Jews? But he answering, Mark xv. said; thou sayest 14.” And the Chief Priests accused him in many things, but he answered nothing. Then Pilate said, Answerest thou nothing? behold in how many things they accuse thee. But Jesus still answered nothing, so HOUSES SEE that Pilate wondered. ‘‘And he then said to the Chief Priests and to the multitudes; I find no cause in this man. But they were more earnest, saying; He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. But Pilate hearing Galilee, asked if the man were of Galilee; and when he understood that he was of Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him away to Herod, who was also himself at Jerusalem in those days. And Herod seeing Jesus was very glad, for he was desirous of a long time to see him, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to see some sign wrought by him. And he questioned him in many words. But he answered him nothing. And the Chief Priests and the Scribes stood by, earnestly accusing him. And Herod with his army set him at nought, and mocked him, putting on him a white garment, and sent him back to Pilate.”

4.—“ And on the festival day he was wont to. release un-Mark, xv. to them one of the prisoners whomsoever they shouid ask. And there was at that time in prison a notorious malefactor, named Barabbas. Then setting them side by side Pilate said to the people, which of these two shall I release unto you ? Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ ? And they answering said, not Him but Barabbas, who was in prison for a tumult in the city, in which he had killed a man. Pilate then said to them. What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all cried out, Crucify him. Pilate then took Jesus and scourged him.”

§ 2.—Meditation on the foregoing teats.

5.—My soul, thou hast many things here to ojala to-day; thou hast many stations to go to in company with thy Saviour, unless thou wishest to fly with the disciples, or thy feet are too weary to follow thy Saviour on the way he took for thee. Five times this day is he taken before different judges, and on each occasion is he maltreated on account of thee, on each he suffers thy deserts; on one is he buffeted, on another spit upon, on another scoffed at, crowned with thorns and condemned. Are not these stations enough to break the heart and to be traversed with bare and bleeding feet ?

6.—Let us go first to the house of Annas, and there see how our Lord when courteously replying to a question of the High Priest as to his disciples and his doctrine, is struck on his divine face, by one of those evil by-standers, who said ; “Is it thus thou answerest the High Priest? To which our Saviour answered meekly; ‘If I have spoken ill, shew me in what? but if well, why dost thou strike me?’ See here, my soul, not only the meekness of the answer, but look also at that heavenly face marked and discoloured with the blow, at the meekness of those serene eyes, at that unruffled brow ; and at that most holy spirit filled with interior humility and ready to turn the other cheek, if asked by the executioner. Oh unlucky hand, that thus wast raised against that face, before which the heavens bend prostrate, before whose majesty the Seraphim and all nature tremble! What didst thou see in him thus to blot the image of the Glory of the Father, thus to disfigure and affront the most beautiful of the

• Sons of men ?

7.—But this will not be the last of the injuries of that night, because thence they drag him to the house of the High Priest Caiphas. Thither thou must accompany him, and there thou wilt see the Sun of justice eclipsed, and that divine face on which angels love to gaze, spit upon; because on our Saviour being conjured in the name of his Father to say who he was, answered the question in the way that suited those so utterly unworthy to hear so exalted a reply, blinding themselves with the brilliance of so great a light, they turned upon him like rabid hounds and vented upon him all their rage» and anger. There did they all shower upon him blows and buffets, there did those infernal mouths spit on his divine cheeks, there did they blindfold him and striking him on the face, mock him saying; ‘Prophecy unto us, who it was that struck thee.’ Oh wonderful humility and patience of the Son of God! Oh angelic beauty! Was thine the face to be spit upon? When men are about to spit, they usually turn their faces towards the foulest corner of the room, and in this palace, was there no meaner spot to be found to be fouled with spittle than thy face? How comes it, Oh dust and ashes! with this example, that thou dost not humble thyself? How is there still left in the world one trace of pride, after this great example of humility? God is silent when spit upon and struck in the face; the angels and all created things stand paralyzed at seeing their Creator thus insulted; and shall a vile worm turn the world upside down upon a point of honour? Why, Oh man! art thou astounded at beholding God thus trampled on and ill-treated by the world? Did he not descend into the world to cure the pride of the world? If the severity of the treatment shock thee, look at the depth of the wound and thou wilt find the wound required the treatment, since withal it is not yet healed. Be shocked at the sight of God humiliated; I am shocked, rather at the sight of thee still so proud, and of God so humble. Be shocked at the sight of God brought down to the dust; but Iam shocked at the sight of dust and clay after all this, exalting themselves above heaven and seeking to be more honoured than God.

8.—How then happens it that this wonderful example is. not enough to overcome the pride of the world ? Was Christ’s humility sufficient to conquer and melt the heart of God, and yet insufficient to conquer thine and soften it? The Angel said to the Patriarch Jacob; ‘Thou shalt not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name, for if thou wast powerful against God, how much more so wilt thou be against men? Tf then the humility and meekness of Christ prevailed against the divine wrath and indignation, how comes it they do not prevail against our pride? If they soothed and softened a strong heart like that of an angry God, how is it they do not change and humble the hearts of men? I wonder, nay I am filled with astonishment to see how with all this patience thy anger remains unsubdued, with all this abasement thy pride unconquered, with all these buffetings thy presumption ever rampant; with this profound silence under such injuries, to see thee involved in litigation about a frivolous trifle. It is wonderful to contemplate the Almighty, by the instrumentality of such terrible injuries striving to overthrow the empire of our pride, but more wonderful to find after all, the memory

• I. Kings xv. of Amalec still surviving under heayen and a remnant left of this vile generation.

9.—Vouchsafe then, Oh good Jesus, by the example of thy humility to cure in me the madness of my pride, and as the severity of thy wounds shows clearly my need of a physician let me learn by thy curing art that I now possess him.

§ 3.—On the sufferings of our Saviour during the night of his passion, and on the denial of Peter.

10.—Consider next the sufferings of our Saviour during that sorrowful night, because the guard of soldiers, according

Luke xxil. to St. Luke, mocked him, and in order to keep themselves awake, past the time in ridiculing and scoffing at the Lord of Majesty. See then, my soul, how thy beloved Spouse is set as a target for all their blows and buffets! Oh cruel night! Oh réstless night, during which, Oh sweet Jesus, thou didst not sleep, nor did those sleep who amused themselves by tormenting thee! Night was ordained as a time of rest for all creatures, that the wearied senses and limbs might repose after the fatigues of the day. And this time have the wicked chosen to torture all thy members and - senses, wounding thy body, afflicting thy soul, binding thy hands, buffeting thy cheeks, spitting in thy face and torturing thy ears, in order that during all the time the senses are wont to take repose, thine may be filled with pain and suffering. How diffexent these matins from those chaunted in thy honour at that same hour in heaven by all the choirs of angels! There they sing, Holy, Holy; here they cry out, To death, to death, crucify him, crucify him. Oh angels of paradise, ye hear both voices, what feel ye at beholding such treatment upon earth of him whom ye worship with such reverence in heaven? What feel ye, at beholding God enduring such sufferings for the very men who inflict them? Oh unheard-of charity, to suffer death, to free from death him who inflicts death! Human malice can go no further than to lay hands on God himself, nor can God’s goodness and mercy extend beyond this desire to suffer death for the creature who inflicts it. ‘

11.—The denial of Peter was added to the rest to increase the sufferings of that sorrowful night. That familiar friend, chosen to witness the glory of the Transfiguration, honoured above all as the head of the Church, he, the first of all, not once, but three times in the presence of our Saviour himself, swore and foreswore himself that he knew him not, nor who he was. Oh Peter! Is he then who stands here so bad, that thou art ashamed even to have known him? See, thou art the first to condemn, even before the priests, because thou . givest out, that he is such a character, that the knowing him would make thee despise thyself and would disgrace thee. Canst thou inflict a greater injury than this?

12.—Our Saviour then turned and looked at Peter, his eyes sought the lost sheep. Oh look of inestimable power ! Oh silent look, yet wonderfully significant! Peter well understood the language of that look, since the crow of the cock aroused him not, but that look did. But the eyes of Christ not only speak but also work, and this is shewn by Peter’s tears, which flowed not so much from Peter’s eyes as from the eyes of Christ.

13.—Thus, shouldst thou at any time be aroused to look into thy own interior, know that this blessing flows from the eyes of Christ which are looking on thee. The cock had crowed, and Peter was not reminded because our Saviour had not yet looked upon him. He looked upon him, and Peter remembered and repented and wept for his sin, because the eyes of Christ open our eyes, and are those that awaken the eyes of the sleeping.

14.—Whereupon, says the Evangelist, Peter went out and wept bitterly, to shew that it is not sufficient to weep for our sins, but it is also necessary to flee from the place and avoid all occasions of sin. For always to bewail thy sins, and always again to fall into sin, is to challenge against thyself — the wrath of the Lord.

15.—And bear in mind that Peter’s chief fault was shamefacedness and fear to be known as a disciple of Christ, and this is called denying him. Then if this be denying Christ, how many christians are there who deny him in the same manner? How many are there who refuse to confess and communicate, to pray and converse with God, and to associate with the good, and to suffer injuries, for fear the world should despise and laugh at them? For what else is this but being ashamed to appear a disciple of Christ and an observer of his commandments? And what is this but denying Christ like St. Peter, who felt ashamed to appear as his disciple ? What then can such as do this expect, except that punishment and sentence of our Saviour, who says; ‘‘He who shall be ashamed to appear my disciple before men, the Son of Man shall be ashamed to acknowledge him as his when he shall come in his Majesty and before his Father and all his holy angels ?”

16.—After this night of sorrow was past, they take our Saviour to the house of Pilate the governor; and he because he knew that he was a native of Galilee, sent him to Herod who John xviii. was king of that country, who took him for Luke xxiii. a fool, and as such ordered him to be clothed in a white garment, and so sent him back to Pilate. Thus it appears that our Saviour was in this world not only treated as a malefactor but as a fool. Oh mystery worthy of our highest veneration ! The chief virtue of a christian is to make no account of the judgment and opinion of the world. Here then, brother, thou canst study well this philosophy, and comfort thyself with this example whenever thou art despised by the world. For the world can do thee no injustice nor - testify anything against thee which it has not testified against Christ. He was held to be a malefactor and a stirrer of sediMatt. xii. tion amongst the people, and for this was James ii. he accused before the Judges, for this was his death demanded. He was held to be a Magician and possessed by a devil, and thus they said that by the power of Beelzebub he cast out devils. He was held a glutton and a James ix. guzzler; thus, they said: see here is a glutton Luke xv. and a drinker of wine. He was held to be a man who went about with reprobate associates, and thus they said cf him, that he received publicans and sinners and ate with them. He was charged with being born of a mean John viii. and degenerate caste, and they said: ‘Thou Mark ii. art a Samaritan and hast a devil.’ He was called an unbeliever and a blasphemer; and thus they said, he made himself out to be God and forgave sins as God. After all this it only remained to call him a fool, and such was he here eonsidered, not by the ignorant vulgar, but by the nobles and courtiers of King Herod. So they dressed him as a fool, in a fool's dress. Oh wonderful humility! Oh model of every virtue! Oh comfort in tribulation! Since in order that thou mayst make slight account of the judgment and opinion of the world, and mayst see how foolish it is, and how mistaken in its sayings and doings, and in its notions and ideas, look on this pattern of all virtues and this comfort under all tribulations ; and see how here, the wisdom of God is reckoned foolishness, virtue is esteemed wickedness, truth considered error, temperance gluttony, the peacemaker of the world is taken for a revolutionist, the reformer of the law for a breaker of the law, and the justifier of sinners for a sinner and the companion of evil doers.

17.—In all these comings and goings, and in all these interrogatories and answers before the Judges, observe attentively the meekness of our Saviour, the serenity of his countenance, the self-possession of his mind never overcome nor shaken in all these encounters. Such were his wonderful con- - stancy, patience and calmness, that before his judges and every tribunal, in the midst of insults and blows, amidst the shouts and clamour of his accusers yelling for his death, amidst the rage and fury of his enemies, with certain death and the cross before his eyes, in all this storm and tumult he did nothing and said nothing but what did honour to a great and generous heart. No harsh or bitter words escaped his lips, he did not descend to entreaties or supplications or tears, but in all and through all he preserved that meekness which became the dignity of one so exalted. What silence under such grave and false accusations! When he spoke, what consideration in his words! What prudence in his answers! Lastly, such was the appearance both of his countenance and of his courage

• shewn in every stage of these transactions, that it alone without further testimony, should have sufficed to justify his cause, if the lowness of those base and grovelling intellects could have appreciated the force of that proof.

§ 4.—On the scourging at the pillar.

i8.—Consider next after all these injuries the scourging our Saviour suffered at the pillar. For the Judge seeing that he could not pacify the fury of these savage enemies, resolved to inflict a severe chastisement, in order thus to satisfy the John xix. rage of those cruel hearts and to silence the clamour for his death. 19.—This is one of the grandest and most sublime spectacles ever exhibited before the world. Who ever thought that stripes could fall on the shoulders of God? David says: aro Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge, there shall no evil come to thee; nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling.” What is more beneath the loftiness and glory of God than ignominious scourges and. stripes? It is the punishment of slaves and thieves, and so disgraceful a punishment that no Roman citizen, whatever his crime, could be degraded by its infliction. Nevertheless, how comes it now, that the Lord of heaven, the Creator of the universe, the Glory of the angels, the Wisdom the Power and the Glory of the living God should be chastised with stripes? Truly, I believe all the choirs of angels would stand astonished and terror-stricken, and witnessing such a wonder would fall down in adoration and gratitude for the immensity of the Divine bounty. Yor if they filled the air with songs of praise on the day of his nativity, when they had only seen the swaddling Ss clothes and the manger, what would they do on beholding the scourging and the pillar? Then, my soul, how much more oughtest thou to feel and be grateful, who art so much more interested than the angels? | 20.—Enter now in spirit into the Pretorium of Pilate, and take with thee thy tears for thou hast need to shed them for what thou wilt there see and hear. Look how those vile * and cruel executioners inhumanly strip our Sayiour of his garments, and how he humbly submits to be stript without opening his mouth or answering a word to all their insults. Look how they bind his sacred body to the pillar, that they may distribute their blows as and where they wish. Look how the Lord of heaven stands there alone in the midst of his cruel executioners, with no second or friend to support him, and without a pitying eye to shed the tear of sympathy. Look how they begin with furious cruelty to discharge their stripes and lashes upon that most tender flesh, how they shower upon him stripes upon stripes, scourges upon scourges, wounds upon wounds. There then wouldst thou see that most sacred body flayed into one mass of wounds, and streams of blood flowing on every side from its lacerated flesh.

21.—But beyond all what would it be to see that deep gash gaping wide between his sacred shoulders where nearly every blow descended. ‘Truly, soon it would have been wide and deep enough to bare the white bone between the discoloured flesh, and end that sacred life at the pillar instead of on the cross. Lastly they cut and hacked that most beautiful body with such ferocity and so heavily and incessantly launched their blows and lacerated the wounds, as almost to blot out the likeness of man. Behold then, my soul, that most lovely and modest form there standing abused pilloried and exposed in nakedness. See how that tender beautiful flesh, the flower of all flesh, there stands striped and gashed on every side.

22.—The law of Moses commanded malefactors to be scourged, but limited the number of stripes according to the nature of the crime, but they were never to exceed forty, Deut. “That thy brother fall not down before thee foully wounded, saith the law.” It appeared to the lawgiver that to exceed that number was so severe a chastisement as to be contrary to the laws of humanity. But against thee, Oh good Jesus, who didst never offend against the law of justice, they broke every law of mercy and to such an extent, that instead of forty they inflicted upon thee, as many holy doctors inform us, five thousand stripes. Since then a body would be so foully treated by being subjected to more than forty stripes, what would thine be, my most sweet Lord and Father after being subjected to five thousand? Oh delight of the angels, and glory of the blessed! Who has thus disfigured thee? Who has fouled with so many blots the mirror of innocence ? Oh Lord, not thy sins, but mine, not thy offences, but mine have been the cause of this ill-treatment. Love and compassion induced thee to undergo this heavy burthen. Thy love induced thee to bestow upon me all thy blessings, and thy compassion to take upon thee all my miseries. Since then thy love and compassion have brought upon thee such frightful calamities, who can henceforth doubt thy love? If the strongest test of love be suffering for the beloved, what is each of thy sufferings but a pledge of thy love? What each wound, but a heavenly mouth preaching love and demanding my love in return? And if. the pledges be numbered by the blows, who can henceforth doubt the proofs established by so many witnesses? How incomprehensible then is my incredulity, which still remains unconvinced after such signal arguments ? The Evangelist St. John was amazed at the incredulity of the Jews, saying, ‘That after our Lord had wrought such great

John xii. signs amongst them they refused to believe in him.’ Oh holy Evangelist! cease to wonder at their incredulity, but stand amazed at mine. Because the enduring so many sufferings to make me believe in the love of Jesus is as

‘strong an argument as the working of miracles to make them believe in Christ. If then it be so wonderful after so many miracles, to find such incredulity, how much more wonderful is it, after five thousand stripes suffered for us, that we should still doubt his love ?

23.—What, if we add to the scourging at the pillar, all the other pains and sufferings of his life, all of which were per = a = Ao

John i. and ii. undergone from love? What made thee, Oh Matt. ii. Lord, descend from heaven but love? what Like ii. brought thee from the bosom of the Father to the breast of the Mother but love? what but love clothed thee with our mortal clay and made thee the participator in all our miseries? What placed thee in the stable, what laid thee in a manger, what drove thee into a foreign land but love? What but love caused thee for so many years to bear the yoke ‘of our mortality? What caused thee to toil and travel and watch, to traverse sea and land in search of souls

Sudges-xvi- but love? What bound Sampson hand and foot, sheared his locks and spoiled him of his strength? What made him the scorn of his enemies, but the love.of his wife Delilah? And Oh, our true Sampson, what but the love of thy Spouse the Church and of each of our souls, bound and sheared thee and despoiled thee of thy power and strength patio and delivered thee into the hands of thy Bakar: enemies to be scorned and spit upon and ake xxvii: derided? Finally, what attracted thee to the wood of the cross? stretched thee upon it lacerated with wounds from head to foot, thy hands pierced with nails, stabbed in thy side, all thy limbs dislocated, thy body covered with blood, thy veins drained of every drop, thy tongue parched with a bitter thirst, and thy whole frame slashed and torn to pieces? What but love could cause destruction like this? Oh unbounded charming love! Oh love unfathomable and worthy of the immensity of him who is infinitely good and lovely and is himself all love!

24.—Then with so many and such powerful witnesses as these, how can I doubt thy love, since it is certain thou hast not changed in heaven the heart thou hadst here on earth ? Gen. xl. Thou art not like Pharaoh’s cupbearer, who in his prosperity forgot the humble friends he had left in prison: but on the contrary the prosperity and glory thou now enjoyest in heaven only increase thy compassion for thy children left here on earth: Since then it is certain thou lovest me so much, why do not I love thee? Why do not I put my trust in thee? Why do not I hope in thee? Why do not 1 esteem myself rich and wealthy in having God himself for such a friend? It is truly wonderful that I should care for any of the things of this life, since I have my portion in so rich and powerful a lover through whose hands all things pass.

25.—Having finished the meditation, make an act of thanksgiving and petition, as before mentioned in the second chapter.