Chapter 23. Meditation on the Crown of Thorns Worn by the Son of God, on the Ecce Homo, and on the Carrying of the Cross; for Thursday Morning

§ 1.—The teat of the Evangelists is as follows.

1.—“ Then the soldiers of the governor taking Jesus into Matt. xxvii. the hall, gathered together the whole band ; and other Evang. and stripping him they puta scarlet cloak about him. And platting a crown of thorns they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand. And bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying; Hail, King of the Jews; and spitting upon him they took the reed and struck his head.” 2.—* Pilate therefore went forth again and said to them: John. Behold I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him. Jesus therefore came forth bearing the crown of thorns, and the purple garment, amd Pilate saith to them. Ecce Homo, behold the man. When the Chief Priests therefore and the servants had seen him, they cried out, saying, *Crucify him, Crucify him.’ Pilate saith to them, ‘Take him you and crucify him; for I find no cause in him.’ The Jews answered him; ‘we have a law; and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.’ When Pilate therefore had. heard this saying he feared the more. And he entered into the hall again and he said to Jesus. Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore saith to him; Speakest thou not to me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? Jesus answered; ‘Thou shouldst not have any power against me, unless it were given thee from above. Therefore he that hath delivered me to thee, hath the greater sin.’ And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him.” “But they were instant with

Luke xxiii loud voices requiring that he might be erucified; and their voices prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required; and he released unto them him who for murder and sedition had been cast into prison whom they had desired; but Jesus he delivered up to their will.” :

3.—‘‘ And they took Jesus and led him forth, and bearing his own cross he went forth to that place which is called Calvary.” “And: there followed him a great multitude of people and of women, who bewailed and lamented him.” But Jesus turning to them said; ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold the days shall come, wherein they will say; Blessed are the barren and the wombs that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains; Fall upon us; and to the hills cover us, for if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry ?”

$ 2.—Meditation on the above teat.

4.—““Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see King Cant. iii. Solomon with a diadem wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart.” Oh my soul! what art thou doing? My heart! on what art thou thinking ? My tongue! why art thou mute? How is it, Oh my heart! thou dost not break? How comes it, thy hardness is not softened? What eyes can refrain from weeping, at the sight of such a figure before them? Oh most sweet Saviour! when I behold this dismal picture now set before me, how is it my heart does not burst with anguish? I see that most adorable head before which the powers of heaven tremble, pierced with cruel thorns: that divine face, smeared with spittle and marked with bruises, the bright intelligence of that noble brow shadowed and dimmed, and those meek eyes blinded with rivers of blood. I see streams of blood trickling from that head, coursing those cheeks and blotting out the beauty of that heavenly countenance. Were not then, Oh Lord, those stripes enough ? impending death, and all the blood thus shed, sufficient? but that the thorns must yet be sought to draw blood from the head the scourge and stripes had spared? If for the affronts and buffets, I have inflicted upon thee by my sins, thou hast to undergo insults and blows in return, hast not thou during the past night, amply repaid them? If thy death alone were sufficient for our redemption, why dost thou endure so much beyond ? Why every sort of contumely ? Who ever heard or read of such a crown, of such a combination of torments? Whence did this new invention flash upon the world, contrived to combine infamy and torture? Were not the torments hitherto in vogue for ages sufficient without inventing fresh ones for thy passion? I see full well, Oh my Lord! that all these sufferings were not necessary for my cure. A single drop of thy blood would have sufficed for that. But they were admirably adapted to point out the greatness of thy love, to bind me with the chains of eternal gratitude, to confound the wandering extravagances of my vanity, and to teach me contempt for the glories of the world.

5.—To induce thee then, Oh my soul, to sympathize in some degree in this sorrowful stage of thy Saviour’s passion, place first before thy eyes the former likeness of thy Lord and the excellence of all his virtues ; and then contemplate him as he now stands before thee. Behold his marvellous beauty, the modesty of his looks, the softness of his words, his authority, his meekness, his serenity and that countenance commanding universal veneration. Look at his condescension towards his disciples, his affability towards his enemies, his noble bearing before the haughty, his sweet behaviour amongst his friends, and his compassionate sympathy for all. Consider how patient he was under every suffering, how wise in all his answers, how merciful to all in the unbounded exercise of his forgiveness.

6.—And after thus regarding him and delighting thy eyes with the contemplation of such perfection, turn and behold him as he now stands, clad in that purple garment of mockery, with a reed for a royal sceptre in his hand, with that horrid diadem on his brow, those sunken eyes and that ghastly face, his whole body stained with blood and defiled with loathsome spittle. Regard him both internally and externally, his heart pierced with grief, his body with wounds, forsaken by his disciples, persecuted by the Jews, mocked by the soldiers, vilified by the priests, cast out by an impious king, falsely aceused and bereft of every human consolation.

7.—And think not of this as a thing of the past, but of the present hour; not as the case of a stranger, but thy own. Imagine thyself the sufferer, and see what thy feelings would be, if thy head so sensitive to pain were pierced on all sides with long sharp thorns penetrating to the bone. But why should I say thorns? Thou couldst scarcely endure the agony of a puncture from a pin. What must then have been the agony of that most tender head crowned with that wreath of torture ?

8.—Oh brightness of the glory of the Father! who has thus maltreated thee? Oh, unspotted mirror of the Majesty of God! who has thus defiled thee? Oh stream flowing out of the paradise of delights, and refreshing the city of God with thy joyful current! who has muddied and polluted thy ~ waters? Oh my Lord! my sins have muddied them, my iniquities have polluted them. Woe is me, poor and miserable sinner! Woe is me! and how must my sins have defiled my soul when the sins of others have so fouled the bright fountain of all beauty? My sins, Oh Lord, are the thorns that pierce thee ; my follies are the robe of purple that mocks thee; my deceits and hypocrisies are the ceremonials that insult thee; my pomp and vanities are the crown that crowns thee. I am thy executioner, Iam the cause of thy

Paral. xxix: suffering. King Ezechias caused the temple of the Lord which had been profaned by the wicked, to be purified, and ordered all the filth therefrom to be cast into the torrent of Cedron. I am that living temple polluted by the devil and defiled with innumerable sins, and thou art the pure river of Cedron refreshing with thy waters all the beauty of heaven; since there then all my sins are cast, there let all my iniquities disappear. Because through the merits of that ineffable charity and humility with which thou hast stooped to take upon thee all our evils, thou hast not only delivered me from them, but thou hast also made me a partaker in all thy blessings. Thou hast taken away my death, and hast given me thy life; thou hast taken away my flesh, and given me thy spirit; thou hast taken upon thyself my sins, and given me thy grace. Thus, Oh my Redeemer are all thy

_-pains, my treasures and riches. Thy purple garment clothes me, thy crown dignifies me, thy stripes decorate me, thy sorrows regale me, thy bitters support me, thy wounds heal me, thy blood enriches me, and thy love inebriates me. What wonder that thy love should inebriate me, since the love thou hadst for me sufficed to inebriate and leave thee like another

Gen. ix. Noah naked and exposed to shame ? Thy burning love upholds that purple robe of scorn, thy zeal for my welfare retains that reed within thy grasp, and thy compassion for my lost condition sustains that crown of insult on thy brow.

§ 3.—On the Ecce Homo.

9.—When the crowning and mockery of our Saviour were concluded Pilate took him by the hand bleeding as he was and placing him before the furious rabble, addressed them saying, “ Ecce Homo” behold the Man; as if he would say. If from envy you have sought his death, behold a subject not for envy, but compassion. Ye feared lest he should make himself King, behold him so disfigured as scarcely to bear the semblance of a man. What can ye fear from these shackled hands? What more can ye demand against this victim of the scourge ?

10.—My soul, from this thou mayst learn, what was then the appearance of thy Saviour, as the judge believed the very sight of him would suffice to move the hearts of his enemies. Thus too thou mayst understand the unfortunate state of a christian who feels no compassion for the sufferings of Christ, since, in the opinion of the judge they were enough to melt those ferocious hearts. "Where love is, there sorrow dwells. Who can then be said to love Jesus who feels no compassion for him when he beholds him in such a plight ?

11.—If then the want of compassion for Christ be so great an evil, what must it be to aggravate his martyrdom, and add pain to pain? No greater cruelty could be found in the world than that of his enemies, who when the judge pointed out his miserable plight, cried out in these bloodthirsty words, “Crucify him, Crucify him.” If that was such great cruelty, what is the cruelty of a christian, who says the same by his actions though he may not say so in words? Does not St. Paul tell us, that he who commits sin, crucifies again the Son of God, because as much as in him lies he does that which would again oblige Christ to suffer death, were not his first death sufficient? How hast thou then the hand and heart thus so often to crucify thy Lord? Thou shouldst consider that as the Judge presented that pitiable figure to the Jews, in the belief that no other method would better serve than that sight to pacify their fury, so the eternal Father to-day presents it before all sinners because in truth there are no other means so powerful to withdraw them from sin as the placing that figure before their eyes. Consider then Oh my soul, that God at this moment presents that same figure before thee, and as it were says to thee, Ecce Homo ; that is; Behold this man, see who he is, and remember that he is thy God, and now stands as thou seest him, on no other account than because of the sins of the world. See what sin has brought upon God himself. See what was necessary to make satisfaction for it. See how odious sin is to God, since to destroy it, he has thus extinguished the beauty of the face of his Son. Look at the vengeance God will take upon the sinner for his own sins, when he thus avenges upon his own Son the sins of others. Lastly behold the rigour of divine justice and the malice of sin, so fearfully depicted on the face of Christ. What more then was it possible to do, in order to fill man with the fear of God and a detestation of sin ?

12.—The conduct of God towards man may here be compared to that of a kind mother towards a giddy froward daughter. Finding entreaties and rebukes thrown away, she turns her anger against herself, she beats and tears herself, and with bleeding cheeks casts herself all disfigured before her child, to impress her with the heinousness of her fault and induce her, at least from compassion for her parent, to abandon her evil ways. In the same manner does the Almighty appear, to have here adopted a similar remedy for the chastisement of men, placing before them his divine likeness, that is, the face of his son abused and disfigured, in order that they, who in spite of his threats and punishments denounced - against them through his prophets, have refused to abandon their evil ways, might at last moved to compassion by the sight of that divine figure, be turned from their wickedness. Thus before he would raise his hand against man, he here raised it against himself as the last resource to save him.

Therefore, though to offend against God was at all times a grievous sin, now after his assuming such a figure in order to destroy sin, it is not only a grievous sin, but an act of the basest cruelty and ingratitude. |

13.—Continuing yet further the contemplation of this. stage of the passion, besides the horror for sin suggested by it, thou mayst also take heart to consider the feelings of the Almighty himself at the same spectacle, which strongly as it moves the hearts of men, is much more potent to move the heart of God. For this purpose thou shouldst consider that the same figure that the Saviour presented then before the | eyes of that furious rabble, he this day presents before the eyes of his tender Father, streaming as then with the same fresh streams of blood. What more powerful spectacle to soften the eyes of the Father than the blood-stained face of a Tee the Son? This is the propitiatory of gold, is this is the bow of divers colours set amongst the clouds of heaven and grateful to the sight of God. Here mercy beams from his eyes; here his justice is satisfied ; here his honour is vindicated; here homage is rendered worthy of his greatness.

14.—Say then, Oh frail and incredulous man, if at this stage the appearance of thy Redeemer was such that it should have sufficed to soften the eyes of such cruel enemies, how much more would it melt the compassionate eyes of that tender Father for whose honour and in obedience to whose will all these sufferings were endured? Compare the eyes of both. Look upon one and the other and thou wilt see, how much more secure thou art of the mercy of the Father, when thou presentest this figure before him, than was Pilate of that of the Jews when he presented the same before them. Then in all thy prayers and under every temptation take this thy Lord as a shield between thee and God, and presenting it before him, cry out Ecce Homo. Behold here, Oh Lord my God, the man thou hast sought for so many years as a medi-

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Ezech. xxii. ator between thee and sinners. Behold here as Ve the man, as just as thy goodness required and as justified as our sin demanded. Look down then upon us, Oh Lord our protector! and to move thee thereto look down upon the face of Christ. And do not, thou our Saviour and mediator, cease to present thyself before the eyes of thy Father on our behalf: and as thy love for us, induced thee to artists surrender thy body into the hands of the executioner to be tortured, let it also induce thee to present it to the Eternal Father, that for thy sake he may vouchsafe to forgive us.

§ 4.—On our Saviour carrying his cross.

15.—After Pilate saw that the punishment which he had inflicted on that Divine Lamb, had failed to allay the fury of his enemies, he returned into the Pretorium and seated himself at the judgment seat to pass the final sentence in the cause. Already was the cross prepared and reared against the entrance gate prophetic of the doom. impending over the head of the Saviour. When the cruel sentence had been proclaimed, his enemies to heap one cruelty upon another, load those bruised and mangled shoulders with the weight of the cross. Still our compassionate Lord shrunk not from the burthen loaded as it was with all our sins, but on the contrary through his love for us embraced it with the warmest fervour and obedience, and thus set out upon his journey like another true Isaac with the wood, instead of the sacrifice upon his Gen acid: shoulders. The burthen is divided between the two, the son carries the wood and the body which has to serve for the sacrifice, the Father the fire and the knife which has to immolate him. Because the fire of the love of man and the knife of Divine Justice imposed the cross upon the Son of God. These two powers struggled in the breast of the Father, each claimed its rights. Love petitioned for man’s pardon, justice for the punishment of sinners. Therefore that man might obtain pardon and that sin might be punished, the

Innocent delivered himself up to death for all. These are the fire and knife which the Patriarch Abraham carried in his hands in order to sacrifice his son, because the love of our salvation and zeal for justice caused the Eternal Father to sacrifice his Son upon the cross.

16.—Then does the Innocent one walk forth with that heavy burthen upon his wearied shoulders, followed by a great crowd and by many pious women who accompanied him with their tears. Who would not shed tears at the sight of the King of Angels, dragging step by step his heavy burthen with trembling knees and stooping frame, with downcast eyes ua, and bleeding face, with that wreath upon his head, followed by those disgraceful yells and clamours against him ? :

17.—Meanwhile, my soul withdraw thy eyes for a short time from this cruel spectacle, and with hasty steps with anxious grief and weeping eyes, go to the house of the Virgin, and there prostrate before her feet cry out in sorrowing words. Oh Queen of Angels and of heaven, gate of Paradise, advocate of the world, refuge of sinners, help of the just, joy of the saints, mistress of virtues, mirror of purity, pattern of patience and of all perfection! Woe is me, my sovereign mistress ! Why has my life endured till now? How can I endure to live, after my eyes have seen what they have looked upon ? What more can I say, than that I have left thy only begotten Son and my Lord in the hands of his enemies bearing a cross upon his back to be crucified upon it ?

18.—What agony can vie with that pang of grief that must have wrung the Virgin’s heart? Her soul faints away, her face and limbs are bathed in a deadly sweat enough to sweep life itself away, did not the Almighty’s dispensation save her for greater sorrows and a brighter crown.

19.—Next see the mother hurrying in search of her Son, the desire to behold him, restores the strength which grief had stript her of. She hears from afar the clash of arms, the ye

| | | 133 | | murmurs of the crowd and the cry of the heralds making their proclamation. Then she sees the glittering lances and halberds gleaming on high, she finds on the road drops of blood and wet crimson streams point out without further guide the route traversed by her Son. Nearer and nearer she draws nigh to her beloved Son, and stretches her eyes almost blind with tears to catch a glimpse of the beloved of her soul. Oh love and fear in the heart of Mary! She longs to look upon him, yet dreads the fearful sight. Arrived at last those heavenly eyes behold each other, their looks have reached their hearts and pierced their sorrowing souls. Mute are both tongues; but to the Virgin’s heart thus speaks the love of her most beloved Son. Why comest thou here, my dove, my beloved, and my mother? Thy sorrows add to mine and thy suffermgs to mine. Return, Oh mother, return to thy home; the company of thieves and murderers suits not thy virginal purity. Stay not but go and spare the pangs of both. Here I remain to be offered up as a victim for the world, this duty is not thine, and thy innocence has not deserved this torture. Return then, Oh my dove, to the ark till the waters of the deluge have subsided, for here thou wilt not find where to rest thee. There thou wilt spend thy time as of old in prayer and contemplation, and there, supported beyond thy own strength thou shalt best endure this tribulation.

20.—Then would the mother’s heart respond to her Son’s and say. Why orderest thou me thus, my Son? Why wouldst thou send me hence ? Thou knowest, Oh my Lord and my God, that in thy presence, there is no place I need shun, and that there is no oratory for me but where thou art. How can I tear myself from thee and not tear myself asunder ? This anguish so fills my heart, it leaves no room for other thoughts ; without thee I can go nowhere, and from no other can I seek or accept consolation. My whole heart is centred in thee, it has taken up its dwelling within thine, and my life hangs on thine. For nine months thou didst not disdain my womb as thy habitation, why shall I not for these three days abide in thee? If thou wilt take me here into thy bosom, with thee. will I be crucified, with thee be laid in the sepulchre.

With thee will I drink gall and vinegar, with thee will I _ suffer on the cross, and give up the ghost with thee. 21.—Thus would the heart of the Virgin speak, and thus she follows that sorrowful road that leads to the place of sacrifice. 22.—-At the conclusion of the meditation make an act of thanksgiving and offer a petition as mentioned before in the second chapter.