X. Jesus is stripped of His garments

“They parted My garments amongst them ; and upon My vesture they cast lots.” This is the prophecy of the Psalmist. Jesus is stripped of everything and placed in the nakedness of utter poverty. He does not even dispose of His garments; for, as soon as He is raised upon the Cross, the soldiers will divide them amongst themselves and will cast lots for His coat.

Nothing is so glorious to God nor so useful for our souls as to unite the offering of ourselves, absolutely and without condition, to the offering which Jesus made at the moment when He gave Himself up to the executioners to be stripped of His raiment and fastened to the Cross “ that through His poverty (we) might be rich.” This offering of ourselves is a true sacrifice ; this immolation to the Divine good-pleasure is the basis of all spiritual life. But in order that it may gain all its worth, we must unite it to that of Jesus, for it is by this oblation that He has sanctified us all: Im qua voluntate sanctificatt sumus.

O my Jesus, accept the offering that I make to You of all my being: join it to that which You made to Your Heavenly Father at the moment when You reached Calvary; strip me of all attachment to created things and to myself!