Morning Meditation: CONCEALING SINS IN CONFESSION
He was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb. — (Gospel of Sunday. Luke xi., 14, 28)
Before a man falls into sin, the devil labours to blind him that he may not see the evil he does and the ruin he brings upon himself by sinning against God. After the sin, the enemy seeks to make the sinner dumb, that through shame he may conceal his guilt in Confession. Oh, accursed shame! How many poor souls does it not send to hell! They think more of the shame than of salvation!
Meditation I:
Set a door, O Lord, round about my lips. — (Ps. cxl. 3). St. Augustine says that we should keep a door to the mouth that it may be closed against detraction and blasphemies, and all improper words, and that it may be opened to confess the sins we have committed. “Thus,” says the holy Doctor, “it will be a door of restraint, and not of destruction.” To be silent when we are impelled to utter words injurious to God or to our neighbour, is an act of virtue; but to be silent in confessing our sins, is the ruin of the soul. After we have offended God, the devil labours to keep the mouth closed, and to prevent us from confessing our guilt. St. Antoninus relates that a holy solitary once saw the devil standing beside certain persons who wished to go to Confession. The solitary asked the fiend what he was doing there. The enemy said in reply: “I now restore to these penitents what I before took away from them. I took away from them shame while they were committing sin; I now restore it that they may have a horror of Confession.” My sores are putrefied and corrupted, because of my foolishness. — (Ps. xxxvii., 6). Gangrenous sores are fatal; and sins concealed in Confession are spiritual ulcers which mortify and become gangrenous.
St. John Chrysostom says that God has made sin shameful that we may abstain from it, and He gives us confidence to confess it by promising pardon to all who accuse themselves of their sins. But the devil does the contrary: he gives confidence to sin by holding out hopes of pardon; but, when sin is committed, he inspires shame in order to prevent the confession of it.
To all who have sinned, I say, that you ought to be ashamed to offend so great and so good a God. But you have no reason to be ashamed of confessing the sins which you have committed. Was it shameful of St. Mary Magdalen to acknowledge publicly at the feet of Jesus Christ that she was a sinner? By her confession she became a Saint. Was it shameful in St. Augustine not only to confess his sins, but also to publish them in a book, that, for his confusion, they might be know to the whole world? Was it shameful in St. Mary of Egypt to confess that for so many years she had led a scandalous life? By their confessions these have become Saints, and are honoured on the Altars of the Church.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: THE WICKEDNESS OF OBSCENE CONVERSATION
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
As the soldiers, however, perseveringly continued their scourging of the innocent Lamb, it is related that one of those who were standing by came forward, and, taking courage said to them: You have no orders to kill this man as you are trying to do. And, saying this, he cut the cords wherewith the Lord was standing bound. This was revealed to St. Bridget: “Then a certain man, his spirit being moved within him, demanded: Are you going to kill Him in this manner, uncondemned? And forthwith he cut His bonds.” But hardly was the scourging ended, than those barbarous men, urged on and bribed by the Jews with money (as St. John Chrysostom avers), inflict upon the Redeemer a fresh kind of torture: Then the soldiers of the governor taking Jesus into the hall, gathered together the whole band, and stripping him, they put a scarlet cloak about him, and plaiting a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand. — (Matt. xxvii. 27-30). Behold how the soldiers strip Him again; and, treating Him as a mock king, place upon Him a purple garment, which was nothing else but a ragged cloak, one of those that were worn by the Roman soldiers, and called a chlamys; in His hand they place a reed to represent a sceptre, and upon His head a bundle of thorns to represent a crown.
Ah, my Jesus, and art not Thou, then, true King of the universe? And how is it that Thou art now become King of sorrow and reproach? See whither love has brought Thee! O my most lovely God, when will that day arrive whereon I may so unite myself to Thee, that nothing may ever more have power to separate me from Thee, and I may no longer be able to cease from loving Thee! O Lord, as long as I live in this world, I always stand in danger of turning my back upon Thee, and of refusing to Thee my love, as I have unhappily done in time past. O my Jesus, if Thou foreseest that by continuing in life I should have to suffer this greatest of all misfortunes, let me die at this moment, while I hope that I am in Thy grace! I pray Thee, by Thy Passion, not to abandon me to so great an evil. I truly, indeed, deserve it for my sins; but Thou dost deserve it not. Choose out any punishment for me rather than this. No, my Jesus, my Jesus, I would not see myself ever again separated from Thee.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE DELUSIONS OF SINNERS
“God is merciful.” Who denies this? Yet, nevertheless how many does not God daily send to hell! God shows mercy; but to whom? His mercy is towards them that fear him.
Meditation I:
The sinner says, “God is merciful.” Behold the third very common delusion of sinners, by which great numbers are lost. A learned author declares that the mercy of God sends more souls to hell than His justice; because these unhappy ones, confiding rashly in God’s mercy, continue in sin and are thus lost. God is merciful. Who denies this? Nevertheless how many does He daily send to hell! He is merciful; but He is also just, and He is therefore obliged to punish those who offend Him. He shows mercy; but to whom? To him that fears Him: His mercy is towards them that fear him. The Lord hath compassion on them that fear him. — (Ps. cii., 11, 13). But as for those who despise Him, and abuse His mercy only to despise Him the more, He exercises justice in their regard. And with reason. God pardons the sin, but He cannot pardon the determination to sin. St. Augustine says that he who sins with the intention of repenting afterwards, is not a penitent but a mocker of God. On the other hand, the Apostle tells us that God will not be mocked: Be not deceived: God is not mocked. — (Gal. vi., 7). It would be mocking God to offend Him as we please and when we please, and then to expect Heaven.
My crucified Jesus, my Redeemer and my God, behold a traitor at Thy feet! I am ashamed to appear before Thee. How often have I mocked Thee! But my promises have all been treacherous; since, when the occasion presented itself, I forgot Thee, and again turned my back on Thee. I thank Thee that my abode at this moment is not in hell; but that Thou permittest me to be at Thy feet instead, and enlightenest me, and callest me to Thy love. Yes, I am resolved to love Thee, my Saviour and my God, and never more to despise Thee. Thou hast borne with me long enough. I perceive that Thou canst bear with me no longer. Unhappy me, if after so many graces I should offend Thee again!
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Basil of Ancyra, Priest and Martyr (March 22)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
As St. Laurence Justinian says, with St. Peter Damian, the thorns were so long that they penetrated even to the brain: “The thorns perforating the brain.” While the gentle Lamb let Himself be tormented according to their will, without speaking a word, without crying out, but closely compressing His eyes through the anguish, He frequently breathed forth, at that time, bitter sighs, as is the wont of one undergoing a torture which has brought him to the point of death, according as was revealed to the Blessed Agatha of the Cross: “He very often closed His eyes, and uttered piercing sighs, like those of one about to die.” So great was the quantity of the Blood which flowed from the Wounds upon His Sacred Head, that upon His Face, and filling His hair, and eyes, and beard, He seemed to be nothing but one mass of Blood.” And St. Bonaventure adds that the beautiful Face of the Lord was no longer seen, but it appeared rather the face of a man who had been scarified: “Then might be seen no longer the Face of the Lord Jesus, but that of a man who had undergone excoriation.”
Ah, cruel Thorns, ungrateful creatures, wherefore do ye torment your Creator thus? But to what purpose, asks St. Augustine, dost thou find fault with the thorns? They were but innocent instruments – our sins, our evil thoughts, were the wicked thorns which afflicted the head of Jesus Christ: “What are the thorns but sinners?” Jesus having one day appeared to St. Teresa crowned with thorns, the Saint began to compassionate Him; but the Lord made answer to her: “Teresa, compassionate Me not on account of the Wounds which the thorns of the Jews have produced; but commiserate Me on account of the wounds which the sins of Christians occasion Me.”
Therefore, O my soul, thou didst then inflict torture upon the venerable Head of thy Redeemer by thy many consentings to evil: Know thou and behold how grievous and bitter it is for thee to have left the Lord thy God. — (Jer. ii., 19). Open now thine eyes, and see, and bitterly bewail all thy life long the great evil thou hast done in so ungratefully turning thy back upon thy Lord and God. Ah, my Jesus! no, Thou hast not deserved that I should have treated Thee as I have done. I have done evil; I have been in the wrong: I am sorry for it with all my heart. Oh, pardon me, and give me a sorrow which may make me bewail all my life long the wrongs that I have done Thee. My Jesus, my Jesus, pardon me, wishing, as I do, to love Thee for ever.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: DELUSIONS OF SINNERS
“But I am young,” you say, “and later on I will give myself to God.” Do you not know that God counts not years but the sins of each? You are young; but into how many sins have you fallen? Evil-doers shall be cut off.
Meditation I:
“But I am young; God compassionates my youth: later on I will give myself to God.” We now come to another delusion. You are young. But do you not know that God counts not years, but the sins of each? You are young; but how many sins have you fallen into? There may be many old people who have not been guilty even of the tenth part of the sins you have committed. And do you not know that God has fixed the number and the measure of the sins which He will pardon in each one? The Lord waiteth patiently that when the day of judgment shall come, he may punish them (the nations) in the fulness of their sins. — (2 Mach. vi., 14). That is to say, God has patience, and waits up to a certain point; but when the measure of the sins which He has determined to pardon is full, He no longer pardons, but chastises the sinner, either by a sudden death in the state of damnation in which he then is, or by abandoning him to his sin – a punishment worse than death: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted. — (Is. v., 5). If you have a piece of land which you have encompassed with a hedge of thorns, cultivated for many years, and expended much money upon, and you see that after all it yields no fruit, what do you do? You take away the hedge and leave it to desolation. Tremble lest God should do the same to you. If you continue to sin, gradually you will cease to feel remorse of conscience; you will think no more of eternity nor of your soul; you will lose almost all light; you will lose all fear. Behold the hedge is taken away, behold God has already abandoned you.
My dear Redeemer, prostrate at Thy feet I thank Thee for not having abandoned me after so many sins. What numbers, who have offended Thee less than I have, will never receive the light Thou now givest me. I perceive that truly Thou desirest my salvation; and I desire to be saved chiefly to please Thee. I desire to sing the many mercies Thou hast shown me for all eternity in Heaven. I hope that now, at this hour, Thou hast already pardoned me; but even should I be in disfavour with Thee, because I have not known how to repent of my offences against Thee as I ought, I now repent of my offences against Thee as I ought, I now repent of them with all my soul, and grieve for them above all other evils. Pardon me in Thy mercy, and increase in me more and more sorrow for having offended Thee, my God, Who art so good.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Basil of Ancyra (continued)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Pilate, seeing the Redeemer reduced to that condition, so moving, as it was, to compassion, thought that the mere sight of Him would have softened the Jews. He therefore led Him forth into the balcony; he raised up the purple garment, and, exhibiting to the people the body of Jesus all covered with wounds and gashes, he said to them, Behold the Man: Pilate therefore went forth again and saith to them: 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; and he saith to them: Behold the man. — (John xix., 4, 5). Behold the man! – as though he would have said: Behold the man against whom you have laid an accusation before me, and who wanted to make Himself a King. I, to please you, have sentenced Him, innocent though He be, to be scourged – ‘Behold the Man, not honoured as a king, but covered with disgrace.’ Behold Him now, reduced to such a state that He wears the appearance of a man that has been flayed alive; and He can have but little life left in Him. If, with all this, you want me to condemn Him to death, I tell you that I cannot do so, as I find not any reason for condemning Him. But the Jews, on beholding Jesus thus ill-treated, waxed more fierce: When, therefore, the chief priests and servants saw him, they cried out, saying Crucify him! Crucify him! — (John xix., 6). Pilate seeing that they could not be pacified, washed his hands in the presence of the people, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this just man; look you to it. And they made answer, His blood be upon us, and upon our children. — (Matt. xxvii., 24, 25).
O my beloved Saviour, Thou art the greatest of all kings; yet now I behold Thee the most reviled of all mankind. If this ungrateful people knows Thee not, I know Thee; and I adore Thee as my true King and Lord. I thank Thee, O my Redeemer, for all the outrages Thou hast suffered for me; and I pray Thee to give me a love for contempt and pains, since Thou hast so lovingly embraced them. I blush at having in time past loved honours and pleasures so much, that for their sake I have often gone so far as to renounce Thy grace and Thy love. I repent of this above every other evil. I embrace, O Lord, all the pains and ignominies which will come to me from Thy hands. Do Thou bestow upon me that resignation which I need. I love Thee, my Jesus, my Love, my All.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: NOTHING MORE PRECIOUS THAN TIME
There is nothing more precious than time; but by many there is nothing less valued. At the hour of death, to obtain even one short hour men would give all they possess – wealth, honours, pleasures, – but this hour shall not be given them. They will weep and say: O fools that we have been! O time for ever lost!
Meditation I:
There is nothing more precious than time; but there is nothing less valued and more despised by men in the world. Lamenting over this, St. Bernard goes on to say: “The days of salvation pass, and no one reflects that for him that day vanishes and returns no more.” You will see that gambler, who night and day loses his time in play. If you ask him: What art thou doing? he replies: We are passing the time. You will see that other vagabond loitering for whole hours at the corner of a street, looking at the passers-by, or speaking immodestly or on idle things. If you ask him: What art thou doing? he will reply: I am passing the time. Poor blind creatures who lose so many days, but days that return no more!
O despised time, thou wilt be desired above all things by worldlings at the hour of death. Then will they desire another year, another month, another day; but they will not obtain it. They will then be told there is no more time. How much would each of these then give for another week, another day, to put in better order the affairs of his conscience! “To obtain even one little hour,” says St. Laurence Justinian, “they would give all they possess – wealth, honours, pleasures.” But this hour shall not be given them. Quickly, the priest who assists them will say, quickly depart from this world; there is no more time. “Depart, O Christian soul, from this world.”
Ah, my Jesus, Thou hast devoted Thy whole life to the salvation of my soul. There was not a moment of it in which Thou didst not offer Thyself for me to the Eternal Father, to obtain my pardon and my eternal salvation; and of the many years I have been in the world, how many have I spent in Thy service? Alas, all that I can remember having done, all fills me with remorse of conscience. The evil has been great; the good has been too little and full of imperfections, of lukewarmness, of self-love, and of distractions. Ah, my Redeemer, all has been thus because I have forgotten how much Thou hast done for me. I have forgotten Thee, but Thou didst not forget me; Thou hast pursued me while I fled from Thee and hast so often called me to Thy love.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Sirmium (March 25)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Go forth, ye daughters of Sion and behold King Solomon in his diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him on the day of his espousals, and on the day of the joy of his heart. — (Cant. iii., 11). Go forth, ye souls redeemed, ye daughters of grace, go forth and see your gentle King, on the day of His death (the day of His joy, for thereon He made you His spouses, giving up His life upon the Cross), crowned by the ungrateful synagogue, His mother, with a crown; not indeed one of honour, but one of suffering and shame: “Go forth,” says St. Bernard, “and behold your King in a crown of poverty and misery.” O most beautiful of all mankind! O greatest of all monarchs! O most lovely of all spouses! to what a state do I see Thee reduced, covered with wounds and contempt! Thou art a Spouse, but a Spouse of Blood: “To me Thou art a Spouse of Blood”; it being by means of Thy Blood that Thou hast willed to espouse Thyself to our souls. Thou art a King, but a King of suffering and a King of love; it being by sufferings that Thou hast willed to gain our affections.
O most beloved Spouse of my soul, would that I were continually calling to mind how much Thou hast suffered for me, that so I might never cease from loving and pleasing Thee! Have compassion upon me, who have cost Thee so much. In requital for so many sufferings endured by Thee, Thou art content if I love Thee. Yes, I do love Thee, Infinite Loveliness, I love Thee above every thing; yet it is but little that I love Thee. O my beloved Jesus, give me more love, if Thou wouldst that I should love Thee more. I desire to have a very great love for Thee. Such a wretched sinner as I am, ought to have been burning in hell ever since the moment in which I first grievously offended Thee; but Thou hast borne with me even until this hour, because Thou dost not wish me to burn with that miserable fire, but with the blessed fire of Thy love. This thought, O God of my soul, sets me all on fire with the desire of doing all that I can to please Thee. Help me, O my Jesus; and since Thou hast done so much, complete the work, and make me wholly Thine.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: “WALK WHILE YOU HAVE THE LIGHT”
Death is not the time for making our preparation, but the time to find ourselves already prepared. Be ye ready! At the hour of death we can do nothing. What is done is done. And what are we doing? We know for certain that ere long, and maybe at any hour, our most important affair, the affair of our eternal salvation, will have to be decided, and we lose time.
Meditation I:
Walk whilst you have the light. — (John xii., 35). We must walk in the way of the Lord during life, whilst we have light, because in death we lose that light. Death is not the time for preparation, but to find ourselves already prepared: Be ye ready. At the hour of death we can do nothing; what then is done is done. O God, if a person were told that ere long a trial would take place on which his life or all his property depended, what haste would he make to procure an able counsel to plead his cause, and to find means for obtaining favour! And what do we do? We know for certain that ere long, and maybe at any hour, our most important affair, that is to say, the affair of our eternal salvation, will have to be decided, and we lose time.
Some will say: I am young; later I will give myself to God. But remember, I reply, that the Lord cursed the fig-tree that He found without fruit, although it was not the season for fruit, as the Gospel remarks: It was not the time for figs. — (Mark xi., 13). By this Jesus wished to signify that men should at all times, even in youth, bring forth the fruit of good works, otherwise they will be cursed, and bring forth no more fruit in the future. May no man hereafter eat fruit of thee any more for ever. Thus did our Redeemer say to that tree, and thus does He curse whoever is called by Him and resists. The devil considers the whole of our life as short, and he therefore loses not a moment in tempting us: The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. — (Apoc. xii., 12). Our enemy, then, loses no time in trying to destroy us; and shall we delay to save our souls?
Another will say: But what harm do I do? O God, and is there, then, no harm in losing time in play, in useless conversations, that are of no profit to the soul? Has God, then, given you this time merely that you should waste it? No, says the Holy Ghost: Defraud not thyself of the good day. — (Ecclus. xiv., 14). The labourers mentioned by St. Matthew did no evil; they only lost time; and for this they were rebuked by the master of the vineyard: Why stand you here all the day idle? — (Matt. xx., 6).
No, my God, I will no longer lose the time which Thou givest me in Thy mercy. I deserve now to be weeping fruitless tears in hell. I thank Thee for having preserved my life; I will live only for Thee during the remainder of my days. If I were now in hell, I should weep, but in despair and unavailingly. I will weep over my offences against Thee; and in weeping I am certain of Thy pardon, as the Prophet assures me: Weeping thou shalt not weep; he will surely have pity on thee. — (Is. xxx., 19). If I were in hell, I could never more love Thee; and now I love Thee, and hope always to love Thee. If I were in hell, I could not ask of Thee more graces; but then, I still have time to beg for Thy graces, I as of Thee two. O God of my soul, give me perseverance in Thy grace, and give my Thy love; and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saints Apian and Aedesius, Brothers (April 2 and 8)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Pilate was going on making excuses to the Jews to the effect that he could not condemn that innocent One to death, when they worked upon his fears by telling him: If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar’s friend. — (John xix., 12). And hence the miserable judge, blinded by his fear of losing Caesar’s favour, after having so often recognised and declared the innocence of Jesus Christ, at last condemned Him to die by crucifixion: Then, therefore, he delivered him to them to be crucified. — (John xix., 16). O my beloved Redeemer, St. Bernard hereupon bewails, what crime hast Thou committed that Thou shouldst have to be condemned to death, and that death the death of the Cross? “What hast Thou done, O most innocent Saviour, that the judgment upon Thee should be such? Of what crime hast Thou been guilty?” Ah, I well understand, replies the Saint, the reason for Thy death; I understand what has been Thy crime: “Thy crime is Thy love.” Thy crime is the too great love which Thou hast borne to men; it is this, not Pilate, that condemns Thee to die. No, adds St. Bonaventure, I see no just reason for Thy death, O my Jesus, save the excess of the affection which Thou bearest to us: “I see no cause for death but the superabundance of love.” Ah, so great an excess of love, goes on St. Bernard, how strongly does it constrain us, O living Saviour, to consecrate all the affections of our hearts unto Thee! “Such love wholly claims for itself our love.” O my dear Saviour, the mere knowledge that Thou dost love me should be sufficient to make me live detached from everything, in order to study only how to love Thee and please Thee in all things: “Love is strong as death.” If love is as strong as death, oh, by Thy merits, my Saviour, grant me such a love for Thee as shall make me hold all earthly affections in abhorrence. Give me thoroughly to understand that all my good consists in pleasing Thee, O God, all Goodness and all Love! I curse that time in which I loved Thee not. I thank Thee for that Thou dost give me time in which to love Thee. I love Thee, O my Jesus, infinite in loveliness, and infinitely loving. With my whole soul do I love Thee, and I assure Thee that I would wish to die a thousand deaths rather than ever again cease from loving Thee.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: “MY LIFE IS CUT OFF AS BY A WEAVER”
Oh, how many whilst they are busy weaving, that is, preparing and executing the worldly projects they have devised with so much care, are surprised and cut off by death! O God, of what use are riches, possessions, or kingdoms in death when nothing is needed but a coffin and a simple garment to cover the body! My life is cut off as by a weaver; whilst I was yet beginning, he cut me off.
Meditation I:
King Ezechias said, with tears, My life is cut off as by a weaver; whilst I was yet but beginning, he cut me off. — (Is. xxxviii., 12). Oh, how many, whilst they are busy weaving – that is, preparing and executing the worldly projects which they have devised with such care – are surprised by death, which cuts all short! By the light of that last candle,* all things of this world vanish; applause, amusements, pomps, and grandeurs. Great secret of death, which makes us see that which the lovers of this world do not see! The most enviable fortunes, the most exalted dignities, the proudest triumphs, lose all their splendour when they are viewed from the bed of death. The ideas of certain false happiness, which we have formed to ourselves, are then changed into indignation against our own madness. The dark and gloomy shades of death cover and obscure all, even royal dignities.
At present our passions make the things of this earth appear different from what they really are; death tears away the veil, and shows them in their true light, to be nothing but smoke, dirt, vanity and misery. O God, of what use are riches, possessions, or kingdoms, in death, when nothing is needed but a coffin, and a simple garment to cover the body? Of what use are honours, when nothing remains of them but a funeral procession, and pompous obsequies, which will not avail the soul if it be lost? Of what use is beauty, if nothing remains after it but worms, stench, horror, even before death, and after it a little fetid dust?
O God of my soul, O Infinite Goodness, have pity on me who have so greatly offended Thee. I already knew that in sinning I should lose Thy grace, and I chose to lose it. Oh, tell me what I must do to regain it. If Thou desirest that I repent of my sins, I do indeed repent with my whole heart, and I wish I could die of grief. If Thou wilt that I hope for pardon, behold, I hope for it through the merits of Thy Blood.
*A blessed candle is usually lighted and placed in the hand or by the bed of the dying. – Ed.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Justin, Philosopher (April 13)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Pilate delivers over the innocent Lamb into the hands of those wolves, to do with Him what they will. But he delivered Jesus up to their will. — (Luke xxiii., 25). These ministers of Satan seize hold of Him fiercely; they strip Him of the purple garment, as is suggested to them by the Jews, and put His own raiment again upon Him: They stripped him of the purple garment, and clothed him in his own raiment, and led him away to crucify him. — (Matt. xxvii., 31). And this they did, says St. Ambrose, in order that Jesus might be recognised, at least, by His apparel; His beautiful Face being so much disfigured with Blood and Wounds, that in other apparel it would have been difficult for Him to have been recognised as the person He was: “They put on Him His own raiment, that He might the better be recognised by all; since, as His Face was all bloody and disfigured, it would not have been an easy matter for all to have recognised Him.” They then take two rough beams, and of them they quickly construct the Cross, the length of which was fifteen feet, as St. Bonaventure says, with St. Anselm, and they lay it upon the shoulders of the Redeemer.
But Jesus did not wait, says St. Thomas of Villanova, for the the executioner to lay the Cross upon Him; of His own accord He stretched forth His hands, and eagerly laid hold of it, and placed it upon His own wounded shoulders: “He waited not till the soldier should lay it upon him, but He laid hold of it joyfully.” Come, He then said, come, My beloved Cross; it is now three-and-thirty years that I am sighing and searching for thee. I embrace thee, I clasp thee to My Heart, for thou art the altar upon which it is My will to sacrifice My Life out of love for My flock.
Ah, my Lord, how couldst Thou do so much good to one who has done Thee so much evil? O God, when I think of Thy having gone so far as to die under torments to obtain for me the Divine friendship, and that I have so often voluntarily lost it afterwards through my own fault, I would that I could die of grief! How often hast Thou forgiven me, and I have gone back and offended Thee again! How could I ever have hoped for pardon, were it not that I knew that Thou didst die in order to pardon me? By this Thy death, then, I hope for pardon, and for perseverance in loving Thee. I repent, O my Redeemer, of having offended Thee. By Thy merits, pardon me, who promise never to displease Thee more. I prize and love Thy friendship more than all the good things of this world. Oh, let it not be my lot to go back and lose it! Inflict on me, O Lord, any punishment rather than this. O my Jesus, I am not willing to lose Thee any more; no, I would sooner be willing to lose my life: I wish to love Thee always.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE GREATER MARY’S LOVE, THE GREATER HER SORROWS
In other Martyrs, says Richard of St. Victor, the greatness of their love soothed the pains of their Martyrdom, but in the case of the Blessed Virgin, the greater her love was, the greater were her sufferings and the more cruel was her Martyrdom. Where there is the greatest love there also is the greatest grief.
Meditation I:
As other Martyrs, as Diez remarks, are all represented with the instrument of their sufferings – a St. Paul with a sword, a St. Andrew with a cross, a St. Laurence with a gridiron – Mary is represented with her dead Son in her arms; for Jesus Himself, and He alone, was the instrument of her Martyrdom, by reason of the love she bore Him. Richard of St. Victor confirms in a few words all that I have now said: “In other Martyrs, the greatness of their love soothed the pains of their Martyrdom; but in the Blessed Virgin, the greater was her love, the greater were her sufferings, the more cruel was her Martyrdom.”
It is certain that the more we love a thing, the greater is the pain we feel in losing it. We are more afflicted at the loss of a brother than at the loss of a beast of burden; one is more grieved at the loss of a son than at the loss of a friend. Now, Cornelius à Lapide says that “to understand the greatness of Mary’s grief at the death of her Son, we must understand the greatness of the love she bore Him.” But who can ever measure that love? Blessed Amadeus says that “in the heart of Mary were united two kinds of love for Jesus – supernatural love, by which she loved Him as her God, and natural love by which she loved Him as her Son.” So that these two loves became one; but so immense a love, that William of Paris even says that the Blessed Virgin “loved Him as much as it was possible for a pure creature to love Him.” Hence Richard of St. Victor affirms that “as there was no love like her love, so there was no sorrow like her sorrow.” And if the love of Mary towards her Son was immense, immense also must have been her grief in losing Him by death. “Where there is the greatest love,” says Blessed Albert the Great, “there also is the greatest grief.”
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Justin, Philosopher (continued)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Imagine to yourself, O my soul, that you meet Jesus as He passes along in this sorrowful journey. As a lamb borne along to the slaughter-house, so is the loving Redeemer unto death: He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter. — (Is. liii., 7). So drained of Blood is He and wearied out with His torments, that for very weakness He can scarcely stand. Behold Him, all torn with wounds, with that bundle of thorns upon His head, with that heavy Cross upon His shoulders, and with one of those soldiers dragging Him along by a rope. Look at Him as He goes along, with Body bent double, with knees all a-tremble, dripping with His Blood; and so painful is it to Him to walk, that at every step He seems ready to die.
Put the question to Him: O Divine Lamb, hast Thou not yet had Thy fill of sufferings? If it is by them that Thou dost aim at gaining my love, oh, let Thy sufferings end here, for I wish to love Thee as Thou dost desire. No, He replies, I am not yet content: then only shall I be content when I see Myself die for love of you. And whither, O my Jesus, art Thou going now? I am going, He replies, to die for you. Hinder Me not: this only do I ask of, and recommend to you, that, when you shall see Me actually dead upon the Cross for you, you will keep in mind the great love I have borne you; bear it in mind, and love Me.
O my afflicted Lord, how dear did it cost Thee to make me comprehend the love which Thou hast had for me! But what benefit could ever have resulted to Thee from my love, that Thou hast been willing to expend Thy Blood and Thy life to gain it? And how could I, after having been bound by so great love, have been able so long to live without loving Thee, and unmindful of Thy affection? I thank Thee, O God, that now Thou dost give me light to make me know how much Thou hast loved me. O infinite Goodness, I love Thee above every good. Would, too, that I had the power of offering a thousand lives in sacrifice unto Thee, willing as Thou hast been to sacrifice Thine own Divine life for me. O grant me those aids to love Thee which Thou hast merited for me by so many sufferings! Bestow upon me that sacred fire which Thou didst come to enkindle upon earth by dying for us. Be ever reminding me of Thy death, that I may never forget to love Thee.
Meditation II:
