# Meditations For Every Day In The Year/From Septuagesima Sunday To Easter

SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
Christ the Master of the Vineyard of your Soul.
"Let my beloved come into his garden and eat the fruit." (Cant. v. I.)
I. Your soul, and the soul of every rational creature, is a particular vineyard, belonging to the "great Master of the family," who is the subject of the Gospel of this day. Feel convinced that, to-day, He will come to examine His vineyard in you, and to gather fruit from it. Hear Him say, with the Spouse, in the Canticle: " Let us go up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vineyards flourish: if the flowers be ready to bring forth fruits." (Cant. vii. 12.)
II. This divine Master of the family has omitted nothing on His part which might conduce to render you a fertile vineyard. " I planted thee," He says by His prophet, " a chosen vineyard, all true seed." (Jer. ii. 21.) He has sown in your soul much seed of true and real piety; He has guarded this seed by the inclosure of salutary laws; He has given you His sacraments, as channels to convey to your soul the fertilizing moisture of His grace. He has omitted nothing which could be beneficial to you. " What is there," He says, " that I ought to do more to my vineyard that I have not done to it?" Take care, then, that you yield Him proper fruit; beware lest the following part of the passage be applicable to you: "I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it hath brought forth wild grapes." (Is. v. 4.) If this be the case, you have reason to fear the threat which hangs over you: "And now I will show you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted; it shall not be pruned, and it shall not ​be digged; but briers and thorns shall come up; and I will command the clouds to let fall no rain upon it." Meditate on the misfortunes that all these evils would entail upon you, and resolve to avert them.
III. Nothing ought to be wanting to convince you that it is your duty to prepare for His visit. Prune away all superfluities by salutary mortification. Discover the nature of the soil of your soul by a thorough self-knowledge. Destroy the briers and growing weeds of passion, and let the tears of compunction fertilize the aridity of your soul. In fine, " let your vineyard be before you, and it will bring forth its fruits in due season." (Cant, viii. 12; Ps. i. 3.)
MONDAY.
Christ invites all to Contemplate His Passion.
I. Christ with good reason complains, that after having suffered so much for men, He still finds them ungrateful and forgetful. " I looked for one," He might truly have said during His passion, "who would grieve together with Me, but there was none; and for one who would comfort Me, and I found none." (Ps. lxviii. 21.) "The just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart." (Is. lvii. 1.) Meditate on this pitiful state of your Jesus; tell Him that you will not leave Him alone; that you will sympathize with Him; and that the just one shall not perish without your notice and condolence.
II. We can do nothing more pleasing to our Redeemer than to meditate frequently on His passion. He invites all mankind to this holy exercise by the mouth of His prophet: " O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to My sorrow." (Lament, i. 12.) He calls the attention of all mankind to His suffer​ings by the same prophet: " Remember my poverty," he says, "the wormwood and the gall." (Lament, iii. 19.) Reflect, and apply the case to yourself: if you had suffered any serious loss in your property or person in the defence of your friend, would you not justly expect that he should ever be grateful for your friendly kindness? How much more has Christ suffered for you!
III. Present yourself before Christ as an attentive spectator of His sufferings, and promise to meditate on them with feelings of gratitude. Say with the prophet, " I will be mindful and remember; and my soul shall languish within me. These things I shall think on in my heart, therefore will I hope." (Lament, iii. 20.) And if you contemplate His passion, you will have good reason to hope; for He suffered in order that He might be able to present Himself as our advocate before His Father, and allege His own sufferings in our behalf. He pardoned the thief on the cross, and gave him admission into paradise.
TUESDAY.
Christ's Passion in General.
WHO SUFFERS?
I. He who suffers is the immaculate Lamb of God, "who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." (1 Pet. ii. 22.) He was the Holy of holies, possessed of the divine Spirit beyond measure, the perfect form and image of His Father. His crucifiers confessed Him to be the ,Son of God, and their judge had already pronounced Him innocent.
II. He who suffered had already devoted His whole life to the good of others; He " had gone about doing ​good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil." (Acts x. 38.) He therefore not only suffered without deserving these sufferings, but, on the contrary, He merited every kind of honor, respect, and veneration.
III. He who suffered was the great Lover of mankind. He had made Himself our Redeemer, Pastor, Physician, and Brother. If the son ought to feel sensibly the sufferings of his father, and the spouse to condole with her spouse in his afflictions, how much more reason have you to compassionate Jesus Christ in the sufferings which He has undergone for your sake! There is no character, however affectionate, and no title, however dear, that this man-God has not assumed in your regard. Grieve for Him, then; and if you cannot carry, with the Apostle, the marks of His sufferings on your own body, bear them in your heart. Resolve to suffer something, at least, for His sake.
WEDNESDAY.
Christ's Passion in General.
WHAT DOES HE SUFFER?
I. The sufferings of Christ were various and numerous. He suffers in His external goods; for He is stripped of everything that He had, even of His very clothes, and He is suspended naked on the cross, in the presence of all the Jews. He suffers in His honor; for every species of reproach is thrown upon Him. His fame suffers; for He is variously traduced and calumniated: He is represented as a Samaritan, a man possessed by the devil, a glutton, a lover of wine, a blasphemer, and a seducer. His knowledge is insulted; for He is considered as a man without learning, and a madman. His miracles are ​esteemed as so many impostures. And to crown all, He is totally abandoned by His friends.
II. How much He suffered in His body! His eyes were defiled with spittle, and filled with the blood which flowed from His sacred head, and tormented with the scornful gestures which they were obliged to behold. His ears were wounded with repeated blasphemies against God, and most unjust accusations brought against Himself. His taste was tormented with the most violent thirst, and then with vinegar and gall. Lastly, His sense of feeling was tortured, in every part of His sacred body, by thorns, stripes, and nails. So that it might be said of Him with truth, "From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein." (Is. i. 6.)
III. Christ suffered, also, most severely in His mind. His agony in the garden and His dereliction on the cross were perhaps the severest of all His pains: add to those His foreknowledge of the ingratitude of mankind, and their abuse of His redemption. Be ashamed at your cowardice in suffering and your impatience under the pressure of crosses. Form a resolution of suffering something for Him who has suffered so much for you.
THURSDAY.
Christ's Passion in General.
FROM WHOM DOES HE SUFFER?
I. He suffers from every kind and character of men; from the highest to the lowest, from the sacred and the profane. He is dragged about the streets by the dregs of the people; He is forsaken by His friends, He is accused by the priests, laughed at by the soldiery, con​demned by the council of the high priest, ignominiously treated in the court of the governor, and sentenced to death at the tribunal of the president. Learn, hence, to contemn the opinions and judgments of the world which was so unjust to your Saviour.
II. He suffered from those whom He came to save, on whom He had already bestowed most singular favors during His private and public life; so that He might truly say, " they have hated me without cause." (John xv. 25.) And what, is still more, He suffered Himself to be betrayed by His own disciple, to give us an example of patience in the failure and abandonment of friends. " The man of My peace, in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, hath greatly supplanted Me." (Ps. xl. 10.)
III. He was left exposed to the machinations of hell, according to the expression of St. Luke: "This is your hour, and the power of darkness." (Luke xxii. 53.) He was surrendered to the power of Satan, not as holy Job was, with this restriction, "but yet save his life" (Job ii. 6), but absolutely and even to death. Compassionate your Lord, thus forsaken by His friends and left to the mercy of His most cruel enemies; and if at any time it should be your fortune to experience the insolence of men, remember " the disciple is not above his Master." (Matt, x. 24.)
FRIDAY.
Christ's Passion in General.
FOR WHOM DOES HE SUFFER?
I. Christ did not suffer for Himself, for He was incapable of doing anything that deserved punishment; but He suffered in order to reconcile mankind to His eternal ​Father, and to open to them the gates of heaven. He suffered in every manner, because in every manner men had offended their God, and because His object was to apply a remedy to every vice. To correct our covetousness, He chose to die naked; to reform our pride, He willingly suffered reproaches; he opposed his torments to our luxury, and He drank vinegar and gall to atone for our intemperance.
II. He suffered in a most peculiar manner for His enemies, that is, for all sinners; for "God commendeth His charity towards us, because, when as yet we were sinners, according to the time, Christ died for us and when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God; by the death of His Son." (Rom. v. 8, 10.) And what is more, when He was in the act of expiring on the cross, He prayed for His executioners, that He might teach us " to overcome evil by good." (Rom. xii. 21.)
III. Christ suffered for all mankind in general, and for each of us in particular. Apply, then. His sufferings to yourself, and make them your own. Render yourself capable of saying with St. Paul, " I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself for me." (Gal. ii. 20.) Reflect what return you can make for so much love: "What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that He hath rendered to me? I will take the chalice of salvation." (Ps. cxv. 3.) Take, therefore, the chalice of His passion, and drink it up, at least spiritually by contemplation: this is the return which your Saviour expects, and of which He will most cordially accept.
SATURDAY.
Christ's Passion in General.
WITH WHAT AFFECTION DOES HE SUFFER?
!. His sufferings were prompted by a most sincere love for us; He earnestly wished beforehand for the hour in which His passion would commence. " I have a baptism," He says, " wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished!" (Luke xii. 50.)
II. His sufferings were endured with the most profuse liberality. One single pain, one drop of blood, would have atoned for the crimes of a thousand worlds, in consequence of the nature of the sufferer; but Christ shed all His blood. " With Him" there is " plentiful redemption." (Ps. cxxix. 7.)
III. He suffered with the greatest meekness; for, "when He was reviled, He did not revile; when He suffered, He threatened not: but He delivered Himself to him who judged Him unjustly." (1 Pet. ii. 23.) And the prophet had foretold that " He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter." (Is. liii. 7.)
IV. He suffered with an insatiable zeal for the salvation of mankind; hence He exclaimed on the cross, "I thirst." (John xix. 28.)
V. In His sufferings He was perfectly humble; hence He might have said of Himself, "I am a worm and no man; the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people." (Ps. xxi. 7.)
VI. He exercised the virtue of poverty during the whole of His passion, and He ultimately died naked on the cross.
VII. His patience and perseverance were uncon​querable, and never yielded to the most grievous tor tures.
VIII. He practised the virtue of obedience in its highest degree during His sufferings. He was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. ii. 8.) He was obedient not only to His eternal Father, but even to His cruel executioners. " I have given my body to the strikers," He says of Himself by His prophet, "and my cheeks to those who plucked them; I have not turned away my face from those who rebuked me and spat upon me." (Is. 1. 6.) Examine minutely this perfect model of patience and virtue, and " go and do thou likewise."
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
Christ the Seed of Eternal Life.
"I will sow her unto Me in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who was without mercy." (Osee ii. 23.)
I. "A sower went forth to sow his seed." (Luke viii. 5.) Christ our Lord is both the sower and the seed itself. He intrusts the soil of our souls with His own precious body and blood. He wishes this divine grain to yield a harvest, not of temporal and corruptible, but of eternal and incorruptible, increase. For " he whosoweth in the spirit shall reap life everlasting." (Gal. iii. 8.) Earnestly wish for this blessed harvest in your soul.
II. Although this divine seed be in itself most fruitful, it requires, nevertheless, the concurrence of a good soil to produce a harvest. Hence, if it fall on the highway, it will be immediately trampled down; if among thorns, it will be choked up. Examine, then, whether your soul be a proper soil for this seed; whether it be trampled ​upon continually by distractions and idle thoughts; and whether it be stony and full of the cares and occupations of this life, and consequently not susceptible of the divine influence of heavenly grace. If this be unfortunately your case, reform your state, and render yourself capable of profiting by this divine seed.
III. This seed, although sown in a good soil, does not " bring forth fruit" except " in patience." (Luke viii. 15.) Learn, therefore, to persevere with patience in expectation of the effect. Do not desist from cultivating the soil of your soul because, perhaps, you do not immediately discover the fruit which you desire to reap. " Behold," says St. James, " the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, patiently bearing till he receive the early and the latter rain." (James v. 7.) Act in the same manner, and the divine seed will not be sown in your soul in vain.
MONDAY.
Christ Foretells His Passion.
I. " Behold, we go up to Jerusalem." (Matt. xx. 18.) The time had now arrived in which Christ had decreed from all eternity to suffer for the redemption of tlr* world. He therefore went up to Jerusalem with great cheerfulness and speed; for "He went before them, and they were astonished, and following were afraid." (Mark x. 32.) Thus did He hasten to death, carried along by the force of His love for us. You, on the contrary, are tardy in suffering anything for Christ. He also went before in order to teach you to show by example what you would wish to teach by words.
II. He revealed His approaching passion to His disciples: "And the Son of man shall be betrayed to the ​chief priests and to the scribes." He had communicated to them this knowledge before, but not so explicitly. He made frequent mention of His passion, though so terrible in itself, because He always bore it in His mind; and even amidst all the glories of His transfiguration He treated " of His decease, which He should accomplish in Jerusalem." (Luke ix. 31.) Endeavor, on your part, to entertain a pious and feeling recollection of this passion; it will console your suffering Saviour, and induce Him to bestow on you all the treasures of His redemption.
III. " And they understood none of these things." (Luke xviii. 34.) The Apostles were as yet worldly men, and bent upon honors and preferments. There was a " strife among them, which of them should seem to be greater." (Luke xxii. 24.) They consequently understood nothing of the mystery of the Cross, or of the advantages resulting from humility and patience under reproach. Divest yourself of all undue worldly affections if you desire to comprehend the divine secrets of the Cross. Ponder the severe rebuke which Christ gave to St. Peter when He dissuaded him from suffering the ignominy of His passion: "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art a scandal unto me, because thou savorest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men." (Matt. xvi. 23.) Give the same answer to selflove when it attempts to dissuade you from imitating
TUESDAY.
Christ's Entrance into Jerusalem.— I.
I. When our Lord approached Jerusalem, He sent two of His disciples to bring Him an ass, on which He intended to ride into the city. On other occasions He was ​accustomed to walk to the places in which He intended to preach; but on this, He enter* Jerusalem in this unusual manner, to teach mankind that poverty, humility, and meekness are the proper badges of His divine royalty. In this action Christ literally fulfilled the prophecy of Zacharias: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, the King will come to thee, the Just and Saviour. He is poor, and riding upon an ass. (Zach. ix. 9.)
II. Christ adopted this manner of entering the city to show us with what alacrity He went to suffer, as if He had been going to take possession of a kingdom: as indeed He was, according to the expression of the hymn, " He reigns on the tree." He wished, also, to give us an example of triumphing in the midst of reproaches and contempt. His love for us prompted Him to render His passion as severe as possible, by increasing the glory which preceded it. " Being exalted," as the prophet said, " I am humbled." (Ps. lxxxvii. 16.)
III. " Hosanna to the son of David." (Matt. xxi. 15.) This expression of joy and respect proceeded from the • poor and lower order of society and not from the rich, from whom the mysteries of poverty and humility are often concealed. But mark the fickleness of the human heart: in a few days their cry was changed into "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" (Luke xxiii. 21.) The favor and applause of the world are ever of this nature. How foolish, then, is it to pursue this inconstant shadow as the end of our existence! livery Christian should be able to say with St. Paul, " God forbid that I should glory, but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Gal. vi. 14.)
WEDNESDAY.
Christ's Entrance into Jerusalem.— II.
I. In the midst of His triumph, as He approached the city, Christ shed tears over it. By this act He convinces us that He was not, and therefore that we ought not to be, transported with the honors which we may receive. " If riches" or honors " abound, set not your heart upon them." (Ps. lxi. n.) His charity prompted His tears to flow for the blind stubbornness of the Jews, which He foreknew would prove their ruin. He gave us an example, too, of weeping in this vale of tears. We read of Him that He wept several times; but the Scripture nowhere says that He laughed. " Blessed are those who mourn." (Matt. v. 5.)
II. Consider the words of Christ addressed to the city: "If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace" (Luke xix. 42), then thou also wouldst weep: "For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench round about thee." Consider these words as addressed to yourself. If you knew the things that are for your peace, if you foresaw what temptations would assail you, what crimes you would commit, and into what misery and misfortunes you would afterwards fall, you also would shed tears, and spend the present time more profitably. Begin to do so, therefore, and fortify yourself in such a manner that you may not afterwards be overcome by your spiritual enemies.
III. Christ assigns this to be the cause of the city's ruin: "Because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation." (Luke xix. 44.) Of how great importance is it that you should know when Christ visits you by ​His holy inspirations, good books, sermons, and instructions! Endeavor, therefore, to know the time of your visitation. " To-day, if you should hear His voice, harden not your hearts" (Ps. xciv. 8)., but follow the divine call. Deplore the general depravity of mankind, and especially your own.
THURSDAY.
Christ is Sold by Judas.
I. Christ might have been delivered into the hands of the Jews by various ways, but for His greater ignominy He would be sold, and that, too, by His own disciple, to teach you to bear with false brethren, and to convince you that there is no state nor place so holy as to exclude the danger of falling. Christ foreknew that it would be deemed a foul disgrace to His Apostolic school; he nevertheless chose Judas for an Apostle for our instruction. " In that point," observes St. Ambrose, " He chose rather to have His judgment called in question by us than His affection for us."
II. To what excess of crime does the spirit of avarice lead its votaries! "What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?" (Matt. xxvi. 14.) Ponder who it is that is to be sold. The great God of all things. For how much? For thirty pieces of silver, for which a laboring beast could hardly have been procured. So vilely is the Sovereign of the world undervalued! By whom is He sold? By His own disciple. To whom? To His mortal and sworn enemies. Compassionate your insulted Lord, and never disdain the idea of being treated below your deserts or quality.
III. How often have you sold the same Lord for some smaller trifle, some transitory pleasure, some sinful ​thought or detracting word! Reflect how many do the same repeatedly, and in the extremes of folly and madness renounce their God like Judas. "A fool worketh mischief, as it were for sport" (Prov. x. 23), says Solomon. Take care not to be of this class, and endeavor to appease God's indignation against those who are in this number.
FRIDAY.
The Paschal Lamb.
I. Christ ate the paschal lamb with His disciples the day before He suffered, in order to teach His followers obedience to the laws of God in every circumstance of life. He therefore sent Peter and John to procure for that purpose "a large dining-room furnished." (Mark xiv. 15.) Such ought to be your soul, dilated with pure charity, and furnished with all the ornaments of virtue, as often as you receive in holy communion the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Ponder the words the Master addressed to His disciples: "With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you before I suffer." (Luke xxii. 15.) Admire the excess of His love towards us: He longed for the moment in which He was to leave us His precious body and blood, and to suffer and die for us. Oh that you were as desirous of suffering for Him!
II. Christ observed all the ceremonies prescribed by the law, in eating the paschal lamb. In each of these ceremonies He reflected upon Himself and His passion, of which these were the prefigurative representations. " Christ our pasch," says the Church, " is immolated, for He is the true Lamb who takes away the sins of the world." Imagine you see Christ with His disciples stand​ing at the table, " their reins girt, with shoes on their feet, holding staves in their hands, eating in haste." (Exod. xii. 11.) All this was expressive of the vigor of mind and promptitude with which He suffered.
III. When Christ beheld the paschal lamb on the table, in the state prescribed by the law, He could not help reflecting how He was soon to be extended on the cross, after having been scourged and variously tormented by the malicious Jews. When the lamb was cut in pieces, without breaking any of its bones, he saw pictured before Him His own mangled body, and the disjointing of His bones, though none of them were to be broken. The haste with which the Jews were commanded to eat the paschal lamb prefigured the hasty fury of His persecutors. The bitter wild lettuce represented the gall to His mind, and the bitter chalice of His passion, which He had to drink to the very dregs. Great must have been His love for mankind, when, with all these presentiments and feelings, He could still persevere in hastening to commence His passion!
SATURDAY.
Christ Washes His Disciples' Feet.
I. After Christ had eaten the paschal lamb with His disciples, He began to prepare for the greatest act of kindness that He could perform for mankind. He intended to leave them a perfect memorial of Himself, by leaving them His body and blood for the food and nourishment of their souls. Before He did this, however, He gave them an example of the most perfect humility, by washing the feet of His disciples. By this act He also intended to show mankind with what purity they ought to approach the sacred table. Ponder the simple words ​of the Scripture, for they are full of unction: "Jesus knowing that His hour was come, that He should pass out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And when supper was done, knowing that the Father had given Him all things into His hands, and that He came from God and goethto God, He riseth from supper, and layeth aside His garments; and having taken a towel, He girded Himself." (John xiii. 1.)
II. " After that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded." (John xiii. 5.) Behold the Lord of heaven and earth washing the feet of poor fishermen! Well might St. Peter cry out, " Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? Thou shalt never wash my feet." Ponder Christ's severe disapprobation of this disobedient expression: " If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me." Learn, hence, that all virtue is false that is in opposition to obedience.
III. Christ washed the feet of Judas also, and no doubt with tender expressions of kindness, in order to soften, his hard heart; but in vain. Learn to love your enemies, and endeavor to reconcile them to yourself by kind offices. Guard, also, against the misfortune of obduracy of heart. "The wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sins, contemneth: but ignominy and reproach follow him." (Prov. xviii. 3.) Ponder the words of Christ after He had washed His disciples' feet: " I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so ye do also."
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
Christ the Light of Your Soul.
" Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee; for the Lord shall arise upon thee." (Is. lx. 1.)
I. Imagine yourself to be that blind man who, as is recorded in the Gospel of to-day, sat by the road begging. (Luke xviii. 35.) You are spiritually blind in many things, since you are not able to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, real and apparent good. You are also unable to discover your own defects in such a manner that you may justly say with royal David, " My iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see." {Ps. xxxix. 13.)
II. What a cheerless and disconsolate life it is to be in continual darkness, without corporeal light! How much more so is it to dwell in spiritual darkness and mental blindness! "What manner of joy shall be to me," says the blind Tobias, " who sit in darkness and see not the light of heaven?" (Tobias v. 12.) Reflect upon yourself, and examine if you see the clear light of heaven, or whether you are not satisfied to see the dim, and false, and fading light of the earth and earthly things. Consider how dangerous it is to be in darkness; for he that " walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth" (John xii. 35), and is exposed to a thousand unknown dangers and falls. Learn, hence, sufficiently to esteem the benefit of divine light.
III. Christ our Lord is "the sun of- justice" (Mai. iv. 2), and "the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world." (John i. 9.) Entreat Him, then, when He visits your soul to-day, to produce in it ​the usual effects of light; to open your eyes to your own defects; to enable you to discover real from fictitious good. Take care you do not close your eyes against this light, by putting impediments to the grace of the sacrament. Holy Job says of sinners: "They have been rebellious to the light; they have not known his ways." (Job xxiv. 13.) See that you be not rebellious, but dilate your heart to receive the influence of this holy light; say with the Prophet, "Thou lightest my lamp, O Lord; O my God, enlighten my darkness." (Ps. xvii. 29.)
MONDAY.
Institution of the Holy Eucharist.—I.
I. After Christ had washed the disciples' feet, He returned to the table, and, intending to leave mankind a singular memorial of His love for them, " took bread " into His holy hands, to show them that His memorial was the gift of His liberality. " Thou openest Thy hand* and fillest with Thy blessing every living creature." (Ps. cxliv. 16.) Then lifting up His eyes to heaven, to show us whence His bread came, He gave thanks to His eternal Father for so great a blessing bestowed upon His followers by His means. He then blessed it, and changed it into His own body. Do you also give thanks to the eternal Father for being made a partaker of this same divine bread; and entreat Him that by the means of this spiritual food He would transform you into another man.
II. The Apostles were certainly astonished when they learned that Christ intended to feed them on His own body and blood. Their minds were, however, illuminated with light from above, and they believed everything possible to God. Learn, you, also to captivate your understanding to the obedience of faith. Observe with ​what humility, reverence, and devotion each one communicates. Do you imitate them when you approach the same table, and avoid following the example of Judas, who "ate and drank unworthily, eating and drinking judgment to himself, and not discerning the body of the Lord." (1 Cor. xi. 29.)
III. " Do this for a commemoration of Me."' (Luke xxii. 19.) Ponder the infinite liberality and charity of Christ, who, intending that this divine benefit should be continued through all ages, by these words gave power to the Apostles and their successors to consecrate His precious body and blood. This power was never granted even to angels. Reflect what a dignity it is; respect those whom Christ has honored so highly, and listen with obedience to those to whose voice Christ Himself is so obedient at the altar. Be ever grateful for this divine mystery, and always prepare yourself well to receive it.
TUESDAY.
Institution of the Holy Eucharist.— II.
I. Christ instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist immediately before His passion, to show His excess of love towards mankind by preparing for them a heavenly banquet, even at the very time when they were plotting His death. By this institution He also manifested the desire which He had of always remaining with us, even corporeally. The time was at hand when He was to leave this world: but He would not leave it without leaving us Himself in a peculiar manner. He wished, also, by this institution to leave us a memorial of His passion and death, as well as a living sacrifice (for the virtue of the ancient sacrifices ceased at His death), by which the fruit ​of His passion might be applied to us. In fine, He instituted this sacrament as His last will and testament, by which He bequeathed Himself to us.
II. He instituted the sacrament under the accidents of bread and wine, in order that He might be more perfectly united to us by becoming our meat and drink, and by incorporating Himself with us. Another motive was to teach us that this divine food operates in the soul those effects which ordinary food produces in the body; that is, it nourishes, preserves, and increases our spiritual strength, and in some respect transforms us into Himself. "He who eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me." (John vi. 58.) As bread is a mass composed of many grains, and wine a liquid produced from many grapes, so, by the participation of this divine sacrament, the hearts of the faithful are made one spirit. Hence the reception of this sacrament is properly called communion, or a union of many among themselves and with Christ.
III. Although under each of the sacramental forms the entire body and blood of Christ are contained, without any real separation of one from the other, yet Christ instituted the sacrament under both forms in order that He might the better represent His passion and death, during which His blood was entirely drained from His sacred body. Recollect His bloody sweat, His scourging at the pillar, His being crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, and pierced with the spear. Think what return you can make for so much love; say with David, " I will take the chalice of salvation," by grateful recollections and compassion, " and I will call upon the name of the Lord." (Ps. cxv. 4.)
ASH-WEDNESDAY.
Christ's Sermon after Supper.— I.
I. After Christ had distributed His body and blood to His Apostles, He addressed to them that long sermon which is recorded in the Gospel of St. John. After com. munion, Christ is accustomed to treat more at large with the pious soul and He would do so with you, were you not accustomed to leave Him immediately, or to shul your ears to His holy inspirations. In this sermon He; performed the character (1) of a comforter, by alleviating the grief of His Apostles for His future absence showing them how expedient it was for them that He should leave the world. (2) He acted the part of a master, by teaching them what He wished them to observe. (3) He acted as an intercessor with His heavenly Father in our behalf, praying Him to preserve us. " Examine how you observe what He enjoins," and be thankful for the lessons which you have received from Him.
II. As our master, Christ chiefly insists on our love of His Father and Himself above all things. "As the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you. Remain in My love." (John xv. 9.) Examine whether you love Him as He has loved you and yet there can be no comparison between the effects of these affections. His love for you is infinitely beneficial to you; yours for Him is in no respect profitable to Him. Notwithstanding this, out of pure affection for you, and to gain your love, He has given you His own precious body and blood, and even His life on the cross, for your redemption. "Greater love than this no man hath." (John xv. 13.)
III. " If ye love Me, keep My commandments; if any one love Me, he will keep My word." (John xiv. 15.) "The performance of actions," says St. Gregory, " is the ​proof of love." How necessary is it for you, if you really love your Saviour, to act and suffer for Him! Compassionate Him, at least, in His sufferings: offer up the fast of Lent, and whatever painful circumstances may attend it, for your past sins, and in union with His pains and torments.
THURSDAY.
Christ's Sermon after Supper.— II.
I. After having enjoined the love of God above all things, our divine Master insists on the love of our neighbor. "This is my commandment," He emphatically says, " that ye love one another, as I have loved you." (John xv. 12.) He calls this "a new commandment," and styles it " His" own, because it is peculiar to Christianity. This precept was new, as to the manner of observing it, because He requires that our love should be like His, extending to friend and foe, without respect to merit or recompense, and even with our own temporal inconvenience. "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples," He says, " if ye have love one for another." (John xiii. 35.) Take care that you be one of His disciples, and respect what He has inculcated in such weighty terms.
II. Our divine Teacher commands us also to practise prayer. " Hitherto you have not asked anything in My name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." (John xvi. 24.) So friendly an invitation cannot fail to ground a great confidence. The poor and needy are invited, and even pressed to receive benefits; and the invitation comes from a Being who is both able and willing to realize His promise. We have only to pray in a proper manner, that is, in Christ's name, for such things as regard our salvation, and with perseverance.
​III. Christ foretells that it will be the lot of all those who follow Him to suffer persecution: "They will put you out of the synagogues; yea, the hour cometh, when whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth a service to God." (John xvi. 2.) He encouraged His disciples to bear all these patiently, from three considerations. 1. " The servant is not greater than his Lord; if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." (John xv. 20.) 2. By pronouncing it a sign of predestination. " Because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you." 3. By proposing the reward: "Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." (John xvi. 20.) Offer yourself to suffer what your Saviour may please to send you.
FRIDAY.
On Christ's Prayer in the Garden.
I. "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to mount Olivet" (Matt. xxvi. 30), " over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden" (John xviii. 1), in order that where human nature fell it might begin to be restored. As He went along, " He began to fear and to be heavy" (Mark xiv. 3), saying to His three disciples, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." (Matt. xxvi. 34.) The grief which He felt was equal to the pains of dying, and would have taken away His life had He not reserved it for other torments. Christ might, if He had chosen, been free from all these pains, and have gone to suffer with pleasure; because the beatific vision which He always enjoyed was capable of drowning all pain whatsoever. But He deprived Himself of its influence, in order that He might be like us in all things, and give us an example which we might imitate in our sufferings.
II. " When He was come to the place, He said to them, Pray, lest ye enter into temptation; and He was with ​drawn away from them a stone's cast, and kneeling down, He prayed, Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me! but yet not My will, but Thine be done." (Luke xxii. 40.) Ponder His profound reverence to His eternal Father, and His confidential love expressed in the word Father. Contemplate His perfect resignation, in the words, "not My will, but Thine be done," and His perseverance in prayer for a whole hour. " Could ye not watch one hour with Me?" (Matt. xxvi. 40.) Learn hence how to pray, and resign yourself to the divine will.
III. Christ, like a good shepherd anxious for His flock, even in the midst of His own distress and the ardor of His prayer, visits His three Apostles. He found them asleep the first, second, and third times. Immediately after communion, they were so full of fervor as to offer themselves to die for their Master; but they cannot now even hold up their heads in prayer. Examine if this be not the character of yourself. The Apostles formerly watched all night for their own interest, when they were fishermen; but now, when the interest of their souls is concerned, and when they are commanded to watch, they cannot refrain from sleep. Beware of sloth, tediousness, and forgetfulness in spiritual things; for, as St. Augustine observes, "the sleep of the soul is to forget God."
SATURDAY.
Christ's Bloody Sweat.
I. After Christ had found His disciples asleep, and had left them in order to continue His prayer, " there appeared to Him an angel from heaven strengthening Him." (Luke xxii. 43.) Good God! is it possible that the eternal Son of God should borrow comfort from His creatures? Observe how the Father of lights at last sends comfort to ​those who persevere in prayer. Imagine what reasons the angel might use in comforting your agonizing Saviour. He probably represented to Him the necessity of His passion for the redemption of mankind, and the glory that would redound to His Father and Himself. All this Christ understood infinitely better than the angel, yet He did not refuse the proffer of consolation, in order to teach you to respect the advice and consolation of your inferiors.
II. " His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground." Imagine you see it gush from every pore of His sacred body, and beg of Him to bathe your soul in it. Detest your tepidity and coldness in prayer, and your barrenness in devotion. Ponder the causes of so preternatural an effect, I. The clear apprehension of all His future torments, as if they were present. 2. His perfect foreknowledge of the sins that would be committed, and of the general ingratitude of mankind, for whom He was on the point of suffering so much and so ineffectually. Condole with your Saviour, and grieve that you yourself have been so great a cause of His pain and sufferings.
III. "And being in an agony, He prayed the longer." From this you ought to learn, that in proportion as afflictions increase, so ought you to redouble your exertions in prayer. Christ might have prevented His agony or this conflict between the spirit and flesh if He had pleased; but He underwent it in order to show us how we ought to resist and conquer our passions. Reflect how easily you suffer yourself to be overcome by your evil propensities, and transgress your good resolutions. When temptation presses, you ought " to expect the Lord, to do manfully, and to let your heart take courage, and wait for the Lord." (Ps. xxvi. 14.)
FIRST WEEK OF LENT.
SUNDAY.
Christ your Captain.
" Deliver me from my enemies, O my God! and defend me from those who rise up against me." (Ps. lviii. 2.)
I. Consider the words of holy Job, " the life of man upon earth is a warfare." (Job vii. i.) We have continually to fight against three most stubborn enemies, which are ever plotting our destruction. These are the devil, the world, and the flesh. Christ, as we read in the gospel of this day, condescended to be tempted by the devil, in order to show us by His own example, as our leader and commander, how we ought to conquer him. Hence David cries out, " Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war." (Ps. cxliii. i.)
II. It is of infinite importance that we should not be overcome in this warfare, for we are fighting for eternity. Examine yourself most strictly, and discover in what points you are weak and defective, and on what occasions you are most frequently wounded. Rely on the defence and conduct of your captain, who is to visit your soul to-day and " gird you with strength unto battle" (Ps. xvii. 40); although "armies in camp stand together against you, your heart need not fear." (Ps. xxvi. 3.)
III. Soldiers are accustomed to take the military oath; so ought you to be sworn to your captain. This duty you have once performed in baptism by renouncing the devil and all his works and pomps. But how often have ​you deserted your colors! Surrender yourself again to your captain, renew your oath, and promise an exact obedience for the future. Banish from your heart whatever you suspect may have treacherously leagued with his and your enemies, and say with the psalmist, "Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God." (Ps. cxlii. 9.)
MONDAY.
Christ Meets Judas.
I. Christ having ended His prayer, said to His disciples, "Rise, let us go; behold, he is at hand who will betray me. And as he yet spoke, behold Judas, one of the twelve, came." (Matt. xxvi. 46.) Mark the persevering diligence of the traitor in his bad design. — The other Apostles had been asleep, and were scarcely roused at the third call of their master. Judas, on the contrary, was upon the watch to betray him. How attentive are men to temporal affairs, and how careless in spiritual things! Deplore this miserable folly of mankind and of yourself. "Judas, one of the twelve, came." Oh unheard of ingratitude! He who had been so highly favored by his Master, appears at the head of His enemies to seize Him. Learn hence, not to rely too much on gifts that have been received without desert. The more you have, the more will be required from you, and the greater cause you have to fear. " Howl, thou fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen." (Zach. xi. 2.) Have you not reason to fear, when an Apostle fell?
II. " And with him [came] a great multitude with swords and clubs." (Matt. xxvi. 47.) Mark how this wicked rabble came armed with malice, and prepared to gain their evil object, in regard to Jesus. They were ​contriving means to seize him, but Judas told them, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is He; hold Him." Then were verified the words of the Royal Prophet, " Many dogs have encompassed me; the council of the malignant hath besieged me." (Ps. xxi. 17.)
III. Christ did not fly, nor render Himself invisible, as He might easily have done, nor call down fire from heaven to consume His enemies, as did Elias, but from his desire of suffering for us, courageously went to meet them. " He was offered because it was His own will." (Is. liii. 7.) Be grateful for his passion, learn constancy in adversity, and do not avoid occasions of suffering for Christ, but meet them rather with courage and resolution, like your divine Instructor.
TUESDAY.
Judas Betrays Christ.
I. " And forthwith coming to Jesus, he said, Hail Rabbi, and he kissed Him." (Matt. xxvi. 49.) Reflect on the impudence of this treacherous disciple. He fawns upon his Master to destroy Him. Such precisely are the allurements of the world; they appear to be sincere embraces, but they are mingled with poison. They are darts, that wound the soul. " His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts." (Ps. liv. 22.) Alas, how many are there who carry the outward garb of devotion, and fondly fawn upon our Lord, whilst their minds are hypocritical and treacherous! How many deal in fair and honeyed words, whilst their hearts are filled with enmity, envy, jealousy, and rancor against their neighbor! Take care your character be different from these; do not embrace Christ in the sacrament so treacherously as did His unworthy Apostle.
​II. Consider the admirable meekness and charity of Christ upon this occasion. He neither upbraided Judas, nor did He refuse to receive his embrace. He even spoke in a kind and friendly manner to him: " Friend, whereunto art thou come?" By these means he endeavored to regain him. He styled him friend, in order to make him one; he asked him, " why he came thither," to induce him to enter into himself and change his bad resolution, after haying understood the enormity of the crime, which he would commit by betraying his best friend and benefactor, his Master, his Lord and his God. Observe the kind and gentle means which Christ made use of to reclaim even Judas, and learn an important lesson from the example.
III. Christ afterwards said to him, "Judas, dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss?" (Luke xxii. 48.) What heart, however obdurate, would not these words soften? Yet he is not moved. We justly condemn Judas for his hardness of heart, without reflecting that we are often guilty of the same crime, because we resist the inspirations of God, the remorse of conscience, or its voice, silently asking us, Will you, then, yield to the temptation, will you sin, will you offend God? The crime of the false Apostle was greatly aggravated by the fact of his making a kiss of peace the instrument of his perfidy. Your crimes are aggravated in the same manner, when you render the gifts of God instrumental to guilt and to your own perdition. Let not the misfortune of Judas be a vain warning to you.
WEDNESDAY.
Christ casts His enemies on the Ground.
I. "Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that were to come upon Him," asked the soldiers that came with Judas, ​" Whom seek ye? They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith to them, I am He." (John xviii. 4.) These words cast them on the ground. This was an evident testimony of His divinity; for it showed them that they could not apprehend Him unless He pleased. Ponder the singular comfort contained in those words, " I am He," to the virtuous and just soul. They import, I am your father, your protector, and your comforter, your sanctification and redemption. " Be of good heart, it is I; be not afraid." (Matt. xiv. 27.) The wicked have reason to fear; for to them they are words full of indignation and terror, threatening punishment. If these words, now, struck such terror into His enemies, when it was, as He Himself said, " their hour and the power of darkness" (Luke xxii. 53), what terror will they not cause when it shall be His day, and the hour of exercising His power shall arrive?
II. " As soon as He had said to them, I am He, they went backwards, and fell to the ground." (John xviii. 6.) This is an emblem of obstinate and impenitent sinners, who fall without considering their misfortune. Beseech your Lord, that should it be your misfortune to fall, you may immediately acknowledge it by humility and rise again by penance. St. Peter draws his sword, and cuts off the ear of Malchus, but Christ reprehended him for it, forbade all violence and resistance, and healed the servant's ear. Hence you should learn to return good for evil. "All that take the sword shall perish with the sword.' (Matt. xxvi. 52.)
III. Christ then said, " If, therefore, ye seek Me, let these go their way." (John xviii. 8.) He forgot Himself, and was only solicitous for His disciples. "Then they came up, and laid hands on Jesus, and held Him." (Matt. xxvi. 50.) Observe the rage and fury with which ​His enemies rush upon Him, beating and insulting Him in a most outrageous manner. Good God! what a spectacle! "He who sitteth upon the cherubim, is trodden under foot by the wicked." (Ps. lxxix. 2; Heb. x. 29.) In the same manner do all sinners act; for "they tread the Son of God under foot." Take care you do not imitate their example.
THURSDAY.
Christ is Bound and His Disciples Fly.
I. "Then the band and the tribune and the servants of the Jews took Jesus and bound Him. (John xviii. 12.) Observe the meekness with which Christ suffers His sacred hands and arms to be bound. He might, notwithstanding, if He had pleased, have as easily broken the bands asunder " as a man would break a thread of tow." (Judges xvi. 9.) It was love alone that could cast fetters upon those hands, that framed the heavens and filled the earth with wonders. " He loved me and delivered Himself for me." (Gal. ii. 20.) Do you also permit yourself to be bound with the bands of charity and the tie of obedience, and whatever other obligations your state of life imposes upon you. " Put thy feet into her fetters," says the Wise Man of true wisdom, "and thy neck into her chains: bow down thy shoulder and bear her, and be not grieved with her bands." (Ecclus. vi. 25, 26.)
II. "Then His disciples leaving Him, all fled away." (Mark xiv. 50.) Think what a deep affliction it must have been to Christ, to see Himself thus abandoned by His dearest friends. Mark the instability of human nature. Christ frequently complains by His prophets of this desertion: "Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me; they have set me an abomination to them​selves. — I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the gentiles there is not a man with me." (Ps. lxxxvii. 9 and Is. lxiii. 3.) This desertion, besides, was an act that reflected dishonor and reproach on his school, since it had produced such weak and timorous disciples. But Christ was chiefly concerned for their want of faith, in which they all wavered. Take care that you do not leave Christ to suffer alone. Keep Him company, at least by affection and condolence. Submit, without repining, to the unmerited desertion of your friends.
III. Blush for the weakness of human nature displayed in these Apostles. They left Him, although they had seen the numerous miracles, which He had wrought, and had lately received the holy Eucharist, while, in the fervor of his zeal, one had said, "Though I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee." (Matt. xxvi. 35.) No sooner were they assaulted by temptation than they all fled. Reflect how little reason you have to trust to yourself. "Son," says the Wise Man, "when thou comest to the service of God, stand in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation" (Ecclus. ii. 1); and St. Paul commands us all " to work out our salvation, with fear and trembling." (Phil. ii. 12.)
FRIDAY.
Christ is Led to Annas.
I. " They led him away to Annas first." (John xviii. 13.) Christ consented to be brought before all the tribunals of Jerusalem, to increase His ignominy. He was therefore first led to Annas, the president of the supreme council, because it was his duty to judge of doctrine. Mark with what clamor, ridicule, and disgrace Christ is conducted along the streets, every one being occupied ​in annoying and insulting the captive. How different was His entrance into Jerusalem some days before, when the people exclaimed, " Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest." (Matt. xxi. 9.) Learn from this example to contemn the inconstancy of worldly favor.
II. Christ is brought as a criminal before the tribunal of this judge. The Creator stands accused before His creature; the eternal Wisdom of God is brought to the bar, to give an account of His doctrine before an arrogant lawyer. Behold these insolent Doctors surrounding Him, all filled with the idea of their learning, and rejoicing, "as conquerors rejoice after taking a prey, v/hen they divide the spoils"! (Is. ix. 3.) Hear how they question Him regarding His doctrine and His disciples. Beseech your Lord to instruct you in those things which belong to your salvation, and never suffer you to pursue vain learning, which fills the soul with pride and desire of ostentation.
III. Christ bears their reproaches in silence; but resolutely answers, when questioned concerning His doctrine, because on this depended the salvation of many. " I have spoken openly to the world, I have always taught in the synagogue. Why askest thou me? ask those who have heard what I have spoken to them." (John xviii. 20.) Learn hence to stand resolute in defence of your faith and of truth, and to be silent in your own private injuries. Observe that He says nothing of His disciples, because He could not commend them; for they were wavering in their faith, and He would not say anything to their discredit. Act in the same manner. Throw a veil over the faults of your neighbors, and hide them; never speak of them, except when some good end is to be obtained.
SATURDAY.
Christ Receives a Blow.
I. " And when He had said these things, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow/' (John xviii. 22.) Ponder here the general circumstances, who, to whom, and what. 1. Consider how severe was the blow, for it was given by an armed soldier. 2. How ignominious, since it was given before so large an assembly, and inflicted on the person of Him whose sanctity of life and miracles rendered Him an object of admiration and veneration to all mankind. 3. How unjust and injurious, for so just and prudent an answer. O amiable countenance of my Jesus, which the angels desire so much to behold, how hast Thou been insulted for me! How have I insulted Thee myself by my repeated sins! From this time I will insult Thee no more.
II. Consider the mildness and patience of our Lord. He is not moved to indignation; He does not revenge Himself, although He had it perfectly in His power, for He could in a moment have annihilated the wretch. He modestly, however, justifies Himself,-that He might not seem to have spoken lightly to the high-priest, whose authority and dignity He respected. " If I have spoken ill," He says, "give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou Me?" (John xviii. 28.) How different are your justifications of yourself, when you are supposed to have acted incorrectly? Endeavor to imitate your Lord, " and in your patience possess your soul." (Luke xxi. 19.)
III. "And Annas sent Him bound to Caiphas the highpriest." Imagine what a painful and ignominious journey this was to our Saviour. He was dragged through ​the streets during the night, from one tribunal to another, by the lowest rabble. Reflect what indignities He must have suffered, as He passed along, from all kinds of people; even from those who had received benefits from Him. What a spectacle was presented to heaven when the Lord of angels was thus outraged! Condole, admire, give thanks, and imitate.
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT.
Christ the Transfiguration of your Soul.
"The Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt be changed into another man." (i Kings x. 6.)
I. Christ took three of His Apostles to a high mountain, " and was transfigured before them." (Matt. xvii. 2.) The same will be produced in due proportion in your soul, by your reception of the Eucharist, if you oppose no impediment to His holy grace. The Eucharist, as the Angelical Doctor observes, in a certain manner makes us the same with Christ. And St. Augustine introduces Christ addressing the faithful in these words: "I am the food of the advanced; grow, and you shall feed on Me; but in such a manner that you shall not change Me into yourself, but you shall be changed into Me."
II. What an inestimable dignity it is, and what a superior benefit for man to be transformed into God, and to be " made conformable to the image of His Son"! (Rom. viii. 29.) Satan tempted Eve with this idea: " You shall be as gods." (Gen. iii. 5.) But our first parents were deluded. By the Eucharist, and the grace attached to it, we become united to God, and in some respect partakers of the divine nature, "and even incorporated and of the same blood with Christ," as St. Cyprian energetically ​remarks. Humble yourself, therefore, and say with the prophet, "Who am I, or what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law of the King" {i Kings xviii. 18), or rather the adopted son of God? " As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be made the sons of God." (John i. 12.)
III. It is recorded of Moses in the sacred volume, that " he knew not that his face was horned" (i.e., resplendent with glory) " from the conversation of the Lord." (Exod. xxxiv. 29.) If you converse frequently with the Lord in prayer, you will in like manner be transfigured. You must make Him the exclusive and ultimate object of your love, and detest whatever displeases Him. St. Augustine writes, "Every one is such as is his love: if you love earth, you will be earth; if you love God, you will be as God."
MONDAY.
Christ Accused before Caiphas.
I. As soon as our Redeemer was brought before Caiphas, " the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put Him to death." (Matt. xxvi. 59.) Oh unheard-of injustice! Judges whose duty is to protect accused innocence, seek false witnesses against it. They patronize private and unjust envy, and cloak their evil designs under the pretence of public justice. See the Son of God standing at the bar, before His sworn enemies, surrounded by perjured witnesses, and malicious accusers. The innocent Lamb of God, " who did no sin, and in whose mouth no guile was found" (1 Pet. ii. 22), opposes profound silence to all the accusations brought against Him. "I as a deaf man," He says by the mouth of the prophet, " heard not, and ​was as a dumb man not opening His mouth." (Ps. xxxvii. 14.) Learn hence how to demean yourself on such occasions, and to commit your cause to God's providence.
II. So irreprehensible had been the life and actions of Christ, that these enemies of His could not fabricate even the semblance of a crime against Him. Wherefore the high-priest at last conjured Him by the living God, to say if He were the Christ, in order that he might condemn Him of blasphemy, if He affirmed that He was, Christ, who had hitherto preserved the most perfect silence, in reverence to the sacred name of His Father, immediately answered, "Thou hast said it." At the same time He alluded to the general judgment to deter Him, if possible, from his evil design, and to wake him from the sleep of death. But alas! " the perverse are hard to be corrected.', (Eccles. i. 15.) Entreat our Lord, that you may never be of this character.
III. Consider the false zeal of the malicious and the wicked. " Then the high-priest rent his garments, saying, He hath blasphemed. " (Matt. xxvi. 65.) The devout follower of Christ ought to rend his heart with sincere contrition for his sins, which have cost the Son of God so many pains. " Rend your hearts and not your garments," says the prophet. (Joel ii. 13.) This mock court of judicature immediately cries out with one voice, "He is guilty of death." (Matt. xxvi. 66.) O most unjust sentence! O divine Jesus! will you suffer yourself to be deemed a blasphemer, and declared guilty of death; and shall I continually attempt to gain the approbation of men, and to rise above my deserts? I cannot be a true disciple of Thine if I act in this manner.
TUESDAY.
Injuries in the House of Caiphas. — I.
I. After Christ had been thus unjustly pronounced deserving of death, "then did they spit in His face, and buffeted Him, and others struck His face with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, O Christ! who is he that struck Thee." (Matt. xxvi. 67.) During that night of cruelty, Christ suffered five kinds of ignominy. 1. They spat upon that beneficent being, who with His spittle had given sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, and hearing to the deaf; they spat upon that face which the angels adore, and which just souls always desired ardently to behold. " Show us Thy face," said the Royal Prophet, " and we shall be saved." (Ps. lxxix. 20.) During this ignominy, Christ, like a meek lamb, verified the expression of the prophet, "I have given My body to the strikers and My cheeks to those who plucked them; I have not turned away My face from those who rebuked Me and spat upon Me." (Is. 1. 6.) Is not Christ treated in the same manner now by all sinners as He was then treated by His insolent tormentors? Have not you yourself some part in this ignominy?
II. Consider the second kind of ignominious treatment which our divine Saviour underwent: " And they blindfolded Him." (Luke xxii. 64.) In their frenzy His enemies attempted to veil those sacred eyes, before which "all things are naked and open" (Heb. iv. 13), and to cover that divine face, before which all nations will stand in awe and admiration. Every sinner attempts to do the same, in order to sin with more liberty and less remorse; he does all he can to hide God from himself, and his sins from God; he tries to adopt the expression in the ​book of Job, " What doth God know? the clouds are His covert, and He doth not consider our things. (Job xxii. 13.) Take care that you never endeavor to stifle the remorse of conscience by means like these.
III. " They buffeted Him, and others struck His face with the palms of their hands." Represent to your imagination this cruel and ignominious scene, and contemplate every part of it. View these ruffians vieing with each other in their outrageous insolence. Then was literally accomplished the prophecy of Jeremias, " He shall give His cheek to him who striketh Him; He shall be filled with reproaches." (Lament, iii. 30.)
WEDNESDAY.
Injuries in the House of Caiphas.— II.
I. The fourth insult which was offered to the Son of God in the house of Caiphas was the cruel act of His enemies, when they plucked His sacred hair and beard. By suffering this insult, He verified the prediction of Isaias, " I have given My body to the strikers, and My cheeks to those who plucked them." (Is. l. 6.) Samson consented that his hair should be cut off, from a blind attachment to Delila, which proved very injurious to him; but Christ, from a better love to mankind, suffered Himself to be despoiled of His. Learn from this example to reject and rid yourself of superfluities, and to follow Christ in naked simplicity and unadorned sincerity.
II. The fifth species of ignominy which our Redeemer had to endure consisted in the reproachful language in which His enemies addressed Him. " Prophesy unto us, O Christ! who is he that struck thee. And many other things blaspheming, they said against Him." (Luke ​xxii. 65.) On this occasion they repeated their former slanders against Him, calling Him a glutton, a lover of wine, a seducer of the people from their allegiance, and a blasphemer possessed by the devil. What holy Job said of himself was then truly verified in the person of the Son of God: "They have opened their mouths upon Me, and reproaching Me, they have struck Me on the •cheek; they are filled with My pains. (Job xvi. 11.) Observe how patiently Christ suffers this severe treatment, and be confounded at your own impatience, when you are unable to bear a slight word of reproach or blame from others.
III. This indignant treatment continued during the whole night. Those who formed the council retired home, to enjoy repose, and the comforts of domestic life but Christ was delivered up to the guards, to be strictly watched, and to be treated at their pleasure or mercy. Meditate deeply on the forlorn situation of your suffering Jesus during that long, and tedious, and painful night. Be ashamed at your want of courage, in mortifying yourself so little for His sake, who has endured so much for you, from every description of people, — from the priesthood as well as from the laity.
THURSDAY.
St. Peter's Denying Christ.— I.
I. " But Peter sat without in the palace, and there came to Him a servant maid, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest." (Matt. xxvi. 69.) A few hours before Peter had said, " Though I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee;" but now, alas! at the first ​word of a woman, from shame and fear he denies that he ever knew Him. How many are there now in existence who, not from any humility, but from mere apprehension of what the world will say, are afraid to own any Christian or virtuous action and to profess themselves followers of Christ!
II. Peter remained in the same company, in which he had first denied his Master, and being accused by others of being Christ's disciple, he persisted in his denial a second and a third time. "He began to curse and ta swear that he knew not the man" (Matt. xxvi. 74), unmindful of the first crowing of the cock. Observe the different effects of good and evil company. When Peter was with his Master and fellow Apostles, he was so fervent as to offer to die with Christ, but in the evil company in which he afterwards was, he protests and swears, that he never knew the man. Learn from this melancholy example to avoid evil company and conversation; and always bear in mind the oracle of St. Paul: "Evil communications corrupt good manners." (1 Cor. xv. 33.)
III. Some of the particular circumstances which attended the fall of St. Peter are recorded by all the Evangelists. 1. The occasional cause of his fall was his vain presumption and confidence in himself. " Though all men should be scandalized in Thee, I will never be scandalized." 2, He neglected prayer, and fell asleep, after his Master had told him, "Watch ye and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." 3. A woman was the instrument of his fall, as well as of the fall of Adam. Tremble, when you see the pillars of the Church overturned by the voice of a woman. " Tarry not among women." (Ecclus. xlii. 12.) His sin increased by degrees, passing from a simple denial to execration and open perjury. Learn to resist the beginnings of evil, or fatal experience ​will soon convince you that " he who contemneth small things shall fall by little and little. (Ecclus. xix. 1.)
FRIDAY.
St Peter's Denying Christ.— II.
I. " And the Lord, turning, looked on Peter." (Luke xxii. 61.) While this weak Apostle was denying his Master the third time, Jesus was led down from the upper room, where he was condemned, to the lower court," where Peter had remained the whole time. He cast an eye of compassion on His sheep that was perishing, or, as some holy Fathers explain the passage, he looked on him from a distance with the interior eye of mercy, and by his grace moved him to repentance. Observe how, in the midst of His own afflictions, He remembers His ungrateful disciple. With that same eye of mercy, O Lord! " look upon me, and have mercy on me." (Ps. xxiv. 16.)
II. " And going forth, he wept bitterly" (Matt. xxvi. 75), not from mere servile fear, but from a deep sense of his ingratitude to so loving a Master and so great a Benefactor. He felt the force of the prophet's sentiment, " It is an evil and a bitter thing to have left the Lord thy God." (Jer. ii. 19.) Do you, on your part, appreciate the force of the expression, and you will prevent yourself from falling. Oh how often have you, not only in words, as St. Peter did, but in deeds also, denied your Lord, and offended Him, perhaps more than Peter did! Have you as yet duly lamented your fault, as he lamented his?
III. Consider the long penance which St. Peter performed for his sin. He is said to have bewailed it, during his whole life, and to have burst into tears as often as he ​heard the cock crow. It is written, that his eyes became two perennial fountains of* tears, and that his cheeks were furrowed by continual weeping. Be confounded at your own insensibility. Persevere, therefore, in the works of penance, and take advantage of the admonition of Ecclesiasticus, " Be not without fear of sin forgiven" (Ecclus. v. 5.)
SATURDAY.
The Despair of Judas.
I. " Then Judas, who betrayed Him, seeing that He was condemned, repenting himself, brought back the thirty pieces of silver, to the chief priests and the ancients, saying, I have sinned, in betraying innocent blood." (Matt, xxvii. 3, etc.) Observe how the consciousness of guilt tortured the mind of that treacherous and sacrilegious Apostle. He found no satisfaction in the money, for which he had sold his Lord; but, actuated by fruitless remorse, brought it back again. Learn hence that sinners reap no solid advantage from their sins; but, on the contrary, are pained, disquieted, and troubled. 44 Lord," says St. Augustine, "you have ordained that it should be so, and it is so, that every disordinate mind is its own punishment." Hence it is said of the impious man, " The sound of dread is always in his ears, and when there is peace, he always suspects treason." (Job xv. 21.)
II. The wicked priests said to Judas, when he returned the money: " What is that to us? look thou to it." (Matt, xxvii. 4.) They were unconcerned in regard to the salvation of their neighbor, and like Cain refused to be their brother's guardian. Virtuous men hold to an opposite conduct; they attempt to prevent their neighbor from sinning, or when he has sinned, to restore him to ​grace. They do not say, " What is that to us? look thou to it," but charitably try to relieve and comfort him. They are tender and compassionate to all, and they can say of themselves with the Apostle, " I became all things to all men, that I might save all." (i Cor. ix. 22.) These are objects of your imitation.
III. Judas " departed, and went and hanged himself with a halter." (Matt, xxvii. 5.) Observe how one sin is the punishment of another, despair of treachery. God often permits a sinner to fall a second time, in punishment of his first offence, as a caution to avoid all sin. Mark, also, the subtlety of the devil, who first provokes to sin; and then, having succeeded in gaining his object, takes away all prospect of pardon.. Observe, also, the mad and desperate resolutions of a troubled conscience. The Wise Man had reason to say, " A troubled conscience always forecasteth grievous things." (Wis. xvii. 10.) From the ruin of an Apostle, learn not to trust your own virtue; " wherefore, let him who thinketh himself to stand, take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor. x. 12.)
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
Christ the Guardian of your Soul.
" I have sinned; what shall I do to thee, O keeper of men?" (Job vii. 20.)
I. " When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things which he possesseth are in peace." (Luke xi. 21.) Conceive your soul to be this court, which Christ our Lord, who is both strong and armed, desires to guard, in order that her possessions may be in peace. No being is more powerful than this champion of ours: "the Lord is strong and mighty, the Lord is mighty in battle." (Ps. xxiii. 8.) No keeper can be more vigilant than He is. ​" Behold, He shall neither slumber nor sleep who keepeth Israel." (Ps. cxx. 4.) All this care and vigilance He uses in your regard, to preserve you from evil. Oh what a happiness it is to rest under the protection of so powerful and so beneficent a guardian!
II. This guardian of yours will to-day enter the fortress of your soul, in the holy Eucharist, to strengthen and defend it against your mortal enemy the devil, who surrounds it day and night, seeking its destruction. This divine table, this holy banquet, is instituted chiefly as a means of defence against our enemies: "Thou hast prepared a table before me," says the prophet, "against them that afflict me." (Ps. xxii. 5.) Conceive hence an unbounded confidence in your guardian, and look for the happy hour in which you are to receive Him.
III. In what manner ought you to entertain Him? You must divest your heart of everything that you know will displease Him, or else He may immediately abandon you, and you may fall into the hands of your enemies. Freely surrender yourself to Him, and desire Him to dispose of yourself and everything that belongs to you, as He pleases. Ask pardon for your former offences, and say with the prophet, " Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked; and from unjust men deliver me." (Ps. cxxxix. 5.)
MONDAY.
Christ is Led to Pilate.
I. "And when morning was come, all the chief priests and ancients of the people, held a council against Jesus, to put Him to death." (Matt, xxvii. 1.) How active are the children of this world in their works of darkness, scarce giving themselves time to rest or to sleep! Oh that you were as zealous in the service of God! Think how ​welcome this last morning was to our blessed Lord; for the completion of man's redemption was near. Ponder now, how, being in full council, they re-examine their prisoner, condemn Him as a blasphemer, vote Him guilty of death, and finally deliver Him over to the secular power, to be executed.
II. "And the whole multitude of them rose up and led Him away to Pilate." (Luke xxiii. i.) Think what a distressing journey this was to our divine Saviour. By this time the whole city was full of what had passed the preceding night, and was waiting in great anxiety for the result of the high council. They now behold the captive hurried along through the streets, accompanied by their high-priests and elders, as so many unquestionable witnesses and proclaimers of His guilt. He is considered by all as a convicted criminal, and a notorious malefactor, and is insulted and scoffed at by a barbarous and enraged multitude. Even those, who a short time ago held Him in the highest veneration, and considered Him a great prophet and their Messias, now believe themselves to have been deceived by this sovereign impostor. Who ever did, or ever could, suffer as much as He did in His reputation?
III. When He had arrived at Pilate's court, His enemies " went not into the hall " (it being the habitation of a Gentile), "that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the pasch." (John xviii. 28.) Superstitious hypocrites! They affect religion and conscience in a small matter, and are actually meditating sacrilege and murder. Would to God that you were as accurate and zealous in regard to perfect purity, when you approach the sacred table, to eat the Christian pasch, and that you did not come with a heart distracted and dissipated with worldly thoughts and undue affections!
TUESDAY.
Christ is Accused before Pilate.
I. Pilate having brought Jesus forth before the people, demanded what accusations they produced against Him, when "they began to accuse Him" — 1. As a seditious man: "We have found this man perverting our nations." a. They accuse Him of treason: we have found Him " forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ the king." (Luke xxii. 2.) What odious calumnies were arrayed against the innocence of the Son of God! " The sons of men are liars in the balances." (Ps. lxi. 10.) It is always an easy task to calumniate the innocent.
II. Christ might easily have refuted these unjust accusations, if He had chosen; but He preserved the most profound silence, " so that the governor wondered exceedingly." (Matt, xxvii. 14.) Our Lord fulfilled the prophecy of the Psalmist on that occasion, "I have set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me." (Ps. xxxii. 2.) Oh that you would act in the same manner when you are attacked by calumny! Observe that an innocent life is the best defence against defamation. Learn that courage and fortitude display themselves in silence, and in the contempt of injuries and affronts. On such occasions commit your cause to divine Providence; and then, "in silence and in hope shall your strength be." (Is. xxx. 15.)
III. Pilate, seizing on the last accusation, asked Jesus whether He really were the King of the Jews, and He answered, " Thou sayest it, but My kingdom is not of this world" (John xviii. 36), nor does it consist in earthly greatness, pomp, and state, but in poverty and ​contempt. " Christ commenced His reign from the cross." Examine whether or not you belong to this kingdom, for if you belong to the world, that is, if you seek after the things which belong to it, you do not belong to Him. Christ says of His disciples, " They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world." (John xvii. 14.) Learn hence duly to appreciate the virtues of the Cross.
WEDNESDAY.
Christ is Sent to Herod.
I. Pilate did all that he could to set Christ at liberty, for, as he said himself, "I find no cause in this man." The Pharisees, on the other hand, " were more earnest, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, to this place." (Luke xxiii. 4, 5.) Pilate from this took occasion to send Him to Herod, because, as a Galilean, He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction. Christ, therefore, bound as a malefactor, and guarded by soldiers, is led by the priests to Herod. Thus is our blessed Redeemer dragged from one tribunal to another, and exposed to the public view and scorn of the whole city. Good God, how insults and affronts thicken upon Thee, and how fully are verified the words of thy prophet: "All those who passed by the way have clapped their hands at Thee, they have hissed and wagged their heads"! (Lament, ii. 15.)
II. At first Christ is civilly entertained by Herod, because he expected to see Him work some miracle; but the pure Lamb of God, from abhorrence to His impure life, refused to gratify His curiosity, and would not owe His life, which He ardently desired to lay down for us, to the favor or courtesy of the Governor of Galilee. Al​though "the chief priests and the scribes stood by, earnestly accusing Him" (Luke xxiii. 10), He refused to utter a word in His own defence. Admire and imitate the courage and constancy of His mind, which could not be overcome either by flattery or ill-usage. Learn, also, to be reserved with persons of impure conduct, unless you have certain hopes of converting them. Reflect also what a punishment to the sinner, when Christ speaks no more to His hardened conscience.
III. "And Herod, with his soldiers, despised Him, and mocked Him, putting on Him a white garment." (Luke xxiii. 11.) The eternal Wisdom of God is deemed a fool, and considered as one who from simplicity had called Himself a king, and is treated as such by the king and his whole court, who took delight in insulting Him. Thus attired, Christ is sent back again to Pilate, and proclaimed, as He passed along, to be an idiot and an imaginary king. " The word of the cross to them indeed that perish is foolishness, but to them who are saved" that is, to us, "it is the power of God." (1 Cor. i. 18.) Good Lord, is it thus that you attempt to cure my pride and arrogance? With how much truth did thy Apostle say, " If any man among you seem to be wise, let him become a fool, that he may be wise." (1 Cor. iii. 18.)
THURSDAY.
Barabbas is Preferred to Christ.
I. "Upon the solemn day, the governor was accustomed to release to the people one prisoner, whom they would." (Matt, xxvii. 15) Hence, desirous of rescuing Jesus, whose innocence was perfectly evident, Pilate put Him in competition with Barabbas, a seditious assassin. He then asked the Jews which of the two he should ​deliver. Contemplate the comparison which Pilate makes: Light is compared with darkness, the Author of Life with a murderer, our sovereign Benefactor with a robber. Christ, however, did not disdain it.
II. Consider the most foolish and unjust demand of the people, " Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas." (Luke xxiii. 18.) It was an ignominious act to compare Jesus to this man, but most insolent and ignominious to prefer him to Jesus. Now is the oracle of the prophet perfectly fulfilled, "I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. " (Ps. xxi. 7.) What are the opinions and judgments of this world? What wise man would place any confidence in them, or care whether he were an object of their censure or of their praise? As often as you sin mortally, you pass the same judgment as the Jews did, by preferring in your heart some momentary pleasure to an infinite good, some creature to the Creator, some Barabbas to Christ.
III. Pilate asked, " What shall I do then with Jesus?" (Matt, xxvii. 22.) The people tumultuously answer, "Crucify Him! crucify Him!" (Luke xxiii. 21.) Observe with what modesty and patience Christ suffered these insults. Often ask yourself this question: and what shall I do with Jesus? Will you esteem, love, serve, and honor Him as you ought, or insult, afflict, and crucify Him again? All sinners act thus, "crucifying again to themselves," as the Apostle teaches, " the Son of God, and making a mockery of Him." (Heb. vi. 6.)
FRIDAY.
Christ is Scourged.— I.
I. " Then, therefore, Pilate took Jesus, and scourged Him." (John xix. 1.) He did this cruel act in order that he might satisfy the malice of the Jews, and afterwards set his prisoner at liberty. This sentence was unjust, infamous, and cruel. It was unjust, because it was pronounced against a man whom the judge had pronounced to be innocent. It was infamous, because it was the punishment inflicted on common slaves. It was cruel, for it was purposely inflicted to satisfy the fury of the Jews. Observe, however, how readily and cheerfully Christ accepts of it, saying with the prophet* " I am ready for scourges" (Ps. xxxvii. 18), in order that I may atone for your sins.
II. As soon as the sentence was uttered, the ready soldiers impudently strip Him of all His clothes, and bind Him to a pillar. Imagine the modest shame and virginal blushes of this chaste Lamb of God, when He was thus exposed, all naked, to the eyes of a rude and licentious multitude. Observe with what readiness He stretches out His arms to be bound, without making the least complaint or resistance. During this cruel scene* imagine you hear Him addressing you, " Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart." (Matt. xi. 29.)
III. Ponder the cruelty of this scourging. Ascetics say that the instruments used were of three kinds, viz., thorny rods, sinews of beasts, and chains. His pains were greater in consequence of His being already almost exhausted by His bloody sweat, His ill-usage, restless night, and painful journey that morning. The fury of His tormentors was, besides, increased by the surrounding Pharisees, ​who excited their cruelty. It was revealed to St. Brigit, a Saint devoutly attached to the contemplation of Christ's sufferings, that the number of stripes exceeded five thousand; whilst the law of Moses forbade that a common malefactor should receive forty. Thus was the oracle of Isaias fulfilled: " From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores; they are not bound up nor dressed nor fomented with oil." (Is. i. 6.)
SATURDAY.
Christ is Scourged.— II.
Imagine you see Christ our Lord bound to the pillar, surrounded by a company of insolent soldiers, and examine the general circumstances of this cruel scene.
Who is He that is bound to the pillar? The only begotten Son of God, " the splendor of His glory and the figure of His substance. He is higher than heaven and deeper than hell; He is the most high Creator, almighty and powerful King, and greatly to be feared, who sitteth upon His throne, and is the God of dominion." (Heb. i. 3; Job xi. 8; Ecclus. i. 8.) Where does this scene take place? In the midst of a populous city, in the open court of the president, in presence of a whole legion of soldiers, and the populace of a large city.
With what helps! He is destitute of all human assistance. There was no one to appear in His defence. "I looked about and there was none to help, I sought and there was none to give aid." (Is. lxiii. 5.)
Why does He suffer all this? To wash away your sins with His blood. He received on His shoulders stripes which you have deserved, verifying the prediction of the ​prophet, " He will overshadow thee with His shoulders." (Ps. xcl. 4.) He suffered from man, for man.
How does He suffer? By His own free choice, cheerfully, constantly, and in silence. " He was dumb as a lamb before His shearers." (Is. liii. 7.)
When did this scene take place? During the solemn festival of the pasch, at a time when the city was unusually crowded with strangers who had resorted thither from all parts to celebrate the feast. These circumstances increased the ignominy of His sufferings and the confusion of the sufferer.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT.
Christ the Food of your Soul.
"Come eat My bread and drink the wine which I have mingled for you." (Prov. ix. 5.)
Christ with five loaves fed five thousand persons. (John vi.) The same Christ will enter this day into your soul, to feed it with a food the most wholesome and the most precious that ever could exist, His own precious body and blood: " For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed." (John vi. 56.) To remove your apprehensions and fears, He himself invites you to His feast: "Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved." (Cant. v. 1.)
II. Corporal food produces three effects on the body; it strengthens, satiates, and preserves life. Three similar effects, as the Angelical Doctor observes are produced in the soul by the eucharistic bread. This divine food strengthens it by giving it grace and virtue to overcome vice and bad habits. Next, it satiates the soul, by creating a disgust of earthly pleasures; for, as the Wise Man says, "a soul that is full shall tread upon the honey​comb" (Prov. xxvii. 7), that is, it will despise the vanities and follies of the world. Lastly, it preserves the spiritual life ,of the soul, and advances it to immortality. " He who eateth this bread," says Christ Himself, "shall live forever." (John vi. 59.) How great a happiness it is to feed upon such bread!
III. The most wholesome food produces no good effect on the body if the digestive powers be disordered. Distempered bodies are endangered by delicacies, because what would otherwise be nutritive is converted into noxious humors. Take care then to prepare your soul, if you desire "to taste and see that the Lord is sweet." (Ps. xxxiii. 9.) Rid your soul of evil inclinations, which prevent spiritual digestion. " Let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice." (1 Cor. xi. 28.)
MONDAY.
Christ Crowned with Thorns.
I. From Christ's excessive love of suffering for our sake, He is not content to endure ordinary pains only, but He permits the soldiers to invent an unheard-of manner of torture. They strip Him of His clothes, which by this time clung to His lacerated body, and thus opened His wounds afresh; then they clothe Him in a ragged purple robe, as a mock-king. Observe how this meek Lamb of God suffers His persecutors to abuse Him at pleasure, without making the least resistance or complaint. Then was fulfilled the oracle of David, " I became as a man who heareth not, and who hath no reproofs in his mouth." (Ps. xxxvii. 15.)
II. " And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head." (Matt, xxvii. 29.) "The crown of thorns was ​taken off and put on again several times during His passion," says Catharine Emmerich. O unheard-of cruelty! " Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see King Solomon in the diadem, wherewith His mother (the synagogue, which was His mother according to the flesh) crowned Him." (Cant. iii. 11.) Away with all pride, away with sensuality. " Be ashamed," says St. Bernard, " to be a delicate member under a thorn-crowned head."
III. "And they put a reed in His right hand. And bowing the knee before Him, they mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews." What indignities! What torments! Ponder deeply each word of this simple and afflicting detail. Observe how this king of patience holds in His hand this sceptre of scorn and derision in order to incite you to imitation. Then were accomplished the words of Isaias, " Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, in whom my soul hath been well pleased. He shall not contend, nor cry out; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets. The bruised reed He shall not break, and the smoking flax He shall not extinguish, till he send forth judgment unto victory." (Matt. xii. 18 and Is. xlii. i.)
TUESDAY.
Behold the Man .— I.
I. " Jesus came forth, bearing the crown of thorns, and the purple garment." (John xix. 5.) In order to move the Jews to compassion, Pilate brought Jesus before the people scourged, and crowned as He was. Conceive what confusion it must have been to our Lord to be thus exposed to the Pharisees and His other enemies, and with what patience our meek Lamb bore this ignominy. Oh, how you are changed, sweet Jesus, from the condi​tion in which you were seen glorious on Mount Thabor! How different in appearance from that divine Being who sat upon the cherubim, displaying the rays of your majesty to the highest heavens!
II. And Pilate said, "Behold the man!" He was so disfigured, that He hardly had the appearance of a man. How true was the oracle of the prophet, " There is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness, and we have seen Him, and there was no sightliness that we should be desirous of Him"! (Is. liii. 2.) Who would not melt into tears at beholding so sad a spectacle! Yet the hard-hearted crowd are not only unmoved, but they cry out with unparalleled ferocity, " Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" (John xix. 6.) O most beautiful of the sons of men! where is now that gracious countenance of yours? "Do not consider that I am brown, because the sun hath altered m3r color." (Cant. i. 5.) The sun and heat of your charity have indeed changed your color, and have given you the appearance of a " worm and no man," the reproach of men and the outcast of the people." (Ps. xxi. 7.)
III. Pilate had long labored to release Christ, but when he heard these words, " If thou release this man thou art not Caesar's friend," he yielded to malicious importunity. His policy induced him to fear, lest any accusation might be brought against him at the imperial court. Take care that no such human respect ever prevail upon you thus to act in opposition to equity and justice. "He who feareth man," says Solomon, "shall quickly fall; he who trusteth in the Lord shall be set on high." (Prov. xxix. 25.)
WEDNESDAY.
Behold the Man.— II.
I. Having represented Christ to the eyes of your soul, crowned with thorns and clad in a robe of scorn, covered with wounds and fainting under them, imagine you hear the words " Behold the man" addressed to you by the Holy Ghost. Believe that the divine Spirit thus addresses you, in order that you may more attentively contemplate the Man-God. He whom you behold clothed in the semblance of man is the Supreme God, the Lord of all things, the long-expected Messias, your Saviour, the teacher and shepherd of your soul. For love of you He has thus debased Himself beneath the condition of a slave.
II. Next imagine that these same words, " Behold the man!" are addressed to you by the eternal Father, proposing his Son to you as an example of every virtue which you ought to imitate. "Behold the man, behold the servant whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul hath been well pleased." (Matt. xii. 18.) My Son suffers Himself to be contemned and insulted, to heal your pride; He is naked, in order that He may correct your covetousness; He endures excessive torments, to atone for your sensualities; "He turns His cheek to him that striketh Him" (Lament, iii. 30), to teach you how to annihilate your angry passions. Examine in what you can imitate Him.
III. These words, " Behold the man," may be addressed by you and by the whole Church to the eternal Father, offering Christ as a peace offering for all our sins. O eternal God, behold the man who in the name and on behalf of all mankind offers Himself as an atonement ​for Adam's transgression. " He is the propitiation for our sins," therefore, "behold, O Lord! our protector, and look on the face of Thy Christ." (i John ii. 2 and Ps. lxxxiii. 10.) Say the same often to yourself, with feelings (1) of affectionate compassion for your suffering Saviour, (2) of gratitude for His numerous torments endured for you, (3) of confidence and hope in so much goodness, and (4) of an ardent desire to imitate His example, and of suffering for the love of your Redeemer.
THURSDAY.
Christ Condemned to Death.
I. "As Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying; Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day, in a dream, on account of Him." (Matt, xxvii. 19.) Contemplate the goodness of God, who by various means endeavors to divert sinners from guilt, as He did in this case in regard to Pilate. It was true of him, as it is of all other sinners "Destruction is thy own, O Israel." (Osee xiii. 9.) How often has He admonished you, by speaking interiorly to your heart, by holy inspirations, and exteriorly by preachers and superiors, forbidding you to do this or that, and yet you have neglected their words. Be more attentive hereafter to these divine admonitions.
II. "And Pilate seeing that he prevailed nothing, but that rather a tumult was made; having taken water, washed his hands before the people, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man; look ye to it." (Matt, xxvii. 24.) Yet at the same time he pronounced sentence of death against Him. Thus many pretend by their actions to be innocent, but keep no restraint over their tongues; they do not offend against their neighbors by ​outward action, but make no scruple of injuring them by detraction. Listen to the embittered cry of the Jews: " His blood be upon us and upon our children." Observe how passion drives its votaries headlong to perdition and guard against its effects in yourself.
III. "And Pilate gave sentence that their petition should be granted." (Luke xxiii. 24.) Reflect how unjust this sentence was. The author of life is condemned to death almost in the same breath that He is pronounced innocent and just. How criminal was the action of Pilate when he yielded to the unjust demands of the Jews! For your part, be steady and resolute in defence of justice, although a thousand deaths should threaten you. Imagine with what shouts of joy and applause the people welcomed this sentence, and how the priests and Pharisees triumphed. Ponder the feelings of Christ at the time. He made no complaint nor opposition, but with undaunted courage " delivered Himself to him who judged Him unjustly." (1 Pet. ii. 23.)
FRIDAY.
Christ Carries His Cross.
I. After Christ is condemned to die, He is stripped of the purple robe, and clothed in His own garment again, in order that He may be better known, being in His own attire. He is not relieved, however, of His crown of thorns. In like manner, if you wish to carry the cross after your Saviour, you must cast off the purple robe, that is, every affection to the world, and put on the garment and livery of Christ, viz., mildness and patience, according to the command of the Apostle, " Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. xiii. 14.)
II. When the cross was brought forth, our Saviour ​without doubt exulted, and with greater reason than did afterwards His disciple St. Andrew, who, as St. Bernard writes, addressed his cross to this effect, " Welcome, precious cross, long-wished for, entirely beloved, and now at last prepared to my heart's desire." He then embraced it, and took it on His shoulders. What shouting and laughter arose on that occasion among the people! For His greater ignominy two thieves are led along with Him; but with what difference both of countenance and disposition of mind do they bear their several crosses! Think whom you would wish to imitate in carrying yours.
III. "And bearing His own cross, He went forth" (John xix. 17), between two thieves, and preceded by a public crier announcing the cause of His condemnation. Thus did Isaac formerly carry on his shoulders the wood for the sacrifice, of which his father had destined him to be the victim. See how the tender and feeble members of your Saviour sink under the weight! He falls again and again! O angels of heaven! why do you not ease Him of His burden? Your sins were more burdensome to Him than was even His cross; " for the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Is. liii. 6.)
SATURDAY.
Christ meets His Mother.
I. As soon as Christ was sentenced to death, the news was probably conveyed to His blessed mother by some one of His disciples. Ponder how, on this occasion, the prophecy of Simeon was fully verified; for her soul was truly pierced with the sword of sorrow. She might well have applied the affecting expressions of David, in regard to his son Absalom, to her suffering Son: "My Son Jesus, Jesus, my Son, would to God that I might die ​for Thee, Jesus, my Son, my Son Jesus!" (2 Kings xviii. 33.) She resigned herself, however, to the will of God, saying, " Nevertheless, as it shall be the will of God in heaven, so let it be done." (1 Mac. iii. 60.)
II. Notwithstanding her sorrows, it is most probable that she resolved immediately to go to the place of execution, and give her last embrace to her Son. She remains, therefore, with the other women, by the side of the way through which her suffering Son was to pass. Reflect on her agonizing pains when she saw the rabble advancing with ladders, hammers, and nails, and other instruments of punishment. But what must her feelings have been when she beheld her Son proceeding between two thieves, loaded with a heavy cross, and beaten along by inhuman soldiers. Condole with the two sufferers, and grieve that your sins have been the cause of their pains and torments.
III. Consider the words of Christ addressed to the other women who shed tears as He passed by: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children: for if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?" (Luke xxiii. 28, 31.) Christ was the green wood, and we sinners are the dry wood, more calculated for the fire. If the green wood underwent such a heat of sufferings for the sins of others, how great will be the sufferings of sinners in hell, or purgatory, for their own! If the Father so severely chastised the sins of others, in the person of His most innocent and well-beloved Son, how much more will He punish them on the offenders themselves. "That day of wrath, calamity, and misery" will certainly arrive for us all. Weep, therefore, for yourself now, that you may not be forced to weep forever.
PASSION SUNDAY.
Christ a Hidden God.
" I will wait for the Lord, who hath hidden His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. (Is. viii. 17.)
I. Christ hid Himself from the Jews; for they wished to stone Him to death. (John viii. 59.) In memory of this the crosses are this day covered in our churches. Christ Himself is termed by Isaias a hidden God. " Verily Thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Saviour." (Is. xlv. 15.) Speaking of Him in His passion, the same prophet observes, " His look was as it were hidden and despised." (Is. liii. 3.) He concealed His divinity under the disguise of flesh and blood, His glory under the ignominy of His passion, and both His human and divine natures under the appearances of bread and wine. Hence the Royal Prophet with propriety exclaims, " O how great is the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord, which Thou hast hidden for those who fear Thee!" (Ps. xxx. 20.)
II. Not only is the flesh of Jesus Christ hidden from our senses in the holy Eucharist, but for the greater merit of our faith, the virtue and efficacy of this sacrament are often concealed. Hence, not all those who approach it taste of its sweetness. It is nothing less than " death to the bad, as it is life to the good." Even among the good, its effects are not always similar: Hence by the mouth of St. John, God says, "To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it." (Apoc. ii. 17.)
III. If you desire to discover the sweetness of this hidden manna, you must master your inclinations and pas​sions: To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna." You must be humble in your own eyes: "Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones." (Matt. xL 25.) You must hide yourself " in the cliffs of the rock" (Cant, ii. 14), that is, in the wounds of Christ and in contemplation of His passion; and thus you "may suck honey out of the rock." (Deut. xxxii. 13.) "For the rock," as the Apostle observes, " is Christ." (1 Cor. x. 4.)
MONDAY.
Crucifixion of Our Lord. — I.
I. Being come to the place appointed for His execution, Christ is again stripped of His clothes before the multitude at large, and before the insolent soldiery, who sought for nothing more ardently than subjects of scorn and scurrility. This ignominy, due only to our sins, Christ bears with the utmost patience; and in His own person gives us an example of the most perfect evangelical poverty. In order that no one of His senses might escape untormented, "they gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall, and when He had tasted He would not drink." (Matt, xxvii. 34.) He did not refuse the draught in consequence of the gall, but, as St. Ambrose remarks, " He rejected that bitterness which was mingled with wine." Christ wished to drink the chalice of His passion unr mixed with any sweetness. Be ashamed at your sensual disposition, and at your murmurs when it is not grati
II. The place on which the scene was acted was a high hill, exposed to the view of all. This circumstance added to His ignominy; and the place was loathsome, because it was covered with bones. Christ made choice of ​an obscure place for His nativity, in order to conceal His glory, but He chose to be suspended aloft on a cross for His greater ignominy. How different are the ideas of men from those of God! " My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways, saith the Lord." (Is. lv. 8.) We attempt to conceal whatever tends to disgrace us, but we display to the world whatever is calculated to attract its attention and commendation.
III. Christ suffered at the most solemn festival of Easter, at the time when the city was unusually crowded with strangers, in open day, at noon. The choice of place and time were Christ's, for " He was offered, because it was His own will " (Is. liii. 7), at the time and the place which He selected, and with the companions whom He had chosen. This He did in order to teach us by His own example to condemn every temporal consideration and worldly idea.
TUESDAY.
Crucifixion of our Lord. — II.
I. When all things were ready for His crucifixion, Christ is thrown down upon His cross by His executioners. Observe how this second Isaac is " laid on the altar upon the pile of wood" (Gen. xxii. 9), offering Himself a sacrifice to His eternal Father. See how He stretches out His hands to the places where they were to be nailed to the cross, to atone for Adam's stretching forth his hand to the forbidden fruit. Mark the streams of blood running down upon the ground, and learn, as the Apostle exhorts you, " to crucify your flesh with the vices and concupiscences." (Gal. v. 24.)
II. How excessive must have been the torments which Christ endured in His hands and feet, in consequence of ​the numerous sinews which are found there! They were violently stretched out, and probably disjointed, according to the words of the prophet: "They have dug My hands and feet, they have numbered all My bones." (Ps. xxi. 17.) Compassionate your Lord, and grieve that you have been the cause of His pains. " Acknowledge, O man!" cries out St. Bernard, " how grievous your wounds of sin are for which it was necessary that our Lord should be wounded."
III. When Christ had been nailed to the cross, it was elevated and let down with violence into the trench prepared to receive it. Reflect on the torture which this shock must have given Him. Oh what a spectacle " to the world and to angels and to men"! (1 Cor. iv. 9.) It was a spectacle of compassion and astonishment to the angels, of scorn and derision to the wicked, but of example to the just, and a sacrifice most acceptable to the eternal Father. Fall down in spirit at the foot of the cross, and with pious affection collect the dropping blood, and indulge such sentiments as the occasion shall suggest.
WEDNESDAY.
Crucifixion of our Lord. — III.
I. Consider the situation of your Redeemer, hanging on His cross. He receives no comfort either from those around Him or from His divinity, the operations of which He suspended for His greater suffering. If He moved His body, it was tormented afresh by the wounds in His hands and His feet, on which His whole body hung. If He moved His head, the thorns were pressed deeper into it. Not the least sigh or moan, however, was heard to proceed from Him. He offered all His sufferings to His eternal Father for your sins.
​II. " And they that passed by blasphemed Him." (Matt, xxvii. 39.) The priests, the citizens, and the soldiers united in insulting Him. They accused Him of a want of power. " He saved others," they vociferate, " Himself He cannot save." They condemned Him of arrogance for assuming the title of king. " If He be the king of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross." They said He affected to be the Son of God, and vainly relied on His assumed title: "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him." Lastly, they accused Him of pride: "Vah, Thou who destroyest the temple of God, and in three days buildest it up again." During all this insolence Christ preserves the most profound silence. Truly " He was filled with reproaches!" (Lament, iii. 30.)
III. Christ did not come down from His cross, or shorten the duration of His pains, although He might have easily done so, but continues to suffer to His last breath without admitting any comfort, in order to teach you to persevere in good " to the end." Never forget that He suffered all this for your sins. " He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins." (Is. liii. 5.) Beware, therefore, lest by returning to sin " you crucify again," as St. Paul observes, " the Son of God," to your everlasting destruction. (Heb. vi. 6.)
THURSDAY.
First Word on the Cross, "Father, forgive them," etc.
I. Christ was sent into the world by His heavenly Father to teach us the way of salvation. " This is My beloved Son; hear Him." (Luke ix. 35.) It is our duty. ​then, to listen with attention to whatever lessons He may deign to give us. Be attentive then to seven important lessons which He gives to mankind from His cross; be a diligent disciple in His school, in order that you may be able to say with the Apostle, "I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Cor. ii. 2.)
II. The first lesson which Christ gives is the love of our enemies. " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He does not call down fire from heaven against His persecutors, as did Elias, nor did He curse them as did Eliseus, but with unparalleled charity prays for their pardon. Hence His prophet Isaias says, " He hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors." (Is. liii. 12.) On this occasion He practised the lesson which He taught when He said, " Pray for those that persecute and calumniate you." (Matt. v. 44.) Examine whether you practise this lesson, not only in regard to your real enemies, but also in regard to your companions and friends when they may chance to offend you.
III. Consider the circumstances attending this prayer of our suffering Saviour. Who addresses the prayer? One about to die a painful and undeserved death. To. whom does He address it? To one who is most able to avenge Him. When? When He is exhausted with long sufferings, and ready to expire. In what place? Nailed to a cross, and in utmost pain. In what terms does He pray? In few words, but they were full of affection, and mingled with sighs, tears, and blood. For whom does He pray? For sinners; for those very men who had placed Him in this cruel situation. What is the object of His prayer? Mercy. He addresses His petition ta His Father for all, even His persecutors, in order that ​you may learn mildness and charity towards all and on all occasions.
FRIDAY.
Second Word, "This Day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise."
I. It was none of the least ignominies which Christ suffered, to be suspended between two thieves. On this occasion was fulfilled the oracle of Isaias, " He was reputed with the wicked." (Is. liii. T2.) Our Saviour was born in a stable, between two brute beasts, and He died between two thieves, to inculcate the necessity of humility; although in Heaven He be seated between the Father and the Holy Ghost. St. Ambrose observes, " that Christ himself was a thief in mystery, since He has robbed our enemy the devil of his weapons, and snatched from him one of the thieves on His cross." Pray that He may rob you of your heart, and that henceforward it may be devoted to Him alone.
IT. "This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise." Admire the riches of God's bounty, and His forbearance. He selects an infamous robber, and makes him heir to His kingdom, and He does this without any delay, and at the first word: "This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise." He gives the thief incomparably more than lie asked of Him; for he only asked to be remembered in His kingdom. St. Ambrose again remarks: "Our Lord ever bestows more than is demanded of Him, and His grant is greater than the petition." Who would not willingly love and serve so good and bounteous a Lord?
III. On this occasion there were three kinds of sufferers. One suffered deservedly and impatiently, viz.. ​the bad thief. Another suffered according to his deserts, but he bore his pains with patience, and this was the good thief. But the third, viz., Christ, was tormented without deserving it, and these torments He bore with unexampled patience and fortitude. Endeavor to be one of the last two kinds of sufferers: at least suffer as the good thief did, and confess with holy Job, " I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved. (Job xxxiii. 27.)
SATURDAY.
Third Word, "Woman, behold thy Son!"
I. " And there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother." (John xix. 25.) View His blessed mother and other devout persons standing under the cross; and learn thence that the lovers of Christ always love His cross, and that the nearer they stand to it the more they show their love towards Him who hung on it. Reflect on the feelings of the blessed Virgin when she saw her Son, the deserving delight of her heart, so barbarously treated. "Your Son, O Virgin," says St. Bonaventure, "suffered in His body, but you in your mind; the various wounds, which were inflicted over all His body met in one in your heart." Nevertheless, she gave no signs of impatience, nor did she do anything unbecoming her character and person in order that you might learn to compassionate Christ together with her, and to suffer your own adversities with fortitude.
II. "Woman, behold thy son." He does not call her Mother, but woman, in order to teach His followers that those who are wholly employed in doing the will of His Father must pay no regard to flesh and blood. He did not wish, besides, to inflict a deeper wound in her heart ​by using the tender name of Mother. He recommends to her care His disciple St. John, and in him all Christians, in order that she, who is so powerful before God, might be a Mother to us all. She accepts the charge willingly, and hence she is deservedly styled by the Saints, " the Mother of the living." Recommend yourself, therefore, to her, and say with the Church, " Show thyself a mother."
III. " Behold your mother." He wishes you to have recourse to her, as a child has to his mother, and to love and respect her as your own parent. By this expression He also teaches you to love, respect, and assist your parents to their last breath. Observe how He recommends the virgin John to His virgin Mother. Be therefore a lover of chastity, if you wish to be ranked among the sons of Mary. Imitate St. John in devotion to your sacred Mother. " From that hour the disciple took her to His own." (John xix. 27.)
PALM SUNDAY.
Christ a mild King.
"Behold, thy King cometh to thee, meek." (Matt. xxi. 5.)
I. "Behold, thy King cometh to thee, meek." " Thou art thyself, my King and my God, who commandest the saving of Jacob." (Ps. xliii. 5.) Upon other occasions He displays Himself to us as the King of majesty, a powerful King, or the King of terrors; but in His passion He assumes the character of a mild King, who, "when He suffered, He threatened not." (1 Pet. ii. 23.) The same being is, therefore, to-day represented seated on an ass, who on other occasions "sitteth on the Cherubim, and walketh on the wings of the winds." (Ps. xcviii. 1 and ciii. 3.) In this character of mildness He will ​visit you to-day in the holy Eucharist; and in order that you may not dread His majesty, He has concealed Himself under the disguise of food, and with admirable patience and mildness suffers Himself to be received and deposited in the breasts, not only of His friends, but also of His enemies.
II. With what ardor you ought to wish that this King would come and reign in your soul and subdue all your unruly passions. He is infinitely wise, and therefore He can direct you; infinitely powerful, and therefore, He can protect you; infinitely rich and bountiful, and therefore He can reward and crown you. " The Lord ruleth me," exclaims holy David, "and I shall want nothing." (Ps. xxii. 1.) If you, therefore, wish to be supplied with every good thing, submit yourself to be ruled by him.
III. You must make a due preparation to receive your guest, in order that He may visit you in the character of mildness, and not of terror and indignation. Go forth, therefore, to meet Him, as did the Jews, on this day, with your fresh green branches of good works. Spread your garments as they did on the road, that is, trample under your feet everything of vanity, pride, and earthly consideration. Say with His prophet, "I will extol Thee, O God, my king, and I will bless Thy name forever, yea forever and ever; hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God." (Ps. cxliv. 1 and v. 3.)
MONDAY.
Fourth Word, " My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
I. "About the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, Lamma Sabacthani? that is. My God. My ​God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" A loud cry and a shrill voice are signs of excessive grief. Our Lord was left alone in His sufferings for a long time. He was destitute of every kind of comfort which might arise from the inferior part of His soul; He was forsaken by His own people, even by His disciples; He foresaw, besides, that the greater part of mankind would forsake Him, although He endured all these torments for their •salvation. At this awful moment the oracle of the prophet Jeremias was fulfilled, "Great as the sea is thy destruction; who shall heal thee?" (Lament, ii. 13.)
II. Christ might have easily freed Himself from this interior anguish, had He chosen to do so, by surrendering Himself to the joys of the beatific vision which possessed the superior part of His soul; but He refused to do this, in order that in His sufferings He might reduce Himself to our level in all things. He wished also to instruct us how to bear desolation and aridity in prayer and that trouble of mind from which the greatest virtue does not exempt us. Learn, therefore, on similar occasions, to stand resolutely collected within yourself, to have recourse to prayer, and patiently to await the assistance of God: " For it shall surely come, and it shall not be slack." (Habac. ii. 3.)
III. If the eternal Father left His Son in this state of desolation, you have no reason to be surprised or to complain if He sometimes seem to abandon you, and to withdraw all consolation from you. Such desolation is frequently a sign of His love, sent to try your constancy and increase your merit. Hence, David prayed, " Prove me, O Lord! and try me; burn my reins and my heart." (Ps xxv. 2.) Offer yourself to God in the same spirit, and only beg with the same prophet that " He would not utterly forsake you." (Ps. cxviii. 8.)
TUESDAY.
Fifth Word, " I thirst. "
I. " Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst." Christ experienced a twofold thirst, corporal and spiritual. His corporal thirst was inflamed by His last night's restless watching, His interior afflictions, and the loss of so much blood. Our Lord chose to undergo this torment for our instruction. He who "brought, forth water out of the rock" (Ps. lxxvii. 16), who satisfied the thirsty Israelites in the desert, and who supernaturally quenched the thirst of Samson, refused this indulgence to Himself. Learn hence to suffer inconveniences for His sake.
II. " And they putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, offered it to His mouth," not to quench but to increase His thirst. What a draught was this for the Son of God, "who giveth food to all flesh" (Ps. cxxxv. 25),. "who openeth His hand, and filleth every creature with blessings everlasting." (Ps. cxliv. 16.) How different is this from the beverage which He bestows on us in the holy Eucharist! Be ashamed at your own delicacy in the articles of eating and drinking; and reflecting on the thirst of your Saviour on the cross, never complain or express dissatisfaction at any inconvenience to which you may be subjected.
III. The spiritual thirst of Christ principally regarded three objects. 1. He ardently desired to obey His heavenly Father in perfection, and to accomplish all the prophecies which had been uttered respecting Himself.
2. He thirsted for more sufferings, hence He openly proclaimed His corporal thirst, in order that His pains might ​be increased, and not that He might be refreshed. 3. He longed with His whole soul for the complete redemption of all mankind, for whom He was dying. Endeavor to experience the same zeal for virtue and the salvation of your neighbor. " Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled." (Matt. v. 6.)
WEDNESDAY.
Christ's Last Words, and Death.
I. "When Jesus therefore had taken the vinegar, He said, It is consummated." (John xix. 30.) He congratulates Himself for having now fully accomplished the will of His divine Father, " becoming obedient unto death, •even the death of the cross." (Phil. ii. 8.) He has now fulfilled the prophecies and figures which regarded His life, and of which He said: "Do not think that I come to destroy the law or the prophets: I come not to destroy, but to fulfil." (Matt. v. 17.) He has now terminated His labors and His sufferings, which He endured with patience to the very last, and has drunk the chalice to the very dregs. Well, therefore, might He say to His eternal Father, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do; and I come to Thee." (John xvii. 4, 11.)
II. His last words were, " Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." (Luke xxiii. 46.) He uttered these words " with a loud voice," to show that He had triumphed over death, sin, and the devil. He teaches us also how to recommend ourselves to God in our last moments, and to forget at that awful hour all earthly cares and ideas. Beseech your dying Saviour that death may not attack you unprovided against it, or prevent you from entertaining at the moment of your dissolution such holy sentiments.
​III. "And bowing down His head, He gave up the ghost." (John xix. 30.) O ineffable mystery! The sun of glory is eclipsed, the temple of the living God is dissolved, and the Author of life yields to death. How true is the sentence of the Apostle, "Ye are bought with a great price." (1 Cor. vi. 20.) Do not feel less affected at the completion of this awful mystery than all nature seemed to be on this occasion. For, " the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst" (Luke xxii. 45); "the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened." (Matt, xxvii. 51.) Be ashamed and confounded at your sins. Tear asunder the veil of self-love that hangs between you and your God. Tremble at the account that you will have to give for Christ's death and passion. Rend your heart with true contrition, and quit the loathsome grave of tepidity and sin.
MAUNDY THURSDAY.
Christ your Redeemer.
" Arise, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion, ye were sold for nought, and ye shall be redeemed without money." (Is. lii. 2.)
I. The Church in a particular manner at this holy time celebrates the benefits of our common redemption. We were all subject to the tyranny of the devil and children of wrath in consequence of original guilt, and there was no created being able to atone for the crime. We should all have been lost forever, had not God sent His only begotten Son as "a redemption to His people." (Ps. cx. 9.) This divine Son offered Himself a sacrifice for us, and enabled us to address Him in the prophetic language of Isaias, " Thou, O Lord! art our Father, our Redeemer, from everlasting is Thy name." (Is. lxiii. 16.)
​II. We were redeemed, "not with corruptible gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ." (i Pet. i. 18, 19.) Although one drop of His blood were perfectly adequate to our redemption, He nevertheless shed it all, and underwent the most severe torments, " because with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him plentiful redemption." (Ps. cxxix. 7.) Besides, not content to have redeemed us once, He has left Himself to us in the holy Eucharist, in order that we may as often recover ourselves from the hands of our enemies, as we approach Him with sincere sorrow. O ineffable love! Return Him all the thanks that you are able for this favor.
III. Your Redeemer wishes to visit you on this sacred day, in order to banish from your soul the remains of sin, and to break the chains of your vicious habits. Prepare yourself, therefore, to receive Him as you ought. Surrender yourself to Him, because you are wholly His: "You are not your own, for ye are bought with a great price." (1 Cor. vi. 19.) Centre all your affections in Him, and say with the Psalmist, " I am Thine: save me" (Ps. cxviii. 94), and with the Church, pray that "you may feel in yourself the benefit of Hie redemption."
GOOD-FRIDAY.
A Summary of Our Lord's Passion.
Imagine yourself standing at the foot of the cross on which your Redeemer is suspended, and hear Him cry out in the words of the prophet, " Oh all ye who pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to My sorrow." (Lament, i. 12.) Ponder attentively the whole passion in relation to the four principal circumstances, "that you may be able to comprehend with all ​the Saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth." (Eph. iii. 18.)
I. The Depth. — How ignominious it was! He was suspended aloft in the air, as one unworthy either to live or die on earth. He was condemned at four several tribunals, dragged along the streets, and pointed at as a blasphemer, a seducer, an impostor, a glutton, and an idiot. How can you contemplate this scene and still be so tender of your reputation?
II. The Height. — How grievous His sufferings were! Though His frame and constitution were of a delicate nature, He refused every kind of comfort, both interior and exterior. He was left alone and forsaken by all His friends; " He became a stranger to His brethren, and an alien to the sons of His mother" (Ps. lxviii. 9), i.e., the synagogue. If on the cross He had attempted to court any comfort, the weight of His body pressed the heavier on the wounds of His hands and feet, and increased His torments. If He leaned His head against the cross, the thorns were inserted more deeply in it; and if He thirsted, His drink was vinegar and gall. Although He suffered more than all the martyrs, His interior pains were more afflicting than those of His body. Good God, what unheard of torments!
III. The Breadth. — How universal were His sufferings! " From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein." (Is. i. 6.) His head was pierced with thorns, His face was buffeted by fists and defiled with spittle, His eyes and lips were swollen, His beard plucked, His shoulders lacerated with stripes, His side pierced with a spear, His hands and feet bored with rough nails; in fine, His whole body was bathed in His own blood. Every interior faculty was also tortured: His memory, His intellect, His will. Fear, ​indignation, solicitude for those He loved, and other emotions, struggled within Him. " He shall be filled with reproaches." (Lament, iii. 30.)
IV. The Length. — How long His torments lasted! His whole life before had been a continual suffering. "I am poor and in labors from My youth," says He by the royal Psalmist. (Ps. lxxxvii. 16.) The pains, however, which He suffered from His last supper until His expiration, were excruciating and intolerable, and endured all that night, and the day following, for about twenty hours. Contemplate the cruel and loving scene, and express those feelings which condolence and affection suggest.
HOLY-SATURDAY.
Our Lord's Burial.
I. After Christ was. dead, His sacred body was taken down from the cross by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. They laid the sacred treasure in the Mother's arms, fulfilling the expression in the Canticle, "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; He shall abide between my breasts." (Cant. i. 12.) Observe with what sighs and tears and what expressions of profound grief she received the mangled body. Ponder what was said and done by her and her devout companions on this occasion. Take care that you make your beloved Saviour "a bundle of myrrh" in your regard, by frequent and affectionate contemplation on His passion. "Gather this bundle for yourselves," says St.Bernard.
II. After grief and love had performed their parts over the dead body of our Lord, His sorrowing friends embalm it and wrap it in a clean winding-sheet. Christ loves cleanliness even in the grave. Learn hence to ​purify your heart in the most perfect manner when you approach Him in the holy Eucharist. Christ wishes His mystical members — that is, the faithful — to be embalmed, as well as His corporal members, with the myrrh of mortification and penance, according to the Apostle, " Always bearing about in our body the dying of Jesus; that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies." (2 Cor. iv. 10.)
III. When they had buried Christ, each one returns to his home; for they are not permitted to remain and watch at the sepulchre. Imagine what was the solitude of the blessed Virgin and other pious persons, and how they devoted themselves to prayer and contemplation, " waiting for the blessed hope and the coming of the glory of the great God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Titus ii. 13.) The holy Virgin might comfort herself with the words of the Psalmist, " In the evening, weeping shall have place; in the morning, gladness." (Ps. xxix. 6.) In desolation do you also have recourse to prayer, and learn to put your confidence in God alone.
Observations regarding the Meditations on the Mysteries which succeeded Christ's Resurrection.
The meditation of the mysteries which followed the resurrection of the Redeemer belongs to the unitive way. In these exercises the soul unites itself to God by making His will its own, and by adhering to the divine will as the rule of all good, according to the Apostle, " He who adheres to the Lord is one spirit." (1 Cor. vi. 17.) Hence the unitive way has different affections, peculiar to it, which ought to be indulged during the ensuing meditations. The chief subjects of these affections are as follows:
​I. Admiration of the majesty of God and the divine perfections which we contemplate.
II. Joy and contentment, because God is absolutely perfect in Himself, infinitely good to others, and admirable in all His works.
III. Praise and thanksgiving for His favors and benefits, with a desire of seeing and enjoying Him in order to honor and obey Him.
IV. Zeal of God's glory and the good of souls, wishing that all the world may come to the knowledge and love of their Redeemer.
V. Confidence in the goodness and Providence of God, united with a filial respect, and the fear of being separated fro.m Him by sin, and a sincere regret for having ever incurred His just indignation.
VI. Desire of the heavenly things which we contemplate. Everything on earth ought to appear trifling to us, when we look up to heaven and say with the prophet, "How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! my soul languisheth and fainteth in the courts of the Lord." (Ps. lxxxiii. 2.) "As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after Thee, O God!"" (Ps. xli. 2.)
By entertaining such affections as these, we ought to aim at that happy state in which, "beholding the glory of God with face uncovered, we maybe transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. iii. 18.) We should thus endeavor to become like to Him, by uniting our wills with His, and by increasing daily more and more in the knowledge and love of Him, until at length passing from this dark pilgrimage of human life, we may arrive at our own bright native country, and enjoy the beatific vision for all eternity.