Mary’s
School of Sanctity
Lesson #27 The
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius –— EXPLANATION OF THE THIRD WEEK OF THE
EXERCISES – THE PASSION AND DEATH OF OUR LORD, PART TWO
In this lesson
we continue our consideration of the Passion and Death of Our Lord. We will
take the two meditation suggestions of St. Ignatius and focus mainly on the
nailing of Our Lord on the Cross and His death on the Cross. We will use as
our framework the one St. Ignatius gave for our first contemplation of the
third week and then give considerations on our topic.
The Crucifixion
and Death of Our Lord
The preparatory
prayer is the same as usual: I ask God Our Lord the grace that
all my intentions, actions, and works may be directed purely to the service and
praise of the Divine Majesty.
The FIRST
PRELUDE is to call to mind the history, which here is how Christ Our Lord was
nailed to the Cross, and the time He spent on the Cross.
The SECOND
PRELUDE is a mental representation of the place. Here it will be to consider Calvary,
its location outside the city walls of Jerusalem and to consider who is
standing at the Foot of the Cross.
The THIRD
PRELUDE is to ask for what I desire. Here it will be to ask for sorrow, grief,
and a greater understanding of the tremendous price of sin – to see how the
malice of sin is shown in Our Lord’s every suffering. I ask that in pondering
His infinite Love for His Father and His infinite humility, I may increase my love
for God.
The FIRST POINT
is to visualize the persons at Calvary, and reflecting within myself, to strive
to gain some profit from it.
The SECOND
POINT is to listen to what they say, and likewise to draw some profit from it.
The THIRD
POINT is to observe what they are doing and to draw some fruit from it.
The FOURTH
POINT is to consider what Christ Our Lord suffers in His Humanity or wills to
suffer, according to the passage that is being contemplated. Here I will begin
with serious effort to strive to grieve, to be sad, and to lament. I will
strive in like manner through the following points.
The FIFTH POINT
is to consider how the Divinity hides Itself. That is to say, how It could
destroy Its enemies and does not do so, how It leaves the most Sacred Humanity
to suffer so cruelly. There is no pain that He did not take upon Himself
because He wants to appease the Wrath of His Father and restore to His Heavenly
Father the honor and glory which sin, in its very malice and hatred, hurls at
the Father.
The SIXTH POINT
is to consider that all the suffering is for my sins which are included in the
vast number of all sins, and to consider what I ought to do and suffer for Him.
I must try with all the powers of my soul to throw myself at His Merciful Feet
and weep for having offended so Majestic and Beloved a Father. I must beg for
an increase of sorrow so I can obtain an increase in the love of God.
The COLLOQUY:
Conclude with a colloquy to Christ Our Lord, and at the end say the “Our
Father.” There are countless things to say to Our Lord. With so many
considerations for this central topic of our Faith, one can easily open his
heart and pour forth fervent prayers and tears. In this meditation, it is
important to remember that when the exercitant’s heart is drawn to speak to Our
Crucified Lord, considering should stop and the heart should be allowed to
speak freely. Below, we will give some samples of sentiments which the
exercitant can use if he wishes.
Painting the
Scene and Giving Some Considerations.
Our Lord has
suffered so many humiliations so far in His Passion, from the ignominious
treatment in the Garden and being arrested like a common criminal, to having
His garments torn off His Body on Calvary. We can recall that He has already
suffered the bloody scourging of His tender skin which had been prepared for
His strikers by His bloody sweat. His Sacred Head has been crowned with
thorns. “I have given My Body to the strikers, and My cheeks to them that
plucked them: I have not turned away My Face from them that rebuked Me, and
spit upon Me.” (Isaias 50:6)
He was crowned
with a cap of thorns with a rim of reeds to help keep it on His Head. The
Roman soldiers mocked Him as a king and struck His Head and this likewise
forced the thorns (which were up to 1 and a 1/2 inches long) to press deep into
His skull.
We naturally
recall to our minds the other humiliations that Our Lord suffered which
include His condemnation and His being presented with the Cross (the
cross-beam, called the Patibulum)
which He had to carry through the narrow streets to Calvary with a hostile
crowd jeering at Him all the way.
He fell under
the weight of His Cross, showing the heavy weight of all of the malice of our
sins. He met His loving and Sorrowful Mother along the way, yet this meeting only
added to His broken Heart. He also met some pious women of Jerusalem who tried
to console Him and He spoke briefly to them and forewarned them about the Fall
of Jerusalem.
Simon of Cyrene
was forced to help Him carry His Cross because Our Lord showed He was exhausted.
Yes, He willed
to suffer these humiliations to repair for the dishonor shown to His Father by
all of the sins of the entire human race. Think about how He foresaw all of
this beginning from the moment of His conception in His dear Mother’s womb. He
spent His whole earthly sojourn anticipating all He would suffer and now His hour
had come, thus, all was being fulfilled. “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient
unto death, even to the death of the cross.” (Phil.2:8)
After reaching
the top of Calvary, they stripped Him of His garments. What an awful scene of
humiliation and pain for Him. All His wounds from the bloody scourging have
been torn open. Think again of the tenderness of His skin, which was caused by
His having sweat blood.
The vertical
part of the entire cross, the stipes, is fixed in the ground. The
executioners lay Our Lord down with His arms outstretched on the patibulum.
“Because of thy anger and indignation: for having lifted me up thou hast thrown
me down.” (Psalm 101:11) He is appeasing the anger of His Father which has been
provoked by all the sins of mankind.
Our Lord was,
of course, exalted. His many miracles alone would be sufficient reason to
exalt Him and now He is cast down degradingly to the ground. Look how
patiently He obeys His executioners and spreads His arms out to show His great
love for His Father. Remember His Infinite Love in His Divine nature is only
for His Father as is fitting because His Father is the only One Who is worthy
of this love. His Human nature, joined to His Divine nature, loves in the
maximum degree that any human could ever be capable of, but we must not forget
that His Human love is primarily directed to His heavenly Father. So, the love
He directs to His Father is primary and the love that Our Lord has for us is
only secondary. His primary purpose for suffering was to please His Father,
and repair the injustice done to His Father. As a consequence of this
reparation, we reap the benefits and are redeemed. How wonderful are the many
results of the work of God’s Providence especially because He works on many
levels.
If we could
only ponder all of His sufferings, both moral and physical, with these truths
just mentioned in mind, our hearts would be struck with awe and gratitude. Hence,
from dwelling on these sufferings, our love of Our Lord would naturally increase.
How beautiful it is that He wanted to show us His Infinite Love for His
Father. He clearly wanted us to understand His relationship with His Father
and the love that He and His Father have for each other. How often He
expressed His desire that everyone know that He was sent by His Father, “Now
this is eternal life: That they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)
The Crucifixion
Our Lord extended
His arms. An assistant held out one of the arms, with the palm uppermost. The
executioner took hold of the nail which was pointed at its end and had a square
head which was 1/3 of an inch thick. He gave Our Lord’s wrist a prick at the
fold at the bottom of the palm. He gave one single blow with his great hammer
and this was enough to fix the nail in the wood. All he needed to do was to
give a few more taps and the nail was fixed firmly.
Think how this
nail penetrated the skin, the wrist muscle, and grazed the bones of the wrists,
and pierced the Median nerve. This nerve was not cut in half but pierced
through its center which caused Our Lord intense pain. His furrowed forehead
tells of His indescribable pain. His face contracted in a way which was
terrible to behold because of the fiery pain which darted through His fingers
like lightning and then shot up His arm like a trail of fire to His shoulder,
and then burst into His brain.
He did not cry out. “He opened not His mouth.” (Isaias 53:7)
He did not
faint despite this unfathomable pain. He willed to be conscious and bear it
all because He loves His Father infinitely. He willed to have His human nature
suffer in the extreme. “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.” (Isaias 1:6)
In addition, we
should note that the laceration of this particular nerve trunk caused His thumb
to immediately retract violently into the palm of His Hand and remain fixed
there. (Even when rigor mortis set in, His thumbs were still stuck in this
position.)
The raw place
on the nerve center remained in contact with the nail and was stretched like a
violin string across the nail acting like the bridge. With every movement, the
initial pain which the nail caused when penetrating the nerve was renewed.
The other wrist
was nailed in the same manner as the first, except this time, He knew experientially
what to expect.
Because of the
angle in which Our Lord’s arms were stretched while He hung on the Cross, the
weight that each nail had to bear was about 240 pounds. We can
see what a tremendous burden the weight of all sins is for Him and
we can see the horrific malice of every sin!!
Now Our Lord
was gotten to His Feet. The executioner and his assistant move Him backwards
and place Him against the stake. They quickly lift the patibulum on top
of the stipes. With two nails they attached the title of Our Lord’s
crime of being the King of the Jews.
On the Cross, His
Body naturally sagged a bit. Think of the torture of the nerves of His poor
wrists being pulled and stretched at every movement. Then the executioners attached
His Sacred Feet to the wood of our salvation. They bent Our Lord’s knees and
placed His left Foot against the Cross and drove a nail through the middle of It.
Then they brought His left Foot in front of His right Foot and by pounding the
same nail again, they pierced through the middle of the right Foot and into the
wood. The executioners were very quick in their work. They
then dealt with the two thieves that were killed alongside of Our Lord. “…He
was reputed among the wicked…” (Isaias 53:12) Picture now the three gibbets,
side by side, facing the city which killed its God.
With Our Lord’s
Body now completely attached to the Cross, we can further study the immensity
of His sufferings. In crucifixion, the victim usually dies of asphyxiation.
How did this happen? The weight of the body pulled the crucified arms to a
position for inspiration which caused the sides to be relatively immobile. This
made breathing out very difficult and caused a progressive sense of
suffocation. Since the lungs were in a condition of forced inspiration and
unable to empty, normal oxygenation of the circulating blood could not take
place and asphyxiation began. When one is suffering asphyxia, there is in the
blood both a major lack of oxygen and too much carbon dioxide.
In order to
breathe, the victim used his nailed feet as support, as he straightened his
bent knees, lifted the body and brought his arms back to a horizontal
position. The dragging on the hands was reduced and asphyxia temporarily disappeared
as respiration was renewed. Then, because of fatigue, the body would drop and
asphyxia would begin again. With repeated episodes of asphyxiation, the
crucified victim soon developed symptoms of tetanus. Muscle spasms would begin
in the forearms, then in the whole arm and then the lower limbs and the trunk.
The muscles would contract and would not relax, namely, they would cramp. This
type of general cramping is also known as tetanus (tetanization). Hence,
this cramping would get so extensive that the person could no longer have the
strength to lift himself to get any relief and suffocation would eventually
finish him off. This type of death could take up to two days.
Now let us
study Our Lord’s case where He directed His own Passion and Death. “…I lay down
My life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from Me: but I lay it
down of Myself, and I have power to lay it down: and I have the power take it
up again…” (John 10:17-18)
Our Lord’s death
didn’t take two days. It was the great Parasceve and the Lamb of God willed to
die that day. In fact, He had the whole earth put on mourning for Him. “Now from
the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth hour.”
(Matt. 27:45) (Mark 15:33) (Luke 23:44)
We can imagine
Our Dear Lord suffering this general cramping of all His muscles, which were
bulging. He breathed shallowly and the air entered with a whistling sound, but
scarcely came out any longer. His Face became flushed and turned a violet
purple, and then blue. His Forehead was covered with sweat. His Eyes were
prominent and rolling. His Head must have been pounding. Our Lord lifted
Himself as we just described above in order to breathe and in order to relieve
the pressure on His Hands. Remember that the pressure on each crucified wrist
was about 240 pounds. Each time He wanted to breathe or speak He had to lift
Himself and pivot on those poor wrist nerves.
The Sacred Arms
had two deep furrows in the cramped muscles of the forearms and in these were
two flows of blood. These indicate this process of lifting to breathe and the
dropping with fatigue which occurred all the while Our Lord was on the Cross. (His
fatigue was even greater because of His having been scourged after having an
extensive hemorrhage from His bloody sweat.) His entire chest region was one
massive cramp.
What a price of
suffering to pay for the sins of all mankind! Yet, He willed to speak while on
the Cross and suffered more in order to do so. What did He want to say which
He knew would be recorded in the gospels for us to read again and again? When a
man is dying, he talks about what is important to him and/or what he wants to
be remembered as saying. Our Lord is God and He shows His compassion for us by
leaving us His precious words, His final will and testament, as it were.
“And I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself. (Now this He said,
signifying what death He should die.)” (John 12:31-32)
Yes, Our
wonderful Savior, like a Magnet of Love, will draw us to Him by His words.
Examination of
Our Lord’s last words:
Imagine the
scene of the Crucifixion with the Pharisees, Scribes, and the people standing
around the crosses.
“And the people stood beholding Him, and the rulers
with them derided Him, saying: He saved others; let Him save Himself, if he be
Christ, the elect of God.
“And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him
and offering Him vinegar. And saying: If thou be the King of the Jews, save
thyself.” (Luke 23:35-37)
“And they that passed by blasphemed Him, wagging
their heads, and saying: Vah, Thou that destroyest the temple of God, and in
three days buildest it up again; save thyself, coming down from the cross.
“In like manner also the chief priests mocking,
said with the scribes one to another: He saved others; Himself he cannot save.
Let Christ the king of Israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.
And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him.” (Mark 15:29-32)
“In like manner also the chief priests, with the
scribes and ancients, mocking, said: He saved others: Himself He cannot save. If
He be the king of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will
believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him now deliver Him if He will have Him;
for He said: I am the Son of God.
And the selfsame thing the thieves also, that were crucified
with Him, reproached Him with.” (Matt. 27:41-44)
What horrifying
blasphemies hurled against the Son of God and thereby hurled against God the
Father and these gravely insulted the divine love that they have for each
other! What ignorance they show that they have of things spiritual! What
proud blindness they have! Our Lord knows this and so what does His mercy
respond?
“Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
Imagine the
effect this has on the crowd. Of course, the Pharisees did not understand
forgiveness. They wouldn’t humble themselves. Their lives were surrounded
with revenge and “an eye for an eye” mentality. Furthermore, they had envied
and hated Our Lord for so long that they could only think of insulting Him. This
was their way of taking revenge. They were inspired by their father, the
devil.
Our Lord was
setting an example that we ought to pray for our enemies when He prayed for His.
“Therefore, will I distribute to Him very many, and He shall divide the spoils
of the strong, because He hath delivered His soul unto death, and was reputed
with the wicked: and He hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the
transgressors.” (Isaias 53:12)
We must
forgive, pity, and pray for our enemies. We must give our enemies the benefit
of the doubt that they are ignorant of the truth. We must count our blessings
and understand that the Faith and truth are undeserved gifts of God.
Furthermore, we must remind ourselves that these gifts are God’s mercy shown to
us. We must be grateful for what we have and not take things for granted.
What God has given, He could certainly take away. We must beg Him to continue
to have mercy on us.
Unlike the
Jews, Dismas showed he was receptive to Our Lord’s words of forgiveness. The
good thief repented and was sorry for his mockery of Christ. “And one of those robbers,
who were hanged, blasphemed Him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and
us. And the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God,
seeing thou art under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he
said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into thy kingdom.” (Luke
23:39-41)
Our Lord is so
compassionate to one who humbles himself and admits the truth. He immediately
responds to this repentant thief.
And Jesus said
to him: “Amen, I say to you: this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.”
(Luke 23:43)
Yes, when Our
Lord dies, He descends into hell, the Limbo of the Fathers. He announces their
deliverance to the souls awaiting there. He knows that soon Dismas will have
his legs broken, die, and join Him in Limbo.
Thus, Dismas
will be with Christ in Paradise. As described in St. Matthew’s Gospel the
moment of Our Lord’s death, “The graves were opened: and many bodies of the
saints that had slept arose, and coming out of the tombs after His
resurrection, came into the city and appeared to many.” (Matt. 27:52-53)
And as
Tradition teaches, when Our Lord ascended into heaven, the souls of the just
went with Him into heaven.
We know that
Our Dear Mother Mary stood at the foot of the Cross with St. John the Apostle
and Mary Magdalene. What anguish it was for her to see her Son suffer so! She
had been infused with so much knowledge and she is the Virgin of virgins, most
pure. Because of her infused knowledge and the prerogatives God had blessed
her with, she understood the tremendous deed her Son was accomplishing and the
justice He was fulfilling in order to open the gates of heaven. She understood,
as much as a human could, His love for His Father. She knew the Scriptures
well and was perhaps even reciting in her mind Psalm 21, which prophesied His
Passion. The Pharisees’ “Vah” still rang in her ears as she pondered how this
Scripture was being fulfilled before her very eyes.
Her Immaculate
Heart ached at the blasphemies and evil around her. She shared her Son’s
ignominy with Him. No doubt the Pharisees and crowd mocked His Mother as
well. She suffered to see Him suffer physically and she could surmise what
mental anguish must have been His. Tradition calls her the Queen of Martyrs
because she suffered a veritable martyr’s death alongside of her Son. Their
Hearts were so united in their mission of redemption. From the moment of her
“Fiat,” she was most likely anticipating what would happen to Him as the Savior
Who would become the Paschal Lamb. She was pleased to suffer with Him.
Our Lord looked
down from the Cross.
“When Jesus
therefore, saw His Mother and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith
to His Mother, “Woman, behold thy son.””(John 19:26)
Why did He call
her Woman? This refers back to the promise of the Redeemer that God gave when
He spoke to Satan after Adam’s Fall. “I will put enmities between thee and
the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt
lie in wait for her heel.”
Mary is that
Woman that crushes Satan with the death of her Divine Son on the Cross. Mary
is God’s Masterpiece Who He created without original sin so she could be the
fitting Mother of His Son. He chose her to supply the human matter for the
Incarnation. On the Cross Our Lord bequeathed her to us by giving her to St.
John who represents baptized Catholics. Thus, she is the Mother of the members
of the Mystical Body of Christ as she was the Mother of the Sacred Humanity of
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who are
not baptized Catholics are in the family of the serpent. Those who are
baptized are in the Mystical Body and hence children of Mary. God made her the
Mediatrix of all graces and allowed her, in her finite nature, to join in the
redemptive suffering of His Divine Son. So it is that we call her the
Co-Redemptrix, certainly not making her equal to her Divine Son, but
recognizing her sorrows, anguish, and pain at the Foot of the Cross. She
willingly accepted St. John and us as well, as her children. Her tender Immaculate
Heart united with the Holy Will of the Trinity and wants to accomplish the work
of the Redemption of the Elect.
Then Our Lord
completed the bequest.
“After that, He
saith to the disciple, ‘Behold thy Mother.’ And from that hour
the disciple took her to his own.” (John 19:27)
Antiquity tells
us that St. John was the youngest apostle, about 17 years old at the beginning
of Our Lord’s public life. He was innocent and a virgin. He refers to
himself, modestly, as the beloved disciple. Our Lord allowed him to lay his
head on His Bosom at the Last Supper. He followed Our Lord into the houses of
Annas and Caiphas, and so, it does not surprise us that we find him at the Foot
of the Cross. Although he, like the other apostles, lost the Faith, he was the
first to recover it on Easter morning. “Then the other disciple also went in,
who came first to the sepulchre: and he saw, and believed. For as yet they
knew not the scripture that He must rise again from the dead.” (John 20:8-9)
He took care of
Mary throughout the remainder of her life on earth. He obeyed her as if she were
his mother. He was privileged to witness the death of Our Lord and write the
last account of the Gospel
as well as three epistles and the Apocalypse.
Imagine the
scene in which this interchange took place. Let us not forget the intense
darkness that was upon the whole world.
God allowed nature to be affected by the Deicide which was occurring.
“And when the
sixth hour was come there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth
hour.
And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli,
Eli, lamma sabacthani?, which is being interpreted, My God, My God, why
hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34) In Latin, Deus meus, Deus
meus, quare me dereliquisti?
It is
remarkable to note that these very words are the beginning of Psalm 21. One
cannot help wondering what Our Blessed Mother must have thought and felt at hearing
that urgent cry of her Dear heart-stricken Son. The words of the entire Psalm
probably went through her mind and oh, what heart-rending thrusts must have been
plunged into her heart especially where this psalm refers to His Mother!
This psalm and
others speak of the exquisite moral suffering Our Lord endured on the Cross.
He felt with keen awareness the gravity of sin. He felt the immense wrath His
Father has towards sin. His Father hates sin. Our Lord “became sin” to repair
the injustice caused by sin.
How can the Divine Father hate the Divine Son? It is true that it is
impossible for the Divine Father to hate the Divine Son and yet in some
mysterious way Our Lord allowed His Human Soul to feel completely abandoned by
the Father and to block the Beatific Vision that His Human Soul always saw and enjoyed.
Thus, the
following words from the depths of the Word Incarnate as He suffered this moral
pain on the Cross.
“There is no health in My Flesh, because of Thy
wrath: there is no peace for My bones, because of My sins. For My iniquities
are gone over My Head: and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon Me.” (Ps.
37: 4-5)
“My Heart is troubled, My strength hath left Me,
and the Light of My Eyes itself is not with Me.” (Ps. 37:11)
The light of My
eyes itself is not with Me could be taken as His vision of His Father seems
gone or He did not allow Himself to feel any joy or consolation from It. He
willed to suffer the absolute most that one could suffer both physically and
spiritually.
“Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even
unto My soul. I stick fast in the mire of the deep: and there is no sure
standing. I am come into the depth of the sea: and a tempest hath overwhelmed
Me.” (Ps. 68:2-3)
“For My soul is filled with evils: and My life hath
drawn nigh to hell. I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am
become as a man without help, free among the dead… They have laid Me in the
lower pit: in the dark places, and in the shadow of death. Thy wrath has come
strong over Me: and all thy waves Thou hast brought in upon Me. Thou hast put
away My acquaintances far from Me: they have set Me an abomination to
themselves. I was delivered up, and came not forth: My Eyes languished through
poverty. All the day I cried to Thee, O Lord: I stretched out My Hands to
Thee.” (Ps. 87: 4-10)
“Thy wrath hath come upon Me: and Thy terrors have
troubled Me. They have come round about Me like water all the day: they have
compassed Me about together.” (Ps. 87:18-19)
“I am a worm and no man: a reproach of men and the
outcast of the people.” (Ps. 21:7)
“For tribulation is very near: for there is none to
help Me.” (Ps.21:12)
We can see from
these quotes how He felt so abandoned by God and so very alone. He did not
despair, but felt the horrors of the soul close to despair. Yet, He set the
example that one should never give up begging God for help, through humble
prayer.
His next words and
the quotes which follow shed more light on His physical
suffering.
“I thirst.” (John 19:28)
Again this
harkens back to Ps. 21.
“I am poured
out like water and all My bones are scattered.” (Ps. 21:15)
“My strength is
dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws: and Thou hast
brought Me into the dust of Death.” (Ps.21:16)
“They have
pierced My Hands and My Feet: they have numbered all My bones.” (Ps.21:17)
“My Heart is
like melting wax in the midst of My bowels.” (Ps. 21:15)
These quotes
bespeak of Our Lord’s great thirst and physical torment. His bloody sweat, His
scourging which was so severe, especially in the region of His Heart, and the
tetanization of His muscles all were causes of great thirst.
Furthermore,
Our Lord thirsted for souls. He saw how the majority of souls do not care
about Him. His Sacred Heart is truly a furnace of Charity. As St. John saw
when they pierced Our Lord’s side that blood and water came out. This water
was really pericardial water from the sac that envelops the Heart. The heart
muscle was inflamed and swollen and the sac had extra fluid in it because this
is the way in which the body protects the heart. Having this extra fluid in
the pericardial sac held the heart in a manner similar to a vise.
Remember He
willed to suffer to the maximum intensity that a perfect human being could
suffer. Why? Because He wanted to prove to us how much He loved His Father!
But what is His
thirst like?
For a parent to
see wayward and confused children; and/or for one to see confused and worldly
relatives and friends; to see so many souls being corrupted daily in the world
around us, and to understand what they all are missing, namely, a sweet tender
friendship with Our compassionate Lord and Savior— what spiritual torture this
is for that soul! Now think how Our Lord saw all souls and every aspect about
them from the beginning of time to the end of time. Oh what extreme agony for
Him to bear!!! Where is their salvation? Why do they not love Him? Why do
they not see what He is lovingly suffering? Why are they throwing away the
happiness He was so willing to give them? Those who love Him and
ponder this aspect ought to shudder with fear and grateful humility lest they,
too, become callous to His pain and His friendship. We must cling to Him and
constantly thank Him and beg Him for His continued mercies and the sight to
see Him and appreciate Him.
“It is
consummated.” (John
19:30)
“I have
glorified Thee on earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.
And now glorify Thou Me, O Father, with Thyself, with the glory which I had
before the world was, with Thee.” (John 17: 4-5) Our Lord is basically
announcing that the Chalice of suffering which His heavenly Father gave Him to
drink is now fully drunk. All sin has been atoned for and His Father is now
appeased. His honor has been regained. The elect have been paid for. The
Father gave the Elect to His Son and now the Son has done what was required of
Him to save the Elect and give them back to the Father.
“Father, into
Thy Hands I commend My spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
“And Jesus
crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into Thy Hands I commend My spirit. And
saying this, He gave up the ghost.” (Luke 23:46)
Note that Our
Lord went back to calling His Father by His name. Before the sacrifice of
reparation was complete, He felt the Wrath of His heavenly Father and now that
the reparation was finished, He no longer feels the wrath. He is ready to give
up His Human Soul. Note too, that He decides the moment when His sacrifice is
complete and He will die. “…I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No
man taketh it away from Me: but I lay it down of Myself, and I have power to
lay it down: and I have the power take it up again…” (John 10:17-18)
As we said
above, the one crucified ultimately dies of suffocation because when he is so
fatigued as to not be able to hold himself up anymore, asphyxia overtakes him.
Our Lord called
out with a loud voice yielding up His Soul which means He was not dying of
suffocation. This is one of the things that impressed the Centurion who said,
“Indeed this man was the Son of God.” (Mark 15:39)
This is a
profound scene because of all the things which occurred… “The veil of the
temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom, and the earth quaked,
and the rocks were rent.” (Matt. 27:51)
“And all the
multitude of them that were come together to that sight, and saw the things
that were done, returned striking their breasts.” (Luke 23:48)
With this we
now turn to our colloquy suggestions.
Colloquy
Suggestions: to Our Lord and to Our Lady
To Our Lord:
“Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Oh, my Dear
Merciful Lord, I admire Thy readiness to forgive. Please help me imitate Thine
example. Because I am so quick to criticize and judge others, I need to stop
and reflect how merciful Thou hast been to my poor soul. Help me consider the
difficulties that others have and show patience to them. Help me to forgive
those who misjudge me especially when I try to follow the principles that Thou
hast shown me.
“Amen, I say to
you: this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.”
My dearest
Jesus, how I long for Thee to say this to me, yet I am so unworthy. How many
times have I been ungenerous in my service of Thee? I desire to amend my ways
and from hence forward follow Thee more faithfully. Thy words to Dismas give
me hope and courage that I can change and build proper habits of virtue. I
thank Thee for Thine example of Mercy to him.
“Woman, behold
thy son.” “Behold thy Mother.”
Oh, most
compassionate Savior, how can I thank Thee for giving me such a loving and
tender Mother? I know that she will take good care of all my needs. She will
teach me her ways. I am so unworthy of such a holy Mother. Please help me be
a docile child of her who is the Mediatrix of all graces.
To Our
Lady: Dearest Mother, bequeathed to me at the Foot of the Cross of thy
Divine Son, I admire thy strength and faithfulness. Help me dear Mother to be
faithful to thy Son. Help me ponder His sufferings both moral and physical.
“Eli, Eli,
lamma sabacthani?, which is being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?”
Oh my suffering
Jesus, when I ponder Thy sorrowful plea to Thy Father, my heart aches with love
for Thee. Thou wast poured out like water. Poured, not trickled out. Thou
gave everything to prove to me Thy Infinite Love for Thy Father. What more
could Thou have done? All Thy sufferings were in the most extreme measure that
a man could bear and Thou are The Perfect Man! I am amazed when I think of how
Thou didst plan every detail of how Thou could be humiliated the most and how
every aspect of Thy physical pain could be the maximum. I cannot thank Thee
enough for Thy examples which make Thy Cross a special school of sanctity.
“I thirst.”
When I ponder
the many aspects of Thy thirst, O Lord, I cannot help loving Thee more and
more. Thy physical thirst was horrific, of course, but when I think deeply
about Thy moral thirst for souls, I am caught up in the torrent of Thy
beautiful thirst. I can understand how Thou hast great desire to save souls. Thou
hast inspired this thirst in me and I thank Thee for it with my whole heart.
Please help me share Thy thirst with Thee.
“It is
consummated.” “Father, into Thy Hands I commend My spirit.” Oh, my dying
Jesus, how noble Thou art! I can see the Majesty of Thy Holy Face. How can I
thank Thee for all Thou hast done for me? I beg Thee to help me die worthily
to be able to say to Thee, “into Thy Hands I commend my soul.”
Our next lesson
will be an explanation of St. Ignatius’s Fourth Week which includes the
contemplation on Our Lord’s Resurrection.
