Page:Thinkwellonit.pdf/86

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4. Consider the mortal agony which our Saviour suffered in his soul, during the prayer of this night. We may judge of the pains and anguish of his soul, by the wonderful effect they produced in his body, by casting him into that prodigious sweat of blood to such a degree, as to imbue the very ground on which he lay prostrate. Sweet Jesus, who ever heard of such an agony as this? But what thinkest thou, my soul, was the true cause of all this anguish, and of this bitter agony of thy Saviour? Chiefly these three: first, a clear view and lively representation of all that he was to suffer during the whole course of his passion: so that all the ignominies and torments, that he was afterwards successively to go through, were now all at once presented before the eyes of his soul with all their respective aggravations; by which means he suffered his whole bitter passion twice over; once by the hands of his enemies, and another time by his own most clear and lively imagination of all that he had to suffer. But why, dear Jesus, these additional agonies? Only thy love can answer me. Another cause that contributed to our Saviour's anguish was, a distinct view of all the sins of the world from the first to the last; of all the horrid crimes and abominations of mankind, all now laid to his charge, to be cancelled by the last drop of his blood. Ah! how hideous, how detestable were all these hellish monsters in the eyes of our Saviour; who alone had a just notion of their enormity, by having always before him a clear sight of the infinite majesty offended by them! O Lord, how great a share had my sins in this tragical scene! How much, alas! did they contribute to thy pains and grief! A third cause of our "Saviour's agony was the knowledge that he had of the little use