some small measure, into conformity with the example which Thou didst set, when Thou wast bound, and held captive.
CHAPTER VI
☙ The forsaking of the Lord Jesus, and the flight of the Apostles
BLESS Thee, and give thanks to Thee,
O Lord Jesus Christ, good Shepherd
and gracious Master, for Thy most sad
abandonment and for Thy loneliness,
in the extremity of Thy need; when Thou wast
left, by all Thy disciples and friends, quite alone
in the midst of Thy most cruel enemies. For Thy
brethren, and Thy familiar friends — who had
promised to die, and to give their lives, for Thee
— when the need came, one and all forsook Thee
and fled.
I praise and glorify Thee, for that tenderness of Heart, which caused Thee to suffer so cruelly from the cowardice with which Thy disciples turned their backs on Thee and deserted Thee, when leaving Thee their Shepherd in the midst of wolves, they were dispersed like sheep, every one to his own, even as Thou hadst foretold to them. Great indeed must have been the sadness, great indeed the anguish and the grief, which possessed the hearts of the disciples when they beheld their Lord and Master, Whom they had left all to follow, so violently torn from them, and hurried away to death. But Thou, O Lord, to Whom all things are known, and Who dost not allow anything to happen without its fulfilling some purpose of Thy
