Think Well On't/Day 30
THE THIRTIETH DAY.
Our Saviour on the cross.
CONSIDER how the bloody executioners, having now nailed our Saviour fast to the cross, begin with ropes to raise him up in the air. O! what shouts did his enemies now make, when he appeared above the people's heads. With what blasphemies did they salute him, whilst his most afflicted mother, and other devout friends are pierced to the heart at the sight! At length they let the foot of the cross fall into the hole prepared for it, with a jolt, by which our Saviour's mangled body was not a little injured, and the wounds of his hands and feet widened, and thus he now hangs, poised in the air, in most dreadful pangs and torments, the whole weight of his body sustained by his pierced hands and feet, by which his wounds are continually increased; no place to rest his head on. but upon thorns; no other bed for his wearied and wounded body, but the hard wood of the cross.
2. Consider the infinite charity of our Saviour, and the unparalleled malice of his enemies. He, amidst his torments, cries out: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. They grin and shake their heads at him, saying: Vah! thou that destroyest the temple of God and in three days dost rebuild it, save now thy own self: if thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross: with a thousand other reproaches and blasphemies, with which he is loaded, not only by the common people and soldiers, but also by the chief priests, scribes and elders, which he hears and bears in patience and silence. But, O! who can tell us the interior employment of his blessed soul all this while that he hangs upon the cross, — his thoughts of peace towards us, his prayers for us, the anguish and dreadful agonies of the interior part of his soul, and the inexpressible joy in the supreme part thereof, in the glory of his Father, which was to arise from that plentiful redemption, which he was then imparting to poor sinners!
3. Consider the part that the blessed Virgin Mother bore in the sufferings of her son: and how truly here was verified that prophecy of old Simeon: Thy own soul a sword shall pierce, O! how killing a grief must have oppressed this most tender and most loving of all mothers, when, during the whole course of the passion of her dearest Son, whom she loved with an incomparable love, she was an eye-witness to all the injuries, outrages and torments that he endured. Ah! blessed Lady, may we not truly say that the whips, thorns and nails, that pierced thy Son's flesh, made as deep a wound in thy virgin heart: and that nothing but a miracle could have supported thy life under such excess of pain? But, O! what a deep wound didst thou feel in thy soul, when thy dying Son recommended thee to his beloved disciple, St. John, giving to thee the son of Zebedee in exchange for the son of God! Blessed Virgin, we gladly acknowledge thee for our mother, bequeathed to us all in the person of St John. Oh! by all thy sufferings, remember us poor banished children of Eve, before the throne of grace. Christians, learn the admirable lessons which our Lady teaches you at the foot of the cross; learn her unshaken faith and undoubted hope; learn her perfect resignation, patience and fortitude. Oh! learn from her to love Jesus, and detest sin, the true cause of his sufferings.
4. Consider how all things seem now to have conspired against our dearest Lord. His father has forsaken him; his mother's presence and grief pierce him to the heart. As for his own apostles, one of them has betrayed him; another has denied Him; all have abandoned him; his friends, and those whom he had most favoured and miraculously cured, now either join with his persecutors, or at least are ashamed of him: his enemies triumph and insult over him; his own body by its weight is a torment to him. But what most of all afflicts him, is to see the ingratitude of Christians, the little benefit they will make of his death and passion, and the eternal loss of so many souls redeemed by his precious blood. Ah! sweet Jesus, suffer me not to be one of that unhappy number: suffer me not to be so miserable, as to join with thy enemies in crucifying thee by sin!
5. Consider the lessons that our Saviour gives us by his last words upon the cross: 1st. Of perfect love and charity to his enemies, by praying for them, and excusing them to his eternal Father: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Oh! let us learn from our dying Redeemer this necessary lesson, to love and pray for those that hate and persecute us: and instead of aggravating their crime, to excuse it and impute it to their ignorance. Oh! how true is it of every sinner, he knows not what he is doing, otherwise he would never dare to fly in the face of infinite majesty: he would never be so mad as to renounce heaven for a trifle, and cast himself down the precipice that leads to hell. 2dly, learn the efficacy of a sincere conversion, and an humble confession of sins, in the plenary indulgence given by our dying Saviour to the good thief: Amen, I say unto thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. 3dly, learn a filial devotion to the Virgin Mother, recommended to us all by her Son, in the person of St. John: Behold thy mother. 4thly, learn the greatness of the interior anguish of thy Saviour's soul, from these words: My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me? Alas! it was for no other reason, but that poor sinful man might not be forsaken. 5thly, from that word of thy crucified Jesus, I thirst: take notice of two violent thirsts which thy Saviour endured upon the cross; the one corporal, proceeding from his having fasted so long, passed through so many torments, and shed so much blood: the other spiritual, in his soul, by the vehement desire of our good and salvation. But, Oh! cruel wretches, who would give him nothing but vinegar to quench his corporal thirst! More cruel sinners, who instead of satisfying his spiritual thirst by gratitude and devotion, give him nothing but the gall and vinegar of sin and wickedness! 6thly, from these words of our dying Saviour, It is consummated, learn to rejoice that the whole work of man's redemption is now perfected; that the figures and prophecies of the law are fulfilled; and the handwriting that stood against us is now completely cancelled by the blood of our Redeemer. 7thly, from these last words of our expiring Lord: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, learn both in life and death to commit thyself wholly to thy God. Happy they that study well these lessons which their great Master teaches them from the chair of his cross.