A SERMON ON THE PASSION of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST. preached before Her MAJESTY THE Queen Dowager, In Her chapel at somerset House, Upon Good friday, April 13. 1688. By F. Angel Bix, of the Holy Order of St. Francis. Published by her Majesties Special Command. London, Printed by J. G. and are to be Sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster. A SERMON ON THE PASSION of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST. preached before Her MAJESTY THE Q. Dowager. Propter scelus Populi mei percussi eum. Isaiae cap. 53. vers. 8. I have struck him for the Sins of my People. Isaias Chap. 53. vers. 8. 'TIs true, my angry God, 'tis true, you struck him indeed, you struck him within, & you struck him without; killing Agonies of sorrow within, and dolorous pains without; you struck his Head with Thorns, his Hands and Feet with Nails, his Shoulders with Rods and Scourges, his Heart with Spears and lances; in a word, you struck him all over, and never left striking till you struck him dead upon a across. But why? what's his Fault? what's his Crime quid enim mali fecit? Is not he the Holy of Holys? Is not he the Lamb without Spot? Is not he the Only Son of all your tender Loves? and the eternal Object of all your inflamed Affections? Why then, O why do you strike him? and strike him with such severity as shakes the whole Frame of Nature, and sets all Heaven and Earth a trembling: Quid enim mali fecit? 'Tis true, replies the Heavenly Father, my Son is Innocent, but since by an excess of Love he has taken upon himself to pay the Debts, and answer for the Sins of Men, we are Friends no more, I have declared War against him, I'll open all the Floodgates of my Anger at once, I'll give full career to my indignation, I'll arm my hands with all the Scourges of my wrath, I'll strike him to the very Heart for the Sins of my People: propter scelus populi mei, percussi eum. Sin then I see( dear Christians) Sin was the fatal cause of all this bloody Catastrophe, Sin brought this Lamb to the Slaughter, Sin put the Author of Life to Death, Sin crucified the Only begotten Son of God, Sin provok't the Justice of the Eternal Father to lay on all these heavy stroke upon the Shoulders of this Innocent: propter scelus populi mei, percussi eum: I struck him for the Sins of my people. But here I find more hands than one employed to strike this Holy One; three sorts of hands; 1. Hands of Love: 2. Hands of Cruelty: 3. Hands of Justice. Hands of Love begin to make him smart for Sin; hands of Justice close the deep and doleful Tragedy: or to express myself in clearer terms, Jesus strikes his own Heart with the hands of Love in the Garden of Olives; bloody Tormenters strike him with hands of Cruelty in the Great Praetorium or Judgment-Hall of Pilate; and his Eternal Father struck him dead with the hands of Justice upon the Mount of Calvary. Come then( dear Christians) let us with bleeding hearts and weeping eyes follow our Suffering messiah through all those Places or Stations of Sorrow; where. Division 1 2 3 The Love of his own Divine Heart. Cruelty of his Insulting Pesecutors, Justice of his Angry Father, Struck him for the Sins of the people, and made him bled to Save us. But first let us cast out selves at the feet of his Compassionate Mother; for though she's even plunged in a bitter Sea of Sorrow, yet all Sorrow, as she is, she'l not refuse her Maternal Assistance; nay, I dare assure you, 'twill be some relief to her afflicted heart, to hear us speak devoutly of her Suffering Son, especially, if we daw that fruit from the doleful Contemplation of his Passion which He and She desires: and this O dolorous Mother of our expiring Saviour, this is the only Boon we now demand upon our knees, with this mornful Anthem of the Church; Virgo Virginum praeclara nobis jam nonsis amara, fac nos tecum plangere. Eia matter istud agas crufixi sige plagas cordi nostro Valide. Amen. The First Part. HA! no doubt, no doubt, but the disorder of Sin is a strange disorder, seeing nothing could ever satisfy for this disorder but the Sufferings of a GOD: the slain of Sin must needs be very foul, and of the blackest die, which nothing could wash away but the blood of the Spotless Lamb: and the evil of Sin must needs be greatest of all evils, which nothing could repair but the death of Life itself. But when, or where did the Son of God begin to satisfy for this Disorder? blot out this slain? and repair this evil? Ha! Christians, 'twas in the Garden of Olives, 'twas in his own hands, even the hands of Love, that he may truly, say propter scelus populi mei, percussi me, I struck myself for the sins of my people. And yet to see a Jesus in his own hands, has nothing in it sure that's rogorous; at least, according to all appearance it should be so; for as he knows his own Purity, his own Sanctity, his own Innconcency better than all Men and Angels besides, so doubtless he'l be kind to himself, he'l spare himself without all question, Ha! no, no,( dear Christians) would you believe it, and Love of Jesus strikes the first blow upon the heart of Jesus, that I may truly say, Jesus is become his own first Judge, and his own first Executioner: propter scelus populi mei percussi me. In effect, methinks I contemplate the boundless Love of his Heart, like an invisible Priest leading this Innocent Victim into Garden of Olives, as into a Holy Temple, the fittest place for such a Sacrifice; and he makes choice of the night, because then all Nature being clad in mourning, or butted as it were under the dark shades of solitude and silencie, Love had more power to act upon his tender Heart & fill his afflicted Soul with such bitter Floods of sorrow as forced him to groan forth this sad complaint, My Soul is sorrowful even to death: Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem. Math. 24.30. But here to go on in order, let us with pensive hearts contemplate the Prayers, the Tears, and the Bloody Sweat of our Agonizing Redeemer: or here let us see if Tears will give us leave to see How Jesus 1 preys, Subdivision of the first part. 2 Weeps. 3 and Bleeds For the sins of the People. What odds there is between the Spirit of the World and the Spirit of the World's Redeemer, we see by frequent Experience, and it's obvious, that Persons of Honour, Courage, and Conduct, endeavour all they can to hid their inward grief from the eyes of others, though grounded upon the justest motives, because they look upon it as a weakness unworthy of a generous heart: but Jesus the Lord of Glory, Jesus the Strong God, Jesus the Power and the Splendour of the Father, who might have covered the interior Sorrows, of his Soul under the dark Clouds of Night and Solitude, takes three of his Disciples to be the Witnesses of his hidden Dolours, as they had been of his public Miracles: tell us then, tell us, O you blessed Men, you chosen favourites of our Suffering Lord, you Privy Councellors to the King of Dolours, tell us what past in this Garden of sorrow; express, if you can, those secret Agonies of Grief which ceased his Royal Heart: Alas! alas! all they can say, is only this, Factus in agonia, prolixius orabat: being cast into a deep Agony, he prayed with more than usual fervour. Luke 22.44. Pater, si fieri potest, transeat a me calix iste: Father, I see th sins of the people have armed the hands of your Justice with Rods and Scourges, I see a bitter Chalice in your hand brim full of vinegar and gull;( Mark 14.35) and I must needs confess my inferior nature even shrinks and trembles at the light on't; and therefore if ever this tongue of mine has proclaimed the Glories of your Name, hear now the groanings of my heart, which calls you Abba, Pater, and if it can be done, si fieri potest, if the rigorous decrees of your revenging Justice can dispense with a spotless innocent; remote, O remove this bitter Chalice from me, si fiere potest, transeat a me calix iste: but if I must drink it, if you are resolved to strike me for the Sins of the People, if I must die, let me die a death less painful, less regorous, less ignominous, and more worthy the Divine Life of a God, which you have given me, transeat a me calix iste. But here you must be sure to understand me well, for the Holy Fathers and Learned Divines of the Church assure us, this Prayer of Christ was neither positive nor efficacious; for so the Heavenly Father must needs have heard this Prayer, and signed this just Petition of his Only son, it being still in the power of this Holy One to drink, or not to drink this bitter Cup, to loose, or not to loose his precious Life for us; in a word, cries the Prophet Isaias, chap. 53.7. Oblatus est, quia ipse volvit; He was offered up a Propitiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of the People, because hp himself would have it so. This Prayer then was only to signify the conditional desires and imperfect wishes of the inferior part of his Soul; as if he would say, Ha! sinful Souls, for whose dear sake I suffer, videte affictionem meam:( Thren 1.) I leave you yourselves to judge how; bitter, how severe, how sharp my sorrows are, since though I know, 'tis the Decree, the Will, and the Pleasure of my Father, though I myself am resolved to lay down my life for my Flock, and embrace my across with open Arms, yet I seek for a Dispensation, and am forced to cry, Father, if it can be done, let this Cup pass from me; Pater, si fieri potest, transeat oa me calix iste. Thus we have heard him Pray, now let us see him Weep for the Sins of the People, propter scelus populi mei, &c. The Divine St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews, tells us,( Heb. 5.7.) the Co-eternal Son of God, during the time of his Earthly Pilgrimage; or, as he words it, in diebus carnis suae, in the days of his Flesh, offered up Prayers and Supplications with a loud cry and Tears, cum clamore valido & lacrimis, to signify by this mysterious mixture of Prayers and Tears, the excess of those embittering Sorrows which transpersle his Holy Soul within, and are the cause of all these Prayers and Tears without, cum clamore valido & lucrimis. Thus you have heard him Pray, thus you have seen him Weep. 3. But now prepare the sanctified Vessels of you Hearts to receive those Cordial streams of Blood which flow from all the parts of his Sacred Body in such abundance, as not only pierce his Seamless Coat, but run down tricling to the ground in showers, factus est enim sudor ejus sicut guttae sanguinis decurrentis in terram, 22.44. The devout St. Bernard, Bern. Serm. 3. in Ramis Palm. in a melting Contemplation upon this dolorous mystery, tells us, the loving Saviour of the World, upon this little Mouth of Olives, seemed to weep in every part at once, membris omnibus flevisse videtur: Nature had given him only two Eyes to weep, but Love, Love it seems had given him a hundred thousand, so many Pores, so many eyes to pour forth Tears of Blood for the sins of his People; like Fire imprisoned in a Rock, which having made two or three little breaches to get out, and finding them too streight, flys about like Lightning, flames out on every side, and breaks its stony Prison in a thousand places: membris omnibus flevisse videtur. The Sea has its Ebbings and Flowings, and they say, the divers motions of these waters are guided by the hands of an Angel; but 'tis Love, 'tis Love guides these Ebbings and Flowings of Blood in the tender heart of Jesus, till at last, heaving and striving between Hopes and Fear, Love wins the day, and gains a Glorious Victory over all the natural fears and apprehensions of his afflicted Soul; veruntamen non sicut Ego volo, said sicut Tu: Mat. 26.39. O my Eternal Father, though Death does now appear in all its frightful shapes, though this bloody Engine of the across is an Object so terrifying to my inferior Nature, though the sight of all these Nails and Thorns, and Rods and Scourges, make the very Blood run trembling in my Veins, yet since you will have it so, it must and shall be so, verumtamen non sicut Ego volo, said sicut Tu; Behold then, O my Heavenly Father, behold these first drops of Blood which I here shed in your presence with my own hands; let this be a witness of my Obedience to you, and my Love to Man: Yes my Divine Redeemer, my Agonizing Saviour, this is a Witness indeed, not only of your Obedience to the Decrees of Heaven, and your Love to me, but also of that secret Sorrow which afflicts thy Holy Soul: O the first drops of my dearest Master's Blood, I adore you wheresoever I find you, I adore you cleaving to his Garments, I adore you be sprinkling the Flowers of this Garden, I adore you trickling down to the ground in streams. Ha! 'tis here, 'tis here, if ever I may truly say, thou art Spouse of Blood to me,( Exod. 4.) because here thou hast espoused me to thyself, and signed this happy Contract between us with those purple streams of thy own most precious Blood which flow from all the parts and pores of thy Sacred Body, to wash away the sins of thy People. Here then, Christians give me leave, though a Sinner, to the Holy Baptists, and point you out the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World; Ecce, Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. But here I am seized with admiration, and lost in wonder; for to see my loving Saviour bleed upon the Altar of the Temple in the mystery of his Circumcision, was no great wonder, for there stands a Priest with a sharp Knife in his hand, ready to cut him and make him bleed; nor was it any wonder to see him bleed upon the High Altar of the across, for here I find whole crowds of bloody Tormentors armed with Thorns and Nails, and Rods and Scourges, and Spears and lances, ready to wound him from head to foot, and make him bleed all over: but to find him bleeding upon this little Mount of Olives, and bleeding all alone, that's the Wonder of Wonders: and yet this bleeding body of a Jesus does accuse some one or other to have given the fatal blow: but who? was it Peter, James, or John? Ha! no, no, for they were fast asleep, invenit eos dormientes, erant enim oculi eorum gravati, Mat. 26.43. Besides, they loved their Master too well to wound him; and yet when all's done, I say this Body could not bleed without hands; ha! 'tis true, Christians, 'tis true, and if you remember, I told you at the very beginning of this Discourse, by what hand he bleeds; 'tis by his own hand, even the Hand of Love; Love's the lance that opens all his Veins, and makes him bleed in showers for the sins of his People. But why such hast, my Divine Redeemer? why such hast? there's time enough to bleed at the Pillar, there's time enough to bleed at your Coronation, there's time enough to bleed upon the Mount of Calvary; Ha! no, no, I see his Love's impatient, he cannot, he will not stay so long; if you will not believe me, hear him speak himself, Baptismo autem habeo baptizari, & quomdo coarctor usquedum perficiatur, Luke 12.50. I have a Baptism to be baptized withal, and how am I straitned( or even languish) till it be accomplished: And if you desire to know the motive, or the reason of this pressing, this hasty desire in the Heart of a Saviour, to bleed for the sin for his People, and bleed by his own hands; it was, says the mellifluous St. Bernard because he foresaw the effusion of his most precious Blood upon the Mount of Calvary, would be attended with the greatest of all sacrileges, whilst he offered up the greatest of all Sacrifices, and therefore he resolves, upon this Mount of Olives, to have no other hand but his own employed in this sweet Sacrifice of Love: Bern. Serm. far. 4. Hebdom. sanct. Solus in mortem tradit animam suam. No question, but the Incarnate Son of God had always the across in view, even from the first instant of his life, he knew what he came for, he knew what he was to do, and what he was to suffer, ipse enim sciebat quid esset facturus, atque passurus: And yet 'tis credible, these apprehensions of his across were not then so violent, or so afflicting, because his death appeared at a greater distance; besides, he foresaw all those noble employs he was to undertake for the Glory of his Heavenly Father, all those conspicuous Miracles he was to work in the World, to prove the power of his Divinity; and perhaps, these illustrious Ideas of what he was to do, might in some measure, sweeten the bitter reflections of what he was to suffer. But alas! alas! knowing this very night to be the last of his Life, and that his dolorous Passion was to begin within two or three hours, then, O then, his Love redoubling all his natural Fears, took all other Objects from his fight, and left him none but that of his approaching Death. O my suffering Jesus, I see, I see your Love is like to cost you dear! O how rigorous are those Laws your Justice has enacted against yourself? When a guilty Criminal is condemned to die, they usually hid from his sightall those Instruments of Justice which are to bereave him of his Life; 'tis enough he falls once a Victim to the Law, 'tis enough he dies once, without causing him to die over and over again by frequent Representations of his pains; but these Laws of Common Humanity, which favour the very worst of Men, wre not made, it seems, for this Holy Innocent. Ha! no, no, for the first, if not the greatest of all his Suffering, is to see them all at leisure; and if you ask me why? answer, 'twas to content the boundless Love of his Heart, by suffering twice for us 1. Really, and 2. by Reflection: Really on the day of his Passion upon the Mount df Calvary; and by Reflection, on the night( as I may call it) of his Sorrow upon this Mount of Olives. Imn fine, many doubtless were the Motives, the Reasons, or the Causes of this thrice repeated Prayer, these Floods of Tears, this bloody Sweat, this inward Grief, this in teriour Agony of Jesus, as the dolours of his blessed Mother, the Treachery of Judas, the denial of Peter, the shameful flight of his Disciples, and the like. But I wave all this, to insist upon the last and the greatest Cause of all, the everlasting ruin and Destruction of so many Thousand Souls, notwithstanding all these bitter things he has done and suffered for the Sins of the People. Here then ( Pious Auditors) raise your mournful Attentions, and with the Eyes of of Faith contemplate your Agonizing Jesus upon these Mount of Olives, as it were, upon a high Stage, or an amphitheatre, whence he discovers all the Nations of the Earth, and takes a general view of all the Reprobate at once: he sees( for example) how many thousand Souls will be lost in such an Empire how many in such a Kingdom, how many in such a Province, how many in such a Town, how many in this Great Metropolis of the Land: and at the sight of this, his tender Heart even sinks away within him; see, see how he falls down prostrate to the ground upon his Holy Face, under this heavy load of Sorrow, procidit in faciem suam, Mat. 26.39. O what a weighty burden of Grief is here! which constrains Omnipotence itself to groan; O! do but hear, how he makes this Garden ring with that doleful Complaint of the Prophet, ergo in vacuum laboravi, & vane fortitudinem meam consumpsi,( Isaias 49.) Therefore in vain have I laboured in vain have I consumed my strength: in vain all these Prayers, in vain all these Tears, in vain all this Sweat, in vain all this Blood, ergo in vacuum laboravi, & vane consumpsit fortitudinem meam. I say not this, O my Eternal Father, I say not this to blame the rigours of your Justice, ha! no, no, for you know I am ready to be crucified upon every three, and scourged in every corner of this Garden, if you will have it so; if one Life is not enough, I am willing to loose a thousand; if these gushing streams of Blood which here I shed in your presence with my own hands, is not as yet suffident to quench the flames of your anger, pour, O pour whole Torrents of Blood into these Veins of mine, and I'll shed it here as freely as I part with this; but for whom must I Pray, and Weep, and Sweat, and Bleed, and Die? For Infidels? Pagans? Idolaters? And of these, how many will be saved? not one, no not one, for he that does not believe in the Only Begotten Son of God, is already condemned, quia non credit in nomine Vnigeniti Vilii Dei, John 3.18. Must I bleed for my chosen People, of those, you have promised me but a slender Flock: in a word, must I loose my Life for Christians? Ha! you have told me, that even of those too, many shall be called, and few chosen, multi sunt vocati, pauci vero electi, Mat. 20.16. Therefore in vain have I laboured, in vain have I consumed my Strength, ergo in vacuum laboravi, &c. O what poor comfort for an Agonizing God? But hold, has the Heavenly Father then resolved to harden his Heart and stop his his ears against all these bitter groans and piercing cries of his only Son? Are the Heavens made of Steel against these loud and fervent Prayers of this Holy Innocent? No, at last, an Angel is sent from Heaven to comfort him in the midst of all his Sorrows, apparuit Angelus de Coelo confortans eum. Dread Sovereign Lord( cries this illustrious Envoy from the High Jerusalem) let not your noble heart sink under this heavy load of Sorrow, for though your sufferings will be fruitless to some, they'l prove most effectual to others, your across shall be this day adored through all the parts and corners of the Universe) this ay, the greatest Kings and Princes of the Earth shall lay down their Imperial Crowns at your sacred feet, strip off their Royal Purple, and creep upon their very knees to worship this Throne of your Empire, and kiss these bleeding wounds, these precious signs of their Redemption these are the joys which attend these sorrows, these are the fruits of all these Sufferings, these are the sweet flowers that are to spring out of this Earth, which now you have watered with the showers of your own most precious Blood; apparuit Angelus de Coelo confortans eum, Luke 22.43. But what need of Angels to comfort the Lord of Angels? since 'tis in the power of Men to perforth this Duty better than all the Angels of God together; and the case is dear for the only comfort he requires, is to see his Passion efficacious, and the Angels cannot make it so because he died not for them, but for us: from us then, and from us alone he experts this consolation, as the first return of our grateful hearts, for these first drops of his Blood shed by the hands of his Love. Ha! Dear Christians, there are Reprobates enough in the World, who trample the Blood of this Lamb under foot; there are damned enough in Hell to render his Passion fruitless; but we, for our parts, before we stir a foot out of this Holy Ground, this Garden of Sorrow, let us resolve to render his Sufferings efficacious by a timely Repentance, and a speedy conversion to our God; and since Jesus strikes his own tender heart with the hands of Love, till he opens all the veins and pores of his blessed Body to pour forth tears of blood for our Iniquities: ha! let us strike these more than stony hearts of ours with the hands of a holy indignation against ourselves, and never leave striking, till we open every vein within, and every poor without, to weep whole stoods of repentant tears, which being mixed with thee and the sweat, and the Blood of the Lamb, may serve as a precious Laver to cleanse our polluted Souls from all the sordid Spots and Stains of Sin. And thus having devoutly adored the first drops of our Dear Redeemer's Blood in his own Hands, the Hands of Love; now let's Adore the second, though in the hands of his Enemies, though in the hands of Cruelty itself: which is the second Scene of this bloody Tragedy, and the doleful Subject of my Second Part. Second Part. HEre against I find three sorts of hands employed to strike this Holy One; Hands of Traytors, Hands of Judges, and Hands ot Tormentors. The Hands of Traytors strike at his Liberty, Judges strike at his Honour, Tormentors strike at hsi Blood. And all for the Sins of the People proctor scelus populi mei, percussin eum. But what hand, think you, was the first that seized this Innocent, and made this bold attempt upon his Liberty? Was it not the hand of a Sythian? an Infidel? an Idolater? Or rather, was it not the frightful Claws and Clutches of a Lion, a Wolf, a tiger? For these sure had been the fittest Instruments for such a bloody Cruelty: Ha! no, no, that I should live to say it, it must be a consecrated Hand, the hand of an Apostle, the hand of a Priest, must take this High Priest, and sovereign Bishop of our Souls: Scarce were three hours elaps't since his Master raised him to the Royal Dignity of Priesthood, and gave him power over his own true and natural Body, supper corpus Christi verum, that is, power to consecrate and offer up this Body in Sacrifice upon Holy Altars, and not commit such an unparalleled sacrilege upon the same Body; power to receive it himself, and distribute it amongst the Faithful, for the Spiritual Food and Refection of their Souls, and not delivered up to the hands of his blood-thirsting Enemies to be scourged and crucified; he was chosen to go and publish the Name of Jesus to the utmost Confines of the Earth, and not to betray his Jesus in this little corner of the Earth, this private Garden of Gethsemany; the relics of that precious Cup he had received at the Last Supper, were still warm in his breast, and yet this desperate wretch could find in his heart to consult and deal with the Scribes and Pharisees, and the Seniors of the People, and sell them the Son of God for thirty pence, quid vultis mihi dare, & ego vobis eum tradam. O abominable avarice! to set all the Treasures of Heaven and Earth to sale at such a vile rate as this is. He places himself like a Captain at the Head of this cursed Troop, and to seize him with more security, gives them a sign of his Treachery, a treacherous Kiss: Thus( cries the Learned Augustin) thus abusing the sign of Peace, to commence a cruel war against his Loving Master; O signum sacrilegum, ubi ab osculo incipitur bellum, & per pacis indicium, pacis rumpitur sacramentum. O thou perfidious Villain! O thou worst of Men, and traitor to thy God! But why should I fling dirt in thy face? revile thee, or call thee Foe, since thy Dear Master calls thee Friend, and gives thee the Kiss of Peace? Ha! no, no, thou art unhappy enough without our Imprecations, for having abandoned the Life of thy Lord to the cruelty of his bloody Persecutors, thou hast abandoned thy own to fury and despair, and with the very same hand that betrayed him, thou hast destroyed thyself, and truly, 'twas fit it should be so, because thou couldst not perish by a hand more inhuman, more barbarous, or more sacrilegious than thy own. But if I spare thy Name, I blame the cursed. Example thou hast left behind thee, for thou hast taught the sinful Sons of Men to sell and betray their Jesus every day: But who are those that sell their Jesus? those that sell their precious Souls, which cost a God so dear, for a little Honour, a little Interest, a little Pleasure, for Toys, and Trifles, and empty Shadows. And who are those that betray their Jesus? Those that approach the Sacred Altar, and receive the Great Sacrament of Love, whilst at the same time, their wicked Hearts swell with envy, burn with revenge, and are still machinating ill designs one against another, sedens adversus Fratrem tuum loquebaris, & adversus filium Matris tuae ponebas scandalum: Psalm. 49. v. 20. Thou sittest and speakest against thy Brother, thou slanderest thy own Mothers Son: And all this( I say, coming fresh from the Table of Peace and Love. O Judas! Judas! have I not reason then, to imprecate the scandalous president thou hast left behind thee to Posterity? 1. But Alas! whilst I am speaking, the Lamb is taken and bound in Cords and Chains by this treacherous crew: but come, Dear Christians, let us adore these Bonds, and kiss these Chains, for they import great Comfort to us lost Creatures, because, if the Only Begotten Son of God does this day loose his Liberty, 'tis, that we may all, one day, enjoy the glorious Liberty of the Free-born Sons of God, qua libertate Christus no donavit, cries the Great Apostle in his Epistle to the Galatians, chap. 4. v. 33. The Royal Prophet tells us, that sinners are bound in Chains, Psal. 113.6. Two sorts of Chains, Chains of Time, Chains of Eternity; the Chains of Sin are the Chains of their own unruly Passions, which keep them in a wretched slavery to all the evil propensions of corrupted Nature: and the Chains of Eternity are Chains of fire, bonds of flames, which bind the damned in those dark dungeons of horror there below. But joyful News, happy Tidings! Jesus, to break these Chains of our sins, & prevent these Chains of Hell, is this day bound in Chains, Jesus is made a Prisoner to set us Free; qua libertate Christus nos donavit. O Sacred Garden of Olives, witness of his Captivity; O swift Torrent of Caedron, died with the streams of his most precious Blood, tell us, I beseech thee, tell us all that passed in this mystery of Sorrow, express, if you can, the Impiety of these Traytors, and the Innocence of the Lamb that is taken: ha! there is nothing in it but what is painful, rigorous, and ignominous. And now let us follow this illustrious Captive to the House of Caiphas, which I may truly call his Prison, for here I find him under a double Guard, and placed, as it were, between Heaven and Hell, Men and Angels; the sacrilegious hands of Men strike him on the face, and cry in derision, Prophetiza nobis, christ, quis te percussit; prophesy unto us, O Christ, who 'twas that struck thee: whilst the Angels at the same time contemplate his Divine Face thus swelled and disfigured with blows, as the very object of all their Joys, and the fruitful Source of all their Glories,[ in quem desiderant Angeli prospicere, 1 Pet. 1.12.] The impious hands of Men tear the hair off his head; but the holy hands of Angels gather up all this hair together again, as so many precious relics; The wicked Sons of Men bend the knee in scorn, and salute him with an have Rex Judaeorum, Hail, King of the Jews;( Mark 15.18.) but the Angels, those blessed Sons of God, fall down prostrate in his presence, and adore him as their sovereign Lord and Master: these bloody Traytors make the Great Praetorium ring with clamerous outcries against this Innocent, tolle, tolle, crucifige, crucifige eum, away with him, away with him, crucify him, crucify him; whilst all the Angels above intone his Praises, and make the Heavens echo with a joyful Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of sabbath, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus sabbath: But hold, you sacrilegious Traytors, hold, 'tis a God you persecute under this veil of Flesh. O you Angels of Peace, you that weep so bitterly to see your Heavenly sovereign in the midst of all these vile Indignities, Angeli pacis amare flebunt, Isai. 33.7. why do not you break his Bonds and Chains asunder, and set him free? why do not you draw the flaming Swords of your Anger, and destroy these insulting Creatures, as you destroyed the whole Army of Senacharib? Reg 4. c. 19. v. 35. Why do not you strike these desperate Miscreants with blindness, as you struck those abominable Sodomites? Gen. 19. v. 11. Ha! no, no, you Triumphant Legions of Victorious, Angels, this is not your Hour, but the hour and the power of darkness, hora & potestas tenebrarum, Mat. 26.53. This is your hour, my Divine Redeemer, to suffer with Patience; but when, O when, will it be our hour to imitate thy patience in all our Sufferings? Thus, thus, the hands of Traytors strike at his Liberty. But now let us see how the hands of Judges strike at his Honour, and all for the Sins of the People, propter scelus populi mei, &c. 2. The Judges were the Scribes and Pharisees, and High Priests, and Princes, and Rulers of the People, Wise-men, Learned-men, Licentiates in utroque jure, expert both in the Divine and human Laws: So here, sure, if ever this guiltless Innocent will be cleared, his Cause justified, and himself set at liberty; but alas! alas! their Injustice will frustrate our expectations, and you would think they had received their Authority to no other end but no rob the Lord of Glory, of his Honour; those Injuries we receive from pivate persons, though they seem to cloud our Reputation, may be imputed to some secret grudge or enmity; and those rude Insolences which are offered to Persons of Honour, by a tumultuous rabble, may be ascribed to some popular heat of an unthinking Mobile, without any prejudice to their Blood or their Character; but when a Man's arraigned at the Bar, and there accused, presented, and condemned according to all the points and Forms of Law, when he receives his Sentence in open Court, where Justice ought to be unbiased, then we conclude( generally speaking) that he is guilty. O what a shameful confusion then! what a strange humiliation for this Holy of Holies to stand before these wicked Judges, and present himself at their Tribunals! But Heavens! what have Men to do to judge a God? How comes his Cause to fall under their Examination? By what Law are they become his Judges? Besides they are his sworn Enemies, corrupted by their own Passions, and blinded with panic Fears: St. Chrysistom assures us, this Court was an Assembly to Thieves, who were resolved t rob the World's messiah of his Life and HOnour both at once, Annas and Caiphas were impious, Herod a Tyrant, Pilate an idolater, the Scribes and Pharisees mere Hypocrites; and yet Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of the Living God, Jesus the Lamb without Spot, Jesus the Innocent, stands before these Judges bare-headed, a Rope about his Neck, his hands bound behind him, and patiently expects, like an apparetn Criminal, to receive the Sentence of his Death. O sovereign Lord of all Heaven and Earth, O thou just Judge of the Living and the Dead, 'tis here, 'tis here, if ever thou hast, not only humbled, but even amnihilated thy Honour, and stripped thyself of Glory, for lower thou canst not go, than to be judged by those whose Judge thou art. Obstupescite Coeli supper hoc, & portae ejus desolamini vehementer: be astonished, O ye Heavens at this, and you, ye Gates of that Glorious City, shake and tremble at it, cries the holy Prophet Jeremiah, chap. 2. vers. 12. the High Court of Justice there above, wonders so see such Injustice in our Courts here below: in effect, what has he done? whats his Fault? whats his Crime? quid enim miai fecit? Was it for having given Sight to the Blind, or Hearing to the Deaf? Was that a fault? Was it to have cleansed the Leper, and raised the Dead? Was that a Crime? Or was it, in fine, because he called himself a God? and a Son of the Highest? Ha! was he not so? Yes, yes, his unheard of silence, his unpalallel'd Patience in the midst of so many Injuries, so many Calumnies, so many Clamorous, Outcries, and false Depositions of perjured Witnesses, more than sufficiently declare his Divinity and his Innocency both at once: for, as the Learned Tertullian observes excellently well, he must needs be a God, who be thus accused, and thus abused, had nothing in him of the Troubles, the Disquiets, or the Impatience of Man; nihil de impatientia hoins imitatus est. Ter. l. de patien. c. 3. Pilate himself admires his Silence( Mat. 27.14.) and is so charmed with the lustre of his Virtues, that he Proclaims him Innocent, and of his Judge becomes his Advocate, nihil inventio causae in hoc homine; Luke 23. V. 4. Well then, Pilate, well, and shall a wicked piece of Policy, a base compliance for human respects, a servile fear to loose the amity of Caesar, force thee, at last to pronounce an unjust Sentence against this spotless Innocent? Yes, this was the loss of Pilate, and this is the loss of many, who to please the Princes and Great Ones of the World, break the just Laws of God, and spurn at the Commands of their Heavenly sovereign. But alas! alas! here again, whilst I am speaking, my Jesus is still dishonoured more and more, a Thief, a Murderer, a Seditious Man, a profligated Villain is preferred in Election before the Lord of Glory. Methinks, in all reason, they ought rather to have chosen one that gave Life to the Dead, than one that took away the Lives of the Living. But what remedy? the Scribes and the Charisees will have it so, they inflame the multitude, and stir up the people to choose Barrabas, and refuse, Jesus, non hunc, said Barrabam, John 18.40. O unhappy choice, and most injurious to the Honour of Jesus, unless, perhaps the Sinner makes a worse, when he prefers his own will and pleasure, before the Will and Pleasure of his God; for he renounces Jesus, not bound in Cords and Chains, not J sus, standing like a Criminal at the Bar, but Jesus in the Kingdom of his Glory, Jesus standing at the Right Hand of his Eternal Father: Ha! how often does the wicked Man say in his heart, non hunc, said Barrabam: away with a God, the World is my God, die Jesus, live Pleasure, take who will the Creator, give me the Creature, non hunc said Barrabam. But now let's return to Pilate, and see at last how he resolves to dispose of this holy Innocent; for I see he would fain save his Life, and ●et would needs please the Jews too, if possible, volens Populo satisfacere; Mark 25.15. To this end, he takes his place in the judgement Seat, and there condemns this Spotless Lamb to loose a part of his Blood to save the whole. Silence then, silence in the Court, for the Judge is now ready to give sentence, but a sentence the most barbarous, the most inhuman, and the most unjust that ever yet was heard of; hear it then, Christians, and even tremble when you hear it; for the very first clause of the Sentence imports that Jesus must be scourged. But hold, Pilate, hold, before this bloody Sentence pass any further, I appeal; and since my loving Saviour has no other Advocate but his own Innocency, and is resolved to smother his own Cause in silence, I'll pled in his behalf: Pilate, thouglh you design by this means to set your Prisoner free, and save his Life, yet you shed his blood unjustly; for, must an Innocent be scourged, to satisfy the rage of his cruel Enemies? Besides, you know this Penalty is inflicted by the Law upon Thieves, Murderers, Traytors, Disturbers of the public Peace, and such like Monsters of Nature; and which of all these Crimes does he stand guilty of? Of Treason no, for he expressly ordained, all that Honour, Homage, and Tribute should be rendered to Caesar, which is due to Caesar; Mat. 22.21. reddite ergo quae sunt Caesaris, Caesari. Of breaking the Peace? Ha! no, no, for he is the very God of Peace, Deus Pacis, he sent his Disciples about the World as Messengers of Peace, and commanded, that into what House soever they entred, they should not fail to cry, Pax huic domni, Peace be to this House. Of Theft or Robbery? no, no, for he came down from Heaven upon Earth, and left the High, Throne of his Glory, to enrich us Mortals with hsi Poverty, ut illius inopia nos divites essemus; 2 Cor. 8.9. Why then Pilate, O why dost thou pronounce such a barbarous Sentence against this Innocent? a Sentence so contrary to the Dictates of thy own Conscience? Go, go, 'tis cruel, 'tis unut, and therefore since there is no hopes of Justice upon Earth, I appeal to Heaven: But why should I appeal? since he he himself do not appeal, but submits to this Sentence of Man as to the Sentence of God pronouc't against him for the Sins of his People, propter scelus populi mei, pecussi eum. But this is not all, for not content to have lost his Liberty in the hands of Traytors, and his honour in the hands of judges, he is going now to loose his Blood in the hands of Bloody Tormentors. But, whil\st they are binding up the Rods, and preparing the Scourges, the Loving Saviour of the World presents himself in Spirit before his Heavenly Father, who is armed with the Rods and Scourges of his Justice against the Sins of the People; but he( like a tender Mother, who steps between her offended Husband and her guilty Son, choosing to receive the blows herself, and save, her Child) he, I say, steps between his Father's Anger and our Soul's danger, and makes, as 'twere, a Shield of his own spotless Body, to receive all those heavy strokes of anger our sins deserved, crying by the mouth of the Prophet, Ego in flagella paratus sum, Psal. 37. v. 18. O my Eternal Father! there's not a part in this Body which you have given me, but what is now prepared for Scourges: O turn then, turn away the stripes of your Indignation from the sinful Sons of Men, and turn them all upon the Shoulders of your Innocent Son; for I am ready to go, not only into this Praetorium, but to surround the whole World with a Cord about my Neck, and crowds of Totmentors at my Heels, to be scourged in all those places where you have been offended: Ego in flagella paratus sum. And truly this mystery was to dolerous, and so ignominious to the Son of God, that you would think the Holy Evangelists were even afraid to Record it, for all they say of it, is only this, flegellatus est, he was scourged. 'Tis here then, dear Christians, 'tis here, if ever, I beseech you to withdraw you Eyes from all other Objects, and fix them upon your Suffering Redeemer in his bloody posture, to which his own Love, and your Crimes have brought him: 'tis here you may red in Characters of Blood, the excess of his Love to you, and the reciprocal Obligation of your Love to him, for every wound he received at this Pillar, is a Tongue that cries, Ecce quomodo amabat, see, see how he loved: And therefore, not to love such a Suffering Love as this, were altogether unsufferable: But why must they needs scourge him in a public Hall? why do no they rather led him into some private place, in some measure, at least, to lessen this shameful confusion? When a guilty Criminal is to be scourged, it suffices that two or three Witnesses be present; and must all the World be present at the scourging of a God? O why all this pain? why all this shane? why all this rigour? Ha! Sinner, Sinner, 'tis to let thee see thy Crimes are too great to colt thy God but a little; 'tis to let thee know how execrable thole sinful pleasures are, for which a God, a God must be scourged: In fine, they stripped him, or( as others have it) they caused him to strip himself; and this I may say was, if not the most dolorous, at least, the most ignominious of all his Sufferings; for this indeed is the greatest affront that can be offered to a Man of Honour. That Golden Oracle of theChurch St. Chrysostom, speaking of the three Children in the fiery Furnace of Babylon, tells us, those scorching flames, forgetful of their own all devouring Nature, touched not the Garments of these Holy Servants of God, out of a reverential regard to their Honour, and a deep respect to their Modesty; Vestibus puerorum ob honestatem ignis pepercit. But alas, alas! this Virginal Body, of the spotless Lamb, framed of the purest Virgin Blood, by the wonderful Operations, or mysterious overshadowings of the Holy Ghost, Luke 1.35. must have no such privilege, but stands there naked, in this shameful posture exposed to the public view of Heaven and Earth, Men and Angels, Friends and Foes. And how methinks, I see the Eyes of these cruel. Tormentors, sparkling with anger, their mouths even foaming with rage, their hands loaden with scourges, and their arms lifted up, ready to begin the woeful Tragedy: but hold your hands a while, let's see if there be no hopes of a Reprieve. Q Eternal Father, 'tis in your power alone to hear my Prayer, and grant my just Request, he's your Only Son, he's the Object of your tender Love, he's Innocent: 'tis true, replies the Heavenly Father, he's my Son, but he's your Caution; he's the object of my Love, but thy sin is the object of my hatred; he's Innocent, but thou art a Criminal, strike him then Tormentors, and strike him till he smarts for the sins of my People; propter scelus populi mei, percutite eam. Ha! scarce had they struck the second blow, but out springs the precious Gore in great abundance, some sprinkles the Walls of the Praetorium, some spurts in the very faces of the Spectators, and the rest runs trickling down to the around in streams. O my God! my God! what? angry still? Is not your Justice fully satisfied? O sure, sure 'tis enough, once more then Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. 'Tis true, replies the Heavenly Father, here again; 'tis enough indeed, nay, and too much for him, but not too much for thee, not too much for thy Crimes, thy Rebellions, thy Ingratitudes; strike on again then Tormentors, strike on again for the sins of my People; propter scelus populi mei percutite eum. In effect, they struck on with such inhuman Cruelty, and such barbarous Severity, that at last, his wounds amounted to the number of above five thousand. Ha! Christians, Christians, remember this, above five thousand wounds upon the bleeding Body of a Jesus, and not one of all these wounds able to wound these flinty Souls of ours? O Adamantine Hearts! O Rocks, harder than those that flew to pieces at it. The Royal Psalmist seemed in his Prophetic views, to eye this dolorous mystery, when in the name of our scourged messiah, he broken into this sad Complaint, supra dorsum meum arraverunt peccatores; the wicked have not only scourged, but even ploughed up my shoulders with their Crimes. And the Learned St. Cyprian tells us here, at this Pillar they seemed to wreck and torment, not so much the parts, as the very wounds of his Body, torquebant in excessum, non membra, said ipsa vulnera. O the bloody! O the dolorous! O the Ignominious Martyrdom of a loving Jesus! his very Tormentors themselves are weary, and the whole Assembly( as hard hearted as they are) cry out aloud, satis est, 'tis enough; so at last they unbind the Cords, and loose the bleeding Captive. And here, methinks I see him sink and fall, not so much under the weight of these Rods and Scourges, as under the Heavy load of our Iniquities; but having breathed a while, and coming, as it, were, a little to himself, he seems to wade through a Sea of Blood, to the rocky shore of our hearts, and there groans out this mournful Epostulation: O sinful Sou, for whose dear sake I suffer, see all these bleeding wounds, these wounds upon my Head, these wounds upon my Arms, these wounds, upon my Breast, these wounds vpon, my Shoulders, view them all, and view them well, let not so much as one escape thy sight; these I received for thy Pride, those for thy Vanity, these for thy Intemperance, those for thy sensuality, and all for thy Crimes, then lay thy hand upon thy heart, and tell me truly, since I have suffered all these wounds for thee, does not this deserve a mutual return of love from thee? but if thou hast found out any darling Creature more worthy of thy love than they wounded Creator; if thou canst not love me, as least pity me; misermini mei, miseremini mei saltem vos amiti mei; Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, at least, you my Friends, you my Priests, you that sacrifice this Body upon Holy Altars; at least, you catholics, you the faithful Children of my Church, you that so often eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of the Lamb, do not you increase my pains, renew my wounds, and make me bleed afresh by your Ingratitude, your Insensibility: miseremini mei, miseremini mei, saltem vos amici mei, Job. 19.21. Ha! Sinner, 'tis thy God that speaks to the ear of thy heart, what answer dost thou return to his Voice, to his Wounds, to his Blood? Quid vobis videtur de Christo? What do you think of this Christ, thus rent and torn, and struck for the sins of his people? Ecce homo, behold the Man, cried Pilate to the Jews; and behold the Man, say I to you Christians; for he's exposed( as this day) every year upon our Altars, to see how your hearts stand affencted towards him. Ha! behold then, behold the Man with that bloody Crown of Thorns upon his Head, and do not you plant new Thorns, or make new Crowns to crown his Head again by these frequent failings and daily relapses into the same disorder: Or again, Ecce homo, behold the Man with that ragged purple Garment upon his Shoulder; see, see, how he spurns at all Earthly Greatness; let that lower all these towering thoughts of Vanity, and teach you true Humility: Or, yet again, Ecce homo, behold the Man with that empty Reed in his hand, and be not your good Purposes and generous Resolves: Or, in fine, Ecce homo, behold the Man that was struck with his own hands, the hands of Love in the Garden of Olives: behold the Man that was struck with the hands of Cruelty, the hands of his Enemies in the Great Praetorium. And to close up all, behold the Man that was struck by the hands of Justice, the hands of the Heavenly Father upon the Mount of Calvary, which is the last Scene of this deep Tragedy, and the last part of this Discourse. The Third Part. THus having followed the bleeding Lamb through all those Stations of Sorrow where his own Love, and the Cruelty of his blood-thirsting Enemies struck him for our Iniquities we are come at last, to the last Stage, even the Mount of Calvary, that fatal place designed for the Execution oft is Innocent; that very place where the Eternal Father is resolved in his anger, to strike his Only Son to Death for the sins of his people; propter scelus populi mei percussi eum. But O Mount Calvari! Mount Calvary! thou place of fiightful Skulls and Skelletons, thou place of horror and confusion, methinks, were it lawful, I could even curse thee in the fullness of my grief, as David cursed those ominous Mountains of Gelboe, Lib. 2. Reg. 1.21. Montes Gelboe nec Ros, nec Pluvia venians supper vos, quia ibi abjects est Clypeus Fortium, Clypens Saul, quasi non esset unctus oleo; O Mountains of Gelboe, let neither due nor Rain descend upon me, wehre the strong Ones of Israel fell,( said he) and O Mountain of Calvary,( say I) let neither due nor Rain descend upon thee, where, not a Saul, not a Jonathan, not the strong Ones of Israel, but the stron God of Israel fell; and fell, not under the hands of the Philistines, or under the hands of his Enemies, those cruel Tormenters, but under the heavy hand of this Heavenly Father, now become his angry Judge: O Mons Calvaeriae, nec ros nec pluvia veniant supper te, ubi cecidit Deus Fortis Israel, Christus Domini. But hold! I fear the deep and sorrowful resentments of my hearts have made the sharp invectives of my Tongue fly too high, and lash too far; for, if I am not out, this Mountain is innocent, nay, the very Holy of Holies, the Sancta Sanctorum; and therefore I am now resolved myself, and exhort you all to love, worship, and adore this Holy Mountain, as the Sacred Footstool of your expiring sovereign, died with those purple streams of Blood he shed for the sins of the People. St. Peter Chysologus, in a deep and pensive contemplation upon this dolorous mystery, tells us, the Son of God appeared upon this Mount of Calvary as a public Surety, Pledge, or Caution for all Mankind at once, where( says this Learned Man) there seemed to pass a secret Coloquie, or a mysterious Dialogue between the Justice of the Father, and the Obedience of the Son: My Son( cries the Father in his wrath) since you undertook to pay the Debts, and answer for the sins of Men, 'tis now high time to adjust our Accounts, the day of payment's come agreed upon between us, signed and sealed in the secret and Sacred Conclave of the Trinity; so now my anger must be appeased, and my Justice fully satisfied; this weighty across, 15 foot in length, which, like another Isaac, thou hast brought upon thy wounded Shoulders to this Mountain of Myhr, this Mountain of Bitterness is the Altar, and thou thyself art the Victim: the four corners of this Crost represent the four corners of the World, and sifnifie, that you must bleed, and die for the sins of the whole World; there lies that painful Bed of Sorrow ready to receive thee; and now I expect thy prompt Obedience, for I am now resolved to strike thee dead for the sins of my People; propter scelus popoli mei, percutiam te. Willingly, replies the All obedient Son, willingly, my Eternal Father, I here willingly submit to all the rigorous Decrees of your Justice, but how are you resolved to strike me? My Son, I'll tell you how; Men, you know sin by their 1 Hands, 2 Feet, 3 Ears, 4 Tongues, 5 Eyes, And all the other Criminal Senses of their Bodies. And therefore I must now strike all the innocent Parts and Senses of thy Body, and make thee smart for all these sins of the People, propter scelus populi mei, percutiam te. 1. I'll strike thy hands with Nails for all these Rapes, these Thefts, these murders, these sacrileges, these Impurities, these Adulteries, these Fornications, these unnatural Brutalities, &c. 2. I'll strike thy feet, and strike them fast to this three of the across, for these wanderings, these Rovings, these strayings of the Sons of Men through all the By-ways of Iniquity, and all the crooked mazes of sin, for all these unlawful steps, to unlawful places, upon unlawful designs, &c. 3. I'll strike thy holy Ears with the clamorous out-cries and horrid blasphemies of the People, for all these lies, calumnies, detractions, perjuries, oaths, imprecations, and profanations of my high and mighty Name, &c. Paratum Cor meum Deus, paratum Cor meum, willingly, my God, willingly, my Heart's prepared to suffer all; but are you angry still? Is not all this enough to satisfy the rigours of your Justice? No, no, my Son, Men sin by their Tongues, tastes, senates, as well as by their Hands, Feet and Ears. 4. Adam you know was rebellious to my Laws, takes and eats the forbidden Fruit, and the greatest part of his posterity ever since, forgetting the dignity of their Nature, and whose Image they bear, imprinted in their Souls, wallow in a thousand inordinate Excesses, Intemperances, Dissolutions, and therefore I am now resolved to make thee taste, at least, if not drink a bitter Dose of Vinegar and gull, Mat. 27.34. 5. But what rigorous invention( think ye) has the Justice of my God found out to strike and torment the eyes of this Innocent for all the wanton glances and sinful aspects of his People? here's the subject of my present admiration; was it perhaps to see that great, ungrateful City of Jerusalem, where he had wrought so many Wonders? Or, was it to spy some present there amongst the crowd, to whom he had restored their sight, who look't upon him with miraculous eyes? Or, was it, in fine, to see these cruel Tormentors so busy still about his across, and playing at Dice with their bloody hands for his seamless Coat? These, I must needs confess, were most afflicting Objects, stabbing sights to see; but all this is nothing, nothing to what follows, there, there stands one just by the across, bathed in tears, absorp't in grief, Mary, Mary, the tender Mother of Jesus, was near at hand; that's the Object strikes the eyes, and wounds the heart of Jesus, stabat matter Jesu juxta Crucem, John 19. ●5. The Divine St. Denys, that Learned Areopagite, tell us, that Love is an eternal circled, which coming out of the heart of God, and passing through the whole crowd of Creatures, gathers together all that's sweet, all that's rich, all that's choice and precious, and then returns them back again to the Heart of God, from whence all Graces flow, Amor est circulus eternus. But here, upon this Mountain of myrrh, this Mountain of Calvary, I find a circled of Dolours between the ●yess of Jesu●, and the eyes of Mary, between the heart of the Son and the heart of the Mother, between the passion of the one, and the compassion of the other; for Compassion is nothing else but passion at a rebound: the passion begins upon the Heart of Jesus, and passes by the Eyes into the Heart of Mary, where having left most deep and sensible impressions of all his Sufferings, it rebounds from the Heart of Mary upon the Heart of Jesus, and circles back again into that bitter Source of Sorrow, from whence it came; every tear of the Mother is a dart that wounds the eyes of the Son, stabat juxta Crucem Maria matter Jesu: in a word, Jesus and Mary on this Mount of Calvary, Jesus upon the across, and Mary near the across, like two fires, mutually augment each others flames: O my Son, thy across torments me! O my Mother, thy presence afflicts me! Thy pains wound my Soul with a Sword of sorrow, cries the afflicted Mother: Thy grief has reached my heart before the lance, and given me a mortal wound, cries the Son: O let me die with thee; O let me die without thee: Oh! what a circled of grief is here between these two loving hearts? And truly, this is no more than what the good Old Simeon foretold her in the Temple of Jerusalem, & tuam ipsius animam pertransibit gladius; a Sword of sorrow shall transperse thy Soul, Luke 2.36. And no doubt▪ no doubt, but that very Sword of Sorrow which transpers● the compassion to Soul of Mary, struck through her wounded heart at the weeping eyes of Jesus; stabat juxta Crucem Maria matter Jesu. So now sure the Justice of my God is fully satisfied, sure here's blood enough to extinguish all these names of his anger against the sins of his People, for now, says the Prophet Isaias, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, there is not one whole part in him, a planta pedis usque ad vertirem capitis, non est in eo sanitas, Isaia cap. 1. v. 6. Where then, of what can the Heavenly Father strike at next● at his Head? that's crowned with Thorns: at his Hand and Feet? they are gored and bored with Nails: at his Shoulders? they are rent and torn with Scourges: at h●● ears? they ring with horrid Blasphemies: in a word, he's so mangled all over, and every part of his Sacred Body so strangely disfigured, as they have even lost their Names; this Head is no more the Head of a Man, but the Head of Dolours; these Hands and Feet are no more the Hands and Feet of a Man, but the Hands and Feet of Dolours; nor is he himself any more a Man, but a Man with that doleful Epithet the same Prophet gives him in his 53 chap. and the 3. v. Vir dolorum, the Man of Sorrows. But O the Anger! O the Justice of a God! which stops not here, but having struck his spotless Body without, resolves now to strike his Holy Soul within, and all for the sins of his Peoples, propter scelus populi mei, percussi eum. 2. I know, cries the Eternal Father to his Agonizing Son, I know thou didst begin to wound thy own Soul in the Garden of Olives, and thy insulting Persecutors gave it some wounds with the sharp raizors of their Tongues, with their Calumnies and Blasphemies; but I'll strike it to the quick, I'll finish the work, I'll consummate the haulochost, and close the eyes of this dying Victim with my own hands, propter scelus populi mei, Ego percutiam te. But how think you Christians? How did the angry Father strike his Only Son? by a dreadful dereliction upon the across, where a God seems, in some manner, to forsake a God, to satisfy by this bitter separation, for that fatal separation we we ourselves have too too often made between God and our own Souls by sin: Whether, in all appearance, should my suffering Saviour fly for help in this Universal Calamity, this general Persecution? whether, I say, should he fly but into the hands of his Father, crying with the Prophet, in manibus tuis sorts mea; O my Heavenly Father, my Lot is now in your hands, 'tis in your power alone to afford me some relief in the midst of all my sorrows; Judas has betrayed me, Peter has denied me, the rest of my Disciples have left me, and the very sight of my dolorous Mother of afflicts me, to whom then, but to thee, my God, must I cry for succour, in manibus tuis sorts meae? But alas! alas! these very Hands of God, which are secure places of Refuge for sinners, and sweet retreats of Comfort for the Saints, become places of new grief and sorrow for this Innocent: 'tis here, my expiring Redeemer, 'tis here you find by experience, and feel in your own Sacred Person, what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the Living God, not only for sinful Men, but even for a God himself, when he covers his Sanctity under the shape, the form and the likeness of sin; horreadum est, incidere in manus Dei viventis, Heb. 10.31. 'Tis this makes him groan forth that sad Complaint, enough to set the very Pillars of the Earth a trembling, and shake the whole Machine of the World, ELOI ELOI LAMMA SABBACTHANI; quod, interpretatum, Deus meus, Deus meus, ut quid dereliquisti me; that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You know my Eternal Father, I never complained of those Traytors that deprived me of my Liberty, those Judges that robbed me of my Honour, or those Tormentors that shed my innocent Blood, I never so much as once opened my Lips against my ungrateful people, nor do I now repined to see myself abandoned by all; but to see you, my Loving Father, to see you forsake me, that wounds my heart and fills my Soul with sorrow, that's hard indeed and touches to the quick, Deus meus! Deus meus! &c. Or, perhaps you leave me, because you know me not, being thus strangely disfigured from Head to Foot; but 'tis I, 'tis I, Ego sum; heart, O hear my voice, for 'tis the voice of thy Jacob, vox Jacob; see, my Eternal Father, see if it is not the Coat of thy Joseph, though died in blood, vide an Tunica Filii tui sit, Gen 37.32. see not the flesh of thy only Son, though rent and torn to pieces; though I now hang upon this infamous Gibbet, between two Thieves, 'tis I, 'tis I that set there above in a Stary Throne between you, my Father and the Holy Ghost; this Tongue which is now embittered with a most distasteful Dose of Vinegar and gull, is the Tongue that praised your high and mighty Name, and proclaimed your Glories to the World these Hands which are now fastened to this three of Sorrow, are the powerful Instruments that wrought so many Wonders; these Feet, now transfixed with Nails, are the Feet that run so fast to catch that poor lost Sheep, called MAN, and bring him home with Joy to the glorious Fold of your Heavenly Angels: Why then, O why have you thus forsaken the? Deus meus! Deus meus! ut quid derdiquisti me, Mark 15.34. But when I say, that Jesus was forsaken upon the across, you must not imagine the Divinity ever left the Humanity of Christ, or fancy any separation between these two; no, no, for the Body and the Soul of Jesus were always hypostalicaly united to the Person of the Word, though Death made a separation between the one and the other; nor must you think he was abandoned of Divine Grace, for he was always impeccable, or deprived of the Beatifical Vision, for be was always glorious, he always saw the Face of his Father in Heaven: How then? how is this dolorous separation to be ununderstood? Two ways; first, by a miserious suspension of all those favourable Influences from the Divinity, that might, the least, temper the Sorrows, or lessen the Sufferings of his Humanity, and so leave him to feel the utmost rigours, of his Torments, as if he had been totus Homo, all Man, and no God. Or, secondly, in as much as the Heavenly Father withdrew all those aCtual Assistances, and all those interior Consolations that might the least contribute to his Comfort: in a word, if he was forsaken, 'twas because he himself would have it so, sicut oblatus est, sic direclitus est, quia ipse volvit; Isaias 53.7. And thus, thus having offered up a sweet Sacrifice of Prayer for his Enemies, Father, forgive them, because they know not what they do; Pater, dimit illis, nesciunt enim quid faciunt; thus having confign'd his dearest Mother into the hands and care of his Beloved Disciple, Mulier, ecce Filius tuus; thus, having recommended his Holy Spirit into the Hands of his Eternal Father, Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum; thus having promised his paradise to the good Thief, hody mecum eris in Paradiso. Thus having expressed the ardent thirst of his Heart for the Salvation of all Mankind, sitio, he cries out with a loud voice, consummatum est, it is finished, the great Work I came for is accomplished, consummatum est; by which he seems to summon all Heaven and Earth, all Men and Angels to come and see a triple Consummation; a Consummation of Love, of Cruelty, of Justice; a Consummation of Love in his own Hands, a Consummtion of Cruelty in the Hands of his Enemies; and a Consummation of Justice in the Hands of his Father Father; Consumatum est, or, a full Consummation of all the Law and the Prophets. Et cum haec dixisset, and afte he had said these things, his Face grew wan and pale, his Eyes began to sink, his Cheeks to fall, his Mount to gasp, and the blood run slowly from all his Wounds; and then, O then this Jesus, who as God, is from all Eternity; this Jesus, who as Man, lived three and thirty years, about the Noon-tide of the Day, and in the Noon-tide of his Age, in the public view of the whole World, to the astonishment of Heaven, and the amazement of the Earth; he did what these naked Altars tell us, he did what this mourful Sepulchre tells us, he did what these veiled Images and covered Pictures tell us, he did what all these other doleful Ceremonies tell us; or rather, he did what he himself can tell you best, inclinato cupite, emisit spiritum, John 29.30. he bowed down his all-obedient Head, and DIED, and died for the sins of his people, propter scelus populi sui, motuus est. Conclusio. SUN, thou bright Lamp of Heaven, withdraw thy radiant beams: Day, hid thy Light, as not daring to behold this bloody Deicide, tremble, O thou Earth, and you ye Heavens, put on the deepest mourning to solemnize the bitter Obsequies of your great Creator, Rocks and Stones fly to pieces at it, veil of the Temple rent in sunder, open, O ye Graves, rise, rise you dead, go and proclaim the Innocency of the Lamb that is slain, through all the Streets of the Holy City, make it echo in the very Temple itself, let it be heard even in the Sanctae Sanctorum, in the Holy of Holies, for the Holy God himself is struck dead upon a across for the sins of the people: but is it he then, O my Soul? view him well, is this he that crowns the Heads of his Saints with Glory, whose Head is now crwoned with pie●cing Thorns? Are these those powerful Hands that with three only Fingers support this mighty machine of the World, which are now fastened with two great Nails to this fatal three of sorrow? Yes, 'tis he. But, O my divine Redeemer, What's the meaning of those two deep holes, those two bleeding wounds in the very midst of thy hands? quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum? Ha! Soul, Soul, know, says he, I received these wounds in thy house, at the sign of the Serpent Sin; his plagatus sum in domo eorum qui diligebant me, Zach. 13.6. Ha! Sinner, inquire then, inquire no more by what hand these wounds were made, for I must tell thee to thy shane( as Nathan told the King) tu es ill vir, thou art the Man; 'twas thy pride crowned his venerable Head with Thorns; 'twas thy impurity rent and tore his tender Shoulders with Whips and Scourges; 'twas thy Avarice fastened his Liberal Hands to the across; 'twas thy Sloth nailed his Holy Feet; 'twas thy Anger, thy Revenge transpietc't his Amorous Heart with Spears and lances; 'twas thy Sensuality, thy Intemperance gave him this bitter draft of Vinegar and gall to drink, tu es ille vir, thou art the Man. O Loving Saviour of the World, I cannot choose but deplore the loss of so much Blood( I say, the loss of so much Blood) because, all the returns your can expect from the greatest part of the World, is nothing, but a strange insensibility of all your bitter Sufferings, attended with such Ingratitude, as makes the very Heavens blushy to see it, and made the Great Apostle weep to think on't; nunc autem & flens dico, inimicos Crucis Christi ad Philipp. 3.13. 'Tis not enough, it seems, for the Wicked to see their Jesus bleeding in his own Hands, the Hands of Love; bleeding in the Hands of his Enemies, the Hands of Cruelty; bleeding in the Hands of his Father, the Hands of Justice, but they must needs imbrue their sacrilegious Hands in his precious Gore: and as the same Apostle tells us in his Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. 6. v. 6. crucify him over and over again by Sins ru●sum ●●ucisgen●●● Filium Dei in semetipsis. Now they come indeed with an apparent show of Sanctity, with tears in their Eyes, and perhaps with sorrow in their Hearts, to Solemnize the doleful Obsequies of the World's messiah: but alas! alas! scarce is the Son of God entombed, scarce is the great ston sealed up close, but away they go, and leave their Jesus all alone; the Ambitions Man returns to his Pomps and Vanities; the avaricious Man to his Bags and his Coffers; the Voluptuous Man to his Pleasures and his Pastimes, and all to their old Haunts, to their old Habits and vicious Practices, rursum crucifigentes Filium Dei. But you, for your parts, most pious Auditors, and dear Christians, if the Beloved of your Souls is so ill treated by the mayor part of ungrateful Mortals, let him find a kinder entertainment at your hands; if they trample the Blood of the Lamb under foot, do you preserve it as a precious relic in the holy Shrines of your Hearts; if they daily wound him anew, and make him bleed afresh by Sin, do you bathe these wounds with the daily tears of Repeptance, and stop his Blood With the ardent fires and flames of loving Heart: In a word; if you love your wounded Jesus,( as I hope you do) think of nothing but these Wounds, speak of nothing but these Wounds; if you red, let it be of these Wounds; if you writ, let it be of these Wounds; if you eat, dip every morsel In these Wounds; nay, if you sleep, dream of these Wounds; and when you awake breath the first acts of your Hearts into these Wounds; in all your Afflictions and Tribulations fly for Refuge to these Wounds; and to conclude, live, live and die in these Wounds of the crucified Jesus; where now I leave you, for in a better place, I am sure I cannot leave you. Amen. FINIS.