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 THE ^%SS 
 
 HISTOEY OF THE PASSION 
 
 OF 
 
 OUR LOED JESUS CHEIST 
 
 EXPLAINED AND APPLIED TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES GROENINGS 
 
 PRIEST OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS 
 
 SECOND REVISED EDITION 
 
 ST. LOUIS, MO., AND FREIBURG (BADEN 
 
 Published by B. Herder 
 
 1908 
 
St. Louis, Jan. 17, 1908. 
 
 NIHIL OBSTAT. 
 
 F. G.'HOLWECK, 
 
 Censor Tlieologicus. 
 
 St. Louis. Jan. 22. 1908. 
 
 IMPRIMATUR. 
 
 *^ Joannes J. Glennon, 
 
 Archiepiscopus Sti. Ludovici. 
 
 Copyright, 1900, by Joseph Gummersbach. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 (From the foreword of the first German edition.) 
 
 "This book is not, strictly speaking, a series of 
 sermons or meditations on the sufferings of our 
 Redeemer, but it is rather an explanation of the 
 history of the Passion. It consists of a descrip- 
 tion of the most important and most interesting 
 trial which has ever come before a court of justice, 
 on whose final decision depends the weal or woe 
 of the whole human race. The book is also a 
 commentary on the greatest drama which has ever 
 been enacted. Even considered from a purely 
 natural point of view, the Passion of our Lord is 
 a drama with which none other can be compared 
 as regards the character of the actors, the magni- 
 tude of the action, the importance of the intrigue 
 and the complexity of the plot. The unities of 
 time and place have even been preserved. 
 
 In preparing this explanation and practical ap- 
 plication of the history of the Passion, the author 
 has spared no pains in gathering and using with 
 discretion the best which Catholic learning and re- 
 search has to offer on the subject. In pursuance 
 of his object he has consulted by preference the 
 great Catholic theologians of the past and from 
 these treasure-houses of sacred knowledge has 
 chosen the granite blocks from which to rear his 
 
 iii 
 
iv PREFACE 
 
 edifice. The author has thought it wise not to 
 draw from private revelations, no matter how ven- 
 erable the names connected with them may be. 
 Since it is difficult to distinguish between what is 
 in reality revealed in these revelations and what 
 is merely the result of pious meditation, the au- 
 thor judged it more in accordance with his very 
 calling as teacher and interpreter of the Gospel 
 to rely solely on the Gospel narratives and the in- 
 terpretation put upon them by the Fathers and by 
 men scientifically trained for that purpose. The 
 various personal revelations may, with due re- 
 spect, be left to private devotion, pious reading and 
 meditation. 
 
 How and to what extent exegetical matter should 
 be incorporated in the work was determined by the 
 double purpose in view, namely, to impart useful 
 and interesting knowledge and to offer religious 
 edification. The author does not pretend that he 
 has always taken the correct stand on disputed 
 points, but, on the other hand, he does not be- 
 lieve that he has made any assertion without good 
 reason and without being able to quote, in sup- 
 port, authorities who command respect. 
 
 For the guidance of the reader, the passages 
 from the four Gospels which provide the subject- 
 matter for each chapter have been indicated. The 
 historical sequence of the different events, as far 
 as it was possible to determine it, has been strictly 
 observed, except that the mysteries of Mount Oli- 
 vet have been arranged from an objective view- 
 point and that the wonderful phenomena observed 
 
PREFACE V 
 
 before and at the time of the death of our Lord 
 have been condensed in one chapter. However, 
 care has been taken to avoid confusing the order 
 of events. Partly with a view to furnishing an 
 authoritative foundation for interpretations and 
 partly for the instruction and encouragement of 
 those who have not access to a large number of 
 scientific works, notes on various difficult points 
 have been added at the end of the book. They 
 were placed there in order to avoid interrupting 
 the text in a disagreeable manner by lengthy re- 
 marks which do not have the same interest for 
 every one. As far as circumstances permitted, 
 the passages quoted from the Fathers, taken over, 
 with few exceptions, from Cornelius a Lapide and 
 Salmeron, have been covered with exact refer- 
 ences aud have been compared with the original 
 texts. Unfortunately it was not possible to verify 
 all the references to the Fathers. 
 
 Although, as has been stated, the work is not a 
 book of meditations, in the strict sense of the 
 term, it, nevertheless, affords abundant material 
 for meditation and may even be considered as a 
 preparatory school for meditation, because its pur- 
 pose is to introduce us to a thorough knowledge of 
 the history of the Passion of our Lord, to reveal to 
 us His inner life and to inspire us to apply the 
 truths here taught to our lives. But those who pro- 
 pose using the book for meditation will do well 
 to remember the advice given by St. Ignatius in 
 his Spiritual Exercises, viz., to take thoroughly to 
 heart, in considering the persons, the words and 
 
Vi PREFACE 
 
 the actions in the history of the Passion, what our 
 Lord suffered in His sacred humanity, especially 
 in His Divine Heart; how His divinity withdraws 
 into the background, as it were, in order to 
 abandon His sacred humanity to suffering, and 
 how, finally, Christ suffers all these thing's for 
 each one of us individually in accordance with the 
 words of St. Paul. (Gal. ii., 20.) It was not 
 feasible to repeat these important and wholesome 
 thoughts in every chapter, nor is it the intention 
 of St. Ignatius that they themselves form the ob- 
 ject of our meditations; they are rather to be con- 
 sidered, to use a comparison, as the glasses through 
 which we are to behold the objects of our atten- 
 tion, i. e., the various events in the history of the 
 Passion. It is sufficient to here remind the reader 
 to keep these three points constantly before his 
 mind. 
 
 As it was not practicable to indicate on every 
 page the sources from which the various explana- 
 tions were taken, we name here the chief works 
 consulted in writing this book. 
 
 A. Salmeron, S. J., Comment, in Evangel. His- 
 toriam; Fr. Toletus, S. J., Comment, in Joannis 
 Evangelium; Joh. Maldonat, S. J., Comment, in 
 quatuor Evangelistas ; Seb. Barradas, S. J., Com- 
 ment, in Concordiam et Historiam quatuor Evan- 
 gelist. ; Cornelius a Lapide, S. 3"., Comment, in 
 quatuor Evangelia; P. A. Scherer, Bibliothek fiir 
 Prediger; Fr. Xav. Massl, Erklarung der heiligen 
 Schriften des Neuen Testamentes; Dr. P. Schegg, 
 Kommentare zu Matthaus und Johannes; Dr. P. 
 
PREFACE Vll 
 
 Schanz, Kommentare zu den vier Evangelisten ; 
 Dr. Joh. Nep. Sepp, Das Leben Jesu Christi 
 (second edition) ; Dr. P. Schegg, Das Leben Jesu; 
 L. de Ponte, S. J., Meditationes ; L. de la Palma, 
 S. J., Geschichte der heiligen Passion; W. Stani- 
 hurstus, S. J.; Dei immortalis in corpore mortali 
 patientis historia; R. Bellarmin, S. J., Die sieben 
 Worte Christi am Kreuze; Ad. Fr. Lennig, Be- 
 trachtungen iiber das bittere Leiden Jesu Christi; 
 Ant. Etzinger, Betrachtungen iiber das Leiden 
 und Sterben Jesu Christi; Dr. M. Breiteneicher, 
 Die Passion des Gottmenschen ; Dr. N. Gihr, Das 
 heilige Messopfer. 
 
 May by God's grace, the reading of this book 
 help to inflame in our hearts the love of the Cruci- 
 fied." 
 
 The second English edition has been prepared from the 
 fourth German edition with the addition of those im- 
 provements which are to be incorporated in a fifth Ger- 
 man edition, should such be called for. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Buffalo, New York. 
 
 Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the 
 Blessed Virgin, December, 8, 1907. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Preface iii 
 
 Chapter I. 
 The sufferings of Christ's Soul in the Garden of Olives, 
 
 considered 1 
 
 I. As to their nature 3 
 
 II. As to their causes 7 
 
 Chapter II. 
 Circumstances surrounding the sufferings of Christ's 
 
 Soul in the Garden of Olives 13 
 
 I. The circumstances of these sufferings . . 14 
 
 II. The motives of these sufferings .... 19 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 The prayer of Christ in the Garden of Olives ... 24 
 
 I. Its circumstances 26 
 
 II. Its qualities 28 
 
 III. The effects of the threefold prayer of Christ 31 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 The repeated appeals of Christ to His apostles ... 36 
 
 I. The reasons of the appeals 37 
 
 II. The words which Christ spoke to the apostles 42 
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 The treason of Judas 48 
 
 I. In the events which led up to it . . . . 49 
 
 II. In its final execution 55 
 
 III. In its innermost source 60 
 
 ix 
 
X CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The seizure of the Redeemer 64 
 
 I. Miracles to prove His Divine Power ... 66 
 II. Miracles to prove His Divine Love ... 69 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 The incidents directly following the seizure .... 77 
 I. The journey from the mount of Olives to 
 
 Annas . 78 
 
 II. The preliminary hearing before Annas . . 82 
 
 Chaptek VIII. 
 
 The trial of Christ before Caiphas 89 
 
 I. The testimony of the witnesses . . . .91 
 
 II. The sentencing of the accused 94 
 
 III. The unlawful maltreatment of the Condemned 98 
 
 ClIAPTEE IX. 
 
 The three denials of Peter 103 
 
 I. The story of the denial 106 
 
 II. Its causes 110 
 
 III. The repentance following it 116 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 The death of the traitor 120 
 
 I. Judas penitent 123 
 
 II. The heartless and hypocritical high-priests . 127 
 III. Despair and death of the disciple . . . .130 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 The accusation before Pilate 135 
 
 I. The motives of the accusation 137 
 
 II. The negotiations with Pilate concerning it . 138 
 
 III. The subject of the accusation 143 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 The first hearing of Christ before Pilate 148 
 
 I. The hearing detailed 149 
 
 II. The chief mistake of Pilate during the hear- 
 ing 155 
 
CONTENTS XI 
 Chapter XIII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Christ before Herod 161 
 
 I. Joy of Herod 163 
 
 II. Disappointment of Herod 168 
 
 III. Eevenge of Herod 173 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 Christ and Barabbas 178 
 
 I. Effort of Pilate to free Christ 180 
 
 II. Its result 183 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 The scourging of Christ 191 
 
 I. The scourging considered in itself . . .191 
 II. The special reasons why Christ wished to un- 
 dergo it 197 
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 
 The crowning with thorns 201 
 
 I. The legitimate title of Christ to a crowTi . 203 
 
 II. The insignia offered Him 205 
 
 III. The homage paid Him 208 
 
 Chapter XVII. 
 
 Ecce Homo! 212 
 
 I. Another effort to free Christ 213 
 
 II. Its result 215 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 
 The second hearing of Christ before Pilate . . . .221 
 
 I. The hearing in detail 221 
 
 II. The mistakes of Pilate during his progress . 227 
 
 Chapter XIX. 
 
 The close of the trial 232 
 
 I. The last effort of Pilate to free Christ . . 233 
 
 II. The solemn declaration of His own innocence 236 
 
 III. The condemning to death of the Redeemer . 240 
 
XU CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter XX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The carrying of the Cross 243 
 
 I. Preparation for the last journey .... 244 
 II. Journey to the gate of the city .... 247 
 
 Chapter XXI. 
 
 The march to the place of execution 254 
 
 I. Sympathy of the chief-priests 255 
 
 II. Sympathy of the women of Jerusalem . . 259 
 
 Chapter XXII. 
 
 The execution 266 
 
 I. Final preparations for the crucifixion . . 268 
 
 II. The crucifixion itself 271 
 
 Chapter XXIII. 
 
 The first word of Christ on the cross 278 
 
 I. The object of the petition contained therein . 280 
 II. The reasons adduced by Christ why it should 
 
 be granted 283 
 
 Chapter XXIV. 
 
 The second word of Christ on the cross 290 
 
 I. Its occasion 291 
 
 II. Its meaning 297 
 
 Chapter XXV. 
 
 The third word of Christ on the cross 303 
 
 I. The persons to whom Christ addressed it . 304 
 
 II. The word itself 309 
 
 Chapter XXVI. 
 
 The fourth word of Christ on the cross 315 
 
 I. Sense of the complaint contained therein . 316 
 II. Reasons for uttering the complaint . . .319 
 III. Different impressions produced by it on the 
 
 bystanders 323 
 
 Chapter XXVII. 
 The fifth word of Christ on the cross 327 
 
CONTENTS xiii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Reasons for uttering the complaint contained 
 
 therein 329 
 
 II. Circumstances and character of the complaint 331 
 III. Granting of the prayer contained in the com- 
 plaint 333 
 
 Chapter XXVIII. 
 
 The sixth word of Christ on the cross 337 
 
 I. The death of Christ on the cross is a true 
 
 sacrifice 338 
 
 II. The death of Christ on the cross is a sacri- 
 fice of infinite value 344 
 
 Chapter XXIX. 
 
 The seventh word of Christ on the cross 351 
 
 I. Its meaning 352 
 
 II. Circumstances of its utterance ..... 355 
 
 Chapter XXX. 
 
 The sufferings of Christ on the Cross 362 
 
 I. The sufferings of the Crucified in His sacred 
 
 body 363 
 
 II. The suflferings of the Crucified in Jlis honor . 366 
 
 III. The sufferings of the Crucified in His soul . 373 
 
 Chapter XXXI. 
 Wonderful events before and at the death of Christ . 378 
 I. The wonderful incidents considered in them- 
 selves 379 
 
 11. The diverse effects they produced on men . 385 
 
 Chapter XXXII. 
 
 Events immediately following the death of Christ . . 389 
 
 I. Breaking of the thieves' bones 390 
 
 II. Opening of the side of Christ 392 
 
 Chapter XXXIII. 
 The last events in the history of the Passion . . . 399 
 I. The descent from the cross 400 
 
Xiv CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 11. The preparation for burial 405 
 
 ni. The burial 407 
 
 Chapter XXXIV. 
 
 The watch at the tomb 413 
 
 I. Negotiations with Pilate concerning it . .415 
 II. The watch at the tomb itself 420 
 
 Notes 427 
 
HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SUFPEEINGS OF CHRIST'S SOUL IN THE GARDEN 
 OF OLIVES 
 
 The Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar had been 
 instituted. The words of leave taking had been 
 spoken by the Saviour. The hymn of praise, pre- 
 scribed by the law, had been sung. Then Jesus, 
 as was His wont, went with His disciples to a 
 garden situated on the ]\Iount of Olives, The 
 garden was distant about half a league from the 
 Cenacle and belonged to a farm called Geth- 
 semane, a word meaning ''Oil Press." The way 
 led over the brook Cedron, which, fed by the rains 
 of winter, was dry in mid-summer. The word, 
 "Cedron" means a dark, obscure ravine, a vale 
 of shadows. This name had been given the stream 
 either because of the darkness spread by the thick 
 growth of woods along its borders, or because the 
 valley of Josephat, through which it flowed, was 
 the valley of sin, the valley of tombs. For there, 
 in olden times, sacrifices were offered to Moloch, 
 there the Jews w^ere buried. Every year, over a 
 specially constructed bridge, which spanned this 
 deep rock-ribbed ravine, the red cow was led to the 
 
 1 
 
2 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Mount of Olives, there to be burnt for the atone- 
 ment of the people. Over the same way the scape- 
 goat was driven out to be devoured by wild beasts, 
 thus to give vicarious satisfaction for the sins of 
 men. We now behold, following the same way, 
 the Son of God, the Pure One, the innocent Lamb, 
 Who shall take away the sins of the world. In 
 days gone by, King David with his faithful ad- 
 herents had also crossed the Cedron, in tears and 
 his head covered in mourning, for he was fleeing 
 from his son Absalom. Christ crossed the brook, 
 not to flee from His enemies, but to deliver Him- 
 self to the betrayer in the Garden of Olives. For 
 Judas, the traitor, knew the place, because Jesus 
 had often gone there with His disciples, especially 
 in the days just passed. 
 
 On the way, Jesus, in clear terms, again fore- 
 told the unfaithfulness of the disciples, especially 
 of Peter ; but they would not believe Him. Peter, 
 with self-confident presumption, protested anew 
 that, even if all the others should be scandalized 
 in the Master, he certainly would not; that he 
 would rather die with Him than deny Him. Ex- 
 tolling himself above the others by his assurances 
 of attachment and fidelity, Peter caused them to 
 take offense, and they began to protest in like 
 manner. But the Lord sought to prepare them 
 for the things to come and to console them, even 
 then, by directing their attention to His proximate 
 resurrection. Conversing on these themes, they 
 at length arrived at the garden of Gethsemane. 
 
 The events in the Garden of Olives can prop- 
 
SUFFERINGS IN THE GARDEN 3 
 
 erly be considered under the following heads: 
 Christ plunged in sadness and wrestling with 
 death; Christ praying to His heavenly Father; 
 Christ calling on His disciples ; Christ betrayed by 
 Judas; Christ captured by His enemies and for- 
 saken by the apostles. 
 
 Let us consider, the sufferings of the Saviour's 
 soul: 
 
 I. As to their nature. 
 
 II. As to their causes. 
 
 The sufferings of our Saviour's soul in their 
 first stage are described in the following manner 
 by the evangelists: St. Matthew writes, ^*He be- 
 gan to grow sorrowful and to be sad. Then he 
 saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto 
 death." St. Mark says, "And he began to fear 
 and to be heavy. And he saith to them: My soul 
 is sorrowful even unto death." 
 
 The evangelists, then, make use of three ex- 
 pressions in characterizing the mental sufferings 
 of the Saviour. They speak of sadness, of fear 
 and of heaviness which we may call repugnance. 
 Sadness is the result of present evil that already 
 has befallen one; fear arises from the thought of 
 future evil, to avoid which seems very difficult; 
 repugnance is felt under the pressure of present 
 inevitable evils and at the thought of future evils 
 which appear unavoidable and are therefore con- 
 sidered as already present. 
 
 At the thought of present or future evils, we 
 
4 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 human beings are overwhelmed with sadness, fear 
 and repugnance. For these passions or emotions 
 do not arise in us as a result of reason's reflections 
 or of free will. They rather have their origin 
 in the lower powers of the soul, whence they 
 ascend to the higher faculties, moving the will and 
 alluring its sympathy. They run ahead of the 
 reflections of reason, and they are present 
 before one is aware of it. They therefore render 
 more difficult the calm apprehension of the intel- 
 lect. But thus far there is no personal fault, no 
 sin. It is merely something human, a peculiar re- 
 sult of our deteriorated nature. At this point 
 however, it becomes the duty of the intellect and 
 will to control and to conquer these ebullitions of 
 passion by adducing motives of reason and of faith, 
 and also by prayer and correspondence with di- 
 vine grace. But instead of acting in such a man- 
 ner, our wills too often, through our own fault, 
 yield and allow full sway to the emotions and per- 
 mit us to be carried onward to sins of impatience, 
 anger and others similar, all of which causes the 
 reason to become still more obscured. 
 
 It was not so with Christ. All that He suf- 
 fered never in the least bedimmed the clear appre- 
 hension of reason. For with full conviction and 
 freedom He first presented to His mind the causes 
 of sadness, of fear and of repugnance. Then, it 
 is true, He permitted these emotions to produce 
 their painful effects to the fullest extent upon His 
 will and, through the will, upon the other facul- 
 ties of His soul. But at the same time He pre- 
 
SUFFERINGS IN THE GARDEN 5 
 
 sented to His soul counter-motives, which en- 
 couraged Him to patiently undergo the sufferings, 
 and, for our example. He simultaneously addressed 
 Himself in earnest prayer to His heavenly Father. 
 Thus He suffered and still always retained perfect 
 control over these inner emotions. 
 
 We are here confronted by a great mystery. On 
 the one hand, the soul of Christ from the moment 
 of its creation, enjoyed the beatific vision and, in 
 consequence, untold happiness whilst in the mortal 
 body; but, on the other, it experienced sorrows 
 from other causes and was sad even unto death.^ 
 Only a most incomprehensible miracle of Divine 
 Power and Love could bring this about and did 
 bring it about in the case of the Saviour alone. 
 For faith teaches us that the blessed in heaven, 
 owing to the beatific vision, are immune from any 
 and all sufferings and that, after the last day, 
 their bodies shall also be impassible. 
 
 In the second stage, the sufferings of the soul 
 of Christ increased to a real fear of death, whence 
 they passed to a condition of agony, or death- 
 struggle, which produced a bloody sweat. This in- 
 cident is mentioned by the evangelist St. Luke in 
 the following terms: ''And being in agony," i. e., 
 whilst struggling against the fear of death, '* he 
 prayed the longer. And his sweat became as 
 drops of blood trickling down upon the ground." 
 
 How shall we explain the fear of death in 
 Christ ? In the rest of men, this fear usually arises 
 
 iNote 1. 
 
6 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 from three causes: from the consciousness of sins 
 committed in the past, from the uncertainty of 
 the future lot awaiting the soul and, lastly, from 
 the natural reluctance of the soul to leave the body. 
 It is evident that in Christ the fear of death could 
 not arise from the first and second causes, for He 
 had nothing to regret in the past, and, as to the fu- 
 ture. He knew full well that He would go to the 
 Father. The fear of death in Him arose, there- 
 fore, from the last mentioned cause. It is to be 
 remarked, however, that the fear of death in Him 
 was different from that which we experience. In 
 us the repugnance to death and its fear are felt 
 without the consent of our will, even against its 
 consent, while in Christ the fear of death was 
 willed with full deliberation and freedom. 
 
 The agony of the Saviour consisted in His strug- 
 gling with the whole power of His will against 
 the fear of death which He had freely admitted, 
 in His subduing and conquering it. It was, in- 
 deed, a most remarkable conflict in the heart of 
 the God-Man. Christ there appears as a general 
 who, being certain of victory, challenges and pro- 
 vokes the enemy to combat, but only to conquer 
 and to slay him. 
 
 The bloody sweat, finally, which accompanied 
 the fear of death, was the result of the struggle 
 and not of the fear. Fear, notably the fear of im- 
 pending death, does not drive the blood out of the 
 heart, but rather back to it. Fright and fear pro- 
 duce a pale, not a ruddy complexion. The bloody 
 sweat, therefore, was the result of the death-strug- 
 
SUFFERINGS IN THE GARDEN 7 
 
 gle, that is, of the great elfort of will power to 
 overcome the fear of death. It must, indeed, have 
 been a powerful effort, which drove the blood, 
 after it had rushed through fear to the heart, 
 back through the sacred body to find vent and 
 burst forth in great drops through the pores. 
 
 There He lies, the Almighty, the Strong One of 
 Israel, the Shield of the Hero, the Lion of the 
 tribe of Juda, like to a worm trodden in the dust, 
 scarcely able to emit a sigh. Finally, with great 
 effort. He rises. He uplifts His face to heaven, 
 and in the calm light of the full moon that Holy 
 Face appears covered with innumerable red drops, 
 and these drops are the heart's blood of the Son 
 of God, which, amid the most fearful pains, is 
 pressed from all the pores of His sacred Body. 
 The bloody drops fall upon the earth to free it 
 from the ancient curse, and, like to the blood of 
 Abel, they cry to heaven, not for vengeance, how- 
 ever, but for mercy. "What then, we have a right 
 to ask, were the causes which gave rise to these 
 sufferings of the soul? 
 
 II. 
 
 The sufferings of the soul of Christ resulted 
 chiefly from four causes. The first cause was the 
 clear knowledge the Saviour had of all the pains 
 He had to endure in His natural body, in His sac- 
 ramental body, and in His mystic body. The im- 
 ages of all the terrors and of all the tortures to be 
 brought forth by the coming day arranged them- 
 selves vividly before His eyes. He beheld the 
 
8 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 bloody scourge, the croTSTi of thorns, the dishonor 
 of the purple mantle, the false testimonies, the 
 scornful and biting jeers, the altar of sacrifice 
 on Golgotha. These dreadful images caused Him 
 to feel all the impending pains even before the 
 rude menial raised the fearful scourge, before 
 the cruel nails pierced His sacred hands and feet. 
 The mere thought of an approaching operation or 
 of a threatened disgrace has caused many a one 
 to swoon. Why should it be a matter of surprise 
 that the heart of the Redeemer, at the sight of 
 such woes, trembled in its inmost fibres and pre- 
 maturely shed its blood? Add to this the fore- 
 knowledge of all the wrong and ignominy He was 
 to suffer in His sacramental body through the va- 
 rious sins against the Blessed Sacrament, of all the 
 persecutions and outrages which would be heaped 
 upon His mystic body, the holy Church, by infi- 
 dels, heretics and schismatics, by cruel tyrants, 
 by anti-Catholic governments and from the scandal- 
 ous lives of many Catholics. He knew that He 
 could no more endure these pains after His death, 
 therefore He drank in advance this cup of suffer- 
 ing in the garden of Gethsemane. In the second 
 place, the conduct of His ungrateful disciples was 
 to the Redeemer a source of untold sadness. One 
 is already on the way to betray Him for thirty 
 pieces of silver; another, a few hours hence, will 
 deny Him; all are indifferent and given over to 
 careless slumber. In ages to come, the example 
 of these ingrates will be followed by millions of 
 Christians after they shall have reaped the abun- 
 
SUFFERINGS IN THE GARDEN 9 
 
 dance of His benefits, after they shall have been 
 freed, through His precious Blood, from the thral- 
 dom of Satan and nourished with His own sacred 
 flesh. Truly the Saviour could exclaim with the 
 Psalmist, ' ' I am become a stranger to my brethren, 
 and an alien to the sons of my mother. And I 
 looked for one that would grieve together with 
 me, but there was none: and for one that would 
 comfort me and I found none." 
 
 The third cause was the painful knowledge that 
 all His struggles and sufferings would be wasted 
 on innumerable souls. Hear His plaint in the 
 words of Isaias, the prophet: **I have labored in 
 vain, I have spent my strength without cause and 
 in vain." May God grant that, in these pathetic 
 lamentations, his thoughts were not directed 
 towards any of us ! Above all. He was afflicted at 
 the thought of the awful end of His apostle Judas, 
 as well as the temporal and eternal ruin towards 
 which His chosen and beloved people of Israel were 
 drifting. 
 
 All this is, indeed, more than sufficient to break a 
 heart, even though that heart were divine. And 
 still St. Chrysostom says that we should err were 
 we to think that the knowledge of all these suf- 
 ferings was the principal cause of the mental grief 
 and of the mortal anguish of Christ. For no mat- 
 ter how fearful these sufferings were, the Re- 
 deemer had anxiously desired them and intensely 
 longed for them. No matter how heavy, how 
 shameful the cross might be, no matter that to 
 many it was a folly and a scandal, it would also 
 
10 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 bring salvation unto many; for Christ Himself it 
 would be the foundation of His Glory; to the 
 heavenly Father it would bring infinite honor. 
 
 It must, then, have been something else that 
 made the soul of Our Saviour tremble; it must 
 have been something else that could make of a 
 God of infinite glory a God struggling with death. 
 It was sin. ''The sorrows of death surrounded 
 me : and the torrents of iniquity troubled me. ' ' In 
 the hour when the high priests and pharisees con- 
 sulted together in the court of Caiphas how they 
 might apprehend Jesus, the heavenly Father im- 
 posed upon Him, (the purity of Hie soul, however, 
 remaining unsullied), all the injustice of the whole 
 world, the sins of all nations, the sins of all times, 
 the sins of all classes; the sins of kings, the sins 
 of subjects; the sins of the rich, the sins of the 
 poor; the sins of parents and the sins of children. 
 Is it a wonder that this burden of iniquities, laid 
 upon the Saviour, should press Him to the ground ? 
 
 To us, indeed, who know so little of the super- 
 natural, sin often appears in more subdued colors. 
 We excuse it, we consider it a mere weakness, 
 something natural, a result of youth and of tem- 
 perament. We fear at most the penalties of sin 
 threatened by God 's anger. But the soul of Christ 
 saw, clearly and distinctly, not only the entire 
 series of sins, from the disobedience of our first 
 parents down to the desolations of dooms-day, 
 but also all the malice, all the abomination, the re- 
 volt, the contempt, the dark ingratitude contained 
 in each and every sin. Even when we recognize 
 
SUFFERINGS IN THE GARDEN 11 
 
 the wrong done to Almighty God by our sins, we 
 take' it little to heart, because we love Him so lit- 
 tle. But the soul of Christ, which sought nothing 
 more strenuously than the glory of His heavenly 
 Father and which loved Him with an immeasura- 
 ble love greater than that of all the Cherubim and 
 Seraphim, felt most vividly the wrong inflicted on 
 the Divine Majesty by sin. The sorrows of David 
 over the injustices of the chosen people, the grief 
 and indignation of Elias at the scandals and the 
 idolatries of Israel, the tears of the prophet Jere- 
 miah over the infidelities of Jerusalem were merely 
 faint figures of the sadness of Jesus when He be- 
 held the sins of the entire world. 
 
 And if this be true, we cannot shut out from our 
 hearts another consideration. At the sight of our 
 sins a God is seized with painful disquiet, and we 
 remain calm. A God is sad over our sins, and we 
 take pleasure therein. A God sweats blood for 
 our sins, and we never shed a tear. We sin and, 
 instead of hesitating and trembling, we think, per- 
 haps, *'I have sinned and what harm hath befal- 
 len me?" At the sight of our sins a God-Man 
 writhes in agony, and we, perhaps, live on in a 
 dreadful torpor which is an insult to the agony 
 of Christ, in a false security, which, in a way, is 
 more terrible than sin itself. We, perhaps, shall 
 slumber on in utter blindness until that hour in 
 which the voice of the eternal Judge will awaken 
 us. Oh, dreadful moment in which the Redeemer, 
 now mute and patient in the Garden of Olives, 
 burdened down with the mountain of our sins, will 
 
12 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 "Unsheathe before the sinner the flaming sword of 
 vengeance! Oh, dreadful moment, in which the 
 same Redeemer, who now sheds His blood for our 
 sins, will demand of the sinner an account of the 
 blood shed in vain! Oh, most dreadful moment, 
 in which the heart, now tortured out of love for 
 us, even unto death, will appear glowing with 
 eternal wrath ! 
 
 Still, however great our fault may be, even if 
 our sins be as numerous as the grains of sand on 
 the sea-shore, we must not despair. Now is still 
 the time of grace, even now, from all the pores of 
 the Redeemer wrestling with death. His precious 
 blood is being shed for us, even now His divine 
 Heart is beating warmly for us. Let us firmly re- 
 solve to flee the monster sin which caused a God 
 to tremble; by means of the Precious Blood, to 
 purify ourselves in the sacrament of Penance, and, 
 henceforth so to live as to justify the hope that, 
 when we shall writhe in the throes of death, the 
 agony of Christ may bring us, not despair, but 
 solace; not ruin, but salvation. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE SUFFERINGS OP 
 CHRIST IN THE GARDEN OF OLIVES 
 
 " And he saitli to them : My soul 
 is sorrowful even unto death." 
 
 (St. Mark, xiv., 34.) 
 
 In considering the history of the Passion, we 
 must, as much as possible, pass in review not 
 only the chief events, but also the subordinate oc- 
 currences, even minute details narrated by the 
 evangelists. Whatever, that is to say, the Holy 
 Ghost, through the Sacred Scriptures, has made 
 known to us concerning the person, the work and 
 the Passion of Christ, cannot be considered small 
 or trivial ; it must be worthy of our consideration 
 and mature reflection. These various outward cir- 
 cumstances are often full of- deep mystery, and, 
 when we penetrate into their meaning, they 
 heighten the interest in the chief event itself. 
 Furthermore, for a thorough understanding of the 
 facts, it is also very useful to examine and investi- 
 gate, with humble moderation, in so far as our 
 limited powers will permit, their inward circum- 
 stances, i. e., the causes why they should and must 
 have happened as they did. 
 
 We shall, therefore, stop at the subject of our 
 13 
 
14 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 first chapter in order to impress more clearly on 
 our minds the picture of the Saviour, sad even 
 unto death and bathed in His blood. Let us con- 
 sider 
 
 I. The circumstances of His sufferings; 
 II. The motives which induced Him to suffer. 
 
 I. 
 
 The outward circumstances of the sufferings of 
 the Eedeemer's soul are threefold: circumstances 
 of place, of time and of persons. 
 
 Let us consider first the circumstances of place. 
 Christ began His Passion in a garden, more pre- 
 cisely, in an olive-garden. "When the Redeemer 
 felt that the hour of His capture was drawing 
 nigh, He left the Cenacle. He would not cause 
 discomfort to the good man who had generously 
 opened his house to Him for the institution of the 
 Most Holy Sacrament. He wished to spare this 
 friend all annoyance which might come to him, 
 were the Lord to be seized in his house. He left 
 the city altogether. Beyond its walls, in God's 
 open country. He decided to begin and to end His 
 Passion, to show that He shed His blood not for 
 Jerusalem alone, but for the entire world. For 
 the beginning of His Passion, He chose a wonder- 
 fully beautiful garden. How significant this 
 choice was! In a garden the first Adam had com- 
 mitted the first sin, the sin of disobedience; there- 
 fore it was in a garden that the second Adam 
 should say to His Father, "Not what I will, but 
 what thou wilt. " In a garden Adam, by an abuse 
 
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AGONY 15 
 
 of liberty, had plunged the entire human race into 
 the most shameful captivity; in a garden, there- 
 fore, by the bonds of Christ our fetters were to 
 be broken. In a garden God had pronounced the 
 death-penalty upon Adam; hence, in a garden 
 Christ would take upon Himself this judgment 
 and this curse. In a garden the human race was 
 lost; and usually an object is sought where it was 
 lost. Christ had come into the world to lay out 
 a garden wherein, amid splendor and abundance, 
 there should thrive the violet of humility, the 
 myrtle of mortification, the rose of love, the lily 
 of virginal souls, the laurel of confessors and the 
 palm of martyrs. It was necessary, then, that He 
 should water and render fertile by His precious 
 blood the soil of this garden. The garden of Geth- 
 semane was furthermore an olive garden, at least 
 it contained quite a number of olive trees, and, 
 according to several interpreters of Holy Writ, 
 the oil for the use of the temple was obtained here. 
 This circumstance, again, is full of significance. 
 ''Oil illiunines," says St. Bernard,^ ''it nourishes 
 and heals." All these effects were to be produced 
 by the blood of Christ in the Christian temple, and 
 that in an infinitely greater degree than by the 
 fruit of the olive-tree in the Jewish temple. For 
 Christ is the great olive-tree, on which the heathen 
 were grafted, according to St. Paul the Apostle. 
 Now as the oil, before it could be used in divine 
 service, had to be pressed forcibly from the fruit, 
 
 1 S. Bern. serm. 15. sup. Cant. n. 5. 
 
16 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 SO the blood of Christ also must be forced from His 
 Sacred Body in His mighty agony. 
 
 Let us pass on to the circumstances of persons. 
 Christ permitted only three of His apostles to be 
 witnesses of His agony, namely, Peter, John and 
 James. The reasons are easily surmised. First, 
 Christ had specially prepared these three, and only 
 these three, for the contemplation of this scene. 
 *'The rest/' as Origen makes the Lord say, ''as 
 the weaker ones, I have invited to remain seated; 
 but of you, as of the stronger ones, I expect that 
 you labor with Me in watching and in prayer." 
 Here we see how true the saying of Scripture is 
 that God does not allow man to be tempted above 
 that which he is able. 
 
 Furthermore, these three apostles had made 
 greater promises than the others. Christ had asked 
 John and James, ''Can you drink of the chalice 
 that I drink of?" They courageously answered 
 Him, "We can."^ And Peter had assured the 
 Lord that it would be an easy matter for him to 
 die with Him. 
 
 Then again, the sight of the Eedeemer, praying 
 that the chalice of suffering might pass and re- 
 ceiving no answer to His prayer, should show these 
 apostles that God will not be satisfied with mere 
 promises, but that they also must drain the same 
 chalice. Finally, these same apostles were to be, 
 more than the others, the supports and pillars of 
 the Church ; Peter was even to be its head. There- 
 
 1 St. Mark, x., 38, 39. 
 
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AGONY 17 
 
 fore it was meet that they have a greater share 
 in the cross of Christ. For this reason, people 
 in high positions, superiors and parents, must 
 always expect greater tribulations, which are in- 
 separably and especially connected with the duty 
 of vigilance. 
 
 But, that He might be more undisturbed in 
 prayer, Christ retired a stone's cast from these 
 three apostles also. ''He was withdrawn away 
 from them,"^ says the evangelist. These words 
 show us His great love for His apostles. To leave 
 them, He had, as it were, to make a violent effort. 
 They also show how great His sadness was. It is 
 natural, in sorrow, to wish to be with friends. 
 Christ made this sacrifice also to His heavenly 
 Father. St. Anselm says the Saviour retired to a 
 small elevation, so that, in the light of the full 
 moon, the three disciples could observe Him from 
 the distance mentioned. 
 
 In contrast with His agony, the seizure of Christ 
 which followed was to take place in presence of 
 the whole college of apostles. They all were to 
 witness the fact that Christ freely allowed Him- 
 self to be bound, therefore He first threw His ene- 
 mies to the ground. This circumstance also pre- 
 cluded any possible accusation that, when alone, 
 He was surprised in the act of some great crime and 
 therefore arrested. The pharisees would certainly 
 have found false witnesses to swear to such an out- 
 rage. 
 
 1 St. Luke, xxii., 41. 
 2 
 
18 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 There remain the circumstances of time to be 
 considered. It was towards eight o'clock in the 
 evening when Christ set forth to begin His passion. 
 This is the hour when millions of people, millions 
 of Christians, ay, millions of Catholics set 
 forth to seek the embrace of sinful pleasures. 
 From nine until twelve o'clock at night, Christ 
 was sad unto death. He trembled and quaked, 
 He fell in agony, He shed a bloody sweat. What 
 an awful contrast this picture of the suffering 
 Saviour presents to the noisy carousals, frivolous 
 dances, shameless ballets, secret meetings, lustful 
 orgies which in exactly these hours of the night, 
 defy the blood of Christ. At the sight of these 
 abominations the heart of the God-Man would fain 
 lose its strength and its courage : He trembled and 
 shrank back in fear. 
 
 Another circumstance of time is not to be over- 
 looked. The death-struggle and agony are usually 
 the immediate precursors of death. Why was it 
 not thus with Our Lord ? This is the reason. Had 
 Christ undergone His agony on the cross in the 
 last hours of His life, it would have appeared as 
 if He died as a result of His agony or of weakness. 
 But He wished to show the world that He suffered 
 death of His own free will. Nevertheless, as He 
 would not forego the pains of agony. He suffered 
 them in the garden. 
 
 This leads us to the second part, that is, to the 
 consideration of the motives which induced Christ 
 to take upon Himself, although they were not 
 
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AGONY 19 
 
 necessary for our salvation, the sufferings of the 
 soul above described. 
 
 II. 
 
 The first motive was, as the Fathers tell us, the 
 intention of convincing us of the reality of His 
 human nature. At the death of Christ the di- 
 vine nature revealed itself more prominently. And 
 indeed, when we reflect how the most cruel pains 
 failed to extinguish the life of the Saviour as He 
 hung on the cross, how, contrary to all laws of 
 nature. He exclaimed with a loud voice, *' Father, 
 into thy hands I commend my spirit," how He 
 then bowed His head and died, we must avow that 
 only a God could so die. Wherefore the centur- 
 ion cried out, ''Indeed this man was the Son 
 of God." The agony, however, affords the most 
 powerful proof of man's impotence, shows that 
 he is in truth mortal. Christ wished to con- 
 vince us of this fact regarding Himself. Had His 
 body been merely a phantom, as later heretics 
 asserted, our redemption would not be an accom- 
 plished fact, because the blood of a God-Man was 
 to be its price. Thus did the agony of Jesus 
 Christ, His fear and trembling and the blood that 
 issued from every pore of His sacred Body put to 
 confusion in advance all these heretics. 
 
 In assuming such sufferings of soul, Christ de- 
 sired, moreover, to atone for our abuse of the fac- 
 ulties of the soul, for all sinful thoughts, imagi- 
 nations and desires; through His sadness, He 
 
20 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 wished to atone for the pleasure felt by the 
 sinner in satisfying his passions. Especially did 
 Christ intend to begin His Passion, the source of 
 all weal, where sin, the source of all woe, takes its 
 beginning. "For from the heart come forth evil 
 thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, 
 false testimonies, blasphemies," says Christ Him- 
 self.^ For this reason, the heart of the God-Man 
 was to be tortured and martyred before His sacred 
 Body was cut with lashes. His head crowned with 
 thorns and His hands and feet pierced with nails. 
 
 Furthermore, Christ intended to encourage, by 
 His example, all those who, like to Himself, should 
 die a martj^r's death and to merit for them all the 
 necessary graces. There is no doubt that many of 
 the holy martyrs, notwithstanding their ardent 
 desire for the martyr's crown, were sad in their 
 hearts unto death, trembled and feared at the 
 thought of approaching pains, at the thought of 
 the wild beasts, the burning fagots, the red hot 
 tongs and the hundreds of other instruments of 
 torture. But then they remembered how their 
 Saviour, who had also such a longing desire for 
 the cross, was seized with agony at the approach 
 of His passion. This thought dispelled all pusil- 
 lanimity, all fear. It raised them out of their sad- 
 ness, it filled them with confidence, so that strength- 
 ened by the grace of Christ, they heroically ap- 
 proached their tortures, even with greater joy than 
 that of the bride meeting the bridegroom. 
 
 1 St. Matthew, xv., 19. 
 
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AGONY 21 
 
 When, again, we behold Christians on their 
 death-bed looking death with all its terrors calmly 
 in the face and exclaiming triumphantly with St. 
 Paul, "O death, where is thy victory? death, 
 where is thy sting ?".^ must we not say that this 
 is one of the effects of the agony of Jesus Christ ? 
 
 Finally, "nowhere," says St. Ambrose,^ ''does 
 the love and majesty of Jesus cause more admira- 
 tion in me than in this sadness, in this agony. It 
 was not enough for Him to assume my nature, He 
 also assumed my feelings and my sensations. He 
 who had no reason to be sad for Himself, wished 
 to feel my sadness." And so it is. In assuming 
 those sufferings of the soul, the Saviour thought 
 of us. He foresaw all the mental sufferings that 
 would be ours, and mental anguish is the greatest 
 and most painful of all. He saw mothers mourn- 
 ing over the disobedience and bad behavior of their 
 children; fathers who know not whence to obtain 
 the daily bread for their families ; the sick utterly 
 discouraged and afflicted, and those unhappy souls 
 who have been despoiled by calumny of their rep- 
 utation. 
 
 Then there are the young who are about to lose 
 courage at the repeated onslaughts of temptation. 
 All ye disconsolate souls, be consoled at the sight 
 of the Redeemer, sad unto death, and reflect that, 
 by His bloody sweat, He has gained for you the 
 grace to support the sufferings of your souls with 
 
 1 1. Cor., XV., 55. 
 
 2Ainbr. Exp. s. Luc. 1. 10. 56. 
 
22 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 patience and with merit. How many a great sin- 
 ner has felt himself relieved when, frightened by 
 the great number of his sins and tortured by re- 
 morse, he in spirit plunged himself into the depths 
 of that Heart which was so cruelly frightened and 
 tortured by those very sins; when he united his 
 well deserved mental sufferings with the sorrow of 
 the Saviour and offered them to God in a spirit of 
 penance. Then the star of hope began to shine 
 upon this sinner on the brink of despair. It was 
 the first step to his conversion. Let us, then, have 
 courage and confidence whenever sadness comes to 
 us. 
 
 Especially when the last hour approaches and 
 the agony of death seizes upon us, let us remember 
 the Saviour sad unto death, so that in our death- 
 struggle we may, like the saints, be strengthened 
 and comforted at the thought of the death-struggle 
 of Christ. But that will happen only if, while we 
 still have health, we meditate often and piously 
 upon the agony of Christ and impress his sorrows 
 deeply upon our hearts. Otherwise, at the moment 
 of death, we shall think of every thing else but of 
 our divine model. The principal fruit, then, of 
 this consideration ought to be the firm resolve 
 often to reflect, with the grace of God, on the 
 agony of Jesus Christ, especially in the season of 
 Lent and on the Fridays throughout the year. It 
 would also be very salutary, if the occasion should 
 offer, to become affiliated to a confraternity having 
 that object and to assist devoutly at its meetings 
 and devotions. 
 
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AGONY 23 
 
 In conclusion, let us repeat the prayer which 
 Holy Church says at the bedside of the dying. 
 '*0 Lord Jesus Christ, through Thy holy agony 
 and Thy prayer which Thou hast offered for us 
 upon the Mount of Olives, when Thy sweat, as 
 drops of blood, trickled down upon the ground, 
 vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, to present and to offer 
 to God, the Father Almighty, against the mul- 
 titude of all our sins, the abundance of Thy bloody 
 sweat, which Thou hast copiously shed for us in 
 fear and trembling, and to deliver us in the hour 
 of our death from all the pains and anguish 
 which, we fear, we have merited for our sins. 
 Who livest and reignest with the Father and the 
 Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PRAYER OF CHRIST EST THE GARDEN OF OLIVES 
 
 " My father, if it be possible, let 
 this chalice pass from me. Neverthe- 
 less not as I Avill, but as Thou wilt." 
 St. Math., xxvi., 39. 
 
 The sensations of sadness, of fear and of re- 
 pugnance to suffering and death, which Our Sav- 
 iour had freely admitted, gradually developed into 
 a real death-agony. The gospel further narrates ^ 
 that during these sufferings of soul, Christ lay 
 prone on the ground, flat upon His face. This 
 prayer, however, as we shall hereafter more closely 
 observe, was interrupted twice by His going to His 
 apostles. The sum and substance of the thrice of- 
 fered prayer was, ''My Father, if it be possible, let 
 this chalice pass from Me. Nevertheless not as I 
 will, but as Thou wilt." After Jesus had offered 
 this prayer for the third time, an angel appeared 
 to submit to Him the will of the Father and to en- 
 courage Him to overcome His fear of death. Af- 
 ter that, He no more returned to the three apostles, 
 but He persevered in prayer ; as St. Luke narrates. 
 He prayed the longer. Meantime He wrestled 
 
 iSt. Mathew, xvi, 39-46; St. Mark, xiv., 35-42; St. 
 Luke, xxii., 41-43. 
 
 24 
 
THE PRAYER IN THE GARDEN 25 
 
 with death in such an effort that He sweat blood. 
 Holy writ has not made known to us the burden of 
 this last, longer prayer. But assuredly, after be- 
 ing strengthened by the angel. He no longer 
 prayed that the chalice might pass from Him, He 
 rather prayed,' ' Father, Thy will be done. ' ' When 
 the struggle in which He overcame the agony was 
 over. He returned to the three disciples. When 
 he found them again sleeping. He said to them in 
 mournful grief, if all my admonitions avail 
 naught, do as you deem best, ** Sleep ye now and 
 take your rest." But as just then the clash of 
 weapons resounded, He added, *'It is enough. 
 Rise up." In these words. He summoned the three 
 disciples to rise and go with Him to meet the 
 enemy. ^ Frightened by the noise of the soldiers, 
 the eight other apostles ran as quickly as possible 
 towards the Saviour, but whether they arrived soon 
 enough to witness the kiss of Judas cannot be de- 
 termined with certainty. 
 
 We shall now fix our eyes upon the praying 
 Saviour. That He prayed is certainly nothing 
 novel, for the gospel teaches us that He prayed 
 during his whole life. But as by His prayers in 
 the house of Nazareth and during His public career 
 He wished to show us how we should sanctify our 
 youth and the duties of our state of life by prayer, 
 just so, by His prayer in the Garden of Olives, He 
 would be our model in the hour of suffering and 
 at the hour of death. The thrice repeated prayer 
 
 iNote 2. 
 
26 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 of the Redeemer is, indeed, very instructive, if we 
 consider 
 
 I. The circumstances, 
 II. The qualities and 
 III. The effects of this prayer. 
 
 The first circumstance which makes the prayer 
 of Christ instructive is that He prayed at a time 
 of extreme sadness, in other words, while He was 
 in a frame of mind in which thousands of others 
 would say, I cannot pray. It is indeed most un- 
 fortunate that Ave neglect prayer in times of 
 trouble, vexation, sadness and other depressions of 
 the soul. Many, even, neglect their praters when 
 they are somewhat out of sorts or in bad humor. 
 And still prayer is never so necessary as in times 
 of depression. For it is in just such moments 
 that the evil enemy attacks us with his temptations 
 and that our natural resources are weak to resist 
 them. And if we then seek not help from above in 
 earnest prayer, we yield to temptation. Then fol- 
 low complaints against God's Providence, curses 
 and blasphemies. Some drown their grief in 
 dram shops, others seek solace in the impure 
 lusts of the flesh. And is it not a fact that many 
 a one, urged on by discouragement and despair, 
 has sought to put an end to a miserable existence 
 by committing suicide? We should, then, follow 
 the example of our divine Saviour, who being sad 
 unto death, prayed three times over to the Father. 
 "We should say to ourselves, Christ could pray in 
 
THE PRAYER IX THE GARDEN 27 
 
 all the anguish of His soul, consequently we can 
 do it also. Then we shall experience what the 
 Psalmist ^ says of himself, ' ' My soul refused to be 
 comforted. I remembered God and was de- 
 lighted." 
 
 Christ prayed while His friends slept. It may 
 happen that, in the midst of woe, we are entirely 
 deserted. And if it happen not in life, it will 
 certainly happen at the moment of death, when, 
 all alone, we must face the tribunal of God. Then 
 nothing remains for us but to pray and to remem- 
 ber that ''Our help is in the name of the Lord." ^ 
 Christ prayed while His disciples slept. We must 
 also pray when among the sleeping, that is, 
 when we must needs be among luke-warm and 
 slothful Christians, in order, on the one hand, not 
 to become affected by their example, and, on the 
 other, to arouse them by the cry of our prayer 
 from their dangerous sloth. So in a family, a 
 single member who knows how to pray well, is 
 often the greatest blessing to the rest. But if 
 those must pray who are among the sleeping, how 
 much more those who are among the dead, i. e., 
 among sinners, and who must associate all day 
 long with people whose hearts are full of malice 
 and whose tongues are full of impurity. 
 
 Finally, Christ prayed while His enemies were 
 banding together to take Him prisoner and to 
 deliver Him to the most shameful death. In this 
 
 1 Psalms, Ixxvi., 3, 4. 
 zPsalmSj cxxiii,, 8. 
 
28 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 circumstance we are shown the weapon to be used 
 when the same Christ, either in His Bride, the 
 Catholic Church, or in us, His brethren and mem- 
 bers, is attacked by the dark powers of this world. 
 This weapon is none other than prayer. When 
 Peter incontinently wielded the sword, Christ re- 
 proved him and commanded him to sheathe it. 
 Armed with prayer alone, joined to the patient 
 bearing of trials, may we meet our enemies. The 
 first Christians understood well the example and 
 the teaching of their Master. We find them, 
 therefore, joined together in prayer in order to 
 obtain the freedom of the first Pope held in bond- 
 age. And thus it happened in all succeeding cen- 
 turies, whenever the tragedy of the garden of 
 Olives was repeated in Holy Church. Hence, we 
 also, in these troublous times, should use trust- 
 ingly the weapon of prayer and confidently hope 
 that the liberation of Holy Mother Church may 
 be brought about by Him who directs the hearts 
 of kings as He wills and who, besides, has the 
 power to cast down and lay low the wicked as He 
 would the vessel of the potter. 
 
 The thrice offered prayer of Christ is, therefore, 
 instructive when we consider its circumstances, 
 but it is just as instructive when we consider its 
 qualities. 
 
 II. 
 
 The prayer of the Saviour unfolds to us the 
 consoling truth that we are allowed to pray with 
 our whole soul for the removal of temporal suf- 
 
THE PRAYER IN THE GARDEN 29 
 
 ferings. But that our prayer may have a claim 
 to a hearing, it must have the qualities of the 
 prayer of Christ. 
 
 In the first place, Christ, whilst praying, 
 showed the greatest outward respect. *'He knelt 
 down and fell upon His face." This indeed must 
 silence all those who are so prompt and decided 
 in condemning all external manifestations of in- 
 terior devotion. For if ever any man could deem 
 himself dispensed from external marks of rever- 
 ence, it was certainly the God-Man whose Most 
 Holy Body, by virtue of its intimate union with 
 the second Person of the Godhead, had been raised 
 to such an immense dignity. But if, nevertheless, 
 the Most Sacred Body of Christ lay, as he prayed, 
 prostrate upon the ground and if the Saviour did 
 not dare to raise His countenance toward heaven, 
 what awe should not appear in the body of 
 the sinner, who, laden not with the sins of others 
 but with his own, approaches God in prayer. I 
 do not wish to champion the cause of exaggera- 
 tion and of affectation. When we pray, however, 
 our interior respect must show itself externally. 
 The Saviour at prayer teaches us this. Is it not 
 remarkable that there should be Christian men 
 who are ashamed to bend the knee to God Al- 
 mighty and who believe that their dignity would 
 be compromised were they to kneel before Him 
 who is their Creator and their eternal Judge? 
 But those who, in the house of God, give scandal 
 to others by silly and impertinent behavior can 
 only be people of thoughtless brains or of de- 
 
30 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 praved morals. They are proud spirits, slaves of 
 human respect. "When we are about to pray, we 
 should, then, be recollected and remember who we 
 are and who He is with whom we are to con- 
 verse. 
 
 Let us observe, furthermore, that childlike con- 
 fidence in which the Redeemer gives expression in 
 the words, "My Father." Although visited by 
 God with such terrible afiflictions. He calls Him His 
 father. How differently we act! When, to pun- 
 ish us for sin, to furnish us with an opportunity 
 of doing penance or of gaining merit for heaven, 
 God visits us in affliction, the word "Father" falls 
 from our lips only by means of a great effort, 
 because, in our inmost heart, we are tempted to 
 consider God, not as a father, but rather as a cruel 
 master or a tyrant. And still, let us rest assured, 
 we can hardly show God greater reverence than 
 by confidently addressing Him by the sweet name 
 of father, in the hour of affliction. 
 
 We should further learn from Christ to per- 
 severe in prayer. Christ prayed, but heaven re- 
 mained closed. He prayed the second and the 
 third time and, as the evangelist says, it was al- 
 ways the same prayer. Hence we must also pray 
 with perseverance ; if we would be heard, we must 
 not grow weak or weary in repeating to God the 
 same petition. How great must have been the an- 
 guish of soul of the Redeemer! With the 
 most intense desire He had yearned for the cup 
 of suffering. And now, when it is offered Him, 
 He repeatedly begs that it may pass from Him. 
 
THE PRAYEU IN THE GARDEN 31 
 
 We ought, finaUy, to admire the perfect resig- 
 nation of the Redeemer to the divine wiU. *'If it 
 be possible. Nevertheless not as I will, but as 
 Thou wilt." And let us here consider what tor- 
 tures and sorrows were contained in the chalice 
 to be drained by the Redeemer, and we shall, as a 
 consequence, show more patience and more resig- 
 nation to God's Holy Will in our much lighter 
 trials. 
 
 Lastly, the thrice offered prayer of Christ in the 
 Garden of Olives is instructive if we consider its 
 effects. 
 
 III. 
 
 The first effect of the prayer of Christ is de- 
 scribed in the following words of the Gospel: 
 *'And there appeared to him an Angel from 
 Heaven strengthening him."^ This angel, ac- 
 cording to some interpreters, was St. Gabriel, ac- 
 cording to others, St. IMichael, the former being 
 the angel of the Incarnation, the latter the van- 
 quisher of the fallen spirits. The King, then, of 
 the Holy angels. He who is Divine Power itself, 
 the Consoler of hearts, is strengthened and con- 
 soled by an angel ! It is, indeed, wonderful ! We 
 can understand how, at the birth of Christ, the 
 angels descended with joy to intone the first gloria 
 in honor of their Lord. We can understand also 
 how, later on, after the Saviour had fasted forty 
 days and forty nights, the same angels came and 
 ministered unto Him. But that an angel should 
 
 1 St. Luke, xxii., 43. 
 
32 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 approacli his Creator in the quality of a con- 
 soler, is strange to the last degree. Still, God had 
 so willed it, and Christ, with an humble heart, 
 took from one of His creatures that comfort which 
 He might have had from and of Himself. Is this 
 not a touching and an attractive scene? Does 
 not such humility render the Lord infinitely lova- 
 ble and dear to us? From this occurrence we 
 learn, furthermore, that in our trials we can ex- 
 pect efficacious help from heaven above. It is 
 worthy of note also that Almighty God could not 
 in a more beautiful and impressive way show us 
 what confidence we ought to place in the holy 
 angels. 
 
 We now arrive at the query as to what the 
 comfort given to Christ by the angel really con- 
 sisted in. Did it consist in the removal of the 
 chalice of suffering, as it did in the case of Abra- 
 ham, when the angel commanded him to sheathe 
 the sword raised over Isaac? Certainly not. The 
 chalice, which, because He so willed it, contained 
 nothing but bitterness for Him, was shown to the 
 Saviour by the angel from another point of view 
 and in a more favorable light so that it lost all 
 that was abhorrent and repulsive and appeared 
 as something desirable and precious. Above all, 
 he showed Christ the will of the heavenly Father 
 engraven upon the cup, and he reminded Him of 
 His own words, "My meat is to do the will of 
 him that sent me. ' ' ^ Then he showed Him the 
 
 iSt. John, iv., 34. 
 
THE PRAYER IN THE GARDEN 33 
 
 glory of the holy Cross, how from His death there 
 should accrue to the heavenly Father in finitely 
 more honor and glory than from the united 
 praises of all creatures. Then, again, he let pass 
 before His mental vision all the millions of men 
 who would be irretrievably lost if He persisted in 
 His request and all the millions of souls who were 
 awaiting in limbo the hour of redemption. He 
 further represented to the Redeemer His passion 
 as the foundation of His own glory and pointed 
 out how, for all eternity, thanks would arise to 
 Him as to the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. 
 By means of these and similar thoughts the angel 
 worked upon the will of the Lord in order to de- 
 termine Him to accept the cup of suffering. And 
 what a mighty result he achieved! Before this 
 the Saviour quaked and trembled at the sight 
 of impending woe; now he combats this fear of 
 death with such efforts that the bloody sweat 
 flows from His pores. Before this He prayed, 
 howbeit with resignation, that the chalice might 
 pass from Him ; now He prays for this alone, that 
 the will of God be done. Before this, He repeat- 
 edly interrupted His prayer, now this prayer is 
 continuous, and His soul is entirely immersed in 
 God. Before this. He sought solace with His dis- 
 ciples, and now He tells them, "Rise up, let us 
 go," and courageously He goes to meet the enemy. 
 That was the first effect of the prayer of Jesus 
 Christ in the Garden of Olives. 
 
 From these last considerations three important 
 truths are brought to our knowledge. Just as cer- 
 
34 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 tain as it is that the prayer which we address to 
 heaven, in imitation of the Saviour, shall be heard, 
 just so certain is it that this will not always hap- 
 pen in the manner which we desire. But if Al- 
 mighty God, instead of removing the bitter cup, 
 gives us the strength to support our trials or even 
 greater ones with patience, even with joy, should 
 we not be grateful to Him throughout all eternity ? 
 Again, we should become accustomed to consider 
 the cup we must drain from another point of 
 view and in a more favorable light. We should 
 also see engraven upon it the will of our heavenly 
 Father. We should not forget that God's honor 
 and our glory are increased by patient suffering, 
 and then all our murmuring and complaining will 
 cease. Finally, Christ made the most powerful ef- 
 fort to accomplish the will of His heavenly Father 
 in a matter which was so difficult that it caused Him 
 to sweat blood. We ought, therefore, to be ashamed 
 of our sloth and our cowardice which cause us, at 
 the least difficulty, to cease our struggle against 
 evil and to destroy God's commandments. And 
 surely, we have never yet resisted evil to the shed- 
 ding of blood. 
 
 The second effect of the prayer of Christ is 
 described in the following words of St. Leo : ^ 
 " This word of the Head, ' Thy will be done,' 
 hath brought weal to the whole body. The word 
 hath enflamed all confessors, hath crowned all mar- 
 tyrs. For who would have victoriously overcome 
 
 1 Serm. 2 de Pass., c. 5. 
 
THE PRAYER IN THE GAILDEX 35 
 
 the hatred of the world, the storms of temptations 
 and the fearful tortures of the persecutors, if 
 Christ had not, in the Garden of Olives, suffered 
 in all and for all, if He had not said in all and in 
 the name of all, 'Thy will be done?' " 
 
 In all our tribulations, we should, therefore, pray 
 with the Saviour: " Father, if it be possible, let 
 this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as 
 I will, but as thou wilt/' Especially should it be 
 our prayer on our death-bed, when mortal agony 
 approaches to seize upon us. It is true, our heav- 
 enly Father is not likely to send us an angel from 
 heaven in visible shape. But Christ, the King of 
 all angels, the Son of God Himself, will come to 
 us under the sacramental appearances. Even 
 more, He will enter our hearts to strengthen us 
 in our agony and mortal combat and to lead us 
 happily from time into eternity. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE REPEATED APPEALS OF CHRIST TO HIS APOSTLES 
 
 " And he cometh, and findeth them 
 sleeping. And he said to Peter: Si- 
 mon, sleepest thou? couldst thou not 
 watch one hour ? Watch ye and pray 
 that ye enter not into temptation." 
 St. Mark., xiv., 37, 38. 
 
 Christ prayed during the sufferings of soul 
 which He had of His own free choice taken upon 
 Himself. The more violent they became, the more 
 also did He strive to overcome His fear, and the 
 more perseveringly and devoutly did He pray. 
 All this was for our instruction. In order to 
 control our inordinate passions, we must strive 
 and pray. By our own strength alone we can- 
 not obtain the victory; we must secure for our- 
 selves God's help by means of prayer. Again, the 
 grace of God alone will not bring us success; we 
 must, on our part, co-operate with grace. Our 
 efforts and our prayers must grow in earnestness 
 and perseverance proportionately as passion in- 
 creases in force. 
 
 The evangelists St. Matthew (xxvi., 40-44), St. 
 Mark (xiv., 37-41) and St. Luke (xxii., 45, 46) 
 state that Christ not only interrupted His prayer 
 several times, but that He even left the place 
 
 36 
 
THE APPEALS TO THE APOSTLES 37 
 
 where He was praying and went to His disciples; 
 which is indeed astonishing. It might appear that, 
 as He was preparing for death, He would, to give 
 us an example, devote no further thought to the 
 world, but occupy Himself solely with God. Let 
 us therefore consider 
 
 I. The reasons of the repeated visits of Christ 
 
 to His apostles and 
 II. The words which He spoke to them. 
 
 I. 
 
 There were two reasons which determined the 
 Saviour to interrupt His prayer and seek His 
 disciples. The first reason was the desire to find 
 some consolation in His sadness. In fact, experi- 
 ence teaches that the fire of mental grief is intensi- 
 fied by being confined to its own hearth. It has 
 drawn many into melancholy and even into despair. 
 It is also universally acknowledged that nothing 
 relieves the heavy heart or consoles the sad soul 
 as much as the imparting of one's grief to a true 
 friend. It was, then, not only weakness freely ad- 
 mitted, but also the intention of instructing us 
 which led Christ to His disciples that He might 
 unbosom His grief to them. It must, therefore, 
 be allowable to appeal to others for the purpose of 
 finding solace and encouragement in grief, sadness 
 and mental anguish. But in so doing, we must ob- 
 serve three rules. 
 
 What should be the nature of our complaints? 
 This we may gather from the words addressed by 
 the Redeemer to His disciples before leaving them 
 
38 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 to pray: ''My soul is sad unto death." Here we 
 have the model of a legitimate complaint. It con- 
 tains nothing but the recital of fact in as far as 
 it concerned the Saviour. Yet certainly Christ 
 had cause to speak harshly against those who were 
 preparing to do Him the greatest of all wrongs 
 and to rob Him, the Innocent, of life. As op- 
 posed to His plaint, the plaints of men are, at 
 times, naught else but explosions of anger, slander 
 and calumnies. 
 
 Moreover, Christ does not unfold His sorrows to 
 the first comer, nor even to all of His apostles. 
 Only three were permitted to share His grief. 
 We also, in communicating the burdens of our 
 heart, should use great circumspection. It would, 
 for example, be not only foolish, but sinful also, 
 for a wife and a mother to reveal her family trou- 
 bles to all her neighbors, because very often the 
 honor of her husband and children would thereby 
 be damaged to a great extent. 
 
 Finally, Christ does not complain solely to His 
 apostles, but He addresses Himself chiefly to His 
 heavenly Father. Too often in sadness and afflic- 
 tion we forget God entirely and seek solace and 
 support from men alone. 
 
 But while it is allowable and profitable thus to 
 share with faithful friends our afflictions, it be- 
 comes almost necessary when they arise from an- 
 noying temptations. In this case, however, they 
 ought to be communicated to one of the apostles 
 only or to one of their successors. In case it ap- 
 pear difficult or humiliating to reveal to another 
 
THE APPEALS TO THE APOSTLES 
 
 39 
 
 such shameful temptations, one should consider the 
 well nigh inconceivable humiliation undergone by 
 Christ In looking for consolation and comfort to 
 His disciples. Does not the Redeemer, in fact, re- 
 semble a general, who, after having spurred on 
 his troops for vears to deeds of valor, gives way 
 now to mortal fear at the sight of the enemy and 
 feels constrained to beg for comfort and encour- 
 agement from his subalterns? Do not say that it 
 will be useless anyway to tell this or that to your 
 confessor. It may be that from his own resources 
 the confessor can help you just as little as the 
 apostles helped the Lord. But if, accordmg to 
 the Saviour's example, you humble yourself before 
 your fellow-man and give yourself to earnest 
 prayer, then God will help you even, if needs be, 
 by sending you an angel from heaven to encour- 
 age you in the combat and to comfort you. 
 
 °The second reason which urged the Lord to in- 
 terrupt His prayer and seek His disciples, was 
 His love for them. If the expression be permissi- 
 ble, it was the anxiety lest harm had befallen them, 
 it was the desire to ascertain what they were do- 
 ing and how they were faring. We know, of a 
 certainty, that for three whole years Christ had 
 cared for His disciples, had watched over them 
 and protected them as much as any loving mother 
 would her only child. But there are two circum- 
 stances which reveal to us in the clearest light the 
 love of His heart for His apostles. 
 
 The first is that Christ thought of them, was 
 anxious about them, when He lay in the agony 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 of death. He was anxious about them while in 
 a condition in which we, yielding to pain, would 
 think only of ourselves and in which we certainly 
 would refuse to think of any one else. Not only 
 in the heat of fever but often also in slight mala- 
 dies, we care nothing for our best friends and are 
 short and indifferent in our manner toward them. 
 Secondly, Christ thought of His disciples and 
 was anxious about them in an hour when their be- 
 havior made them unworthy of His love. For 
 three years. He had done so much for them. They 
 had on former occasions often been ungrateful for 
 His devotion; but now they add thereunto this 
 ingratitude that, while their Divine Master is 
 plunged in sadness and in the agony of death, 
 they, lacking in courage and wanting in sympathy, 
 fall asleep. What a contrast between these sleep- 
 ing disciples and friends of Jesus and the wide- 
 awake enemies! Judas is awake to betray Christ; 
 Caiphas and the high priests are awake to con- 
 demn Him; the menials and soldiers are awake to 
 bind, scourge and crucify Him: but the disciples 
 are asleep. How that must have saddened our 
 Saviour's heart! What Christ experienced then, 
 His Bride, the Church, experiences now. She is 
 downcast and sad even unto death. An armed 
 rabble threatens to deal her the death blow at any 
 moment. And mighty governments who call them- 
 selves Christian and who even glory in the title 
 of Catholic look on without emotion and draw 
 around themselves more closely the heartless cloak 
 of neutrality and non-intervention. The satellites 
 
THE APPEALS TO THE APOSTLES 41 
 
 of Satan develop a feverish, restless activity to 
 annihilate Christianity and to wipe it from the face 
 of the earthy and thousands of Catholic men stand 
 by and will not move a hand to defend the good 
 cause and the interests of Holy Mother Church. 
 
 By His appeal to the apostles under the circum- 
 stances which we have noted, the Saviour teaches 
 all superiors and Christian parents in particular 
 three important lessons. Nothing can dispense you, 
 Christian parents, from the duty of watching over 
 your children and giving heed that no harm befall 
 their immortal souls; nothing, I repeat; neither 
 sorrow nor affliction, nor any cross of suffering, 
 not even, I might say, approaching death; much 
 less work and business, much less still, lassitude 
 or fatigue, and least of all love of ease and com- 
 fort. Think of this, Christian parents, when, re- 
 turning tired from your work in the evening you 
 would seek repose, though your older children still 
 require your vigilant care. Nothing dispenses you 
 from this vigilance, not even the ingratitude with 
 which the children repay your love, nor their dull- 
 ness of intellect, nor their insubordination, nor 
 their disobedience, nor their indifference to your 
 adverse fortunes. You may, therefore, never say: 
 our children do not heed our commands and our 
 wishes; let them go and do as they please. It is 
 true that if grown children are guilty of continued 
 insubordination or of scandalous conduct, parents 
 have the right to cast them adrift, but as long as 
 they tolerate them at home, they are in duty bound 
 to watch over their conduct and morals and to 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE PASSION" 
 
 see that they perform their religious duties. 
 Learn, lastly, from the Saviour to unite vigilance 
 with prayer. It would be wrong to be so engrossed 
 with the care of your children, that thereby you 
 would neglect to pray for yourselves and for them. 
 On the other hand, it would also be wrong and it 
 would denote a counterfeit sort of piety were you 
 to increase your practices of devotion in such a 
 manner as to relegate to the background the duties 
 of watching over your children and of admonish- 
 ing and instructing them. You must do the one 
 and not neglect the other. Christ shows you how 
 you can and must do both. Let us now listen to 
 the words which Christ spoke to His apostles. 
 
 IL 
 
 It was with no little grief that Christ found 
 the three apostles in sound slumber. It altered his 
 purpose of confiding in them, and He spoke to 
 them merely a word of reproach and a word of 
 admonition. In the language of the evangelists 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark, the word of reproach 
 was : ' ' Simon, sleepest thou ? Could you not watch 
 one hour with me?" This reproach deserves our 
 attention for several reasons. 
 
 In the first place it was a just reproach. Before 
 Christ entered the garden of Olives, He had told 
 the apostles in express words that now the hour 
 of temptation had arrived, that now there was 
 danger that they leave Him and deny the faith. 
 Again, later, He gave to the three the distinct 
 command to watch and pray during His absence 
 
THE APPEALS TO THE APOSTLES 43 
 
 in order to overcome by these means the impend- 
 ing temptation. They did neither the one nor the 
 other. They slept. They knew themselves that 
 they deserved the reproach, for they had no excuse 
 to offer. "And they knew not what to answer 
 Him/' says Holy Writ.^ And what could they 
 answer to justify themselves? When they were 
 fishing, they could watch the whole night. *' Mas- 
 ter, we have labored the whole night. ' ' ^ But now, 
 still early in the evening, after being refreshed by 
 supper, they fall asleep. When the boat was about 
 to sink and their life was in danger, they knew 
 how to pray, ' ' Lord save us, we perish. ' ' ^ But 
 now, when their souls are in danger, they do not 
 feel inclined to pray. However, we should not be 
 too severe with the apostles; many Christians are 
 far more reprehensible. They spend entire nights, 
 not merely in work and affairs of business, but in 
 dangerous pleasures and amusements, in the sat- 
 isfaction of sensual lusts, in fact in anything which 
 leads to hell. But at evening prayers or during 
 the sermon, they are asleep. They sleep at home 
 even on Sundays when they ought to be at mass. 
 In afflictions and trials, in impending peril, hands 
 are raised high to heaven; in temptation, when 
 prayer is most necessary, prayer is omitted. 
 
 The reproach expressed by the Saviour was 
 just also, inasmuch as he who deserved it most, 
 received the greatest share of it. Certainly that 
 
 1 St. Mark, xiv., 40. 
 
 2 St. Luke, v., 5. 
 
 3 St. Matthew, viii., 25. 
 
44 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 was Peter. He was destined by the Saviour to 
 be the head of the others. He had also made 
 greater promises. For that reason, Christ first 
 said to Peter alone what He thereafter said to 
 all: ''Simon, sleepest thou?" How this word 
 must have penetrated the heart of the apostle! 
 How it must have spread confusion over his coun- 
 tenance! Once, when Christ had appointed him 
 to be the guardian of the apostolic college. He 
 changed his name from Simon to Peter. Now He 
 addressed him by his former name as though He 
 would say: If you cannot exercise vigilance over 
 yourself and your brethren, you are not worthy 
 of the name of Peter. Woe, then, to all spiritual 
 and temporal rulers, to all masters, woe to all 
 parents especially, who, through lack of vigilance 
 and of earnest prayer, are the cause of thousands 
 and thousands of sins committed by their children 
 and by their subordinates! 
 
 Secondly, the reproach of our Saviour was ex- 
 tremely mild. In the few words, earnest though 
 they were, which He addressed to them, there was 
 no trace of anger or of undue excitement. On 
 the contrarj^ He recognized their good will. "The 
 spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 
 He knew that their fault was the result of weak- 
 ness, not of malice nor of grievously culpable neg- 
 ligence. The gospel tells us that sadness caused 
 them to fall asleep. On that account, the Lord 
 used a different language and spoke in a different 
 tone to the hardened pharisees, and on the traf- 
 fickers in the temple He used a scourge. 
 
THE APPEALS TO THE APOSTLES 45 
 
 Thirdly, Christ reprimanded the apostles with 
 prudent moderation. When at His second ap- 
 proach He found them again asleep, for which 
 they surely deserved a sharper rebuke, He re- 
 frained from reproving them at all, for He saw 
 that in that moment they were not susceptible of 
 correction. 
 
 When our calling requires us to reprimand oth- 
 ers, we should learn from the Saviour to punish 
 with justice and with mildness, especially when the 
 delinquent shows a good will. It is unreasonable 
 and foolish when parents, for trivial faults, con- 
 tinually scold well-intentioned children; it is de- 
 moralizing and sinful to overwhelm them with a 
 flood of injurious epithets. Neither should we 
 punish when we have reason to fear that the culprit 
 will not take the punishment in good part and 
 that he is not susceptible of reproof. It is more 
 advisable then to postpone the correction to some 
 future time in order that there be not more harm 
 done than good. In imitation of the apostles we 
 should, when receiving the correction of superiors, 
 preserve humble silence. We must not deceive 
 ourselves; we must acknowledge our faults and 
 refrain from all frivolous excuses. 
 
 The reprimand of the Saviour was followed by 
 a word of admonition. It was the same advice He 
 had given them before He had retired to pray. 
 "Watch ye and pray that ye enter not into temp- 
 tation;"^ or translated more literally, ''that ye 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvi., 38; St. Mark, xiv.. Si; St. Luke, 
 xxii., 40. 
 
46 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 walk not too willingly into temptation," and be- 
 come caught and entangled therein as birds in a 
 net. This is not the place to expound elaborately 
 the necessity of vigilance and of prayer. I only 
 call attention to the fact that the words given 
 above are the last admonition of the Saviour to 
 His apostles. We may, then, be convinced that 
 these parting words contain the best and the most 
 useful advice which Christ could give His apostles 
 for their eternal salvation. They must be the sum- 
 mary of all that the apostles had to observe in 
 order to avoid sin and to save their souls. And 
 they understood their Master and kept His word. 
 It was not by spreading admiration over the en- 
 tire world as teachers, nor by working signs and 
 wonders, nor by revealing the future, but it was 
 by watching and praying throughout their lives 
 that they became saints, saints of heaven. 
 
 These apostles to whom the Redeemer, in part- 
 ing, so earnestly recommended vigilance and 
 prayer, were simple, ordinary men. They had for 
 three years lived, remote from the world and its 
 dangers, in the immediate presence of their divine 
 model and instructor. Hence they had an ardent 
 love for Him. How can we, then, enter heaven 
 without vigilance and prayer, we who are so luke- 
 warm and cold in the love of Christ? How, with- 
 out vigilance and prayer, can they, above all, hope 
 for perseverance in grace and for eternal salva- 
 tion, who live in the midst of the dangers and 
 scandals of a godless and immoral world? We 
 should, therefore, consider the last admonition of 
 
THE APPEALS TO THE APOSTLES 47 
 
 Christ as addressed to ourselves, impress it deeply 
 upon our hearts and shape our lives in accordance 
 with it. Then we shall also receive the crown of 
 eternal glory which is at the same time the reward 
 of combat and the gift of grace. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE TREASON OF JUDAS 
 
 " And forthwith coming to Jesus, he 
 said: Hail, Rabbi. And he kissed 
 Him. And Jesus said to him: 
 Friend, whereto art thou come ? '* 
 
 (St. Matthew, xxvi., 49-50.) 
 
 While Christ was speaking to His apostles, be- 
 hold, Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, came and 
 with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, 
 with lanterns and torches, sent from the high- 
 priests and ancients of the people. The high- 
 priests who played a leading role in the history of 
 the Saviour's passion, appear now for the first 
 time. In reality, there were not several high- 
 priests in actual office at the same time, but several 
 who were out of office after their removal still 
 retained the honorary title. For, after the Roman 
 occupancy of Palestine, the governors, whose 
 avarice exceeded all bounds, made of the appoint- 
 ment to the office of high-priest a source of rev- 
 enue, or at least, in their political wisdom, they 
 sought to degrade the high-priest to the level of a 
 tool in the hands of pagan statecraft. Hence, at 
 times for political reasons, at times as a favor to 
 the highest bidder, the incumbents of this office 
 
 48 
 
THE TREASON OF JUDAS 49 
 
 were often changed. The old custom of keeping 
 the high-priest in office until death had ceased. 
 The title of high-priest was also applied to those 
 who were descendants of the first-born of Aaron 
 and to the chief -priests of the different subdivisions 
 of the entire numerous priesthood. Holy Writ 
 says of Caiphas alone that he was the high-priest 
 of that year. 
 
 The soldiers sent by the high-priests had no other 
 intent than that of taking Christ captive. But the 
 one who had prepared the whole matter was the 
 Apostle Judas, surnamed Iscariot. The treason of 
 this unfortunate man will be the subject of this 
 consideration.^ 
 
 Let us consider the betrayal 
 
 I. In the events which led up to it, 
 II. In its final execution and 
 
 III. In its innermost source. 
 
 On the Wednesday after His triumphal entry 
 into Jerusalem, the Redeemer for the last time 
 denounced the high-priests, the scribes and the 
 Pharisees in the temple for their sins and abuses. 
 He referred them finally to the day of judgment 
 when, from the severity of their own punishment, 
 they should recognize his own grandeur and 
 majesty. With this forceful warning He ended 
 His instruction, and filled with holy wrath, He 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvi., 46-50; St. Mark, xiv., 42-45; St. 
 Liike, xxii., 47, 48; St. John, xviii., 2, 3. 
 4 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 left the temple toward evening. Provoked and 
 extremely angered by His denunciations, the high- 
 priests, scribes and elders of the people met for 
 the second time on the following day to take coun- 
 sel against Him. And first, they approved the 
 resolution taken in a former meeting ^ to remove 
 the Saviour by force. As to the time of executing 
 their plan of putting Him to death, they agreed 
 that it should not be during the festivities of the 
 Passover. Such a course would be too hazardous, 
 as the paschal solemnity brought together many 
 Jews, and among them would be many friends of 
 Christ. These might organize a revolt, the people 
 armed might liberate their victim and thus, for a 
 long time to come, render the execution of their 
 plan impossible. They certainly would rather slay 
 Him before the holidays, but they knew of no 
 scheme by which they might seize Him in secret 
 and by stealth. To their extreme joy, Judas 
 helped them out of the difficulty. 
 
 Judas had for a long time been an apostle in 
 appearance only. He had become heartily tired 
 of apostolic life with its wanderings, its burdens, 
 its vexations and its persecutions. His former 
 love for Christ had grown cokl. In its stead, 
 there arose indifference, then a certain irritability 
 and disgust. The Redeemer's continual praises of 
 poverty had become unbearable to him. Besides, 
 his longing for a well salaried position in the new 
 kingdom of Christ did not appear to be approach- 
 
 1 St. John, xi., 47. 
 
THE TREASON OF JUDAS 51 
 
 ing realization. His feelings were more embittered 
 by the words which the Lord, who read his heart, 
 addressed to all the apostles, after promising the 
 Holy Eucharist: "Have I not chosen you twelve; 
 and one of you is a devil. " ^ He saw that Christ 
 read and knew him. But instead of repenting and 
 being converted, he was offended. The public re- 
 buke, finally, which he received at the banquet 
 when Christ took the part of Magdalene, increased 
 his rancor to the uttermost. On the other hand, it 
 did not escape Judas that a storm was brewing 
 against Christ, and he began to fear that he, as 
 one of His disciples, would also have to bear a part 
 of the brunt of impending persecution. He there- 
 fore resolved to save himself and, by the same 
 move gain both friends and money. He was aware 
 of the council meeting of the high-priests with 
 whom, for some time back, he had entertained se- 
 cret relations and who strove to draw him over to 
 their party by flattery and promises of money. 
 Hence Judas hastened to offer his services to the 
 members of the Council and to shoAV them how, 
 without much disturbance, they might capture the 
 person of the Redeemer. He does not seem, how- 
 ever, to have been without fears as to the outcome 
 of his undertaking, for he takes care to provide 
 himself with an armed body of men, for greater 
 security. To this end he discusses his plans with 
 the temple guard, which was composed of Levites 
 (St. Luke, xxii., 4.) To the members of the Coun- 
 
 iSt. John, vi., 71. 
 
52 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 cil he said, ''What will yoii give me, and I will 
 deliver Him unto you?"^ They offered thirty 
 pieces of silver, and the bargain was closed. But, 
 miserable Judas, is the Lord your property that 
 you may sell Him as j^ou would an animal or a 
 piece of furniture? And if you think Him your 
 property, why do you not ask as His price at least 
 a whole kingdom ? Why are you satisfied with the 
 price of a slave? "The ointment," says St. Am- 
 brose,^ "with which Christ was anointed for His 
 passion, you appreciated at three hundred pieces 
 of silver, but do you deem the Passion itself fully 
 paid for with thirty pieces ? " " However, ' ' answers 
 the same saint,^ "Christ desired to be estimated at 
 such a low price that He might be bought by all 
 and that not even the poorest might be deterred." 
 Wliere is thy self-respect, Judas, and thy pride 
 that thou didst not immediately turn thy back in- 
 dignantly upon the high-priests who offered thee 
 such a pittance to show their contempt for thee? 
 But it is a peculiar fact, that hell always offers the 
 least and that the servants of the devil are satis- 
 fied with the smallest wage. For is it not true 
 that many a Christian sells the Lord for a much 
 smaller sum, for a momentary, shameful pleasure? 
 Judas, having parted with the high priests after 
 many expressions of gratitude, in order to ward 
 off suspicion, again mingled with the apostles and 
 participated in the prescribed supper which took 
 
 1 St. IMatthew, xxvi., 15. 
 2de Spir. S. L 1. c. 18. 
 3 Exp. Evang. sec. Liicam 1. 6, c. 31. 
 
THE TREASOX OF JUDAS 53 
 
 place on Thursday evening. He even permitted 
 the Lord to wash his feet. The discovery he made 
 on this occasion, namely, that Christ was aware 
 of his foul plan, drove him to extremities, and he 
 resolved to betray the Master that very evening. 
 Then, shortly before the institution of the Most 
 Holy Sacrament,^ urged on by infernal powers, 
 he left the hall never again to return to the 
 Saviour. He hurried from house to house and 
 made known his object to the high-priests. 
 *'Now,'' said he, *'or never!" Afterwards there 
 would hardly present itself a better chance for 
 the capture. Above all, there must be obtained 
 a detachment of soldiers from the rightful au- 
 thorities in order to give the whole affair the ap- 
 pearance of legality and to preclude any opposi- 
 tion. That task was assumed by the high-priests. 
 As the Easter festivities were often the occasion 
 of bloody riots, Pilate had, in former years, placed 
 soldiers at their disposition especially to protect 
 the temple. On this occasion he did the same 
 and allowed them one hundred and twenty-five 
 men, according to some interpreters, even three 
 hundred. But as the high-priests had no confi- 
 dence either in the E-omans or in Judas, they or- 
 dered their own servants to accompany the sol- 
 diers, and by mutual consent some of their own 
 number went along as leaders. Magistrates of the 
 temple, also, of whom there were many, were pres- 
 ent. The temple furnished emplojTnent to many 
 
 iNote 3. 
 
54 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 men who resided in adjoining buildings. Some su- 
 pervised the constructions, others the property, 
 others again the sacrifices and the gift offerings. 
 All these men were now hurriedly armed with 
 swords and clubs. The full moon was then shin- 
 ing, it is true. However, to avoid the obstacles 
 of an uneven way and not to be deceived by shad- 
 ows, also the more easily to find the Saviour in 
 case He should hide Himself in the underbrush 
 as Adam did, they took with them torches and 
 closed lanterns. The eternal Light had hidden 
 Itself in Its humanity to such an extent that the 
 powers of darkness needed lanterns to find it. 
 God permitted it in order that a brighter light 
 might be thrown upon the dishonor of Christ's 
 enemies, while they lay prostrate upon the ground. 
 
 After they were furnished all that was needed 
 and were placed in ranks, Judas said to them, 
 ''Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is He." A sign 
 was necessary. The Roman soldiers had, perhaps, 
 never seen Christ or they had never observed Him 
 very closely. Again, in the pale light of the moon, 
 one is easily deceived in the features of a person. 
 Lastly, Judas gives them this advice: *'Lead Him 
 away carefully. ' ' In itself this was certainly very 
 good advice. We may apply it to ourselves. We 
 ought to lead the Lord carefully, who lives in us 
 through His grace, lest He be taken away from 
 us. But in Judas it denoted a blindness beyond 
 all conception. 
 
 Now this rabble, with Judas in the lead, began 
 its march between eleven and twelve o'clock at 
 
THE TRBASOX OF JUDAS 55 
 
 night and wended its way by the nearest route 
 towards the garden of Olives. Since the creation 
 of the world snch an array, snch an infernal band, 
 had never been seen. Even pagan conquerors 
 would never have thought of apprehending a Son 
 of God and of chaining Him to their triumphal 
 chariots. The enacting of such scenes was reserved 
 to Christian powers. Thus it was only recently 
 that an outrageous band of robbers, led secretly 
 by a Judas of their own, approached the Holy 
 City to enchain the Yicar of Christ and to im- 
 prison him in his own house. And the end of 
 the last and the beginning of this century beheld 
 two pontiffs in bondage. 
 
 The God-man and His betrayer were now in 
 each other's presence, for Jesus had gone to meet 
 Judas. A good conscience gives courage. It 
 makes one resolute. The sinner slinks and hides 
 himself. A resolute attack of difficulties and 
 temptations breaks their force and conquers them. 
 It endows man with heroism. Then followed the 
 betrayal. Let us consider its execution. 
 
 II. 
 
 It is probable that satanic malice and divine 
 goodness never approached each other so closeh^ as 
 here. Heaven and hell struggle for the mastery. 
 We have now an opportunity of beholding what 
 an abyss of wickedness may be found in a himian 
 and what an abyss of love in a Di^^ne heart. 
 
 When Judas saw the Saviour, he advanced from 
 before the soldieiy, as if he did not belong to 
 
56 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the mob, and quickly went towards Christ. To 
 approach Christ and do it quickly, is certainly the 
 best thing to be done. Still the promptness of 
 'Judas had something strange and suspicious about 
 it. It seems to me that he received from the 
 Saviour before him another great grace. The 
 apostle perceived the fearful depth of perdition 
 to which he was hastening, he was amazed at the 
 atrocity of his purpose, he shrank for a moment 
 from the execution of his plan. But in order not 
 to have time for reflection, to remove the possi- 
 bility of a change of mind, to quickly stifle all 
 rising qualms of conscience, he approaches Christ 
 quickly, determined to execute his foul deed. Be- 
 hold here the sin against the Holy Ghost, a com- 
 plete hardness of heart, the usual result of blind- 
 ness. Now Judas no longer shrinks from the most 
 abject meanness, from the greatest outrage. Like 
 to Joab, of murderous intent, saluting as brother 
 Amasa, the faithful servant of his King, he says 
 to Jesus, "Hail, Rabbi" and he kisses Him. To 
 salute one means to wish him all that is good. But 
 this salute was the cunning of the wolf approach- 
 ing in sheep's clothing, the cunning of the serpent 
 hiding in the grass, the cunning of the assassin 
 carrying the dagger in his . bosom. Honey is on 
 his lips and gall and wormwood in his heart; a 
 friendly smile is on his face and dark hatred in 
 his soul. He inhales health and life, he emits 
 death and perdition, and he does it under the mask 
 of a devoted disciple. *'Hail, Rabbi." Judas, 
 thy Master never taught thee that! Then this 
 
THE TREASON OF JUDAS 57 
 
 devil incarnate embraced the Lord in treacherous 
 arms and kissed Him. The sign of peace was the 
 declaration of war, the sign of friendship Avas the 
 signal of attack, the sign of love was the signal 
 of rout and murder. Such is also the cunning 
 hypocrisy of an impious world. "0 world," ex- 
 claims St. Augustine, "You traitor! You promise 
 all that is good and you bring only what is bad; 
 you promise pleasure and you offer sorrow; you 
 promise rest and you prepare ruin; you promise 
 to remain and you quickly disappear; you prom- 
 ise life and you give death." 
 
 Who would think ill of us, if, in a similar case, 
 in just indignation and with a cry of horror, we 
 should thrust far from us the traitor approaching 
 to embrace and kiss us; if, in the strongest pos- 
 sible terms, we should upbraid him for his faith- 
 lessness and depravity? But our Divine Saviour 
 not only permitted the kiss. He also returned it. 
 The divine, the most holy mouth touched that ab- 
 ject mouth at which even hell was disgusted. 
 What an incomprehensible mystery ! What an in- 
 comprehensible condescension and humiliation! 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, how couldst Thou allow this ? 
 When Magdalene kissed Thy feet, the pharisee was 
 scandalized and said to himself, "This man, if he 
 were a prophet, would know surely who and what 
 manner of woman this is that toucheth him. ' * ^ 
 Dost Thou not force the high-priests and pharisees 
 who see Judas with his lips to Thine, to judge: 
 
 iSt. Luke, vii., 39. 
 
58 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 ''This man, if he were a prophet, would know 
 surely who and what manner of man this is that 
 toucheth him: that he is a traitor"? Must not 
 even Thy disciples lose confidence in Thee? May 
 not they reproach Thee as Joab reproached David 
 when he deplored the death of his treacherous son 
 Absalom, ''Thou lovest them that hate thee and 
 thou hatest them that love thee ? " ^ For Peter 
 Thou preparest a cross, for John seething oil, for 
 James a sword, but to Judas Thou givest the kiss 
 of Thy mouth! Or dost Thou imagine Thou hast 
 Peter in Thy arms, who desires to go to death with 
 Thee? Or Andrew, who left aU for Thee? Or 
 the disciple who lay upon Thy breast and who 
 now, filled with love, would approach Thy mouth? 
 * ' Judas, ' ' answers the Lord, * * dost thou betray the 
 Son of Man with a kiss?" 
 
 Every one of those words was a wound infliicted 
 to free the soul from the thralls of passion. May 
 every sinner take them to heart. Judas, says the 
 Saviour, thou, my apostle; Judas, whom I have 
 overwhelmed with benefits; Judas, to whom I have 
 given the gift of miracles, and who, in my name, 
 hast cured diseases; Judas, who wast a terror to 
 demons! Indeed, if my enemy had reviled me, I 
 would verily have borne with it.^ But thou my 
 friend, my apostle! Judas, thou hetrayest me! 
 It is not sufficient for thee that thou repayest not 
 my love with thine, no, thou breakest the oath of 
 
 III. Kings, xix., 6, 
 2 Psalms, liv., 13. 
 
THE TREASON OF JLDA8 59 
 
 allegiance which thou hast sworn me; thou art 
 one with my worst enemies, thou hast bargained 
 me off to them for a mere pittance ! With a kiss 
 thou betrayest me! The privilege thou hast of 
 approaching me in familiar intercourse, thou dost 
 abuse in order to deliver me to mine enemies. If 
 thou be my friend, why these swords? And if 
 thou be my enemy, why these kisses? Thou be- 
 trayest the Son of Man, the Son of God, who now 
 shall die for thee, but Whose sign shall appear in 
 the clouds on the day of judgment. 
 
 And then, in order to spread balm upon the 
 wounds inflicted by His words and to revive the 
 courage and confidence of the disciple, with touch- 
 ing gentleness and divine love Jesus finally calls 
 him friend. ^'Friend, whereto art thou come?'* 
 Reflect, Judas, and desist from thy impious un- 
 dertaking. Behold the arms of thy Saviour ex- 
 tended to receive thee; His hands are ready to 
 lead thee back to the right path; His heart is 
 open to pour upon thee all the treasures of mercy. 
 Tell thy Saviour that thou wilt be His friend, 
 that thou art His friend, and thou shalt be His 
 friend. Do not think it difficult, deem it not im- 
 possible. It is difficult to be a friend of the world. 
 It means night-watches and troubles, it means fear 
 and worry, it costs sacrifices of money, of honor, 
 of health, it costs one's immortal soul. But if thou 
 wilt be a friend of Christ, show a single tear of 
 compunction in thine eye, a real sigh of thy heart 
 shall suffice; an humble pulsation in thy breast, 
 
60 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 a word from thy mouth shall be enough. Say with 
 David, * ' I have sinned, ' ' ^ and at the same mo- 
 ment thou shalt be told, *'Thy sins are forgiven 
 thee. "2 
 
 But Judas was more hardened than a rock, and 
 he would not be converted. On the contrary, the 
 loving words of the Saviour, which, according to 
 St. Chrysostom,^ would have pacified the tiger and 
 the leopard, caused the traitor to cast aside his 
 mask and to openly break with Christ. After 
 having given the sign, he did not mingle with 
 the apostles, as he had intended doing, in order 
 to avert suspicion. Consumed by internal anger 
 because Christ knew his heart and reproved him, 
 he openly, before the eyes of his master, goes over 
 to His sworn enemies. Where can a man be found 
 who ever fell from such a height as did unfortu- 
 nate Judas? 
 
 Let us then consider the innermost cause, the 
 source of the sad fall. 
 
 III. 
 
 "What started Judas on the way to ruin and 
 finally made him a traitor was one single, inordi- 
 nate passion not subdued. It was avarice. When 
 he was received into the college of apostles, he 
 was certainly no bad man ; he must have had many 
 good and praiseworthy qualities. Especially must 
 he have been irreproachable in regard to the purity 
 
 1 II. Kings, xii., 13. 
 
 2 St. Luke, vii., 48. 
 
 3 Horn. 22 in ep. ad Rom. 1, 12. 
 
THE TREASON OF JUDAS 61 
 
 of his morals. For that reason the Lord trusted 
 him to the extent of making him the treasurer whose 
 duty it would be to take care of the alms received 
 by Him and to defray therefrom the living ex- 
 penses both of the Lord and of the apostles. With 
 all his good qualities, Judas had in his heart one 
 evil inclination to curb which, however, he had 
 the best possible guidance and help in his asso- 
 ciation with Christ. This was the inordinate love 
 of money. In the beginning it was unimportant 
 and of small consequence; he scarcely took notice 
 of it; it was not a matter of grievous sin. But 
 because he did not pay sufficient attention to it, it 
 gradually developed in his heart until it finally 
 spread into quite a poisonous growth. He began 
 to love money more and more, to rejoice in its pos- 
 session, to measure everything by its standard. At 
 first he kept for himself some of the money con- 
 fided to him and the surplus of which was des- 
 tined for the poor. It appeared to him that his 
 services ought to have some little recompense. 
 Like our modern church despoilers, he judged it 
 better to put money in circulation and employ it 
 in other useful ways, than to allow it to remain, 
 as dead capital, in the church treasury; besides, 
 Christ would not need it; He knew how to help 
 Himself in need, and He certainly would not let 
 the apostles starve. Soon Judas began to steal 
 without the least scruple, and finally the words of 
 Paul, the apostle, were fulfilled in his case: *'They 
 that will become rich, fall into temptation and 
 into the snare of the devil, and into many un- 
 
62 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 profitable and hurtful desires, which drown men 
 into destruction and perdition. For the desire 
 of money is the root of all evils ; which some covet- 
 ing have erred from the faith. ' ' ^ For the repeated 
 thefts, which in the beginning were possibly small 
 and venial sins only, made this apostle indifferent 
 to sin in general and brought him to the condition 
 of luke-warmness. At the same time, the growing 
 love of money stifled in him the love for Christ 
 and for his apostolic vocation. He fell into mortal 
 sins, became filled with aversion to Christ and even 
 lost faith in His Divinity. His formal apostasy 
 was only a matter of time. Then happened the 
 incident in connection with Mary Magdalene, who 
 was so lavish in her use of costly ointments. It 
 vexed Judas that such a chance for a splendid 
 stroke of business should slip by him, and the 
 reprimand he received vexed him still more. As 
 indemnity, he resolved to sell the Son of God him- 
 self. 
 
 From this dreadful event let us draw some con- 
 clusions for our own instruction. It is absolutely 
 necessary to combat all passions, to pamper none, 
 least of all the dominant passion which has the 
 deepest roots in the heart. Let no one say: I am 
 not a drunkard, I am not impure, I harbor no 
 enmities. A single passion which you do not re- 
 sist is capable of bringing on your ruin. And 
 these passions must be combated earZy. When the 
 fire is still small, a little water suffices to extin- 
 
 II. Tim., vi., 9, 10. 
 
THE TREASON OF JUDAS 63 
 
 guish it. But when the flames appear all over 
 the roof, all the engines in town may not be 
 enough. These passions must be resisted by every 
 one, even if one be an apostle or a saint. Avarice 
 led Judas to his ruin. With how much more rea- 
 son must one begin early to combat the far more 
 dangerous passion of impure lust which in a very 
 short time easily develops into an all-consuming 
 fire. 
 
 Furthermore, we should take heed not to trifle 
 with venial sins, not to commit hundreds and thou- 
 sands of them with a smiling countenance as if 
 they were not offensive to God. We should guard 
 against fatal luke-warmness. Peter, who otherwise 
 was zealous, in an unfortunate moment, fell woe- 
 fully. But touched by the grace of Christ, he was 
 converted immediately. Not so Judas. Although 
 the Saviour had ovenv^helmed him with love, still, 
 on account of his numerous infidelities and his 
 disregard of venial sins, he gradually drifted into 
 the state of mortal guilt. 
 
 But from the Divine Redeemer we may learn 
 generously to pardon our enemies, unceasingly to 
 follow the lost sheep, to hope against hope. Let 
 us furthermore have the firmest confidence in the 
 love and mercy of Christ. And indeed, what sin- 
 ner ought to despair? Return to Christ in sor- 
 row, and the Saviour in whose embrace we now 
 behold the traitor, will hail thee as His friend 
 and give thee the kiss of peace. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SEIZURE OF THE SAVIOUR 
 
 "Then the band, and the tribune, 
 and the servants of the Jews took 
 Jesus, and bound him." 
 
 (St. John, xviii., 12.) 
 
 The betrayal of Judas was followed by the tak- 
 ing of the Saviour. The Holy Scriptures describe 
 the event in the following terms: *' Jesus, knowing 
 all things that should come upon him, v/ent forth 
 and saith to them : I am he. And Judas also, who 
 betrayed Him, stood with them. As soon there- 
 fore as he had said to them: I am he, they went 
 backward and fell to the ground. Again therefore 
 he asked them: Whom seek ye? And they said: 
 Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered: I have told 
 you, that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let 
 these go their way. That the word might be ful- 
 filled which he said : Of them whom thou hast given 
 me, I have not lost any one. And they that were 
 about him, seeing what would follow, said to him, 
 Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one 
 of them that stood by, Simon Peter, drawing a 
 sword, struck a servant of the high-priest and cut 
 off his right ear. And the name of the servant 
 was Malchus. But Jesus answering said: Suffer 
 
 64 
 
THE SEIZURE OF THE SAVIOUR 65 
 
 ye thus far. And when he had touched his ear, 
 he healed Malehus. Then Jesus said to Peter: 
 Put up again thy sword into its place, into the 
 scabbard. For all that take the sword shall per- 
 ish with the sword. The chalice which my Father 
 hath given me, shall I not drink it? Thinkest 
 thou that I cannot ask my Father, and he will 
 give me presently more than twelve legions of 
 angels? How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled 
 that so it must be done ? In that same hour Jesus 
 said to the chief-priests, and magistrates of the 
 temple, and the ancients that were come unto him : 
 Are ye come out as it were against a thief, with 
 swords and clubs ? When I was daily with you 
 in the temple, you did not stretch forth your hands 
 against me. But this is your hour and the power 
 of darkness. Now all this was done, that the 
 Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then 
 the band and the tribune and the servants of the 
 Jews took Jesus and bound him. Then the dis- 
 ciples all leaving him fled."^ Such is the de- 
 scription given by the evangelists of the seizure 
 of the Redeemer. 
 
 Let us consider the miracles that Christ then 
 worked, namely, 
 
 I. Miracles proving His Divine Power and 
 
 II. Miracles proving His Divine Love. 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvi., 50-56; St. Mark, xiv., 46-50; St. 
 Luke, xxii., 49-54; St. John, xviii., 4-12. 
 
66 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 I. 
 
 To prove His Divine Power, Christ performed 
 two miracles. The first consisted in bringing His 
 enemies to a halt and the second, in causing them 
 to fall to the ground. 
 
 The kiss of Judas and with it the sign for 
 the attack had been given. But why do they 
 not advance ? Why do they hesitate ? What keeps 
 back these villains thirsting for the blood of the 
 God-Man? They need certainly not fear greater 
 numbers. On the one side stand Christ and the 
 apostles with two swords, on the other a numerous 
 band fully armed with swords and clubs and 
 lances. Still, there they stand, as if rooted to the 
 ground, and they cannot advance one step. Was 
 there perhaps some doubt as to the person to be 
 taken, notwithstanding the kiss of Judas, the light 
 of the full moon and the lights they had with 
 them? There truly was such a doubt. The ene- 
 mies of Christ, and Judas too, were so stricken 
 with blindness that they did not recognize Him, 
 although He stood before them. Had they recog- 
 nized Him, then surely when He asked them the 
 second time, ''Whom seek ye?" they would not 
 have answered, "Jesus of Nazareth," but "We 
 seek thee. ' ' It would then have been an easy mat- 
 ter, had Jesus so willed, to escape His enemies, 
 notwithstanding the cunningly laid plan and the 
 treachery of Judas. But Christ goes towards them 
 and asks, "Whom seek ye?" And they answer, 
 "Jesus of Nazareth." He responds, "I am he." 
 
THE SEIZURE OF THE SA\ lOLK 67 
 
 At these words, as if struck by liglituing or over- 
 turned by a whirlwind, they fall back to the 
 ground, Judas with them. ' ' The voice of the Lord 
 breaketh the Cedars. ' ' ^ Poor Judas ! If you 
 know of no way out of the difficulty now, your 
 pieces of silver are gone. The enemies of Christ 
 fell backwards to the ground, not like penitent 
 sinners upon their faces; and he who falls back- 
 wards is apt to damage his head. 
 
 Finally, Christ restored to them their powers. 
 Filled with shame, struck with amazement, but 
 burning with anger, they arose. For the second 
 time the Saviour asked them, "Whom seek ye?" 
 Again they answer, ** Jesus cf Nazareth." They, 
 therefore, did not yet recognize Him. That they 
 might understand that it was He who threw them 
 to the ground, Christ now said to them : * ' I have 
 told you that I am he." And, as the proof was 
 now furnished that He began His Passion of His 
 own free will, He permitted them to seize Him, 
 by saying, ''If therefore you seek me, let these go 
 their way." The evident demonstration, then, of 
 His Divine Power, did not bring these hardened 
 culprits to their senses. They are hardly on their 
 feet before they continue their impious work, ad- 
 vance toward Christ and seize Him. 
 
 When, in later centuries, tyrants saw hungry 
 lions and tigers in the arena crouch at the feet 
 of innocent lambs as were the holy martyrs, when 
 they witnessed how these sufferers came forth, un- 
 
 1 Psalms, xxviii., 5. 
 
68 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 harmed, from burning furnaces and how missiles 
 glanced from their persons, and nevertheless kept 
 on inventing new pains and tortures, was not this 
 scene similar to the one described above? When 
 entire parishes and whole countries are on account 
 of their sins, as it were, stricken to the ground by 
 Almighty God, by wars, earthquakes or disease, 
 and when, as soon as the visitation is over, they 
 return to their former dissipated and shameless 
 ways, is this not the enactment of the very same 
 scene? When, lastly, God chastises the sinner and 
 he heeds it not, when He crushes him and he re- 
 fuses the punishment, do we not behold a scene 
 from the Garden of Olives? 
 
 "Whom seek ye?" asked Christ. ''Jesus of 
 Nazareth." ''I am he." And they fell to the 
 ground. What will He do as Judge, who, as the 
 accused, in a state of greatest weakness and im- 
 potence, displays such power? How the high- 
 priests and scribes will be confounded, when on 
 the day of judgment from His seat in the clouds, 
 Christ shall cry out to them, "I am he!" How 
 all deniers of the Divinity of Christ shall then 
 wither away from fear and terror! What will 
 then be the sentiments of skeptics, of all sinners, 
 especially those who have unceasingly plotted evil 
 against Christ and His holy Church. Let us con- 
 sole ourselves in present tribulations. One. word 
 of the Lord, one breath of His mouth is sufficient 
 to cast the enemies of the Church powerless into 
 the dust. 
 
 May it be our privilege, when on the last day 
 
THE SEIZURE OF THE SAVIOUR 69 
 
 Christ shall say these words to us, to greet Him 
 with joy and exultation and to look up to Him 
 with confidence. But we can entertain this hope 
 only if now, truthfully and with our whole heart, 
 we can answer His question, "Whom seek ye?" 
 by saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, none other but 
 Christ Crucified." 
 
 Let us now pass on to the miracles wrought by 
 Christ in the Garden of Olives to demonstrate His 
 Divine Love. 
 
 II. 
 
 Christ wrought two miracles for the following 
 purpose: He wished to convince His friends of 
 the greatness of His love by the first miracle, and 
 His enemies, by the second. 
 
 Above all things the Saviour had at heart the 
 welfare of His disciples, for whose steadfastness 
 in the faith He had reason to fear, if they also, 
 according to the undoubted intent of Christ's 
 enemies, should be taken captives. *'If ye seek 
 me," He therefore said, "let these go their way." 
 By these words He commanded and effected the 
 freedom of His disciples. After that, they dared 
 not even touch Peter who, by wounding :\Ialchus, 
 had excited to the highest degree the ire of the 
 high-priests and their associates. Their hands 
 were tied. Thus were fulfilled the words of 
 Christ: "Of them whom thou hast given me, I 
 have not lost any one."^ It is true Peter soon 
 afterwards committed a grievous sin, but it was 
 
 iSt. John, xviii., 9. 
 
70 HISTORY OF THE PASSION" 
 
 owing to his own fault and not to his being taken 
 captive. "Let these go their way," we ought 
 also to say in trials and difficulties and not con- 
 tinually take the burden off our own shoulders 
 to lay it on the shoulders of others. 
 
 A second miracle was wrought by Christ to 
 convince His enemies of His Love and to invite 
 them to conversion. After the last words of 
 Christ they laid hands on Him. One of them, 
 Malchus, the servant of Caiphas the high-priest, 
 made himself conspicuous by pulling and tugging 
 at the person of Christ. He desired the honor of 
 binding Him. It would recommend him to his 
 master. But this was more than the disciples 
 would tolerate. They all cried out together, 
 "Lord, shall we strike out with the sword?" 
 Without awaiting the answer of Christ, Peter drew 
 his sword and wielded it with a strong arm. His 
 aim missed. He did not intend to cut off an ear, 
 otherwise, as he used his right arm and stood op- 
 posite to Malchus, he would have struck his left 
 ear. He meant to cleave the head of the irreverent 
 scoundrel. But his head being covered with a 
 helmet the sword glanced off and took with it the 
 right ear. Peter then raised his sword the second 
 time, and the other disciple with a sword prepared 
 to use it. Then Christ said, "Suffer ye thus far," 
 and, touching the ear of Malchus, He healed him. 
 Thus did Christ take revenge on His enemies. 
 Then turning to Peter, He ordered him to put up 
 his sword into its place, into the scabbard, and He 
 rebuked him. Whoever uses the sword, without 
 
THE SEIZURE OF THE SAVIOUPx 71 
 
 legal warrant, of course, merits that his own blood 
 be shed. He addresses Peter in holy indignation, 
 because he would hinder Him in fulfilling the 
 Scripture and in drinking the chalice offered Him 
 by His heavenly Father. Peter's help, besides, 
 would be entirely superfluous, as twelve legions 
 and more of angels would, if He so wished, at any 
 moment be at His disposition. However, Peter, 
 on that occasion, committed no grievous sin. He 
 had misunderstood a former command of the 
 Saviour to buy swords,^ that is, to prepare for 
 combat with the weapons of the spirit, and what 
 he did he considered done in justifiable self-de- 
 fense. Moreover, his ardent love for Christ and 
 his anxiety lest harm befall Him rendered him 
 incapable of calm deliberation. If such were not 
 the case, how could he have been imprudent enough 
 to attempt to resist a hostile force so vastly su- 
 perior ? 
 
 We should learn from Christ what Christian 
 revenge truly is, namely, the rendering of good 
 for evil. But from Peter we may also learn some- 
 thing, even if it be not how to wield a sword. 
 Were it aUowable to cut off the right ear of all 
 who sin against Christ, very many people would 
 be in a condition to show only the left one. Blind, 
 excessive zeal can do but harm. But to have no 
 zeal or very little zeal for the honor of Christ 
 and of His Church and for the preservation intact 
 of faith and morals is another fault. In this re- 
 
 iSt. Luke, xxii., 36. 
 
72 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 gard the civil authority, in whose hands God has 
 placed the sword, ought to have more of the dis- 
 position of Peter. Then religion and faith would 
 not be ridiculed and insulted as they are, and 
 Christian morality would not be trampled under 
 foot to such an extent. Then innumerable houses 
 of ill repute would not exist, many public scandals 
 would cease, bad theatres would be closed, shame- 
 less pictures would disappear from store-fronts and 
 billboards, and the many poisonous productions 
 of an impious and immoral press would no more 
 be spread among the people. How persons in such 
 responsible positions, who do nothing for religion 
 and morality but who allow all sorts of wicked- 
 ness, committed under their very eyes, to go un- 
 punished, how such persons, I say, can render an 
 account of their stewardship on the last day is 
 something very difficult to imagine. Many par- 
 ents, too, and masters ought to have more of Peter 's 
 disposition. Then family life would be more or- 
 derly and Christian, and many innocent souls 
 would be saved. In fact, Peter's nature would be 
 of advantage to us all; then, in the fight against 
 evil, we would not in a cowardly manner throw 
 down our weapons and surrender at the first at- 
 tack of temptation. 
 
 Finally the moment arrived when Christ, to con- 
 vince us also of His Love and to free us from the 
 fetters of sin and hell, was to allow Himself to 
 be bound. But first He makes one more effort 
 to deter the high-priests and the ancients of the 
 people from their nefarious project by holding 
 
THE SEIZURE OF THE SAVIOUR 73 
 
 up to them, on the one hand, the unworthiness of 
 their act in treating as a murderer One Who had 
 often spoken to them in the temple and Who had 
 shown Himself a benefactor of the people, and by 
 assuring them, on the other hand, that with all 
 their swords and clubs they could not seize Him, 
 if it were not their hour and the power of dark- 
 ness. For the third time He finally reminds them 
 of the Holy Scriptures to make them understand 
 that they were instruments in the hands of God 
 to fulfill the sayings of the prophets. *'We owe 
 you no thanks, Jews," says St. Leo,^ ''nor thee, 
 Judas. No doubt your impiety has served to our 
 salvation; no doubt through you was done what 
 lay in the counsels of God, but it was against your 
 will. The death of Christ liberates us, it accuses 
 you. You alone, by right, lack that which, ac- 
 cording to your wishes, should be lost- to all." 
 
 Now they began their work. Like wolves, the 
 enemies of Christ fell upon the Lamb of God, as 
 robbers upon their prey. The band and the 
 tribune and the servants of the Jews took Jesus 
 and bound Him. It was done with an ardor 
 worthy of a better cause. And they must have 
 fastened the ropes tightly and secured them by 
 many knots, for Judas had told them : ' ' Lead Him 
 away carefully." Certainly the bands in which 
 His Blessed Mother had wrapped Him when He 
 still lay in the crib were sweeter and more pleas- 
 ant. But He rejoiced in these bonds, otherwise 
 
 1 Serm. 1 de Pass, c. 5. 
 
74 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 He would have torn them asunder more easily 
 than Samson could have done. He loved to be 
 a captive. For that reason He had taken proper 
 measures, on the eve of His Passion, for dwelling 
 among us as our captive unto the end of days in 
 the Sacrament of the Altar. 
 
 Happy, thrice happy, those who even in our 
 days have been found worthy to carry the shackles 
 of Christ. St. Paul had many glorious titles of 
 which he might boast. He was an apostle, the 
 teacher of the world, the teacher of nations. Still, 
 he finds all his glory in chains and ropes and 
 bonds. "I, Paul," he says, ''the prisoner of 
 Jesus Christ." As for us, it should be our pride 
 and our glory to be bound ^vith the bonds of His 
 law, with the bonds of His Commandments, with 
 the bonds of His Di-\dne Love. 
 
 Then, dismayed at what had happened, the dis- 
 ciples fled, and nobody dared to hinder them. 
 Another disciple of the Saviour, however, prob- 
 ably the son of the gardener,^ who was not among 
 the number of those of whom Christ had said, **Let 
 these go their way," almost fared badly.^ He es- 
 caped captivity only by leaving in the hands of the 
 soldiers the linen cloth, which, when awakened 
 from sleep by the noise, he had hurriedly thrown 
 about his shoulders, and by hurrying away in his 
 night garments or perhaps with only a cloth about 
 his loins. From this incident we can judge that 
 the position of the disciples was very dangerous, 
 
 1 See note 4. 
 
 2 St. Mark, xiv., 51. 
 
THE SEIZUEE OF THE SAVIOUR 75 
 
 that the terror of the enemies of Christ was great, 
 that they were fully decided to apprehend the 
 disciples also. The flight of the latter it is easy, 
 therefore, to understand. 
 
 When we consider the event calmly and with- 
 out prejudice, we must avow that, under the cir- 
 cumstances, the apostles could not well have acted 
 differently. Full of courage, they would strike 
 mth the sword. That was forbidden them. From 
 the words of the Saviour, * ' Let these go their way, ' ' 
 they understood that they were not to follow Him 
 into captivity and death, but that, as He further 
 intimated, they were to relinquish Him to the 
 powers of darkness, whose hour had now arrived. 
 So nothing remained for them but to go away. 
 For another reason it was the most reasonable 
 and the most advisable thing to do, for they would 
 not be exposed to the danger of denying Christ by 
 close contact with His enemies. They committed 
 a fault, however, by running away instead of 
 walking away, because, thereby, they showed a 
 lack of confidence in the Lord. Christ permitted 
 this weakness in the apostles in order thoroughly 
 to humble them and to divest them of all rash 
 self-confidence. Perhaps while they were running, 
 all their boastful promises came back to their 
 minds. Peter's ears, especially, must have kept 
 ringing with the words, *' Although all shall be 
 scandalized in thee, yet not I.'' How ashamed 
 they must have felt! 
 
 Let us, then, sympathize with the poor apostles 
 and, instead of condemning them, examine our own 
 
76 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 consciences to see whether or not we have ever aban- 
 doned Jesus from motives of human respect. As 
 a matter of fact, the apostles really believed their 
 lives in danger, whilst we need fear neither bonds, 
 nor prison, nor death. A little slur, a sarcastic 
 smile, a cutting remark on the part of some im- 
 pious profligate leads many a Christian to abandon 
 the Lord and to neglect the most sacred duties. 
 In small matters we are all less faithful than the 
 apostles were on this occasion. Let us then in 
 sorrow strike our own breasts. 
 
 The weakness of the apostles which led to their 
 salvation will then be to us a source of strength; 
 their flight, a source of courage and consolation. 
 When we again meet them on the day of Pentecost 
 and see them go forth like heroes to conquer the 
 world, we shall be encouraged by the thought that, 
 notwithstanding our misery and cowardice, we 
 may also become saints. For that purpose, how- 
 ever, we must pray to the Saviour that He attach 
 us inseparably to Himself in the bonds of His 
 love, so that we may remain faithful to Him even 
 unto death. 
 
CHAPTER YII. 
 
 THE EVENTS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE SEIZURE 
 OF CHRIST 
 
 " And they led him away to Annas 
 first, for he was father-in-law to 
 Caiphas, who was the high-priest of 
 that year. The high-priest therefore 
 asked Jesus of his disciples^ and of 
 his doctrine." (John xviii., 13, 19.) 
 
 After the seizure of the Redeemer, St. Matthew, 
 St. Mark and St. Luke proceed at once to tell of 
 His being led to Caiphas. St. Matthew and St. 
 Mark then describe the trial proper before Caiphas 
 and the chief-priests, which ended in the con- 
 demnation of Christ; all three evangelists then 
 mention the triple denial of Peter in the vestibule 
 of the palace of Caiphas. But they tell us noth- 
 ing of the appearance before Annas, nor of the 
 preliminary trial in which Annas ^ questioned 
 Jesus concerning His disciples and His doctrine, 
 nor of the blow upon the cheek dealt Jesus after 
 this interrogatory. All of this is supplied in the 
 narrative of St. John, who also tells us that the first 
 denial of Peter occurred during this preliminary 
 trial. However, we know that the evangelists were 
 
 1 See note 5. 
 
 77 
 
78 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 neither commissioned nor did they intend to write 
 of all that happened. 
 
 Let us now consider ^ 
 I. The march from Mount Olivet to Annas; 
 
 II. The preliminary trial before Annas. 
 
 St. John tells of Our Lord's going from Mount 
 Olivet to Annas in these simple words, **And they 
 led him away to Annas first." This march, in 
 the first place, was very painful to the Saviour. 
 Owing to the great loss of blood in the Garden 
 of Olives, He was in a state of extreme exhaustion. 
 The fetters with which the caution of His captors 
 had loaded His Sacred Body made it very difficult 
 for Him to walk. The rabble, drunk with victory, 
 beat, pushed, pulled, in a word, maltreated Him in 
 a manner of which only a violent and enraged 
 multitude were capable. It is not improbable as 
 some commentators opine, that on the way He re- 
 peatedly fell to the ground, even into the brook 
 Cedron itself, whence the ruffians dragged Him as 
 if He were some wild beast. 
 
 Again, this march was extremely humiliating to 
 His Divine Heart. He was bound, as if He were 
 a murderer and robber. The disgrace was the 
 greater because of the high prestige formerly en- 
 joyed by Him. It was immensely increased b^ 
 the infernal laughter, the grinning faces and the 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvi., 57; St. Mark, xiv., 53; St. Luke, 
 xxii., 54; St. John, xviii., 13, 19-24. 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE SEIZURE 79 
 
 jeers and curses of His enemies. But this igno- 
 miny reached its height at the entrance into the 
 city. Christ was led through the Golden Portal, 
 also called the Sheep's Gate, through which, amid 
 the applause, the felicitations and the joyful ac- 
 clamations of all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, He 
 had, on Palm Sunday, made His triumphal entry. 
 He was led through the same street where He had 
 passed over palm branches and spread garments, 
 greeted the while with solemn hosannas. The 
 noise of the troop awoke the people from their 
 sleep; every one ran into the street; the low char- 
 acters of the city crept out of their dens; they all 
 leered at Him in curiosity or malice; they all ex- 
 ulted at His capture. All this caused incompre- 
 hensible shame to the Divine Heart. It was still 
 more incomprehensible that Almighty God did not 
 repeat the punishment once inflicted upon the 
 Bethsamites who, in sinful curiosity and irrever- 
 ence, had dared to gaze upon the ark of the Old 
 Testament. 
 
 It is true indeed, that the Saviour knew Him- 
 self to be innocent. But this knowledge could not 
 remove the shame felt by His human heart. What 
 would be your feelings, Christian man, if, amid 
 the hisses and the jeers of a curious multitude, you 
 were to be dragged, bound and fettered through 
 the streets of the city to the door of the jail? Al- 
 though convinced of your own innocence, you still 
 would wish that the earth might swallow you, and 
 the fact of your respectability would merely in- 
 tensify this wish. Whether or no we shall have 
 
80 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the honor of following Christ, Who is "the Way,'* 
 on this way of disgrace, we cannot tell. We 
 ought, however, to accustom ourselves to support 
 patiently and joyfully lesser humiliations; then, 
 with the grace of Christ, we may heroically bear 
 greater ones whenever it pleases God to inflict them 
 on us. 
 
 Meanwhile they arrived before Annas, who lived 
 in the same house with Caiphas, his son-in-law. 
 This man, Annas,^ by bribing the Roman gov- 
 ernor, had obtained the dignity of high-priest in 
 the sixth year after the birth of Christ. Later on 
 he had to yield the place to a certain Ismael ; but, 
 by means of money, he again succeeded in obtain- 
 ing the dignity for his son Eleazar and for his 
 son-in-law Caiphas when, one year after his in- 
 stallation, Eleazar had been supplanted by Simon. 
 In the course of time, four more of his sons were 
 made high-priests, the youngest of whom obtained 
 the high office when Annas was ninety years old, 
 for which reason Annas was called the happiest 
 of men. He owed his continued influence in the 
 appointment of high-priests not only to his money, 
 but also to his energy and to the firm grasp by 
 which he kept together the party of the Sadducees 
 to which he belonged. Annas is indeed an apt 
 illustration of an impenitent sinner, who will not 
 desist from evil even in hoary old age and on the 
 brink of the grave. 
 
 But what caused the soldiers or rather the chief- 
 
 iFlavius Jos., Aut. 1. 20 eh. 9. n. 1. 2. 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE SEIZURE 81 
 
 priests and elders who commanded the troop, to 
 lead Christ to Annas, who, not being in office, had 
 no jurisdiction over Him? St. John gives ns the 
 first reason. Annas was the father-in-law of 
 Caiphas. Such consideration for the father-in-law 
 could not fail to recommend the chief-priests to 
 the son-in-law. Then, to avoid being charged with 
 neglect, they were impelled to please the old man 
 himself. In this particular matter his claims were 
 too numerous to be slighted. According to St, 
 Cyril of Alexandria,^ he was the very soul of the 
 whole conspiracy against Christ. In fact, the Acts 
 of the Apostles (iv., 6) show him to have been the 
 spiritual head of the entire anti-Christian party. 
 Therefore, the chief-priests led the captured prey, 
 in triumph, into the house of Annas to present 
 Christ that he might feast his eyes upon Him, a 
 thing he had long desired. Judas, also, insisted 
 upon this, because he had made the bargain with 
 Annas, and he wanted his money. Finally, as St. 
 Augustine writes,^ Caiphas, to honor his father-in- 
 law, had instructed the chief-priests to lead Christ 
 to Annas first. But throughout all, Caiphas was 
 secretly following out other purposes. However 
 bold and confident he appeared during the entire 
 proceedings, he still greatly feared lest Christ es- 
 cape him again by means of sorcery or diabolical 
 craft, which, of course, would destroy his prestige 
 as high-priest. Whether or not this attempt would 
 be successful must therefore be. ascertained by 
 
 iln Joan. 1, 11 (Joan. 18, 13). 
 2 Tract, in Joann. 113, 1. 
 6 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the inquiry of some one else who held no of- 
 ficial position. He thought that his father-in- 
 law was just the proper person to try the experi- 
 ment, so slender often are family ties among the 
 godless. Whenever private interest demands it, 
 one member of a family is ready to sacrifice 
 another. Besides this, Caiphas, who was the first 
 to propose the death of Christ in grand council, 
 wished as much as possible to remove from himself 
 the odium of the affair. Nothing, therefore, would 
 please him more than that Annas, who to his high 
 standing joined uncommon shrewdness, should by 
 a preliminary examination discover matter for ac- 
 cusation, and prepare the way for the trial proper, 
 in short, be the plaintiff in the case before him, 
 the high-priest. Christ, then, stood before Annas. 
 How the latter must have rejoiced to see, bound 
 before him, the irksome preacher of penance. 
 Christ had so often scourged the band of pharisees 
 and unmercifully laid bare their malice and hypoc- 
 risy. There He now stands fettered. But how 
 short-lived is the joy of the impious! Even 
 death's bonds shall be severed after three days. 
 
 Let us now turn our attention to the preliminary 
 hearing before Annas. 
 
 II. 
 
 Annas was an ex-high-priest. He therefore had 
 no right whatever to hold an enquiry. But that 
 mattered little to him. It was of more concern to 
 him to gather from the Redeemer's answers points 
 to form a basis of accusation in a subsequent legal 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE SEIZURE 83 
 
 trial. Annas, therefore, questioned the Saviour 
 first about His disciples, their number, the reason 
 why He had as many apostles as there had been 
 patriarchs, as many disciples as there were elders, 
 why He had gathered to Himself entirely unedu- 
 cated, ignorant people from among the common 
 herd. He wished to know whether Christ had 
 bound them to Himself, like modern free-masons, 
 by secret oaths, what were the purposes of His 
 nomadic wanderings, whether or not He had politi- 
 cal ends in view. His aims could hardly be proper 
 ones or His disciples would not have abandoned 
 Him. They had probably reached the conclusion 
 that He had falsely claimed to be the Messiah and 
 that He was an impostor. Annas also questioned 
 the Saviour about His doctrine. He wished to 
 know in what school of law He had been trained, 
 which of the tendencies current among the scribes 
 He followed, whether He had a rightful mission 
 to teach, and, if so, from whom He had received 
 it. For whoever would publicly teach either law 
 or doctrines of faith was required to receive from 
 an authorized teacher a proper commission which 
 was usually given by the imposing of hands. 
 Therefore, besides claiming a direct, divine call 
 and attestation of His right to teach, Christ had 
 formerly also appealed to the testimony of John 
 the Baptist.^ Furthermore, as Annas was aware 
 from previous investigations ^ that Christ agreed 
 with none of the existing and violently conflicting 
 
 iSt. John, v., 33. 
 
 2 St. Matthew, xix., 3. 
 
84 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 schools regarding the interpretation of the Mosaic 
 Law and the traditions of the teachers, he un- 
 doubtedly put some very pointed questions to the 
 Redeemer. The answers of Christ were expected 
 to stamp Him as a despiser of the law of Moses, 
 or at least to embitter and excite against Him one 
 or the other of the various parties. No matter 
 how the accused might reply, he would, Annas 
 thought, hurt His own cause. 
 
 Christ did not answer the first question relating 
 to His disciples. Had He named them and de- 
 clared them to be His disciples, a warrant for 
 their arrest would probably have been issued at 
 once. Besides, just at this time. He could not say 
 anything very laudatory of them, and He would 
 not mention their faults and weaknesses, their 
 pride and vanity, their drowsiness and sloth in the 
 Garden of Olives and their hasty flight at His 
 seizure. It is a point we ought to remember in our 
 conversations. Furthermore, an answer to this 
 question was not necessary. Owing to the intention 
 of the high-priest in putting his question, it was 
 necessary to give an answer regarding the doctrine 
 only. For if the doctrine was good and from God, 
 Christ could not have gathered the disciples about 
 Him for any ignoble purpose. Christ, therefore, 
 give an answer concerning His doctrine to show 
 Annas that He would not withdraw jot or tittle 
 from it. His answer, however, was again so pru- 
 dent that He avoided the trap set for Him. He did 
 not enter into an explanation or a confirmation of 
 His teachings. He knew that He had before Him 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE SEIZURE 85 
 
 hardened rascals who cared naught for truth. For 
 this reason, He avoided all manner of dispute and 
 religious discussion — all of which He meant for our 
 instruction. For although it is certainly good and 
 laudable to silence malicious doubters and scoffers 
 with a clean-cut, sound answer, still it is not 
 advisable in most cases to enter into religious con- 
 troversies with them. We ought rather to tell 
 them that every Sunday sermons are preached in 
 our chui'ches on doctrines of faith and morals and 
 that they ought to go there for enlightenment. In 
 order, then, to defend His doctrine, Christ merely 
 appealed to the fact that He had always preached 
 in public and often in the Temple, whence it could 
 be inferred that He never desired secretly to spread 
 false teachings. He said that He had taught noth- 
 ing secretly, that is with the intention that it should 
 remain secret. He had indeed often spoken to the 
 apostles alone and had initiated them into many 
 mysteries. But He imposed upon them at the 
 same time this injunction : ^ ' That which you hear 
 in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops. " ^ *' Ask 
 them," Christ continued, **who have heard what I 
 have spoken unto them. ' ' It would verily be more 
 in keeping with legal procedure were they to pre- 
 sent definite charges regarding my doctrine before 
 requiring me to speak in my own defence. Truly, 
 Annas, thy proceeding is not only unlawful but 
 also very foolish. For what reasonable judge 
 would expect an accused to freely furnish him, 
 by an open avowal, material for a charge? 
 
 1 St. Matthew, x., 27. 
 
86 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 It seemed to one of the servants that Christ 
 looked especially at him, just as Christians some- 
 times assert positively that the preacher of the 
 Divine Word, at this or that passage of his ser- 
 mon, gazed directly at them. The servant therefore 
 believed that Christ wished him to testify in favor 
 of His doctrine. To vent his rage and anger, but 
 mainly to please the high-priest and to deter others 
 from taking sides v^^ith Christ, this man rushed 
 upon the Redeemer and gave Him such a fearful 
 blow upon the cheek that He staggered. At the 
 same time, he feigned respect for the high-priest 
 by saying, ''Answerest thou the high-priest so?" 
 A blow, alas, upon the cheek, a blow of the fist, a 
 blow of an iron-clad fist upon the Holy, heavenly 
 beautiful, Divine Face which the angels yearn to 
 behold! Ah! how is it that his hand did not 
 wither, that savage beasts, rushing out of the 
 desert, did not tear the offender in pieces, that fire 
 did not fall from heaven to consume hini, that the 
 earth did not open to swallow him! Is it not 
 barbarous to thus maltreat an accused man who 
 is not yet sentenced and who therefore may pos- 
 sibly be innocent ? Since when has a court servant 
 been given the right to deal a blow to the ac- 
 cused who is defending himself in open court? 
 -^But the high-priest was silent. Had his dog been 
 beaten, he would have had something to say. 
 
 However, the blow of the servant was aimed 
 less at the Person of the Redeemer than at His 
 doctrine. The man intended thereby to bear wit- 
 ness to the objectionable character of Jesus* teach- 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE SEIZURE 87 
 
 ings and thought to deal them a death-blow. 
 For which reason, and also to show us that even 
 blows should not deter us from professing the 
 truth, the Saviour did not remain silent. He 
 most decidedly denied that the defense of truth 
 could be an offense to the high-priest. But re- 
 garding his former teachings he demanded of the 
 servant proof that they were false and harmful. 
 ' ' If I have spoken evil, give testimony of the evil : 
 but if well, why strikest thou me?" Christ spoke 
 these last words to bring home to the servant the 
 full injustice of his act and, as he probably raised 
 his hand to deal another blow, to deter him from 
 further sins and bring him to his senses. Where- 
 fore he is likely to have spoken them with win- 
 ning mildness and gentleness. 
 
 Meanwhile no one was in more uncomfortable 
 straits than Annas. Had he not lost all sense of 
 shame, he would have blushed with confusion. For 
 it was clear to the witnesses present that the 
 answers of Christ had rightly branded the conduct 
 of Annas as unlawful and foolish. To get out of 
 his awkward position and to rid himself of the 
 odious affair, Annas, hurriedly paid Judas the 
 traitor's price and sent the Saviour, bound as He 
 was, to Caiphas. 
 
 *'Why strikest thou Me?" said the Saviour to 
 the servant who had maltreated Him. He can 
 say the same to every sinner. Why strikest thou 
 Me? Give me the reason. Why? Is it because I 
 created thee when thou wast not? Or is it be- 
 cause I saved thee when thou wast in the chains 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 of Satan? Or is it because I have restored lost 
 grace to thee an hundred times? Why? Name 
 the crime which I have committed against thee. 
 Thou strikest Me! Is this thy gratitude for all 
 my benefits? It is thoii^ who strikest Me, thou, 
 the privileged one among thousands. Thou strikest 
 me, a vile menial, a fault-laden sinner, thou. My 
 creature, the work of My hand, thou, for whom I 
 am about to shed My blood! Thou strikest Me, 
 Me, thy Friend, thy Brother, thy Protector, thy 
 Consoler, thy Judge, thy greatest and most precious 
 Good! Indeed, these reproaches of the Saviour 
 may well bring the blush of confusion to each of us. 
 Nevertheless, the blow received by the Kedeemer 
 has obtained honor. Whenever a pious artist rep- 
 resents the instruments of the Saviour's suffer- 
 ings, the iron-clad fist is never missing. The holy 
 confessors and martyrs suffered joyfully the blow 
 upon the cheek. But for us it has become the 
 accolade of knighthood in the sacrament of Con- 
 firmation. With knightly courage, then, let us 
 profess our faith and make our lives accord with it. 
 As true warriors of Jesus Christ, let us battle 
 against the enemies of our faith. And may we, 
 as true warriors of Jesus Christ, fall some day 
 upon the battle field, for then, in death, the Saviour 
 will give us the palm of victory. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE TRIAL OP CHRIST BEFORE CAIPHAS 
 
 " Then the high-priest rent his gar- 
 ments, saying: He hath blasphemed: 
 what further need have we of wit- 
 nesses? Behold, now you have 
 heard the blasphemy: What think 
 you? But they answering said: He 
 is guilty of death." 
 
 (St. Matthew, xxvi., 65-66.) 
 
 Whilst the Redeemer stood before Annas, the 
 members of the Sanhedrin assembled with Cai- 
 phas. Caiphas was the high-priest of that year. 
 In fact, he was clad with this dignity during the 
 entire public life of Christ. After the death of 
 Christ, Pilate's successor deposed him. It is said 
 that grief at his removal caused him to commit 
 suicide. The composition of the court was unique 
 in its way. **It presented,'' says St. Chrysostom,^ 
 ''only the appearance of a court, in reality it was 
 an assault of robbers." Where in the wide world 
 was a man ever allowed to be the judge in his own 
 cause? How is impartiality possible where the 
 judges are at the same time the accusers? No 
 
 iln Matth., horn. 54 (al. 53) n. 2. 
 89 
 
90 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 other assembly equaled the Sanhedrin ^ either in 
 outward splendor of holiness or in divine prestige. 
 It was, so to speak, the oracle of the world, the 
 decisions of which were considered binding in 
 conscience and irrefragable. Before this assembly 
 which was extolled as harboring the seat of Justice, 
 which was modelled after the fundamental out- 
 lines of the old Mosaic constitution and which once 
 had counted among its members such prophets as 
 Aggeus, Zacharias and Malachias and the great 
 friends of God such as Esdras, before this ''high 
 synod" stood Jesus Christ, Who was to perfect 
 that Law, to fulfil the predictions of those prophets 
 and the expectations of all those just men. There 
 He stood as an accused criminal — He, the Son of 
 the Eternal Father, the Judge of the living and of 
 the dead, stood there to be judged and to hear His 
 condemnation to death. Let us listen to the pro- 
 ceedings of the trial. And if we are seized with 
 terror and dismay on entering, in spirit, into the 
 house of Caiphas, thither we shall, nevertheless, 
 follow the Redeemer for His solace and for our 
 own instruction. Let us, therefore, consider : ^ 
 I. The testimony of the witnesses; 
 II. The condemnation of the Accused, and 
 III. The unlawful maltreatment of the Con- 
 demned. 
 
 1 See note 6. 
 
 2 St. Matthew, xxvi., 59-68; St. Mark, xiv., 53-65; St. 
 Luke, xxii., 63-65. 
 
CHRIST BEFORE CAIPHAS 91 
 
 The preliminary trial before Annas was barren 
 of results. Nothing had come to light that might 
 form the basis of an accusation, and thus Caiphas 
 had to begin without having before him any charge. 
 After the judges had taken their seats, the signal 
 for the opening of the trial was given. According 
 to custom, the Saviour was released from His bonds 
 as a sign that He had full liberty to defend Him- 
 self. Everybody was now intent to hear the ac- 
 cusation, but no accuser opened his lips. As if 
 awakening from a profound sleep, the judges col- 
 lect their wits and find themselves in a bad pre- 
 dicament. They will not and cannot condemn 
 Christ without a definite charge and without ac- 
 cusers; for they must above all, preserve the ap- 
 pearance of a legal, juridical trial. So, as a last 
 resort, the high-priest requested those present to 
 testify against Christ and to bring charges. There- 
 upon some complied and related what the pharisees 
 among the crowd had hurriedly v/hispered to them. 
 But, to the great dismay of the high-priest, they 
 contradicted themselves. Here, indeed, the usual 
 cunning of the pharisees had played them false, 
 inasmuch as they could not train a few men to give 
 unanimous testimony. Now was the word of the 
 psalmist verified : * * Unjust witnesses have risen up 
 against me; and iniquity hath lied to itself.''^ 
 Finally two more false witnesses arose, similar to 
 the two sons of Belial, who were suborned by im- 
 
 1 Psalms, xxvi., 12. 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 pious Jezabel to testify that "Naboth hath blas- 
 phemed God and the king." It is indeed a ter- 
 rible thing to allow one's self to be used as a wit- 
 ness against the Eternal Truth. The testimony 
 of the one was this : ' ' This man said, I am able to 
 destroy the temple of God, and after three days 
 to rebuild it. " ^ The testimony of the other was 
 as follows: *'We heard him say, I will destroy 
 this temple made with hands, and within three 
 days I will build another not made with hands. "^ 
 These testimonies were false, because they dis- 
 torted the words of Christ. Christ had said, *'De-. 
 stroy this temple," that is, if you destroy it, not 
 I destroy it, **and in three days I will raise it 
 up."^ Christ had therefore attributed to Him- 
 self the Power and the will not of destroying but 
 of reconstructing, and this only conditionally upon 
 their having destroyed this temple. 
 
 Neither did He then refer to the temple of 
 Solomon, but to the temple of His own body.* 
 These testimonies were irrelevant in any case, 
 even if Christ had spoken of the temple of Solomon 
 in the sense attributed to Him. They furnished 
 no cause for a death penalty, which usually can be 
 imposed for criminal acts only. Now, of these 
 two witnesses, one accused Christ of boastful words 
 and the other, of an internal act of the will. The 
 words of the Saviour, no matter to what extent 
 
 1 St. Matthew, xxvi., 61. 
 
 2 St. Mark, xiv., 58. 
 
 3 St. John, ii., 19. 
 
 4 St. John, ii., 21. 
 
CHRIST BEFORE CAIPHAS 93 
 
 their sense was perverted, could at most justify the 
 opinion that He was either a braggart or a fool, 
 but not a criminal. Such an inunense building as 
 Solomon's temple could not be quietly torn down 
 over night. And if Christ had really torn it down, 
 but rebuilt it in three days, the damage done 
 would be very trivial indeed. But the intention 
 was to represent the words of Christ as being a 
 crime against God, the Lord of the Sanctuary, 
 and against the Temple, the center of worship. 
 
 Therewith closed the comedy of hearing wit- 
 nesses. They took good care not to admit testi- 
 monj' for the defense, as is the custom in all trials. 
 And they had their reasons. For were Christ to 
 bring forward all the hungry whom He had fed, 
 all the sick whom He had healed, all the dead 
 whom He had raised to life, the infernal scheme 
 of the mob would be foiled. As it was, the ac- 
 cusers contradicted themselves. This was truly a 
 glorious triumph of eternal truth which the Cath- 
 olic Church has also achieved in every Christian 
 century. Everything that opposes her and con- 
 temns the mass of testimony showing her Divinit^^', 
 exposes its own contradictions and makes itself 
 unqualifiedly ridiculous. 
 
 It would have been the duty of a just judge to 
 call, like a second Daniel, the attention of the wit- 
 nesses to the contradiction in which they were en- 
 tangled, to brand these witnesses as perjurers and 
 to punish them. The high-priest, however, arose 
 hastily and advanced. Approving by his actions 
 the false testimony and taking its truth for 
 
94 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 granted, he nevertheless fairly boiled with anger at 
 the inept statements as well as at the calmness with 
 which the Saviour seemed to despise the charges, 
 and he hurled at the latter these words: "Answer- 
 est Thou nothing to the things which these wit- 
 ness against Thee?" that is, ''Hast Thou no re- 
 mark to make upon this testimony, hast Thou noth- 
 ing to say in Thine own defense ? ' ' 
 
 This question gave Christ leave to speak and 
 challenged Him to a defense. It was undoubt- 
 edly the shortest defense ever made. The Gospel 
 describes it in these words: ''But Jesus held his 
 peace. ' ' But for all its brevity, this defense of the 
 Redeemer had its effect. It found enthusiastic 
 admirers; it was repeated by thousands of saints 
 and pious people after they had been outrageously 
 caluminated, and it still works prodigies even to 
 our own day. 
 
 But it threw Caiphas into shameless and unre- 
 strained fury. Wherefore the miserable wretch 
 sought, by a question of devilish cunning, to lay 
 a new snare for Christ, Whom he otherwise would 
 have to release for want of incriminating proof. 
 He had no doubt but that the answer of the Saviour 
 would furnish sufficient points to warrant a death- 
 sentence. 
 
 Let us pass on to the sentencing of the Accused. 
 
 II. 
 
 It was decreed of God from all eternity that, 
 on this day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, 
 Christ should enter upon His functions as High- 
 
CHRIST BEFORE CAIPHAS 95 
 
 Priest, with which act was inevitably connected the 
 extinction of the office of high-priest of the Old 
 Law. In a manner, therefore, the Redeemer owed 
 it to His honor to present Himself before Caiphas 
 in order to prove and to confirm by oath the valid- 
 ity of His title. Otherwise evil tongues might 
 charge Him with having unlawfully assumed this 
 dignity. The declaration of Christ must be placed 
 on record and preserved in the archives of the syn- 
 agogue. Now this solemn moment had arrived. 
 Christ stood before Caiphas, the high-priest of the 
 Old Law. In presence of the entire court and of 
 the assembled multitude, Caiphas said with a loud 
 voice, ''I adjure Thee by the living God, that 
 Thou tell us if Thou be the Christ the Son of God." 
 Every one waited for the answer. The silence of 
 death was spread over the room. Then the Re- 
 deemer opened His mouth and said, ''Thou hast 
 said it. I am.'' 
 
 Rejoice, Caiphas, and be glad! How is it 
 possible adequately to praise the honor and dis- 
 tinction conferred upon thee! Since the days of 
 Malachias, thy predecessors in office have yearned 
 for Him Who, as the High-Priest of the New Law, 
 was to do away with the bloody sacrifices of animals 
 and offer a sacrifice worthy of the Divine Majesty. 
 What they longed in vain to see was reserved for 
 thee, Caiphas. Before thee stands the Expected 
 of nations, the Redeemer of the world, the Son of 
 God Himself. To thee has been given the honor 
 of receiving Him, investing Him with the insignia 
 of His dignity. Throw thyself, then, at the feet of 
 
96 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Christ, adore Him, tender Him thy congratula- 
 tions! But ye, chief -priests and scribes, ancients 
 and menials, crave His pardon in tears. Tell Him 
 how that it was only through an unfortunate mis- 
 understanding, never sufficiently to be deplored, 
 that His hands were bound and He Himself mal- 
 treated and placed in the dock of criminals. Then 
 send messengers through Jerusalem and over the 
 entire land. Shout it from the house tops and 
 from the pinnacle of the Temple, carry the glad 
 tidings even into the lowliest hut, announce it to 
 the shepherds in the field: ''Christ, the Saviour, 
 is here." "Then the high-priest rent his gar- 
 ments, saying: He hath blasphemed: what further 
 need have we of witnesses ? Behold, now you have 
 heard the blasphemy: What think you? Who 
 all condemned Him to be guilty of death, and said : 
 He is guilty of death." 
 
 Let us cast another glance upon this scene. Let 
 us consider especially the snare which the high- 
 priest, by his question, prepared for the Saviour. 
 Christ could hardly escape. He was undone. Had 
 He answered in the negative, he would have been 
 charged with blasphemous fraud in that formerly 
 He falsely claimed to be the Son of 'God. Silence 
 \ was the only escape. Christ however spoke, first, 
 out of reverence for the Name of God by whom 
 Caiphas had adjured Him ; then, in humble obedi- 
 ence to the high-priest who had a right to ask the 
 question; lastly, in order to deprive his judges of 
 all excuse on the day of judgment. Had He not 
 answered at all, or given only an evasive answer, 
 
CHRIST BEFORE CAIPHAS 97 
 
 they might say to justify themselves, '*We asked 
 Him officially and in the name of God, but He gave 
 us no answer. Had He then admitted the truth, 
 we would not only not have put Him to death, but 
 we would have believed in Him.'* 
 
 Then let us admire the divine dignity, majesty 
 and love with which the Lord says to His judges, 
 **Now, indeed, you behold Me in extreme weakness 
 and humiliation. But the day is coming and is 
 not far distant when, sitting on the right hand of 
 God, I shall appear in the clouds to pronounce 
 upon you the sentence of eternal damnation unless 
 you now confess Me before men. ' ' 
 
 Let us also thank the Saviour for this lumi- 
 nous proof of His divinity. The high-priest ad- 
 jured Him by the living God to say whether He 
 was the Son of God or not. Christ answered, **I 
 am, ' ' and He sealed this testimony with His blood. 
 The Son of Man is therefore the Son of God and 
 the Judge of the living and the dead. Foolish, / 
 therefore, and contradictory is the assertion of 
 modern pagans that Christ is not God, but that He 
 was the wisest and holiest of men. Whoever does 
 not recognize in Christ the Son of God must con- 
 sider Him either a fool or the most shameless de- 
 ceiver. Common sense must acknowledge this. 
 
 Meanwhile the alleged blasphemy made the pious 
 heart of Caiphas heavy with anxiety and sadness. 
 To give vent to his sorrow and indignation, this 
 miserable hypocrite tore his garment and bared 
 his shameless breast. Thereby was the garment of 
 
 the Old Law rent for all time. *' Thanks be to 
 
 7 
 
98 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 God," he then exclaimed, ''we now have what we 
 want; we need no more witnesses; the blasphemy- 
 is evident." But cunningly assuming the role of 
 a plaintiff, he left it to his colleagues to pronounce 
 the sentence of death. They all cried out at once, 
 ' ' He is guilt/ of death, ' ' this being in perfect con- 
 sonance with the law of Moses. "He that blas- 
 phemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him 
 die."^ 
 
 Meanwhile, the sentence of death was not legally 
 valid. Setting aside the fact that it had been il- 
 legally pronounced at night time and probably 
 only by the minor council; that, in a criminal 
 case, the judgment was never to be pronounced on 
 the day of the trial, and, least of all, on the eve 
 of the Sabbath; that according to ancient custom, 
 the condemned had the privilege of a new trial if 
 an attorney undertook his case, it was necessary, 
 besides, as we shall see later on, that the Eoman 
 governor give his approval. All this must increase 
 our astonishment at the unlawful maltreatment 
 heaped upon the condemned Redeemer. 
 
 III. 
 
 Whenever a criminal is condemned to death, no 
 matter how great his crimes may have been, at the 
 moment when judgment is pronounced, sympathy 
 begins. The proximity of death is, in our esti- 
 mation, atonement, to a certain extent, for the 
 crime committed, and it reconciles us with the un- 
 
 iLevit., xxiv., 16. 
 
CHRIST BEFORE CAIPHAS 99 
 
 fortunate one. And the thought of his agony, 
 of the pains resulting from the execution and of 
 his unnatural death, excites in every generous 
 heart pity and sympathy. After sentence has been 
 pronounced, even judges are sometimes found to 
 assure the poor victim of their sympathy and of 
 their regret that inexorable law forced them to put 
 aside all forbearance. It is, therefore, a custom, 
 among all peoples who make any kind of preten- 
 sion to civilization, to alleviate the last days of the 
 condemned and to gratify, as much as possible, all 
 their desires. On the other hand, it would be con- 
 sidered brutal cruelty and inconceivable meanness 
 to maltreat, aggrieve, insult or ridicule them. 
 
 But as soon as the sentence of death had been 
 pronounced upon Christ, amid a storm of applause, 
 the servants and menials and — ^who would think 
 it possible? — several of the judges, scribes, Phari- 
 sees and priests fell upon Him and vented their 
 fury and hatred in blows, in buffeting and drag- 
 ging Him hither and thither, pulling His hair 
 and reviling Him in most bitter sarcasm.^ Thus it 
 happens. When prominent people abandon reli- 
 gion and morality, they become viler than the com- 
 mon rabble. The members of the court then ar- 
 ranged for a second full meeting in the morning to 
 take the proper measures for the execution of the 
 sentence. Thereupon, probably soon after two 
 'clock, they retired to take a well-earned rest. 
 Meanwhile the Redeemer was left to the servants 
 
 iSt. Mark, xiv., 65. 
 
100 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 and court-menials. They dragged Him out of the 
 palace, through the court-yard, past Peter, into a 
 small prison next to the guard-room. In this 
 prison the indicted were kept under lock and key 
 during the intervals of their trial and at night. 
 The Saviour was tired almost to death when He 
 reached His cell. But sleep and rest were denied 
 Him; for the servants and menials continued to 
 treat Him as they had done in the court-room. 
 What the innocent Lamb of God had to suffer until 
 morning from these wild beasts in human form was 
 so terrible and dreadful that the evangelists could 
 not help but record it in detail. It was so terrible 
 and dreadful, that, as St. Jerome writes, its horrors 
 shall be made known only on the last day. *'0n 
 that night/' says St. Chrysostom, ''all the pits of 
 the nether world were opened, and, after break- 
 ing their chains and the bars of hell, Lucifer and 
 all his satellites rushed to Jerusalem, entered into 
 and took possession of the bodies of all Jews and 
 pagans to pour out through them upon Christ 
 their long pent-up hatred, envy and anger, their 
 rage and all their fury." 
 
 In the first place, these hired inferiors tortured 
 the Redeemer, now branded as a blasphemer, by 
 all sorts of bodily injury. Some struck Him in the 
 face with their fists, others tore His face with their 
 finger-nails, others pulled Him by the hair in order 
 that the words of Isaias the prophet might be ac- 
 complished : ' ' I have given my body to the strikers 
 and my cheeks to them that plucked them."^ 
 
 1 Is., 1., 6. 
 
CHRIST BEFORE CAIPHAS 101 
 
 "But," exclaims St. Athanasius, ' * Know ye not 
 that ye are merely wounding your hands, while 
 striking the corner-stone ? ' ' Then they heaped con- 
 tempt upon Him. Vile and shameless beings threw 
 their dirty and loathsome spittle in His Holy Face, 
 into His Sacred ^Mouth ; in that Holy Face before 
 which the waves of the sea had done reverence and 
 from which, when Christ hung upon the cross, the 
 sun hid its rays ; into that sacred mouth from which 
 only words of blessing and of love had ever issued. 
 It was usual among the Jews to spit upon the blas- 
 phemer. ^'1 have not,'* says Christ by the mouth 
 of Isaias, ''turned away my face from them that 
 spit upon me." It resembled the face of a leper. 
 They further loaded Him with contumely and ridi- 
 cule, by calling Him vile names, hissing at Him 
 and caricaturing Him. The climax was reached 
 when, blindfolding Him, they buffeted and smote 
 Him, saying, "Prophesy, Christ, who is it that 
 struck Thee? Who struck Thee first? Who was 
 the second? the third? Who struck Thee now? 
 Who at this instant spat upon Thee?" It would 
 wound religious feeling to qualify, in proper 
 words, the conduct of these wretches towards the 
 thrice holy God. A greater and more abominable 
 ridiculing of Divine Majesty, Omnipotence and 
 Omniscience cannot be imagined. It was indeed 
 proper first to veil the Face in Which was re- 
 splendent the glory of the Father. Ah! Let us 
 beware of ridiculing an omnipresent and all- 
 knowing God, lest we fall victims to His Jus- 
 tice. 
 
102 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 The Jews covered the Face of the Saviour. 
 They would no longer look upon it. They shall no 
 more look upon it. Only once more will He show 
 it to them — on the day of judgment. Oh Divine 
 Redeemer! We will not cover Thy Holy Face! 
 No, we will look upon it! Show it unto us, turn 
 it not away, show it unto us in life, in death ! By 
 all the sufferings which thou didst undergo in the 
 house of Caiphas on the part of Thy unjust judges 
 and Thy bloodthirsty jailers, be merciful unto us! 
 We pray Thee to be merciful when we, one day, 
 shall appear before Thy judgment seat. Grant 
 unto us that we may behold Thy face, the Face of 
 the Son of God, for all eternity I 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE THREE DENIALS OP PETER. 
 
 "Then he began to curse and to 
 swear that he knew not the man. 
 And immediately the cock crew. 
 And Peter remembered the word of 
 Jesus which he had said: Before the 
 cock crow, thou wilt deny me thrice. 
 And going forth, he wept bitterly. 
 (St. Matthew, xxvi., 74, 75.) 
 
 At the seizure of Christ the eleven apostles beat 
 a hasty retreat. AYhen Peter recovered from his first 
 fright, he felt as one who had awaked from a pro- 
 found sleep. He was bewildered. His hopes for 
 a temporal, Messianic Kingdom and for a prom- 
 inent position therein seemed now entirely futile. 
 From afar, he followed the procession,^ to see, as 
 the Gospel mentions, what they would do with 
 his beloved blaster. It would, it is true, have been 
 more prudent not to follow. The more distant he 
 remained from the menials, the further would he 
 be removed from a fall. On the way he was joined 
 by another disciple ^ of the Saviour, who, accord- 
 ing to most commentators, was St. John.^ 
 
 1 St. Matthew, xxvi., 18; St. Mark, xiv., 54; St. Luke, 
 xxii., 54. 
 
 2 St. John, xviii., 15, 16. 
 
 3 See Note 7. 
 
 103 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Peter and John noticed that they led Jesus 
 through a portal facing the street, into the court- 
 yard in front of the palace of Caiphas. Whilst 
 Peter dared not enter, John asked the portress to 
 admit him and she politely acceded to his request. 
 The humility of John in describing this, is truly 
 touching. It ought not, he says, to be attributed 
 to his superior courage, nor to his greater love for 
 Christ, nor to his more intense desire of defending 
 the Saviour that he entered the court-yard, whilst 
 Peter remained in the street. It happened 
 merely because he was better acquainted than 
 Peter in the house of the high-priest. Now John 
 was better acquainted in this house either because 
 in times past he had sold fish there or becaase one 
 of his relatives was employed by Caiphas or, 
 again, because in exchanging his small possession 
 in Galilee for a house belonging to Caiphas in 
 the neighborhood of Mount Sion, he had been 
 brought into frequent contact with the latter. It 
 is said that it was this house in which Christ 
 instituted the Blessed Sacrament, to which the 
 apostles retired on the day of the Resurrection, 
 in which they received the Holy Ghost and into 
 which St. John brought the ]\Iother of Jesus. 
 According to this tradition, the man in whose 
 house Christ ate the Paschal lamb and with whom 
 we are already acquainted would have been merely 
 a lease-holder. 
 
 When John arrived in the court-yard, he missed 
 Peter. He therefore went back to the entrance 
 and spoke kindly to the portress, whereupon Peter 
 
THE THEEE DENIALS .OF PETER 105 
 
 also gained admittance. This, undoubtedly, was 
 afterwards the cause of much regret to St. John, 
 inasmuch as thereby he had to some extent brought 
 about the occasion for Peter's sin, albeit without 
 knowledge or evil intent. It behooves a person 
 indeed to be careful before introducing any one 
 into a house or a society or before allowing one's 
 self to be so introduced, and this applies even to 
 the apostles and their successors. Andrew was 
 certainly more fortunate when he introduced 
 his brother Peter to the Saviour, and al^o Peter 
 himself, when he led John to the sepulchre. 
 
 The other disciple went into the house and 
 there saw the Redeemer. But he probably left 
 very soon to tell the Blessed Virgin of the be- 
 ginning of the trial. Peter, however, remained 
 in the court-yard and joined the servants and 
 menials who, owing to the cold weather, had started 
 a fire and were conversing about the recent hap- 
 penings. After a while, they all sat down by 
 the fire. Peter, therefore, was ^^ outside/' as the 
 Gospel says, in relation to those who were in the 
 palace; he was ^'inside'' in relation to those who 
 were on the street before the main entrance. It 
 was there, in the court-yard, that Peter thrice de- 
 nied his Master. According to the narrative of 
 St. John, he denied Him the first time while Christ 
 stood before Annas. The other two denials took 
 place whilst Christ was before Caiphas and the 
 Sanhedrin.^ 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvi., 59, 69-75; St. Mark, xiv., 54, 66- 
 72; St. Luke, xxii., 55-62; St. John, xviii., 17-18. 
 
106 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Let US consider 
 I. The story of the denial, 
 II. The causes of the same and 
 III. The subsequent contrition. 
 
 The first denial, which occurred toward one 
 o'clock, soon after Peter's entrance into the court- 
 yard, happened in the following manner. One 
 of the maid-servants of the high-priest, the por- 
 tress, who had admitted Peter, saw him sitting at 
 the fire among the men-servants. She had prob- 
 ably often seen him in the Saviour's company, and 
 his features were not unfamiliar to her. As, 
 moreover, at his very entrance, he made himself 
 conspicuous by his uneasy manner and his timid 
 and embarrassed look, the maid grew suspicious 
 and, impelled by curiosity, she asked him, *'Art 
 not thou also one of His disciples?" Peter an- 
 swered, **I am not." But she replied, ''Surely, 
 thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee, 
 that notorious and rebellious country." Peter, 
 however, denied it and said, ''I know Him not, 
 neither do I understand what you really mean. 
 I know so little about Him that I understand 
 nothing of what you say." But looking at him 
 more closely in the glare of the fire, she declared 
 very politely to those who stood around, "This 
 man was also with Him." And Peter denied 
 Him saying, ''Woman, I know Him not." Ah! 
 Peter, just now Annas is questioning the Re- 
 
THE THREE DENIALS OF PETER 107 
 
 deemer about His disciples. What is He to an- 
 swer? 
 
 The words of the maid-servant caused much em- 
 barrassment to Peter. They represented him to 
 the servants as an adherent of Jesus. In terror 
 and fear lest these servants do him harm, he arose 
 and walked towards the vestibule, which was a 
 gallery supported by pillars inside of the main 
 entrance. Perhaps he intended to use the first 
 opportunity which offered to reach the street. 
 Had he only done so! 
 
 Then the cock crowed. It is said that in the 
 Orient the first crow of the cock is heard soon 
 after midnight. But if even that were not so, it 
 ought not to surprise us that in this night the 
 cock crowed sooner than usual, because the dread- 
 ful noise of the soldiers had awakened from sleep 
 not only the human inhabitants of the city, but 
 also the animals. 
 
 Peter meanwhile, did not leave the vestibule. 
 He returned ' ' that he might see the end ' ' ^ and 
 he approached the fire. There another maid-serv- 
 ant, to whom his conduct had seemed strange, 
 furnished him with the occasion of the second 
 denial. Pointing her finger at Peter, she said to 
 the surrounding group, *'This man also was with 
 Jesus of Nazareth. He is one of them." Vexed 
 at the maid and wishing to remove all suspicion 
 by acting resolutely, Peter went close to the fire, 
 right among the servants and soldiers, who mean- 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvi., 68. 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 time had risen from their seats. The attention, 
 however, of the by-standers had been aroused by 
 the words of the maid and they asked him, ''Art 
 not thou also one of His disciples?" On Peter's 
 denial, another who knew him better, cried out, 
 "Surely thou art one of them." But Peter an- 
 swered, ''0 man, I am not." And with an oath 
 he declared, "I know not the man." And thus 
 it is. "Sin," says St. Gregory,^ "when not re- 
 moved by penance, by its o\mi weight soon draws 
 down to another sin." 
 
 About one hour afterwards, or soon after two 
 o'clock, the third denial occurred. "Of a truth," 
 said one of the by-standers, "this man was also 
 with Him: for he is also a Galilean." AYhen 
 Peter denied it and acted as if he understood him 
 not, they all shouted together, "Surely thou art 
 also one of them; thou art a Galilean; thy speech 
 doth discover thee." The continued denying of 
 Peter angered especially one of the high-priest's 
 servants, a kinsman of Malchus, whose ear Peter's 
 sword had severed. He therefore added: "Did 
 not I see thee in the garden with him?" In 
 terror and dismay lest this servant take revenge, 
 Peter began to curse and to swear that he knew 
 not the man of whom they spoke. Then the cock 
 crowed a second time and the guards came with 
 Jesus out of the door of the palace to lead Him 
 through the vestibule into a prison cell. 
 
 Peter, then, had really thrice denied the Sav- 
 
 1 Moral 1. 25, c. 9. 
 
THE THREE DENIALS OF PETER 109 
 
 iour before the cock had crowed twice. He did 
 not reject faith itself, but he sinned against the 
 duty of professing it. In addition to this he 
 cursed and perjured himself. There were, indeed, 
 some mitigating circumstances such as Peter's ex- 
 citement, his fatigue and his fear of revenge on 
 the part of Malchus' kinsman and of the enemies 
 of Christ. The sin, however, was mortal and must 
 have grieved exceedingly the Divine Heart. 
 For it was Peter who denied the Lord; Peter, the 
 witness of the miracles of Jesus Christ; Peter, 
 who had so solemnly declared, '^Thou art Christ, 
 the Son of the living God;" Peter, who a few 
 hours before had, with the most lively faith, re- 
 ceived his Kedeemer under the sacramental ap- 
 pearances. Peter, besides, had been especially 
 privileged by Christ. It was to him, that the 
 Lord had said, ''Thou art Peter, and upon this 
 rock I will build my Church."^ It was to Peter 
 that He had addressed the words: "I will give 
 to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. ' ' - 
 Now this rock is shaking, now Peter is closing 
 upon himself the gates of heaven which he is to 
 open unto others. 
 
 To what language did this apostle give utterance 
 before the sworn enemies of Christ at a time when, 
 in the court-room, the}^ were busy inciting false 
 ^-itnesses to brand Christ as a deceiver and blas- 
 phemer! How opportune, perhaps, the declara- 
 tions of the apostle were to the Saviour's enemies! 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xvi., 18. 
 2 Ibid., xvi.. xix. 
 
110 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 How quickly it was spread about that he who was 
 known to be His. disciple had abandoned Him and 
 would have no more to do with Him. 
 
 But how shall we explain the fall of the apos- 
 tle? We can readily understand that Delilah 
 overcame Samson, the strong hero, for he had 
 confided his secret to her. Just as easily we can 
 understand the victory of Judith over Holofernes. 
 She found him asleep and drunk, and with a pow- 
 erful arm she wielded a mighty sword. But that 
 the prying question of a maid-servant could van- 
 quish the prince of the apostles borders on the 
 incredible. Let us examine the causes of his de- 
 nial. 
 
 II. 
 
 To begin with the remote causes, the excessive 
 self-confidence of the apostle was the first. Peter 
 had forgotten what the Saviour had often told 
 him, "Without Me ye can do nothing." He be- 
 lieved that he himself possessed the power neces- 
 sary to withstand all temptations and dangers. 
 He considered himself firmer and stronger than 
 the others. He could, therefore, not even under- 
 stand how it was possible that anything could 
 make his faith and love waver, notwithstanding 
 the fact that the Redeemer had warned him and 
 had very distinctly foretold his threefold fall. 
 At the last Supper Christ had said to His 
 apostles, ''Whither I go, you cannot come." 
 "Whither goest thou?" asked Peter. "Whither 
 I go," replied Jesus, "thou canst not follow me 
 
THE THREE DENIALS OF PETER 111 
 
 now, but thou shalt follow hereafter." Then 
 Peter said to Him, ''Why cannot I follow Thee 
 now? I will lay down my life for Thee. Lord, 
 I am ready to go with Thee both into prison and 
 to death. ' ' ^ Truly, this is not the language of 
 humility. **You will all," continued the Re- 
 deemer, addressing Himself again to all the apos- 
 tles, *'be scandalized in my regard this night; 
 for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and 
 the sheep shall be dispersed." Whereupon Peter 
 replied, "Although all shall be scandalized in 
 Thee, yet not I." Then Jesus, turning directly 
 to Peter, said to him, *'Amen I say to thee, to- 
 day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, 
 thou shalt deny me thrice." Peter replied, "Al- 
 though I should die together with Thee, I will not 
 deny Thee."' Nay, Peter, that will not do. 
 Pride goeth before a fall and God resists the 
 proud. 
 
 In this regard those Christians resemble Peter 
 who are conceited about their real or imaginary 
 virtues, who find pleasure in thoughts of self -adu- 
 lation and who, therefore, in their hearts prefer 
 themselves to others whom they despise. Those 
 especially resemble Peter who waive aside all ad- 
 monitions and counsels of parents and of superi- 
 ors and who, with proud disdain, care naught for 
 them. They have all set their foot upon the way 
 that leads to a denial of faith. 
 
 The other more remote cause of Peter's fall was 
 
 1 St. John, xiii., 33, 36-38 ; St. Luke, xxii., 33, 34. 
 
 2 St. Matthew, xxvi., 31-35; St. Mark, xiv., 27-31. 
 
112 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 his neglect of praye7\ This cause is most inti- 
 mately connected with the preceding one. Whoso- 
 ever confides too much in himself cannot easily be 
 convinced of the necessity of prayer. Christ had 
 urged Peter in definite terms to watch and to pray 
 because otherwise he could not help but fall into 
 approaching temptations. This was laying upon 
 him a serious obligation. It is true, as we have 
 already considered, that Peter's negligence in 
 prayer was not a grievous sin and, therefore, 
 would not of itself, without the other concurrent 
 causes, have entailed his sad fall. Nevertheless, 
 neglect of prayer, lukewarmness in its perform- 
 ance and the omission of prescribed prayers, are 
 always a step in advance on the way to perdition. 
 A man without prayer is like a soldier without 
 weapons, and nights not begun with a good even- 
 ing prayer are often fraught with danger to the 
 soul. 
 
 The proximate cause was the sinful occasion to 
 which Peter exposed himself. Why did he asso- 
 ciate with Christ's enemies, with the impious? 
 Why did he talk and chat with them? The Sav- 
 iour had not bid him to do so. Neither was it 
 zeal for souls or for Christ's glory that led him 
 to mingle with the servants and guards. In the 
 beginning indeed, this was not a sin. It was the 
 result of thoughtlessness and imprudence. In 
 sadness and trouble, the disciple entirely forgot the 
 admonition of the Master. For this reason, we 
 must not charge the apostle with having rushed 
 of his own free will into a sinful occasion, as far 
 
THE THREE DENIALS OF PETER 113 
 
 as the first denial is concerned. Weakened by 
 pride and Inkewarmness, he fell into an unfore- 
 seen temptation, to overcome which, however, the 
 grace of God was at his command. But he failed 
 to co-operate with it. But why did Peter return 
 to the godless, after his sad experience, and after 
 having started to leave them? AA^hy did he re- 
 main in surroundings which he knew to be dan- 
 gerous? After that, a maid-servant sufficed to 
 make him deny his faith a second time, turn per- 
 jurer and curse and execrate himself. 
 
 This fall of the prince of the apostles is a most 
 forcible sermon on the necessity of carefully 
 avoiding sinful occasions. The company of the 
 godless shook the powerful rock and uprooted the 
 mighty cedar of Lebanon. ''In the presence of 
 the servants of the high-priests,'* writes vener- 
 able Bede,i ''Peter denied knowing Him as 
 man whom he had confessed to be the Son of God 
 when among his fellow-apostles." What then 
 should they not fear who, without necessity, are 
 continually mingling with outsiders and enemies 
 of the faith, yea who even prefer to choose their 
 friends from among them. They are indeed Cath- 
 olics who bear a close resemblance to the reed, as 
 far as their firmness in the faith is concerned. 
 What have they not to fear who join societies 
 in which Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Cath- 
 olics walk together arm in arm. Finally how dan- 
 gerous it is to the faith, or at the very least, to 
 
 1 In Marc. 1, 4, c 14 in fine. 
 8 
 
114 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 its profession and to a Christian life in accord- 
 ance with it, to obligate one's self in contracting 
 matrimony to associate most intimately, as long 
 as life lasts, with one outside the faith, with an 
 apostate Catholic or with a Free-mason. Un- 
 doubtedly, God at times works miracles of mercy ; 
 some mixed marriages have been the occasion of 
 splendid conversions and, in particular cases, such 
 marriages have brought forth not merely good 
 Christians but even heroes of the faith. Still, 
 these cases are and always will be exceptions. 
 Whoever is about to take such a step, would act 
 presumptuously were he to expect such a miracle 
 from God. On the other hand, we may count 
 thousands of persons of both sexes who once were 
 pious, full of faith and well grounded in their re- 
 ligion, but who, after contracting mixed marriages, 
 gradually became negligent of their spiritual du- 
 ties, fell deeper and deeper, until finally they pub- 
 lically joined the number of infidels or non-Cath- 
 olics. Ah ! how sad and woeful and terrible is the 
 death, the funeral and burial of Catholics who in 
 one or other of the above mentioned ways have 
 fallen away from the faith. Have we not been 
 witnesses of it very recently? Instead of the De 
 Profundis we heard the muffled sound of Turkish 
 drums; instead of the Miserere, a melancholy 
 dirge; instead of the Requiem, an apotheosis de- 
 livered by a Protestant preacher; instead of the 
 Libera, a sentimental funeral song, rendered by a 
 vocal chorus just returning from a masked ball. 
 Peter frequented bad company and denied his 
 
THE THREE DENIALS OF PETER 115 
 
 faith. Now, if every sinful occasion is danger- 
 ous to the soul and therefore to be shunned, it is 
 much more necessary to avoid the occasion of im- 
 purity, because man is naturally more inclined 
 to this vice than to any other. The avoidance of 
 dangers leading to impurity is even a most im- 
 portant factor in preserving the faith. For im- 
 purity is a wide roadway leading to infidelity. 
 Oh, Christian youth, whose soul is still resplendent 
 in its first innocence, who still treadest the path 
 of purity and chastity, it needs not a wild beast 
 to tear the garb of thine innocence, it needs not 
 a cyclone to cast thee down ! No ; one woman can 
 accomplish it. Christian man, who livest faith- 
 fully according to thy holy faith and rulest thy 
 family with exemplary conscientiousness, it needs 
 not a band of robbers to destroy the happiness of 
 thy home; it requires not the sophistical argu- 
 ments of a teacher of errors nor of an impious 
 philosopher to make of thee a fool, a maniac, an 
 unbeliever. One woman can accomplish it. And 
 thou, venerable old man with silvery hair, thou 
 who hast to thy credit a long life filled with virtue 
 and merit, — remember Solomon! Thou hast not 
 yet perfect assurance of dying in the grace and 
 charity of God. And hell need not arise from its 
 depths to plunge thee into eternal perdition. One 
 woman can accomplish it. There is only one 
 woman, one maid whom we may approach with- 
 out fear and full of confidence. It is the hand- 
 maid of the Lord, the always pure and immacu- 
 late Virgin Mary. This strong Woman has even 
 
116 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the power to uplift those who have fallen and to 
 shield us all from the fall. 
 
 But let us return to Peter. We have consid- 
 ered the causes of his denial. Let us now con- 
 sider the sorrow he felt for it. 
 
 III. 
 
 The enemies of Christ were already rejoicing 
 at having won over a second Judas in the person 
 of Peter. Hell was glad that the foundation upon 
 which the Church was to be built was already- 
 wrecked. Hell triumphed already over the down- 
 fall and ruin of the whole edifice. Then the cock 
 crowed, and the menials led the Saviour through 
 the court-yard past Peter. The Lord turned and 
 looked at him. At once Peter remembered the 
 word spoken to him by the Redeemer, "Before 
 the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice." 
 And going out, he wept bitterly. 
 
 We may here clearly distinguish a two-fold 
 grace: an exterior and an interior grace. The 
 crow of the cock was to remind the disciple of the 
 Saviour's warnings as well as of his own pre- 
 sumption and unfaithfulness, whilst the look of 
 grace was to touch the disciple's eye and his heart 
 and wound his soul in its inmost depths. Mean- 
 time, as the Gospel intimates, Peter understood 
 the cock's crow only after receiving the inward 
 grace. The heavenly sun alone can melt the ice 
 crust that encompasses the heart of the sinner. 
 
 In the midst, therefore, of His sufferings and 
 overwhelmed with sorrows, the Redeemer still 
 
THE THREE DENIALS OF PETER 117 
 
 thinks of his ungrateful and unhappy apostle and 
 does everything to convert him. He could not 
 well speak to him. But He gave him one look, 
 turning toward him a face disfigured, bespewn and 
 bloody, but divine and full of heavenly mildness. 
 And Peter going forth wept bitterly. If even the 
 eye of a mother has power to conquer hearts, St. 
 Jerome rightly thinks that it was ^'impossible for 
 him to remain in the darkness of denial, who had 
 gazed upon the light of the world. ' ' ^ 
 
 Let us now take notice of the qualities of this 
 sorrow. It was a quick, an instantaneous contri- 
 tion. The reason why many a sinner lives on 
 and dies in sin is not to be found in a lack of ex- 
 terior and interior graces. God has spoken to him 
 often through the voice of parents, of priests, of 
 missionary fathers, of good friends and by means 
 of various accidents. God has looked into his 
 heart, urged and encouraged him to conversion 
 by inner lights and impulses. But the sinner 
 spurned the grace and put off repentance to a fu- 
 ture time, to the hour of death. 
 
 Peter, the Apostle, did not act thus. To receive 
 the grace and to follow it were on his part simul- 
 taneous acts. The Redeemer had scarcely looked 
 at him, when he began to shed tears. 
 
 His contrition was sincere and serious. He 
 went forth and hid himself until evening in a cav- 
 ern, as the legend has it, in order to bewail his 
 sin. He also repaired the scandal he had given. 
 
 1 In Matth. 26, 75. Migne 26, col. 203. 
 
118 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 He recanted his error. On the day of Pentecost, 
 before thousands of people, before the whole city, 
 before the whole world in fact, he loudly pro- 
 claimed that he had known the Risen One. Be- 
 sides, he rendered more than sufficient compensa- 
 tion. He had strengthened the enemies of Christ 
 in their unbelief. He therefore hastened from 
 town to town, from country to country to preach 
 the doctrine of the Crucified, and to win over all 
 men to the faith of Christ Risen. Now, indeed, 
 after having come to a knowledge of his own weak- 
 ness and after confessing so humbly, ''Lord, thou 
 knowest all things: thou knowest that I love 
 thee " ^ he became the proper man to confirm in 
 the faith even his brethren. Now, taught by sad 
 experience, he had learned to pity poor sinners 
 and was able to lead them to the love of Jesus 
 Christ. To strike with the sword and to cut off 
 people's ears has never converted anybody. The 
 case of Malchus illustrates this. 
 
 Finally Peter's contrition was lasting. Tradi- 
 tion tells us that at every crow of the cock the 
 tears broke forth anew and rushed down the fur- 
 rows on his manly face. Eventually Peter went 
 to Rome. There, shedding his blood in acknowl- 
 edging Christ, he was finally to blot out the fault 
 which by his tears he had striven to wash away 
 during life. Now that he had humility, he could 
 keep the promise, which he had, in proud self- 
 elation, once made to his Master, *'I am ready to 
 
 1 St. John, xxi., 17. 
 
THE THREE DENIALS OF PETER 119 
 
 go with Thee to death." With joy and exultation 
 he greets the holy Cross and presses it lovingly 
 to his bosom; rejoicing and triumphant, he extends 
 his arms upon it. The honor, however, of dying 
 in the same manner as his Master he humbly de- 
 clines, in consideration of his past sin. 
 
 Ah! how good and loving Our Redeemer is! 
 Why should we fear or tremble on account of our 
 sins? How carefully He seeks the lost sheep! 
 How joyfully He takes it in His arms! How 
 generous Our Saviour is to those who sincerely 
 turn to Him, no matter how great and deplorable 
 their fall may have been ! Christ harbored no ani- 
 mosity against penitent Peter. He recalled no 
 promise made to Him. He kept every promise 
 even to the minutest detail. He made Peter the 
 foundation of His Church and raised him above 
 all the other apostles. He even established for 
 him a throne in the capital city of the world. 
 He gave him a kingdom over which the sun should 
 never set. He adorned him with the crown of 
 martyrdom, with the crown of eternal life. For 
 our benefit, however. He gave him the keys of 
 heaven in order that through his mediation not 
 only the innocent but all penitent sinners might 
 enter therein. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR 
 
 *' And casting down the pieces of 
 silver in the temple, he departed; 
 and went and hanged himself." 
 
 (St. Matthew, xxvii., 5.) 
 
 After this night of suffering, so full of sorrows 
 and of humiliations, Christ had a second hearing 
 before Caiphas and the Council, the members of 
 which — seventy-one in number — ^were all pres- 
 ent with the possible exception of Nicodemus and 
 of Joseph of Arimathea. Many of them had taken 
 but little rest and were still fatigued from the 
 night's vigils. But because the time was em- 
 ployed in persecuting the Son of God, they had 
 willingly sacrificed their sleep. The session of the 
 great Council again took place in the mansion of 
 Caiphas. Since he had lost the power of adjudi- 
 cating criminal cases, the court-room proper, situ- 
 ated in the south-western corner of the inner court 
 of the temple, was no longer used. If, as some 
 think, Christ had been led from the house of 
 Caiphas first to the court of the temple and then 
 to Pilate, St. John, who mentions the walk to 
 Annas, would have filled out his narrative by 
 mentioning this also, as none of the goings and 
 
 120 
 
THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR 121 
 
 comings to which Christ submitted out of love 
 for us, was to be abandoned to oblivion. 
 
 The object of this assembly was, according to 
 Holy Writ, ''that they might put Him to 
 death. " ^ It was not, then, convened for the pur- 
 pose of a just inquiry, or of a second conscien- 
 tious examination of witnesses, but in order to 
 legitimize through the grand Council, the only 
 rightful authority, the death-decree pronounced 
 at an illegal time and, as seems probable, by the 
 minor Council only and thus to preserve before 
 the public the appearance of a legitimate transac- 
 tion. Then they deliberated as to the most feas- 
 ible means of inducing Pilate to approve and exe- 
 cute the judgment. It appeared advisable to 
 drop the accusation of blasphemy as likely to make 
 little impression on the unbelieving pagan, and, in 
 its stead, to urge the plea of treason. The judges, 
 therefore, asked, ''If thou be the Christ, tell 
 us, " 2 which according to their idea, meant, ' ' If 
 thou be that descendant of David, who, according 
 to the promise, is to re-establish the kingdom and 
 to rule as king, temporal king, of course, then tell 
 us." They pretended to be ready for an impar- 
 tial exahiination of His legitimate claims, but their 
 purpose was to gather up any expression of His 
 which might compromise Him before the tribunal 
 of the pagan. Jesus, understanding this plan, 
 advanced no more explanations. "If I shall tell 
 you,'' said He, "you will not believe me. And 
 
 1 St. Matthew, xxvii., 1. 
 
 2 St. Luke, xxii., 66-71. 
 
122 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 if I shall also ask you — i. e., try, by questions, 
 to induce you to acknowledge the truth — you will 
 not answer me." He alluded to the question He 
 had put them three days before, relating to the 
 baptism of John, which question they had not 
 yet answered him. "But," He continues with 
 Divine authority, "although my death be agreed 
 upon, although the Son of Man, at your mercy, 
 now waives His defense, from now on, from the 
 time of His death, caused by you. He shall sit on 
 the right hand of God and then he shall be your 
 'Judge." 
 
 Thus, in a few words, Christ tore aside the veil 
 of deceit woven by His enemies, and, while thun- 
 dering into their souls a last warning. He at once 
 brought back the discourse to the main question, 
 to the subject of His Divinity. Together they all 
 interrupted Him by exclaiming, "Art thou then 
 the Son of God?" He replied, "You say, that 
 I am." In these words, testimony of the Divinity 
 of Christ is given to the entire great Council, and 
 it was clearly established, in these repeated hear- 
 ings, what really was the sole cause of the Sav- 
 iour's condemnation and of His death. The 
 judges then said, "What need we any farther 
 testimony? For we ourselves have heard it from 
 his own mouth." This closed the hearing before 
 the grand Council and the condemnation was not 
 renewed. The trial must now begin before the 
 Roman governor. 
 
 Whilst Christ was being led to Pilate, and whilst 
 He was before him, one of the principal person- 
 
THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR 123 
 
 ages disappeared forever from the scene. *' Ju- 
 das," says Holy Writ, "who betrayed Him, see- 
 ing that He was condemned; repenting himself, 
 brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the 
 chief-priests and ancients, saying: I have sinned 
 in betraying innocent blood. But they said: 
 What is that to us? look thou to it. And casting 
 down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed 
 and went and hanged himself with a halter." As 
 the high-priests did not deem it proper that the 
 money, the price of blood, should be deposited in 
 the temple, they bought with it a potter's field 
 for the sepulture of pagans. Thus the prophecy 
 of Jeremias was fulfilled.^ 
 
 There are three scenes, three pictures which 
 here merit our attention. They represent 
 I. Judas penitent, 
 
 II. The heartless and hypocritical high-priest 
 and 
 
 III. The despair and the death of the disciple. 
 
 There is no doubt that Judas was sorry for his 
 treason. Holy Writ tells us that he repented him- 
 self. However, let us examine both the occasion 
 and the quality of this repentance. 
 
 The occasion leading Judas to repentance was 
 the sight of the terrible effects, entirely unforeseen, 
 of his treason. ** Judas who betrayed Him, seeing 
 that He was condemned, repenting himself." It 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii., 3-10. 
 
 V 
 
124 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 appears clearly from the Scriptures that when 
 Judas betrayed the Lord, he neither foresaw nor 
 intended the awful results that ensued. He had 
 no idea that his act would cause the Lord such 
 terrible outrages and the loss of life. He had 
 often witnessed how Christ walked unharmed 
 through the midst of His enemies who sought to 
 kill Him, how He often found ways and means 
 to escape them. He hoped that now He would 
 escape in like manner. It will not harm the Lord 
 much, thought he, at most it may cause Him a 
 little annoyance and I shall have thirty pieces 
 of silver more. Now he sees how everything 
 turns out differently. He beholds how Christ is 
 dragged from one high-priest to another. He 
 witnesses the terrors of the passion. He hears 
 Him condemned to death in the house of Caiphas. 
 The sight of the results of his deed makes its 
 weighty import clear to him. "He repents him^ 
 self.'' He would fain have his deed undone; he 
 runs after the high-priests on the way to Pilate 
 to cancel the abominable contract; filled with 
 loathsome disgust, he throws the money down in 
 the temple at the feet of the priests offering the 
 morning sacrifice. 
 
 From this incident we may draw a two-fold les- 
 son. "When Satan tempts us to grievous sin, he 
 shows us some good or other to be had by com- 
 mitting it. To one he offers money, to another 
 vain honor, to another sensual pleasure, and he 
 would make us believe that, if we obtained this 
 one good, our happiness would be complete. All 
 
THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR 125 
 
 that, however, is vain deception. As soon as the 
 sin is committed, we experience what Judas ex- 
 perienced and what our first parents experienced 
 long before. Our eyes are opened. It is only by 
 resisting temptation and by despising the seeming 
 goods of earth that we secure to ourselves true 
 happiness. 
 
 We should, furthermore, carefully avoid the 
 sin of scandal, not only in serious things but also 
 in minor matters. Even if harm to one's neigh- 
 bor is neither intended nor foreseen, who can de- 
 termine results? The bad example given to one's 
 neighbor in small matters only and in the commis- 
 sion of merely venial sin, may be to him the first 
 link in a long chain of serious errors. 
 
 Let us now see whether the quality of the sor- 
 row of Judas was such that, on its account, his sin 
 could be forgiven. For that purpose, it was re- 
 quired in the first place that his contrition be per- 
 fect, as the sacrament of penance was not yet es- 
 tablished. But the contrition of Judas was, at 
 most, imperfect only. Judas bewailed his sin be- 
 cause he had shed innocent blood, that is because 
 of its own atrocity. Had he considered this atroc- 
 ity of his sin not only with the eyes of reason, but 
 also with the eyes of faith, his sorrow would have 
 been supernatural, it is true, but nevertheless only 
 imperfect and not sufficient for justification. 
 However, according to the commentators of Scrip- 
 ture, the sorrow of Judas lacked every reference 
 to God; he measured the enormity of his treason 
 by its natural, sad results only and from a purely 
 
126 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 natural point of view, and thus it was solely a 
 natural sorrow. This appears more credible from 
 the fact that the apostle, as we have seen before, 
 had lost all faith in the divinity of Christ. He 
 saw in Christ nothing more than a man. 
 
 Furthermore, to render the forgiveness of sin 
 possible, the hope of pardon must be united with 
 contrition. But Judas despaired. Finally, to 
 obtain pardon, he should have had the earnest 
 determination to make reparation and to undo, 
 as far as possible, the unhappy results of his 
 treachery. Freely and with full deliberation, he 
 had gone to the high-priests and had asked them, 
 ''What will you give me and I will deliver him 
 unto you?" It was, then, not enough to cast 
 the thirty pieces of silver at their feet. He should 
 have gone to the house of Pilate, he should have 
 forced his way through the crowd to the very seat 
 of the judge, he should there publicly and sol- 
 emnly have sworn that Christ was the victim of 
 intrigue and of foul calumny. Instead of all that, 
 he took his departure. 
 
 Oh, that Catholics would never approach the 
 tribunal of Penance with the contrition of a Judas ! 
 The betrayer of innocence affirms that he is sorry 
 for his abominable deed. But is not the disgrace 
 T/hich he brought upon himself and others the 
 only motive for his sorrow? Whilst trembling 
 in his whole body, many a drunkard, many a 
 libertine affirms his compunction for past excesses. 
 A shattered nervous system, a squandered for- 
 tune, the unhappiness wrought in a family may 
 
THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR 127 
 
 be the only motive of such sorrow. Many parents 
 bewail, with bitter tears, the sad effects of a mis- 
 guided education of their children. Would that 
 they deplored their own negligence by which they 
 offended God grievously. Nor should it be for- 
 gotten that, to be reconciled to God, one must 
 necessarily have the will to repair any damage 
 done to the honor, to the property, to the bodily 
 health and to the soul of one's neighbor. 
 
 We shall now examine the second picture. It 
 shows us the heartless and at the same time hypo- 
 critical high-priests. 
 
 II. 
 
 As we have already remarked, Judas, in his 
 despair, rushed after the high-priests, in order 
 that, by returning the thirty pieces of silver, he 
 might cancel the contract made with them and 
 liberate the Saviour. How great was his disap- 
 pointment! In his boundless sorrow he finds no 
 sympathy among his old friends. They cast him 
 aside with contempt as they would a dog. Not 
 a word of pity, not a word of solace. Nothing 
 but the contemptuous heartless answer, '*What is 
 that to us? Look you to it." O ye obdurate 
 miscreants! You would still pretend to be inno- 
 cent. What is it to us if thou hast committed a 
 crime? Listen to St. Chrysostom: *'You pur- 
 posely hide your eyes behind a veil of feigned igno- 
 rance." You have hired the traitor; you will an- 
 swer for it before the judgment seat of God. 
 
 Many a deceived person can complain of similar 
 
128 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 heartless treatment. Before the deed they hear 
 naught but great promises. Afterwards they are 
 told, ^'What is that to me? Look you to it." 
 And when driven to extremities, the culprit will 
 even perjure himself in court and swear that he 
 had nothing to do with the case. Many a free- 
 thinker, who formerly was a Catholic, may ex- 
 perience like heartlessness. "Call a priest," ex- 
 claimed Voltaire on his death-bed, ''I want to 
 confess." "What is that to us? Look you to 
 it," was the answer of impious friends. The 
 same harshness has been shown many a Catholic 
 wife. The pact was signed and a solemn promise 
 given that the Catholic party should enjoy the free 
 and untrammeled practice of religion and that the 
 children of either sex should be reared in the Cath- 
 olic faith. But when it comes to putting into prac- 
 tice what has been promised, the ProtLstant too 
 often says, "What is that to me? Locj: you to it." 
 It happens at times that men also meet with re- 
 buffs of the same sort. When they sought ad- 
 mission to societies forbidden by Holy Churcli, 
 they asked, "What will you give me, and I will 
 deliver unto you my Catholic faith, I will abandon 
 my Church? " The bargain was made. But 
 when it comes to dying, the fellow lodge-members 
 and, what appears almost impossible, even the 
 Catholic wife, see to it that the sacraments be not 
 administered, that the body be interred in uncon- 
 secrated ground, that the soul go to hell. The 
 impious wife sacrifices the salvation of her hus- 
 band in order not to lose the life-insurance money. 
 
THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR 129 
 
 But I erred; allow me to correct myself. The 
 unfortunate man did not say to the lodge, **What 
 will you give me?" but "what shall I give 
 you? " for he gets not even a cent of all this 
 price of blood. In many cases he had to save and 
 scrape to have his assessments ready for the lodge, 
 he had to put up with hard labor and privation 
 to damn his soul. Now the widow reaps the bene- 
 fit and already entertains the fond hope of a better 
 chance of marriage. Judas, the traitor, was better 
 off in one respect. He, at least, got his money. 
 **What is that to us? Look you to it." Ah! how 
 the devils in hell will, for all eternity, with grin- 
 ning sneers, hiss these words at the damned soul, 
 when it attempts to make them responsible for the 
 sad lot into which they have plunged it. 
 
 The high-priests and pharisees were heartless; 
 they were hypocritical at the same time. The 
 treasury of the temple was not too sacred to fur- 
 nish the price of the treason. The bargain with 
 Judas appeared neither unprincipled nor disgrace- 
 ful. But to have driven the poor disciple into 
 despair, what was that to them? To restore the 
 money to the temple, no, that would never do. 
 The temple was too sacred. *'It is not lawful to 
 put it into the corbona," they said. That was a 
 lie. Only the money by lechery was debarred ! ^ 
 The greatest scoundrels swallow camels. Then 
 they talk of conscience, play the hypocrites and 
 strain at gnats. 
 
 iDeut., xxiii., 18. 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Those hypocritical pharisees and priests find 
 their exact counterparts in many free-masons of 
 to-day. To lure Catholic men to perjury, to 
 apostasy, to plunge them into the greatest of all 
 misfortunes, causes them no pangs of conscience. 
 But the appearance of religion must be preserved. 
 Hence they carry the apron of "humanity" and 
 * ' philanthropy ' ' ! From one end of the year to 
 the other, they never appear in church ; they never 
 hear mass, but they open and close their meetings 
 with sentimental prayers to the ''Grand Architect 
 of the Universe." And are there not Catholics 
 who resemble the pharisees in that they are ex- 
 cessively strict in the observance of sundry devo- 
 tions and customs, often of their own making, 
 whilst they unhesitatingly neglect the command- 
 ments of God and especially the requirements of 
 fraternal charity? 
 
 Let us now cast our eyes upon the last scene. 
 It shows us the despair and the death of the dis- 
 ciple. 
 
 III. 
 
 Judas saw himself most shamefully abandoned 
 by his alleged friends. It was his own fault. By 
 his sin he had rendered himself despicable in their 
 estimation. This was the last grace God gave him 
 to bring him back to Christ. But instead of re- 
 turning, he filled the measure of his sins by despair- 
 ing of God's mercy. 
 
 In all this, we may recognize the infernal cun- 
 ning of the wicked enemy. Before the deed, he 
 
THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR 131 
 
 obscures the understanding of the sinner, he seeks 
 to deceive him by many sophistries; he benumbs 
 conscience, he adds to the will fearlessness, cour- 
 age and daring. But as soon as sin is committed, 
 he opens the eyes of the unhappy sinner. With 
 excessive exactitude he reproduces the malice of 
 the crime; he now tortures conscience with the 
 most excruciating pangs. He shows the sinner hell 
 opened and the drawn sword of an avenging God. 
 ** Judas," said Satan, ''what hast thou done? The 
 voice of thy brother, thy master's blood crieth for 
 vengeance to heaven from the earth." 
 
 Oh, if ever, on account of past sins and faults, 
 the evil enemy should seek to arouse discourage- 
 ment, distrust and despair in our hearts, we must 
 crush such temptations in their very beginning. 
 In such moments we should recall the consoling 
 words which God spoke through His prophet 
 Ezeehiel, "I desire not the death of the wicked, 
 but that the wicked turn from his way and live ; " * 
 and the words of the Saviour, "I came not to call 
 the just, but sinners to penance. ' ' ^ We must then 
 remember the love and mercy with which He par- 
 doned Peter, Mary Magdalene, and the thief on 
 the cross. We must pray to Him and follow the 
 advice of St. Augustine, "If thou dreadest God, 
 throw thyself into His arms." 
 
 Had Judas acted thus, had he given Christ a 
 chance to glance at him, had he, at least, hastened 
 
 1 Ezech., xxxiii., 11. 
 
 2 St. Luke, v., 32. 
 
132 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 to Mary, the refuge of sinners, lie would have 
 found solace, encouragement and pardon, and now 
 he would belong to the choir of holy apostles. But 
 the love of our blessed ]\Iother was extinct in the 
 heart of Judas; respect for her and confidence in 
 her were wanting. One who truly reveres Mary, 
 says St. Bernard, will never be lost. But Judas 
 despaired. "0 Judas,'' writes St. Leo,^ "thou 
 hast become more abominable and more unfortu- 
 nate than all others, because penance hath not 
 called thee back to the Lord, but despair hath 
 drawn thee to the halter. Hadst thou only awaited 
 the result of thy crime. Hadst thou postponed 
 thy disgraceful suicide until the blood of Christ 
 had been shed for all sins. . . . Why didst 
 thou place distrust in the Goodness of Him who 
 refused thee not the kiss of peace, when, with the 
 band and cohort of armed men, thou didst ap- 
 proach Him?" 
 
 But Judas cast down the thirty pieces of silver 
 in the temple, — he departed — ^he went away — he 
 hanged himself with a halter. He burst asunder 
 in the midst and all his bowels gushed out.^ Such 
 was the awful end of the traitor. 
 
 "The unhappy traitor," says Venerable Bede,^ 
 "found a worthy punishment in that the knot of a 
 rope choked the throat whence issued the word 
 of treason. He found a worthy place of demise. 
 Having delivered to death the Lord of men and 
 
 1 Serm. 3 de Pass. c. 3. 
 
 2 Acts, i., 18. 
 
 3 S. Act. Ap. c. 1. Migne t. 92, col. 944. 
 
THE DEATH OF THE TRAITOR 133 
 
 angels, like to Achitopheles and Absolom who 
 sought the life of David, their king, he perished, 
 suspended in the air, an abomination in the sight of 
 heaven and of earth, an associate of the evil spirits 
 of the air. Death overtook him in a worthy man- 
 ner in that his insides, where the venom of treach- 
 ery had matured, burst and gushed out and from 
 the air spread upon the earth." A few hours 
 afterwards the Saviour was nailed to the cross 
 which was high enough to look down upon the 
 soulless corpse of the apostle at the bottom of the 
 declivity. 
 
 To cover their misdeed with the cloak of piety 
 and religion, the high-priests soon afterwards 
 bought, with the blood-money, the field of a potter 
 as a burial-place for heathens. They took the 
 price of Him Who was prized and Who yet was 
 priceless, Whom they had bought, not from the 
 heathens, but, disgrace! from a child of Israel, 
 and they gave it for the field of a potter, of whom 
 Jeremias, at the inspiration of God, had made 
 mention.^ Probably the field had become ex- 
 hausted of its clay and was consequently useless 
 and cheap. What hypocrites and fools the high- 
 priests were! They had put their heads together 
 and consulted how to dispose of the money, so 
 that the declaration of Judas concerning the inno- 
 cence of Christ, might be stifled in silence. But 
 the wisdom of God foiled their prudence. The 
 people soon began to taunt them about the money 
 
 1 Note 8. 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 that had been paid for the potter's field. Already 
 on the fiftieth day after the Lord's demise the 
 field was called the field of blood.^ 
 
 "This name," says St. Chrysostom, "proclaims 
 their murder louder than any trumpet. Had they 
 deposited the money in the treasury, the affair 
 would not have become so public." But in this 
 way the high-priests reared a monument to them- 
 selves to perpetuate their eternal disgrace. Be- 
 sides, it is very noteworthy that the price of 
 Christ's blood was used for the sepulchral repose 
 of the heathens. 
 
 In this field the body of the traitor was buried. 
 Judas was, then, the first Catholic who, to use a 
 modern phrase, was buried in unconsecrated 
 ground. According to ancient traditions,- this 
 field had the wonderful and grewsome property 
 of turning, within twenty-four hours, into dust 
 and ashes all bodies buried therein. Untold dis- 
 honor burdens the name and the memory of the 
 traitor throughout all ages. And his soul — and 
 this is the saddest of all — burns in the deepest 
 abyss of hell and shall continue to burn therein 
 during all eternity. crucified Lord Jesus Christ, 
 through the intercession of Thy sorrowful mother, 
 deliver us from such an end and grant us the grace 
 of a happy death. 
 
 lActs, i., 19. 
 
 2 Adrichomius, Descr. Jesus, n. 216 j cf. Corn, k Lapide 
 Matth. 27, 8. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE ACCUSATION BEFORE PILATE 
 
 " They began to accuse him, say- 
 ing: We have found this man per- 
 verting our nation, and forbidding to 
 give tribute to Csesar, and saying 
 that he is Christ the king." 
 
 (St. Luke, xxiii., 2.) 
 
 From the Garden of Olives Christ was led to 
 Annas, from Annas to Caiphas, from Caiphas to 
 Pilate. How many steps Our Divine Saviour had 
 to take on this day before He finally was allowed 
 to die for us ! On the other hand, how many steps 
 the sinner takes to offend his Saviour and to fall 
 into the embrace of eternal death. On account of 
 His increasing fatigue and of His continued mal- 
 treatment, the repeated marches of Christ became 
 more tiring and, at the same time, more humil- 
 iating, it being now broad day-light and the num- 
 ber of curious and jeering people having in- 
 creased. On the way, two circumstances especially 
 must have offended, in the highest degree, the self- 
 respect of the Redeemer. He was now bound, not 
 with ropes, but with chains. It meant, that the 
 accused, now bound over to the civil authority, 
 had been found guilty and condemned by the 
 spiritual authority. Then, the delivering of 
 135 
 
136 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Christ unto Pilate was not being done by a few 
 subalterns, but by the entire grand council, by 
 all the high-priests, the scribes, the ancients and 
 the Pharisees. Such an extraordinary cortege 
 must naturally have produced among the onlook- 
 ers the impression that the most abject criminal 
 was being led to Pilate. Thus was accomplished 
 what Christ foretold in the Gospel according to St. 
 Matthew (xx., 19), namely, that He would be de- 
 livered to the Gentiles. Jesus thus became the 
 real Joseph, delivered by his brethren unto stran- 
 gers. 
 
 When the high-priests, the scribes and the an- 
 cients arrived before the house of Pilate, they 
 made their servants and soldiers lead Jesus into 
 the hall. They themselves did not enter, in order 
 not to be defiled and thus prohibited from eat- 
 ing the pasch. Pilate, therefore, went out to them 
 and said, ''What accusation bring you against this 
 man?" They answered and said to him, "If he 
 were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered 
 him up to thee. ' ' Pilate then said to them, ' ' Take 
 him you and judge him according to your law." 
 But the Jews said, ' ' It is not lawful for us to put 
 any man to death." Then they began to accuse 
 Him and said, ''We have found this man pervert- 
 ing our nation and forbidding to give tribute to 
 Cffisar, and saying that he is Christ the king. ' ' ^ 
 Pilate, thereupon, retired into the courtroom to 
 give Christ a hearing. 
 
 iSt. John, xviii., 28-34; St. Luke, xxiii., 1, 2. 
 
THE CHARGES BEFORE PILATE 137 
 
 Let us consider: 
 I. The motives of the accusation, 
 II. The negotiations with Pilate concerning it 
 
 and 
 III. The subject of the charge itself. 
 
 First of all, the great council had no right to 
 execute the sentence of death pronounced against 
 Christ without the consent of Pilate. The very 
 first Koman governor had received from the em- 
 peror the exclusive power of inflicting capital pun- 
 ishment. On its own authority, the great council 
 could impose only subordinate punishments, such 
 as the flagellation. When a criminal was con- 
 demned to any mode of execution provided for 
 by the Mosaic law, such as stoning, decapitation, 
 burning or hanging, the charge and the proceed- 
 ings had to be submitted to the governor for ap- 
 proval. This held good also relating to blas- 
 phemy, sorcery or any other crime against re- 
 ligion. 
 
 In this case, however, a simple ratification of 
 the sentence on the part of Pilate would not have 
 served the purpose of the great council. As has 
 already been mentioned, the council could not ac- 
 cording to the Mosaic law, pronounce and, much 
 less, execute a sentence of death on the day of 
 the trial. This would relegate the execution to 
 the following day. But the following day being 
 the paschal Sabbath, it would have to be post- 
 poned until after the paschal holidays, or for fully 
 
138 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 eight days, as was afterwards done by Herod in 
 the case of St. Peter. However, such a postpone- 
 ment might thwart all the plans of the high-priests. 
 They still heard the hosannas ringing in their ears, 
 and the fact that Christ had many secret adherents 
 made them apprehend a change in public opin- 
 ion which would render impossible any further 
 proceedings. They therefore resolved to work the 
 matter into the hands of Pilate in such a manner 
 that he would cause his heathen soldiery to execute 
 the sentence of death on that very day, before the 
 advent of the Pasch.^ 
 
 "We shall now pass on to the negotiations with 
 Pilate concerning the case. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Roman governors did not reside in Jerusa- 
 lem, but in Caesarea, beautifully located on the 
 sea shore. There they had taken possession of the 
 royal palace of the Herodians. When on the great 
 festivals they came to Jerusalem to maintain or- 
 der, they would dwell in the Herodian castle, called 
 by the Romans Castle Antonia. It commanded 
 a view of the court of the temple and had a gar- 
 rison. There, near the temple and surrounded by 
 their soldiers, the governors watched proceedings. 
 As the Herodians could not well be deprived of all 
 their holdings, they were left in possession of the 
 royal palace on Sion, which was not a source of 
 danger, because it was commanded by strong tow- 
 
 1 See note 9, 
 
THE CHARGES BEFORE PILATE 139 
 
 ers in the neighborhood. Herod I., who built the 
 castle, had lavished upon it all his love for 
 splendor. It had the extent and the arrangement 
 of a palace, and, as Flavins Josephus writes, "Its 
 interior was so divided into compartments, halls, 
 baths and gj^mnasiums that, owing to the universal 
 conveniences of a city which it contained and to 
 the splendor which it exhibited, it resembled a 
 royal palace. ' ' ^ 
 
 AYhen they arrived here, the high-priests and 
 scribes caused the heathen menials to lead Jesus 
 into the castle. They themselves did not enter, 
 "that they might not be defiled, but that they 
 might eat the pasch. ' ' The strict Jew, be it under- 
 stood, considered the house of a heathen to be le- 
 gally unclean.- To enter it, according to pharisaic 
 tradition, entailed a defilement of seven daj^s. 
 Besides, old Herod had adorned the interior of 
 the castle with many idolatrous and shameless 
 statues, and the orthodox Jew looked upon it as a 
 heathen temple and an abode of lepers. There 
 were, then, two reasons on account of which the 
 high-priests would not enter the castle. They 
 would not be defiled. Legal defilement would hin- 
 der them from eating the paschal lamb. 
 
 Jesus, then, stood before Pilate, the representa- 
 tive of the Roman emperor. At the sight of the 
 Saviour, so terribly mangled and maltreated, Pilate 
 undoubtedly waxed very wroth at the high-priests. 
 For his o^vn sense of justice must have suggested 
 
 1 B. J. V. 5, 8. 
 
 2 Cf. Acts, X., 28. 
 
140 HISTOEY OF THE PASSION 
 
 to him that it was unfair and cruel to inflict on 
 a sentenced criminal other punishments than those 
 contained in the sentence, especially when the 
 criminal stood before him in the quality of an 
 accused only. Besides this, the remarkable calm- 
 ness, dignity and majesty of Jesus Christ as op- 
 posed to the passionate clamor and ravings of the 
 Jews, caused him to sympathize entirely with the 
 Saviour. He was indignant, furthermore, at the 
 insult offered him by the high-priest, who avoided 
 entering his house as if he were an unclean dog. 
 He therefore went out and gruffly and in a tone 
 of indignation asked them, ''What accusation 
 bring you against this man ? ' ' They answered and 
 said to him, ''If he were not a malefactor, we 
 would not have delivered him up to thee." 
 
 It appears singular, indeed, that against all cus- 
 tom the high-priests should suggest to Pilate that 
 he approve and execute the sentence of death, 
 merely upon their word and credit, without even 
 looking into the facts of the case. They certainly 
 had good reasons for such a maneuver. Had Pilate 
 heard the contradictory testimony of the false 
 witnesses, he would have branded them as bare- 
 faced calumniators. But the high-priests could 
 not adduce any political grounds of action. To 
 their crafty question about His earthly kingdom, 
 the Kedeemer had made no reply. The affirma- 
 tion of the question put to Him at the midnight 
 session, whether He was the Christ, was considered 
 by the high-priests a blasphemy, on account of the 
 
THE CHARGES BEFORE PILATE 141 
 
 added expression, ''The Son of the living God/' 
 But they would not establish their accusation upon 
 a blasphemy in the court of Pilate, the heathen. 
 Thus, with legal documents and charges lacking 
 and Pilate insisting on a definite charge, there 
 remained nothing else to do for the members of 
 the grand council but to play the role of the in- 
 jured and, as it were in holy indignation, to cry 
 out, "If he were not a malefactor, we would not 
 have delivered him up to thee," we the guardians 
 of the law, we, the judges in Israel, we, the priests 
 of Jehovah. Pilate thereupon said, "Take him 
 you and judge him according to your law." But 
 the high-priests answered, "It is not lawful for us 
 to put any man to death." 
 
 To determine with certainty the sense of these 
 words of Pilate and of the high-priests, it would 
 be necessary to have been present at the con- 
 versation and to have read the heart or, at least, 
 the features of Pilate. Some interpreters deem it 
 possible that by his language Pilate waived his right 
 to hear and examine the charge, empowering the 
 Jews, without any further ado, to inflict on Christ 
 any mode of capital punislunent allowed by their 
 law. Perceiving their intention, he would thus 
 shift all the odium on them, whilst remaining a 
 stranger to the affair himself. But that explana- 
 tion seems to be opposed to the sense of justice 
 manifested by Pilate throughout the course of the 
 trial until his private interest became involved. 
 One does not readily grant a favor to an imperti- 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 nent fellow against whom one is already prejudiced 
 and who, besides, prefaces his demand with an 
 insult. 
 
 Other interpreters are therefore of the opinion 
 that Pilate, puzzled at the strange conduct of 
 the high-priests in refusing him an insight into 
 the documents, conceived the idea that there was 
 question only of a small misdemeanor, the punish- 
 ment of which lay within the competency of the 
 great council. The good impression which Christ 
 had made on him tended to confirm him in this 
 opinion. Besides, the high-priests had not defi- 
 nitely charged any greater crime ; they had merely 
 called Him a malefactor. According to this ex- 
 planation, the words, "It is not lawful for us to 
 put any man to death" called the attention of 
 Pilate to his error and gave him to understand 
 that here there was no question of a misdemeanor 
 but of a criminal case the adjudication of which 
 belonged to the governor. But opposed to this 
 view is the fact that Pilate, being acquainted with 
 the customs of the Jews, knew full well that they 
 would bring an accused to him only when there 
 was question of meting out capital punishment. 
 
 The following is perhaps the best explanation: 
 Pilate became highly incensed at the impudent sug- 
 gestions of the proud Jews. To punish them, he 
 reminded them, in a tone of derision and with 
 cutting sarcasm, of their dependence on the Ro- 
 mans, which prevented them from executing their 
 own laws without his permission, as if he said, "If 
 you are not willing to bring a charge against Him, 
 
THE CHARGES BEFORE PILATE 143 
 
 take Him and judge Him if you dare and if it be 
 in your power." This made the high-priests com- 
 prehend that they could not play fast and loose 
 with Pilate. Abashed, stifling their anger with an 
 effort and acknowledging their helplessness, they 
 then produced their charges.^ 
 
 No matter from what point of view the con- 
 versation may be considered, one thing is certain. 
 The high-priests learned that they would never 
 attain their object unless they submitted definite 
 charges. We are anxious to hear them. 
 
 HI. 
 
 The accusation was as follows : *' We have found 
 this man perverting our nation, and forbidding 
 to give tribute to Caesar by saying that he is Christ 
 the king." Here we have an occasion to study in 
 its most despicable form the infernal cunning, the 
 deceit and the h>T)ocrisy of the high-priests, the 
 scribes and the ancients. 
 
 What cunning! To judge from the proceedings 
 in the house of Caiphas, one would expect the sub- 
 ject of the charge to be blasphemy or the attack 
 on the temple. But of all this not a word was 
 mentioned before Pilate. Common sense forbade 
 the accusers to mention the tearing down of the 
 temple which was standing before them in all its 
 grandeur. They would not appear ridiculous. 
 And the charge of blasphemy would leave Pilate, 
 the idolater, entirely indifferent. The high-priests, 
 
 1 See note 10. 
 
144 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 therefore, dropped the former subject of accusa- 
 tion which had brought about the sentence of death, 
 and they submitted to Pilate crimes of which he, 
 the Koman governor and the representative of 
 the emperor, would have to take cognizance. They 
 brand the Redeemer as a person dangerous to the 
 state, as a political criminal. 
 
 Furthermore, what lying and deceit there is in 
 these accusations. *'We have found him,'^ they 
 say, "perverting and disturbing our nation, and 
 forbidding to give tribute to Cassar.'' But which 
 of the accusers had made even the remotest men- 
 tion of these crimes before Caiphas? Now "they 
 have found him." Christ had been asked nothing 
 except whether or not He was Christ, that is, the 
 Son of the living God. He had admitted nothing 
 else. But they know how to help themselves. Us- 
 ing calumny as a means, they add the word ' ' king, * * 
 saying that he is "Christ the king." For, if He 
 used the word "king," that is, if He proclaimed 
 Himself a king, it follows naturally that He must 
 have committed the other two political crimes. 
 
 Let us consider the three accusations in detail; 
 they throw a clear light on the lying deceit of 
 the high-priests. They call Christ a disturber. 
 Christ, indeed, was a disturber above all others. 
 He disturbed hundreds and thousands of men un- 
 til they followed Him into the desert and listened 
 for days to His instructions. He disturbed hun- 
 dreds and thousands of sinners out of their sin- 
 ful slumbers. But when did He ever excite the 
 people against civil authority, against the gov- 
 
THE CHARGES BEFORE PILATE 145 
 
 emor, against the Roman emperor? Venerable 
 sirs, we demand the proof of your statement, and 
 we promise you that, when you will have fur- 
 nished your proof, we shall join with you in your 
 accusations against Christ. Furthermore, Christ 
 was said to have forbidden the giving of tribute 
 to Caesar. But have you already forgotten? 
 Have you not heard from His own mouth 
 the words, *' Render unto Caesar the things 
 that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are 
 God's?" Christ, you say finally, declared Himself 
 a king. Are you not afraid that the people, on 
 hearing your words, will publicly brand you be- 
 fore Pilate as contemptible calumniators? Are 
 you not aware that the Redeemer hid Himself when 
 the people wished to proclaim Him king? 
 
 And consider the hypocrisy of these men. They 
 assume the appearance of loyalty. They pose as 
 faithful and devoted subjects of C^sar. They 
 appear anxious for the welfare of the state. They 
 therefore consider themselves bound in conscience 
 to deliver over to Cesar's representative for pun- 
 ishment, Christ, the most dangerous of rebels, per- 
 verters and enemies of the government. And cer- 
 tainly no more bitter enemies of Caesar, no more 
 dangerous rebels could be found than these very 
 high-priests, scribes, ancients and Jews in general. 
 The mere thought of Roman rule made them boil 
 with anger. Unceasingly they planned to over- 
 throw it, for which reason forty years afterwards, 
 on account of continued revolts, their city was 
 destroyed from the face of the earth. Even in 
 
 10 
 
146 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 latter years they had attempted a demonstration 
 against the Roman rule, but it resulted to their dis- 
 advantage. In view of this incident, kings and 
 emperors should at last learn to know where to 
 look for those who are dangerous to the state and 
 for enemies of their country. Then, instead of im- 
 prisoning and sending into exile bishops and 
 priests and weak nuns, they would imprison and 
 expatriate their accusers. But it is our consola- 
 tion and our pride to know that God has permitted 
 it in order to spread the holy Catholic church, to 
 save many immortal souls and to make us, the un- 
 worthy servants of Jesus Christ, partakers of the 
 glories of the holy Cross. 
 
 Then Pilate went back to the courtroom to give 
 Christ a hearing. 
 
 How contemptible the vice of calumny and 
 slander is! We ought to avoid even its shadow. 
 The ignominy of it falls back upon Christ. For 
 ''as long as you did it to one of these my least 
 brethren, you did it to me. ' ' ^ When we are un- 
 justly attacked in our reputation, we shall not give 
 vent to words of anger nor brood over feelings of 
 revenge, but, in imitation of the Saviour, bear the 
 wrong at least with patience. 
 
 Let us finally cast one more glance at the ac- 
 cused Lord. Silent He stands in the courtroom. 
 He does not ask what they are saying against Him 
 outside. He does not desire to face the accusers 
 in order to defend Himself. He leaves to Al- 
 
 1 St. Matthew, xxv., 40. 
 
THE CHARGES BEFORE PILATE 147 
 
 mighty God His defense and His justification. 
 And truly He has reaped most abundant satisfac- 
 tion. He had been accused as a perverter of the 
 people, and He was silent. And behold! seized 
 by an invisible power, all nations and peoples arise. 
 One nation presses the other onward. They all 
 hasten to embrace the doctrine of the Crucified. 
 It had been said that He forbade to give tribute 
 to C^ar, and He was silent. And I see princes 
 and kings and emperors who deem it an honor to 
 pay to Christ the tribute of their fealty, princes 
 and kings and emperors who spread before His 
 feet their jewels and their golden crowns. He had 
 been accused of aspiring to overthrow C^sar, and 
 He was silent. Wait but a few centuries and upon 
 the ruins of the fallen Roman empire there arises 
 a new kingdom, the kingdom of Christ, embracing 
 the entire world. High upon the summit of the 
 Capitol shines the Cross, the victorious symbol of 
 the Hero of Golgotha. He had been accused of 
 attempting to make Himself king, and He was 
 silent— it cost Him His life. And now, for 
 eighteen himdred years, with a mild sway, He has 
 ruled heaven and earth. He is the king of glory, 
 world without end. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE FIRST HEARING OF CHRIST BEFORE PILATE 
 
 " Pilate saith to him : What is 
 truth ? And when he said this he went 
 out again to the Jews and saith to 
 them: I find no cause in him." 
 
 (St. John, xviii., 38.) 
 
 The accusation was high-treason. Pilate re- 
 turned to the courtroom, took his seat on the 
 judge's bench and cited Jesus before his tribunal. 
 A remarkable trial, indeed ! The judge is a pagan 
 governor, the representative of the Eoman em- 
 peror. The plaintiffs are the highest officials and 
 dignitaries of the Jewish people. The accused is 
 none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the 
 Lord of heaven and earth. The case was a novel 
 one; none like it had ever been witnessed. This 
 man who for three years by His inspired sermons 
 had fairly carried away innumerable crowds of 
 hearers; who, on account of His wonderful deeds, 
 was looked upon as a superior being; a man of 
 the people more than any other, who, some days 
 before, had been led in festal triumph into Jerusa- 
 lem — now, at the instigation of the same people, 
 stood accused of high-treason before the tribunal 
 of a pagan judge. Let us consider^ 
 
 iSt. John, xviii., 33-38; St. Matthew, xxvii., 11-14; 
 St. Mark, xv., 2-5; St. Luke, xxiii., 3-7. 
 148 
 
FIRST HEARING BEFORE PILATE 149 
 
 I. The hearing detailed and 
 II. The chief mistake of Pilate during the hear- 
 ing. 
 
 Pilate began the hearing with the words, ''Art 
 thou the king of the Jews ? ' ' This question reveals 
 to us the keen and expert inquisitor. From among 
 all the charges, he selects that representing the 
 main issue. If Christ were a king, it would fol- 
 low evidently that He would not allow His subjects 
 to recognize a foreign king nor to pay tribute to 
 him. Then Pilate gave to the charge of the Jews 
 a different construction. He did not ask,, *'Hast 
 thou said that thou art a king?" but, ''Art thou 
 the king of the Jews?" The question was well 
 put. Had Jesus asserted His claim only by way 
 of boasting without any foundation in fact, there 
 would have been in it no serious danger to the 
 commonwealth. Again, he did not ask, after the 
 indefinite and general manner in which the Jews 
 presented the charge, "Art thou a king?" but, 
 ' ' Art thou the king of the Jews ? ' ' For had Christ 
 really been a king, but of a foreign and independ- 
 ent realm, then proper honors were due to Him as 
 an equal of the Roman emperor. The question 
 at issue was whether He was the king of the Jews, 
 of a nation subject and tributary to the Roman 
 emperor. After all his dealings with the Jews, 
 Pilate was certainly aware that they expected a 
 king. He wanted to know whether or not the ac- 
 cused was this king. 
 
150 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Our Divine Lord desired particularly to hear 
 from Pilate's own mouth, whether he had put 
 this question as judge, as an official, or whether 
 he wished, in his private capacity, to ascertain the 
 truth. Certainly Christ had the right to presume 
 that Pilate had a personal interest in learning who 
 the accused really was. His innumerable miracles 
 in proof of His Messianic dignity could surely 
 not have remained unknown to Pilate, who had 
 been in Judea during the entire public life of the 
 Redeemer. Besides, the divine dignity and majesty 
 of Christ, which shone even through His disfigured 
 and sullied countenance, could not fail to make an 
 impression on the pagan. Moreover, in that very 
 moment the Saviour did not fail to supply the 
 interior grace. He therefore asked Pilate: ''Say- 
 est thou this thing of thyself, or have others told 
 it thee of me?" Pilate, provoked, answered 
 roughly: *'Am I a Jew? Thy own nation and the 
 chief -priests have delivered thee up to me. What 
 hast thou done?" In other words, "Personally, I 
 am indifferent as to what thou art, for I am a 
 pagan and no Jew. I ask thee .as judge, because 
 thou hast been accused before me. What then 
 hast thou done? Mention the crime." In order 
 not to provoke Pilate who, as Roman governor, 
 had to shield the emperor, and to restrain him 
 from undue haste and rashness, Christ an- 
 swered evasively the question regarding His kingly 
 power. He did not deny nor did He declare in 
 express words that He was a king. He merely 
 spoke of His kingdom, that it was not of this world 
 
FIRST HEARING BEFORE PILATE 151 
 
 and, therefore, that it bore no resemblance to other 
 kingdoms. Pilate consequently need have no 
 anxiety. No hostile movement would be set on foot 
 against him or the emperor on the part of Christ, 
 Who had neither armies, nor arms, nor strong- 
 holds. 
 
 This answer seemed to satisfy Pilate to some 
 extent. But he desired more clearness and pre- 
 cision. A kingdom, he thought, without a king, is 
 impossible. But he who has a kingdom must be 
 a king. He therefore repeated his question, ''Art 
 thou a king?" With all the modesty becoming 
 one arraigned Jesus answered, ''Thou sayest, that 
 I am a king." Then He answered the other ques- 
 tion which Pilate had subsequently proposed: 
 "What hast thou done?" But, Pilate, should 
 Jesus tell thee all that He has done, how, as God, 
 He created heaven and earth, how, as man for 
 three years. He wandered through Palestine dis- 
 pensing benefits and working miracles, the evening 
 would not see the end of the trial. However, Jesus 
 said, "For this was I born and for this came I 
 into the world; that I should give testimony to 
 the truth." It is my calling and it was my busi- 
 ness to teach the truth. Then in a delicate manner 
 Christ gave him the well meant advice to join the 
 ranks of those who were believers in His doctrine : 
 "Every one that is of the truth," that is, who 
 loves the truth, who is interested in learning to 
 know the truth, "heareth my voice." 
 
 Now Pilate understood. The answers given con- 
 vinced him perfectly that Christ was innocent and 
 
152 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 of no danger to the commonwealth. But how can 
 this be explained? Had Pilate really understood, 
 in its supernatural sense, the answer of Christ re- 
 garding His kingdom? No; by stating that per- 
 sonally He cared naught for Christ or for His 
 doctrine, he showed that he had failed to grasp the 
 true sense of Christ's answer, which would have 
 proved so great a grace to him. He rather consid- 
 ered the Saviour Who had spoken to him about 
 the truth and represented Himself as a teacher of 
 the truth to be one of those men such as Pyrrho, 
 Zeno, Thales and Epicurus, who from time to time 
 endowed the world with a new philosophical sys- 
 tem and who founded schools of philosophy named 
 after themselves. And because, even at that time, 
 people were wont to see in such founders extraor- 
 dinary pride, limitless arrogance and excessive self- 
 esteem, Pilate did not find it strange that this new 
 teacher of wisdom vaunted himself as a king before 
 his disciples. He might think it ridiculous, but 
 not dangerous to the state. "To play at kings,'* 
 he thought, "is done also by children." 
 
 But before going out to the Jews, Pilate could 
 not help proposing casually the sarcastic question, 
 "What is truth?" Does truth exist in fact? Is 
 there a man who knows what truth is? Is not 
 everything doubt and uncertainty? By this ques- 
 tion Pilate also wished to show how little he, the 
 pagan and statesman, cared for religious and phi- 
 losophic questions and disputes. And to condemn 
 any one to death because his scientific views dif- 
 
FIRST HEARING BEFORE PILATE 153 
 
 fered from those of others, seemed to him entirely 
 improper. 
 
 Pilate therefore went out and declared solemnly, 
 **I find no cause in him/' Then he caused Jesus 
 to be led forth, whereupon the Jews again began 
 their accusations. Pilate repeatedly urged Christ 
 to defend Himself, but He answered nothing so 
 that Pilate was greatly astonished. He had never 
 met an accused person who was silent in his own 
 defense, even though he knew that the judge fa- 
 vored him. Pilate also would have been extremely 
 glad if Christ by a brilliant speech of defense had 
 helped him out of the unfortunate dilemma in 
 which he found himself. On the one hand, he 
 did not wish to condemn Christ, whom he consid- 
 ered innocent, neither did he, on the other, wish 
 to offend the prominent Jews. But Christ, Who 
 had defended Magdalene and shielded the adul- 
 teress, was silent in His own case. Then the high- 
 priests, in their renewed accusations, gave the 
 judge a favorable chance to rid himself of the 
 whole matter. With cries and much noise, the 
 more easily to succeed, they repeated that Christ 
 stirred up the people ; that He did it by His teach- 
 ings all over Judea; that He was not only a rebel 
 Himself, but that He made it a point to preach 
 insubordination and revolt all the way from Galilee 
 to Jerusalem. 
 
 These last words the accusers were in hopes 
 would be received as proof of their charge. For 
 Galilee was notorious for its many seditions. 
 
154 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 There Roman domination found its most stubborn 
 and energetic opponents. Therefore, they meant 
 to insinuate, Christ must necessarily be a rebel 
 against the emperor, because He came from Gali- 
 lee. Such methods prevail even to-day in the anti- 
 religious camp : because some members of the Cath- 
 olic church or of a religious society or order have 
 been guilty of a fault, therefore they all amount 
 to nothing. 
 
 Without, however, entering into the idea of the 
 Jews, Pilate merely inquired whether this man 
 was a Galilean, and, when he received an affirma- 
 tive reply, a burden fell from his heart. He 
 breathed easier. Jesus, then, was a Galilean, con- 
 sequently from Herod's dominion, and just at 
 that time Herod w^as in Jerusalem. Pilate im- 
 mediately gave orders that the Saviour be led to 
 Herod. By doing this, he hoped to rid himself of 
 the case and, at the same time, by this act of 
 politeness and of recognition of his judicial power, 
 to reconcile to himself the good will of Herod, who 
 was his bitter enemy. The high-priests were very 
 well satisfied. By not acceding to their wishes, 
 Pilate had caused them vexation enough. But 
 from Herod, who aspired to the royal crown of 
 Judea and to whom therefore every rival was 
 odious, from Herod, the son of the child-murderer 
 of Bethlehem, from Herod who had made short 
 work of John the Baptist, presenting his head to 
 a dancing-girl, they hoped to obtain better results. 
 Thus closed the first trial of Our Lord and Saviour 
 
FIRST HEARING BEFORE PILATE 155 
 
 Jesus Christ before the vicegerent of the Roman 
 emperor. 
 
 Let us now consider the main fault committed 
 hy Pilate during its progress. 
 
 II. 
 
 Even at this first trial, Pilate showed several 
 weak points; he gave evidence of irresolution and 
 of human respect. He dared not liberate an ac- 
 cused Avhom he knew to be innocent. It was en- 
 tirely unjust to expose an innocent person to the 
 further ill treatment of the high-priests. But we 
 shall now pass over these faults, which present 
 themselves much more prominently at the second 
 hearing, and consider only that fault which was 
 the reason and source of all subsequent errors and 
 which decided Pilate's eternal destiny. This 
 main fault was indifference to the truth and con- 
 tempt of it. "Am I a Jew?" he had asked, 
 "AVhat is it to me, a pagan, what thou art?" 
 And when Christ presented Himself as the teacher 
 of the truth, he exclaimed contemptuously, ''What 
 is truth ? ' ' and turned his back on Christ. 
 
 ''What is truth?" was Pilate's question to the 
 Saviour. "Does truth really exist?" By this 
 question the pagan world, through the mouth of 
 Pilate, declared itself insolvent and closed its ac- 
 counts with truth. Through most curious philo- 
 sophical systems, many pagan investigators and 
 ca viler s had arrived at the unanimous conclusion 
 that there is no supreme truth, that ever5i;hing 
 
156 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 ends iu fallacy and uncertainty — a conclusion to 
 wliich they more readily subscribed because it dis- 
 turbed them not in the gratification of the most 
 ignoble passions. Socrates, the wisest of them all, 
 had ventured the statement that he had found 
 the truth. In punishment, the poisoned cup was 
 handed him. Plato, his disciple, died with the dec- 
 laration that, should man ever arrive at the knowl- 
 edge of the truth, a God must needs descend to 
 convey it to him. Now, finally, that God had ar- 
 rived. He stood before Pilate, the representative 
 of paganism. And Pilate asked the happy ques- 
 tion, "What is truth?" The Saviour was ready 
 to teach him the truth. And He was all the more 
 ready because Pilate had thus far treated Him 
 justly. But the Roman, despairing of all truth, 
 turns contemptuously from the teacher of eternal 
 truth. 
 
 This moment in his life was the decisive one 
 for time and for eternity. Had the pagan, en- 
 tangled as he was by innumerable doubts, per- 
 mitted himself to be taught by Christ, he certainly 
 would have received from Him the grace to arrive 
 at the knowledge of divine truth. He also would 
 then have found courage to act and to give a de- 
 cision according to the known truth. He would not 
 have sentenced Christ to death, and he would have 
 been saved. But he preferred to remain in his 
 doubt; he wa& indifferent to truth, he despised 
 truth, he resisted the Holy Spirit. That brought 
 him into the "Credo" as a warning example to all 
 despisers of truth; it put his name in that confes- 
 
FIRST HEARING BEFORE PILATE 157 
 
 sion by which the Christian expresses his belief in 
 the truth: ** Christ, Who suffered under Pontius 
 Pilate.'' 
 
 This indifference to and contempt of truth, this 
 fear of truth and of the obligations it entails, 
 are even nowadays the main reasons why so many 
 are on the way to perdition and to eternal ruin. 
 Indifference to truth and its contempt are the 
 mother of free thought, of religious indifference, 
 of current phrases such as this: that it matters 
 not what or how much one may believe, nor to 
 which religious denomination one may belong, pro- 
 vided one does what is right. This is a potent er- 
 ror. To accept or doubt or reject truth is not the 
 same to Christ, the divine Teacher of truth. He 
 demands the sacrifice of our understanding and of 
 our will. Then again, there are many members of 
 the religious sects, fallen away from the Church, 
 who never get beyond their religious doubts, and 
 many who are fully aware of being in error. What 
 keeps them from taking the decisive step? Noth- 
 ing but indifference to truth, often joined with a 
 fear of truth and of its practical consequences. 
 
 Even among Catholics many follow in the foot- 
 steps of Pilate. They are those who feel no need 
 of hearing the truths of our faith explained, al- 
 though they lack even the most rudimentary knowl- 
 edge of them. Although, every Sunday and holi- 
 day, in our churches, Christ announces the truth 
 through the mouth of His ordained ministers, 
 they allow months and years to pass by without 
 listening to a single sermon. At most they are 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 content with a low mass. Even in times of 
 extraordinary grace, at missions and at jubilees, 
 they turn their backs to Christ, the Teacher of 
 truth. 
 
 But the saddest feature of all is that in many 
 countries hundreds and thousands of Catholic 
 children are systematically trained to be Pilates 
 by impiously cruel parents. Without any legiti- 
 mate cause, they are sent to schools from, which re- 
 ligion and religious instruction are banished on 
 principle. I do not wish to cast reproach upon all 
 teachers who instruct in these irreligious schools, 
 as if they purposely spread false doctrines or 
 sought to lead the children into religious indiffer- 
 ence. But because in these schools no favorable 
 word may be spoken of religion, and least of all 
 of the Catholic religion; because the text-books, 
 although not always bad, are at the very least 
 colorless and void of religious value ; because prayer 
 is an unknown quantity and positively religious 
 education is entirely lacking; therefore, it is re- 
 ligious indifference and contempt of religion which, 
 among all the branches, the poor children acquire 
 the most readily and retain, as a rule, for their en- 
 tire life. What, in the hour of their death, will 
 such blind parents answer the eternal Judge when 
 He asks them, ''Father, mother, what hast thou 
 done?" 
 
 There is no surer way to obtain in abundance 
 the favors and grace of our divine Teacher than 
 by being His willing disciples. We should there- 
 fore often pray to Him, ' * Lord, teach us the truth, 
 
FIRST HEARING BEFORE PILATE 159 
 
 Thou hast the words of eternal life. ' ' ^ Let us seize 
 joyfully upon all occasions which He presents to 
 us in His church to learn the truths of faith and 
 morals and to arrive at a better understanding of 
 them. Finally, we must lead lives in accordance 
 with the known truth. Then in death, when all 
 outward show and deception vanish, truth will be 
 our light, our solace and our strength, and in 
 heaven it will be our felicity. 
 
 In conclusion, let us consider a word spoken by 
 Christ in the hearing before Pilate ; it deserves our 
 attention. To the high-priest Caiphas the Saviour 
 had presented Himself as the divinely anointed 
 High-Priest of the New Law, as the promised Mes- 
 siah, as the true Son of God. Before Pilate who 
 represented the ruler of the Roman world-empire. 
 He declared Himself to be a king as absolutely in- 
 dependent in His kingdom from all worldy power, 
 as the emperor was in his own dominion. ' ' My king- 
 dom," He said, "is not of this world," its object 
 is a supernatural one. But a kingdom which has 
 a supernatural end, cannot possibly be subordinate 
 to a kingdom pursuing merely natural ends. The 
 Church of Christ, therefore, has the right of self- 
 government in the fullest sense of the word. Thus 
 the declaration of Christ before Pilate defined for 
 all times to come the mutual relations of Church 
 and state. Although both are not of the world, 
 they are both in the world. They should use all 
 the means which God has furnished them to attain 
 their objects, which, although different, are not 
 
 1 at. John, vi., 69. 
 
160 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 therefore opposed to each other. And for a more 
 perfect attainment of their respective objects, they 
 ought, when occasion offers, to give each other a 
 helpful and friendlj^ hand. But, at the very first 
 meeting in the court of the governor, we behold 
 Church and state in conflict. It may, however, 
 be mentioned to the honor of Pilate that he himself 
 neither began nor fostered the conflict, as in later 
 times was done by so many Christian kings and 
 emperors to their everlasting disgrace and to their 
 eternal woe. Against his wall he was drawn 
 into it. Until this moment, Pilate sincerely 
 desired to give to the Church her proper freedom. 
 The conflict between the Roman empire at the 
 zenith of its power and the Church of Cnrist began 
 later and ended in the downfall of the former. 
 Thus shall criunble into ruin all governments which 
 persecute the kingdom of Christ and in brazen te- 
 merity strive to destroy it from the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 ''My kingdom," my Church, says the Redeemer, 
 ' ' is not of this world. ' ' If we, then, would be true 
 children of the Catholic Church, we must, like to 
 our Holy Mother, strive for the supernatural. All 
 other objects which we may legitimately strive for 
 must be subordinate to our supreme, supernatural 
 end. We must not busy ourselves about everything 
 that is upon earth, but we must seek the things 
 that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right 
 hand of God ^ and where He rules as king for all 
 eternity. 
 
 iCol., iii., 1. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CHRIST BEFORE HEROD 
 
 "And Herod with his army set 
 him at nought : and mocked him, put- 
 ting on him a white garment, and 
 sent him back to Pilate." 
 
 (St. Luke, xxiii., 11.) 
 
 For a long time a bitter enmity had secretly ex- 
 isted between Pilate and Herod. It had not es- 
 caped Pilate that Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, 
 maintained continual and direct negotiations with 
 the imperial court for no other purpose than to 
 bring about the removal of the governors and his 
 own elevation to the throne of Judea. It seems 
 that Herod enjoyed the especial favor of the em- 
 peror Tiberius after whom he named his capital 
 city. This, it is said, was shown especially by the 
 fact that Tiberius bestowed upon the tetrarch the 
 dignity of king of Galilee. But it may be that 
 Herod, relying on the favor of the emperor, placed 
 the crown upon his own head as others undoubtedly 
 did in centuries following. On the other hand, 
 Herod was angry at Pilate because the latter had 
 not assisted him in his war against the Arabians. 
 The following incident, according to the narrative 
 of the Jewish historian. Flavins Josephus, finally 
 
 161 
 11 
 
162 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 brought the enmity to an open rupture. For the 
 construction of an expensive aqueduct, Pilate had 
 extorted immense sums from the treasury of the 
 Temple ; the laborers he secured from Herod. His 
 violent measures caused excitement and exas- 
 peration among the whole Jewish people. To in- 
 crease the embittered feelings, wily Herod gave 
 secret orders to the architects to provide for poor 
 construction. They obeyed the order and, in con- 
 sequence, the tower of Siloe collapsed, depriving 
 eighteen artisans of their lives. In revenge for 
 this perfidy of the Galilean ruler, Pilate, at the 
 next paschal festivities, caused masked Romans to 
 fall upon the Galileans while they were offering 
 sacrifices in the Temple, and a great carnage en- 
 sued. The result was a rebellion during which 
 several rebels, among others the notorious Barab- 
 bas and, probably, the two thieves, were taken 
 prisoners. And, to the great chagrin of Pilate, the 
 emperor Tiberius entrusted to Herod the supreme 
 care of the Temple's treasury. Partly on account 
 of these ecclesiastical moneys, partly to protect his 
 Galileans, partly to ingratiate himself with the 
 Jews whose king he wished to be and partly *'to 
 satisfy his devotion,'' Herod wended his way 
 toward Jerusalem to the paschal festivities. As be- 
 hooved a good father, he took his family with him. 
 By taking part in the paschal supper, they would 
 give a good example to their subjects, repair any 
 possible scandal they might have given and testify 
 publicly to their own orthodoxy. 
 
 To this man Herod Pilate ordered the soldiers 
 
CHRIST BEFORE HEROD 163 
 
 to lead Jesus. Again the high-priests, scribes and 
 ancients accompanied Him. Divine Providence so 
 willed it. Had Pilate liberated the Saviour, the 
 high-priests would say, "No wonder! Who knows 
 what lies Christ told Pilate in His own defense 
 when they were alone." Before Herod they could 
 be convinced of His silence. Besides, they could 
 not charge Herod, as they could Pilate, with igno- 
 rance and contempt of their law. Their confusion 
 was so much the greater, when Herod did not con- 
 demn Him. '^And Herod seeing Jesus was very 
 glad, for he was desirous of a long time to see 
 him, because he had heard many things of him; 
 and he hoped to see some sign wrought by him. 
 And he questioned him in many words. But he 
 answered him nothing. And the chief-priests and 
 scribes stood by, earnestly accusing him. And 
 Herod with his army set him at naught; and 
 mocked him, putting on him a white garment, and 
 sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate 
 were made friends that same day, for before they 
 were enemies one to another. ' ' ^ 
 
 Let us consider 
 
 I. The joy of Herod, 
 II. The disappointment of Herod, 
 
 III. The revenge of Herod. 
 
 I. 
 
 *'And Herod seeing Jesus was very glad." 
 This was not the first time a man was glad to see 
 
 iSt. Luke, xxiii., 8-12. 
 
164 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the Saviour. How glad were the pious shepherds, 
 when following the admonition of the angels, they 
 hastened to the stable and found the Child with 
 Joseph and Its Blessed Mother ! How, at the sight 
 of the new-bom Saviour, were the wise men of the 
 East recompensed for all the trouble and discom- 
 fort of their long journey ! ' ' Now thou dost dismiss 
 thy servant, Lord, in peace," joyfully exclaimed 
 Simeon, the holy old man, when Mary placed the 
 Divine Infant Jesus in his arms. Zacheus also 
 desired greatly to see the Lord and for this pur- 
 pose he climbed up into a tree. It was the hap- 
 piest day in his life. If, then, Herod was glad on 
 beholding the Saviour the first time, if, to express 
 his joy, he prepared a splendid reception, if he 
 surrounded himself with his entire court and spoke 
 to Christ with condescending favor, we find noth- 
 ing strange in it ; on the contrary, it appears to us 
 quite natural. 
 
 Meanwhile the chief-priests, scribes and ancients 
 were standing there in speechless surprise and 
 ready to burst with anger because Herod, while 
 scarcely noticing them, devoted all his attention 
 to the Redeemer and treated Him, not as a 
 criminal, but as a most welcome guest. All the 
 hopes they had placed in Herod, seemed to evanesce 
 in a moment. Then they began to accuse Christ 
 and could hardly make an end. They charged Him 
 with having aspired to the throne of Judea which 
 belonged to Herod; with having blasphemed Grod; 
 with intending to destroy the temple ; with being a 
 relative of that John who had meddled in such an 
 
CHRIST BEFORE HEROD 165 
 
 uncalled for manner in the king's domestic affairs 
 and thereby caused the latter so much annoyance. 
 They charged that Christ had afterwards praised 
 John for the stand he had taken against the king ; 
 that Christ, in fact, was the soul of the whole af- 
 fair; that He had incited John against the king; 
 that in a public sermon He had called the king a 
 fox, saying, ''Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast 
 out devils. ' ' ^ When, later, they saw that Herod 
 began to look upon Christ as a fool, they cleverly 
 shifted their position and cried, louder than before, 
 that Christ was a cunning rascal and an infamous 
 hypocrite, and that He was merely shamming in 
 order to obtain His liberty. 
 
 But to come back to the joy of Herod, what casts 
 some suspicion upon it are the words of the Gospel 
 telling us that of a long time he was desirous to 
 see Christ because he had heard many things of 
 Him. If he had been desirous for a long time to 
 see Christ, why did he not make use before this of 
 the innumerable opportunities he had had of seeing 
 Him? For three years, the Redeemer had passed 
 through the cities and villages of Palestine. He 
 had made Galilee especially the scene of His activ- 
 ity; Capharnaum, where Herod often resided, was 
 the sojourn of predilection, the second home of 
 Christ. There He would preach in the synagogue, 
 on the streets, in the houses ; and Herod had never 
 seen Him. This is the way of many prominent 
 people. They prefer not to mingle with the com- 
 
 1 St. Luke, xiii., 32. 
 
166 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 mon people at religious services. It would be be- 
 neath their dignity. Again, the air in the church 
 is usually too sultry. Besides — and this is the 
 main point — they fear to be told unpalatable 
 truths in the sermons. Therefore they remain 
 away. The Scriptures mention as the chief reason 
 of Herod's joy the hope of seeing Christ work a 
 miracle. But why did he not with the other thou- 
 sands follow the Saviour into the desert? He 
 surely would have received his share of the mirac- 
 ulously multiplied bread. 
 
 The Redeemer was now to have the honor of ap- 
 pearing as a skilled magician before his majesty, 
 king Herod, the members of the royal household 
 and the officials of the court. Like a clown in a 
 play-house, He must entertain the brazen-faced 
 crowd for a few enjoyable hours. Such was the 
 suggestion of Herod to a man who stood before him 
 in the deepest humiliation, a disfigured picture of 
 misery and woe. God, were He merely a man! 
 But He was the One of Whom the Psalmist chants, 
 ^'0 Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? The 
 world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded: 
 the north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor 
 and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name." ^ He was 
 the One of Whom Job said: *'Who hath removed 
 mountains, and they whom he overthrew in his 
 wrath, knew it not. Who shaketh the earth out of 
 her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. Who 
 maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the 
 
 1 Psalms, Ixxxviii., 9, 12, 13. 
 
CHRIST BEFORE HEROD 167 
 
 inner parts of the south. Y7ho doth things great 
 and incomprehensible and wonderful, of which 
 there is no number."^ All that, Herod, does 
 not suffice thee. Thou demandest new miracles. 
 Thou demandest charlatan tricks and magic craft 
 of God Almighty. And ye, unruly waves of the 
 Galilean sea, on whom the Lord once enjoined re- 
 pose, ye do not break through your dams to en- 
 gulf the impudent blasphemer? Ye awful chasms 
 in the earth, whom He robbed of the dead, ye do 
 not open? Ye Powers and Thrones, ye Cherubim 
 and Seraphim, ye legions of angels, all ye who sang 
 the Gloria, do ye not rise to avenge the sacrilege 
 against your Creator? But the Kedeemer stood 
 in silence, without complaint, full of dignity and 
 majesty. Indeed He proved the truth of His 
 word, ' ' I am meek and humble of heart. ' ' ^ 
 
 Then Herod began to use all means at his com- 
 mand to attain his object. He began with flattery. 
 For a long time, he assured Christ, he had deemed 
 himself happy to harbor in his kingdom such an 
 excellent man, whose renown as an enlightened 
 teacher and as a great miracle-worker had spread 
 far beyond the bounds of Galilee. It afforded him 
 exceeding satisfaction finally to have the oppor- 
 tunity of making His acquaintance. Then Herod 
 added promises of favor and reward. Christ would 
 not be required to do it for nothing. Money, 
 liberty and life were assured Him, provided the 
 performance were satisfactory. Then he begged 
 
 1 Job., ix., 5-10. 
 
 2 St. Matthew, xi., 29. 
 
168 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 and insisted that Christ produce at least a few 
 specimens of His art. Should He not have with 
 Him the material and instruments necessary, some- 
 thing less difficult would be sufficient. Then he 
 perhaps caused water to be brought, which He 
 might change into wine. "We can readily under- 
 stand the anxiety and agony of the chief-priests 
 lest Christ save Himself by a miracle and why 
 they kept on accusing Him all the while. Finally 
 Herod reminded the Redeemer that His life was in 
 his power and that it would be imprudent to pro- 
 voke the ire of a well-meaning judge. 
 
 This was wonderful eloquence. We shall not 
 deny it proper recognition. But the greater the 
 gladness and hope of Herod had been, so much the 
 greater was also his disappointment. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Redeemer had often worked miracles of His 
 own accord and without being asked. He beheld 
 Himself surrounded by a hungry multitude and 
 He satisfied them with a few loaves. He met a 
 sorrowing widow, walking behind the bier of her 
 only son, and he commanded the bearers to stand. 
 He saw tears in the eyes of two sisters, and He be- 
 gan to weep and exclaimed, ''Lazarus, come 
 forth!" But Herod wasted time and trouble striv- 
 ing to induce Christ to perform a miracle. The 
 Lord did not even deign to address a single word to 
 him. Herod, says Holy Writ, questioned Him 
 in many words, but He answered him nothing. It 
 was very strange, indeed. At other times, Christ 
 
CHRIST BEFOPvE HEROD 169 
 
 was silent only under injury, calumny, maltreat- 
 ment or when asked to defend Himself. He was 
 wont to answer questions put by a legitimate judge. 
 Thus He declared before Pilate that He was a king, 
 and before Caiphas, that He was the Son of God. 
 Why, then, did Herod not receive an answer to his 
 questions? He was the ruler of Galilee and con- 
 sequently the legitimate judge of the accused; be- 
 sides, the governor had entrusted to him the con- 
 duct of the trial. Let us inquire into the reasons 
 of this mysterious silence before Herod. 
 
 Some recent commentators designate the impure 
 life of Herod as the chief cause. Although united 
 in lawful wedlock with the daughter of the Arab- 
 ian king Aretos, he was living with Herodias, the 
 wife of his step-brother, whom he had abducted 
 during a sojourn in Rome. He probably thought 
 that a point might be stretched in this regard in 
 favor of kings and princes who enjoyed special 
 privileges on account of their rank. Three years 
 had passed since John the Baptist upbraided him 
 for his crime. It cost John his head, and the pub- 
 lic scandal continued. If he expected an answer 
 from the Saviour, Herod ought certainly to 
 have removed the shameless woman from his house. 
 Certainly his sinful life made him entirely un- 
 worthy of an answer. For it almost seems that 
 nowadays the Lord will not address a word of 
 grace to those Christians who sin against purity. 
 I do not mean those who fall occasionally through 
 weakness, but those who abandon themselves en- 
 tirely to this vice, who make of it a business and a 
 
170 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 source of revenue, and especially those who for 
 years live in sinful relations. How could they 
 otherwise live on seemingly so happy and appar- 
 ently without remorse? How seldom does it hap- 
 pen that such unfortunate people break the in- 
 terior and external fetters which bind them; how 
 seldom do they truly turn to God ! To work such 
 miracles of grace seems to be reserved by Divine 
 Providence to the Immaculate Virgin. But, on 
 the other hand, when I behold the Saviour in con- 
 versation with the Samaritan woman, who surely 
 was a great sinner, when I consider that He him- 
 self caused this conversation, I cannot imagine that 
 the impure life of Herod, considered in itself, was 
 the main cause of the silence of Jesus Christ. 
 More ancient commentators, indeed, merely touch 
 upon this reason in a cursory manner. 
 
 There is more weight in the reason that Herod, 
 who had been brought up in the Jewish religion, 
 although not a descendant of Abraham, had well 
 nigh entirely lost his faith. To ingratiate himself 
 with the Jews, he was led by political prudence 
 and craft to observe certain precepts of the Mosaic 
 Law, which he ridiculed in his heart. Thus he 
 lived continually in sins against the Holy Ghost, 
 and it is these sins above all which stifle the voice 
 of Christ's grace. For this reason hundreds of 
 Protestants who grow up in good faith, will be 
 converted more easily than one apostate Catholic. 
 Faith teaches that a Catholic abandons and de- 
 nies Ms religion not from inner conviction, but 
 through contempt of innumerable pangs of con- 
 
CHRIST BEFORE HEROD 171 
 
 science, through mortal sin. Such a one lives in 
 continued antagonism to the Holy Ghost and in 
 continued defiance of Him. Then Christ is silent. 
 He finally addresses no more reproaches, so that 
 such apostates apparently enjoy the most unruffled 
 peace of soul. It is truly enough the peace of the 
 graveyard. There can be a hope of conversion 
 only when they begin, by cries of fervent and 
 humble prayer, to induce the silent Saviour to 
 speak, when with confidence they turn to His 
 Divine Heart that they may obtain the necessary 
 strength to return and courage to overcome im- 
 pending difficulties. 
 
 We may adduce as a further and more important 
 reason of the mysterious silence of Christ the fact 
 that Herod had deprived Him of His voice by be- 
 heading His forerunner, the voice of one crying 
 in the wilderness. How then could Christ speak? 
 Woe, therefore, a threefold woe upon all rulers who, 
 when Christ would speak to their peoples, de- 
 prive Him of His voice either by making it im- 
 possible, through diabolical laws, for the servants 
 of Christ to exercise their teaching power in school 
 and church, or by banishing them from the country. 
 And still, if Herod had done even more than that 
 against Christ and His followers, had he only asked 
 with Saul, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
 do?'*^ he undoubtedly would have received an 
 answer. 
 
 We must then look for the chief reason of the 
 
 lActs, ix., 6. 
 
172 niSTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 silence of Christ, on the one hand, in the impious 
 and frivolous suggestion of the impure and infi- 
 del persecutor of Christ that the Saviour use His 
 Divine Power for the venal purposes of a juggler 
 and, on the other hand, in the equally frivolous 
 and curious questions which he proposed. First, he 
 is likely to have asked Him whether He it was at 
 whose birth the kings of the East had arrived, 
 causing so much disquiet to his father and so much 
 excitement in Jerusalem. Then he wished to know 
 how His parents had accomplished their flight. 
 *'0r,'' continued he, *'is it true, as so many claim, 
 that Thou art John the Baptist, whom I had be- 
 headed but who, it is alleged, is risen again to work 
 miracles °? " ^ Then he asked for sundry informa- 
 tion about miracles and it is not improbable that he 
 requested the Redeemer to initiate him into the 
 secrets of His art. All these reasons take away the 
 mystery from the silence of Christ. 
 
 The silence of Christ, is for the rest, the most 
 dreadful punishment which God can inflict upon 
 the sinner. It is the almost infallible presage of 
 eternal damnation. Even the Saints dreaded noth- 
 ing more than that the Saviour, to punish their 
 smaller faults and infidelities, might no longer 
 speak to them in inward impulses and inspirations 
 or through the voice of conscience. ' ' my God, ' ' 
 they therefore prayed, "be not Thou silent to me: 
 lest if Thou be silent to me, I become like them 
 that go down into the pit. ' ' ^ We should pray in 
 
 iSt. Luke, ix., 7, 8. 
 2 Psalms, xxvii., 1. 
 
CHRIST BEFOEE HEROD 173 
 
 like manner, but we should also order our lives in 
 accordance with the words addressed to us directly 
 by God Himself or indirectly through the voice of 
 His representatives. 
 
 Herod, therefore, found himself thoroughly foiled 
 in his expectations. He felt his mortification so 
 much more because it took place before such a 
 distinguished assembly, before his court, even be- 
 fore the chief-priests and scribes. But he would 
 not issue a decree of death in a strange city, out- 
 side of his realm. It might increase the ill will of 
 many well disposed Jews who had not yet forgiven 
 him the execution of the Baptist and thus entirely 
 destroy his prospects for the Jewish throne. But 
 he planned revenge. In what did it consist? 
 
 III. 
 
 We cannot suppose that Herod will treat Christ 
 as did the common Jews; that, like to the chief- 
 priests and scribes, he will belabor Him with two 
 fists, drag Him by the hair, or give Him kicks and 
 blows. Oh no, for that he was too much of a 
 courtier, he belonged to the aristocratic and edu- 
 cated class. Such conduct would be beneath his 
 dignity. The threefold vengeance which he took 
 on the Redeemer is narrated in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures in the following words: *' Herod with his 
 army set him at naught : and mocked him, putting 
 on him a white garment, and sent him back to 
 Pilate.'' 
 
 First, He and his courtiers set Him at naught 
 and mocked Him. Herod thought, and so ex- 
 
174 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 pressed himself before those present, that an ac- 
 cused who acted as did this man, who would say 
 nothing in his own defense, who would do nothing 
 for his own liberation, who would not answer by 
 a single word the questions of a ruler in whose 
 hands his life lay, could not possibly have his wits 
 about him. He ought to be in an -asylum for the 
 insane rather than in a prison. We may imagine 
 that peals of laughter and applause from the royal 
 family and others present, testified to the wisdom 
 of the king's words. But we hear the thundering 
 voice of Isaias, ''Woe to you that are wise in your 
 own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits. ' ' ^ 
 On the day of judgment He Whom you now mock 
 as a fool, shall put to shame all your wisdom. 
 **He it is," you shall cry, "whom we had some 
 time in derision and for a parable of reproach. 
 We fools esteemed his life madness and his end 
 without honor. " ^ " The Lord shall then laugh 
 you to scorn. And you shall fall after this with- 
 out honor, and be a reproach among the dead for- 
 ever. ' ' ^ Herod, on account of his witty remarks, 
 deserved to be looked up to as a patron by lustful 
 Voltaire and his associates, who derided all that 
 is holy and divine with their fine sarcasm and 
 their acrimonious scorn. 
 
 Then he had Christ clothed in a white garment. 
 Among the Jews, madmen were clad in white, so 
 that passers-by could see that they were mentally 
 
 1 Isaias, v., 21. 
 2Wisd., v., 3-5. 
 8 Ibid., iv., 18, 19. 
 
CHRIST BEFORE HEROD 175 
 
 weak. Among the Romans white garments were 
 worn by those who aspired to some office. Indeed, 
 to aspire to office also borders on madness, at least 
 when, as often happens in some localities, months 
 are spent in purchasing votes with money and by 
 dispensing intoxicating drinks. It is certainly 
 not a proof of overmuch sense nor of qualifica- 
 tion for the office. But Christ, as the charge 
 went, aspired to the crown of Judea. For several 
 reasons, then, Herod had the garment of a fool 
 put on Christ — and the Redeemer did not resist. 
 O ye heavens ! The Son of God in the white robe 
 of a visionary, of an ambitious office seeker, the 
 thrice Holy One in the robe of a hungry politi- 
 cian, Infinite Wisdom in the garment of a fool! 
 It is indeed a scene that defies all description. 
 Holy Church conceived that she could offer no 
 better atonement for this disgrace than by sharing 
 its ignominy and making her servants appear at 
 the altar in long white robes. 
 
 Lastly, Herod sent Him back to Pilate, clad, 
 as He was, in the robe of a fool. He sent Him 
 back when the day was already far advanced and 
 when thousands were upon the streets and filled 
 the air with cries of irony and shouts of diabol- 
 ical rejoicing. AYhat a cruel revenge! What a 
 terrible humiliation! What a sad Corpus Christi 
 procession! It is indeed meet and just that the 
 same Christ, veiled under the appearance of bread, 
 be borne annually in festive march, as in triumph, 
 through the streets of cities and villages. It 
 is indeed meet and just that He be greeted with 
 
176 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 enthusiastic songs of praise and hymns of thanks- 
 giving to make Him forget, as it were, the wrong 
 done Him in that ignominious procession. It was 
 ordered by a king. Ye kings and emperors, re- 
 deem the honor of your station and accompany 
 with your entire court, humbly and devoutly, the 
 Most Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 When the chief-priests came back with Christ 
 to Pilate, they delivered to the latter the thanks 
 and best wishes and polite compliments of Herod 
 together with the assurance of his distinguished 
 consideration and entire devotedness. For the 
 Gospel says that ** Herod and Pilate were made 
 friends that same day, for before they were ene- 
 mies one to another." Similar occurrences take 
 place nowadays. In the halls of legislatures, god- 
 less parties may antagonize each other in con- 
 tinued strife, the dark powers of this world may 
 attack each other with bloody weapons; in the 
 hatred of Christ they are a unit. When the alarm 
 is sounded for an attack on the Catholic Church, 
 they shake hands and form a brotherly pact. 
 
 Herod, then, had a desire to see Our Divine 
 Saviour and to speak with Him. In itself, this de- 
 sire was praiseworthy. Who of us would not 
 nourish the same desire? If so, our desire can 
 be satisfied. But we must use the right means. 
 ''The Lord's communication is with the simple,'' 
 says Holy Writ.^ Let us be simple, humble, of a 
 believing heart, and Christ will speak to us. The 
 
 iProv., iii., 32. 
 
CHRIST BEFORE HEROD 177 
 
 simple, those of child-like faith, can hold converse 
 with Him in prayer for hours and never grow 
 weary. For they need not carry on all the conver- 
 sation themselves. Christ speaks to them and an- 
 swers all their questions. If furthermore we 
 wish to see Christ, we know that ''blessed are the 
 pure of heart, for they shall see God.''^ We 
 should, therefore, avoid even the shadow of im- 
 purity. We must preserve our hearts pure and 
 stainless, and we shall see God. Yea, even more. 
 We shall then see miracles of the Saviour, wonders 
 of His Power, wonders of His Mercy, wonders of 
 His Love, both here and in the next world. 
 
 1 St. Matthew, v., 8. 
 
CHAPTER Xiy. 
 
 CHRIST AND BARABBAS 
 
 " But the whole multitude together 
 cried out, saying: Away with this 
 man and release unto us Barabbas.'* 
 (St. Luke, xxiii., 18.) 
 
 The effort of Pilate to rid himself of the un- 
 pleasant trial and to hand the case over to oth- 
 ers had proven a failure. Herod had sent Christ 
 back to him^ and thus Pilate had to reassume the 
 case by virtue of his office. Standing in the vesti- 
 bule of the palace, he first called together not 
 only the chief-priests and ancients, but the en- 
 tire people, of whose attachment to Jesus he was 
 well aware. Then he again declared in a solemn 
 tone, *'You have presented unto me this man, as 
 one that perverteth the people, and behold, I have 
 examined him before you. ' ' ^ Pilate could truth- 
 fully say these last words, inasmuch as he per- 
 sonally did not wish to have a secret hearing. 
 That the high-priests, during the trial, remained 
 outside, was their own doing. Pilate then con- 
 tinued: ''I find no cause in this man touching 
 those things wherein you accuse him. No, nor 
 Herod neither. For I sent you to him, and be- 
 
 1 St. Luke, xxiii., 14-16. 
 
 178 
 
CHRIST AND BARABBAS 179 
 
 hold, nothing worthy of death is done to him." 
 Thus far, his address was excellent. But Pilate 
 noticed how the chief-priests and, at their insti- 
 gation, the scribes also, were working themselves 
 into a gradually increasing excitement and frenzy 
 of which they gave evidence by threatening ges- 
 tures and clenching of fists. For it angered and 
 provoked them to be reminded by Pilate, in pres- 
 ence of the whole people, of their disgraceful 
 fiasco before Herod and to perceive that he had 
 the word of liberation on the tip of his tongue. 
 Then Pilate lost his cue. If the popular excite- 
 ment increased and developed into a general re- 
 volt, something readily to be feared among the 
 Jews, it might prove very embarrassing to the 
 governor, especially now during the festival of 
 the Passover. In order, therefore, to appease the 
 prominent people and to calm the lower classes, 
 he conceived the sudden idea of making some 
 concessions, wherefore he added the singular con- 
 clusion: *'I will chastise him therefore, and re- 
 lease him." But, before he could give more minute 
 directions regarding the chastisement, the people, 
 to his great satisfaction, reminded him of an- 
 other expedient which he immediately made use 
 of. 
 
 We shall therefore consider ^ 
 I. The effort of Pilate to release Christ and 
 
 II. Its result. 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii., 15-23; St. Mark, xv., 6-14; St. 
 Luke, xxiii., 17-22; St. John, xviii., 39, 40. 
 
180 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 *'Now upon the solemn day/* narrates St. 
 Matthew, 'Hhe governor was accustomed to re- 
 lease to the people one prisoner, whom they 
 would." The origin of this custom cannot be 
 stated with certainty. According to some com- 
 mentators it was a very ancient custom to select, 
 on the eve of the paschal feast, some criminal or 
 other, and, in commemoration of the deliverance 
 from Egyptian thraldom, to open unto him, at 
 the beginning of the feast day, the doors of the 
 prison. The remaining criminals were then exe- 
 cuted in warning example, as were the two thieves 
 this year. It is said that later on the Roman gov- 
 ernors very willingly accommodated themselves 
 to this custom, partly not to offend the people 
 and partly because they had observed the same 
 custom in Rome, where the emperors, when in 
 good humor, would grant pardons and amnesties 
 on the feasts of the gods. However, other com- 
 mentators are of the opinion that the governors 
 themselves granted the people this privilege in 
 order to indemnify them somewhat for the loss of 
 their judiciary power and to nullify the bad feel- 
 ings resulting from this loss. The proper under- 
 standing between the Jews and the governor was 
 arrived at on the eve of the feast. 
 
 The people were reminded of this custom by the 
 words of Pilate, "I will release him." Then 
 they began to shout and to beg that he do as he 
 always had done. Some of the crowd undoubtedly 
 
CHRIST AND BARABBAS 181 
 
 begged thus in favor of the Redeemer, whose lib- 
 eration they desired and began to hope for. But 
 most of them thought of no such a thing. Of the 
 entire address of Pilate, which contained a two- 
 fold declaration of Christ's innocence, they had 
 caught only the word '^ release." Without, there- 
 fore, giving a thought to the main question and 
 with a view only to their privilege, they reminded 
 Pilate of the old custom. 
 
 Pilate readily accepted their proposition. But, 
 in order to be more sure of his object, he pro- 
 posed to the choice of the people, besides Christ 
 only one other, and a most notorious criminal at 
 that, Barabbas by name. The Gospel does not 
 mention whether or not he was brought from 
 prison and placed opposite to Christ. The evange- 
 lists delineate the character of Barabbas in the 
 darkest colors and in the most forbidding manner. 
 St. Mark and St. Luke testify that in a sedition 
 he had committed a murder, according to St. 
 John he was a murderer, and St. Matthew calls 
 him a notorious murderer. He was a pest to the 
 country, a scourge of Judea, an abomination to all 
 Jews. Now, thought Pilate, it cannot go amiss. 
 The people, who for the most part were attached 
 to Christ, would certainly not give the preference 
 to an arch-fiend. Under this impression he said 
 to them, "You have a custom that I should re- 
 lease one unto you at the pasch : will you, therefore, 
 that I release unto you the king of the Jews?" 
 
 The question was well put. Pilate, as yet, 
 made no mention of Barabbas. He merely pro- 
 
182 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 posed Christ and, to stimulate the sense of honor 
 of the Jews, he honored Him with the title of 
 King of the Jews. Their national pride, he hoped, 
 would cause them to demand without delay the 
 release of their king. But no answer followed. 
 Pilate therefore had to ask further, ''Whom will 
 you that I release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus that 
 is called Christ? " Now the fall of Pilate is 
 rapid. The means he employed to liberate Christ 
 were entirely unworthy as far as moral value was 
 concerned. He proposed Jesus and Barabbas for 
 the choice, and therefore for the comparison, of the 
 people. But every comparison presupposes a 
 certain similarity. It was as if he had said: I 
 have here two criminals; which of the two ^all 
 I release? This means deserved to be rejected 
 because, even if favorable to Christ, it would not 
 redeem His honor. On account of the comparison 
 there would always remain attached to His name 
 the stain that He had obtained His freedom, not 
 because of His innocence, but because of popular 
 favor or because of being the lesser of two crim- 
 inals. His whole career as a popular preacher 
 would, humanly speaking, have thereby been 
 ruined. 
 
 Before it came to a choice. Almighty God 
 granted Pilate a great grace. Whilst he was sit- 
 ting on the judge's bench, that is, on an elevated 
 seat in the vestibule, a messenger suddenly en- 
 tered who said to him in the name of his wife, 
 " Have thou nothing to do with that just man. 
 For I have suffered many things this day in a 
 
CHRIST AND BARABBAS 183 
 
 dream because of him. ' ' Probably God had shown 
 this woman the misery in which her husband would 
 involve himself, should he not release the Sav- 
 iour. Had Pilate himself received this revelatior 
 from God, the Jews might claim that it was an 
 excuse invented by him. And perhaps he himself 
 would have considered it an idle dream and have 
 said nothing about it. 
 
 The message of Pilate's wife was well consid- 
 ered. Claudia Procula, such was her name, first 
 addressed Pilate in his capacity as judge, who 
 durst not condemn an innocent man. Then she 
 addressed him as her husband. She urged him to 
 be courageous enough to liberate Christ out of 
 love for her, to spare her new sufferings. And 
 Christ amply rewarded the good will of this noble- 
 minded, although pagan woman. After the un- 
 fortunate death of her husband, who committed 
 suicide, Claudia embraced Christianity and, it is 
 said, died in the odor of sanctity.^ But Pilate 
 set aside the warning of his wife and let the peo- 
 ple proceed to a choice. Probably he entertained 
 confident hopes of a favorable result. What was 
 the result? 
 
 II. 
 
 The result would probably have been favorable 
 if the high-priests and ancients had not moved 
 about among the people, urging them on and per- 
 suading them to demand the release of Barabbas. 
 They found the desirable time and occasion for 
 
 1 See note 11. 
 
184 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 this purpose whilst Pilate was busy with the mes- 
 senger sent by his wife. Do you not perceive, 
 said some, the trap which Pilate has slyly set for 
 us? Whom shall I release unto you, he has asked, 
 Jesus, King of the Jews, or Bar abbas f If we give 
 our suffrage to Jesus, we declare thereby that he 
 is our King and that we acknowledge Him as 
 such. Then woe to us and our city. A murderer, 
 said others, is, at any rate, better than a blas- 
 phemer or a false prophet. For if He were really 
 the Son of God, He would before this have re- 
 leased Himself. Besides, His own disciples must 
 consider Him an impostor or they w^ould not have 
 abandoned Him. Vote, said others again, for the 
 death of Christ in order that His deceit be brought 
 to light, if He arise not on the third day. If He 
 is to rise again. He must first be put to death. 
 Then, if He arises, we shall believe in Him. 
 Barabbas, they continued, is indeed a bad man, 
 but sad experience has probably reformed him, 
 and he will always be grateful to us. But Christ, 
 even if you release Him, will always harbor ill 
 feelings against you and charge you with the in- 
 sults heaped upon Him. You have destroyed the 
 possibility of being in favor with Him in any 
 event. 
 
 Whilst the messenger of his wife was depart- 
 ing, Pilate, as an answer to his message, again 
 asked the people, ** Whether will you of the two 
 to be released unto you? The whole multitude 
 together cried out, saying: Not this man, but 
 Barabbas." Away with this man and release 
 
CHRIST AND BARABBAS 185 
 
 unto us Barabbas. They feared, it appears, that 
 Pilate would release both. The chief-priests could 
 now be well satisfied with the result of their agita- 
 tion. But they forfeited the right to charge the 
 Redeemer with being a disturber of the people. 
 
 Some of the people shouted because they, in 
 good faith, believed Christ to be a great crimi- 
 nal. "Our priests," thought others, "un- 
 doubtedly propose what is right; they understand 
 the matter better than Pilate, the pagan, or than 
 we understand it." Others shouted out of fear. 
 They feared the emperor; they feared the chief- 
 priests, they feared a sedition, they feared Christ 
 Himself and His rebukes and warning look which 
 they would avoid for all time. Others again 
 wished to furnish Christ with the opportunity to 
 perform His crowning miracle, the resurrection. 
 Finally, many shouted because they heard the 
 others shout. 
 
 ungrateful, faithless, shameless synagogue! 
 Thus dost thou repel thy Divine Bridegroom, the 
 Chosen of millions, and thou choosest for a bride- 
 groom a murderer, dragged from the scum and 
 dregs of the slums. Truly it is thine own fault, 
 for which thou art responsible, that forty years 
 later thy adherents shall fall victims to murder- 
 ers in an awful massacre. 
 
 How fickle and inconstant are the masses! 
 How little in harmony with the solemn Hosan- 
 nas and Benedictus is the cry, "Not this man, 
 but Barabbas release unto us." And thus it hap- 
 pens. No matter how well meaning the people 
 
186 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 may be, a few disturbers and agitators suffice, by 
 revolutionary speeches, by threats and promises, 
 to make them vote and act against their con- 
 sciences, so much so that they allow themselves 
 to be drawn to the meanest acts of violence against 
 Holy Church and her ordained ministers. 
 Therefore he is a fool who builds on popular fa- 
 vor or who relies on it. 
 
 The choice of the Jewish people, preferring 
 Barabbas to the Redeemer, can be viewed from 
 three standpoints. If we, before all, cast our 
 glance on the mysterious workings of Divine 
 Providence, the choice appears to us as the ex- 
 pression of Divine Justice. To Almighty God, at 
 this moment. His only begotten Son was respon- 
 sible for greater guilt and therefore subject to 
 greater punishment than the great criminal Barab- 
 bas. Certainly, Christ, the innocent Lamb of 
 God, the Holiest of holy ones, was free from all 
 personal sin. But God had laid upon Him the 
 sins of the whole world. In comparison with this 
 mountain of sins upon the shoulders of Christ, 
 rising up through the clouds of heaven, the dread- 
 ful crimes of Barabbas were as small as a grain 
 of sand. The latter had on his conscience only his 
 personal sins, whilst Christ carried the sins of 
 the entire world. 
 
 The choice of the people was, in the second 
 place, the expression of Divine Love for us. What, 
 indeed, would it have availed us had Barabbas 
 died and Christ been released? "Let my Son 
 die," said the heavenly Father, "but all sinners, 
 
CHRIST AND BARABBAS 187 
 
 represented by Barabbas, shall be saved." 
 Therefore Holy Church sings in exultant grati- 
 tude, "To redeem the servant, Thou hast de- 
 livered to death Thy Son. O admirable conde- 
 scension of Thy Divine Goodness! inestimable 
 proof of Thy Love." 
 
 But if we consider the choice in as far as it 
 concerns those who made it and Him Whom it 
 affected, it is for the choosers a perpetual stain 
 of dishonor, and for the Redeemer, rejected and 
 voted down by them, a nameless ignominy. It 
 was indeed an awful offense against the Son of 
 God when the rebel angels preferred Lucifer, 
 their leader, to Him. The offense was so great 
 that Divine Justice immediately relegated them 
 to the eternal tortures of hell. But, at least, it 
 was an angel who was preferred to Christ; it was 
 the highest, the most perfect of all angels, en- 
 dowed with the grandest gifts of nature and of 
 grace. But in this case, Christ had to yield to 
 a robber and murderer. The ignominy wounded 
 the Heart of Christ so much the more because, 
 among those who rejected Him, many had par- 
 taken of His abundant benefits and had experi- 
 enced in their own persons His miraculous pow- 
 ers. But the humble heart of Jesus was glad to 
 be able again to offer a sacrifice to God. 
 
 The result of the choice came upon Pilate like 
 a clap of thunder. He beheld all his hopes de- 
 stroyed and the case more difficult than ever be- 
 fore. As if in agony, he cried out to the Jews, 
 **What shall I do then with Jesus that is called 
 
188 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the Christ? " It is strange, Pilate, that, being 
 a judge, thou shouldst not know what to do with 
 an accused person who has been found innocent. 
 Art thou indeed so blinded? There remains noth- 
 ing for thee to do but to release both Him and 
 Barabbas : the latter as a paschal gift to the Jews, 
 and the Redeemer, because of His innocence. 
 Thou shouldst be ashamed of thy words, *'What 
 shall I do with Jesus?" Is Jesus, then, such a 
 trifling, unimportant, contemptible and useless 
 person that one knows not what to do with Him? 
 Declare Him innocent. Then crave His pardon 
 and ask Him again, but this time with holy 
 earnestness, ''What is truth?" Pay attention, 
 then, and listen seriously to every word that pro- 
 ceeds from His mouth. Keep it in thy heart and 
 arrange thy life according to it. Behold what 
 thou shouldst do with Jesus. 
 
 But Pilate knew not what to do with Jesus. 
 Had he but asked his conscience ! Instead, he 
 asked the people, the enemies of Jesus Christ. 
 Then the high-priests began to shout, ''Crucify 
 Him. ' ' And, as out of one mouth, the cry resounded 
 in a loud chorus, "Crucify Him! crucify Him!" 
 In vain were now all the declarations of the Sav- 
 iour's innocence on the part of Pilate, in vain all 
 the attempts to release Him, in vain even the 
 promise to chastise Him. Again and again, amid 
 ever increasing tumult, the cry resounded, "Let 
 Him be crucified! crucify Him! " 
 
 In this dilemma, Pilate resumed his former idea 
 of calming the excited people by a concession at 
 
CHRIST AND BAEABBAS 189 
 
 the expense of the Redeemer. But he realized that 
 a trivial chastisement would no longer be suffi- 
 cient to pacify the Jews. He therefore resolved 
 to subject Him to the terrible punishment of 
 flagellation. Thereby, he hoped, the chief-priests 
 and the people would be satisfied and would re- 
 frain from insisting on further punishment. It 
 is indeed a rather uncommon manner of admin- 
 istering justice and a rather curious system of 
 logic which permits one to humor the accusers 
 by administering bloody stripes to the accused 
 with a view to releasing him afterwards. And 
 Pilate delivered Him to the soldiers that He be 
 scourged. On account of this command the ex- 
 citement of the people was somewhat calmed and, 
 for the nonce, the storm was quieted. 
 
 We wax wroth at Pilate for having compared 
 Christ with a murderer, we are indignant with 
 the Jews for having preferred Barabbas to the 
 Son of God. And it is right that we do so. But 
 does the soul not inflict a similar outrage on the 
 Saviour, when she places alongside of Him the 
 lustful pleasures of life, earthly treasures, human 
 praise and favor, and then remains undecided as 
 to where to give the preference. And when the 
 scales then sink to the Lord's disadvantage, and 
 when man chooses the slavery of passion instead 
 of the sweet yoke of Christ, hell instead of heaven, 
 Satan instead of the All-holy God, is this not, in 
 fact, even a greater outrage? *'Be astonished, 
 ye heavens, *' exclaims the prophet Jeremias (ii., 
 12, 13), *'at this, and ye gates thereof, be very 
 
190 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 desolate. For my people have done two evils. 
 They have forsaken me, the fountain of living 
 water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, 
 broken cisterns, that can hold no water.'' 
 
 May such an ingratitude be far removed from 
 us. Out from among millions of human beings, 
 the Saviour has chosen us to be members of His 
 Holy Church and to partake of His abundant 
 benefits. He has sanctified us in baptism, He has 
 nourished us with His Sacred Flesh and Most 
 Precious Blood. To our souls has He said: 
 
 What then, in heaven and upon earth, shall we 
 choose outside of God? May the Lord be our in- 
 heritance — may God be the God of our hearts 
 and our portion forever. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SCOURGING OF CHRIST 
 
 " Then therefore Pilate took 
 Jesus, and scourged him." 
 
 (St. John, xix., 1.) 
 
 As soon as Pilate had communicated to the peo- 
 ple his intention of having Christ scourged and 
 had given a command to this effect, he retired as 
 quickly as possible from the raging multitude 
 and went to the inner part of the court-building. 
 The scourging took place in an enclosed court- 
 yard in the rear of the building. The evangelists 
 do not describe the flagellation. They merely 
 say, "Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him/' 
 Everybody knew full well what that meant. May- 
 hap the description of details was too painful for 
 them. But for the solace of Our Saviour and for 
 the benefit of our souls, we shall consider more 
 minutely this incident and its various circum- 
 stances. Let us consider, then, 
 
 I. The scourging in itself; and 
 
 II. The special reasons why Christ wished to 
 endure it. 
 
 The flagellation was to the Saviour very humili- 
 ating and, at the same time, very painful. That it 
 191 
 
192 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 was humiliating, may be deduced from three cir- 
 cumstances. In the first place, the scourging was 
 done by the Roman soldiers, and therefore ac- 
 cording to Roman, not Jewish, usage. But scourg- 
 ing, when applied not only with rods but with 
 whips or still more cruel instruments, was usually 
 administered only to slaves, that is, to persons 
 who at that time were no longer considered as 
 human beings; to creatures who were ranked be- 
 low the brute; to creatures who were accustomed 
 to all manner of disdain and contempt; whose 
 feelings were, by bad treatment, rendered so 
 coarse and stunted that only the most cruel and 
 degrading punishments could make any impression 
 upon them. When scourging was applied to free- 
 born men, they were culprits who had committed 
 such extraordinary and fearful crimes that they 
 forfeited all right to consideration and humane 
 treatment. It is self-evident that they were to be 
 found guilty before this punishment was admin- 
 istered. It was especially a Roman custom to 
 scourge those who were condemned to be cruci- 
 fied. 
 
 This punishment which degraded its victim to 
 the level of a slave or of the most abject criminal, 
 was now imposed, not upon the son of an ordinary 
 Roman citizen, but upon Jesus, the son of David, 
 the scion of a royal family, in whose veins coursed 
 royal blood; upon Jesus, the Son of the purest 
 Virgin Mary, the Son of the future Queen of 
 heaven and of earth; upon 'Jesus, the only begot- 
 
THE SCOURGING OF CHRIST 193 
 
 ten Son of the King of kings; upon Jesus, the 
 Son of God, in Whom was hidden all the fullness 
 of the Godhead, all the dignity and majesty of the 
 Divine Being. And all this, notwithstanding the 
 fact that the judge had himself testified to the 
 innocence of Christ. 
 
 The fact that the scourging was done in public, 
 made the humiliation of the Redeemer so much 
 more poignant. To understand this better, we 
 must remember that in the Heart of Jesus all hu- 
 man feelings existed in their utmost perfection. 
 This Heart was in no wise insensible to injury; 
 It felt most keenly every insult; Its sense of 
 honor was extremely delicate. And if there be 
 no greater mortification for a high-spirited child 
 than to be punished before others; if it would 
 rather take a double amount of chastisement pro- 
 vided it be spared the public humiliation; what 
 must have been the feelings of the noblest of all 
 hearts? It need hardly be mentioned that dur- 
 ing the public flagellation, the Redeemer was the 
 butt of the lowest jests and of the most vulgar 
 wit. ''That was a good stroke," we may imagine 
 that one cried. "Hit harder," shouted another. 
 ''This will bring him to time," roared a third, 
 and thus it continued. 
 
 The greatest humiliation of Christ, however, 
 arose from the fact that, according to Roman 
 usage. He was stripped of all clothing with the 
 exception of the loin covering. Once upon a 
 time, after a similar humiliation, David had ex- 
 
 13 
 
194 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 claimed, as if carried away by sorrow, "They 
 have looked and stared upon me. " ^ " The con- 
 fusion of my face hath covered me. " ^ " And 
 they opened their mouth wide against me; they 
 said: Well done, well done, our eyes have seen 
 it. " ^ When, in later centuries, chaste Virgins, 
 a St. Agnes and a St. Barbara, had to endure the 
 same mortification, heaven enveloped them in such 
 a wonderful light that they became, as it were, in- 
 visible. When others were about to be disrobed, 
 they fell dead on the ground from terror and 
 fright. But the purest Son of the purest Virgin 
 had to drain this cup to the very dregs. He had 
 to submit to be stared at by a low, impudent 
 crowd, by lustful eyes, just as a shameless person 
 in a museum. This torture of being ignominiously 
 disrobed was without doubt one of the greatest in 
 all His passion. What trembling, what convul- 
 sions in His entire Body from shame and confu- 
 sion ! How He longed for the fool 's garment with 
 which Herod had clothed Him! There was only 
 one relieving feature in this suffering: the in- 
 numerable lashes which cut His flesh, soon dis- 
 figured His Body to such an extent that it lost all 
 appearance of being human. 
 
 The scourging, then, was humiliating, but be- 
 sides, it was very painful. Considered by itself, 
 the Roman flagellation was something dreadful 
 and terrible. After the unfortunate victim's 
 
 1 Psalms, xxi., 18. 
 
 2 Ibid., xliii., 16. 
 
 3 Ibid., xxxiv., 21. 
 
THE SCOURGING OF CHRIST 195 
 
 hands, feet and neck were bound to the piUar so 
 tightly that a move was hardly possible, six strong 
 and muscular soldiers approached and, in pairs, 
 they beat the culprit with thorny clubs, with 
 lashes interwoven with wire, and with thin, iron 
 chains. The number of lashes was not fixed. It 
 lasted until the voluptuous cruelty of the specta- 
 tors, used to such bloody exhibitions, was satiated. 
 Not infrequently it happened that slaves expired 
 under this torture. However, for various rea- 
 sons the flagellation was more painful to Jesus 
 than to others. In the first place, the Sacred 
 Body of Christ, born of the purest Virgin through 
 a miracle of the Holy Ghost, was undoubtedly 
 more refined and more delicate, and therefore 
 more sensitive than the bodies of sinners. Then, 
 to better attain his object Pilate had probably rec- 
 ommended a more strenuous scourging. The tor- 
 turers, therefore, used all their strength. Further- 
 more, the other soldiers continually spurred them 
 on. And in proportion as the patience and meek- 
 ness of the Divine Lamb of Sacrifice manifested 
 themselves, the cruelty of the torturers increasd. 
 As often happens with low-bred villains, the meek- 
 ness of the victim infuriated them to complete mad- 
 ness. They would ascertain whether or not they 
 could draw from Him a cry of anguish. Finally, 
 the flagellation of Christ— and this was the main 
 reason — was so cruel because the anger of God was 
 incensed against Him. For God saw Him covered 
 with the sins of the whole world. Many opinions 
 regarding the number of the strokes and of the 
 
196 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 drops of blood shed have been advanced and sup- 
 ported by visions of holy persons. To form a 
 decision on that point is by no means necessary. 
 I say with St. Augustine: ''If, according to Holy 
 Writ, every sinner deserves many strokes of the 
 scourge, how many did not the innocent Saviour 
 deserve. Who had taken upon Himself the thou- 
 sands of millions of sins and Who now was to 
 render complete satisfaction to Divine Justice.'* 
 
 At last a halt was ordered, and the cords were 
 cut. Weak and fainting, exhausted by the loss of 
 blood, the Redeemer fell to the ground, into His 
 own Precious Blood. Had He been the Jew who 
 had fallen among the robbers, perhaps some ten- 
 der-hearted Samaritan might have come by and 
 poured oil and wine upon His wounds. Had He 
 been poor Lazarus, covered with bloody ulcers, 
 perhaps some dog would have had pity on Him. 
 But He was the Son of God. And therefore, ac- 
 cording to some holy fathers, the torturers con- 
 tinued to beat Him as He weltered in His Blood, 
 and they mutilated those parts of His Sacred 
 Body which the pillar had protected. 
 
 But why is He divested of His garments Who 
 dressed the firmament with stars and the earth 
 with flowers? Why are those hands so cruelly 
 bound which never were extended except to offer 
 benefits? Why those feet which were never tired 
 in hastening after the lost sheep? Why is that 
 immaculate Body so terribly beaten which Christ, 
 in His Love, had destined to be the nourishment 
 of our souls? Why was it that no help came to 
 
THE SCOURGIXG OF CHRIST 197 
 
 Him from any quarter; neither from the earth, 
 which almost ravenously drank His Precious 
 Blood; neither from the angels, who in apparent 
 indifference, looked down upon the scene; neither 
 from His heavenly Father, Who rather appeared 
 to increase the strength which the menials ap- 
 plied to His Son. Let us together examine the 
 special reason, why Christ wished to endure the 
 lashes of the scourge. 
 
 IL 
 
 In the first place, Christ wished, by submitting 
 to the flagellation, to atone for all sins of impurity : 
 for the sins of pagans, for the sins of Chris- 
 tians, for the sins of children, for the sins of grow- 
 ing youth, for the sins of married persons, for the 
 sins of old people, for the sins of thought, of de- 
 sire, in look, word and deed, for the sins of all 
 times and of all classes of men. By His igno- 
 minious disrobing, He wished to atone especially 
 for those sins which are committed and provoked 
 by shameless clothing. Christ thought then not 
 only of such persons who, as slaves of lust and 
 open libertines, walk barefacedly the way of vice; 
 not only of those frivolous women who, according 
 to the custom of some places, walk about publicly, 
 in open daylight, in such scanty costume that 
 every one who loves his soul, is forced to cast 
 down his eyes in fear. But He thought also of 
 those Catholic women and girls who, in our coun- 
 try, notably among the wealthier and more prom- 
 inent classes, appear on certain occasions, at least, 
 
198 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 in attire which readily provokes and begets sin. 
 Of course, it is then claimed, that fashion and the 
 custom of the wealthy excuse and justify such 
 a scandal. But, even if it were the fashion of 
 the most prominent in the country, it is a fashion 
 which comes from the devil and leads to the devil. 
 These are sins and customs on account of which 
 Christ suffered Himself to be disrobed and 
 scourged. 
 
 Secondly, He would give us an idea of the 
 hatred God entertains for the vice of impurity. 
 Almighty God had done a great many things 
 since the creation to bring home this conviction 
 to mankind. He repented of having created man- 
 kind and He engulfed it in the waters of the 
 deluge. He destroyed the inhabitants of Sodom 
 by fire from heaven. He caused 24,000 men to be 
 put to the sword for having sinned with the daugh- 
 ters of the Moabites. Almost the entire tribe of 
 Benjamin was violently rooted out, in punishment 
 of lustful abominations. Almighty God an- 
 nounced through Moses ^ that every adulterer and 
 every adulteress should be stoned by the people 
 and that the incestuous should be burnt. Great 
 God! If these penalties, incomprehensible to 
 modern legislation which flirts with sensual lust, 
 were still in force, how often would we not be 
 called upon to go out the gates of the city to stone 
 an adulteress? But how the vice of impurity 
 appears to the eyes of God is shown more clearly 
 
 iLevit., XX., 10-15. 
 
THE SCOURGING OF CHRIST 199 
 
 and definitely by Christ, scourged for us, than by 
 aU the Divine judgments and the Mosaic Law itself. 
 
 Thirdly, the Saviour wished to portray vividly 
 before our eyes the terrors of the punishments to 
 be inflicted in hell, after the resurrection, on the 
 bodies of those who shall be condemned for this 
 vice. Certainly faith teaches us that the bodies 
 of the damned, monsters of hideousness, shall burn 
 in eternal flames. In vain will they cry out for 
 a garment to cover their nakedness, to hide from 
 their terrified gaze forever the rottenness, corrup- 
 tion and horror of bodies pampered heretofore in 
 shameless attire. But I recognize more easily the 
 greatness of these pains when I contemplate the 
 innocent Body of Christ, which was scourged for 
 our sake. Truly, if this happens in the green 
 wood, what shall happen in the dry ? 
 
 Fourthly, the Redeemer would be the solace and 
 the strength of the holy martyrs. Ah ! it need no 
 longer be a matter of astonishment that the apos- 
 tles were joyful and exultant when leaving the 
 courtroom. What then had happened? What 
 was the cause of their joy? They had with the 
 Divine Master been lashed with the scourge. And 
 when, later on, the holy martyrs were devoured by 
 wild beasts, when with iron hooks and tongs the 
 flesh was torn from their bodies, when weak vir- 
 gins, like to heroes, ascended the awaiting pyres, 
 who consoled and strengthened them but Christ 
 Who was scourged for us? 
 
 Finally, Christ wished to be the model of con- 
 fessors and of all penitents; and who of us does 
 
200 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 not rightly belong to this class? At the head of 
 this long and immense procession of penitents we 
 behold Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles. "With a 
 loud voice he cries out to all coming generations, 
 ''I chastise my body: lest, perhaps, when I have 
 preached to others, I myself should become a cast- 
 away. ' ' ^ He is followed by the untold number of 
 all those saints who retired into solitudes and hid- 
 eous caverns and within quiet monastic walls and 
 there chastised their bodies by continued fasts and 
 by the most exquisite and painful works of pen- 
 ance. What sought they there? What did they 
 strive for? To become similar to Christ who was 
 scourged for us. 
 
 If we find ourselves too weak for such extraor- 
 dinary works of mortification, if we are not called 
 by God to perform them, we, at least, should never 
 abuse our bodies in works of impurity, and we 
 ought to clothe them as Christian modesty and 
 decency suggest. Furthermore, we ought at least 
 to perform those acts of penance which God and 
 Holy Church demand of us by observing conscien- 
 tiously the law of abstinence, and, when in duty 
 bound, the law of fasting. And that we may keep 
 such resolutions, let us draw the needed strength 
 and courage from the fountains of the Saviour, 
 from the bleeding wounds of the Redeemer Who 
 was scourged for us. 
 
 II. Cor., ix., 27. 
 
CHAPTER XVL 
 
 THE CROWNING WITH THORNS 
 
 " And the soldiers platting a 
 crown of thorns, put it upon his 
 head." (St. John, xix., 2.) 
 
 By the bloody scourging the Sacred Body of 
 Christ was undoubtedly torn and disfigured in 
 the most frightful manner. But His Sacred Head 
 was still untouched. At this point, Holy Writ 
 narrates the following incident: ''The soldiers of 
 the governor gathered together the whole band and 
 put a scarlet cloak about Jesus, and platting a 
 crown of thorns, they put it upon his head and a 
 reed in his right hand. And they came to him 
 and bowing the knee before him, they mocked him 
 and began to salute him, saying: Hail, King of 
 the Jews. And they gave him blows. Spitting 
 upon him, they took the reed and struck his head. 
 And bowing their knees, they adored him. ' ' ^ 
 
 Listening to this narrative, one is filled not only 
 with aversion and horror, but also with astonish- 
 ment. One naturally asks how such a thing was 
 possible. How did the torturers happen to think 
 of doing such a thing? Who had given orders 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii., 27-30; St. Mark, xv., 16-19; St. 
 John, xix., 2, 3. 
 
 201 
 
202 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 that the Sacred Head be thus tortured ? And how 
 dared they, without being told and without higher 
 orders, venture upon such an outrage? How did 
 they escape punishment for this deed? But thus 
 it is when evil proceeds from above, from those 
 who are in high stations or who are in the lead 
 in any way. Then evil not only finds approval 
 among those in lower stations of life, but these 
 last add evil to evil of their own accord. 
 
 These pagan soldiers were, without knowing it, 
 the instruments of a mysterious Divine decree. 
 The Jews had before wished to proclaim Christ 
 their King and to crown Him. But He fled from 
 them. They were not worthy of the honor. He 
 was to be crowned by the heathen, by those who, 
 after the rejection of the synagogue, were to gather 
 in thousands around the glorious banner of Christ. 
 Besides this, Christ was not pleased with the pro- 
 gram of coronation ceremonies as proposed by the 
 Jews. This ceremony, according to the Saviour's 
 intention, was to be conducted in a manner be- 
 fitting a king Whose kingdom was not of this 
 world, a king Who in a few hours was to die the 
 death of a criminal. Therefore the crowning could 
 not be any longer delayed. It was necessary to 
 make haste; it was high time. 
 
 Let us consider 
 I. The legitimate title of Christ to a crown, 
 II. The insignia presented to Him and 
 
 III. The homage offered Him. 
 
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS 203 
 
 I. 
 
 First, Christ, as God, had the right to a crown. 
 The heathens, whose representatives were to place 
 a crown on His head, understood that the gods de- 
 served a crown. Therefore they adorned the 
 images of their divinities with gold and jewels, 
 with crowns and wreaths of flowers. They 
 wreathed the head of Apollo with laurels; they 
 adorned the heads of Bacchus and Juno with the 
 leaves of the vine ; upon the head of Hercules they 
 placed olive branches, and golden crowns upon the 
 heads of Jupiter and Saturn. Now Christ had 
 declared before Caiphas that He was the Son of 
 God, and He confirmed His declaration with an 
 oath. Therefore He ought to be crowTied. 
 
 Christ, furthermore, as King, had the right to 
 a crown. ''Art thou a King?" Pilate had asked. 
 And Christ had given the answer, "Thou say est, 
 that I am a King." It was therefore proper that 
 a crown should adorn His head, and this with 
 greater reason, because His kingdom must excel 
 all others in greatness, power and glory. 
 
 Then Christ as Eigh-Priest of the New Law 
 had the right to a crown. When the high-priest 
 of the Old Law offered sacrifice, his- head was 
 adorned with the tiara. But Christ was about to 
 offer the infinitely meritorious sacrifice of the New 
 Law. Hence at this sublime sacrificial feast the 
 crown should not be missing. 
 
 Christ, as a glorious conqueror, had the right 
 to a crown. ''I have overcome the world," He 
 
204 HISTOHY OF THE PASSION 
 
 had declared the evening before, to all His apos- 
 tles, in His address of leave-taking.^ Now if Ro- 
 man generals, who had conquered a small speck 
 on the earth's surface, were granted the honor of 
 a triumph and of a crown of victory, how much 
 more worthy of a crown was Christ, the Conqueror 
 of the whole world, the Victor over even sin and 
 heU. 
 
 Finally, according to Jewish custom, the hnde- 
 groom wore a sort of diadem on the day of his 
 espousals. "Go forth," says the Canticle (iii., 
 11), ''ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon 
 in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him 
 in the day of his espousals. ' ' Now Christ, the true 
 Solomon, the true Prince of peace, was about to 
 redeem, with His Blood, His Bride, the Holy 
 Church, and to celebrate His espousals with her. 
 
 The Redeemer, therefore, had the most incon- 
 testable titles to a crown. Only two of these titles 
 were known to the pagan soldiery. They had been 
 present when Christ declared Himself a king be- 
 fore Pilate. Besides, they had heard what He had 
 testified under oath, regarding His Divinity. It 
 was these two titles, especially the former, which 
 prompted the soldiers to proceed to the coronation. 
 They quickly called together the whole band so 
 that all could take part in it. Let us now con- 
 sider the insignia which they presented to Christ. 
 
 1 St. John, xvi., 33. 
 
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS 205 
 
 II. 
 
 The insignia of a king consisted of a royal man- 
 tle, of a crown and a scepter. Following the cus- 
 tom, the soldiers first presented to the Saviour 
 the kingly mantle. It should have been a purple 
 one. But lacking a mantle of purple, richly in- 
 terwoven with gold, they made use of the best they 
 could procure. To begin with, they tore off His 
 garments, causing cruel pains, because they were 
 incrusted in the many wounds. They then 
 wrapped about Him an old, worn-out, scarlet rag. 
 "Lord," they probably said, ''the emperor of 
 Rome sends you this purple, it will become You 
 when You are on your royal throne." It was cor- 
 rectly put, for no other mantle was befitting for the 
 Redeemer of the world. He was the picture of 
 the world's sins, which were red as scarlet, but, 
 through Christ, were to become white as snow. The 
 mantle should be red as a sign that His kingdom, 
 founded in blood, was to be spread only by means 
 of blood, that is, by the blood of the apostles and 
 of the martyrs. It was ragged and torn in token 
 that, in imitation of Christ, His ministers would 
 redeem the souls of men and subject them to 
 Christ, not by means of gold and silver, but 
 through the hardships of poverty. As for the rest, 
 words are wanting in which to qualify properly 
 the wretchedness of this ignominious scene. I shall 
 therefore neither be indignant at the torturers, nor 
 unfold the shame of the Divine Heart. One sug- 
 gestion, however, forces itself upon me. If a king 
 
206 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 allows himself to be clad in poor and miserable 
 rags, how can we justify in His subjects a luxury 
 in matters of dress which exceeds by far all rea- 
 sonable, even all extreme demands of one's station 
 in life; a luxury such that one can no longer dis- 
 tinguish the daughter of an ordinary citizen's fam- 
 ily from the high-born princess, nor the maid from 
 her mistress. There is many a poor little church 
 in missionary countries where the Body of Christ 
 is hardly better clad than at His crowning. Hun- 
 dreds and thousands of members of the same 
 Sacred Body, in these same countries, lack even 
 the most necessary garments. In whole droves, 
 they die from sheer poverty and misery. Instead, 
 then, of using the excess of your money in a sinful 
 way, use it to clothe Jesus Christ in one of the 
 manners suggested. Then He will not address to 
 you the reproach, "I was naked and you covered 
 me not. Depart from me into everlasting fire. ' ' ^ 
 Then they put the crown upon the head of 
 Christ. Undoubtedly, it was a crown of most 
 beautiful roses or of most precious gems, or of the 
 purest gold, adorned with pearls and the most ex- 
 quisite jewels! But the Almighty in His anger 
 had cursed the earth. "Thorns and thistles shall 
 it bring forth to thee. ' ' To remove from the earth 
 this curse, this king must carry on His head upon 
 the cross the signs of this curse. The ram, also, 
 which was to be immolated instead of Isaac, stuck 
 fast by the horns amongst thorns and briars. The 
 
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS 207 
 
 soldiers then, from miglity thorns with strong and 
 sharp points, platted a crown in the form of a 
 wreath or of a helmet and put it upon the head 
 of Christ in such a violent manner that the blood 
 poured forth from the forehead, the eyes and the 
 cheeks. *'Xow keep your head straight and still," 
 a soldier would remark, "and we'll give you what 
 you have desired for such a long time." That, 
 indeed, was correct. For Christ had earnestly 
 longed for the crown of thorns and its sufferings 
 in order that He might atone for the sins of 
 crowned heads. To preserve a crown or to in- 
 crease its splendor or to add new jewels to it, how 
 many bloody wars have they not carried on, of 
 how many acts of infernal cruelty or of enormous 
 injustice have they not been guilty? Christ also 
 wished to atone for the many sins of thought 
 whereby we have so often offended Him, for 
 thoughts of pride and vanity, for thoughts of 
 worldliness, for uncharitable thoughts, and finally 
 for the impure thoughts and imaginations of un- 
 chaste people. 
 
 When the head suffers, necessarily all the mem- 
 bers suffer, because they are joined to the head 
 in the unity of the body. Whoever, therefore, 
 does not or will not suffer, whoever leads a sump- 
 tuous life, whoever pursues all sorts of pleasures 
 or complacently wallows in sinful lusts cannot 
 possibly belong to a body whose head is pierced 
 with thorns. 
 
 Finally, there was presented to Christ a reed, 
 as a scepter, to remind Him of all the misery, 
 
208 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 emptiness and evanescence of His kingly sway. 
 But there ye are in error, ye soldiers! Do ye not 
 know that the windstorm may indeed uproot 
 mighty oaks and cedars, but that it cannot harm 
 the reed which bends and turns? Have ye never 
 heard how rushing floods wash away palaces, but 
 pass without harm over the deep-rooted and yield- 
 ing reed! Where are now the proud thrones of 
 the ancient world? Where the golden scepters of 
 the Ctesars? What is there left of so many once 
 powerful kingdoms and empires? Nothing but 
 ruins and heaps of rubbish, nothing but remnants 
 in a thousand scattered fragments. But the King 
 Whom ye have crowned, still wields His mild 
 scepter and He shall reign to the end of time. 
 
 The coronation is over. Christ is clad in the 
 emblems of His royal dignity. Sitting upon the 
 pillar of flagellation as upon a throne, or leaning 
 against it, He now receives the homage of the sol- 
 diers. It corresponds perfectly with the insignia 
 they have offered Him. 
 
 III. 
 
 The evangelists have carefully described to us 
 the whole ceremony. First the soldiers went up 
 to Christy bowed their knees before Him and began 
 to salute Him, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews.'' 
 It is again a scene from hell, mock reverence, grin- 
 ning faces, scornful looks, laughter now partly sup- 
 pressed, now louder and then ringing through the 
 air, salutes and addresses with tongues stretched 
 out toward Him. One seeks to outdo the other in 
 
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS 209 
 
 mean vulgarity. Every new coarseness, every suc- 
 cessful jest is greeted with general applause. 
 
 But they did not stop at words and gestures. 
 They advanced to deeds. They gave Him blows. 
 They spat upon Him. They took the reed and 
 beat His head with it. "When dry, the nether part 
 of the sea-reed, although hollow, is as hard and 
 tough as wood. The Saviour had been accustomed 
 to the blows and the spittle by His experience in 
 the house of Caiphas. But then His eyes were 
 bound. Now, however, He receives the homage of 
 His future people with open eyes. Through the 
 violent beating upon the crown, one of the thorns 
 is said to have pierced an eye, so that its point 
 appeared on the surface of the eye-ball. The 
 worst feature of the homage was its last scene. 
 They bent their knees and acted as if they wor- 
 shipped Him as their God. Thus the ceremony 
 of coronation reached its climax in the most awful 
 blasphemy. "My people, what have I done to 
 thee ? Or wherein have I saddened thee ? To thee 
 I gave a kingly scepter, and thou gavest my head 
 a crown of thorns! For thee I slew the kings of 
 Canaan, and thou hast beaten my head with a 
 reed!" A mean reward! 
 
 The thorny crown of Jesus Christ has since be- 
 come, for all pious Christians, an object of venera- 
 tion. "What!" exclaimed Godfrey of Bouillon, 
 after capturing 'Jerusalem, "shall I carry the 
 crown of a king where my Lord and Saviour hath 
 carried a crown of thorns?" "Not the crown of 
 
 roses, but the crown of thorns," exclaimed St. 
 14 
 
210 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Catherine of Siena, after Our Lord, in a heavenly- 
 vision, had offered her the choice of the one or the 
 other. But no one was ever happier than St. 
 Louis, the holy king of France, when the occasion 
 was presented to him of possessing himself of the 
 Saviour's crown of thorns. For miles, he and his 
 court went to meet it. His eyes were streaming 
 with tears, when, bare-footed and with uncovered 
 head, carrying the precious relic in his hands, he 
 entered his capital city as if in triumph. In these 
 latter years, the Church has even established a 
 special feast in honor of the crown of thorns, and, 
 in Catholic countries, the priest of Jesus Christ, 
 in holy pride, carries its semblance on the crown 
 of his head. 
 
 As to Our Saviour Himself, the ignominy and 
 torture of the scene of coronation was changed, 
 even on the third day thereafter, to glory and 
 immeasurable felicity. Surrounded by light and 
 splendor as 'once upon Thabor's heights, clad with 
 heavenly beauty as with a garment, the purple of 
 glory upon His shoulders, upon His anointed Head 
 the kingly diadem, He stands with the banner of 
 victory in His hand. Eternal Love is spread upon 
 His Divine countenance. Divine majesty rests upon 
 His brow, a holy victorious joy beams from His 
 transfigured eyes. It is no longer the menials nor 
 blood-stained soldiers who accompany Him, ah, no ! 
 Now the patriarchs and the prophets and all the 
 just of the Old Law meet Him in joy and exulta- 
 tion, pay their homage to the glorious Hero and 
 adore their Divine King. Even the angels circle 
 
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS 211 
 
 joyfully about the triumphant Conqueror and sing 
 to Him heavenly lays. Let us also take part in 
 the homage of heaven and earth ! Glory and praise 
 and adoration to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, Who 
 for us hast been crowned with thorns. Praise to 
 Thee, Thou Conqueror over sin and hell! Praise 
 and glory to Thee, glorious King! We worship 
 Thee, Thou God and King of our hearts for time 
 and for eternity. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ECCE homo! 
 
 " Jesus therefore came forth bear- 
 ing the crown of thorns, and the pur- 
 ple garment. And Pilate said to 
 them: Behold the man. When the 
 chief-priests therefore and the serv- 
 ants had seen him, they cried out, 
 saying: Crucify him, crucify him.'* 
 (St. John, xix., 5, 6.) 
 
 After the soldiers had scourged Christ and 
 crowned Him with thorns, they brought Him back 
 into the court-room of Pilate. We cannot imagine 
 otherwise than that Pilate was somewhat abashed 
 at the sight of the mangled and thorn-crowned 
 Saviour. And, considering his sense of justice, 
 his blood must have boiled in anger and indigna- 
 tion. Undoubtedly he had commanded that the 
 scourging be more severe than usual. But the sol- 
 diers had gone far beyond his intention. Besides, 
 without his orders, even without his knowledge, 
 they had, of their own accord, driven the thorns 
 into the Lord's head. But he soon recovered, he 
 ordered no punishment for the subordinates, he did 
 not even reprove them. He overlooked the matter, 
 for the hope arose within him that now he could 
 more easily carry out his plan, that is, to obtain 
 
 212 
 
ECCE HOMO! 213 
 
 the consent of the Jews to the release of Christ. 
 Let us consider^ 
 
 I. Another effort of Pilate to release Christ 
 and 
 II. Its result. 
 
 The new effort to release Christ consisted in 
 this, that Pilate led the Kedeemer out of the 
 court-room into the vestibule, presented Him in 
 His pitiable condition to the Jews, and, in a few^ 
 words, recommended Him to their sympathy. 
 ''Behold," said he to them, *'I bring him forth 
 unto you, that you may know that I find no cause 
 in him." But, Pilate, what would you yourself 
 think of a father, who after beating his son to 
 the shedding of blood, would say to the other 
 children, ''Behold, I show him to you that you 
 may know that I find no fault in him?" Is it 
 not most natural to measure the enormity of a 
 crime by the severity of the punishment deter- 
 mined for it by the judge? However, it is the 
 property of sin to entangle him who commits it in 
 the most glaring contradictions so that he is at 
 variance not only with God, but also with good 
 sense and sound reason. Or, do you perhaps mean 
 that the mere circumstance of leading him out to 
 the Jews should prove His innocence, because, if 
 you had found Him guilty, you would immediately 
 have sent Him to prison or to the place of execu- 
 
 1 St. John, xix., 4-8. 
 
214 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 tion? But what has happened at this particular 
 moment to convince you again of His innocence? 
 During the long scourging and crowning with 
 thorns, you could not possibly have questioned 
 Him. But if you previously considered Him inno- 
 cent and if you still so consider Him, why do you 
 postpone His liberation? The sense of Pilate's 
 words, therefore, amounts to this: "I have or- 
 dered this innocent man here before you to be 
 punished severely as a favor to you. Now, on 
 your part, make a concession to me and make no 
 further demands. ' ' But these words of Pilate con- 
 tain a fearful self-condemnation. How could he 
 as a just judge be swaj^ed by human motives 
 against his own better knowledge and allow such 
 an excessive wrong to be done to an innocent man ? 
 The Gospel continues, ''Jesus therefore came 
 forth bearing the crown of thorns and the purple 
 garment. And he (Pilate) saith to them: Behold 
 the man. ' ' Note the prudence of Pilate. He calls 
 Him no more a king of the Jews, in order not to 
 offend or exasperate them. He says, ''Behold the 
 man." This is the man whom you have accused 
 as an aspirant to the throne. Whatever He may 
 have done. He is now, without a doubt, sufficiently 
 punished. If you intended to humiliate Him, was 
 ever a greater shame inflicted? If you demanded 
 blood, who ever shed more than He? If He ever 
 had a desire for the throne, it undoubtedly has 
 left Him by this time. Nor could He now find 
 any adherents. Be you therefore contented and 
 demand no more" punishment. Have pity on Him. 
 
ECCE HOMO! 215 
 
 He is neither a stone nor a dog. He is a human 
 being like to yourselves. Why, it would be against 
 human nature not to pity a man in such a mis- 
 erable condition. And, while thus expatiating on 
 the ''Eece Homo," Pilate pointed his finger at 
 Christ, the soldiers held back the scarlet mantle 
 so that all could see the terrible wounds, and for 
 this purpose, they turned Him around in a cir- 
 cle. 
 
 ** Behold the man!" These words certainly 
 demonstrate the merciful heart of Pilate. But his 
 great error was that, through his own fault, he 
 recognized in Christ only a man. Thus it is even 
 to-day. Whoever overlooks the divine element in 
 Christ and in His Holy Church, will always be 
 unfair in judgment and impious in conduct. 
 What result did Pilate achieve? 
 
 II. 
 
 It appears that the sight of the Redeemer pro- 
 duced a sad impression on the multitude. For 
 there were many among the crowd who joined in 
 the cry ''Crucify Him!" impelled more by ig- 
 norance and fear than by malice. The chief-priests 
 noticed this. Lest their plans be frustrated, they 
 therefore shouted as loud as they could, "Crucify 
 Him ! Crucify Him ! ' ' What an indecorous sight ! 
 Howling high-priests ! How ye have forgotten the 
 dignity* of your priestly station and of your white 
 hairs! What fanatical hatred in these men! 
 What adorns the priest more than mercy for the 
 unfortunate? Has he not, by virtue of his of- 
 
216 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 fice, both the privilege and the duty to invoke grace 
 and pity upon sinners ? But like wild beasts after 
 tasting blood, the chief -priests fall upon their vic- 
 tim to dismember it and to tear it to pieces. Holy 
 Writ declares that, because they so cruelly 
 scourged and crowned the Saviour, therefore they 
 demand the crucifixion. They could indeed no 
 longer turn back without bringing upon themselves 
 the greatest embarrassment. Were Christ now re- 
 leased, His very maltreatment would regain for 
 Him the hearts of the people so much sooner, and 
 their entire fury would turn against the chief- 
 priests. Their infernal prudence, therefore, urged 
 them to demand the crucifixion. 
 
 Then Pilate, indignant and disgusted, said: 
 *'Take him you, and crucify him: for I find no 
 cause in him.'' As if he said, "If according to 
 your law, it be allowable to kill an innocent man, 
 do it yourselves. I shall not commit such an out- 
 rageous injustice ; our laws do not permit it. ' ' But 
 the chief -priests would not allow this reproach and 
 the slur cast upon the Mosaic Law to go unno- 
 ticed. ' ' We have, ' ' they said, ' ' a law ; and accord- 
 ing to the law he ought to die, because he made 
 himself the Son of God." 
 
 Words cannot adequately characterize this con- 
 duct of the chief -priests. Nothing ever equaled it 
 in meanness, malice and low cunning. Having 
 found that with their charge of high-treas©n they 
 would not attain their object, they drop it then and 
 there, and by charging blasphemy, which hereto- 
 fore they dared not mention to the pagan judge, 
 
ECCE HOMO! 217 
 
 they, by one stroke, give the trial a new direction. 
 Now, finally, the section of the Mosaic Law accord- 
 ing to which Christ ought to be put to death was 
 found. Only it is strange that the high-priests 
 did not propose the penalty of stoning as the 
 Mosaic Law required, but the illegal crucifixion. 
 In later centuries the enemies of Christ and of 
 the Church were not always fortunate enough to 
 find in their constitutional laws and other codes 
 such provisions as would empower them to proceed 
 against the Church. Nothing then remained to 
 preserve legal appearances, but for legislative ma- 
 jorities hurriedly to fabricate new sections. Then 
 they could, with a calm conscience, appear before 
 the astonished world and say, "We have a law, and 
 according to section so and so, — he must die.'' 
 
 Contrary to all expectation, the charge of the 
 chief-priests that Christ had proclaimed Himself 
 to be the Son of God, made a deep impression on 
 Pilate. ''When Pilate therefore," says the Gospel, 
 "had heard this saying, he feared the more." 
 Pilate then had feared before this. He feared, 
 first of all, the chief-priests, whom he would not 
 offend. He feared the emperor to whom all the 
 official documents of the trial must be sent. The 
 unjust treatment of an accused and his unjust con- 
 demnation, would certainly entail removal from 
 office. And undoubtedly his conduct toward Christ 
 also caused him the most poignant pangs of con- 
 science. Why then should he fear the more? It 
 need not seem singular to us that Pilate was 
 strangely affected at the thought that perhaps 
 
218 HISTORY OF THE TASSION 
 
 Christ, Whom he had so cruelly and unjustly 
 scourged, was after all the son of a god. Accord- 
 ing to the ancient Greek and Roman mythologies, 
 with which Pilate was undoubtedly acquainted, 
 there were many gods, with families and numerous 
 sons and daughters. Many of these were said to 
 have repeatedly appeared upon earth and to have 
 held intercourse with mortal men. In his surmise 
 that Christ was such a scion of divinity, Pilate 
 was confirmed by Christ 's truly Divine dignity, 
 calmness and majesty, by His inexplicable patience 
 and meekness amid such inexpressible sufferings. 
 He thought of the extraordinary deeds of the man, 
 and of what He had told him of His kingdom : that 
 it was not of this world. Finally, the warning of 
 his wife came to his mind : ' ' Have nothing to do 
 with this just man; there is something extraordi- 
 nary about him." Now, according to heathen 
 ideas, it was a dangerous matter to excite the anger 
 of the gods. Jupiter threw thunderbolts upon his 
 enemies, Apollo cast poisoned arrows that caused 
 pestilential ulcers. Mars devastated the territory 
 of an enemy with bloody war, Neptune caused the 
 sea to overflow its limits, Vulcan opened the earth 
 and exhaled fire. Pilate then, if he assaulted the 
 son of a god, would not escape the ire and revenge 
 of the older divinity. 
 
 This frivolous man of the world, then, this 
 doubter and scoffer, this prudent official, who, a 
 short time ago, had superciliously asked, **What 
 is truth?" was not free from religious presenti- 
 ments. But because he was too proud to submit 
 
ECCE HOMO! 219 
 
 to faith, lie had become a slave to superstition. 
 Thus even to-day infidelity and superstition are 
 very close neighbors. 
 
 Pilate, then, feared the more and resolved to 
 be more careful and to again examine the case 
 thoroughly before proceeding any further against 
 Christ. He therefore took the Redeemer back with 
 him into the court-room to give him a second hear- 
 ing. The thought that perhaps he was in the 
 presence of the son of a god whom he had wronged 
 and whom he was about to wrong even more, filled 
 the heathen with fear and anxiety. The Chris- 
 tian, on the other hand, knows and believes with 
 all certainty that he is close to God, that God is 
 omnipresent and all-knowing, that in God we live, 
 and move, and are. Still there are many who are 
 not disquieted at the thought of their many offenses 
 against the omnipresent God; many who do not 
 fear to provoke His anger by new offenses. 
 
 Ecce Homo! Behold the Man! Such was the 
 proclamation of Pilate to the Jews. The chief- 
 priests, however, would not look upon the picture, 
 Ecce Homo; it pleased them not. They shouted, 
 ''Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Almighty God 
 will again present this sight to them and to all 
 impenitent sinners, against their will, on the day 
 of judgment. They will see "Whom they have cru- 
 cified. Whom they have offended by their sins. 
 We, however, shall attentively gaze upon the Ecce 
 Homo and impress it deeply upon our hearts. Yea, 
 may the Lord be ever before our eyes, as He, 
 bleeding from a thousand wounds, with the crown 
 
220 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 of thorns on His head and the scarlet mantle about 
 His shoulders, stands publicly, as it were, in a pil- 
 lory. Let us continually thank Him for His in- 
 comprehensible love and repay the same with our 
 love. Let us thank Him especially for having 
 given us in the Ecce Homo a shield against which 
 all the arrows of hell shall be of no avail. How, 
 let us say when Satan tempts us to sensuality, to 
 avarice or to pride, how can I offend Him Who 
 has suffered so much for me? Yes, who would 
 think it possible, the Ecce Homo disarms even the 
 anger of Divine Justice. ''Regard, Lord''— let 
 this be our prayer when the thought of our sins 
 fills us with fear and trembling — "Regard, O Lord 
 the picture of Thine only begotten Son; and, for 
 the sake of His Blood, pardon Thou our misdeeds." 
 May the Ecce Homo, finally, in the hour of death 
 be our strength and hope, so that we may happily 
 withstand the last attack of Satan and, through the 
 merits of the crowned Redeemer, obtain the grace 
 to behold Him in His glory, world without end. 
 Amen. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE SECOND HEARING OF CHRIST BEFORE PILATE 
 
 " And from thenceforth Pilate , 
 sought to release him. But the 
 Jews cried out, saying: If thou re- 
 lease this man, thou art not CiEsar's 
 friend." (St. John, xix., 12.) 
 
 The new effort of Pilate to liberate Christ, was 
 a complete failure. The Ecce Homo was fol- 
 lowed by the cry, " Crucify Him," and, owing 
 to the fresh accusations of the high-priests, Pilate 
 found himself in the awkward position of having 
 to begin the trial anew. For such is the effect and 
 the penalty of irresolution and unfinished effort 
 that the man who once yields to them is plunged 
 into ever new and more elaborate entanglements, 
 until it becomes impossible for him to extricate 
 himself. 
 
 Let us consider ^ 
 I. The hearing in detail and 
 
 II. The mistakes of Pilate during its progress. 
 
 I. 
 
 Pilate began the trial with the question, 
 *' Whence art thou?" He did not inquire about 
 
 iSt. John, xix., 9-12. 
 
 221 
 
222 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the country or town in which Christ was born, for 
 that he already knew. The meaning of his ques- 
 tion was rather, "Who is thy father? Who is 
 thy mother?" For he wished to know whether, 
 as the charge had it, He was indeed the son of 
 some deity. Pilate received no reply. "Jesus 
 gave him no answer." This may seem strange to 
 us. The Saviour had replied to several questions 
 put to Him by Pilate, His legitimate judge. 
 Whence the silence now? We may mention as a 
 first reason that, in the meantime, Pilate had 
 rendered himself unworthy of a reply. At the end 
 of the first hearing, he had contemptuously asked, 
 "What is truth?" and turned his back upon 
 Christ. Besides, Pilate had, to some extent, 
 yielded to the Jews, and, against his better knowl- 
 edge, permitted the Redeemer to be scourged. 
 Then the fear which elicited his question was 
 merely a servile fear. He feared not so much to 
 offend the gods by mistakes as to draw down upon 
 himself their revenge. Now whoever fears only 
 the punishment and not the sin; whoever submits 
 through the fear of temporal misfortune only, does 
 not deserve an answer from the Redeemer. 
 
 As, furthermore, Pilate had asked his question 
 from a pagan point of view, that is, from the stand- 
 point of polytheism, an answer from Christ either 
 would have confirmed him in his erroneous opin- 
 ions, or would have been entirely unintelligible to 
 him. Besides, further information concerning the 
 person of Christ was altogether superfluous as, ow- 
 ing to previous answers, Pilate must have attained 
 
CHRIST AGAIN BEFORE PILATE 223 
 
 to a perfect conviction of His innocence and, in 
 fact, he had expressed himself repeatedly to that 
 effect. It was sufficient for him to know that 
 Christ was a king in a supernatural sense. And 
 even this he had not rightly understood. 
 
 Finally, the main reason why the Saviour did 
 not answer the question of the judge was that 
 Pilate deemed he had a right to know truths which 
 cannot be accepted without due humility of heart 
 and of intellect. Caiphas had adjured the Re- 
 deemer in the name of Almighty God to tell 
 whether or not He was the Son of God. He was, 
 besides, as high-priest, the legitimate custodian of 
 the pure doctrine in Israel. But it was arrogance 
 and curiosity which prompted Pilate's question, 
 '' Whence art thouT' Ah, Pilate! To fathom the 
 origin of Jesus Christ, how, in His Divinity, He 
 is begotten from all eternity by the Father, how 
 in His Humanity, through the overshadowing 
 power of the Holy Ghost, He was born of Mary, 
 His virginal Mother, means to penetrate into the 
 inmost depths of the Godhead ; it means to be in- 
 troduced into the inscrutable secrets of the Most 
 Holy Trinity and of the Incarnation. If thou 
 wouldst know more about these truths, thou 
 shouldst not ask in a domineering tone nor with 
 pompous self-esteem, but rather thou shouldst fall 
 upon thy knees and humbly ask the Saviour for 
 enlightenment, or, in the privacy of thy home, 
 betake thyself to prayer and remain therein until 
 it please God to reveal Himself to thee. 
 
 The silence of the Redeemer hurt the pride of 
 
224 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the Roman, the otherwise well-disposed judge. Of- 
 fended and indignant, he said to Christ, **Speakest 
 thou not to me? Knowest thou not that I have 
 power to crucify thee, and I have power to release 
 thee?" What, Pilate! thou hast power to crucify 
 Christ and power to release Him? Certainly not. 
 Thou art in error. Since thou hast so often de- 
 clared the Saviour's innocence, thou art no longer 
 free to crucify Him or to release Him. There is 
 nothing left for thee but to liberate Him without 
 delay. Thou confoundest the idea of external 
 power with that of right, of authority to act. The 
 mere possession of crude, material power does not 
 convey a right. Listen to what St. Ambrose ^ says 
 of thee: ''By thine ow^n words, Pilate, dost thou 
 judge and condemn thyself. For not according to 
 principles of right, but only because thou hadst in 
 hand the power, thou hast liberated the robber 
 and put to death the Giver of life. ' ' A good judge 
 does not render decisions according to caprice but 
 according to justice and equity. 
 
 In face of the erroneous, destructive and blas- 
 phemous view of Pilate on the origin of power, 
 Christ was obliged to break His silence. To honor 
 His heavenly Father and to instruct mankind. He 
 definitely and solemnly declared that there is no 
 power except from God. He more particularly 
 gave Pilate to understand, that His passion and 
 death did not depend upon Pilate's will and pleas- 
 ure but upon a free dispensation of God; that, 
 
 iSerm. 20 in Ps. 118. n. 38 (in vers. 4.) 
 
CHRIST AGAIN BEFORE PILATE 225 
 
 notwithstanding the power conferred upon him by 
 Caesar, Pilate could not possibly put Him to death, 
 if it had not pleased God at this time to give free 
 scope to the powers of darkness. He therefore 
 said to Pilate, ' ' Thou shouldst not have any power 
 against me, unless it were given thee from above.'' 
 To this instruction Christ added a last, impres- 
 sive warning that Pilate should not, by an unjust 
 sentence, use the power of which he boasted to his 
 own destruction. Therefore, Christ continued, 
 "he that hath delivered me to thee, hath the greater 
 sin." Which means, the sin of Caiphas is such a 
 great one, just because he delivered me to a man 
 to whom God really gave power over me; this sin 
 is greater than it otherwise would be, if thou, like 
 other people, hadst no power over me. Reflect 
 well what responsibility thou art loading upon 
 thyself, if, against thine own conscience, thou 
 abusest the power given thee.^ Pilate understood 
 both the instruction and the admonition. In or- 
 der not to offend the gods and not to draw upon 
 himself the enmity of a superior being, he now 
 wished to free Christ, in whom, notwithstanding 
 all enquiries, nothing punishable could be discov- 
 ered. "From thenceforth," says the Gospel, 
 "Pilate sought to release him." Indeed, he had 
 repeatedly willed the same before, but he had never 
 ventured to show it as plainly as now. He there- 
 fore left the court-room, and in concise words de- 
 clared to the people his intention of giving Christ 
 
 1 See note 12. 
 15 
 
226 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 His liberty on account of His innocence. The 
 words he used are not mentioned in the Gospel. 
 
 It acted like a clap of thunder upon the chief- 
 priests. Their accusation of blasphemy had, then, 
 proven abortive. But, while Pilate war giving the 
 Redeemer a hearing within the palace, they had to 
 some extent prepared themselves and the people 
 for this move by powerfully inciting and embit- 
 tering the latter against Christ. And thus it hap- 
 pened that, according to agreement, they now all 
 cried out together, ' ' If thou release this man, thou 
 art not Caesar 's friend. For whoever maketh him- 
 self a king, speaketh against Caesar." 
 
 One would really believe that, at this moment, 
 hell had opened its jaws and that all the demons 
 together had come up to put these words into the 
 mouths of the Jews. What infinite cunning and 
 malice they denote. The charges of treason and 
 of blasphemy had failed. They knew of naught 
 else. They therefore dragged into the trial the 
 personal interests of the judge by clearly giving 
 him to understand that they would accuse him to 
 the emperor in Rome and insist on his removal 
 for having released a man convicted by the high- 
 priests of the Jewish people as a pretender to the 
 crown and a rebel against Caesar. ''Caesar's 
 friend" was an honorary title of imperial legates 
 and governors.^ Wherefore, ''thou art not CaB- 
 sar's friend" meant the same as "thou canst no 
 longer remain governor. ' ' What a base mixture of 
 
 iSepp. Das Leben Jesu Christi, vi. (ch. 66), 264. 
 
CHRIST AGAIN BEFORE PILATE 227 
 
 lying and calumny! Formerly the statement was 
 that He said He was a King. Now it is said that 
 He made Himself a King against all legitimate 
 right, probably through rapine and bloodshed. 
 Finally, what hypocrisy ! The Jews again pretend 
 to be the devoted servants of Csesar and the props 
 of Roman dominion. 
 
 Now Pilate was outmaneuvered. The certain 
 prospect of being accused in Rome as was Herod 
 the Elder, and of being accused to Tiberius Caesar 
 whose suspicious cruelty would be roused to fury 
 at the mere shadow of a lese-majesty or of revolt; 
 the well-founded fear of even provoking a bloody 
 insurrection by the release of Christ and of even- 
 tually being responsible for it to Cgesar, all this 
 was too much for Pilate. He yielded; he caused 
 Christ, Whom he had left in the court-room, to be 
 led forth; he seated himself upon the judge's bench, 
 and in a few minutes the sentence of death was 
 pronounced upon Christ. 
 
 Let us now try to discover the faults of Pilate 
 during this hearing. 
 
 11. 
 
 As we have repeatedly seen, Pilate had many 
 good qualities. Especially did his sense of justice 
 contrast favorably with the craft of the chief- 
 priests. But, alas, these good qualities were 
 dimmed by great faults and weaknesses. The lat- 
 ter are indicated by an expression of Holy Writ 
 which in appearance praises Pilate. The words of 
 the sacred writer are, ''From thenceforth Pilate 
 
228 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 sought to release Him." ^'From thenceforth," it 
 says. That is well. But why only from thence- 
 forth? Why not sooner? Before that, Pilate had 
 often declared the innocence of Christ. Why does 
 he only now show signs of really meaning it ? Why 
 has he, time and time again, put off the fulfilment 
 of his most sacred duty? This was the first of Pi- 
 late's faults. It had led him into many mistakes 
 and unfair dealings before. It began his progress 
 towards ruin, because, by continually postponing, 
 he became so accustomed to infringements of duty 
 that he finally persevered in this state of neg- 
 lect. 
 
 This contains an important lesson for the sin- 
 ner who desires conversion. Do not procrastinate, 
 otherwise naught will come of these good desires. 
 It contains an important lesson for those upon 
 whom rests the duty of restitution in matters of 
 honor or of property, the duty of forgiveness or 
 the duty of breaking with occasions of sin. Do 
 not procrastinate or everything will remain as it 
 has been. It contains an important lesson for the 
 lukewarm Christian whose conscience admonishes 
 him to greater zeal. Do not procrastinate or you 
 will wear away and become putrid in your sloth. 
 
 But even now — and this is the second fault — 
 Pilate is only half in earnest. He wishes but wills 
 not. For if he indeed seriously means to release 
 Christ, why does he look around as if for means 
 to accomplish it? He has told the Redeemer to 
 His face that he had the power to release Him. 
 And since the release will cost him only a word, 
 
CHRIST AGAIN BEFORE PILATE 229 
 
 why does he hesitate so long? For none other 
 than human motives, for nothing else but pitiable, 
 miserable human respect. He wishes to release the 
 Saviour, but at the same time he does not want to 
 offend the chief-priests. He therefore tries to find 
 a way of satisfying both parties. He is attempt- 
 ing the impossible, because the claims of the two 
 parties are diametrically opposed to each other. 
 Owing to this condition of things and to the em- 
 barrassment resulting therefrom, his mind became 
 obscured and his will paralyzed. After that, 
 frightening him with the phantom of removal was 
 sufficient to bring Pilate to the end of his re- 
 sources. 
 
 Therein, again, is contained an important les- 
 son for us. He who, in his dealings with others 
 and in his daily routine, does not confine himself to 
 consulting God and conscience alone, he who is 
 continually fretting about what other people will 
 say to what he does, stands directly on the brink 
 of sin's abyss. To bring on the fall, a threat of 
 removal from office or of greater evils is not at all 
 necessary. A word, a look, the smile of a ribald 
 scoffer, of a miserable profligate is sufficient. Like 
 to Pilate, however, all slaves of human respect shall 
 be most poignantly deceived. 
 
 The source of all these aberrations of Pilate, 
 as we have pointed out in considering the first 
 hearing, was his indifference to truth, his contempt 
 of truth. He had turned his back upon Christ. 
 For whoever is indifferent to the truths of re- 
 ligion, or despises and opposes them, or spurns 
 
230 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 them, whoever, to be brief, does not and will not 
 fulfill his duties towards God, the Origin and 
 Teacher of truth, will also be unfaithful in the 
 performance of his duties towards his neighbor. 
 
 The history of Pilate is therefore the clearest 
 and most patent refutation of so-called religious 
 indifference. It is the refutation, the moral anni- 
 hilation even of free-thinkers, who maintain that 
 one can be a just man without God or Christ or 
 religion or faith. Whoever is not just towards 
 God, will not long be just towards his fellow-man. 
 In one way or another he will be unjust to him. 
 Even the honesty of which free-thinkers boast, that 
 honesty which is about the sum and substance of 
 all their faith and morals, stands on tottering 
 foundations. Not all of them may be detected as 
 swindlers and thieves; not all of them abscond to 
 foreign parts with other people's money; not all 
 of them bring about fraudulent bankruptcies to 
 enliven the business world from time to time ; but 
 their justice is certainly more fragile than a house 
 of blocks put together by a child. At most, it is 
 but a natural virtue, without any value for eter- 
 nity. 
 
 As for us, however, who do not and will not 
 belong to the number of these unhappy men, but 
 who are proud of being faithful children of the 
 Catholic Church, Pilate's sad history ought to con- 
 firm us in a threefold resolution. First, we ought 
 to renew our resolve always to have an open, will- 
 ing and grateful heart at the service of Christ, the 
 Divine Teacher of truth, and to do all in our 
 
CHRIST AGAIN BEFORE PILATE 231 
 
 power to know and to love more and more the 
 truths revealed by Him. Then we ought never to 
 postpone the execution of our good resolutions, but 
 should put our hands to the work immediately. 
 Finally, all kinds of human respect and attention 
 to the criticism and ridicule of men ought to be 
 far removed from us when there is question of 
 the performance of our duties. Then, and only 
 then, shall we be able confidently to exclaim with 
 the Apostle, ''Who shall separate us from the love 
 of Christ? shall tribulation? or distress? or fam- 
 ine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or 
 the sword ? " ^ No, none of all these, no power of 
 hell will be able to make us act against our con- 
 science, as Pilate did. We shall remain true to 
 Christ in life and in death. Then, indeed, we shall 
 hear from His lips the consoling words, **Well 
 done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast 
 been faithful over a few things, I will place thee 
 over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy 
 Lord. "2 
 
 1 Rom., viii., 35. 
 
 2 St. Matthew, xxv., 23. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE CLOSE OP THE TRIAL 
 
 "Then therefore he delivered Mm 
 to them to be crucified." 
 
 (St. John, xix., 16.), 
 
 Let US to-day in spirit go to Jerusalem, into 
 the vestibule of Pilate's palace, to hear the sen- 
 tence which, in answer to the charges and demands 
 of the Jewish people, Pontius Pilate, governor of 
 Judea, in the name of the Roman emperor Tiberius, 
 is to pronounce upon Jesus Christ, the Son of God 
 and of the purest Virgin Mary. It is not without 
 reason that St. John, the Evangelist (xix., 13, 14) 
 narrates so minutely all the circumstances of time 
 and place regarding this sentence. He wishes to 
 use every means to render credible and to place 
 beyond a doubt this incident so incredible in itself. 
 Thus we are informed that Pilate's judgment seat 
 in front of the building stood on the place called 
 Gabbatha, meaning elevation. We learn that this 
 elevation was upon the Lithostrotos, that is, a sur- 
 face inlaid with small, colored pebbles. Then 
 again, it was a Friday, the day of preparation for 
 the paschal feast,^ on which the paschal lambs 
 
 1 See not^ 9. 
 
 232 
 
THE CLOSE OF THE TRIAL 233 
 
 must be slain, at about eleven o'clock in the morn- 
 ing according to our time. Thus even the shadow 
 of suspicion that St. John had narrated an imagi- 
 nary tale would disappear. 
 
 After Pilate had led Jesus out and placed him- 
 self upon the judge's seat, he made another des- 
 perate, but equally unsuccessful attempt to obtain 
 the consent of the Jews to the release of Christ. 
 Then he washed his hands in token of his own 
 innocence and finally pronounced upon Christ the 
 sentence of death. 
 
 Let us, then, consider ^ 
 I. The last attempt of Pilate to release Christ ; 
 II. His solemn declaration of his own inno- 
 cence, and 
 
 III. The sentencing to death of the Redeemer. 
 
 Pilate, indeed, did not fail to make attempts 
 to liberate Christ, but they were without result. 
 Neither his eloquence in repeatedly defending the 
 innocence of Christ, nor the shrewd scheme of 
 opposing Jesus to Barabbas, nor the resort to 
 scourging, nor the Ecce Homo had availed any- 
 thing. Now he took a last refuge in sneers and 
 ridicule. The Jews had said, * ' If thou release this 
 man, thou art not- Csesar's friend. For whoso- 
 ever maketh himself a king, speaketh against 
 Csesar." Pilate had somewhat recovered from 
 the terror which these words had injected into 
 
 iSt. John, xix., 14-16; St. Matthew, xxvii., 24, 25; St. 
 Mark, xv., 15; St. Luke, xxiii., 24-25. 
 
234 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 him and slyly pretended not to have understood 
 anything of their threats. He now railed at the 
 foolishness of the Jews in considering as their 
 king such a piteously mangled being. "Behold 
 your king," said he, "He, indeed, looks like a 
 king ! ' ' Carried away by anger at this insult, not 
 the high-priests alone, but all present cried to- 
 gether, "Away with him, away with him, crucify 
 him." The whole world indeed was shouting for 
 Jesus, the Redeemer. The whole world forced into 
 His grasp the emblem of Salvation, the Holy Cross. 
 The Saviour could not resist. He must needs, 
 carry it. 
 
 Then Pilate said to the elews in a more serious 
 tone, "Shall I crucify your king? Are ye not 
 ashamed to demand of me the crucifixion of your 
 king? Is it not an unnatural and monstrous de- 
 mand? Is it not the mark of a degraded and un- 
 principled people?" But the chief -priests an- 
 swered, "We have no king, but Caesar." Now, ye 
 chief-priests and scribes, if ye have no more a 
 king, if the scepter hath in truth departed 
 from Juda, then He Who stands before you is 
 truly the Messias. From the crown of His head 
 to the sole of His foot, He appears exactly as the 
 prophets have described the Messias. But they 
 say, "Csesar is our king." .These words imply 
 the formal rejection of the Old Covenant. For 
 the old testamentary pact between God and the 
 Israelites was that He would be their king and they 
 should be His people. He had confirmed and con- 
 secrated this pact with innumerable, astounding 
 
THE CLOSE OF THE TRIAL 235 
 
 miracles for the welfare of His people; He had 
 blessed it with torrents of benefits. He had, in- 
 deed, often had reason to complain of infidelity 
 and breach of the solemn covenant on the part of 
 His people, as we find recorded in the touching 
 elegies of the prophets.^ And therefore He even 
 had, for some time previous to this, retired from 
 the direct government of His people as He had 
 exercised it through Moses and through the almost 
 uninterrupted succession of the prophets, the custo- 
 dians of the Divine compact. But until now the 
 legal status of His Kingly Power had never been 
 denied. Now, however, the degenerate priesthood 
 called upon God to depart, declared theocracy 
 abolished, betrayed the hallowed constitution into 
 the hands of the civil power, allowed an imperial 
 official to sit in judgment over the King-Messiaa 
 and violently demanded His death. "Crucify 
 Him! We have no king but Caesar." Thus 
 spoke the same Jews who a short time before, when 
 the Redeemer promised them that the acceptance 
 of His doctrine would give them freedom, had an- 
 swered Him by saying, "We have never been 
 slaves to any man : How sayest thou : You shall be 
 free. ' ' ^ The effects of their change of government 
 became apparent after forty years. The last ef- 
 fort, then, of Pilate to save Christ had collapsed. 
 The proclamation of the synagogue declaring the 
 Roman emperor king of the Jews, imposed silence 
 on him and deprived him of all argument. Pru- 
 
 iv.g. Is. 1 sq.; Jer. ii., 5; Mich, vi., 3. 
 2 St. John., viii., 33. 
 
236 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 dence forbade him to raise a protest. He would 
 remain a * 'friend of Caesar/' and thus the trial 
 ended. There was no thought of calling witnesses 
 in rebuttal nor of presenting a defense by an able 
 attorney. The only remaining feature was that 
 the governor prepared to justify himself before 
 the assembled multitude concerning the sentence 
 to be pronounced, and to solemnly aver his inno- 
 cence in the judicial murder about to be com- 
 mitted. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Gospel continues, ''And Pilate seeing that 
 he prevailed nothing : but that rather a tumult was 
 made : taking water washed his hands before the 
 people, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this 
 just man; look you to it." It is remarkable that 
 Pilate is continually seized with a dread of the 
 crime he is about to commit, and that its fearful 
 responsibility is clearly before his eyes. So in- 
 delibly has God engraved His Law upon the hearts 
 of men that the conscience of even the pagan trem- 
 bles in presence of guilt and of its penalty. He 
 is, therefore, impelled to remove the crime from 
 himself by the washing of hands and the protesta- 
 tion of his innocence and to load upon others the 
 responsibility and the penalty. However, let 
 us examine more closely the conduct of this man. 
 
 He washed his hands. When a murder had oc- 
 curred, it was customary among the Jews to testify 
 by the washing of hands that one had no part in 
 the crime. In Deuteronomy (xxi., 1, 6-8) we 
 
THE CLOSE OF THE TRIAL 237 
 
 read: "When there shall be found in the land the 
 corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is 
 guilty of the murder, the ancients of that city 
 shall come to the person slain and shall wash their 
 hands . . . and say: Our hands did not shed 
 this blood. And the guilt of blood shall be taken 
 from them." Pilate, who, on account of his offi- 
 cial position as judge and of his continual relations 
 with the Jews, was undoubtedly aware of this cus- 
 tom, made use of it now to manifest his innocence 
 in the crucifixion of Christ, soon to take place. 
 But why all this vain acting which in no wise could 
 denote innocence of the heart? ** Though thou 
 wash thyself with nitre," Pilate, *'thou art 
 stained in thy iniquity. ' ' ^ And though thou 
 shouldst lead all the waters of the Jordan and all 
 the waves of the Red Sea over thy hands, they 
 will not wash away the stain of blood. By this 
 wretched mummery, the fool would deceive him- 
 self and save the appearance of his innocence be- 
 fore the public. There is scarcely anything so ri- 
 diculous, disgusting and demoralizing as hypoc- 
 risy. 
 
 After washing his hands, Pilate, in accordance 
 with the Mosaic Law, declares his innocence by 
 spoken words. But how contradictory they were! 
 He calls Jesus a just man and, in the same breath, 
 he speaks of the blood which this just man is to 
 shed. He seems to have forgotten the fearful in- 
 justice this just man has already suffered at his 
 
 1 Jer., ii., 22. 
 
238 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 hands, or perhaps he thinks that it was justified 
 by a good and noble purpose. Now, when he has 
 on the tip of his tongue the sentence of death 
 which, according to his own utterances, is unjust 
 to the last degree, he affirms the innocence of 
 Christ. 
 
 Finally, he relegates the entire responsibility to 
 others. ' ' Look you to it. " I shall not answer for 
 the consequences; they will be upon your con- 
 sciences and upon your shoulders. The peo- 
 ple were satisfied. They declared themselves to 
 be of the same mind. But what a dreadful deed! 
 Even future generations were to carry the weight 
 of guilt. Even unborn children are now pawned 
 for the price of this Blood. For the people ex- 
 claimed as with one voice, ''His blood be upon us 
 and upon our children.' ' A fearful curse they 
 invoked upon themselves, a dreadful curse upon 
 their children. How, after that, could anybody 
 be found to curse himself and others? And how 
 terribly has this curse been realized! It followed 
 the Jews like a ghastly shadow, making them shud- 
 der at the thought of it even before the time for 
 its fulfilment had arrived. Seized with dread when 
 the apostles preached about the Risen Saviour, 
 they exclaimed, ''You have a mind to bring the 
 blood of this man upon us. " ^ And when later 
 the powerful armies of their chosen king, the Ro- 
 man emperor, swept over the country, the woeful 
 effects of the curse showed themselves in their 
 
 lActs, v., 28. 
 
THE CLOSE OF THE TRIAL 239 
 
 most fearful colors. Blood flowed in streams, the 
 deicides and their children were slaughtered by the 
 thousands, until finally that clamor of the Jews 
 for blood was silenced by the ruined walls of the 
 holy City, the burning temple, the roads filled with 
 crucified people, the hills of heaped-up corpses. 
 And even now the curse has not departed from 
 this people. Even now they wander about in for- 
 eign lands, like exiles far from the paternal do- 
 mains, without sacrifice, without altar, without a 
 king, an object of the anger of God and of the 
 scorn of nations; a living monument of their an- 
 cestors^ disgrace. 
 
 But this judgment of God should not prevent 
 us from erjang with our whole soul and with a 
 most yearning desire, "His Blood be upon us!" 
 And you. Christian parents, add the prayer, ''His 
 Blood be upon our children!" Most Sacred Blood 
 of Jesus Christ, come upon us and purify us. The 
 destroying angel beheld the blood of the paschal 
 lamb on the door-posts of the houses, and the Is- 
 raelites were saved from bodily death. Protect us 
 then, O Jesus, through Thy precious Blood, against 
 the onslaughts of the evil enemy, protect us against 
 the death of the soul. O Blood of Our God, flow 
 in all Thy plenitude into our hearts ! Sanctify us ! 
 And may not a single drop be lost to us. 
 
 Finally the moment had arrived when the trial 
 was to close with the death-sentence. 
 
240 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 III. 
 
 "His blood be upon us and upon our children." 
 This declaration seemed to quiet Pilate. It encour- 
 aged him to order the release of Barabbas for the 
 paschal feast and to pronounce the sentence of 
 death upon Christ. Clad in the official robe of a 
 Roman prsetor and surrounded by soldiers and 
 servants who bore the insignia of civil power and 
 of the penal court, Pilate arose with affected calm, 
 dignity and majesty. As if by magic, the tumult 
 and clamors of the raving multitude ceased. A 
 dead silence reigned in the entire assemblage. 
 Every one listened, every one was intent upon the 
 sentence of the judge. Every one hung on his lips. 
 Even the angels descended from heaven to be wit- 
 nesses of the unheard-of tragedy and to ascertain 
 for what cause the Immortal One deserved death. 
 But what a disappointment ! What an astounding 
 procedure ! There was no trace of a regular judi- 
 cial sentence, no indication of a definite crime, 
 without which even a purposely unfair judge 
 would not venture a sentence. There was no refer- 
 ence to the statute according to which the accused 
 had forfeited his life. There was happening some- 
 thing impossible, such as the world had never be- 
 fore witnessed. Indeed, many an innocent man 
 had already been condemned, but no one had 
 ever been condemned for being innocent. **And 
 Pilate," says Holy Writ, **gave sentence that 
 it should be as they required. Jesus he deliv- 
 ered up to their will to be crucified. ' ' It was, then, 
 
THE CLOSE OF THE TRIAL 241 
 
 not to punish a crime, but to please the people and 
 to gratify their wishes that Pilate delivered the 
 Redeemer to death. Be ye amazed, ye heavens ! 
 May the crimson of shame cover thy face, earth ! 
 The Son of God is sentenced as a criminal. Inno- 
 cence is betrayed to sinners, the Lamb to ravenous 
 wolves. Now the prophecy is fulfilled : ' ' The Son 
 of Man shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall 
 be mocked and scourged, and they will put Him 
 to death." 
 
 The sentence was pronounced. In the case of 
 a murderer or robber the trial might have lasted 
 days or weeks. In the case of Christ everything 
 was done in a few hours. At other times, O Pilate, 
 thou couldst subdue the seditious crowds with sol- 
 diers and swords and lances; why not now? 
 Where is thy courage, thy strength of will ? Why 
 didst thou not, at least, postpone the sentence till 
 the storm had quieted down? Wholly astonished 
 at the quick and favorable ending of the trial, the 
 crowd burst forth into wild rejoicing. It roared 
 with pleasure. It gave vent to satanic shouts of 
 derision. The chief-priests meanwhile crowded 
 around Pilate. They complimented him, and, in 
 token of friendship and gratitude, they shook his 
 hand. But the most happy of all was that consum- 
 mate scoundrel, Caiphas, the high-priest. He sent 
 messengers throughout the whole of Jerusalem to 
 announce the joyful news and he invited the whole 
 people, men and women, old folks and children, to 
 take part in the execution of Jesus Christ, the Son 
 
 of the living God. 
 16 
 
242 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Mute and speechless, the Redeemer stood before 
 the bar of the tribunal. Mute and speechless He 
 heard the cruel sentence. Mute and speechless He 
 heard the blasphemies and the jests of His enemies. 
 His answer was a silence full of heavenly majesty. 
 But the sorrows of His humbled Heart He offered 
 up to God and declared Himself now ready to suf- 
 fer death for the infinite glory of His heavenly 
 Father, for the redemption of the souls in 
 Limbo and for the salvation of the whole world. 
 It is certain, infallibly certain, that at this mo- 
 ment Christ thought of each one of us. We shall 
 thank Our Redeemer for this memento. Indeed, 
 we need it, we need His grace. For in paradise, 
 the sentence of death had been pronounced against 
 us. We all must die. But alas! we shall not die 
 innocently as Christ died. Vouchsafe then unto 
 us, innocent Saviour, condemned to death as 
 Thou art, vouchsafe unto us the grace, at least, 
 not to die the death of the sinner, but rather the 
 death of the just. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS 
 
 "They took off the cloak from 
 him and put on him his own gar- 
 ments, and led him away to crucify 
 him." (St. Matthew, xxvii., 31.) 
 
 Pilate had delivered the Redeemer to the will 
 of His accusers that they might crucify Him, and 
 they set to work without delay. Since the advent 
 of Tiberius to the imperial throne, criminals sen- 
 tenced by the Roman senate were reprieved for 
 ten days, and when the emperor had pronounced 
 the sentence, even for thirty days. Usually, at 
 least one day of grace was granted. Very rarely 
 did the execution take place on the day of the sen- 
 tencing. The chief -priests would not grant Christ 
 such a reprieve for reasons already mentioned and 
 for fear lest Pilate come to his senses and regret 
 and change the sentence of death already pro- 
 nounced. Therefore, they were very anxious to 
 get Christ out of the way as soon as possible. Let 
 us consider^ 
 
 I. The preparations for the last journey; 
 
 II. The journey to the gate of the city. 
 
 iSt. John, xix., 16-22; St. Matthew, xxvii., 31; St. 
 Mark, xv., 20; St. Luke, xxiii., 32. 
 243 
 
244 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 The preparation for the last journey consisted 
 in the following four things. First the cross was 
 procured. Either it was now hurriedly con- 
 structed, or it had been made during the final trial, 
 or perhaps the Romans kept on hand a supply 
 of crosses for purposes similar to the present one. 
 The cross of Christ was at least fifteen feet long 
 including the part in the ground. For the feet 
 of the Saviour suspended on the cross were quite 
 distant from the ground, since Scripture says that 
 He was exalted. Then there was a rod needed to 
 apply to His mouth the sponge saturated with 
 vinegar. The cross-piece either at right angles 
 with the main piece, or, in two parts, turned up- 
 wards at either side, may have been six feet long. 
 Thickness and width were suited to the purpose 
 of the cross, and we may truthfully say to Jesus 
 in our prayers, "Who hast carried the heavy cross 
 for us." 
 
 Then they prepared the title of guilt which 
 was to be attached to the cross above the head of 
 the Redeemer. Wooden tablets coated with plas- 
 ter were used for this purpose, and for official no- 
 tices there were always some on hand. The tab- 
 let had on it the name of the crime. In the case 
 of Christ, Pilate caused the title to be written in 
 the Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages, the first 
 being the language of the emperor, and the other 
 two the popular tongues. For many Jews, living 
 in foreign parts and present for the paschal feast, 
 
THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS 245 
 
 understood the Greek better than the Hebrew 
 tongue. Moreover, the use of three languages in 
 the^'title had a deeper meaning. The confusion 
 of languages at Babylon was the expression of 
 God's anger. The holy cross, the sign of recen- 
 ciliation, was to restore the unity of tongues. In 
 the unity of faith and of love the peoples of all 
 tongues should be united in the worship of the 
 Crucified One. The title read, '^ Jesus of Naza- 
 reth, King of the Jews." Now we have it in 
 clear terms from the judge himself that Christ was 
 not executed on account of a crime, but because 
 He was Jesus, that is, the Redeemer, and because 
 He was King in the realm of truth. 
 
 Whether Pilate, in framing this title, purposely 
 desired to vex the chief-priests, cannot be stated 
 with certainty. It suffices to remark that they 
 felt and showed themselves offended and ag- 
 grieved. Therefore, according to the opinion of 
 several commentators, they entered a protest at 
 once in front of the court building, against the 
 wording of the title, although St. John narrates 
 it as happening later on. They said to Pilate, 
 ''Write not, the king of the Jews; but that he 
 said: I am the king of the Jews." But Pilate, 
 who towards the end had been so yielding, an- 
 swered, "What I have written, I have written"; 
 from which words they could draw the conclusion, 
 "and thus shall it remain." For an official docu- 
 ment cannot well be changed; it might diminish 
 the respect due to authority. Thus Pilate, unwit- 
 tingly gave testimony unto the truth. Thus, unwit- 
 
246 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 tingly, at an early date, did lie produce a short 
 gospel. Not to lose time and not to anger Pilate, 
 the "chief -priests relinquished their wish. 
 
 Meanwhile, the soldiers prepared the Saviour 
 for His last journey. They tore from Him the 
 scarlet mantle and put on Him His own garment. 
 This was done, as St. Ambrose says, in order that, 
 clothed in His own garment, He might, when led 
 forth, be more easily recognized by the populace 
 as the now unmasked deceiver Who had been ac- 
 claimed by their hosannas a few days before. 
 This change of garments was again most painful 
 to the Kedeemer. The scarlet mantle tightly ad- 
 hered to His wounded body, whence the blood be- 
 gan to flow anew. Just as painful to His Sacred 
 head was the putting on of the outer garment. 
 It was not in parts and had but a small opening 
 at the top and therefore had to be drawn over the 
 head to the shoulders. They then violently and 
 amid jests pushed against the crown of thorns, if 
 indeed they were not constrained to remove it and 
 press it on again, owing to its long and branching 
 thorns. 
 
 Finally they led Christ to the place where the 
 cross was. We cannot help but think that at the 
 first sight of it, undoubtedly of His own free will, 
 the Saviour was filled with fear and dismay and 
 that He trembled even to the very marrow of His 
 bones. How a child will tremble at the sight of 
 the rod, a criminal at the sight of instruments of 
 torture, a condemned man at the sight of the 
 sword or of the gallows! Thus and even more 
 
THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS 247 
 
 did the Saviour tremble, for, sin excepted, He had 
 taken upon Himself all the infirmities and weak- 
 nesses of our nature. But at the same time His 
 soul raised itself from purely human sensations 
 to loftier, divine thoughts and sentiments. He 
 had so often yearned for the cross. How He had 
 longed to see the sacrifice consummated I Now the 
 desired hour had finally arrived. The Redeemer 
 had, therefore, hardly beheld the cross, when he 
 saluted it as the instrument of the salvation of the 
 world. He embraced it as a most intimate friend, 
 long expected and finally found. His Divine lips 
 imprinted upon it a tender kiss. He pressed it 
 most joyfully to His Most Sacred Heart, and, with 
 His own hands, He laid it upon His hallowed 
 shoulder. 
 
 Then a trumpet gives the signal and the trium- 
 phal procession of the King of kings is set in mo- 
 tion. Thus, in the future, the Redeemer will ap- 
 pear with the cross in the clouds of heaven to sit in 
 judgment upon the good and the bad. Let us fol- 
 low Our Saviour in His journey to the gate of the 
 city. 
 
 II. 
 
 Although we know with certainty who took 
 part in this procession, the order in which they 
 moved is not given. We may imagine in the lead 
 the centurion (who was at the head of one hun- 
 dred soldiers), to whom, according to Holy Writ, 
 had been entrusted the work of escorting the 
 Saviour to the place of execution and carrying 
 
248 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 out the sentence. The commander of the thou- 
 sand soldiers remained to guard the palace. 
 Without doubt a strong convoy of troops accom- 
 panied the procession and surrounded the pris- 
 oners, to effectually hinder all attempts at rescue. 
 The chief-priests, scribes and ancients formed an 
 escort of honor to the centurion. Then followed a 
 soldier, who carried attached to his lance, as a 
 herald, the title of Christ's guilt. Then came the 
 Redeemer. After Him followed the two thieves 
 with their titles around their necks, under proper 
 military guard. According to custom, they also 
 had to carry their own crosses, which however, was 
 not very difficult for them as they were men of 
 strong constitution and accustomed to bodily ex- 
 ertion. Nor had they sweat blood or passed an 
 entire night in agony and suffering. Lastly fol- 
 lowed an immense throng of people who were im- 
 pelled from different motives to witness the exe- 
 cution, some from curiosity, some from blood- 
 thirsty morbidness, others from diabolical malice 
 and a few from sympathy and pity. 
 
 Now, the various figures of the Old Law were 
 rapidly being realized. The Redeemer, dragging 
 his cross to the city gate, is innocent Abel, who 
 was led forth by his envious brother to be slain 
 with a club of wood. He is the true Isaac, Who 
 carries on His shoulders the wood of His sacri- 
 fice; in fact, He takes His cross upon Himself in 
 the very place where Isaac of old had deposited 
 the wood laid on him by his father.^ He is the 
 
 1 See note 13. 
 
THE CAERYING OF THE CROSS 249 
 
 true Moses, Who holds the rod in His hands to 
 divide the Red Sea and to liberate His people from 
 Egyptian thraldom. He is David, Who, with a 
 staff in His hand, goes forth to meet Goliath. 
 
 The procession, starting from Pilate's mansion, 
 moved in a westerly direction over twelve hun- 
 dred paces through the middle of the city. The 
 most frequented streets were carefully chosen for 
 the march. "Whenever we crucify a criminal," 
 writes Quintilian,^ ''the most populous streets are 
 selected so that the multiude may look on and be 
 seized with fear." 
 
 What the Redeemer suffered on this way of 
 the cross goes beyond all we can conceive. At 
 every step on the uneven, hilly street, the wounds 
 of His scourged shoulder become deeper and more 
 yawning. Often the heavy cross-beam fell against 
 the thorn-crowned Head. The Saviour, tired 
 unto death and without strength, drags Himself 
 wearily along under the mighty load. Suddenly 
 the procession halts. What has happened? The 
 Almighty, the infinitely Powerful has sunk ex- 
 hausted, and upon Him has fallen the wood of 
 martyrdom. He writhes in pain in the dust like 
 to a worm trodden upon. But the soldiers know 
 a remedy. With scourges and sharp thorns ap- 
 plied according to Roman usage, they help Him 
 to His feet, and again Christ staggers along. But 
 behold, after a few hundred steps, He falls a sec- 
 ond time and, near the gate of the city, a third 
 
 1 Sepp., vi., 303. 
 
250 HISTOEY OF THE PASSION 
 
 time.^ Our relapses into sin are the cause of this. 
 
 If the sufferings of His body were great, the suf- 
 ferings of His Divine Heart were still greater. 
 I shall not speak of the scorn of His avowed ene- 
 mies, who gave vent to their satanic joy by blas- 
 pheming Him and spitting upon Him, by blows 
 and kicks, and by throwing dirt and stones "upon 
 Him. It caused Christ more sadness that the of- 
 ficial sentence of death had not failed to make 
 an impression upon those who, during the trial, 
 had been partly in sympathy with Him. ''He 
 must then," they said one to another, "have been 
 an impostor, a magician, a blasphemer and a 
 rebel, or matters would not have taken such a bad 
 turn." 
 
 But the greatest grief of the Saviour, a grief 
 which pierced His Heart, was the sight of His sor- 
 rowful Mother. When formerly He worked His 
 miracles before the astonished multitudes, when He 
 celebrated His triumphs, when amid the rejoicings 
 of the whole people. He entered Jerusalem, His 
 Blessed Mother never met Him. But now, after 
 the death-sentence had been finally pronounced 
 against Him, the Queen of Martyrs goes to take 
 part in the ignominy and in the cross of her Son, 
 and to assist Him in the hour of death. She, 
 therefore, accompanied by St. John, hurried after 
 the procession by a circuitous route, and, at the 
 crossing of two streets, suddenly stood face to 
 face with Him. Oh! what a sad meeting! What 
 
 1 See note 14. 
 
THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS 251 
 
 a heart-rending scene! Floods of tears stream 
 from the eyes of the sorrowful Mother, floods of 
 tears from the eyes of the Divine suffering Son. 
 As burning fire, the sufferings of the Son tor- 
 tured the heart of the Mother, as burning fire, 
 the sufferings of the Mother tortured the Heart of 
 the Son. To address each other consoling words 
 was not allowed them. But their pitiful looks 
 were more eloquent than any words. Truly the 
 Saviour, carrying His cross and meeting His 
 Blessed Mother, is a scene which ought to soften a 
 stone to pity. 
 
 Finally, the column arrived at the *' Garden 
 Gate,'' so called from the wonderfully beautiful 
 garden which lay just outside of it and stretched 
 round about the foot of Calvary, the hill about to 
 bear aloft the tree of life. The Redeemer slowly 
 passed through the gate. The dignity of a king 
 was upon His shoulder. Now one step, then an- 
 other, then a third and a last step and His back 
 was turned upon Jerusalem, without recall, for all 
 times, for ever. A few days before He had com- 
 plained, ''How often would I have gathered to- 
 gether thy children, as the hen doth gather her 
 chickens under her wings. ' ' ^ But Jerusalem 
 would not. It banished Him out of its walls. 
 Now the time of grace was lost, now the days of 
 visitation were past. Now Jerusalem was rejected 
 and abandoned to destruction and ruin. 
 
 As Christ turned His back upon 'Jerusalem and 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxiii., 37. 
 
252 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 tlie Jewish people, He has also, in the course of 
 the centuries, turned away from many a Christian 
 nation, from many a Christian family and from 
 many a Christian soul, without recall, for always; 
 however, and let us mark it well, only when they, 
 like the obstinate Jews, had first violently driven 
 Him out. If many lands in Asia, Africa and 
 eastern Europe where once Christian faith and 
 morality held majestic sway, lands which exhaled 
 the aroma of consecrated virginity and which were 
 saturated with the blood of martyrs, are now be- 
 come dreadful deserts, dreary and dying under 
 the yoke of the effeminate slaves of the Crescent; 
 if the imposing patriarchal churches in which gen- 
 eral Councils were held and Catholic doctrine de- 
 fined, are now a heap of ruins still smoking from 
 the thunderbolts hurled at them by the Almighty, 
 — all this has its reason in the fact that the people, 
 by rebelling against the supreme teaching au- 
 thority of the Church or by continuing the prac- 
 tice of horrible impurity and of other vices, 
 dragged Christ the Lord violently out of their 
 cities and out of their countries. If, in later 
 times, many parts of Germany and of other coun- 
 tries of Europe, by a fearful judgment of God, 
 were cut off from the maternal trunk of the Cath- 
 olic Church and are now decaying in their false 
 beliefs, the crime is upon the conscience of those 
 princes and governments, who to satisfy their 
 pride and their greed, clung to a runaway, im- 
 moral monk as to a divinity, and, by violently 
 driving Christ in His priests over the frontiers, 
 also most cruelly banished Christ from the hearts 
 
THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS 253 
 
 of their subjects. If, furthermore, we behold in 
 this country many families descended from Cath- 
 olic ancestors, but now in the clutches of infidelity, 
 of heresy, of free-thinking or of secret societies, 
 the reason of it is to be found in the fact that 
 the parents either by an unchristian education, by 
 irreligious schooling given the children, or by ad- 
 mitting the spirit of the world into the sanctuary 
 of the family, showed Christ the door against His 
 will, or closed the door on Him from the very 
 start by beginning their married life with sac- 
 rilegious confessions and marriages outside the 
 Church. If finally there are Catholics, who, not- 
 withstanding their Christian education, live like 
 pagans and apparently enjoy it, we may be sure 
 that it cost them more difficulty and more efforts 
 to drive Christ forever from their souls, than it 
 cost the chief-priests to lead Christ out of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 But there is nothing more terrible than to re- 
 ject Christ. Should there be among us an unfor- 
 tunate soul who has rejected Him by mortal sin, let 
 him use the time of visitation and of grace and, by 
 prayer, contrition and works of penance, force the 
 Redeemer speedily to return. But we should all 
 renew our resolutions to keep Christ with us and 
 in us at any cost. Let us ask Him for this grace 
 in the words of the disciples who went to Emmaus : 
 ''Stay with us because it is towards evening.*' 
 Yea, may Christ remain with us, may He remain 
 in our country, may He remain in our families, 
 may He remain in our hearts and unite us with 
 Himself for all eternity. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE MARCH TO THE PLACE OF EXECUTION 
 
 " And as they led him away, they 
 laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, 
 coming from the country: and they 
 laid the cross on him to carry after 
 Jesus. And there followed him a 
 great multitude of people, and of 
 women who bewailed and lamented 
 him." (St. Luke, xxiii., 26-27.) 
 
 After the Redeemer, carrying His cross, had 
 passed through the "Garden Gate," the procession, 
 in the order already described, slowly wended its 
 way towards Mount Calvary. At some distance 
 from the ribald mob, followed the sorrowful 
 mother and St. John. They were joined, probably 
 at the gate of the city, by those pious women 
 whom we shall meet later on with ]\Iary at the 
 foot of the Cross. There is only one circumstance 
 which makes this second part of the way of the 
 Cross remarkable: the circumstance that, for the 
 first time since the beginning of His Passion, 
 Christ receives sympathy from the Jews and, there- 
 fore, relief and consolation. In the first place, 
 the chief-priests show sympathy, albeit a cruel 
 sympathy. They prevail on the soldiers to take 
 the cross from Christ and to make a stranger carry 
 254 
 
THE MARCH TO CALVARY 255 
 
 it. Then He received pity from the women who 
 were among the throng; they lamented and be- 
 wailed Him, and one of their number even offered 
 Him her kerchief to wipe off the drops of blood. 
 Let us therefore consider ^ 
 
 I. The sympathy of the chief-priests; 
 II. The sympathy of the women of Jerusalem. 
 
 The farther the procession advanced, the greater 
 became the anxiety of Christ's enemies lest He 
 should not reach Mount Calvary. While still 
 within the city walls He had thrice broken down 
 under the cross. But now, when the ascent of the 
 hill began, His exhaustion reached its climax. 
 There was danger, then, that Christ would suc- 
 cumb to weakness and not die the ignominous 
 death of the Cross. This must be prevented. The 
 enemies therefore pondered over how to afford 
 Him some relief. But who was to help the Re- 
 deemer carry the cross? Even the Roman soldiers 
 would have been ashamed to do it. For the cross 
 was the wood of ignominy and a curse. Just at 
 this juncture they were met by a stranger, whose 
 name was Simon of Cyrene. From his Jewish 
 name some commentators draw the conclusion that 
 he was of Hebrew origin. But others opine with 
 St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, St. Leo and Venerable 
 Bede, that he was a heathen. For, after the rejec- 
 tion of the deicidal synagogue, the pagan world 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii., 32; St. Mark, xv., 21; St. Luke, 
 xxiii., 26-3L 
 
256 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 was called to the imitation of Christ. A pagan, 
 then, should have the honor of carrying the cross 
 after Christ. Perhaps Simon was a convert to 
 Judaism. He was returning from his field outside 
 of Jerusalem to the city, as it was almost noon- 
 time. As soon as the chief-priests saw him, they 
 advised the soldiers to lay the cross on the shoul- 
 ders of the stranger. 
 
 This proposition greatly pleased the soldiers. 
 Presumably they had been active since midnight 
 and were therefore very tired. And as events had 
 followed each other in rapid succession, they had 
 probably had no opportunity of taking any nour- 
 ishment. For this reason they had for some time 
 been impatient to see the end of the whole affair 
 and had forcibly cursed every delay occasioned by 
 the repeated falls of the Saviour. They therefore 
 made use of the privilege of Roman soldiers in 
 the provinces of pressing into service any one not 
 a Roman, in a case of necessity. They seized 
 Simon and put the cross on him. Although he in- 
 wardly rebelled, he preserved a cheerful face, be- 
 cause to the one who declined to serve the Romans 
 applied severe punishments. *'When pressed into 
 service," says the pagan writer Arrian,^ ''and 
 driven by the soldiers, let it happen, resist not, 
 grumble not, or thou shalt receive blows and lose 
 thy mule besides." Whether Simon carried the 
 cross alone or whether he merely helped the Sav- 
 iour carry it, cannot be definitely stated. The 
 
 iSepp., vi., 306. 
 
THE MARCH TO CALVARY 257 
 
 former opinion is the more probable. It is more 
 in accord with the words of St. Luke that Simon 
 carried the cross after Jesus, and again, it is in 
 harmony with the object of the chief -priests, which 
 was to prevent, at any price, the untimely death of 
 Christ. 
 
 Here the question presents itself: why did 
 Christ, Who on other occasions hailed with de- 
 light new sufferings and never accepted relief, now 
 make an exception to His usual custom? Un- 
 doubtedly His exhaustion had reached the extreme 
 limit and, humanly speaking, He could no longer 
 drag His cross along without help. But had He 
 not already suffered to an extent far beyond the 
 limit of natural laws? Was there not required a 
 continued miracle, even before this, to enable Him 
 to sustain such great sufferings? Why, then, this 
 notable exception during the way of the cross? 
 First, the Kedeemer wished to remind us that sin- 
 ners, represented by Simon, should in justice carry 
 the cross and suffer death, and that His death was 
 due to sinners and not to Himself. Therefore, 
 after first bearing the cross as a sign of His vic- 
 tory over Satan, Christ relinquished it to Simon. 
 Then He would again impress on our hearts the 
 important truth so often taught by Himself, that 
 to obtain eternal salvation, it was not sufficient 
 that He should carry the cross for us, but it was 
 necessary that we, also, should carry it after Him. 
 He inculcates, finally, that we must patiently bear 
 not only the cross sent to us directly by God, but 
 
 also the cross imposed on us by the malice of men, 
 
 17 
 
258 HISTORY OF THE PASSION" 
 
 as it was imposed on Simon of Cyrene. The lat- 
 ter cross is certainly no rarity and, it is withal, 
 very burdensome. There are parents who drag 
 along a heavy cross. Who loaded it upon them? 
 Unruly children, children who are disobedient and 
 given to worldly pleasures. Many a Christian 
 husband has a heavy cross to bear. Who has bur- 
 dened him with it? A wife forgetful of duty, 
 negligent in household affairs and in the training 
 of children, and carrying on flirtations with sus- 
 picious characters. Many a wife has a heavy cross 
 to carry. Who has placed it upon her? A hus- 
 band given to drink, whose tongue continually de- 
 files his home with curses and blasphemies. There 
 are many other Christians who wearily drag along 
 their cross. Who has put it upon them? Calum- 
 niating tongues that have robbed them of their 
 good name. 
 
 Indeed, in itself, it is difficult and humiliating 
 to carry the cross patiently and with resignation 
 to God's Holy will. But it becomes easy, when, 
 like Simon of Cyrene, we continually have Christ 
 before our eyes and look more upon Him than at 
 the cross dragging behind us. And if, at the 
 first moment, Simon stood abashed at the shame- 
 ful burden of the cross, this burden, through the 
 grace of the Eedeemer, became lighter and sweeter 
 at every step, aye so sweet that at the end he gave 
 up the cross with as much reluctance as when he 
 at first received it upon his shoulders. Then let 
 us look at the fruits and the usefulness of carry- 
 ing the cross. In consequence of it, Simon, as 
 
THE MARCH TO CALVARY 259 
 
 well as his entire family, afterwards beUered in 
 ChrisL His sons Bnfns and Alexander became 
 bishops ; he and his sons became saints of the Cath- 
 olic Church, saints of heaTen. Happy then is he 
 whom Grod has destined to cany the cross. 
 
 Let US now consider the sympathy of the women 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 n. 
 
 They manifested their sympathy by wailing and 
 lamenting. This probably^ happened outside the 
 city where the road was considerably wider, which 
 made it possible for the women to gather around 
 the Saviour in great numbers. This they could 
 more easily do as He was no longer forced to carry 
 the cross. It is and will always be to the immortal 
 glory of the female sex that, whilst not one of the 
 men of Jerusalem in the long column did the least 
 to aUcYiate the burden of the Saviour, these women 
 shed bitter tears and showed their compassion by 
 loud lamentations. As a general rule, we find in 
 the history of the Passion more pity among the 
 women than among the men. Procula, the wife of 
 PUate, had taken the lead. It is just so even now. 
 The attendance at sermons on the Passion and 
 at the devotions of the way of the Cross show that 
 when there is question of meditating on the suf- 
 fering Bedeemer and of thereby showing Him sym- 
 pathy, it is as a rule women and girls who flock 
 around Christ For this reason it is so much the 
 more inspiring and edifying to see in some placet 
 
 1 See note 15. 
 
260 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 SO many men and youths affording a laudable ex- 
 ception to the general rule. They thereby give 
 honorable testimony to their own pious sentiments 
 and their manly character. They are worthy imi- 
 tators of St. John, of Nicodemus, of Joseph of 
 Arimathea. 
 
 The public manifestation of sympathy on the 
 part of the women of Jerusalem who, oblivious of 
 the soldiers and the chief-priests, loudly raised 
 their laments, borders on the heroic. For, accord- 
 ing to the report of the Jewish writers/ it was 
 strictly forbidden to bewail loudly any one who 
 was executed with the consent of the grand coun- 
 cil. The nearest relatives were even compelled to 
 salute the judges and the witnesses as a sign that 
 they harbored no grudge against them and that 
 they were satisfied with the sentence. This cere- 
 mony could, of course, not take place in the case 
 of Christ, because the execution followed the sen- 
 tence so quickly. The Romans — and Christ was 
 condemned and executed by the Romans — over- 
 stepped in this regard all the bounds of human 
 decency. It was nothing unusual for the Roman 
 tyrants to fojrce parents stolidly to assist at the 
 execution of their children without shedding a 
 tear. The emperor Caligula sent a litter to a 
 father who excused himself on account of indis- 
 position. The same emperor invited another to a 
 festive banquet immediately after the execution 
 of his son. It is all the more surprising that on 
 
 1 Sepp., vi., 310. 
 
THE MARCH TO CALVARY 261 
 
 the one hand, notwithstanding all prohibitions, 
 the women loudly bewailed the Divine Sufferer 
 and thereby, as it were, publicly accused the judge 
 of unfairness, and that, on the other hand, the sol- 
 diers did not for that reason molest the women. 
 The women were indifferent to the noise and up- 
 roar and curses of the chief-priests. They paid 
 no attention to them. 
 
 The Saviour recognized the heroism of these 
 women. Forgetting His own sorrows, He spoke 
 kindly to them and rewarded their sympathy with 
 words of zeal and admonitions to be contrite and 
 repentant. For among all these women in the 
 large crowd there were but few who were real fol- 
 lowers of the Lord. The latter accompanied the 
 sorrowful mother at some distance in the rear. 
 The tears shed by most of the weeping women 
 were not the result of supernatural causes nor of 
 sorrow over the injuries done to Christ as the Son 
 of God. They arose from natural human pity. 
 Undoubtedly some of them did not even believe in 
 His divinity. They saw in Christ either an inno- 
 cent man condemned to death, or a criminal who, 
 though guilty, was punished beyond all reason- 
 able measure. The contemplation of His suffer- 
 ings was, therefore, for most of these women with- 
 out any spiritual value or merit. For this reason 
 the Saviour demands of them that they cease to 
 bewail Him, but that instead they weep for them- 
 selves, for their sins, and for the sins of their chil- 
 dren. But to help them to a supernatural sor- 
 row. He pointed out to them the divine judgment 
 
262 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 which would overtake Jerusalem on account of 
 the deicide, foretelling the complete destruction of 
 the holy city from which they might learn the 
 dreadfulness and malice of sin. ''For if in the 
 green wood they do these things, what shall be 
 done in the dry?" The Redeemer meant to say, 
 if I, the Innocent One, resembling the green wood, 
 must suffer so much for the sins of others with 
 which I am burdened, what will happen to the dry 
 wood, to the impenitent sinner himself? Thus in 
 gratitude for their sympathy, natural as it was, 
 the Redeemer offered these women cogent motives 
 for sorrow and penance ; in other words. He taught 
 them the right manner of contemplating His bitter 
 Passion. 
 
 This lesson of the Saviour deserves every at- 
 tention on our part also. For it may happen that 
 we also, especially those of the female sex who 
 are naturally more tender-hearted and conse- 
 quently more prone to pity and to tears, contem- 
 plate the sufferings of Christ in a manner too 
 natural and therefore barren of result. Of course, 
 we all believe that the Crucified is the Son of God. 
 But we forget this too readily in meditating upon 
 His Passion, and we see in Him only a suffer- 
 ing man. If meditation on His Passion and death 
 is to be really pleasing to Christ and salutary for 
 our souls, we must recognize in Him the suffering 
 God-man. Such a meditation must be joined with 
 contrition for our sins or at least it must lead us to 
 a spirit of contrition and of penance. 
 
 There was, however, among these weeping 
 
THE MARCH TO CALVARY 263 
 
 women one who, according to tradition, brought 
 relief to Christ in His sufferings not merely by 
 cries and tears, but also by her deed. The name 
 of this woman was Seraphia, or, according to some, 
 Berenice. She is said to have belonged to the fam- 
 ily of Herod and to have been the same woman 
 whom the Saviour had relieved of a bloody flux of 
 long years' standing. The memory of this benefit 
 had never left her. Now she beholds the bene- 
 factor in such misery, in such pain, and His 
 countenance so covered with blood that in her 
 love she puts aside all fear and all human con- 
 siderations ; she forces her way through the crowd ; 
 she heeds neither soldiers nor Jews ; she falls pros- 
 trate before her Saviour; she holds up to Him 
 her kerchief and begs Him to wipe away with it 
 the drops of blood. The soldiers stand aghast but 
 do not interfere. Christ does as she desires. But 
 what was her astonishment, when the Redeemer 
 handed back the cloth to her, to behold imprinted 
 on it the image of Christ's Holy Face. No one 
 had ever received such a gift, the portrait of the 
 Son of God. She preserved it carefully, and daily 
 honored and contemplated it. She would not have 
 parted with it for all the world's treasures. It 
 was only to preserve it to Christendom that she 
 afterwards gave the priceless treasure to St. 
 Clement, the third successor of the Prince of the 
 apostles, St. Peter. From that time she was no 
 longer called Seraphia, but Veronica, which means, 
 the true image. 
 
 Nowadays, alas! the image of the suffering 
 
264 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Saviour is not held in such esteem or at such value 
 by many Christians. Their dwellings are adorned 
 with various pictures, but you will look in vain 
 for the image of the Crucified One. And indeed, 
 the images of the suffering Saviour and of His 
 Blessed Mother would be out of place among all 
 the ridiculous, even indecorous and obscene pic- 
 tures which are found, not only in art galleries and 
 in the palaces of a neo-pagan world, but also in 
 Christian houses, in the houses of such as still 
 make pretensions to religion and Catholicism. 
 *'What concord hath Christ with Belial?" ^ 
 
 In conclusion, let us make a short application 
 flowing from the incidents just considered. It is 
 true that Jesus Christ is no longer in a passible 
 state. He has entered into His glory, into the 
 splendor of heaven. We cannot therefore relieve 
 Him personally of His cross as did Simon of Cy- 
 rene, nor present Him the towel as did Veronica. 
 But the suffering Redeemer still lives in His suf- 
 fering, cross-laden brethren, and the sick and the 
 dying need our ministrations. Now if we consider 
 that Christ has said, *'As long as you did it to 
 one of these, my least brethren, you did it to me, ' ' - 
 it follows that we should firmly resolve to lighten, 
 as much as we can, the cross of our fellow-men by 
 works of mercy, especially the cross of poverty, 
 and to assist the sick and the dying in all charity 
 and patience, to wipe from their brows the feverish 
 sweat, to encourage and to console them. Christ, 
 
 HI. Cor., vi., 15. 
 
 2 St. Matthew, xxv., 40. 
 
THE MARCH TO CALVARY 265 
 
 in His reward, will be extremely generous to ns. 
 He may not impress His image upon the sweat- 
 cloth, as He did for St. Veronica, but — and that 
 is more precious — He will impress it upon our 
 hearts. The cross, however, which we carry 
 patiently and joyfully after Christ, the cross 
 which we strive to lighten for our fellow-men, 
 shall lead us, as it did Simon of Cyrene, to holi- 
 ness and to the joys of paradise. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE EXECUTION 
 
 "And when they were come to the 
 place which is called Calvary, they 
 crucified him there." 
 
 (St. Luke, xxiii., 33.) 
 
 Very often, in the thirty-three years of His 
 life, the Saviour had been extremely weary. He 
 was weary on the return from Egypt. He was 
 weary when, at the age of twelve years, He went 
 up to Jerusalem. Hard labor in the house of 
 Nazareth and, later on, during His apostolic 
 travels had often tired Him. He was fatigued 
 when the Samaritan woman met Him at the well 
 of Jacob and when he sought the lost sheep of the 
 house of Israel. But He had never been so weary 
 as on this day when He had to ascend Mount Cal- 
 vary. But lo! now they had arrived at the sum- 
 mit of the hill, and all His tiring wanderings were 
 to have an end for evermore. Only a few hours 
 more and He would enter upon His eternal rest. 
 
 Mount Calvary, also called Golgotha or the 
 
 Skull, was, in itself, not a very high hill. What 
 
 made it look imposing was the depressed level of 
 
 the lower part of the city. It had its name from 
 
 266 
 
THE EXECUTION 267 
 
 its resemblance to a human skull.^ Here, then, 
 the Redeemer was to die. The execution of a 
 criminal was never permitted to take place inside 
 the walls of the city. St. Paul calls our special 
 attention to the fact that Christ had to die out- 
 side the gate of the city, just as the scape-goat 
 laden with the sins of the people, had to be led 
 outside the camp. ''Christ," says St. Leo,^ '*was 
 slain as our paschal lamb. But because He offered 
 Himself to the Father as the new and real sacri- 
 fice of propitiation. He was to be crucified, not in 
 the temple whose privilege of sacredness was at an 
 end, nor inside the walls of the city which was 
 awaiting its destruction on account of its crime, 
 but 'outside the camp,' in order that, after the 
 mysteries of the ancient sacrifice had ceased, the 
 new sacrifice might be offered on a new altar, and 
 that the cross of Christ be an altar not for the 
 temple, but for the entire world.'' 
 
 When they arrived at the top of the hill, the 
 two thieves were probably first scourged accord- 
 ing to the Roman law. Flagellation always pre- 
 ceded crucifixion. Meanwhile the Saviour, Who 
 had already been scourged, is said to have been 
 brought into a rocky cavern and His feet put in the 
 stocks to prevent His escape. This probably gave 
 rise to the legend of the Saviour's prison, although 
 
 1 Wetzer und Welte, edit. 2, Article — Calvarienberg. 
 Lohmann, S. J. Das Leben und Leiden U. H. J. Chr. Edit. 
 2, p. 269. 
 
 2 Serm. 8 de Pass. c. 5. 
 
268 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 this legend may also have reference to the cell in 
 which He was confined during the night. 
 
 When the scourging of the thieves was at an 
 end, they proceeded to the execution of the Ee- 
 deemer. Let us consider ^ 
 
 I. The final preparations for the crucifixion; 
 
 II. The crucifixion itself. 
 
 The last preparations for the crucifixion con- 
 sisted in offering the Saviour wine with myrrh 
 and in stripping Him of His garments. The first 
 incident is narrated by St. Mark in the following 
 terms: ''They gave him to drink wint mingled 
 with myrrh; but he took it not." The evangelist 
 St. Matthew describes it thus: "They gave him 
 wine to drink mingled with gall. And when he 
 had tasted, he would not drink." Apparently 
 these two narratives are contradictory in two par- 
 ticulars. St. Mark says that the wine was mixed 
 with myrrh, whilst St. Matthew says that it was 
 mixed with gall. Again, the former states that 
 the Saviour did not drink, while the latter asserts 
 that He tasted and then refused the potion. But, 
 as stated, the contradiction is only an apparent 
 one. The Greek word, which we translate as 
 meaning *'gall," has a broader signification. It 
 means not only gall proper, but in general every 
 bitter, aromatic herb, such as aloes, cassia, saffron 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii, 33, 34; St. Mark, xv., 22-28; St. 
 Luke, xxiii., 33; St. John, xix., 18. 
 
THE EXECUTION 269 
 
 and myrrh, and even every liquid in which such 
 herbs have been steeped. Furthermore, the second 
 difficulty arising from the fact that St. Mark does 
 not mention that Christ tasted the myrrh and 
 wine is removed by the consideration that St. 
 Matthew, in narrating this incident, had in mind 
 the prophetic passage, ''And they gave me 
 gall for my food, ' ' ^ which denotes that Christ 
 would actually take some of this bitter aliment.^ 
 St. Matthew therefore describes the same incident 
 which St. Mark records, only more fully and more 
 definitely. 
 
 In order to lessen the pains of the execution, 
 it was customary with the Jews to offer to those 
 who were condemned to death a generous drink 
 of wine to which had been added benumbing 
 opiates and sleeping potions. The myrrh also had, 
 to a high degree, the power of deadening the 
 sensory nerves. Usually it was compassionate 
 women, and sometimes noble matrons who deemed 
 it an honor to tender this service of charity to the 
 condemned. In other cases the myrrh and wine 
 was furnished at public expense. This custom was 
 continued under the Roman praetors. 
 
 The drink of criminals was therefore presented 
 to the Redeemer. He tasted it, but did not empty 
 the cup. He would not die in a condition of 
 stupor as did the pagan philosopher, Socrates, 
 but in the full possession of His senses. For, not- 
 withstanding all His sufferings, the Redeemer had 
 
 1 Psalms, Ixviii.j, 22. 
 
 2 See note 16. 
 
270 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 not yet suffered any particular pain in His tongue 
 and in His palate. This however had to happen 
 to Him as well in reparation for all sins of the 
 tongue, for all sins of blasphemy, of uncharitable 
 words, of calumny and of obscene language, as in 
 reparation for all sins of intemperance, and for 
 all transgressions of the law of fast and absti- 
 nence. For this reason the Saviour sipped the 
 wine which, owing to the myrrh with which it was 
 mingled, had a very bitter and sickening taste. 
 
 Then Christ was despoiled of His garments. It 
 was a custom of the Romans to strip to the loin- 
 cloth those who were to die on the cross.^ As we 
 have witnessed a similar scene at the scourging, 
 we may pass briefly over this one. I wish to re- 
 mark merely that this last disrobing was much 
 more painful than the first, especially to the sacred 
 shoulder on which Christ had carried the cross. 
 The wounds torn open anew, burned like fire. 
 Moreover, it was much more humiliating because 
 it took place not only in presence of the soldiers 
 as before, but in presence of the whole people and 
 of persons of both sexes. But the Redeemer de- 
 sired to offer a complete and superabundant sat- 
 isfaction for the shameless crimes of mankind, and 
 as He had pledged Himself to poverty upon His 
 advent into this world. He would remain true to 
 this pledge until death and die in the embrace of 
 direst poverty. Let us now pass on to the con- 
 sideration of the crucifixion. 
 
 iSee note 17. 
 
THE EXECUTION 271 
 
 II. 
 
 To begin with, let us consider the reasons for 
 which the Saviour wished to undergo this very 
 manner of death and no other. 
 
 We are already acquainted with the principal 
 reason which induced the chief -priests, scribes and 
 Pharisees to insist on the crucifixion. They wished 
 to vent on the Redeemer all their anger and hatred, 
 therefore they chose the most cruel manner of 
 death. Their purpose was to cover the name of 
 Christ with ignominy and disperse His following, 
 therefore they chose for Him the most dishonora- 
 ble death. "It is a misdemeanor," exclaims a 
 Roman writer, ''to bind a free citizen; a crime, 
 to beat him; but it is almost parricide to con- 
 demn him to the cross." St. Paul also represents 
 the death on the cross as the greatest of humilia- 
 tions. Another reason may be taken from the cir- 
 cumstance that the cry, ''Crucify Him!" was 
 heard for the first time immediately after the 
 choice between Christ and Barabbas had resulted 
 in favor of the latter. The Jews transferred to 
 Christ the punishment of the cross deserved by 
 Barabbas. 
 
 The Romans themselves, furthermore, signifi- 
 cantly elevated on the cross those who had rebelled 
 against the emperor and who had striven by strategy 
 or force, to be elevated to the throne. Besides, 
 as they had placed on the Redeemer's head the 
 crown of a king, they ought also to provide for 
 Him a royal throne, such a throne, in fact, as 
 
272 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 would be in keeping with the coronation cere- 
 monies. 
 
 Then, the Heavenly Father desired to be glori- 
 fied in the death of His Son. The more painful, 
 therefore, and disgraceful this death was, the 
 more would it redound to His glory and the more 
 brilliantly would He reveal the Power of the Son, 
 Who overcame the world and made men partakers 
 of the honors and wealth of heaven, not with the 
 sword nor by means of gold and silver, but through 
 the folly of the cross. 
 
 Again, the Redeemer had come into the world 
 to overthrow the dominion of Satan, who had over- 
 come our first parents through the fruit of the 
 tree, and to destroy the tyranny of sin and of 
 death. He had come into the world to reconcile 
 heaven and earth, to embrace all men with out- 
 stretched arms and to press them to His heart. 
 He could hardly accomplish all this better than by 
 hanging between heaven and earth on the tree of 
 the cross. The Church therefore sings in joy and 
 exultation, *' Through the wood we became slaves, 
 and through the wood of the cross we again found 
 freedom. Where death took its beginning, there 
 should life arise from the grave.'' 
 
 Moreover, it was the Redeemer's desire to firmly 
 convince us of the greatness of His love, of the 
 malice and destroying power of sin, of the fear- 
 fulness of hell's punishment, of the value of the 
 soul and of the splendors of heaven. He teaches 
 all these truths in the most intelligible and im- 
 pressive manner from the wood of the cross. The 
 
THE EXECUTION 273 
 
 cross has become His pulpit. Again, Christ de- 
 mands of us that we imitate His virtues, His 
 humility, His patience and His obedience. We 
 must strive to become like to Him. For this 
 reason it is useful, necessary even, that our Di- 
 vine Model hang high upon the cross so that we 
 may easily perceive Him. We might otherwise, in 
 the turmoil of the world, completely lose sight of 
 the Saviour. "Look," said He once through 
 Moses, "and make it according to the pattern, 
 that was shown thee in the ]\Iount. ' ' ^ 
 
 Finally, the Redeemer would give us the in- 
 strument and sign of redemption as a shield to 
 repel the three sinful concupiscences. Now the 
 sign of a pyre, or of a hungry lion, or of a glowing 
 rack would not be easy to employ. On the other 
 hand, there is nothing easier than to form the 
 sign of the cross in the hour of temptation ; it can 
 be done everywhere and at all times. The image 
 of the Crucified One, the crucifix, should there- 
 fore be our constant weapon. May every Chris- 
 tian carry it on his breast as a most precious orna- 
 ment. 
 
 Such were the reasons which actuated the Re- 
 deemer to chose the crucifixion from among all other 
 modes of death. Let us see how it was accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Crucifixion was performed by the Romans in 
 two different ways. Usually the cross was first 
 raised, then the criminal was bound to it, arms 
 
 1 Exodus, XXV., 40. 
 18 
 
274 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 and feet, after which the hands and feet were 
 pierced with nails. In some cases the criminal 
 was nailed fast to the cross upon the ground and 
 then the cross was raised. It is not certain which 
 of the two methods was followed as regards the 
 Saviour; for which reason we shall adapt our 
 meditation to that method which is employed, ac- 
 cording to ancient usage, in the representations 
 of our stations of the cross. 
 
 The cross, then, lay upon the ground, and, 
 first of all, they had to bore the holes wherein to 
 drive the nails. For this purpose they took the 
 measurements of the Redeemer; the length of the 
 extended arms and the distance from feet to 
 hands. Thereupon Christ laid Himself willingly 
 upon the altar of sacrifice. The first nail was put 
 to His right hand and pierced it under heavy blows 
 so that the sacred Blood leaped to the face of the 
 executioners. There resulted a spasmodic con- 
 traction of the muscles and the members had to 
 be violently stretched to bring the left hand to the 
 hole bored in the cross. Then this left hand was 
 pierced with a nail. Whose mind does not here 
 revert to all the sins committed by the abuse of the 
 hands? Some extend them to take the property 
 of others ; some abuse them in assault and murder ; 
 others — and there are so many of these — in un- 
 chaste works ; others, finally, in flooding the world 
 with impious and immoral books and pictures. 
 
 Then the sacred feet were nailed and for this 
 purpose two nails were used. History tells us 
 that, when the crosses were found, four holes and 
 
THE EXECUTION 275 
 
 four nails were found in each of them. This is 
 also in accord with what St. Bonaventure tells us 
 of the stigmata of St. Francis. Had the right foot 
 of Christ been placed on the left one and both 
 pierced with one nail running to a point, the 
 wounds of the left foot would evidently have been 
 smaller than those of the right foot. Now, on the 
 feet of St. Francis, the two wounds on the upper 
 surface of both feet were of equal size as the two 
 wounds on the nether surface. Besides, were the 
 executioners likely to have used only one nail, 
 when it would have been more difficult and have 
 required more time? Here we may well think of 
 all the sins which are committed through the 
 abuse of the feet. What are the paths trodden 
 by so many people, by so many Christians? 
 Whither do they wend their way, by day and 
 by night? One cannot even mention it. Neither 
 is it necessary to mention it, because the broad 
 road leading to perdition is sufficiently known to 
 all. 
 
 Our Divine Saviour is now nailed, hands and 
 feet, to the cross so tightly that He can no longer 
 move a member. Thus the type, the Jewish 
 paschal lamb, which, in the form of a cross, was 
 roasted on a spit, found its realization. Now no 
 one can wrest from the hands of Christ, the cross, 
 the instrument of His victory. Oh! that we also, 
 by love, might be nailed to the cross so fast that 
 nothing could make us leave it and abuse our 
 liberty. 
 
 The moment had now arrived when the great 
 
276 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 sign of the covenant and of reconciliation between 
 God and man was to appear upon earth and be 
 visible to all; the moment had arrived when the 
 throne of the King of kings was to be erected. 
 But what untold tortures, what indescribable 
 pains! Have you ever beheld what labor it is to 
 erect on high and wedge into the earth a great, 
 heavy beam? What swaying! what shocks and 
 jolts! But a man is nailed to the beam of the 
 cross. Rough soldiers raised it up with vehe- 
 mence and let it slide into the ground, where it 
 struck the bottom with such force that hell felt the 
 concussion, and the old serpent writhed in torture. 
 Oh, how cruelly the wounds of hands and feet were 
 torn ! What a torment for the Sacred Head when 
 the crown of thorns violently struck the beam! 
 What pains in all parts of the Sacred Body! 
 After the cross had been made fast in the ground, 
 a soldier attached the title of guilt above the Head 
 of the crucified. This title was to publish to the 
 whole world why the Redeemer had been nailed to 
 the cross. More brilliantly than the sun's rays 
 did it illumine the majesty of Jesus Christ's King- 
 dom. Thus was the execution finished. 
 
 Meanwhile, the two thieves had been nailed to 
 their crosses by other executioners. According to 
 our time, it was exactly twelve o'clock. The ap- 
 palling sight of the Crucified One caused a mo- 
 mentary lull of astonishment and horror. Just 
 then the sound of trumpets from the hill of the 
 temple announced the sixth hour. 
 
 Christ, then, was exalted on the cross. His mdst 
 
THE EXECUTION 277 
 
 ardent desire was realized. For the cross was the 
 object for which He strove during His whole life. 
 It was the object of His ambition. He would be 
 lifted up from the earth, exalted on the cross. We 
 should now remind Him of the promise He has 
 made us, that after being lifted up He would 
 draw all things unto Himself. May He, there- 
 fore, in His bounty draw our hearts to Himself 
 and unite them to His own Heart in the bonds of 
 the most fervent love. If only we resist Him not, 
 the Redeemer will keep His word. For on the 
 cross He not only thought of us, but He also looked 
 toward us. Even on the cross. He had His face 
 turned away from Jerusalem. His regard was 
 cast towards the Occident, towards holy Rome, and 
 from there, over the ocean, to the furthermost 
 west, upon each one of us. With greater confi- 
 dence, therefore, than that of the Israelites look- 
 ing up to the brazen serpent, let us look up to the 
 Crucified One and go with confidence to the throne 
 of grace, that we may obtain mercy, find grace in 
 seasonable aid^ and die a happy death on the 
 cross. 
 
 iHebr., iv., 16. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE FIRST WORD OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS 
 
 " Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do." 
 
 (St. Luke, xxiii., 34.) 
 
 Our Divine Saviour had most ardently desired 
 to be exalted from the earth. Suspended on the 
 cross, He would draw all things to Himself and, 
 as from a sovereign throne, subject all hearts to 
 the royal scepter of His Love. A few hours later, 
 this cross would serve as His altar of sacrifice; 
 upon it, in a bloody death, the High-Priest of the 
 New Law would offer himself as a victim to the 
 Heavenly Father. Meanwhile, He used it as a 
 pulpit. All external circumstances, indeed, were 
 very conducive to preaching. During all His pub- 
 lic life, Christ had never faced such a numerous 
 and such a choice audience. There were thou- 
 sands of Jews from the whole of Palestine, among 
 them the most distinguished of the people; there 
 were, besides, Greeks and Romans, who repre- 
 sented the civilized world of that time. The place, 
 also, was very well situated for an address; it was 
 a hill with a gradual decline. The pulpit or the 
 cross stood on the summit or, very probably, a 
 little lower so that the hilltop formed a rear wall. 
 278 
 
THE FIRST WORD ON THE CROSS 279 
 
 It was the proper height and location from which 
 to be understood at great distance. From this 
 pulpit, therefore, Christ wished not only to preach 
 by His example but also to give expression by 
 words to His sentiments, feelings and desires. 
 However, His sermon was very short; it consisted 
 of only seven words or sentences. To be sure. 
 His sufferings did not permit Him to say more; 
 and moreover, their brevity caused them to be 
 more readily impressed on the memory of His 
 hearers and, like darts of love, to penetrate into 
 their hearts. Christ pronounced the first three 
 words just after the cross was raised. Then there 
 was an eclipse of the sun and an awful silence 
 during three hours. Immediately before His 
 death. He spoke the four other words. 
 
 Every child is intent upon the last words of its 
 dying father. Even the pagan considers them 
 sacred and revers them as being oracular. With 
 how much greater attention and reverence should 
 we not then hear and take to heart the last words 
 of Our dying Redeemer. 
 
 Let us now meditate on the first of the seven 
 words, *' Father, forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do.'' This word contains a petition. 
 Let us consider 
 
 I. The object of this petition and 
 
 II. The reasons adduced by Christ why it 
 should be granted. 
 
280 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 I. 
 
 The object of the petition contained in the first 
 word was forgiveness, grace and mercy. 
 
 In the Old Law, the Lord God manifested par- 
 ticularly His justice, wherefore the Psalmist even 
 calls Him the '*God of Vengeance." As soon as 
 our first parents had committed their sin, they 
 were driven out of paradise into a valley of tears. 
 Cain, the fratricide, roamed about the earth with- 
 out rest or peace, in fear and trembling and in 
 constant dread of the avenging arm of God. The 
 indignant Judge submerged an impure world in 
 immense floods of water. He destroyed Sodom and 
 Gomorrha with fire and brimstone, and He 
 drowned Pharaoh and his armies in the sea. And, 
 as if divine judgments were not frequent enough, 
 king David calls upon the Almighty to enter into 
 judgment with His enemies: ''Lift up thyself, 
 thou that judgest the earth : render a reward to the 
 proud. How long shall sinners, O Lord : how long 
 shall sinners glory? Shall they utter and speak 
 iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice?"^ 
 
 But as soon as the Son of God was extended on 
 the cross, there resounded from its summit the 
 words, ''forgiveness, grace, mercy." This mes- 
 sage flew over the hills, it flew over the seas, it 
 found its echo at the extreme ends of the earth, 
 it continued to resound throughout all Christian 
 centuries and shall continue to resound to the last 
 of days. Forgiveness, grace, mercy; behold the 
 
 1 Psalms, xciii., 2-4. 
 
THE FIRST WORD ON THE CROSS 281 
 
 watchword of the New Law. Heaven was as- 
 tounded, hell trembled and gnashed its teeth, the 
 Pharisees and scribes scoffed, ''Behold the hard- 
 ened criminal! How he feigns innocence and de- 
 nounces us as sinners. Miserable man, pray for 
 thyself." But at this very moment, the first ray 
 of hope beams on the thief to the right. This in- 
 cident appeared so remarkable to the prophet Isaias 
 that he foretold it centuries before: "He hath 
 borne the sins of many and hath prayed for the 
 transgressors. ' ' ^ 
 
 Occasionally, the crucified were driven by their 
 cruel and constantly increasing pains to a despair 
 which brought on outbursts of frenzy of one sort 
 or another. They blasphemed the gods, they 
 cursed heaven and earth, they cursed themselves 
 and the hour of their birth, they spat upon the 
 lookers-on, they avenged themselves on their ene- 
 mies by revealing their misdeeds or by falsely im- 
 puting crimes to them. Opposed to this, what 
 a touching scene on Golgotha! Christ is sus- 
 pended between heaven and earth in the most fear- 
 ful torments; round about the cross are His mur- 
 derers, resembling serpents with pointed tongues, 
 roaring lions with open jaws, wolves thirsting for 
 blood. His suffering has reached its extreme point 
 and commands Him to be silent; His tongue 
 cleaves to His palate, and still the Divine lips open 
 to utter words of forgiveness. 
 
 Let no one say henceforth that he cannot for- 
 
 ils., liii., 12. 
 
282 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 give his enemies; that it is too difficult. Thou 
 hast not fared as did the crucified Saviour. Thou 
 wert perhaps offended by spoken words, but not 
 beaten with scourges. Thou wert perhaps hurt 
 in thy sense of honor, but thou wert not crowned 
 with thorns. Thou wert perhaps despoiled of thy 
 property, but they left thee thy blood. I see not 
 on thy face the defilement of thine enemies. I 
 see thy hands, but I find thereon no wounds. Thy 
 head is uninjured, thy hair is not torn from it, 
 nor is thy brow bleeding. And even hadst thou 
 been scourged and had thy flesh been torn, thy 
 sins have merited it all a thousand times. But 
 Christ is innocent, He is the Holy of Holies. How 
 then, I repeat, how canst thou say: I cannot for- 
 give, it is impossible? 
 
 However, we have not yet considered the object 
 of the petition of Our Divine Saviour in all its 
 bearings. Christ on the cross was not only ready 
 Himself to forgive, but He did more; He asked 
 God to forgive His offenders. There are Chris- 
 tians who have words of forgiveness on their 
 tongues and who even in their outward demeanor 
 show no aversion to their enemies, but in their 
 hearts they desire that God be their avenger and 
 that He withhold not from their enemies the pun- 
 ishment which they deserve. How differently did 
 the Divine Redeemer act ! He desires not that His 
 torturers be punished. He wills that both guilt and 
 penalty be condoned, and this at a time when they 
 have not even, as yet, repented of their 
 crime. He ardently desires their repentance, He 
 
THE FIRST WORD ON THE CROSS 283 
 
 wishes for them the joys of heaven, and He longs 
 for it definitely and unconditionally, not, as He 
 prayed for Himself in the Garden of Olives, *'if 
 it be possible." He therefore places Himself be- 
 tween Divine Justice and His enemies as an im- 
 penetrable wall, He protects them with His prayer 
 as with a shield from which the darts of an irate 
 heaven are dashed back. 
 
 It is indeed true that the commandment to love 
 our enemies does not demand of us the greatest 
 heroism or super-human virtue, that is, it does not 
 oblige us under sin to suffer in silence all injuries 
 and injustices. There are even cases in which one 
 has not only the right but even the duty to de- 
 fend himself by using all legitimate means at his 
 command. But while doing this, we must love the 
 person of our enemy and, according to the ex- 
 ample of Our Lord, wish him from our heart all 
 temporal and eternal happiness. 
 
 The object, then, of the Redeemer's petition was 
 forgiveness, grace and mercy. Let us now con- 
 sider the motives adduced by Christ why His 
 prayer should be granted. 
 
 II. 
 
 There were two reasons which Christ brought 
 to bear on Almighty God in order to have His pe- 
 tition granted. He represented to God that He 
 was the Father, and that, on the other hand, the 
 torturers knew not what they were doing. 
 
 Christ did not say, ^'Lord, forgive them," but, 
 *' Father, forgive them." Thereby He placed 
 
284 HISTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Himself before the irate God as His Son. Now 
 when a son asks his father for anything, the 
 prayer has naturally an entirely different power 
 and efficacy from that of a servant to his master. 
 This Son, moreover, strengthened His petition by 
 proffering at the same time a most valuable gift. 
 At the moment in which Christ appealed to the 
 Love of His Father, the latter beheld in the hands 
 of His Son a gift, a sacrifice of infinite value. 
 And this Son was suffering in the throes of death. 
 Now, if at other times a father may not feel dis- 
 posed to grant the petition of his son, he will 
 surely attempt the impossible to fulfil the wishes 
 of a child on his death-bed. Finally, the gener- 
 osity of the Son Who, forgetting Himself and 
 His sufferings, was anxious only for the welfare 
 of His tormentors, must have touched the pa- 
 ternal heart of God and inclined it to reconcilia- 
 tion. 
 
 Nor did Christ pray, ''My Father, forgive 
 them," but ''Father, forgive them." Thereby He 
 represented to God that He was not only His 
 Father, but that He desired to be the Father of 
 all men. He pointed out to Him how He, the 
 Father, desired to have many sons and to recog- 
 nize Him, the Son, as the First-Born among many 
 brethren, and how that would be impossible were 
 He, the Father, to punish with severe justice these 
 enemies and all others who offend the Son, were 
 He to refuse them the grace of repentance and of 
 the adoption of sonship. 
 
THE FIRST WORD ON THE CROSS 285 
 
 Christ therefore prayed, *' Father, forgive 
 them," which means: Thou art My Father and 
 their Father, and they are My brethren. Thou 
 wouldst, once upon a time, have spared Sodom 
 for the sake of a few. Have mercy, then, for the 
 sake of Thy First-Born, on these My brethren. 
 Whatever wrong they do, Father, is amply out- 
 weighed by My death. In fact, it is they who 
 make it possible for me to give Thee such infinite 
 honor. Certainly, their acts are not to be justi- 
 fied. But the greater their guilt is, the more 
 glorious will be the splendor of Thy paternal Love. 
 The more unworthy they now are of Thy favor 
 and of Thy adoption, the more grateful will they 
 be as Thy children later on. Hearken, therefore, 
 to the voice of My Blood, crying for reconcilia- 
 tion and not to their voice, demanding that My 
 Blood be upon them. Kather grant, Father! 
 that this Blood of Mine be shed for their salvation, 
 especially as they know not what they do. 
 
 That these last words of the Redeemer applied 
 in a strict sense to many of those present, goes 
 without saying. The heathen soldiers, in partic- 
 ular, and, it may be, many others considered 
 Christ a very culpable criminal, deserving of no 
 mercy. But how could Christ invoke ignorance 
 as an excuse for the chief -priests, scribes and phar- 
 isees, who had knowledge of the innumerable 
 miracles which He had wrought to prove His Di- 
 vinity? It is certain, however, that they were 
 included in His prayer. For the words of St. 
 
286 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Paul, **If they had known it, they would never 
 have crucified the Lord of glory, ' ' ^ refer undoubt- 
 edly also to the chief-priests and pharisees. 
 
 In the first place, the enemies of Christ were 
 in ignorance, inasmuch as they knew not how to 
 appreciate the value of the sacrifice of the cross, 
 in the offering of which they were instrumental. 
 Furthermore, it is peculiar to the sinner that he 
 generally does not do evil because it is evil, but 
 because it presents to him some desirable feature 
 or other, that is, it appears to him as something 
 pleasing or profitable. The ignorance, however, 
 which Christ pleaded to excuse His enemies, is 
 rather to be considered in a different sense. To 
 understand this well, we must remember that the 
 proofs of Christ's Divinity, no matter how cogent 
 or how exclusive of any reasonable doubt, do not, 
 nevertheless, command the assent of reason with 
 such intrinsic necessity as, for instance, the truth 
 that two and two are four, that there is a sun, a 
 moon or a visible world. The possibility of a 
 doubt, unreasonable, of course, still remains. It 
 is now the duty of the free will — and this explains 
 exactly the merit of an act of faith — to command 
 reason to despise all unreasonable doubts, reso- 
 lutely to accept the truth, more than sufficiently 
 substantiated, and to submit itself to it. If this 
 is not done and if the will permits the reason to 
 dally with such unreasonable doubts, then the rea- 
 son embraces what is false and is, in fact, im- 
 mersed in ignorance. 
 
 1 1. Cor., ii., 8. 
 
THE FIRST WORD ON THE CROSS 287 
 
 Moreover, the words of Christ contain a truth 
 which concerns us also, who are children of the 
 Catholic Church. It is in truth an awful truth 
 that the sinner can bring himself into a condition 
 in which he boldly commits the gravest sins with- 
 out knowing what he is doing. For, after the 
 will has become accustomed to sin and has learned 
 to love it, it brings such a pressure to bear on rea- 
 son that the latter looks upon as allowable or, at 
 least, as less evil what, in itself, is sinful in the 
 highest degree. This ignorance, freely willed and 
 freely produced, either in regard to faith or to 
 the works of faith, does, of course, not absolve man 
 from mortal guilt, for it had its origin and its rise 
 in mortal sins. However, it is true that this ig- 
 norance, when once in fact existing, does, to some 
 extent, diminish the deliberateness and, in conse- 
 quence, the sinfulness of a particular act. Now, 
 as the Divine Redeemer could not deny the facts 
 themselves, viz., the hatred and envy of the chief - 
 priests, the perjury of the false witnesses, the 
 cowardice of Pilate and the cruelty of the soldiers, 
 He did what, in a similar case, a prudent and 
 careful attorney would do. He anxiously clung 
 to even the most insignificant grounds of excuse 
 to recommend His clients to the mercy of the 
 Court. 
 
 Naturally the heavenly Father could not with- 
 stand the ingenious love of His Son. The earth 
 did not open her yawning abysses, fire fell not 
 from heaven neither did hell devour the culprits, 
 but, owing to the prayer of Christ, Almighty God 
 
288 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 gave the sinful people a respite of forty years in 
 which to do penance. Even more: the thief, who 
 was converted ; the heathen captain who professed 
 belief in the Divinity of Christ; the people who 
 struck their breasts in contrition; the thousands 
 who on Whitsunday and thereafter embraced 
 Christianity, all these show the effects of Christ's 
 prayer on the cross. Ay, and as for us who per- 
 haps have sinned mortally, that we still live and 
 are not burning in hell, that time has been given 
 us for repentance and penance, is owing to Our 
 Divine High-Priest, Who, before offering the Most 
 Holy Sacrifice on the cross, included us in His 
 memento. 
 
 We should, then, no longer be astonished that, 
 in view of such great love on the part of the 
 Redeemer, St. Stephen cried out, *'Lord, lay not 
 this sin to their charge, ' ' ^ nor that St. Paul said, 
 ''We are reviled, and we bless: we are persecuted, 
 and we suffer it. We are blasphemed, and we 
 entreat ; " ^ nor that, afterwards, so many martyrs 
 and confessors prayed for their enemies, as Christ 
 prayed, ''Father, forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do." We should rather be astonished 
 at the perversity of our own hearts, we who are so 
 much inclined not only not to excuse our enemies 
 but to magnify the evil they do us, to minimize 
 their good deeds and to impute to them bad or igno- 
 ble motives. If we have ever acted thus, we should 
 now repent of it; according to Our Saviour's 
 
 1 Acts., vii., 59. 
 
 2 1. Cor., iv., 12. 
 
THE FIRST WOPvD ON THE CROSS 289 
 
 example, we should not only be always ready to 
 excuse our enemies and offenders, but also look 
 upon them as what they really are, as our brethren 
 in Christ and children of the heavenly Father. 
 Then the duty of forgiving will no longer be dif- 
 ficult to us. 
 
 We ought, however, not to close this medita- 
 tion without again praising the love and mercy 
 of Our Saviour and assuring Him of our unwav- 
 ering confidence in His bounty. And, indeed, if 
 Christ asks pardon for people who in satanic mal- 
 ice have brought upon Him the most dreadful tor- 
 tures, if He craves grace for them even at a mo- 
 ment when they do not show the least sign of re- 
 pentance; what sinner ought to despair, were his 
 sins as red as blood and as innumerable as the 
 grains of sand upon the seashore ? How much less 
 reason shall the Saviour then have to reject a con- 
 trite and humble heart? It would certainly be 
 entirely without warrant for the just man to give 
 way to pusillanimity or discouragement on account 
 of the assaults of hell or of the world or of the 
 flesh. No, whoever we may be, sinners or just, 
 everj^where and in all circumstances, in sufferings 
 and temptations, in life and in death, we shall pray 
 with the Psalmist, * ' In thee, Lord, have I hoped, 
 let me never be confounded. ' ' ^ 
 
 1 Psalms, XXX., 2. 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE SECOND WORD OP CHRIST ON THE CROSS 
 
 "Amen I say to thee, this day 
 
 thou shalt be with me in paradise." 
 
 (St. Luke, xxiii., 43). 
 
 Two great criminals were crucified along with 
 Our Saviour. We are told that they were robbers 
 and murderers. Tradition is not unanimous as to 
 their names. The penitent one to the right of the 
 Lord is usually called Dismas, and the impenitent 
 one to the Lord's left, Gesmas. They were 
 nailed to their crosses as was the Lord; they were 
 not fastened to them with ropes as is often repre- 
 sented in pictures. Holy Writ contains nothing 
 which would favor a contrary opinion. When 
 the Gospel speaks of the crucifixion of the thieves, 
 it uses the terms in which it speaks of the Lord's 
 crucifixion. The circumstance, furthermore, that 
 Pilate's permission was asked to break the bones 
 of all three crucified, suggests the thought that all 
 three had also been crucified in like manner. 
 Then, Saints Augustine, Gregory and Ambrose 
 expressly state that the nailing to the cross of the 
 thieves was a matter of old tradition. Decisive, 
 finally, on this question is what history tells us 
 of the condition of the three crosses as found by 
 290 
 
THE SECOND WORD ON THE CROSS 291 
 
 St. Helena in the reign of Constantine the Great. 
 All three showed similar traces of blood, all three 
 were similarly pierced with nails. Had the thieves 
 not been nailed to the crosses and, for that reason, 
 had there been found only one cross pierced with 
 nails, it would not have required a miracle to iden- 
 tify the cross of Christ and to distinguish it from 
 the others. 
 
 To prevent the crucified from insulting their 
 executioners, the authorities and the emperor, 
 their mouths were often closed by means of hooks. 
 Cicero tells us ^ that a slave called Strato had his 
 tongue torn out before his crucifixion, because 
 Sassia, a notorious woman who had assassinated 
 her husband, feared to be betrayed by the last 
 words of the dying slave. It was surely the spe- 
 cial Providence of God which prevented the ap- 
 plication of such inhuman treatment to the Re- 
 deemer and to the two thieves. 
 
 The second word of Christ on the cross was 
 addressed to the thief on the right: ''Amen, I 
 say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in 
 paradise. ' ' Let us consider : ^ 
 I. The occasion, and 
 
 II. The contents of this word. 
 
 I. 
 
 The second word was occasioned by Dismas, the 
 thief on the right side, who reprimanded the thief 
 
 iCic, pro Cluent. 66, Sepp., vi., 358. 
 2 St. Luke, xxiii., 39-43; St. Matthew, xxvii., 44; St. 
 Mark, xv., 32. 
 
292 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 on the left for his blasphemies, and who confessed 
 himself a sinner, defended Christ the Lord and, 
 finally, begged for His mercy after He would ar- 
 rive in His Kingdom. 
 
 It was only the thief on the left who blas- 
 phemed the Redeemer. The words of the evan- 
 gelists St. Matthew and St. Mark that they who 
 were crucified with Christ reproached Him, do not 
 justify the conclusion that both blasphemed Him. 
 For the evangelists, in their report, cite the dif- 
 ferent classes of people who ridiculed Christ, such 
 as the passers-by, the scribes, the pharisees, the 
 executioners and the thieves. However, it is cer- 
 tain that not all the passers-by without exception 
 ridiculed Him and, for the same reason, we can- 
 not conclude that both thieves did the same. Fur- 
 thermore, as St. Augustine remarks, the Scrip- 
 tures often use the plural number for the singular. 
 Thus, for instance, St. Paul says of the Prophets, 
 **They stopped the mouths of lions, they were 
 stoned, they were cut asunder. ' ' ^ And still David 
 alone stopped the mouth of the lion, Jeremias alone 
 was stoned and Isaias alone was cut asunder. Be- 
 sides, it is not likely that the thief on the right 
 would have chidden his suffering companion with 
 such freedom, had he, immediately before, com- 
 mitted the same sin himself, or else he certainly 
 would have mentioned this sin in express terms 
 in his self-accusation. Then, finally, the thief on 
 the left would have thrown back at his monitor 
 
 iHebr., xi., 33, 37. 
 
THE SECOND WORD ON THE CROSS 293 
 
 in bitter irony his own blasphemies, which, how- 
 ever, did not happen. Now, as St. Luke expressly 
 states that ' ' one of these robbers who were hanged, 
 blasphemed him," we must declare the thief on 
 the right innocent in this regard. 
 
 The words of the bad thief, ''If thou be Christ, 
 save thyself, and us," denote a fearful hardheart- 
 edness and a meanness beyond description. For 
 what is more unnatural, what is more repulsive 
 to human feeling than that an unfortunate man 
 should cast slurs at a companion in misfortune? 
 Such a thing, usually, happens only in hell. The 
 suffering, as a rule, rather console one another. 
 These words, furthermore, contain an impudent 
 blasphemy, inasmuch as Gesmas not only com- 
 manded the Saviour what He should do if He 
 were the Christ, but also demanded that Christ 
 enable him by a miracle to continue his sinful life. 
 But if, as some commentators opine, Gesmas really 
 recognized Christ as the God-Man, then, of course, 
 his blasphemy was made worse by his doubting the 
 divinity and power of Christ. This infamous 
 wretch could no longer use hands and feet in the 
 service of sin, for they were nailed fast. To fill 
 the measure of his iniquities, he used his tongue. 
 He died as he had lived, and his soul was buried 
 in hell. This is usually the case when a man, 
 from his youth up, heeds not the voice of con- 
 science and adds crime to crime; he will finally 
 grow attached to sin, which will become a strong 
 habit; he will grow blind and obstinate and die a 
 horrible death. 
 
294 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Impelled, partly by righteous indignation and 
 partly by love for his obstinate companion in vice, 
 whom he wished to bring to repentance, Dismas 
 said, "Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou 
 art under the same condemnation ? ' ' which may 
 be amplified as follows : that the Jews below us do 
 not fear God, I can understand. They see Christ 
 on the cross, and no punishment has yet reached 
 them; wherefore they think themselves in control. 
 But that thou shouldst not yet begin to fear God 
 who, like Christ, art hanging on a cross and huriy- 
 ing to eternity, is beyond comprehension. But as 
 if this comparison had somewhat hurt the honor 
 of the Redeemer, Dismas adds, ''And we indeed 
 justly, for we receive the due reward of our 
 deeds: but this man hath done no evil." 
 
 Finally, then, at least one voice is heard in favor 
 of the Saviour. The apostles are silent; the Jews 
 are shouting, "He is deserving of death"; the 
 Romans are executing the unjust sentence ; but an 
 old robber proclaims Christ to be innocent and 
 declares Him free of guilt. Hear it then, Pilate ! 
 Hear it, ye executioners! Hear it, ye pharisees, 
 ye scribes, ye chief-priests! Learn of this robber, 
 "this man hath done no evil." Recognize at least 
 now your awful error, acknowledge, at least now, 
 the mistake you have made, contritely ask Christ's 
 pardon, embrace the cross as Magdalene does, and 
 ye shall be saved through the power of the inno- 
 cent blood shed by you. But they raved in anger 
 and they fain would crush the head of the robber 
 who was publicly branding them. 
 
THE SECOND WORD OX THE CROSS 295 
 
 The thief on the right, however, acknowledges 
 himself to be a sinner. He does not, like Adam 
 and Eve, excuse himself, he acknowledges his er- 
 rors, he makes his confession. Besides, he recog- 
 nizes that his death on the cross is a just punish- 
 ment of heaven. It is, indeed, a sign of true 
 conversion when the sinner praises and blesses the 
 chastising hand of God; it is a sign of predes- 
 tination when the sinner, in a spirit of penance, 
 supports all sufferings imposed on him, patiently 
 and joyfully, without complaint or murmur. 
 Judas had also confessed a few hours before, but 
 not, as the thief, to Christ but to Christ's enemies. 
 For which reason he despaired. But this thief 
 was not driven to despair by the thought of his 
 sins. No, it was consoling to him that "this man 
 hath done no evil." The innocent Jesus was his 
 solace, Who, as he confidently hoped, would give 
 satisfaction also for him. Therefore, without any 
 preliminary, and without even considering that 
 Christ in His sufferings was hardly able to pay 
 attention to others, he in child-like confidence 
 added the request, *'Lord, remember me when thou 
 shalt come into thy kingdom. ' ' He does not, then, 
 wish as did the other thief, to be freed from the 
 cross; he requests something better. But how 
 modestly he requests it. Unlike the sons of Zebe- 
 dee, he does not wish to sit at the side of the 
 Redeemer and to rule with Him. No, like the 
 prodigal, he deems himself unworthy of God's son- 
 ship. He merely asks that the Redeemer, when 
 
296 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 upon the throne of His glory, should remember 
 him. 
 
 Here the question presents itself how this thief 
 could arrive, not only at the knowledge of the 
 Saviour's innocence, but at the knowledge of the 
 divinity of Jesus Christ and of His kingdom. He 
 had not been a witness of the Redeemer's miracles. 
 He had not beheld Him in His glory on Mount 
 Tabor. He had not seen His transfigured counte- 
 nance, nor His snow-white garments, nor the 
 splendor that surrounded Him. He saw only His 
 disgrace, His humiliation, nothing but a body cov- 
 ered with wounds, the eyes already glassy from 
 approaching death. Can He then be a king Whose 
 throne is a cross. Whose diadem is a crown of 
 thorns. Whose court following are two murderers? 
 Usually kings rule only as long as they live ; when 
 they cease to live, they cease to rule. How then, 
 I ask again, could the thief recognize a king, the 
 Son of God even, in such a Christ Who bore no re- 
 semblance whatever to a ruler? It was the result 
 of a short but good meditation on the sufferings 
 of the Saviour, united with an inward grace which 
 the Redeemer grants fully and abundantly to all 
 those who devoutly take to heart His bitter 
 passion. *'The thief,'' writes St. Ambrose, ''came 
 to the knowledge that Christ bled for him and not 
 for Himself, and this knowledge enkindled in him 
 the fire of Divine Love." ''0 eternal light," ex- 
 claims St. Cyril of 'Jerusalem,^ ''which enlight- 
 eneth those who are in darkness." 
 
 1 Cath. 13. C. 31. 
 
THE SECOND WORD ON THE CROSS 297 
 
 The thief on the right had, then, presented his 
 petition to the Saviour. Christ thereupon spoke 
 the second word, "Amen I .say to thee, this day 
 thou shalt be with me in paradise." After hav- 
 ing considered what prompted this word, let us 
 now examine its import. 
 
 II. 
 
 The second word of Christ contains the fairest 
 promise ever made to a sinner. Christ promised 
 the thief an entrance into paradise, on that same 
 day, as an associate and in the company of the 
 Redeemer Himself. 
 
 The paradise, which Christ promised the thief 
 for that day, must not be understood as the place 
 called heaven. It means the direct vision of God 
 and the felicity resulting therefrom. It should 
 not seem strange to us that one may see God with- 
 out being in heaven, in the dwelling of the blessed 
 spirits. No created spirit, not even the soul of 
 Christ, is present everywhere. It is, then, possible 
 that souls and spirits behold the omnipresent God 
 face to face, without, therefore, being themselves 
 united in the same place. The soul of Christ, in- 
 deed, enjoyed this beatific vision from the first 
 moment of its existence. But, as we have men- 
 tioned before, it was subject to suffering, for other 
 causes, as long as Christ lived on earth. But as 
 soon as by death His soul separated itself from 
 His Sacred Body, it became unspeakably happy. 
 Then it descended into Limbo to communicate a 
 similar happiness to the souls of the just of the 
 
298 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Old Testament. In their presence and amidst 
 their rejoicings and jubilations, Christ arose glori- 
 ously from the dead on Easter morning. During 
 the forty days of the Redeemer's sojourn on earth 
 after His resurrection, they were His constant, 
 invisible companions, until, on the day of His 
 ascension, He finally led them into the heavenly 
 Jerusalem, to the home of the holy angels. When, 
 therefore, Christ promised paradise to the thief 
 for that same day. He promised him that on this 
 day he would be associated with the happy num- 
 ber of the souls in Limbo. And Christ could in 
 truth call Limbo a paradise. For when His Soul 
 arrived there, it was changed into a paradise, as 
 the essential happiness of paradise or heaven con- 
 sists precisely in the immediate vision of God. 
 
 To his petition, the thief did not expect the 
 answer he received, *' To-day thou shalt be with 
 me in paradise." It went far beyond his most 
 sanguine hopes. Until now this man had been a 
 man of blood. He had lived on murder and ra- 
 pine, he had grown old in malice. He still is 
 clad in the robber's garments and, lo ! he is to 
 enter paradise. Where, then, is his nuptial gar- 
 ment? To achieve paradise, the saints distributed 
 all they had among the poor, princes and kings 
 resigned their crowns, went into solitude and re- 
 tired into quiet cloisters. To gain paradise, young 
 men and maidens battled strenuously for years 
 against the world and the flesh. To render them- 
 selves worthy of paradise, confessors deplored 
 their smallest faults with most bitter tears and 
 
THE SECOND WORD ON THE CROSS 299 
 
 performed the most painful works of penance. 
 Now this grayheaded sinner merely says, ^*Lord, 
 remember me," and paradise is assured to him. 
 A clever robber, indeed. A few moments more 
 and he will seize his booty. He will be a robber 
 to the end. Even in death, he cannot desist. He 
 is a fortunate robber. After all that he has 
 hitherto acquired by pillage and rapine, he in 
 the end seizes upon the treasures of heaven. 
 
 And the possession of paradise is promised him 
 for that same day. ''To-day thou shalt be with 
 me in paradise." Not, then, on the last day, not 
 after long sufferings in purgatory, no, to-day, be- 
 fore the sun goes down, shall he see God face to 
 face. Such was the reward of his heroic profes- 
 sion of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, of his glow- 
 ing love and of his immeasurable penitential sor- 
 row. He died a martyr of love. Yea, that was 
 given to him which was denied to the patriarchs 
 and prophets, even to St. Joseph and St. John 
 the Baptist. For, though these died without guilt 
 and immune from temporal punishment, they had 
 to wait in Limbo for years and even centuries for 
 the hour of their deliverance. But when the soul 
 of the good thief arrived in Limbo, it was already 
 changed into paradise. He was the first whose 
 soul obtained the beatific vision immediately after 
 death. 
 
 What, finally, must increase our astonishment 
 is the fact that this robber accompanied as it were, 
 the Redeemer in His entry into paradise. ^^WitJi 
 me thou shalt to-day be in paradise." It would 
 
300 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 seem that Christ would have reserved such an 
 honor for His Blessed Mother, for St. John or for 
 other innocent souls. One might almost say that 
 Christ owed it to His own honor to select a choicer 
 escort when entering into the heavenly kingdom. 
 But how could He in a more brilliant light have 
 shown to the souls in Limbo the infinite fruits of 
 the work of His Redemption and the power of 
 grace merited by Himself than by introducing 
 into their midst a hoary-headed sinner whom, a 
 few hours before, He had delivered from the 
 thraldom of Satan. A converted robber and mur- 
 derer! That was, indeed, the most glorious first 
 fruit of His precious Blood; it was. a trophy of 
 victory becoming the Redeemer of the world, the 
 conqueror of hell. 
 
 However, as the promises made by Christ to the 
 thief were so extraordinary while He Himself was 
 the picture of the greatest weakness and impo- 
 tence. He confirmed them with a solemn declara- 
 tion. '^Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt 
 be with me in paradise.'' At these words the 
 Pharisees and chief-priests burst into an infernal 
 shout of scornful laughter and asked each other 
 in all seriousness whether or not the man on high 
 had lost His reason and become distracted. 
 
 However, no matter how much this second word 
 of Christ on the cross, as is clear from this medi- 
 tation, may enliven confidence in Him and dispel 
 from the heart of the greatest sinner all discour- 
 agement and despondency, we should still not for- 
 get the remark of St. Augustine : * ' It is one who in 
 
THE SECOND WORD ON THE CROSS 301 
 
 his last hour became converted and found grace, 
 in order that thou mayest not despair; but it is 
 only one, that thou mayest not sin by presump- 
 tion." In view, therefore, of the happy death of 
 the thief on the right, no one ought to postpone 
 his conversion to the time of death. Whoever 
 would act thus, would be most unlike to that thief. 
 He had indeed conunitted many crimes and dis- 
 graceful acts; but he had not deliberately re- 
 mained impenitent. On the contrary he made use 
 of the extraordinary grace he received, at the very 
 moment it was offered him. Illumined by this 
 grace, he had hardly recognized the seriousness of 
 his aberrations, when he began his confession and 
 was converted. Whoever deliberately puts off his 
 conversion to the hour of death, really entertains 
 the sentiments of the thief on the left, who de- 
 sired nothing more than to continue his life of 
 rapine. For this reason such a one is, like the 
 thief, in the greatest danger of dying in final 
 impenitence. 
 
 We can draw another practical application from 
 this meditation. Before us we behold three who 
 are crucified. One is the innocent Saviour, the 
 second is a penitent sinner and the third, an im- 
 penitent one. Therefore, whoever we may be, it 
 will be impossible for us to shirk the cross in this 
 world or to descend from it. We all, without 
 exception, must die on the cross. But what an 
 immense difference there was between the cross of 
 the bad thief and that of the good one. The cross 
 of the bad thief was heavy; without any solace 
 
302 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 whatever, cursing and blaspheming, he rebelliously 
 endured the most cruel torments. It was a sterile 
 cross; he could not expect even the least reward 
 for all his sufferings. It was a cross without end, 
 from which he plunged into the eternal flames of 
 hell. On the contrary, the cross of the good thief 
 was a light one ; he would not for the whole world 
 have descended from it. It was a fruitful one ; he 
 gained heaven thereby. It was of brief duration; 
 in a few hours, he was with Christ in paradise. 
 Let us resolve then, like the good thief, patiently 
 to persevere on the cross in a spirit of penance. 
 According to his example, we should draw the 
 necessary strength and power from the sight, the 
 words and the wounds of the crucified Redeemer, 
 and then the cross shall be also for us the royal 
 road to the heavenly paradise. 
 
CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 THE THIRD WORD OP CHRIST ON THE CROSS 
 
 " When Jesus therefore had seen 
 his mother and the disciple stand- 
 ing, whom he loved, he saith to his 
 mother: Woman, behold thy son. 
 After that, he saith to the disciple: 
 Behold thy mother." 
 
 (St. John, xix., 26, 27.) 
 
 The first word of Christ on the cross concerned 
 His enemies, who, however, instead of being con- 
 verted, continued to offend Him. They, indeed, 
 more than others, needed His pity. His help and 
 His prayers. The second word was addressed to 
 a repentant sinner to whom Christ bequeathed 
 paradise. Not until He spoke the third time did 
 He address His relatives and friends. 
 
 St. John records this incident in the following 
 terms: **Now there stood by the cross of Jesus 
 his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cle- 
 ophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus there- 
 fore had seen his mother and the disciple standing, 
 whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, 
 behold thy son. After that, he saith to the dis- 
 ciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour 
 the disciple took her to his own.''^ If, in ap- 
 
 1 St. John, xix., 25-27. 
 
 303 
 
304 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 parent opposition to St. John's narrative, the three 
 other evangelists write that the above mentioned 
 persons and a few others were standing at some 
 distance from the cross/ it is to be remarked that 
 they refer to a different time. In the beginning, 
 at the crucifixion and the raising of the cross, the 
 women stood at some distance. It was the only 
 thing they could do. Later the Blessed Virgin, 
 John, Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Magdalene 
 approached nearer to the cross. 
 
 Let us now consider 
 I. The persons to whom Christ addressed the 
 third word and 
 
 II. The word itself. .. \^*^^' 
 
 The persons to whom Christ addressed the third 
 word were His holy mother and the disciple whom 
 Jesus loved. 
 
 The mother of Jesus, then, stood under the cross, 
 a fact which was indeed astonishing. Was it not 
 unheard of for a mother of her own volition to 
 assist at the execution of her son, especially when 
 the execution was not a hurried one, such as de- 
 capitation, but one accomplished by a slow proc- 
 ess of terror-inspiring torture? Still, the mother 
 of Jesus was present at the place of execution; 
 she even looked attentively upon the different 
 scenes. She did not, like Agar, turn away her 
 eyes so that she might not behold her Son dying. 
 
 1 St. Matthew, xxvii., 55, 56; St. Mark, xv., 40, 41 j St. 
 Luke, xxiii.. 49. 
 
THE THIRD WORD ON THE CROSS 305 
 
 No, like the mother of the Maccabees, she had her 
 eyes fixed constantly on her dying Son. That 
 such was the case is clearly indicated in the Scrip- 
 tures. For when the Saviour said, '* Woman, be- 
 hold thy son," it was only by His look that He 
 could show His mother that He meant her and 
 not one of the other women. Their looks, then, 
 must have met. Mary, therefore, beheld the thou- 
 sand wounds from which the blood flowed to the 
 ground; she saw the hands and feet pierced with 
 nails; she saw the cruelly lacerated body; she 
 heard the blasphemies and the jeers of His ene- 
 mies. She heard and saw all this, and it must 
 indeed have caused indescribable pain to her ma- 
 ternal heart. Besides, she could do nothing to 
 allay the sufferings of her Son. The wounds were 
 open; she could not bind them. The lips were 
 parched with a burning thirst ; she could not hand 
 Him a refreshing drink. The Holy Face was dis- 
 figured by spittle and blood; she could not refresh 
 it. The honor of her innocent and suffering Son 
 was attacked ; she could not defend Him. He was 
 forsaken by heaven and by earth, and she could 
 give Him no comfort. What a difference between 
 times gone by and the present, between the man- 
 ger and the cross ! Certainly even then. His couch 
 was not strewn with roses, but she could at least 
 take care of Him, she could, in her maternal love, 
 dry the tears of the moaning Babe, she could fold 
 Him in her maternal arms. What a difference 
 between the crib and the cross! There was life, 
 
 here is death; there the adoring shepherds and 
 20 
 
306 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the Magi, here the blaspheming Jews and the Gen- 
 tiles. There the songs of angels abounded, here 
 all is total abandonment. Even the very honor 
 of the mother of God was attacked by the Jews. 
 Instead of sympathy and consolation, she received 
 from them railings and ridicule. "She thought 
 herself," we may suppose they said, "the mother 
 of the Messias. Now she can see to what sort of 
 a Messias she has given life." But more than 
 all this, the thought grieved her that these cruel- 
 ties to Her Son were offenses against the Heavenly 
 Father. The thought, finally, that the Blood of 
 Her Son was being shed in vain for millions of 
 people, filled the measure of her woe and made of 
 her a sorrowful mother indeed. 
 
 However, Christ was to suffer death for the wel- 
 fare of mankind; such was the will of the Heav- 
 enly Father, and not one human soul could be 
 saved otherwise. She, therefore, bore her mental 
 anguish with the utmost resignation, with heroic 
 patience. She stood beneath the cross, says the 
 Gospel. She did not faint and drop from exhaus- 
 tion, as some pictures represent her. Nor did she 
 lacerate her flesh in the greatness of her sorrow, 
 says St. Anselm; she murmured not, she did not 
 /appeal to God's vengeance, she did not tear her 
 hair, nor did she fill the air with her cries. No; 
 she stood beneath the cross, erect, subdued, modest, 
 her eyes filled with tears and her heart with woe, 
 our true model when we assist at the death of rela- 
 tives. We may then, indeed, be sad, but not like 
 to those who have no hope. Our sadness should 
 
THE THIRD WORD ON THE CROSS 307 
 
 partake of a Christian and not of a pagan char- 
 acter. Mary stood under the cross; she bore all 
 her sufferings with a heaven-born patience. Even 
 more; she took part, as much as a merely human 
 being could, in the sacrificial act of Christ. For, 
 whilst her Divine Son, as the High-Priest of the 
 New Law, offered up to Heaven His Blood and 
 His Life, she made the offering with Him. She 
 put her heart and all its sorrow into the chalice 
 of the Redeemer. ''It was well," once remarked 
 a mother after listening to the narrative of Abra- 
 ham's sacrifice, "that God demanded this sacrifice 
 of the father, for the heart of a mother would 
 never have been equal to it." Mary, however, 
 subdued even the power of her own maternal 
 heart. Thus did the second Eve re-establish what 
 the first Eve, standing beneath the tree, had de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 The other person to whom the third word was 
 addressed was St. John. His presence beneath the 
 cross is also a cause for wonder. For, at the seiz- 
 ure of Christ, he with the other apostles had lost 
 courage and had hastily fled. But, after his first 
 fright had subsided, he soon, happily for him, 
 joined Mary, and sought refuge with her. At her 
 side, and led as it were by her motherly hand, he 
 courageously ascended Calvary. Mary led the de- 
 serting apostle back to the Redeemer. 
 
 Thus John arrived near the cross where a three- 
 fold and very painful trial awaited him. First, 
 his humility was put to the test. He was recog- 
 nized as an adherent and disciple of the Crucified 
 
308 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 One. ''It had been better for him," they said, 
 "had he remained at his nets instead of joining 
 an impostor ; but undoubtedly he thought he would 
 obtain, through him, something worth having." 
 Then his faith was tried. Nothing of what he 
 saw on Golgotha, betrayed the only-begotten Son 
 of God, the wonder working Master. What he did 
 see in the Crucified One, wounds, ignominy and 
 weakness, apparently militated against His Divin- 
 ity. But John held in abeyance his reason and his 
 senses. He doubted not, neither did he take um- 
 brage nor was he scandalized at his Crucified 
 Master. The most painful trial was reserved for 
 his love. What torture for his loving heart to be- 
 hold his Redeemer in such torments and to know 
 that the hour of separation was fast approaching! 
 However, John, like Mary, stood beneath the cross, 
 his eyes unceasingly turned on the Holy Face. 
 The humility he shows in speaking of his steadfast- 
 ness is truly touching. He does not mention his 
 own name; he merely says, "There stood the dis- 
 ciple whom Jesus loved." He wished to intimate 
 thereby that he owed his steadfastness not to his 
 own power, but solely and alone to the love and 
 grace of the Redeemer, upon Whose breast he had 
 reclined at the Last Supper. 
 
 When Jesus, therefore, says Holy Writ, had seen 
 His mother and the disciple standing whom He 
 loved, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold 
 thy son." After that He said to the disciple, 
 "Son, behold thy mother." Let us examine this 
 third word more closely. 
 
THE THIRD WOIU) ON THE CKOSS 309 
 
 II. 
 
 The first part of the third word of Christ was 
 addressed to His mother. For He took deeply to 
 heart her sorrow and sadness. He alone, Who 
 knew the greatness of her love, could know the 
 greatness of her sorrow. She had, indeed, a pow- 
 erful claim on His filial love and gratitude. For 
 thirty years He had grown under her watchful 
 care. The unceasing industry of her hands had 
 provided, in His infancy, for His daily suste- 
 nance. Then all the rude trials to which Mary 
 had been subjected for His sake passed before His 
 mind: the suspicion, albeit guiltless, of St. Jo- 
 seph, the journey to Bethlehem, the contempt met 
 with there, the flight into Egypt, the three days' 
 search for the boy of twelve years, the meeting on 
 the way to Calvary. And now His death is to 
 inflict on her the hardest blow of all. It touched 
 Him. From filial love and as an example to all 
 children, to all sons and daughters. He provided 
 as well as He could on His death-bed for His 
 mother. He confided her to a man, who, He was 
 convinced, would fill His place as far as was pos- 
 sible and who would lighten the sorrow of Mary 
 at the loss of her Son. *' Woman, behold thy 
 son. ' ' . 
 
 ''But, good Jesus," asks St. Bernard anent I 
 these words, ''why art Thou ashamed to call Mary \ 
 Thy mother, who bore Thee under her heart, who 
 nourished Thee in Thine infancy, who clothed 
 Thee and who cared for Thee so tenderly? Why 
 
 X 
 
310 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 dost Thou say so harshly: Woman, behold thy 
 son?" We might remind the Saint that at that 
 time the word 'woman' had not the contemptuous 
 sense which nowadays is sometimes attached to it, 
 but that it had an honorable meaning. But it still 
 remains true that it has not the significance of 
 the word 'mother.' Why, then, did not Christ 
 call Mary mother? Because, in the first place. He 
 would not increase her suffering nor render more 
 acute her sorrow by pronouncing the sweet name 
 of mother. For separation from dearly beloved 
 persons is made lighter by showing apathy and 
 want of feeling and by refraining from marks of 
 tenderness. Then the Saviour avoided mentioning 
 the name of mother in order not to excite and 
 embitter against the mother the enemies of the 
 Son. He, as it were, represented her to the Jews 
 as being a stranger to Himself. These words, 
 moreover, contain a mysterious reference, filled 
 with solace and comfort for Mary, to the glad 
 tidings which God announced to our first parents 
 when He spoke of the woman who should crush 
 the serpent's head. Finally, the words of the 
 Saviour enfolded another great mystery. For, 
 whenever He acted as God, as for instance, at 
 the marriage feast of Cana, or before that, when 
 He was found by His parents in the Temple, He 
 never called Mary mother; He rather considered 
 her as His creature. And now Christ, the Eternal 
 High-Priest, was about to redeem IMary, as well 
 as the rest of mankind, by His death. 
 
 No matter how considerate and forbearing the 
 
THE THIRD WORD ON THE CROSS 311 
 
 Saviour meant the words to Mary to be, many holy 
 Fathers nevertheless opine that at this word the 
 prophecy of Simeon was accomplished: ''Thy own 
 soul a sword of sorrow shall pierce;" that, at this 
 moment, Mary became the queen of holy martyrs. 
 For at this moment she sacrificed the last claims 
 of her maternal love. It was indeed a sad ex- 
 change. The servant should now be her son in- 
 stead of the Lord; the disciple, instead of the 
 Master; the son of Zebedee, instead of the Son 
 of God; the mere man, instead of the true God. 
 ''My son," Mary could well exclaim, "why hast 
 thou done so to me ? " ^ " Call me not Noemi 
 (that is, beautiful,) but call me Mara (that is, 
 bitter,) for the Almighty hath quite filled me with 
 bitterness. " 2 But in all humility she now re- 
 ceived the sad message as she formerly re- 
 ceived the glad tidings of the angel. "Behold," 
 she said, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it 
 done to me according to His word." 
 
 The second part of the third word was ad- 
 dressed to St. John. The Saviour was touched 
 also by the grief and sadness of this disciple who 
 so faithfully stood beneath the cross. To console 
 him for the dire loss which he was to suffer in His 
 death, Christ gives him His own mother as a com- 
 pensation: "Son, behold thy mother." Hereby 
 Christ reminds the disciple of his duty to care for 
 Mary as a good child ought. And John, from 
 that hour, took her unto his own. 
 
 iSt. Luke, ii., 48. 
 2 Ruth, i., 20. 
 
312 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 By these words of the Redeemer an extraordi- 
 nary distinction and honor was conferred upon 
 St. John. How a minister feels honored when rep- 
 resenting a mighty king or emperor at a foreign 
 court! But what is all that in comparison with 
 the distinction accorded to St. John, who, in rela- 
 tion to Mary, was to represent the King of kings, 
 the Son of God? What an honor, besides, was it 
 not for St. John to be permitted to greet as his 
 own mother, the mother of God. It was certainly 
 a glorious feast in heaven when Christ, some years 
 later, took Mary, body and soul, into heaven. All 
 angels and archangels, all cherubim and sera- 
 phim felt honored when greeting her as their 
 queen. In honor, therefore, of their mistress and 
 queen they chanted their most beautiful lays. 
 They saluted her as the Queen of glory, as the 
 exalted Queen of heaven, but as their mother — 
 never! They durst not call the Blessed Virgin 
 mother, that was the privilege of St. John. 
 
 This distinction was, furthermore, richly 
 fraught with grace for St. John. And did not 
 Christ owe it to His mother, ay, to His own honor, 
 to adorn His representative with virtues and heav" 
 enly gifts? Most certainly He did. And what 
 an increase was added to these graces through the 
 intercession and the example of the Blessed Vir- 
 gin! We may truly apply to St. John what St. 
 Thomas of Villanova says of St. Joseph: ''If a 
 single salutation of this Virgin could sanctify the 
 precursor of the Lord before his birth, what, think 
 
THE THIRD WORD ON THE CEOSS 313 
 
 you, did the society of Mary during many years, 
 effect in St. John ? ' ' But if we ask for the reasons 
 why it was St. John who received this great dis- 
 tinction, the holy Fathers are unanimous in an- 
 swering that it was above all the virginal purity 
 of this apostle which attracted the heart and the 
 eyes of Christ. We ought, then, to preserve un- 
 sullied the purity of our state of life. ' ' It is good 
 and wholesome also," says one holy Father in 
 reference to this distinction, ''to stand under the 
 cross of Christ and to persevere beneath it." 
 
 "Woman, behold thy Son! Son, behold thy 
 Mother!" Although these words of the dying 
 Redeemer fill our hearts with sadness at Mary's 
 afflictions, although they spur us on to assure the 
 mother of Jesus, standing under the cross, of our 
 admiration and of our sympathy, still they are 
 for us, as they were for St. John, words of the 
 sweetest consolation. For in saying these words, 
 Christ also thought of us. Undoubtedly John 
 was privileged, inasmuch as he alone took the 
 mother of Jesus into his own house and cared for 
 her as for his own mother. But it is the convic- 
 tion of Holy Church that, at that moment, John 
 also represented the entire human race. In the 
 name of us all, John received the consoling mes- 
 sage. By consenting to the incarnation of the 
 Son of God, Mary had already become our mother. 
 But, before departing, Christ wished solemnly to 
 declare her as such and to recommend the care 
 of her spiritual children to her who is the second, 
 
314 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 better Eve and the true giver of life.^ Therefore 
 the words of the Saviour, ''Behold thy mother," 
 are to be taken not merely as an instance of 
 tender, filial solicitude, but also as a last act of 
 love on the part of the dying Redeemer, intended 
 to embrace the whole world. 
 
 According to the will of Christ, then, Mary 
 should be our spiritual Mother and we should be 
 her children. For which reason we ought to ren- 
 der ourselves worthy of such a great honor by 
 daily greeting her as our mother, by loving and 
 revering her and by imitating the glorious ex- 
 ample of virtues she gives us, especially of stead- 
 fastness in suffering. But she ought to be the 
 mother not only of each one in particular, but 
 also of all Christian families. Every Christian 
 family should take her, as John did, and receive 
 her joyfully into their house. Especially should 
 we invoke the Mother of Sorrows at the hour of 
 death. She assisted so lovingly at the death of 
 her Divine Son, she will also assist us maternally 
 at our demise and obtain for us the grace of a 
 happy death. 
 
 1 Scheeben, Handbueh der Dogmatik, 3 Vol. Part I, 
 ch. 5, No. 1626 — 1630, No. 1813 — 1817.— Kolb, S. J. 
 Wegweiser in die Marianische Litteratur (Freiburg, Her- 
 der, 1888), pp. 15 — 18, 77 — 79. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE FOURTH WORD OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS 
 
 " And about the ninth hour Jesus 
 cried with a loud voice, saying: 
 My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
 saken me ? " 
 
 (St. Matthew, xxvii., 46.) 
 
 After Christ had addressed the third word to 
 His Blessed Mother and to St. John, there oc- 
 curred an eclipse of the sun of three hours' dura- 
 tion. In order not to interrupt our subject, we 
 shall, later on, pay some attention to this wonder- 
 ful event of nature. 
 
 Towards the end of the eclipse, at the ninth 
 hour, according to our time about three o'clock 
 in the afternoon, Christ broke the solemn silence 
 and exclaimed with a loud voice: "My God, my 
 God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Now the 
 long desired hour had arrived, the ninth hour, 
 which was to mark a turning point in the history 
 of mankind: the hour in which error's shadow 
 was to recede before truth, and the day of salva- 
 tion was to begin. 
 
 But what a remarkable outcry! What an as- 
 tonishing complaint! Such a reproach had cer- 
 tainly never been heard as long as the world ex- 
 315 
 
316 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 isted, nor shall another like it be heard until the 
 end of time. We need all the power of faith to 
 believe that it really happened, as reason would 
 fain revolt and deem it impossible. We can easily 
 understand that man might complain of man or 
 that God might complain of man ; but that Christ, 
 the Son of God should complain of God is a 
 mystery that goes beyond our comprehension. 
 
 However, let us make an effort to penetrate 
 more deeply into these words by considering ^ 
 I. The meaning of these words, 
 II. The reasons for uttering them and 
 III. The different impressions they made upon 
 the auditors. 
 
 When Christ complained of abandonment, or of 
 a kind of separation from God, He could have had 
 reference only to His human nature. He there- 
 fore did not address Himself to the Father, but to 
 God, showing thereby that He was offering His 
 plaint not as the Son to the Father, but as man 
 to God. Now the abandonment by God of Christ's 
 human nature was not a separation of the latter 
 from the second Person of God. For the union of 
 the second Person of the Godhead with Christ's 
 human nature was and is inseparable. If this 
 union had been dissolved at the death of Christ, 
 then not God, but a mere man would have died 
 for us, and our redemption would not be accom- 
 
 1 St. Matthew, xxvii,, 46, 47 ; St. Mark, xv., 34, 35. 
 
THE FOURTH WORD ON THE CROSS 317 
 
 plished. Neither was the abandonment by God 
 of the human nature in Christ a withdrawal of 
 grace. On the contrary, the plenitude of grace 
 at all times existing in Christ effected that forti- 
 tude which bore Him up on the cross as it had 
 done in the Garden of Olives. The abandonment, 
 finally, did not consist in depriving the soul of 
 Christ for a time of the direct vision of God. 
 Christ rather complained, not only that God re- 
 fused to preserve His human nature from impend- 
 ing death, but also that He abandoned it to suffer- 
 ing without the least solace whatever. For His 
 human nature might have been relieved in a two- 
 fold way ; first, through a direct action on all that 
 contributed to make it suffer: upon the thorns, 
 the nails and the scourges, by depriving them of 
 their power to inflict pain, upon the arms of the 
 executioners by withering them, and upon the 
 tongues of the blasphemers by paralyzing them. 
 Secondly, God could have filled the soul of Christ 
 with such consolation that He would not have 
 felt external pain. Nothing of the kind happened, 
 however. On the contrary, God abandoned the 
 soul of Christ to repugnance, to fear, to sadness 
 and to the excruciating knowledge that His Pas- 
 sion would be useless to so many human beings. 
 He even allowed Satan whose hour was at hand, 
 to employ this time of unnumbered sufferings in 
 most cruelly torturing the Soul of Christ. God 
 assisted Christ's human nature only in so far as 
 was necessary to sustain it in the midst of these 
 terrible afflictions. He appeared to prolong life 
 
318 HISTOPvY OF THE PASSION 
 
 only to make possible more suffering. This was 
 the object and the cause of the reproach. It is 
 hardly necessary to mention that Christ permitted 
 this sense of abandonment with the full freedom 
 of His Will. 
 
 No matter how painful this abandonment by 
 God was to the Saviour, He did not, in those 
 moments, suffer the abandonment of the damned 
 in hell, as Calvin, the gloomy heretic, maintains. 
 Not at all. The abandonment of the damned is 
 without hope and full of despair. Not so the 
 abandonment of the Redeemer. This appears 
 clearly from the twenty-first psalm in which the 
 prophetic spirit of king David describes the senti- 
 ments and feelings of the Redeemer at this mo- 
 ment. The prophet first shows us that when 
 Christ asked of God the reason of the abandon- 
 ment. He was not at all in ignorance of it. For 
 after crying out : ' ' God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me?" Christ answers Himself: "Far 
 from my salvation are the words of my sins, ' ' that 
 is, the sins of men, laden upon Me, are the cause, 
 why there can be no thought of My salvation or 
 of My escape from death. They are the cause 
 why, besides being the reproach of men and the 
 outcast of the people who have numbered all ]\Iy 
 bones, I am also forsaken by heaven and deprived 
 of all consolation. Then, however, Christ rises to 
 the joyful confidence that after His death, not 
 only the Jews, but all the nations of the Gentiles 
 shall return to the Lord and in His Church shall 
 be satiated with the meat of His sacrifice. 
 
THE FOURTH WORD ON THE CROSS 319 
 
 Whether or not, as some theologians opine, Christ 
 said the entire psalm in a subdued voice, we may 
 not decide. Thus much is certain, that the psalm 
 expresses the feelings and sentiments of the Re- 
 deemer and that the first words thereof, ''God, my 
 God, why hast thou forsaken me?" were pro- 
 nounced by Christ in a loud tone of voice. 
 
 Let us now examine the reasons for uttering 
 this reproach. 
 
 II. 
 
 Three reasons urged the Saviour to utter it. 
 First he was impelled by the humility of His 
 Heart. Then He uttered the plaint for our mani- 
 fold instruction and, lastly, for our consolation. 
 
 In the first place, the humility of His Heart 
 urged Him to perform, before His demise, the 
 most heroic act of self-humiliation. The humilia- 
 tions heaped upon Him by His enemies were in- 
 deed very great and burdensome beyond expres- 
 sion. But they rebounded from His Divine Pa- 
 tience and Majesty as from a shield and, at least, 
 Christ did not therefore lose the respect of well- 
 meaning people. But by complaining of being 
 abandoned by God, He, as it were, abandoned Him- 
 self. It was the greatest act of self-abasement 
 and of self-renunciation which can be imagined. 
 For, indeed, Saviour Jesus Christ! if God 
 hath abandoned Thee, as whom should we con- 
 sider Thee ? Thou hast, in the past, worked thou- 
 sands of miracles to prove that Thou art true 
 God, as is the Father, and now Thou complainest 
 
320 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 that God hath forsaken Thee ! Thou hast publicly 
 proclaimed to the people that ''what things soever 
 the Father doth, these the Son also doth in like 
 manner. ' ' ^ David, the prophet, once said that 
 he had never seen the just forsaken. But of the 
 sinner it is said, "We know that God doth not 
 hear sinners. " ^ I therefore ask again, if God 
 has abandoned Thee, whom should we consider 
 Thee to be? How can John, standing at the foot 
 of the cross and hearing Thy complaint, still 
 write, "We saw his glory, the glory as it were of 
 the only begotten of the Father ? " ^ However, 
 by this self-abasement, by this obscuring of Plis 
 Divinity, of His Divine Power and Sanctity, the 
 Redeemer would atone fully for the pride and 
 self-deification of our first parents, which had 
 brought all evil into the world. 
 
 Secondly, Christ complained of being forsaken 
 for our manifold instruction. Above all, He 
 wished to forestall an erroneous and mischievous 
 idea of His Passion. The wonderful calm and 
 patience which the Saviour had shown throughout 
 the day amid so many and such various sufferings, 
 might lead those who had witnessed it to the opin- 
 ion that He was entirely devoid of feeling or sen- 
 sation. In view of all these facts, we ourselves 
 might be tempted to assume that the Soul of 
 Christ, in the last hours of life, was plunged in a 
 sea of heavenly consolation, as was the case 
 
 iSt. John, v., 19. 
 
 2 St. John, ix., 31. 
 
 3 St. John, i., 14. 
 
THE FOURTH WORD ON THE CROSS 321 
 
 with many martyrs, wlio were thereby rendered 
 insensible to pain. The sufferings of Christ, to a 
 certain extent, would then have been such in ap- 
 pearance only. Such a conception of them would 
 naturally cloud our knowledge of His Love and 
 of the horrors of sin for which He had to suffer, 
 whilst it would also lower the value of the grace 
 and the glory purchased by these sufferings. 
 Therefore Christ, from Whose lips a complaint 
 had never been heard, complained at the end of 
 His life of being forsaken, and that in a loud 
 voice, so that all men might know the enormity 
 of His Soul's sufferings. The joy and the exulta- 
 tion of a St. Lawrence and of so many other mar- 
 tyrs in the midst of the most terrific tortures were 
 fruits of this abandonment of the Redeemer. 
 
 Then again, Christ's complaint of being for- 
 saken demonstrates to us the greatness of that 
 punishment in hell which consists in the loss of 
 God. For there are Christians who fear hell on 
 account of the eternal fire only. To be separated 
 from God and to be deprived of His society seems 
 to them trifling and tolerable enough. Now, if 
 the abandonment by God caused Christ such fear- 
 ful torments, although His release was so near, 
 what then, we are constrained to ask, must be the 
 abandonment in hell, accompanied as it is, by 
 God's curse, combined with despair and lasting 
 forever ? 
 
 Thirdly, Christ wished to direct our attention 
 to the chief object to which our plaints ought to 
 refer. We complain often and of many things, 
 21 
 
322 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 but, alas, not always of what it is worth, our while 
 to complain of. We should send up our cries to 
 God when we are forsaken by Him, and this takes 
 place when mortal sin is committed. Indeed, when 
 mortal sin has brought about the most fearful 
 abandonment by God, when the fires of hell are 
 burning underneath one's feet, then it is high time 
 to cry out with a loud voice, ' ' O God, my God, why 
 hast Thou forsaken me?" Then not a stone 
 should be left unturned in the effort to be freed 
 from that awful condition; then the sound of our 
 wails and of our prayers should ascend to God 
 that He may grant us the grace of conversion and 
 pardon of our sins. 
 
 Finally, Christ, complaining of abandonment, 
 wished to be the comfort and model of all the just 
 in their disconsolate hours. It does not seldom 
 happen that God, after having filled with joyful 
 solace a soul in its devotions in order to draw it 
 closer to Himself, quite unexpectedly ceases to 
 bestow such marks of favor and, like the sun, 
 appears to hide himself behind clouds. The sweet 
 sense of God's presence and of pleasure in prayer 
 vanish, until finally the soul feels as if God has 
 withdrawn His grace, forsaken it entirely and 
 abandoned it to eternal ruin. In this condition, 
 which is more painful and more torturing than 
 any other kind of suffering, Christ ought to be 
 our consolation and at the same time our model. 
 In such moods of the soul we should, according to 
 His example, humbly and confidently address our 
 complaints to God. But we ought to be honest 
 
THE FOURTH WORD ON THE CROSS 323 
 
 enough to add with Christ, "Far from my salva- 
 tion are the words of my sins." In the case of 
 great saints such as St. Francis of Assisi and St. 
 Catherine of Siena, it was a special privilege 
 granted them by Almighty God that they shared 
 these particular sufferings of the Lord. For us 
 poor sinners, however, such tortures are usually a 
 punishment. They are a punishment for our 
 venial sins, for our lukewarmness and for our 
 attachment to the honors and pleasures of the 
 world. Ah! indeed, to go with the world and to 
 enjoy its pleasures as much as we can without 
 grievous guilt, and at the same time taste of the 
 sweets of heaven, is something impossible. We 
 should, therefore, bewail our lukewarmness and 
 our venial sins, we should, in our abandonment, 
 cry to God with the loud voice of prayer and of 
 works of penance, and He, then, will disperse the 
 dark clouds and again turn to us His countenance 
 full of favor and of love. 
 
 There yet remains the consideration of the dif- 
 ferent impressions produced upon the by-standers 
 by the cry of the Redeemer. 
 
 III. 
 
 The great mass of the people remained cold and 
 indifferent; they cared very little about the Sav- 
 iour's words. 
 
 Others, notably the chief-priests and scribes, 
 were seized with a frenzy of anger at this fourth 
 word of Christ. Undoubtedly, when these men, 
 well acquainted as they were with the scriptures 
 
324 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 of the Old Law, especially with those which re- 
 ferred to the Messias, heard the cry of Christ, 
 "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 
 they were involuntarily reminded of the above- 
 mentioned twenty-first psalm, of which those words 
 are the beginning. And if they had been of a 
 good will, even to the slightest extent, they would 
 have been forced to admit that He who was hang- 
 ing on the cross, was truly the Messias. For He 
 was indeed a worm, and no man; those who saw 
 Him were laughing Him to scorn ; His tongue was 
 cleaving to the roof of His mouth ; His hands and 
 feet were pierced ; all His bones could be num- 
 bered; His garments were divided among the sol- 
 diers and upon His vesture they had cast lots. 
 Every thing was just as the prophet had foretold. 
 But they would not hear the truth; they resisted 
 the truth, and they were greatly vexed at the 
 Crucified One for daring to proclaim the truth to 
 them, as Christians sometimes are when from the 
 pulpit they hear unpleasant truths. The anger 
 of the chief-priests and scribes grew as, in remem- 
 bering this psalm, they made a discovery not very 
 flattering to themselves. As we have already 
 stated, they clearly understood that the Crucified 
 One applied the psalm to Himself and thereby 
 declared Himself to be the Messias. Therefore, 
 they necessarily had to admit that they were the 
 dogs of whom it is said in the psalm, ''Many dogs 
 have encompassed me; the council of the malig- 
 nant hath besieged me." ' 
 
 It is proper to malice and impiety, coupled with 
 
THE FOURTH WORD ON THE CllOSS 325 
 
 hypocrisy, to find a way out of embarrassment, 
 when attacked or discovered, by resorting to ridi- 
 cule and sneers. Thus the high-priests and scribes 
 misrepresented the words of the Redeemer, *'Eli, 
 Eli" or "Eloi, Eloi," i.e., "My God," and ex- 
 claimed with peals of laughter, ''Behold, he calleth 
 Elias." And, like an echo, the words came back 
 from the soldiers, ''Behold, he calleth Elias." 
 
 To understand the cutting sarcasm contained 
 in these words, we must consider that, as the Tal- 
 mudists say, the Jews venerated Elias as the jan- 
 itor of heaven and as the greatest helper in need 
 generally, and when in dire straits, they were wont 
 to invoke him. The sense, then, of the words, 
 "Behold, he calleth Elias" is, now finally this man 
 is coming to his senses; now finally he acknowl- 
 edges his weakness and impotence ; now he is sur- 
 rendering ; now finally the hypocrite is unmasked ; 
 now, undoubtedly, there will be an end to his 
 pompous promises, "This day thou shalt be with 
 me in paradise;" now he would be glad were 
 Elias to open to him the gates of heaven or help 
 him down from the cross. 
 
 The feelings, lastly, of the sorrowful Mother 
 and of the friends of Christ at the Saviour's com- 
 plaint and at the jeers following it, cannot be de- 
 scribed. The pitiful cry of Christ penetrated 
 deeply into their hearts. Their countenances, al- 
 ready pale, became paler still, and floods of tears 
 streamed from their eyes. 
 
 Let us bewail with the sorrowful Mother the 
 abandonment of her beloved Son. But we should 
 
326 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 also resolve never to forsake Him by mortal sin 
 and thus increase His suffering. Let us, moreover, 
 renew our sacred oath of eternal fealty to Him. 
 If we find ourselves weak and tottering, let us pray 
 for the grace of Christ. Let us pray with the 
 disciples who went to Emmaus, "Lord, stay with 
 us because it is towards evening. ' ' ^ Especially 
 at the hour of death shall we cry from our inmost 
 heart, Jesus, foi^ake me not! Jesus, reject 
 me not! Jesus, condemn me not! Then, 
 through the Redeemer's goodness, we shall be 
 saved from the eternal abandonment of hell and be 
 united to Him in heaven forever. 
 
 iSt. Luke, xxiv., 29. 
 
CHAPTER XXYII. 
 
 THE FIFTH WORD OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS 
 
 " Afterwards Jesus knowing that 
 all things were now accomplished, 
 that the scripture might be fulfilled, 
 said: I thirst." 
 
 (St. John, xix., 28.) 
 
 In the crucified, as in tlie case of all seriously 
 wounded, the great loss of blood produced such 
 an extraordinary inner heat that they felt as 
 though consumed by fire. The thirst arising from 
 this immense heat was, without doubt, the greatest 
 of all the sufferings which these unfortunates had 
 to endure. As eye and ear witnesses relate,^ they 
 would, after hanging a little while on the cross, 
 complain of nothing except their burning thirst. 
 They seemed dead to all other pain. 
 
 This historical fact puts the complaint of the 
 Saviour, '*I thirst," in its proper light. After a 
 superficial consideration one might think that 
 Christ was complaining of a pain slight and unim- 
 portant in comparison to His other sufferings. 
 And, if He intended to speak of physical anguish, 
 one would rather expect a complaint of the pains in 
 
 1 Sepp vi, 379. Friedlieb, Arehaeologie der Leidensges- 
 chichte, p. 155. 
 
 327 
 
328 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 His hands and feet or in His sacred head. But 
 such a view is wrong. As the Saviour in the 
 preceding sentence gave utterance to the greatest of 
 all the sufferings of His soul, the abandonment by- 
 God, so now He expresses the worst bodily pain 
 which He experienced. This thirst was more pain- 
 ful than the scourging or the crowning with thorns 
 or the crucifixion itself; in it all the physical suf- 
 ferings reached their climax. When, therefore, 
 the Redeemer complained of thirst. He included 
 the inner fever which consumed Him. It is as if 
 He said, ''My entire body is being consumed by 
 fire." 
 
 That through this torture of thirst the Re- 
 deemer intended to atone for all sins of intemper- 
 ance and of the taste generally goes without say- 
 ing. Especially did He have in view the sin of 
 our first parents. This sin began with pride and 
 self -deification ; therefore did He undergo the tor- 
 ture of being forsaken by God. It ended with 
 gluttony; for this reason He completed the work 
 of satisfaction by suffering the torture of the most 
 painful thirst and so re-establishing the order 
 which had been disturbed. Let us now consider^ 
 I. The reasons for uttering this complaint, 
 XL Its circumstances and character and 
 
 III. The granting of the petition contained 
 in it. 
 
 iSt. John, xix., 28-30; St. Matthew, xxvii., 48, 49; St. 
 Mark, xv., 36; St. Luke, xxiii., 36. 
 
THE FIFTH WORD ON THE CROSS 329 
 
 I. 
 
 Until now Christ had not complained of any 
 bodily pain. The reason why He did it now at 
 the end of His life is given us by Holy Writ itself. 
 ' ' Afterwards, ' ' says St. John, ' ' Jesus knowing that 
 all things were now accomplished, that the Scrip- 
 ture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst." Every- 
 thing, then, was accomplished that the prophets 
 had foretold; one thing only was wanting: that, 
 in His thirst. He be given vinegar to drink. In 
 order that this prophecy also might be accom- 
 plished. He revealed His thirst to the torturers. 
 Otherwise they might not have thought of giving 
 Him vinegar. Of course, we know that the dif- 
 ferent mysteries of Christ's Passion were not ac- 
 complished because they were prophesied, but that 
 rather these mysteries were themselves the causes 
 of the prophecies. For these things which hap- 
 pened through the free will of men, just because 
 they really happened, were foreseen by Almighty 
 God from all eternity and were foretold by the 
 prophets centuries before they happened. Now, 
 as it was written in the Scriptures that Christ was 
 to be given vinegar to drink, St. John shows us the 
 Saviour as if in anxiety that nothing remain un- 
 done and that the will of the Heavenly Father be 
 accomplished even to the minutest detail. Hang- 
 ing, then, on the wood of martyrdom, plunged in 
 a sea of bitterness and overwhelmed with pain, 
 the Saviour attends primarily to the accomplish- 
 ment of God's will. That God's will be done, is 
 
330 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 His most ardent desire. Therein is contained a 
 lesson for us; how we should strive to accomplish 
 even to the smallest detail the will of God revealed 
 to us in Holy Writ. But how many Christians 
 confine their efforts to that which is absolutely 
 necessary and which is prescribed under pain of 
 eternal damnation ! How rare is faithfulness in 
 little things! How scarce is true zeal in the serv- 
 ice of God at every moment in our lives! How 
 truly rare it is in sufferings. The slightest ail- 
 ments often furnish pretexts for neglecting the 
 most serious duties. 
 
 Then Christ said, *'I thirst,'* for two reasons 
 which had also impelled Him to complain of his 
 abandonment. On the one hand, He wished to 
 teach the Jews and us that He suffered bodily 
 pains in reality and in the highest degree, and, on 
 the other. He wished to draw our attention to the 
 fires of hell. For if the inward fire that consumed 
 Him could draw such an outcry of pain from the 
 patient Saviour, who, then, would dwell with ever- 
 lasting burnings ? ^ 
 
 The last reason was the desire of the sacred 
 Heart of Jesus to suffer even more for us. For 
 He knew that the jeering bystanders would offer 
 Him vinegar as a refreshment and that thus His 
 cry would bring upon Him a new humiliation. 
 This fact alone proves the truth of what the Holy 
 Fathers say, namely, that at the end of His life, 
 Christ was ready to undergo even more sufferings, 
 for our sake, if God had demanded it. 
 
 1 Is., xxxiii., 14. 
 
THE FIFTH WORD OX THE CROSS 331 
 
 Thus did the Redeemer of the world end His 
 life in the most perfect manner ; on the one hand, 
 as we have seen, with an act of the greatest self- 
 humiliation and, on the other, with an act of the 
 most heroic charity. For, by revealing His thirst 
 after He already had reached the most intense 
 degree of pain. He brought about new sufferings, 
 and thereby showed His willingness to suffer even 
 more for the glory of God and for the salvation 
 of our souls. We, on the contrary, are glad when 
 pain has left us. To offer ourselves to God for 
 new and greater afflictions never enters our mind. 
 We rather study how to shake off or lighten our 
 present cross or avoid impending sufferings. 
 
 Let us now consider the circumstances and the 
 character of the fifth word. 
 
 11. 
 
 Three circumstances here merit our attention. 
 Christ did, indeed, complain of bodily sufferings, 
 but only after He had complained of sufferings 
 of the soul. Whilst, therefore, we are not forbid- 
 den to complain of bodily ills, the ills of our souls 
 should, above aU and in the first place, be nearest 
 to our heart, especially that abandonment by God 
 which is caused by mortal sin. There are Chris- 
 tians, however, who are never aware of these spir- 
 itual ills and who, therefore, never feel the need 
 of complaining of them, not even to those who are 
 empowered to heal the wounds of the soul. 
 
 Christ did, indeed, complain of His bodily ills, 
 but not with a loud voice, as He did in His aban- 
 
332 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 donment. Thereby we are taught that we should 
 never loudly complain to God of our bodily suf- 
 ferings. It would be improper, as these sufferings, 
 no matter how grave they may be, are capable of 
 producing, with God's grace, much that is good 
 and salutary. For, with the help of grace, they 
 lead sinners to conversion, they detach the heart 
 from earthly things, they purify the just, they 
 offer him opportunities of gaining much merit, and 
 they unite him most intimately with the Crucified 
 One Himself. If, however, one be forsaken by 
 God through mortal sin, then it is proper to loudly 
 invoke the mercy of God. 
 
 Christ did, indeed, complain of bodily ills, but 
 only when they had reached the greatest intensity. 
 I am certainly not in favor of unreasonable exag- 
 geration in this matter, nor do I mean to say that 
 one should not look for remedies until in the throes 
 of death. Some, even, ought to be advised to take 
 more care of their health. On the other hand, it 
 is wrong to fill the air with lamentations at every 
 slight indisposition, especially as the entire ail- 
 ment is sometimes merely a figment of the imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 Two qualities of Christ's plaint are to be con- 
 spicuously mentioned: its brevity and its unas- 
 suming tone. The plaint consisted of only one 
 word: ''Sitio,'' ''I thirst." This is all Christ has 
 to say about His great affliction. How unlike the 
 Redeemer are those Christians who draw the most 
 pitiful descriptions of their bodily infirmities, un- 
 important as they sometimes are, and who can 
 
THE FIFTH WORD ON THE CROSS 333 
 
 never reach the end when they have once begun 
 their story. 
 
 Then the complaint of Christ was entirely with- 
 out presumption. He merely states what He suf- 
 fers without asking for anything. He left it to 
 the bystanders to determine whether and how His 
 excruciating thirst was to be quenched. I will 
 not affirm here that the sick ought to be prohibited 
 from asking for this or that relief. But there are 
 sick people whose demands, in this particular, go 
 beyond all reasonable bounds. Now they want 
 this, then that; and with the best of will, one 
 cannot satisfy them. They are continually in a 
 bad humor, stubborn and a real cross for all who 
 are around them. Such sick persons should re- 
 member Our Divine Saviour who patiently took 
 even the vinegar which was offered Him in ridi- 
 cule to quench His thirst. The saints must have 
 thought of it, for they rejoiced on their sick beds, 
 when they met with forgetfulness or even wilful 
 neglect. 
 
 Now, what kind of a response did the request 
 contained in the Saviour's complaint meet with? 
 
 III. 
 
 After Christ had spoken the word, *^I thirst,*' 
 one of the bystanders, probably a soldier, ran for 
 a sponge, filled it with vinegar, stuck it on a pole 
 and, assisted by several others, gave Him to drink. 
 At crucifixions the Boman soldiers always had in 
 readiness a vase of vinegar, from which to refill 
 the leather bottles from which they drank, and 
 
334 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 also to offer to the crucified. Sponges were like- 
 wise at hand for the executioners to use in wash- 
 ing off their blood-stained arms and clothes. 
 
 To the narrative of the evangelists St. Matthew 
 and St. Mark, St. John adds the item that it was 
 a rod of hyssop to which the sponge was attached. 
 The motive of St. John in completing the report 
 of the other evangelists by this detail can readily 
 be surmised. In times gone by the Israelites were 
 commanded by God to dip a bunch of hyssop into 
 the blood of the lamb and with it to sprinkle the 
 sills and posts of their doors in order to keep 
 away the destroying angel.^ When, later on, 
 Moses had concluded on Mount Sinai the covenant 
 between God and the people, he used for sprink- 
 ling the altar and the people a bunch of hyssop 
 dipped in the blood of the immolated calves. Hys- 
 sop was also to be used in preparing the waters 
 of purification and of reconciliation. Wherefore 
 David exclaimed, *'Thou shalt sprinkle me with 
 hyssop. "2 Finally, because of its intrinsic puri- 
 fying virtue, hyssop was used to heal leprosy, 
 which is a type of sin. Hyssop was therefore hal- 
 lowed by religious observance; its properties ren- 
 dered it full of significance, and by its use in con- 
 nection with the first paschal lamb as well as with 
 the making of the Old Testament, it had acquired 
 a peculiar relation to the purifying Blood of the 
 Paschal Lamb of the New Testament. 
 
 When the soldiers made a move to approach the 
 
 lExod,, xii., 22. 
 2 Psalms, 1., 9. 
 
THE FIFTH WORD ON THE CROSS 335 
 
 Redeemer with the sponge attached to th€ reed, 
 they were arrested by cries of "Halt!" coming 
 from different directions. "Halt!" they cried, 
 "Wait, do not yet give Him the vinegar. Let us 
 first see whether Elias will come to refresh and 
 help Him." For the chief -priests and pharisees 
 had sneeringly exclaimed, "Behold, he calleth 
 Elias." Now, although the pagan soldiers had 
 not heard much of Elias, the helper in need, still 
 they quickly entered into the spirit of the insolent 
 jest of the Jews and joined them in jeering at the 
 expiring Saviour. But the soldier did not waver 
 in his purpose. "Hold!" he cried, adding his 
 cruel jest to theirs, "Let me give Him the vine- 
 gar and prolong His life until Elias arrives. 
 Otherwise He might perish before Elias has time 
 to put in an appearance. ' ' ^ Elias came not, and 
 the Redeemer who had not drunk the wine mixed 
 with myrrh offered Him to diminish His pains, 
 now drank the vinegar because it was given in jest 
 and ridicule. He drank because He wishes to 
 accomplish the last prophecy yet to be fulfilled 
 and because He, the Lord of life and death, now 
 wished to die. 
 
 Ah, indeed, the Son of God had not deserved 
 such treatment on the part of men. That they 
 might not lack wherewith to quench their thirst, 
 He had, in the beginning of time, created the riv- 
 ers and caused to spring forth from the earth's 
 recesses everywhere the clearness of many waters. 
 And if, notwithstanding, water sometimes failed, 
 
 1 See note 18. 
 
336 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 He was ready to work miracles to remove the eon- 
 sequent distress. Ismael thirsted, and He showed 
 Agar a fountain; the people of Israel were perish- 
 ing with thirst, and He drew from the rock a 
 refreshing source; He gave Moses a rod to make 
 bitter water sweet. When, in the fulness of time, 
 He had become man and dwelt among men, He 
 proclaimed to all who were thirsty, ''If any man 
 thirst, let him come to me, and drink. ' ' ^ But to 
 Him, the bountiful Creator, His chosen people re- 
 fused even the smallest drop. They stood calmly 
 by, they grinned cruelly at the scene of the mockery. 
 Truly, the vineyard from which Christ expected 
 sweet grapes had brought forth wild ones.^ The 
 Samaritan woman at Jacob's well had, in truth, 
 been more compassionate. When He was thirsty, 
 she did not refuse Him the drink of water. But 
 if, as we have seen, the Lord's bodily thirst was 
 great, the thirst of His soul for our salvation was 
 still much greater. He was therefore more anx- 
 ious that the latter thirst be quenched than that 
 the parched mouth and the withered tongue be 
 again moistened. Christ thirsts for our souls, He 
 thirsts for our conversion, He thirsts for our good 
 works. He thirsts for our perfection. Let us 
 quench this thirst of our Redeemer to our utmost 
 power. Let us sanctify our own souls and lead 
 other souls to Him. Then His Sacred Heart will 
 be to us a fountain of water springing up into life 
 everlasting.^ 
 
 1 St. John, vii., 37. 
 
 2 Is., v., 4. 
 
 3 St. John, iv., 14. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE SIXTH WORD OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS 
 
 *' WTien Jesus therefore had taken 
 the vinegar, he said: It is consum- 
 mated/' (St. John, xix., 30.) 
 
 The last painful moment of His life permitted 
 the Redeemer to express what He could no longer 
 say after death had paralyzed His tongue: ''It is 
 consummated." Solemnly, before heaven and 
 earth, before God and the world, the dying Re- 
 deemer declares that the mission of His life 
 has been fulfilled and that everything referring to 
 Him and promised in the Scriptures of the Old 
 Law, in prophecies and prototypes, has been ac- 
 complished to the very last. 
 
 Inasmuch as these prophecies relate to the his- 
 tory of the Passion, we have repeatedly referred 
 to them in the course of the preceding chapters. 
 One thing more, however, was promised in the 
 books of the Old Testament, the accomplishment 
 of which needs a special exposition. It is the 
 main and central point in the whole history of 
 the Passion. According to the prophet Isaias ^ 
 (liii., 10) through the future Redeemer, in fact, 
 through His death, there would be offered to God 
 
 1 See note 19. 
 
 22 ^^^ 
 
338 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 a real and the most valuable sacrifice, reconciling 
 God and the world. This was the hope of the 
 human race languishing in the slavery of Satan. 
 And now this hope was also realized, this sacri- 
 fice was consummated. As the fruit of this pro- 
 pitiatory sacrifice of Christ, Isaias mentions an 
 eternal, spiritual progeny, i. e., the entire multi- 
 tude of the elect whom no one can number. 
 
 Let us now bring forward the arguments to 
 show that Christ's death on the cross was 
 
 I. A real sacrifice in the strictest sense of the 
 word and 
 
 II. A sacrifice of infinite value. 
 
 We will briefly summarize the external proofs 
 of the truth of our first proposition. That 
 Christ's death on the cross was a sacrifice in the 
 strictest sense of the word is evident from the fact 
 that the main object of the bloody sacrifices of 
 animals in the Old Law was to typify and repre- 
 sent the giving up of the life of Jesus in a violent 
 death. Now the bloody sacrifices of animals were 
 real sacrifices, and therefore it was necessary that 
 Christ's death on the cross, typified by them, be 
 a real sacrifice. For reality cannot be less true 
 than its shadow, nor fulfilment and accomplish- 
 ment than their tj^es and figures. Then, com- 
 ing to the New Testament, we find, in the first 
 place, that Our Divine Saviour is often called a 
 Lamb. ''Behold the lamb of God, behold him 
 
THE SIXTH WORD ON THE CROSS 339 
 
 who taketh away the sin of the world," writes St. 
 John (i., 29). ''Christ, our pasch, is sacrificed," 
 joyfully exclaims St. Paul.' " You were re- 
 deemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of 
 a lamb unspotted and undefiled," St. Peter 
 teaches us.- Now, if we remember that in the 
 Old Law the lamb was one of the animals most 
 frequently offered in sacrifice, we easily under- 
 stand that the writers of the books of the New 
 Testament, in calling Christ a lamb, were con- 
 vinced that He offered a true and real sacrifice. 
 Furthermore, what they merely suggest by this 
 comparison, they elsewhere state in express terms. 
 St. John writes: "Jesus is the propitiation for 
 our sins : and not for ours only, but also for those 
 of the whole world. "^ Paul the Apostle repre- 
 sents to the Ephesians how Christ had delivered 
 Himself as an oblation and a sacrifice to God for 
 an odor of sweetness.* Finally, the doctrine of 
 Christ's vicarious and propitiatory sacrificial 
 death is repeatedly laid down, in clear and most 
 definite terms, in the epistle to the Hebrews. 
 Christ sacrificed Himself once for the sins of the 
 people.^ "Christ was offered once to exhaust the 
 sins of many." « And this doctrine of Holy Writ 
 is the doctrine of the Holy Fathers, the doc- 
 trine of the Catholic Church and the conviction 
 II. Cor., v., 7. 
 
 2 1. Pet., i., 19. 
 
 3 I. John, ii., 2. 
 
 4 Eph., v., 2. 
 
 5 Hebr., vii., 29. 
 
 6 Ibid., ix., 28. 
 
340 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 of the whole Catholic people. ''What sacrifice/' 
 asks St. Leo/ 'Svas ever holier than that which 
 the true High-Priest laid upon the Altar of the 
 Cross by sacrificing His own Body?" And joy- 
 fully does the Church sing on the holy eve of 
 Easter, "O wonderful condescension of Thy good- 
 ness towards us, O God! O inappreciable favor 
 of Thy Love! In order to redeem the servant, 
 Thou hast delivered the Son." 
 
 But let us enter more deeply into the subject by 
 showing that in Christ's death on the Cross every 
 thing is found which belongs to a real sacrifice. 
 For this purpose, however, it is absolutely neces- 
 sary first to define the idea of a sacrifice briefly 
 but thoroughly. By the word sacrifice in its strict 
 sense we understand a religious act by which a 
 visible gift is offered to God and destroyed in some 
 way, so that God may be honored and worshiped. 
 First, then, there is required a visible gift, some- 
 thing that is material and tangible. Sacrifices of 
 prayer, of self denial and of the heart are sacri- 
 fices only in a figurative and free sense of the 
 word. Secondly, this visible gift must be offered 
 up. For the sacrifice does not consist so much in 
 the visible object as in the offering of it. The 
 sacrifice is not the object in itself, but an act 
 which, of course, presupposes a sacrificial gift. 
 Then, the object must be offered directly to God. 
 If, for the love of God, one were to offer to a 
 poor man a lamb or a loaf of bread, it would be an 
 
 1 Sermo 13 de Pass. c. 3. 
 
THE SIXTH WORD ON THE CROSS 341 
 
 alms but, properly speaking, not a sacrifice. Then 
 the visible gift must be offered to God by being 
 destroyed in some way. Thus, in the Old Law, 
 animals were slain and burned, incense was like- 
 wise burned, liquids were poured out. For this is 
 the only possible way of offering them directly 
 to God. In fact, sacrificial gifts cannot be car- 
 ried into heaven to Him. By being destroyed or, 
 at least, withdrawn from every earthly and pro- 
 fane use, they are, as it were, given back to the 
 Creator. The intrinsic reason however, why the 
 offering is made by destruction, entire or partial, 
 is contained in the end of the sacrificial act, 
 namely, solemnly to acknowledge God's supreme 
 dominion, especially to worship Him and to sub- 
 ject ourselves entirely to Him as to the Lord of 
 life and death. The best expression of this inner 
 disposition would indeed be to offer life itself, as 
 was done in the death of Christ on the Cross. 
 But according to a Divine ordinance, man has no 
 right to dispose of his own life. Wherefore, in 
 ancient times, instead of life itself, such objects, 
 animate and inanimate, were offered as contrib- 
 uted directly to the sustenance of human life and 
 which, for this reason, best represented the sacri- 
 fice of human life itself. 
 
 With this first object of the sacrificial act, 
 namely, the praise and worship of God, is inti- 
 mately connected the intention of showing Him 
 our gratitude in an external and efficacious man- 
 ner, as well as to beg of Him new gifts and graces. 
 After the fall of man, the sacrifices assumed very 
 
342 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 plainly the character of being propitiatory. To 
 placate God, the animal of sacrifice must surrender 
 its life in place of the sinner who had forfeited 
 life and merited death. 
 
 The right and, in a certain sense, the duty of 
 offering sacrifice originally belonged to all upon 
 whom the duty of external religious acts was in- 
 cumbent, that is, to the individual, to the family 
 and to human society. Thus Cain and Abel of- 
 fered sacrifice. The father would sacrifice in the 
 name of the family, and, in the name of a com- 
 munity, a priest appointed for that purpose by 
 the civil authority. Sacrifice, however, being the 
 most sublime and most perfect act of religious 
 worship, was soon exclusively reserved for pub- 
 lic worship held in common. By taking part in 
 this public worship, the individual perfectly sat- 
 isfied his personal obligation. With the Jews 
 especially, Almighty God, as it were, took this mat- 
 ter into His own hands.' He not only determined 
 the various sacrificial gifts, but He also appointed 
 the priests who had to offer them in the name of 
 the people. For, if a man, especally a sin- 
 ful man, wishes, in the name of the people, to 
 stand as an agent of mediation and reconciliation 
 between God and sinners, it is proper that he be 
 empowered for the purpose by God and that, at 
 least by his office and his dignity, he be segregated 
 from sinners and consecrated. But Avhen the 
 plenitude of time arrived, all men were deprived 
 forever of the right to offer sacrifice, because the 
 Son of God Himself was to appear, according to 
 
THE SIXTH WOPxD ON THE CROSS 343 
 
 His human nature, as the Priest of sacrifice, as the 
 High-Priest of the new dispensation. The burn- 
 ing of incense is therefore no longer a sacrifice, but 
 merely a sacred ceremony. 
 
 Thus, by the order of the heavenly Father, the 
 Lord of life and death, Christ, by His bloody 
 death on the cross, freely offered to God His hu- 
 man life, instead of ours, to honor Him and to pla- 
 cate Him, and He renews this sacrifice in an un- 
 bloody manner at every holy Mass. Christ's 
 death on the cross was therefore a true and real 
 sacrifice. Ever^iihing pertaining to the essence of 
 a sacrifice was there: a visible gift, namely, the 
 sacred humanity of Jesus Christ; the offering of 
 this gift by a High-Priest appointed by God; the 
 destruction of this gift by death and the intention 
 of honoring and glorifying God through this same 
 destruction. 
 
 But, one might ask, did not the executioners put 
 Christ to death and deprive Him of life? Ought 
 not therefore the executioners to be considered 
 the sacrificing priests at Christ's death on the 
 cross? Such a conclusion would be false. It is 
 true, the executioners inflicted upon the Saviour 
 tortures which naturally could but bring on death, 
 and, in consequence of these tortures, Christ 
 finally died. However, notwithstanding these tor- 
 tures, even had they been a thousand times greater 
 or had they lasted thousands of years, Christ 
 would not have died, had He not Himself willed 
 it. Even at the very last moment of the Saviour's 
 life, it lay within the power of His human will, 
 
344 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 united as it was with the second Person of the 
 Godhead, to avoid death entirely. Such was not 
 the case with the holy martyrs. Joyfully, indeed, 
 and exultingly, their will in complete submission 
 to the will of God, did these heroes approach 
 death; but they approached an inevitable death, 
 a death whose coming they could not delay for a 
 single second with all the powers of their will. 
 Christ, on the other hand, died because He willed 
 it and when He willed it. By a resolve of His 
 own human will, He effected the separation of 
 soul and body, inasmuch as with perfect freedom 
 He permitted the tortures to now finally produce 
 their fatal effect. In this, and in this alone, did 
 the sacrificial act of Christ's death on the cross 
 consist. Christ was therefore not only the Vic- 
 tim, but also the sacrificing Priest. Far from be- 
 ing sacrificing priests, the executioners rendered 
 themselves guilty of the crime of deicide. 
 Christ's death on the cross is, therefore, a real 
 sacrifice. It differed from all other sacrifices, not 
 only because in it, as the only genuine sacrifice, the 
 First-Born of humanity was offered, whilst in the 
 others animals of lower rank were immolated in 
 the stead of human life, but also because it was a 
 sacrifice of infinite value. 
 
 11. 
 
 The infinite value of the sacrifice of the cross 
 is deduced first from the infinite dignity and holi- 
 ness of Jesus Clirist, the sacrificing Priest, and, 
 secondly, from the infinite treasures of satisfaction 
 
THE SIXTH WOKD ON THE CROSS 345 
 
 and merit which it contains. Let us explain more 
 fully these two thoughts. 
 
 The value of a sacrifice depends first of all on 
 the value of the sacrificial gift. Under this as- 
 pect, a sacrifice of one thousand lambs would have 
 more value than one of ten lambs under perfectly 
 similar circumstances. Now the most valuable 
 gift ever offered to God was the body, the blood, 
 the life of the God-Man. This gift was in itself 
 of absolutely infinite value, and it caused the sac- 
 rifice of the cross to be immeasurably superior, 
 in intrinsic value, to all the sacrifices of the Old 
 Law. Nevertheless the infinite value of Christ's 
 sacrifice is owing more to the infinite dignity of 
 the Sacrificer than to the infinite value of the 
 gift. Does not, in every day life, the personality 
 of the giver add to the gift a special value? In 
 your prayer-book you have a small, insignificant 
 picture. It is torn and soiled. And still it is 
 dear to you, and you would not give it for any 
 price. Why? You received it from a good friend 
 or from some exalted personage, perhaps the Holy 
 Father gave it to you when, prostrate at his feet 
 in the Holy City, you implored his papal blessing. 
 Does not a mother take more pleasure in a simple 
 bouquet given to her on her namesday by a good 
 and pious child than in a more pretentious gift of- 
 fered by a wayward son ? Thus the personality of 
 the giver can impart a great value to a small gift. 
 That is why the infinite dignity and holiness of 
 Christ gave to His sacrifice an infinite value. 
 This is so true that if Christ, instead of offerincj 
 
346 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Himself to God, had offered only a lamb, for in- 
 stance, the sacrificial act of Christ would have had 
 an infinite value owing to the personality of the 
 sacrificing Priest. 
 
 The sacrifice of the Cross is, therefore, the great- 
 est, holiest and most valuable act which was ever 
 performed since the creation of the world. What- 
 ever the patriarchs and prophets, the confessors 
 and virgins, the martyrs and apostles, all the saints 
 and even the Blessed Virgin did that was good 
 and holy, all of it put together, being finite, can- 
 not be compared with the value of the sacrifice of 
 the Cross. 
 
 The infinite value of the sacrifice of the Cross 
 is derived, secondly, from the infinite treasure of 
 satisfaction and merit which it contains. This 
 treasure is so infinitely vast that, notwithstanding 
 the untold wealth distributed therefrom to men 
 for centuries and daily flowing to them even now, 
 it is not only not exhausted, but it has not even 
 been diminished. It could not be diminished even 
 if there were a million times more human be- 
 ings, even if this out-flowing wealth were a million 
 times greater, and if the world were to last for all 
 eternity. 
 
 But what is this glorious and manifold wealth, 
 which is the product of the sacrifice of the cross? 
 It can be divided into two kinds, viz., perfect rec- 
 onciliation and perfect restoration to grace. In 
 the first place, Christ has satisfied for the guilt 
 of sin. By His sacrifice He has rendered to His 
 heavenly Father an honor infinitely greater than 
 
THE SIXTH WOKD ON THE CKOSS 347 
 
 that which was withdrawn from Him by the sins 
 of the whole world. Then He also more than plen- 
 tifully atoned for the penalties of sin. To pre- 
 vail on God to waive His right of punishing us, 
 He took upon Himself sufferings of infinite aton- 
 ing power. But Christ merited for us not only 
 the remission of guilt and of punishment, He also 
 gained for us a perfect restoration to grace, a 
 superabundance of life, the entrance ''into the 
 Holies,'' as the Scripture has it. To the redeem- 
 ing death of Christ we owe each and every grace 
 which we have ever received from God, the grace 
 of the true faith, the grace of prayer, the grace of 
 our heart's conversion, the grace of the victory 
 over temptation, and from it alone can we expect 
 the grace of final perseverance. From each one 
 of these graces, there hangs, as it were, a drop of 
 Christ's precious Blood with which it was pur- 
 chased. But not only did Christ merit for us the 
 plenitude of actual graces, but He also merited 
 sanctifying grace, the infused virtues, the gifts 
 and fruits of the Holy Ghost, the celestial trans- 
 figuration of soul and body; in a word, all the 
 glories of grace in the children of God, which 
 glories are indeed hidden here below, but, in the 
 next world, shall be unfolded in most wonderful 
 splendor. The establishment also of the Holy 
 Church and her endowment with all the gifts and 
 means of salvation are fruits grown upon the tree 
 of the Cross. Wherefore, in holy inspiration and 
 filled with joy and rapture, the Church sings in 
 her Passion hymn: 
 
348 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 '* Cross of faith, among all others, 
 Tree most precious, Avondroiis rare; 
 None e'er yields such leaves, such flowers, 
 Nor such fruit, divinely fair." 
 
 Now by the fruits the tree is known. Therefore, 
 from the infinite satisfaction and merit of the 
 sacrifice of the Cross, we rightly infer its infinite 
 value. It remains for us to participate in the 
 fruits of the sacrifice of the Cross to an always in- 
 creasing extent by prayer, by good works, by the 
 reception of the sacraments and by assisting at 
 holy Mass. 
 
 The sixth word of Christ on the cross is, then, 
 full of meaning when taken to signify, ' ^ The sacri- 
 fice is consummated." His death on the cross was 
 really the sacrifice of the New Law, promised by 
 the prophets and prefigured by the sacrifice of the 
 Old Law; it was a sacrifice of infinite value. 
 Christ's mission in life was noAV fulfilled. Justly, 
 therefore, and as if in holy enthusiasm, does a 
 celebrated Father of the Syrian church ^ cite all the 
 prophets to appear upon Calvary, there to gaze 
 on the Messias and to testify before the entire 
 world that their prophecies concerning Him have 
 been fulfilled to the letter. ''Approach," he ex- 
 claims, ''Isaias, and behold the Lamb offered to 
 the Divinity, immolated, suspended on the cross 
 and covered with blood! . . . Zachary, look 
 
 1 Jacob of Sarug. First discourse on the passion of 
 Jesus. Translated by P. Zingerle. Theol. Quartalschr. 
 (1891) p. 410. 
 
THE SIXTH WORD ON THE CROSS 349 
 
 upon His hands and see the wounds! . . . 
 David, whose son He is, come and behold Him on 
 Golgotha : they have pierced His hands and driven 
 nails through them, they have given Him vine- 
 gar." . . . The Redeemer could therefore 
 confidently close His eyes. 
 
 Happy the Christian who, in death, can say with 
 the Saviour, in holy joy and with a cheerful heart, 
 "It is consummated." Consummated is the work 
 which the heavenly Father hath given me, the 
 sacrifice of mine own self is consummated. Past 
 are now the days of labor, the days of tribulation 
 and of temptation; they are past forever. Past 
 is the horrible, dark night of tempests, and lo ! I 
 already behold the dawn of the eternal day of 
 light and heavenly brightness. Nothing now re- 
 mains but to receive the crown of justice. 
 
 But if our last hour were to come to-day, could 
 
 we say with as much confidence as the Saviour, 
 
 "It is consummated"? Alas, how many are far 
 
 behind in the work of their lives! How many 
 
 have not even begun their work! How many, 
 
 after having begun, have again folded their arms 
 
 in idleness ! It were terrible, however, if in such 
 
 a condition, one were forced by approaching death 
 
 to exclaim, "It is consummated." Consummated 
 
 is the life of sin and vice! Gone are now all 
 
 those sweeping pleasures, those vile passions. 
 
 Gone now is boastful wealth, gone is the vanity of 
 
 worldly honor. Past are now the hours of grace, 
 
 the hours of salvation and of mercy. Now the 
 
 hour of vengeance is striking. Time is at an end, 
 
350 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 eternity is beginning, eternity with its everlasting 
 pains. 
 
 However, the Heart of Christ is good and full 
 of love. The Redeemer still gives us time for life, 
 time for work and for penance. Let us, then, 
 with all our hearts, deplore our past neglect in the 
 service of God and, with redoubled efforts, strive 
 to retrieve past omissions. Let us by ceaseless 
 work redeem lost time and thus make haste to 
 enter into eternal rest. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE SEVENTH WORD OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS 
 
 " And Jesus crying with a loud voice, 
 said: Father, into thy hands I com- 
 mend my spirit. And saying this, he 
 gave up the ghost." 
 
 (St. Luke, xxiii., 46.) 
 
 All things which Holy Writ had predicted re- 
 garding the life and Passion of the Redeemer, 
 were fulfilled. His thirst was to be quenched with 
 vinegar. As soon as Christ had taken the vine- 
 gar, He said, '' It is consummated." All was con- 
 summated that the heavenly Father had entrusted 
 Him with; everything that was demanded by Di- 
 vine Justice, everything to which the Redeemer's 
 love had impelled Him, everything necessary or 
 conducive to man's salvation, everything was now 
 consummated. Consummated was now the work 
 of the bloody Passion, the chalice was drained to 
 the dregs, and whatever evil hell and the world 
 could inflict on Christ, was now overcome. Con- 
 summated was now the Old Testament with its 
 onerous laws and bloody sacrifice of animals, its 
 prophecies were fulfilled, its figures had passed 
 into reality, and the synagogue now came to an 
 end. ''It is consummated!" This sixth word of 
 the Redeemer was the prayer of thanksgiving in 
 351 
 
352 IILSTOKY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the evening of His life, the message of joy for all 
 the elect, the announcement of victory over hell 
 and the cry of triumph at the moment of death. 
 The work of redemption, the sacrifice of the New 
 Law, was consummated. Nothing else remained 
 but to die. Wherefore the Redeemer cried out 
 with a loud voice, ''Father, into thy hands I com- 
 mend my spirit. ' ' Let us consider ^ 
 
 I. The meaning of the seventh word and 
 II. The circumstances of its utterance. 
 
 In the last moment of His life the Redeemer 
 thought almost exclusively of His heavenly Father 
 and of His own soul. In the seventh word He 
 addresses God with the word "Father." This was 
 the last declaration of His own divinity. During 
 His public life, He had often and in various ways 
 declared Himself to be the Son of God, and He 
 had worked many miracles to prove the truth of 
 His declaration. Before Caiphas He had main- 
 tained this same declaration although He foresaw 
 all the tortures it would cause Him. He held to 
 this declaration until death. In the Crucified Re- 
 deemer we must therefore adore the Son of God 
 and bend our knee before Him. 
 
 He furthermore called God His Father to show 
 once more that His will was in complete subjec- 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii., 50; St. Mark, xv., 37; St. Luke, 
 xxiii., 46; St. John, xix., 30. 
 
THE SEVENTH WORD ON THE CROSS 353 
 
 tion to the will of the Father and that He was 
 obedient nnto death, even unto the death of the 
 Cross. The word, "Father," was at the same 
 time the expression of filial love and of strongest 
 confidence. It was not, as we have seen, from 
 diffidence or pusillanimity that, immediately be- 
 fore, He had not called upon the Father as such 
 but rather had exclaimed, ' ' My God, my God, why 
 hast thou forsaken me?" 
 
 Besides the Father, His soul was also the sub- 
 ject of Christ's thoughts. He had no more earthly 
 goods to dispose of. His garments had been dis- 
 tributed and the lot cast upon His vesture. He 
 had early provided for His Blessed Mother. He 
 gave no directions as to the place and manner of 
 His burial; that He left to others. But he now 
 recommended His soul to the Father. He did it 
 for a threefold purpose. First, this recommenda- 
 tion of the soul was, in a manner, an offering of 
 it. He had already shed and offered His blood, 
 but His soul was still His own. In grateful rec- 
 ognition therefore, of all natural and supernatural 
 gifts with which it was endowed. He laid in 
 the hands of its Creator this soul which was the 
 master-piece of Divine Love and Power, and 
 He offered it to the Father. Secondly, He rec- 
 ommended His soul to God in order that God 
 might now finally free it from its sufferings 
 and thus allow it to enjoy unmolested all the de- 
 lights and pleasures resulting from the immediate 
 vision of God. Thirdly, He recommended His 
 
 23 
 
354 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 soul to the Father in order that He might, as it 
 were, take it in charge until the day of the resur- 
 rection. 
 
 Strictly speaking, there was no need of a rec- 
 ommendation on the part of Christ. He might 
 have appealed to the innate right He had of en- 
 joying, free from every suffering, all the delights 
 of heaven, of being preserved from bodily corrup- 
 tion and of speedily rising from the dead. He 
 might also have reminded the Father of the in- 
 finite merits of His life and passion. But the 
 Saviour was humble of heart. And, to give us 
 also an example, He used the language of humil- 
 ity. 
 
 Then again, the seventh word is very histruc- 
 tive for us. We may learn from the Redeemer 
 the right manner of preparing for death. One 
 should arrange early all temporal affairs and 
 whatever concerns his family and relatives. There 
 should be no unreasonable anxiety about the body 
 and its burial nor about the grave and its adorn- 
 ment. For, when the house is in flames, it would 
 be foolish to worry about some thread-bare gar- 
 ment and to forget to save the gold and the jew- 
 els. No one was ever less attentive to these mat- 
 ters than the Redeemer. But no tomb ever be- 
 came more glorious than His. On the approach 
 of death we should think of and turn to Divine 
 mercy and love. To this mercy should we recom- 
 mend our poor souls and not pay attention to our 
 merits. For whatever good we have done, we 
 owe it to Divine grace, whilst many of our good 
 
THE SEVENTH WORD ON THE CEOSS 355 
 
 works are faulty and need cleansing. Such hu- 
 mility will surely crown our merits. We should 
 commend our soul into the hands of the Father, 
 into those hands which have formed us, into those 
 hands which hold our destiny and from which no 
 one can ever snatch our souls. 
 
 While the seventh word of Christ on the cross 
 is instructive, it is also very coyisoling. For, 
 recommending His own spirit to the heavenly 
 Father, the Saviour recommended all those who 
 are one with His spirit. ''But he who is joined 
 to the Lord, is one spirit," says St. Paul,^ i. e., 
 whoever is in possession of sanctifying grace is 
 one spirit with Him. Whilst, therefore, in the 
 last hour we may have to face much that might fill 
 us with terror, if by sanctifying grace we are 
 united with Christ, we may confidently close our 
 eyes in death. For by more than eighteen cen- 
 turies a recommendation to the heavenly Father 
 has preceded us. On account of the prayer of 
 Christ in which with His spirit. He also recom- 
 mended ours to the Father, we may expect a mer- 
 ciful reception. 
 
 Let us now direct our attention to the circum- 
 stances of the seventh word, 
 
 II. 
 
 The first circumstance meriting our consider- 
 ation is the fact that Christ spoke this word with 
 a loud voice. It is unheard of in history that 
 
 H. Cor., vi., 17. 
 
356 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 any one who was crncified spoke in a loud voice 
 just before death. The fearful fever which made 
 the tongue cleave to the palate prevented it. At 
 most, it may have happened that a person dying 
 on the cross, uttered a loud groan or sigh. But to 
 distinctly pronounce an entire sentence with a 
 loud voice, was impossible except by a miracle. 
 This must impel us the more to examine the rea- 
 sons why Christ worked such a miracle. 
 
 In the first place the Redeemer wished to show 
 by this wonderful demonstration of strength that 
 He was even then capable of removing or post- 
 poning the natural effects of His sufferings and 
 that, as St. Augustine says,^ He died not from 
 weakness but by power. ''To die,'' fet. Bernard 
 therefore says,^ ''means great weakness; but thus 
 to die, means immense strength." As, then, the 
 word itself was the last declaration of His divin- 
 ity, just so, as the pagan centurion acknowledged 
 immediately afterwards, the loud voice was the 
 last miracle in confirmation of it. 
 
 Then, by His loud cry, Christ manifested the 
 whole natural pain felt by the soul when it must 
 leave the body. This pain was especially severe 
 in the soul of Jesus Christ. How hard is it not 
 to take leave of a good friend? Now the soul 
 of Christ saw in its Sacred Body the best and 
 most lovable friend with whom it had been most 
 intimately united in weal and woe for thirty-three 
 years. Besides, this body had assisted the Sav- 
 
 1 Serm. 218, c. 12. Migne, P. L. t. xxxviii., col. 1087. 
 
 2 Serm. de Pass. Domini^ n. 4. 
 
THE SEVENTH WORD ON THE CEOSS 357 
 
 iour's soul with the utmost self-sacrifice, in the 
 work of Kedemption. It had suffered hunger and 
 thirst, it had become fatigued through the labors 
 and heat of the day. It had been cruelly 
 scourged; it had allowed hands and feet to be 
 pierced and the head to be crowned with thorns; 
 it had given all its blood; it had, in a word, borne 
 the expenses of Redemption. Now the soul of 
 Christ had to part from this body, and therefore 
 He loudly expressed His sorrow. 
 
 The parting of the soul from the body, with 
 which it has been intimately united for 'twenty, 
 fifty or perhaps seventy years, is also with us the 
 saddest event of all. It is sadder than the parting 
 from worldly possessions, sadder than the separa- 
 tion from relatives, especially when the body with 
 its five senses has been to the soul only a com- 
 panion in sin and an instrument for sin. Indeed, 
 to be forced to leave such a body which has been 
 the chief source of enjoyment for the sinner and 
 profligate and to leave it with the prospect of 
 again being united to it forever in the flames of 
 hell, has thrown many a soul into despair and 
 has forced from many a dying person a cry of 
 desperation. 
 
 Through the loud cry, the Redeemer also gave 
 expression to another sorrow. Eis death, namely, 
 was our spiritual birth. Whatever the sacred hu- 
 manity of Christ suffered thereby, was to be made 
 known to the entire world. Rachel of yore called 
 the son whose birth caused her death, "Benoni," 
 that is, ''son of my sorrow." The father, how- 
 
358 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 ever, called him Benjamin, that is, ''son of my 
 right hand." May we, whose regeneration cost 
 the Saviour His life, be also recognized by our 
 heavenly Father as ''sons of His right hand," that 
 is, as such upon whom He may confidently place 
 His right hand, as if for support, in all that con- 
 cerns His greater glory and the salvation of souls. 
 
 Furthermore, Christ cried with a loud voice in 
 order to encourage death to approach Him. 
 Death sat at the foot of Calvary and steadily 
 gazed upon the three crucified ones. He dared 
 not approach the Redeemer. For he well knew 
 that lie had no rightful claim on Him Who was 
 the author of life and Who had not sinned in 
 Adam. Wherefore the Redeemer, by crying 
 loudly, enticed him to approach, and death was 
 heedless enough to heed this voice. For he had 
 no idea that by devouring this prey, he himself 
 would lose his life and find his death. 
 
 Christ, finally, cried with a loud voice, just as 
 the lion roars when going forth to seize his prey. 
 Now the moment had arrived when Christ, al- 
 ways so hungry for immortal souls, was to go 
 forth from Golgotha to satisfy His consuming hun- 
 ger. With a loud voice He announced to the 
 world the march of conquest which nothing should 
 withstand. Therefore, in terror and in joy as 
 well, the earth quaked, the rocks were rent, the 
 graves opened; but the sun appeared in its full 
 splendor. This cry of the Redeemer penetrated 
 into the inmost depths of the earth. It was the 
 signal of redemption to the souls in Limbo. But 
 
THE SEVENTH WORD ON THE CROSS 359 
 
 to the fallen spirits it was a clap of thunder which, 
 in a moment, wrecked all their plans. 
 
 The second circumstance of the seventh word 
 is the fact that it was the last word of the dying 
 Redeemer. For, after saying this word, or rather 
 whilst saying it, He bowed His head, and there- 
 upon He breathed forth His soul. The bowing of 
 the head was, therefore, not an effect of death al- 
 ready present; it was an act willed with full de- 
 liberation. It must, indeed, have a deep meaning. 
 For when Christ addressed tiie Father at the last 
 supper. He raised His eyes to heaven. Why then 
 does He now bow His head, whilst He is speaking 
 to the Father Who is in heaven? Although the 
 crown of thorns may have prevented Him from 
 raising His head, why did He not keep it in its 
 former position, and why did He not at least raise 
 His eyes to heaven? 
 
 First, the bowing of the head was the expression 
 of His humble submission to the will of the Father. 
 At the same time it denoted the powerful weight 
 of sin burdening His shoulder and pressing Him 
 down. Whoever walks along laden with a heavy 
 burden always walks with a bowed head. Then 
 this bowing of the head was the parting salute to 
 His beloved mother, to St. John, to the pious 
 women and to the thief on the right. Wherefore, 
 according to tradition, the Saviour did not bow 
 directly ahead but more to the right where all 
 these saints were. Furthermore, He desired to 
 breathe His spirit upon those to whom He was 
 now about to descend in order to deliver them 
 
360 HISTORY OF THE PASSIOX 
 
 from Limbo's prison. The bow of the head was 
 the sign of reconciliation; it was the sign that He 
 breathed forth His spirit for the salvation of the 
 world and that this spirit should always remain 
 among men. Finally He bowed His head as if to 
 implore a blessing. 
 
 After Our Divine Saviour had bowed His head, 
 he gave up the ghost. Upon the cross we now be- 
 hold only a corpse bleeding from many wounds. 
 But the divinity dwells in it, it is inseparably 
 united with the second Person, it is really the 
 corpse of the Son of God. The soul, also insep- 
 arably united with the second Person, was im- 
 measurably happy immediately after the separa- 
 tion from the body, and it descended into Limbo. 
 No matter, therefore, how much we are entitled 
 to mourn the death of the Saviour, we must con- 
 gratulate Him also with all our hearts for such a 
 happy death. 
 
 The Son of God, then, has died. Now the sin- 
 ner may breathe easier. It must indeed, be terri- 
 ble, as Holy "^rit says, to fall into the hands of 
 the living God. But a dying God, a God strug- 
 gling with death, a God breathing forth His soul, 
 is not to be feared. He can only be loved. In 
 presence, then, of the lifeless body of the God- 
 Man, let this be our resolve, that in future we 
 shall no longer walk in the spirit of fear, at least 
 not of servile fear, but rather in the spirit of love. 
 Out of love for Him Who loved us until death, 
 let us deplore our sins and avoid them in future. 
 
THE SEVENTH WORD ON THE CROSS 361 
 
 Out of love to Christ crucified let us strive to be- 
 come like to Him. Then, in death, we shall also 
 be able to say confidently, ' ' Father, into thy hands 
 I commend my spirit." 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS 
 
 " O all ye that pass by the way 
 attend, and see if there be any sor- 
 row like my sorrow." 
 
 (Lam. i., 12.) 
 
 In meditating upon the seven words, we have 
 already considered various great sufferings which 
 the Redeemer had to undergo during the three 
 hours that he hung upon the Cross. But there 
 remain several others which merit our attention. 
 And it appears meet and just, as well as useful 
 and salutary, to summarize and group in one 
 chapter all the sufferings of Our Lord on the 
 Cross, in order to obtain as faithful a picture as 
 possible of the crucified Redeemer. If the garden 
 of Olives, the different courts, the place of flagel- 
 lation and the stations of the way of the cross are 
 sacred spots, then surely Mount Calvary ought to 
 be for us, as it was for the saints, an' abode of 
 predilection. The contemplation of the Crucified 
 Redeemer ought to be the daily bread, the conso- 
 lation and the comfort of our souls. In grouping 
 the various sufferings of the Crucified Saviour, we 
 shall but briefly mention those which we have al- 
 362 
 
THE SUFFERINGS ON THE CROSS 363 
 
 ready meditated upon in detail. Let us consider 
 the sufferings of the crucified Saviour 
 I. In His sacred Body, 
 II. In His honor and 
 III. In His soul. 
 
 I. 
 
 In describing the sufferings which the Crucified 
 Saviour was called upon to bear in His sacred 
 Body, I shall appeal less to the imagination, but 
 I shall endeavor, by presenting some thoughts, to 
 convince the reason that the bodily sufferings of 
 the Redeemer must have been immeasurably great. 
 
 Of all deaths, that by crucifixion was held by 
 the entire ancient world to be the most painful 
 and the most cruel. The suspension alone from 
 the arms stretched upwards for such a long time, 
 was intolerable torture. History tells of certain 
 English martyrs who, for the purpose of making 
 them deny the faith, were suspended from beams 
 by means of ropes attached to their hands and 
 left several hours dangling between heaven and 
 earth. When finally the ropes were cut, they fell 
 to the ground as if dead. Now Christ was not 
 attached to the cross with ropes but with nails. 
 These nails were driven through the hands and 
 feet, just where many sensitive nerves and tendons 
 meet. Some of these were lacerated, others were 
 violently bruised. It is true, as antiquarians 
 show, that it was customary at crucifixions to fas- 
 ten to the middle of the cross a prop upon which 
 
364 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the main weight of the body should rest/ so that 
 the hands would not be torn through. In regard 
 to the cross of Christ, St. Irenaeus^ and the holy- 
 martyr Justin ^ mention this support in express 
 terms. But there was no trace of a foot rest to 
 act as a support from below. The feet of Christ 
 were nailed directly to the main beam of the 
 cross. The main weight of the body, therefore, 
 bore partly on the pierced feet and partly on the 
 pierced hands. If Christ would relieve the one, 
 the other suffered so much the more. Every 
 move, every slight tremor brought about renewed 
 pain penetrating to the very marrow. Owing to 
 the wounded and terribly swollen hands and feet, 
 and, yet more, to the unnatural lesion and tension 
 of all the muscles caused by the strained posi- 
 tion of the body, the circulation of the blood 
 through the heart and lungs was rendered diffi- 
 cult and partly impeded. Thence resulted a diffi- 
 culty of breathing which increased to a sense of 
 suffocation accompanied by a sensation of fear 
 and spasmodic contraction of the heart. Another 
 result was that the blood rushed to the head with 
 increased pressure, abnormally extending the ar- 
 teries and immensely increasing the pains in the 
 thorn-crowned head. And as the body, which the 
 scourging had entirely covered with wounds, 
 was exposed for three hours to the fresh and, be- 
 
 1 Hence the expression : equitare in cruce. 
 
 2 Adv. haeres. 2, 24, 4. 
 
 3 Adv. Tryph. 91. Migne P. G. t. vi., col. 693. 
 
THE SUFFERINGS ON THE CROSS 365 
 
 cause of the eclipse, even cold air, inflammation 
 and wound-fever set in, so that the sacred body 
 assumed a livid color. These pains reached their 
 climax in the burning and steadily increasing 
 thirst. 
 
 If to this we add the condition of exhaustion 
 and faintness induced by the preceding sufferings 
 of Christ, the loss of blood from the scourging 
 and the crowning with thorns, and the sensitive- 
 ness of His sacred body, then we have a faint idea 
 of the bodily sufferings of the Crucified One. 
 
 There are Christians who deem it extremely 
 difficult to love God with a perfect love. Ah, 
 that they would consider the Crucified Saviour 
 Who might have saved us with one sigh of His 
 Sacred Heart, but Who, out of love for us, was 
 willing to shed all His blood ! Indeed, it is im- 
 possible devoutly to consider the sufferings of 
 Christ, and not be penetrated with a perfect love 
 for Him and a perfect contrition for our sins. It 
 is impossible devoutly to consider the sufferings 
 of Christ and not to renounce, out of love for 
 Him, at least all the sinful and dangerous pleas- 
 ures of this world. It is impossible devoutly to 
 consider the sufferings of Christ and not bear pa- 
 tiently and even joyfully the sufferings of this 
 life. *'For," as St. Bernard says beautifully,^ 
 ' ' the wounds of Christ are on the one hand sources 
 of blood to teach us to suffer and, on the 
 other hand, sources of fire to teach us to love.'* 
 
 1 Serm. 33, in Cant. 
 
366 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 May, therefore, the picture of the Redeemer bleed- 
 ing from a thousand wounds be continually pres- 
 ent to our minds and impress itself deeply upon 
 our souls. 
 
 Let us consider, secondly, the sufferings of the 
 Crucified One in His honor. 
 
 11. 
 
 With infinite care the Holy Ghost once had 
 sanctified the virginal body which was destined to 
 clothe the Son of God with flesh and blood. Noth- 
 ing but what was absolutely pure and holy might 
 ever touch His blood. Now, however, at the death 
 of Christ, this blood flowed upon a soil desecrated 
 by the sins of men and sated, in the lapse of cen- 
 turies, with their blood. Thus, as it were, did the 
 blood of the IMost Holy One mingle with the blood 
 of sinners and become one substance with it, — an 
 ignominy for the Saviour which we cannot suffi- 
 ciently take to heart. But thus it must needs be. 
 For the blood of Christ was to flow for the sins 
 of the world. Such was His last will and testa- 
 ment. It must mingle with sinful blood in order 
 to purify and sanctify it. 
 
 Besides, the Redeemer died the most disgrace- 
 ful and most shameful of all deaths, the death 
 of the Cross. Among the Romans, this mode of 
 death was applied only to the most abject of 
 criminals ; to those who were considered as rejected 
 by the gods; to those whose bodies were deemed 
 unworthy of burial. Never was it permitted to 
 
THE SUFFERINGS ON THE CROSS 367 
 
 inflict this penalty upon a free-born Eoman. 
 Then, as if He had been the leader and chief of 
 a band of robbers and murderers, Christ was 
 crucified between two incendiaries and homi- 
 cidal robbers. Furthermore, He was deprived of 
 all His garments except the loin-cloth. And all 
 this was done, not secretly nor privately in an en- 
 closed prison yard, but publicly, in open daylight, 
 on a hill, before the whole people who had assem- 
 bled to celebrate the pasch. 
 
 But what caused the greatest dishonor and 
 shame to Christ, were the blasphemies and jeers 
 with which He was overwhelmed while hanging on 
 the cross. True, he had been forced to drink of 
 this chalice of ignominy on former occasions. 
 But it was here, on Golgotha's heights, that, ac- 
 cording to the Lamentations, He was to be satiated 
 with ignominy. Hence the evangelists are very 
 explicit in the description of these scenes. They 
 not only mention the different classes of people 
 who blasphemed and scoffed at the Redeemer, but 
 they also give the very words of derision which 
 were spoken against Him. 
 
 First, as we have already seen when treating 
 of the second word of Christ, it was the thief on 
 the left who opened his mouth in blasphemy. 
 Then it was the passers-by, that is, those of the 
 people who came and went or happened to pass 
 on the way leading by Golgotha.^ In vain had 
 the prophet, centuries before, appealed to the 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii, 39, 40; St. Mark, xv., 29, 30. 
 
368 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 passers-by for sympathy: ^'0 aU ye that pass by 
 the way attend, and see if there be any sorrow like 
 to my sorrow." They blasphemed Him, says 
 Holy Writ, they critically and sarcastically 
 wagged their heads, and distorting the words of 
 Christ as the false w^itnesses had done, they said, 
 ''Vah, thou that destroyest the temple of God, and 
 in three days dost rebuild it, save thy own self: 
 if thou be the son of God, come down from the 
 cross." Thus do they express their joy that, at 
 last, the great wonder-worker is unmasked as a 
 boastful deceiver., Does not this last word of the 
 Jews recall exactly the one which Satan once spoke 
 to Christ, "If thou be the son of God, cast thy- 
 self down"? Indeed, here we have the key to the 
 solution of the otherwise incomprehensible mys- 
 tery. These blasphemies were no longer human ; 
 they were diabolical. Satan had put them upon 
 the tongues of the passers-by. During all the pre- 
 ceding sufferings of Christ, Whom he held to be 
 a mere man, he had in vain tempted Him to anger 
 and similar sins. Now, in his despair, he again 
 had recourse to the weapon of derision and con- 
 tempt, but Christ, contemning contempt, remained 
 on the cross. 
 
 Many Christians, alas! act differently. For 
 years, perhaps, they have followed the way of vir- 
 tue and piety, and they have even sacrificed and 
 suffered a vast deal for their holy faith. Then 
 the devil, in human shape, attacks them with ridi- 
 cule and derision. They cannot bear it; they de- 
 
THE SUFFERINGS ON THE CROSS 369 
 
 scend from the cross and make friends with their 
 own aggressors. 
 
 Then the executioners also joined in the taunts 
 of the passers-by. Whilst they offered the vine- 
 gar to the Saviour they also said, as St. Luke nar- 
 rates (xxiii., 36, 37), "If thou be the king of the 
 Jews, save thyself." As before this they pierced 
 Christ with sharp nails, so now they pierce Him 
 with sharp tongues. However, among all those 
 who ridiculed Christ, they were the least guilty, 
 for they knew not what they were doing. 
 
 The grossest insults, finally, were heaped upon 
 Christ by the chief-priests, ancients, scribes and 
 Pharisees.^ All the prominent people were pres- 
 ent on Golgotha. It was right that they should 
 be there, for on that day the King of the Jews was 
 to take possession of His throne. But I must give 
 utterance to my surprise that the chief -priests 
 were also to be seen on Calvary at this time. For 
 the ninth hour was fast approaching when they 
 were to begin the slaughter of the paschal lambs. 
 And still they remain in great numbers on Gol- 
 gotha. "Behold," they shout, "he calleth Elias." 
 However, for the time being, their main object was 
 to celebrate their triumph over the Crucified One 
 and, therefore, without scruples of conscience, they 
 set aside their entire ceremonial. What a won- 
 derful dispensation of God that the high-priests 
 should abandon the typical paschal lamb, when the 
 true Paschal Lamb was bleeding to death. 
 
 iSt, Matthew, xxvii., 41-43; St. Mark, xv., 31, 32; St. 
 Luke, xxiii., 35. 
 24 
 
370 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 The language which the chief-priests, ancients, 
 scribes and pharisees used on this occasion was 
 the most vulgar both as to form and as to mean- 
 ing. They did not, like the passers-by address 
 themselves to the Hedeemer personally. To show 
 Him their contempt, they spoke to each other of 
 Him as of a third person, of the man hanging 
 there en the cross. Without looking at Him they* 
 pointed their fingers at Him over their shoulders 
 whilst they exclaimed, ''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 de- 
 liver him if he will have him ; for he said : I am 
 the Son of God.'^ Their first words, wo may note, 
 were almost the same blasphemies as those uttered 
 by the passers-by: *'He saved others, let him 
 save himself." A strange conclusion indeed! If 
 He has helped others to any extent. He deserves 
 better treatment now. To encourage the Ee- 
 deemer, however, to descend from the cross, they 
 sneeringly add the promise, "And we will believe 
 him." What wretched hypocrisy and lying! 
 The Redeemer had, before their very eyes, per- 
 formed greater miracles than the one which they 
 were now presumptuously demanding; only very 
 recently He had raised Lazarus from the dead, 
 and still they would not believe Him. Two days 
 afterwards, when Christ worked the greatest of all 
 miracles by rising from the grave through His 
 own power, they remained as obdurate as ever. 
 But now they will believe, if He descends from 
 
THE SUFFERINGS ON THE CROSS 371 
 
 the cross. *'Know ye," asks one interpreter, 
 **what these men would have done if Christ had 
 acceded to their demands? They all together 
 would have fallen upon Him and beaten Him to 
 death with their fists." In the last words which 
 they spoke, ''He trusted in God: let him now de- 
 liver him if he will have him," they blasphemed 
 the mystery of the cross, inasmuch as they, like 
 the friends of Job, designate the cross as the sign 
 of God's anger and curse. This derision of the 
 instrument of our salvation contained a protest 
 against the work of redemption. But thus it was 
 to be. For David (Ps. xxi., 9) had predicted that 
 the Redeemer would be ridiculed by those very 
 words. Wherefore, without either willing or sus- 
 pecting it, the chief-priests, by their blasphemies, 
 gave testimony to the Messianic dignity of the 
 Crucified. 
 
 The shouts of the chief-priests, of the scribes 
 and of the pharisees still resound in our own days. 
 "If he be the King of Israel, let him come down 
 from the cross and we will believe him," is pecu- 
 liarly the language of modern unbelief. The Di- 
 vinity of Jesus Christ has been proven by thou- 
 sands of miracles, and the divine establishment of 
 the Catholic Church emits a radiance brighter 
 than that of the sun. Still proud unbelief will not 
 submit; it keeps on clamoring for new miracles, 
 for new proofs. But take off its mask, and you 
 will find it full of lies and of hypocrisy. Unbe- 
 lief cares nothing for truth. On principle it will 
 not acknowledge as God One Who was crucified. 
 
372 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 The sermon of the cross is to it foolishness and 
 a scandal. And the language of unbelief is also 
 the language of immorality. There might per- 
 haps be no objection to believing in Christ, if only 
 He would descend from the cross, if only He would 
 cease to preach, from this pulpit, the crucifixion of 
 the flesh and of vicious inclinations. It is, too, 
 in a certain sense, the language of sloth and of 
 half-heartedness. One would, with pleasure even, 
 tread the path of virtue and of perfection if only 
 Christ would descend from the cross, that is, if 
 the practice of virtue were possible without con- 
 tinued mortification and self-denial. 
 
 The prediction of the prophet Jeremias, ''I am 
 made a derision to all my people, their song all 
 the day long," was, then, fulfilled. At such de- 
 rision David would have exclaimed, in sorrow, 
 * * Neither let my enemies laugh at me, ' ' ^ and Job 
 would have cursed the day of his birth. But 
 Christ's sole answer to ridicule and blasphemy was 
 silence and constant perseverance on the cross. 
 By this He proved Himself to be the true Messias, 
 the true Son of God, of Whom it had been fore- 
 told that He would die on the cross. *'It was a 
 greater deed," says St. Gregory the Great,^ ''to 
 destroy death through the Resurrection than to 
 preserve life by descending from the Cross." 
 
 Let us yet consider the sufferings of the Cru- 
 cified One in His soul. 
 
 1 Ps., xxiv., 3. 
 
 2 Horn. 21, in Evang. c. 7. 
 
THE SUFFERINGS ON THE CROSS 373 
 
 III. 
 
 The first suffering of Christ's soul arose from 
 beholding a scene the possibility of which would 
 be incredible were the fact not substantiated by 
 Holy Writ itself.^ According to Roman usage, 
 the clothes and other belongings of the executed 
 became the property of the soldiers; it was their 
 fee. They had hardly erected the cross when they 
 fell upon the belongings of the Saviour. There 
 were four soldiers, as we have already seen; four 
 formed a detachment. They ripped the seams of 
 those garments the parts of which were sewn to- 
 gether, as, for instance, the mantle, and each sol- 
 dier received a fourth part. With the garment 
 proper, however, of the Saviour, they could not 
 well do this, for it was seamless and woven 
 throughout from the top. St. Bonaventure relates 
 that the Mother of Jesus had woven it with her 
 own hands for her Divine Child, and it had 
 grown with Him just as the garments of the Israel- 
 ites had grown with them in their passage through 
 the desert.- Had, then, the woven raiment been 
 cut, it would have become entirely unwoven and 
 the pieces would have been useless. They there- 
 fore said, ''Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots 
 for it, whose it shall be." They did so. Roman 
 soldiers always had dice about them with which 
 to beguile the time during idle hours. Thus, at 
 
 1 St. Matthew, ^xvii. 35; St Mark, xv., 24; St. Luke, 
 xxiii., 34; St. John, xix., 23, 24. 
 2Deut., viii., 4; xxix., 5. 
 
374 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the foot of the cross upon which the God-Man 
 was bleeding for the salvation of the world, and 
 under His very eyes, the rattling dice were shaken 
 around the circle. With vile shouts the losers ac- 
 claimed the winner. Then they settled down to 
 their task of watching Christ and of preventing 
 His being taken down. 
 
 As far as the transaction itself was concerned, 
 everything went on smoothly and peaceably 
 enough. Whatever could be divided, was divided; 
 for that which could not be divided, they cast 
 lots and they were all satisfied. There are times 
 when things go differently in Christian families. 
 Matters of inheritance are at times the occasion 
 of most serious quarrels and of life-long enmities 
 between brothers and sisters. The seamless gar- 
 ment of Christ, holy charity, which ought to be 
 held sacred among Christians, is thereby rent 
 asunder, torn and trampled in the mire. 
 
 The executioners, however, did not long remain 
 in possession of the Redeemer's garments. For 
 the Roman law which appropriated to them the 
 garments of the executed, also empowered friends 
 and relatives to purchase them from the execution- 
 ers for a fair sum of money. Thus there ensued 
 between the pious women and the two rich and 
 good men who soon afterwards came to Calvary, 
 a holy rivalry to redeem, at any price, the pre- 
 cious relics, and they were restored to the sor- 
 rowful Mother, who thereby was greatly consoled. 
 
 The second sorrow of Christ's soul arose from 
 His complete abandonment by heaven and earth. 
 
THE SUFFERINGS ON THE CROSS 375 
 
 And first, the lack of sympathy on the part of 
 the people saddened Him. A few days before, 
 when He made His solemn entry into Jerusalem, 
 they had acclaimed Him with Hosannas: 
 ''Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord." Now, when He is in distress, now, when 
 He is dying, they show no sign of compassion. 
 They "stood beholding," says the Gospel.^ And 
 yet, among these people, there were so many whom 
 the Saviour had loaded with benefits. 
 
 Christ, moreover, saw Himself forsaken by 
 almost all his friends. It is true that Mary, His 
 Blessed Mother, stood beneath the Cross, but the 
 sight merely increased the pangs of His soul. 
 But of the apostles, with the exception of St. 
 John, all had left Him, all had made themselves 
 invisible. One other, forsooth, who had belonged 
 to the twelve, Christ could behold from the cross 
 by turning His head to the left. It was unhappy 
 Judas who had hanged himself on the declivity of 
 the hill, and who was now burning in hell. 
 
 In His dereliction by men, the dying Redeemer 
 raised His head to heaven and turned towards 
 God. But heaven remained closed. No voice of 
 approval was heard as when, in days gone by. He 
 had humbled Himself before John. No angel 
 came to serve Him as in the desert, after He had 
 fasted forty days. Not even did an angel come 
 to comfort Him as on the evening before in the 
 Garden of Olives. This urged Christ to complain, 
 
 1 St. Luke, xxiii., 35. 
 
376 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 *'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'* 
 So much the more intense, therefore, was the 
 third sorrow of Christ's soul at the thought of the 
 partial friutlessness of His Passion. He had now 
 been hanging three hours upon the cross whence He 
 hoped to draw all things to Himself. The awful 
 darkness should indeed have been sufficient to en- 
 lighten souls and to kindle hearts. But with the 
 exception of the thief's conversion, the Redeemer 
 saw no special effects. And when He looked into 
 the future. He recognized that His blood was 
 being shed in vain for millions of people and that, 
 notwithstanding all His sufferings, millions of 
 men would be eternally damned. 
 
 Now the measure of sufferings was full. Now 
 the Redeemer could say, ^'It is consummated. 
 Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." 
 Thereupon He bowed His head and died. 
 
 At the cross her station keeping, 
 Stood the mournful Mother weeping, 
 Close to Jesus to the last. 
 
 '*No tongue shall ever be able to express," says 
 St. Bernard,^ ''nor shall any mind ever be able to 
 imagine what sorrow the loving heart of Mary en- 
 dured at this moment. Now, O Virgin, on Gol- 
 gotha thou art paying with interest what thou 
 didst not experience in Bethlehem." *'The pains 
 which she did not endure at His birth," says St. 
 
 1 In Lament. B. Marise. Migne P. L. t. clxxxii., col. 
 1137. 
 
THE SUFFERINGS ON THE CROSS 377 
 
 John Damascene/ ''she endured at the time of 
 His death when she had to see that He Whom she 
 even then had recognized as God, was now being 
 put to death as a criminal. ' ' 
 
 Through her heart, His sorrow sharing. 
 All His bitter anguish bearing, 
 Now at length the sword had passed. 
 
 Christian soul! we have already read the law 
 which God had once given to the people of Israel. 
 *'When there shall be found in the land the corpse 
 of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty 
 of the murder, the ancients of the (nearest) city 
 shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their 
 hands . . . and shall say: Our hands did not 
 shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. And the 
 guilt of blood shall be taken from them. ' ' - See ! 
 Before our eyes there hangs the corpse of One slain 
 on the Cross. Whoever among us knows himself 
 innocent of the blood of this Just One, let him 
 approach, let him lay his right hand on the wood 
 of the Cross^ and let him testify before heaven and 
 earth, **My hands have not shed this blood, and I 
 am innocent of the blood of this Just One.'' Ah, 
 No! sweet Saviour Jesus Christ! Penetrated 
 with the sorrow of contrition, we shall rather con- 
 fess that our sins have been the cause of Thy bit- 
 ter Passion, that our sins have killed Thee. May 
 Thy precious Blood be not lost upon us. Cleanse 
 us with it, and, by Thy bitter death, grant us a 
 happy death. 
 
 1 De fid. orthod. lib. 4, c. 14. 
 
 2 Deut., ^i., 1, 6-8. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 WONDERFUL EVENTS BEFORE AND AT THE DEATH OF 
 CHRIST 
 
 " Now from the sixth hour there 
 was darkness over the whole earth, 
 until the ninth hour. — And behold 
 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. And the graves were 
 opened: and many bodies of the 
 saints that had slept, arose. 
 
 (St. Matthew, xxvii., 45, 51, 52.) 
 
 The great drama enacted on the first Maundy- 
 Thursday and Good Friday in Jerusalem and in 
 its vicinity, is gradually approaching its end. As 
 we have considered in our meditations, both 
 heaven and earth followed the destinies of the 
 Divine Sufferer with close, yea, with strained at- 
 tention, each, however, in a different way. The 
 passers-by suspiciously wagged their heads. The 
 executioners and the thief to the left ridiculed 
 Him. The pharisees, scribes and chief-priests re- 
 joiced in His downfall. Pilate, in the beginning, 
 hesitated to pronounce the death-sentence and 
 finally washed his hands as a sign of innocence. 
 Herod and his wife, the adulteress, laughed. The 
 378 
 
EVENTS AT THE DEATH OF CHKIST 379 
 
 apostles fled in terror, they could not bear the 
 sight. Proeula, the wife of Pilate, was so deeply 
 moved and agitated, that she dreamed of the 
 tragedy. Veronica and other pious women shed 
 tears of compassion. Simon of Cyrene felt him- 
 self happy to have become, without his own merit, 
 an actor in the great event. Dismas loudly pro- 
 claimed the innocence of Christ. Even an angel 
 appeared on the scene to inspire the Divine Suf- 
 ferer with courage in the performance of His 
 awful role. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, John and 
 Magdalene stood at the side of the Saviour, con- 
 soling Him in His last moments. Lastly, the 
 heavenly Father received into His hands the soul 
 of His dying Son. But, we have reason to ask, 
 shall nature remain indifferent and look coldly on, 
 whilst her Creator and Lord is struggling with 
 death and whilst the Innnortal One is breathing 
 forth His soul in nameless tortures? Certainly 
 not. The sun became darkened, the veil of the 
 temple was torn in two, the earth trembled and 
 quaked, the rocks were rent and the graves opened. 
 
 Let us then consider ^ 
 I. These wonderful events in themselves; 
 
 II. The different effects they produced upon 
 men. 
 
 These wonderful events occurred in part before 
 the death of Christ and in part at His death. 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii., 45, 51-54; St. Luke, xxiii., 44-48. 
 
380 H18T0EY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Before the death of Christ, there occurred a 
 total eclipse of the sun lasting three hours. This 
 fact is historically so well substantiated that there 
 can be no doubt about it. Three evangelists 
 testify to it. The evangelists St. Matthew and 
 St. Mark write: '*From the sixth hour there was 
 darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth 
 hour. ' ' St. Luke writes : * ' the sun was darkened. ' ' 
 If a historian or a newspaper correspondent wishes 
 purposely to spread some lie broadcast over the 
 world, he will select imaginary events which, 
 owing to their very nature, do not happen in 
 public, or at least such as are alleged to have 
 happened in some remote corner of the earth. 
 But to report, for instance, that some years ago 
 an extraordinary eclipse of the sun happened in 
 this town, when every body knows it to be untrue, 
 would not occur to any one. 
 
 This eclipse of the sun ^ was, however, not a 
 natural one. It was miraculous in every respect 
 and that for three reasons. First it occurred at 
 the time of the full moon. For this Friday was 
 the day when, according to the Law, the Pasch 
 should be celebrated, and this feast always oc- 
 curred at the time of the full moon. Now, nat- 
 urally, an eclipse of the sun can occur only at the 
 time of the new moon, when the latter is between 
 the sun and the earth. Then, it was miraculous 
 because it was total from the very beginning and, 
 lastly, because it remained total for three hours. 
 
 1 See note 20. 
 
EVENTS AT THE DEATH OF CHRIST ' 381 
 
 In an ordinary eclipse of the sun, the moon, in 
 the beginning, covers only a part of the sun, then 
 gradually more, until the darkness reaches its 
 greatest height, whereupon it again gradually de- 
 creases. This eclipse of the sun was, therefore, 
 an extraordinary work of God, and the Holy 
 Fathers freely apply to it the words of the prophet 
 Amos, ''And it shall come to pass in that day that 
 the sun shall go down at mid-day, and I will make 
 the earth dark in the day of light. ' ' ^ And, about 
 the year 200, Tertullian, speaking of this won- 
 drous eclipse, thus spoke to the Romans, *'You 
 yourselves have recorded this great event in your 
 annals." 
 
 What was the meaning of this eclipse? On 
 the part of heaven, it was the garb of mourning 
 wherewith the sun clothed itself while the Sun of 
 Justice was being extinguished. ''Creation," 
 says St. Chrysostom,^ "could not bear the indig- 
 nities inflicted upon the Creator." For the 
 Saviour to Whom a loin-cloth only was left, the 
 eclipse was a veil woven by compassionate nature 
 to cover His nakedness. On the part of God, it 
 was a sign of His anger. God withdrew, even 
 from the just, the light of the sun which he ordi- 
 narily lets shine even upon the wicked. At the 
 birth of Christ, in the middle of the night, the 
 splendor of God's glory encircled the shepherds 
 and brightness reigned. At His death-struggle, 
 the sun, standing high in the heavens, became 
 
 1 Amos, viii., 9. 
 
 2 In Catena ex serm. de Pass. Domini. 
 
382 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 obscured and darkness reigned. Thus also 
 does brightness spread in the soul when Christ is 
 born in the heart. But the gloom of night enters 
 when He departs from the soul. Wherefore the 
 eclipse of the sun was also an image of the blind- 
 ness and obstinacy of the Jewish people. 
 
 This eclipse ended at the death of the Redeemer. 
 Then again did the sun appear in perfect beauty. 
 Now Divine Justice was reconciled, the sacrifice 
 was consummated. Now the soul of Christ which 
 had been sad unto death, was delivered from all af- 
 fliction and was unspeakably happy. Now the 
 souls of the patriarchs and saints of the Old Testa- 
 ment shared in the brilliancy of heavenly light 
 and in the joys of the vision of God. Now the 
 darkness which had hovered over the earth for 
 four thousand years was dispelled through the 
 death of Christ, and the new day of salvation had 
 dawned. Now through the light of grace, all dark- 
 ness was also to be driven out of the hearts of 
 men. 
 
 To the wonderful events which happened at the 
 death of Christ, belongs in the first place the tear- 
 ing of the veil in the temple. As the Talmudists 
 report, this veil was forty yards long and twenty 
 yards wide. It was woven of gold and purple 
 and had the thickness of an open hand. It con- 
 cealed the Holy of Holies of the Temple into 
 which the High-Priest alone was allowed to enter, 
 and this only once a year on the feast of atone- 
 ment to offer the expiatory sacrifice. Now, at the 
 death of Christ, this veil was rent from top to 
 
EVENTS AT THE DEATH OF CHRIST 383 
 
 bottom in two pieces. Just as Jacob of yore rent 
 his garments in sadness, when he was told that 
 wild-beasts had torn to pieces his son Joseph; just 
 as Caiphas, in indignation, tore the pontifical robe, 
 when Christ declared Himself to be the Son of 
 God, so now the temple rent its garment both in 
 sadness and in indignation. The tearing of the 
 veil signified the end of the Old Law and the re- 
 jection of the Mosaic sacrifices. In future the 
 entrance into the Holy of Holies, that is, into the 
 Church of God, should be allowed to all men : God 
 would no longer be the God of the Jews, but the 
 God of all nation^. All should be allowed access 
 to the heavenly Manna concealed in the sanc- 
 tuary, and the portals of the Holy of Holies, of 
 celestial Paradise, should be open to all. 
 
 The earth quaked. This was also a sign of 
 sadness and of indignation, owing to the crime 
 committed against the Creator. But, more than 
 that, as St. Ignatius remarks in his book of Ex- 
 ercises, it was a sign of joy and delight on ac- 
 count of the victory of the Crucified One and of 
 His present glory. It is remarkable that, at this 
 tremendous earthquake, not a single human being 
 suffered any damage. For the might of infernal 
 powers was broken by the death of Christ. Hell 
 may rage and rave ever so much, it may shake 
 the earth to its foundations, but it has lost its 
 power over mankind, even over the bodies of men. 
 
 The rocks were rent. Hearts as hard as rocks 
 shall now be rent; they shall become as pliable 
 as wax and, like to wax, they shall melt before 
 
384 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 the glow of Divine Love. Now the time had 
 finally arrived when the earth should be formed 
 again, and when the face of the earth should be re- 
 newed. 
 
 Even the graves opened as a sign that Christ 
 through His death had overcome death, and that 
 all flesh should rise again on the last day. The 
 dead, however, came forth from their graves only 
 on Easter day and not directly after the death 
 of Christ. It would indeed not have been fitting, 
 if many souls had left Limbo to rejoin their 
 bodies and dwell in Jerusalem at a time when the 
 soul of the Redeemer honored the souls in Limbo 
 by His presence and remained with them until 
 the resurrection. It would also have been with- 
 out purpose. For the dead were to rise in order 
 to give testimony unto the Risen One. They were 
 to say to the Jews, *'We, who have been buried by 
 you, have arisen; believe ye therefore in the 
 resurrection of the Crucified.'' They could not 
 give this testimony on Holy Saturday. Mean- 
 while the Jews and pagans had an opportunity of 
 seeing the corpses, and this contributed not a little 
 to remove all doubt as to the miracle of their resur- 
 rection. It is true that, to avoid defilement, the 
 Jews did not enter the sepulchres. 
 
 Thus did both heaven and earth announce the 
 world-moving event of the deicide. Heaven and 
 earth arose as witnesses for the Great Dead. Even 
 from out of the night of death there came a ray 
 of Divine majesty. Let us now consider the dif- 
 
EVENTS AT THE DEATH OF CHRIST 385 
 
 ferent effects which these wonderful events pro- 
 duced upon men. 
 
 II. 
 
 As to the Mother of God and all the pious peo- 
 ple assembled on Golgotha, these events served to 
 confirm their faith in the Divinity of Jesus Christ 
 and console them in their sorrow for the loss of 
 the Departed One. 
 
 In the enemies of the Saviour, who had ma- 
 liciously delivered Him to the death of the Cross, 
 these miracles effected the awful miracle of utter 
 blindness and obduracy. Undoubtedly, during 
 these events, they were somewhat startled and 
 amazed. But these terrors had hardly reached an 
 end, when they were their former selves, and not 
 one of them was converted. 
 
 Here we have a true type of so many infidels 
 and of so many renegade Catholics of our day. 
 God may show by the most fearful natural phe- 
 nomena that He is great and terrible; He may 
 darken the sun and in the dense gloom let His 
 lightning flash and His thunder roll ; He may in- 
 flict upon the infidels the most varied misfortunes, 
 earthquakes, famine and wars; He may destroy 
 all their machinations; nothing touches them, 
 nothing disturbs them; they remain obdurate. 
 They pass ridiculous resolutions of condolence, 
 they listen to some masonic speech of beatifica- 
 tion, they sing for the deceased a funeral sere- 
 nade, and, accompanied by the strains of swelling 
 
 25 
 
386 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 music, they return, apparently in good cheer, to 
 their vicious life. But, at heart, they certainly 
 enjoy no happiness. If they do, it is the happi- 
 ness of the fallen-away Catholic who said to his 
 friends, *'I would now be perfectly happy, were 
 it not for this cursed dying. ' ' The same word ap- 
 plies to these hardened sinners which Holy Writ 
 applies to the enemies of Christ, "They shall look 
 on him whom they pierced," namely, on the last 
 day. 
 
 It was only one class of sinners in whom, by 
 the grace of the Crucified Saviour, these wonder- 
 ful facts did not miss their salutary effects. It 
 was those who had offended Christ not so much 
 through malice as through weakness and igno- 
 rance. There were first of all the pagan centur- 
 ion, commander of the troops, and his soldiers, 
 who, being amazed at what was going on, ex- 
 claimed, *' Indeed this was a just man. Indeed 
 this man was the Son of God." The Catholic 
 Church reveres this captain as a saint. Then, 
 also many of the people, who had not taken a 
 direct part in the crucifixion but who had merely 
 stood around and looked on, struck their breasts 
 and returned home with contrite feelings. We 
 shall join in spirit these penitent sinners, strike 
 our breasts and pray from the bottom of our 
 hearts, *'Lord, be merciful to us poor sinners." . 
 
 Let us, in conclusion, cast a retrospective glance 
 upon the wonderful proceedings which we have 
 considered. Although they were diverse and 
 manifold, still in their successive stages they are a 
 
EVENTS AT THE DEATH OF CHRIST 387 
 
 true representation of the entire process of con- 
 version. In order that the sinner may turn to 
 God, it is above all necessary that the earth be 
 wrapped in darkness. As long as the sinner looks 
 complacently upon the world and its sinful pleas- 
 ures, there can be no thought of serious con- 
 version. Then the veil which hindered him from 
 looking into his own heart must be torn in pieces : 
 he must know his sins by means of a thorough ex- 
 amen of conscience. The terrible penalties of 
 Divine Justice must move him; his sins must 
 cause him to tremble and quake in disgust and 
 horror, even to the marrow of his bones. The 
 rocks, furthermore, must be rent; this heart, hard 
 and unyielding until now, must become soft and 
 contrite through the tears of sorrow. The graves 
 must open; by a sincere confession, the soul must 
 exhale the fetid odor of the grave. And after 
 the sinner has finally risen from the grave by 
 means of the absolution of the priest, he must, 
 by a Christian life, give testimony everywhere to 
 the Redeemer, risen from the grave. 
 
 After the just who had risen from their graves, 
 had accomplished their mission and given testi- 
 mony unto the risen Saviour, they returned to the 
 sepulchres and died a painless death. Their res- 
 urrection from the grave was only a temporary 
 one, wherefore they cannot be our models in our 
 resurrection from the grave of sin. The only 
 model of our spiritual resurrection is, according 
 to Holy Writ, the risen Saviour, Who died no 
 more and Who lives forever. Thus should we, 
 
388 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 after arising from the grave of sin, no more re- 
 turn to it. But rather, like the risen Redeemer, 
 we should begin an entirely new, supernatural, 
 divine life. Then, and only then, can we enter- 
 tain the hope of taking part forever, after death, 
 in the glory of the Risen Lord. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE EVENTS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE DEATH OP 
 CHRIST 
 
 " The soldiers therefore came : and 
 they broke the legs of the first, and 
 of the other that was crucified with 
 him. But after they were come to 
 Jesus, when they saw that he was al- 
 ready dead, they did not break Ms 
 legs. But one of the soldiers with a 
 spear opened his side, and immedi- 
 ately there came out blood and 
 water." (St. John, xix., 32-34.) 
 
 The next events after the death of Christ are 
 described by St. John (xix., 31-37) as follows: 
 *'Then the Jews, that the bodies might not remain 
 upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that was 
 a great Sabbath day), besought Pilate that their 
 legs might be broken and that they might be 
 taken away. The soldiers therefore came: and 
 they broke the legs of the first, and of the other 
 that was crucified with him. But after they were 
 come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already 
 dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the 
 soldiers with a spear opened his side, and im- 
 mediately there came out blood and water. And 
 he that saw it hath given testimony : and his testi- 
 389 
 
390 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 mony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true : 
 that you also may believe. For these things were 
 done that the scripture might be fufilled: You 
 shall not break a bone of him. And again an- 
 other scripture saith: They shall look on him 
 whom they pierced." 
 
 It is, therefore, two events which we are to con- 
 sider, namely: 
 
 I. The breaking of the bones of the thieves 
 and 
 
 II. The opening of the Sacred Side. 
 
 Crucifixion was not only a painful and dis- 
 graceful punishment, but it was also one of long 
 duration. It happened, at times, that the cruci- 
 fied hung upon the cross two or three days before 
 dying. And, when they had finally died, the 
 corpses, according to Roman usage, remained on 
 the cross until the flesh had been devoured by 
 birds of prey, or wolves and jackals. The cruci- 
 fied were deemed unworthy of burial. These two 
 circumstances caused the pharisees and chief- 
 priests no little anxiety and embarrassment. For 
 they had remarked that, in consequence of the 
 miraculous phenomena, some change had taken 
 place among the people and even among the 
 soldiers, and that a reversal of public opinion in 
 favor of the Redeemer was imminent. Now as 
 they perhaps even apprehended an uprising, the 
 responsibility of which might be laid at their 
 door, they were determined to remove from the 
 
EVENTS AFTER CHRIST'S DEATH 391 
 
 gaze of the people the corpses of the three cruci- 
 fied. ''Out of sight, out of mind," thought they. 
 But for that purpose, the permission of the Roman 
 governor was needed. They therefore sent to Pi- 
 late a committee petitioning for two favors: first, 
 to help the three crucified to a speedy death by 
 breaking their bones and then to be allowed to 
 bury them. For they knew not as yet that the 
 Redeemer had died; the executioners even did 
 not know it. Of course the committee did not 
 mention the real motive of the petition. But, 
 with their usual hypocrisy, they represented to 
 Pilate that the Mosaic Law strictly demanded the 
 burial of executed criminals before the beginning 
 of night; that, furthermore, it would be unbe- 
 coming and exasperating to have three criminals 
 hanging upon the cross on the holy Paschal Sab- 
 bath; that thereby the feast would be disturbed, 
 the people, assembled in great numbers, would be 
 defiled and their thoughts entirely withdrawn 
 from the paschal celebration. The committee, 
 composed without doubt of prominent men, found 
 a favorable hearing. And it may be that Pilate 
 himself, who certainly felt uneasy after witnes- 
 sing the violent commotion in nature, wished that 
 the distressing business would be ended in haste. 
 Thereupon the executioners, armed with iron- 
 . trimmed clubs, broke the bones, and especially the 
 knees of the two thieves. For according to the 
 conceptions of antiquity, the real strength of a 
 man lay in the knees, and Biblical language sug- 
 gests the same idea. Many even regarded the 
 
392 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 knees as the seat of the soul. But when the 
 soldiers came to Jesus and saw that he was already 
 dead — ^and they certainly examined carefully — 
 they did not break His bones. Jesus, then, had 
 already died, and he surely had died so soon that 
 His bones might not be broken. Otherwise, they 
 hardly would have thought of opening His side, 
 as was called for in the plan of God. The bones, 
 then, were not broken. This was prefigured in 
 the Old Testament; not a bone of the paschal 
 lamb should be broken. Christ was to shed all 
 His blood, His flesh was to be torn in pieces, but 
 the bones were to remain intact as a sign that all 
 the strength and power of the Divinity was in- 
 herent in the dead body. So a soldier approached 
 and opened His side with a spear, and imme- 
 diately there came out blood and water. 
 
 Let us now consider the opening of the Sacred 
 Side. 
 
 II. 
 
 Of the four evangelists, only one narrates this 
 incident. It is St. John, the disciple of love, he 
 who, at the last supper, had reposed his head on 
 this side. We ask ourselves in astonishment how 
 it could happen that the side was opened. Is 
 it not repulsive to every humane feeling to dis- 
 honor the body of a slain opponent ? King David 
 certainly did not act thus. When the death of 
 King Saul, his most bitter enemy, was reported to 
 him, he tore his garments in sadness, he wept and 
 fasted till evening. Nor did Julius Caesar, the 
 
EVENTS AFTER CHRIST'S DEATH 393 
 
 Koman general, act thus, although he was a pagan. 
 When the head of Pompey, his opponent, was laid 
 at his feet, he burst into a flood of tears. Even 
 the lion looks magnanimously upon the corpse of 
 a man whom he has overcome in combat. But 
 Longinus, the soldier, oversteps all the bounds 
 of humanity, and seizes the lance. Whilst there- 
 fore Holy Church speaks of the ''sweet" wood of 
 the cross and whilst, in her chant, she designates 
 as "sweet" all the other instruments of martyr- 
 dom with which Christ, still living, was tortured, 
 she speaks in holy indignation of the "cruel 
 shaft" of the lance. 
 
 How, then, was it possible that Longinus should 
 so brutally attack the Saviour, after he had, with 
 the captain, declared his belief in the divinity of 
 Christ only a short while before ? ^ An order had 
 just arrived from the governor to break the bones 
 of the three crucified. To demonstrate his good 
 will and his obedience, the soldier wielded the 
 lance, as Christ was already dead. Or perhaps, 
 it was merely an act of military barbarism. 
 
 The point of the lance entered the body of the 
 Redeemer between the ribs on the right side, 
 whence, following an oblique upward course, it 
 pierced the heart and, perhaps, passed out on the 
 left side. The wound on the right side must have 
 been very large, as Thomas could lay his hand in 
 it. Without taking into consideration the force 
 of the thrust, the size of the wound can be fully 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii., 54. 
 
394 HISTOEY OF THE PASSION 
 
 accounted for by the shape of the Roman lance 
 which from a long point at once extended to a 
 considerable width. 
 
 As soon as the Sacred Heart was pierced, blood 
 and water issued from the wound on the right 
 side. It cannot be stated with certainty whether 
 the blood and water flowed simultaneously or in 
 two distinct streams, or whether the flowing water 
 contained streaks of blood, or, again, whether 
 blood flowed first and then water. 
 
 Neither does Holy Writ mention how much 
 blood and water issued forth. However, the com- 
 mon belief, the discourses of many Catholic 
 preachers which have never been discountenanced 
 by ecclesiastical authority and especially the words 
 of Pope Innocent VI .^ who speaks of floods stream- 
 ing from the sacred side, give credit to the idea 
 that it was not only an issue of a few drops but 
 that there was a copious flow of blood and water. 
 
 It is more difficult to decide the question whether 
 the outpouring of blood and water, considered in 
 itself, indicated some miraculous process or 
 whether it can be explained by natural agencies.^ 
 It is uncertain whether St. John, in affirming that 
 he himself had seen it; that his testimony was 
 true; that he knew that he said true and that he 
 gave the testimony that we might also believe, 
 wished to confirm other miraculous incidents or 
 had in view the death of Christ only and the ful- 
 fillment of two prophecies following it. For by 
 
 iDecr. de festo Lanceae et Clavorum Domini. 
 2 See note 21. 
 
EVENTS AFTER CHRIST'S DEATH 395 
 
 the fact that the Redeemer's bones were not 
 broken, as the Jews intended, but that His side 
 was opened, two prophecies were fulfilled, "You 
 shall not break a bone of him" and "They shall 
 look on him whom they pierced." In any case, 
 what St. John here so solemnly affirms is a proof 
 that He Whose bones remained intact as if mi- 
 raculously, but Whose side was opened, was the 
 Messias and the Son of God. Forth from the 
 ignominy and the humiliation of His bitter Pas- 
 sion, His lofty majesty already shone in heavenly 
 radiance. By the reverberation of the rays of 
 ancient prophecy which here found its fulfillment. 
 His Cross was, so to speak, transfigured. He did 
 not manifest the lassitude of death by a hollow rat- 
 tle, but He expired with a loud, mighty shout. 
 His death ensued not as a pitiless necessity nor as 
 an inevitable natural process, but as a freely 
 willed, sublime act of sacrifice. Therefore now 
 also, in the body, suspended lifeless on the Cross, 
 the signs of Divine glory must not be missing. 
 
 The Sacred Heart of Jesus is, then, finally 
 opened, and from the wound in the side flows blood 
 and water. What are the special reasons for 
 which the Saviour permitted this last abuse of His 
 Sacred Body? 
 
 First, through this maltreatment, the reality of 
 His death and, consequently, the reality of His 
 resurrection were to be placed in the most con- 
 spicuous light. It would be a refutation in ad- 
 vance of all the assertions of unbelievers that 
 Christ's death was only feigned and that His 
 
396 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 resurrection was a sham. A man whose heart is 
 pierced cannot possibly live. 
 
 Then, the opening of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 
 was the opening of His will and testament. 
 Christ, it is true, had at the last supper spoken to 
 His apostles about His testament. But this com- 
 munication was made in the circle of His friends 
 and was more of a private nature. Besides, a 
 testament is legal and valid only after the death 
 of the testator, as before his death it can at any 
 time be annulled. Now the pagan world, for which 
 Christ had especially died, should also be informed 
 what the Deceased had left to it. And His last 
 will and testament could be found nowhere but in 
 His heart. His heart, then, must be opened, and 
 this Avas done by a soldier of the Roman em- 
 peror, by an official person, as it were, and that 
 in the presence of all interested parties. What a 
 splendid discovery! What a precious inherit- 
 ance! *' Water flowed out,'* says St. Ambrose,^ 
 *'to cleanse us, and blood, to redeem us." W-ater 
 flowed out of the open side to prefigure the first, 
 and blood, to prefigure the greatest and most ex- 
 cellent sacrament. Water, clear water flowed out 
 of the open side of the Redeemer to form the body 
 of His Bride, the Holy Church, and blood, to 
 nourish it and to give it perfection and com- 
 pletion. Now we understand with what right and 
 in what sense, the Holy Fathers speak of the seven 
 sacraments, which, like to seven streams of grace, 
 
 1 De sacr. 1. 
 
EVENTS AFTER CHRIST'S DEATH 397 
 
 have flowed from the side of Christ. We under- 
 stand in what sense they can say that Holy 
 Church, the second Eve and the true Mother of 
 the living, proceeded from the side of the Ke- 
 deemer, the second Adam, whilst He lay in the 
 sleep of death. 
 
 Lastly, the Divine Heart, the seat and fountain 
 of all love and grace, must be opened to enable 
 us to enter therein. **The evangelist," says St. 
 Augustine,^ ''used a well considered word." For 
 he did not say that the soldier wounded the side 
 of Our Lord, but that he opened it, indicating 
 thereby that the wound of the side should be the 
 entrance to the Sacred Heart. Indeed, the wound 
 of the side is the portal of the true ark of Noah. 
 Only what enters through this portal, shall be 
 saved from the universal destruction. The 
 wound of the side is the golden gate of the true 
 temple of the Lord wherein all the sick, all the 
 beggars and all the needy obtain health and grace 
 and mercy. It is the entrance to the true para- 
 dise, in which alone delight and peace are to be 
 found. Thomas had no sooner put his hand on 
 this portal than he believed and loved and said, 
 ''My Lord and my God." The Heart of Jesus 
 is, indeed, the strength of the just, the consola- 
 tion of the afflicted, the refuge of sinners. For 
 the tempted soul, it is the cavern in the rock 
 in which the timid dove hides itself from the 
 hawk. To the soul which feels itself to be a 
 
 1 Tract, in Joan, 120, 2. 
 
398 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 parched soil, it is the fountain of living waters. 
 To the sad and depressed soul, it is the spiritual 
 wine-cellar in which the Divine Bridegroom glad- 
 dens His promised bride with heavenly delights. 
 To the soul which is amazed at its coldness and 
 dearth of love, it is the inexhaustible furnace of 
 that fire which the Son of God brought from 
 heaven to earth. The Catholic Church, therefore, 
 is wise in recommending very earnestly to her 
 children the devotion to the Sacred Heart, and 
 in being ingenious in devising means for spread- 
 ing and increasing it all over the world. 
 
 With confidence, then, let us enter into the Sa- 
 cred Heart of Jesus in all our needs. In It there 
 is room for all men. Even Longinus, the soldier, 
 who had so cruelly wounded the Heart of Christ, 
 received from it health and blessing. According 
 to tradition, one of his eyes was bereft of sight. 
 When he thrust the lance a drop of the precious 
 Blood struck his eye, and he received his bodily 
 and spiritual sight at the same time. He was 
 baptized and hid himself in a fearful desert to do 
 penance for his sins. He became a bishop and a 
 martyr, a saint of the Catholic Church, a saint 
 of heaven. What may we then not expect, if we 
 not only avoid wounding the Sacred Heart by 
 sin, but strive to honor It, to spread Its devotion, 
 and to imitate Its virtues. Let us, then, build 
 our dwelling in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We 
 shall live and die in this Heart, and be united 
 with it forevermore. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE LAST EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 "And taking him down, he (Jo- 
 seph) wrapped him in fine linen, and 
 laid him in a sepulchre, that was 
 hewed in stone, wherein never yet 
 any man had been laid." 
 
 (St. Luke xxiii., 53.) 
 
 What the four evangelists narrate concerning 
 the last events of the history of the Passion may 
 be summed up as follows:^ 
 
 After all these things, that is, after the Heart 
 of Jesus was opened, there came a certain rich 
 man of Arimathea, named Joseph. He went in 
 boldly to Pilate and asked the body of Jesus. 
 But Pilate wondered that he should be already 
 dead. And sending for the centurion he asked 
 him if He were already dead. And when he had 
 understood it by the centurion, he gave the body 
 to Joseph, and commanded that it should be de- 
 livered to him. And Nicodemus also came bring- 
 ing a mixture of myrrh and aloes about an hun- 
 dred pound weight. And Joseph brought linen. 
 They took, therefore, the body of Jesus down and 
 
 iSt. Matthew, xxvii., 57-61; St. Mark, xv. 42-47; St. 
 Luke, xxiii., 50-56; St. John, xix., 38-42. 
 
 399 
 
400 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 wound it in a clean linen cloth with the spices. 
 Now there was in the place where he w^as cruci- 
 fied, a garden: and in the garden a new sepulchre, 
 wherein no man yet had been laid. There they 
 laid Jesus because of the Parasceve, that is, this 
 circumstance caused them to select a tomb which 
 was nigh at hand. However, they had no inten- 
 tion at all of depositing the body in another tomb 
 afterwards. Joseph then rolled a great stone 
 against the door of the monument. And the holy 
 women, sitting over against the sepulchre, beheld 
 where and how his body was laid. And they re- 
 turned, because the Sabbath drew on, and, on the 
 Sabbath they rested according to the command- 
 ment. 
 
 The evangelists here describe three scenes: 
 I. The taking down from the cross of the 
 
 Sacred Body, 
 II. The preparation for the burial and 
 
 III. The burial itself. 
 
 In the removal of the body from the cross, 
 let us first consider the persons who took part 
 in it. Among them, Joseph of Arimathea ap- 
 pears to be the most prominent. All the four 
 evangelists have something to report of him. It 
 seems as if they meant to express their joy that at 
 last a wealthy and prominent man also showed 
 interest in and sympathy for the Redeemer. For 
 it is, indeed, beautiful and edifying to see the rich 
 and prominent of the laity labor for Christ and 
 
LAST EVENTS OF THE PASSION 401 
 
 for His Sacred Body, whether, as a heroic pha- 
 lanx of enthusiastic warriors, they defend the 
 mystic Body of the Lord, Holy Church, and her 
 rights, or they bend the knee to His Sacramental 
 Body and receive Him devoutly in Holy Com- 
 munion. To return to Joseph of Arimathea, St. 
 Matthew says that he was a rich man. St. IMark 
 calls him a noble counsellor; St. Luke, a good and 
 a just man who had not consented to the counsels 
 and doings of the Sanhedrim. St. John tells of 
 him that he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, 
 for fear of the Jews. These last words do not 
 attach any odium to Joseph. Undoubtedly it is 
 never excusable to deny one's religious con- 
 victions, nor, in the councils of the mighty, to con- 
 sent, against one's conscience and from human 
 respect, to the impious decrees of the majority. 
 But there are cases in which without sin one may 
 conceal one's religious convictions, as, for instance, 
 if a question be put by one having no right to 
 ask it and if an answer would have bad rather 
 than good effects. The Redeemer certainly ap- 
 proved of the reasons which Joseph had of not 
 openly declaring himself for Him, otherwise He 
 would not have recognized him as a true disciple. 
 The other man who appeared towards evening on 
 Golgotha was Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a phar- 
 isee, a lawyer and a teacher in Israel. He also 
 was a secret disciple of Jesus. He had often vis- 
 ited the Lord at night to receive instructions 
 in the mysteries of the faith. At a meeting of the 
 
 Pharisees, he with Joseph, had openly declared 
 26 
 
402 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 for Christ. At the midnight session in the house 
 of Caiphas and at the session of the great council 
 on the morning of Good Friday they both had 
 been absent. For St. Mark mentions in express 
 terms that aU who were gathered there condemned 
 Christ as being guilty of death. Formerly, then, 
 when Christ worked miracles and all the people 
 followed Him, Joseph and Nicodemus were His 
 disciples secretly, for fear of the Jews. Now, 
 however, after Christ died the shameful death 
 of the cross, they declare themselves openly as His 
 adherents, and all their fear has vanished. Who 
 does not here recognize the glorious fruits of the 
 Redeemer's death and the power of grace pur- 
 chased by Christ! 
 
 The arrival of these men was a great relief to 
 Mary and to the other women. For, if the Roman 
 soldiers had taken down the body and buried it, 
 it would have been very pitiable and dishonor- 
 able indeed. The body of the Saviour would have 
 been interred with the corpses of the two thieves 
 in the place reserved for criminals. This thought 
 had filled with pain the heart of the dolorous 
 Mother. Joseph therefore offered to request of 
 Pilate the privilege of caring for the burial. It 
 was an easy matter for him to prevail on the cap- 
 tain to await Pilate's decision as to the interment. 
 Although to appear as the friend of a criminal, 
 and that before the judge himself, required much 
 temerity and was attendant with great risk, and 
 although 'Joseph would thereby draw down upon 
 himself the anger and even the vengeance of the 
 
LAST EVENTS OF THE PASSION 403 
 
 Sanhedrim, nevertheless, at Mary's desire and un- 
 der her protection, as it were, he courageously 
 went to Pilate and begged for the body of Jesus. 
 
 Pilate wondered that Jesus was already dead. 
 For the crucified often hung upon the cross for a 
 long time before dying. He was not satisfied with 
 the statement of Joseph. He demanded an official 
 declaration, for which reason he sent for the cap- 
 tain who had been charged with the execution. It 
 is, then, from the lips of the captain that we also 
 are made aware officially and in due form that 
 Christ really died. 
 
 The petition of Joseph was granted. Accord- 
 ing to St. Anselm, he described to Pilate in touch- 
 ing words the woe of the Mother of Jesus, and 
 how she would be greatly consoled if her Son, 
 her only Son, were buried in a worthy manner. 
 It may be that Joseph also mentioned the inno- 
 cence of Jesus. Undoubtedly he also offered a 
 large sum to Pilate whose avarice was well known. 
 StiJl Pilate deemed it unworthy of an honorable 
 man to make the sale of a criminal's corpse a 
 source of revenue. He was high-minded enough 
 to give Joseph the body. He therefore ordered 
 the captain to give up the body to Joseph, for 
 he had already abandoned it to the execution- 
 ers. 
 
 Pilate little knew what he was doing. Other- 
 wise he would have given Joseph his entire prop- 
 erty rather than let him take that Sacred Body, 
 the possession and consumption of which are a 
 pledge of eternal life and which is the seed 
 
404 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 of immortality for the bodies of mortal men. But 
 do not many Christians resemble Pilate in that 
 they, to please others, carelessly cast away unper- 
 ishable goods, the most precious of all? 
 
 After their return to Golgotha, Joseph and 
 Nicodemus, assisted by some servants, took, with 
 the greatest reverence, the body of Jesus down 
 from the cross, and, after removing the crown 
 from the head, they laid the body in the lap of 
 His Mother. This, then, is the Sacred Body which 
 she once bore, which she nursed and cared for, 
 which, with motherly love, she had carried to 
 Egypt. The Holy Face is now pale, the divine 
 eye is dim, the divine mouth is silent and the 
 Sacred Heart beats no more. How Mary must 
 have gazed upon this Sacred Body and wiped 
 away from it the drops of blood! For it was the 
 body of her only, most beloved, divine Son ; it was 
 the body of her cruelly tortured and withal inno- 
 cent Son. To whom shall I compare thee or to 
 whom shall I liken thee to comfort thee, O holy 
 Mother of the dead Redeemer! For great as the 
 sea is thy sorrow. She who was queen, has be- 
 come as a widow; gone is her beauty and her 
 glory, and clouds of sadness have encompassed her 
 brow. Her adversaries have become enriched. 
 When the mothers of Bethlehem received in their 
 arms the children murdered by Herod's menials, 
 cries of woe filled the air; their lamentations and 
 their despair might have moved to pity the rocks 
 which echoed them. But the Mother of Jesus, 
 although her heart was bleeding from a thousand 
 
LAST EVENTS OF THE PASSION 405 
 
 wounds, bethought herself of the word which her 
 Son had addressed to her from the cross. Hero- 
 ically she offered up to Divine Justice the Sacred 
 Body, which she was holding in her arms and 
 moistening with her tears, as the redeeming price 
 for us who are the children of her sorrow. 
 
 After the Sacred Body was taken down from 
 the cross, preparations were begun for the burial. 
 
 II. 
 
 After the return of Joseph and of the captain 
 from Pilate, the bodies of the two thieves, which 
 in the meantime had been taken down from the 
 crosses, were buried by the Roman soldiers. When 
 the body of the Saviour had also been taken down, 
 the three crosses with the nails and the titles of 
 guilt were lowered into a deep excavation which 
 was soon again filled with earth. After the sol- 
 diers had thus done their duty, the captain gave 
 the command to return to the citadel. 
 
 Now we see on Calvary only the Mother of 
 Jesus and a few of His friends who are taking 
 the necessary steps to render to the dead Saviour 
 the last honors. For He had left no instructions 
 regarding His own burial. He knew that He 
 would die a criminal's death, and criminals sen- 
 tenced to death by a court had no right to dispose 
 in any manner of their bodies. In the humility 
 of His heart, Christ abided by this custom. He 
 knew, furthermore, that He would remain in the 
 tomb only a few hours. And to make arrange- 
 ments for such a short time seemed too unim- 
 
406 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 portant to Him. It may be well enough for those 
 who must remain in their graves until the day of 
 judgment, especially for those for whom the fu- 
 neral is indeed the last honor paid to them, as in 
 hell they are abandoned to eternal disgrace. 
 
 Joseph and Nicodemus, then, took charge of the 
 arrangements. Nicodemus brought about a hun- 
 dred pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes, 
 while Joseph brought linen. In this linen they 
 wrapped the body of Jesus along with the spices 
 as it is customary' at Jewish funerals. What 
 would Judas have said to it? In his day it was 
 only one pound; here there are even a hundred. 
 But the pious men wished to show respect to the 
 body of Him Whom the}' knew to be the Son of 
 God. We also now understand the significance 
 of the gift of myrrh brought by the pagan Kings. 
 
 The preparation of the sacred body could, how- 
 ever, not be carried out just now according to 
 the regular manner, as the interment had to be 
 finished before sun-do^vu. Wherefore, for the 
 time being, the spices and the sacred body were 
 wrapped in the linens and they agreed to return 
 to the sepulchre after the Sabbath on the morning 
 of Easter to supply what was wanting. These 
 men and women, with the exception, of course, of 
 the Blessed Virgin, seemed to be so overpowered 
 by sadness, grief and love that they took no ac- 
 count whatever of the fact that on the third day 
 Christ would arise from the dead and be in the 
 tomb no more. 
 
LAST EVENTS OF THE PASSION 407 
 
 We now come to the elosiiig scene, to the burial 
 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 III. 
 
 The preparations were, then, made, as well as 
 time would permit. Now the funeral procession 
 started on its way. On the one hand, it was in- 
 deed the most simple, but on the other, it was the 
 most sacred and most holy funeral procession ever 
 seen upon earth. The body being carried to the 
 grave is the body of the Son of the living God. 
 The pall-bearers are Joseph and Nicodemus, two 
 noble laymen, with their servants. From among 
 the clergy, the bier was accompanied by St. John, 
 a bishop of the Catholic Church, and, according 
 to a tradition mentioned by St. Ansehn, by St. 
 James, also a bishop of the Catholic Church, and 
 by St. Peter, the appointed pope and prince of 
 the apostles. These two latter had arrived on 
 Golgotha towards evening, when the people and 
 most of the enemies of Christ had returned to the 
 city, and they came in time to take part in the 
 funeral solemnity. As chief mourner, the sorrow- 
 ful Mother, the Queen of heaven and earth, walked 
 behind the bier. Then followed Magdalene and 
 the nearest relatives of the Saviour. Lastly came 
 some pious women singing the funeral dirge. I 
 cannot help but imagine that along the route of 
 the funeral procession, the trees inclined their 
 heads and the flowers their coronas, and that the 
 birds of heaven sang their saddest lays. Invisible 
 in the air. the holy angels were hovering. They 
 
408 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 had seen much since the day of their creation. 
 But they had never seen a God-Man carried as a 
 corpse to the tomb. 
 
 Meanwhile the cortege had reached the near-by 
 grotto in the rocks over which cypresses spread 
 their shadows. The men entered with the body 
 and laid the Redeemer upon His bed of stone. 
 Outside, the blood-red sun cast its dim and quiver- 
 ing rays upon a group of women mutely sitting 
 upon the ground. Great as the sea was their sor- 
 row. *'And the women," says Holy Writ, ''that 
 were come with him from Galilee were sitting 
 over against the sepulchre, they beheld where he 
 was laid and saw how his body was laid." 
 
 After the men had come out from the sepulchre, 
 they closed the door and rolled before it a large 
 stone. For if curious people, after opening the 
 door, should forget to close it again carefully, 
 wild beasts might find their way into the sepul- 
 chre which was by all means to be guarded 
 against. At this moment, the sound of trumpets 
 from the pinnacles of the temple announced the 
 beginning of the great Sabbath, and the men and 
 women with Mary hurried back to Jerusalem as 
 the law required. It appears that some of the 
 pious women had gone sooner. At least St. Luke 
 speaks of women who were preparing spices and 
 ointments before the beginning of the Sabbath, 
 whereas others did this on the following evening 
 after the Sabbath was over. At any rate, we may 
 remain a moment to survey somewhat closer the 
 sepulchre and its environment. 
 
LAST EVENTS OF THE PASSION 409 
 
 The sepulchre of Christ was in a garden. Our 
 first parents had sinned in a garden. In a gar- 
 den Christ had begun His passion. He had been 
 taken captive in a garden. In a garden, there- 
 fore the history of His passion should end. In 
 gardens, moreover, seeds are deposited in the 
 ground. Now Christ's body was the most precious 
 seed ever pfanted in the ground. It should then 
 be deposited in a garden. Even on the holy day 
 of Easter the most glorious fruits began to spring 
 from this grain of seed, inasmuch as, through the 
 power of this Sacred Body, many bodies of the 
 departed just were raised to life, thus exemplify- 
 ing in advance the general resurrection on the 
 last day. 
 
 The sepulchre itself was in the form of a ro- 
 tunda and was so high that a man could reach 
 the top only with an extended hand. It con- 
 sisted of an ante-chamber and of a small burial 
 place destined for one person. The entrance to 
 the sepulchre was on the east side and was very 
 low. To the right, on the north side, at an eleva- 
 tion of three feet was the tomb proper. It was 
 hollowed out, so that the sacred body reposed in 
 a real stone coffin. 
 
 Of this grave, the evangelists record three cir- 
 cumstances. First, that it was hewn in a rock. 
 Therefore the apostles could not possibly steal 
 the body by constructing a subterranean passage 
 to the tomb. Besides the corner stone must rest 
 upon the rock. 
 
 Then they call this tomb a new sepulchre in 
 
410 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 which no one had yet been buried. And indeed 
 the respect due to the Sacred Body demanded that 
 it be no more brought in contact with the bodies 
 of sinners. Had it been a family vault, doubt 
 might have been entertained on Easter day as to 
 who the Risen One really was. And had it even 
 been the tomb of a prophet, one might have said 
 that the miracle of Eliseus had been repeated; 
 that Christ had returned to life not through His 
 own power but through contact with the body of 
 the prophet. The sepulchre of Christ was new 
 also in the sense that it had never had its equal. 
 For this sepulchre was the workroom of resurrec- 
 tion; it was the decay and destruction of all 
 graves; it was the tomb in which death should 
 die the death ; ^ it was the only glorious tomb.^ 
 
 Thirdly this tomb was the tomb of another. As 
 Christ had in life possessed nothing whereon to 
 lay His head, He possessed nothing in death. 
 Another 's tomb ! Whoever wishes to remain in 
 a place only a few hours, will not build a house 
 of his own there but he will seek shelter in the 
 house of another. Another's tomb! He who dies 
 not for his own sins but for the sins of others, has 
 not even a right to a tomb of his own. Another's 
 tomb ! Whoever acquires a tomb of his own, 
 thereby declares his subjection to the reign of 
 death. Now Christ was the Lord of death. The 
 mighty giant had become somewhat fatigued on 
 His journey of thirty-three years. He would 
 
 1 Serin, de Pass. Domini, inter spuria S. Athan., n. 5. 
 
 2 Is. 53, 9, according to the Hebrew text. See note 22. 
 
LAST EVENTS OF THE PASSION 411 
 
 now take some rest and, on the third day, He 
 would with a mighty arm deal death the death- 
 blow. Another's tomb! But to whom did it 
 belong? Whose property was it? It belonged 
 to Joseph of Arimathea. How fortunate and en- 
 viable this man was, to have the honor of fur- 
 nishing, on his own property, a resting place for 
 the body of the God-Man. How his courage is 
 now rewarded ! How his spirit of sacrifice is now 
 richly indemnified ! 
 
 But does not the same good fortune fall to a 
 city and to a Catholic parish which, harbors the 
 same Sacred Body under the appearance of bread 
 on its own property, in its church? Does not a 
 greater honor, even, redound to us, when we receive 
 the Body of Christ in Holy Communion? Does 
 not our heart then really become the sepulchre 
 of the Body of Jesus Christ? If we would, then, 
 receive in our heart the Body of the Lord, no one 
 else should dwell therein, neither the world nor 
 the evil one. It ought to be even free from 
 venial sin. It ought to be as pure and immaculate 
 as were the linen cloths. It ought to be replete, 
 furthermore, with the costliest spices, with the 
 good odor of all Christian virtues. And after 
 we have devoutly received the Body of the Lord 
 into our heart, we should not forget to close the 
 door. We ought also to roll a large stone before 
 that heart so that no wild beast may find it in its 
 power to deprive us of the Eedeemer. 
 
 The men and women, then, had accompanied 
 the Blessed Virgin back to Jerusalem and, accord- 
 
412 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 ing to the commandment^ they rested on the Sab- 
 bath. Nor were they in the right mood for any 
 worldly matters. Their minds and hearts were 
 with the crucified Redeemer. The women thought 
 of the ointment which they would purchase after 
 sundown and take to the sepulchre on the follow- 
 ing day. Peter and Magdalene, however, who, 
 on the preceding day, had shed so many bitter 
 tears, spent the Sabbath in mourning and sor- 
 row. 
 
 We may here recognize the best preparation 
 for the approaching feast of Easter. Removed 
 from the world and its tumult, let us meditate 
 with devotion upon the sufferings of the crucified 
 Redeemer. Let us consider what we may do for 
 His honor. First of all, let us deplore our sins 
 out of love for the Saviour. This is also the best 
 preparation for that paschal feast which shall 
 close the passion-tide of this life and which shall 
 last not merely one day but for all eternity. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIY. 
 
 THE WATCH AT THE TOMB 
 
 *' And they departing, made the sep- 
 ulchre sure, sealing the stone, and 
 setting guards." 
 
 (St. Matthew, xxvii., 66.) 
 
 Undoubtedly some of the chief-priests and phar- 
 isees observed from a distance the burial of the 
 Redeemer. They desired, above all, to assure 
 themselves that the One Whom they hated was 
 really put under ground and covered by the dark- 
 ness of the tomb. Otherwise their triumph would 
 not be complete, and they could not abandon 
 themselves to the undisturbed festal joys of the 
 Paschal Sabbath. The chief-priests were also 
 much interested in knowing the exact spot where 
 Christ had been buried. As the Redeemer's 
 prophecy regarding His resurrection was well 
 known to them, they probably intended to open 
 the sepulchre after three days, show the decaying 
 corpse to the Jews and Gentiles, and thus com 
 pletely unmask the deceiver and perpetuate the 
 triumph over the Crucified. Wherefore they foimd 
 no little satisfaction in perceiving that the grave 
 was closed and that a great stone was rolled before 
 its entrance. They had attained their object. 
 413 
 
414 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 Things could not have proceeded more to their 
 liking. 
 
 One would think that now, after accomplishing 
 their deed, the chief -priests would quietly and 
 contentedly go home to enjoy the paschal lamb 
 in the sacredness of the family circle and to take 
 repose after a sleepless night and the fatiguer. of 
 the day. But '* there is no peace to the wicked." ^ 
 The image of the Murdered, Whom, when He was 
 yet in life, they had never feared, now rose sud- 
 denly like a phantom before their souls filling 
 them with awful terrors. It was the revenge of 
 conscience. It was the, agony of the murderer 
 who imagines that he sees his victim arise from 
 the grave and continually follow him. The con- 
 sternation and confusion of the chief-priests and 
 Pharisees was increased by their remembering the 
 sign of the prophet Jonas, to which the Deceased 
 had Himself once referred them. Now if Christ, 
 like Lazarus, should in spite of all come forth 
 from the sepulchre by means of diabolical art 
 and show Himself in Jerusalem, their confusion 
 and shame would be beyond all bounds. 
 
 In order, therefore, to secure themselves against 
 the Redeemer resting in the tomb, to effectually 
 take away from Christ the possibility of leaving 
 it, and to defend themselves against the Dead, the 
 chief-priests and pharisees determine to surround 
 the sepulchre with soldiers. In this they resem- 
 bled people driven to insanity by confusion and 
 
 lis., xlviii., 22. 
 
THE WATCH AT THE TOMB 415 
 
 terror. **For who hath ever heard," exclaims an 
 ancient inspired orator/ referring to this very 
 incident, "that a dead man ever begins a war." 
 Let us now consider ^ 
 I. The negotiations between the chief-priests 
 and Pilate concerning the watch at the 
 tomb and 
 II. The watch over the tomb itself. 
 
 I. 
 
 An authoritative permit for the placing of a 
 watch was the first thing required. Therefore 
 after sundown, on the evening of Good Friday, 
 the chief-priests and pharisees went together in 
 great numbers to Pilate, and on this holy day 
 they unhesitatingly entered the house which, in 
 scrupulous punctiliousness, they had not dared 
 to enter in the morning. For that is an erroneous 
 opinion which maintains that the guard was pro- 
 cured and stationed at the tomb on Saturday 
 morning. For in that case the enemies of Christ 
 would surely have asserted after the resurrection 
 that the body had been stolen by the disciples 
 during the night of Friday, the tomb then being 
 unguarded. But they did not wait till Saturday 
 morning. 
 
 Without a doubt, Pilate must have been much 
 surprised at the unexpected evening visit and even 
 more at the unwonted salutation. "Sir," was the 
 
 1 Amphilochius, Serm. de sepult. Domini. 
 
 2 St. Matthew, xxvii., 62-66. 
 
416 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 word with which the chief-priests and pharisees 
 addressed him. How very submissive, how very- 
 polite. They in reality hated Pilate and despised 
 him from their inmost souls as being unclean and 
 an idolater. The mere thought that he held sway 
 over them in the name of the emperor, the mere 
 memory of former enactments of his, could at 
 other times drive them into a frenzy. They had 
 been very rough even in the morning during the 
 trial. In anger, ay, in fury, they then had cried, 
 ''If thou release this man, thou art no friend of 
 Caesar." Now, however, when, in secret terror, 
 they desire a favor of him, they appear to be sud- 
 denly metamorphosed. 
 
 They begin their address by saying, ^*Sir, we 
 have remembered, that that seducer said, while 
 he was yet alive: After three days I will rise 
 again." This, then, is all that they remember, 
 all that they have retained of His sermons. The 
 good which the Saviour had done, the wonders 
 He had worked, and the truths he had taught, they 
 have completely forgotten. ''We have remem- 
 bered," they say to explain why they had not 
 demanded the body in the afternoon to preclude 
 all fraud. They pretend that the thought struck 
 them only later. "That the seducer." How 
 shameful ! The sense of decorum and of human- 
 ity prompted even the pagans to say of the dead 
 only what was good. "While he was yet alive." 
 He is therefore dead. Accept, ye chief -priests, 
 our hearty thanks for this certificate of death. 
 We shall know how to use it. ' ' The seducer said : 
 
THE WATCH AT THE TOMB 417 
 
 After three days I will rise again." Well, we 
 shall not blame you for rendering the Saviour's 
 words incorrectly, for you are excited. For 
 Christ really said that He would rise again on 
 the third day} 
 
 The chief-priests and pharisees thereupon 
 begged Pilate to com m and that the tomb be 
 guarded. Christ, then, had really been buried. 
 The priests knew the place. They had minutely 
 observed everything. They did not, of course, 
 manifest the true reason of their petition, i. e., 
 their fear of the Crucified and their anxiety lest 
 He come forth from the tomb. Their vagaries 
 might have caused Pilate to laugh at them as being 
 children and fools. They, therefore, with their 
 usual hypocrisy, spoke of their fear lest the dis- 
 ciples steal the body and this put them, as it were, 
 from the frying-pan into the fire. The poor, 
 timid disciples! What would it profit them to 
 steal the body? Were Christ not to rise from the 
 dead, they would be the deluded ones. 
 
 *'The last error," the chief -priests continued in 
 their address, ''would be worse than the first." 
 By the first error they meant the doctrine of 
 Christ's Divinity and ]\Iessianic dignity. Worse 
 than this would be the last, that is to say, a ru- 
 mor, brought about by the disciples stealing His 
 body, that Christ had arisen. This would natu- 
 rally also spread and render indestructible the first 
 error. It would bring to Christ many new ad- 
 
 iSee note 23. 
 27 
 
418 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 herents. It would likewise draw down the ire 
 of the people on themselves as well as on Pilate, 
 and they would all have to dread the vengeance 
 of Christ's friends on account of His execution. 
 It might even produce a political upheaval of far 
 greater extent than was to be feared during the 
 life-time of the Redeemer. Command therefore, 
 Pilate, *'the sepulchre to be guarded until the 
 third day." Again they are the obsequious serv- 
 ants. God grant that with many a converted sin- 
 ner the last things be not worse than the first. 
 God grant that future storms gathering over the 
 individual or over the entire Church, may not, 
 owing to a lack of watchfulness, be more destruc- 
 tive than all preceding ones! We ought also to 
 take precautions. 
 
 The petition of the chief-priests and pharisees 
 was graciously acceded to. Whether shrewd Pi- 
 late was moved by the reasons submitted to grant 
 the request, may well be considered doubtful. It 
 is more probable that he perceived the fear and 
 dread on the part of the chief-priests in regard 
 to this Innocent Man Whose death they had ac- 
 complished and that inwardly he laughed at and 
 ridiculed the alleged reasons and the petitioners 
 themselves. But, on the one hand, Pilate did not 
 care to offend these prominent men and, on the 
 other, he was heartily tired of the whole affair, 
 as well because his own conduct toward the Re- 
 deemer furnished him with abundant matter for 
 an examination of conscience that evening as be- 
 cause the divers and in part miraculous events 
 
THE WATCH AT THE TOMB 419 
 
 of the day had depressed him and rendered him 
 melancholy. He sought, therefore, to rid himself 
 of his annoying visitors the best way he could, 
 and immediately conceded what they asked for. 
 Such is often the real sentiment underlying 
 worldly politeness. Externally there is nothing 
 but what is amiable, obsequious and flattering, 
 nothing but hypocritical compliments, whilst in- 
 wardly there lie concealed aversion and contempt. 
 
 But in order not to expose himself to further 
 entanglements and responsibilities, Pilate left the 
 whole matter to the discretion of the chief-priests. 
 ''You have a guard, '^ said he, "yesterday evening 
 I placed one hundred and twenty-five soldiers at 
 your disposal. Go and take them and guard it 
 as you know." It was again providential that 
 the command of the watch at the tomb was en- 
 trusted to the chief-priests. Now they could notj 
 without stultifying themselves, reproach Pilate 
 that his soldiers had sold the body of the Saviour 
 to the disciples. They had the supervison and 
 any fraud or neglect that might occur would be 
 imputed to themselves. 
 
 With many thanks and expressions of respect 
 and consideration, the chief-priests and pharisees 
 finally took leave of Pilate, both parties being 
 filled, probably, more than ever before, with mu- 
 tual contempt and disgust. What a mean, con- 
 temptible and disgusting role was plaj^ed through- 
 out the history of the Redeemer's Passion by these 
 men, who should have been models of honorable 
 and upright conduct! Still we may learn one 
 
420 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 thing from tliem. The prudence and zeal to which 
 hatred for the living Saviour had impelled the 
 chief-priests and pharisees did not depart from 
 them even in their insane fear of the dead Sav- 
 iour. Had they been used only in a good cause I 
 Wherefore our prudence should be a holy pru- 
 dence and our zeal, a holy zeal. Our zeal should 
 not spring from fear of the dead Redeemer but 
 from love for Him. The end and object of our 
 thoughts and efforts should be the salvation of 
 our poor souls, the general welfare of our fellow- 
 men, the welfare and spread of the Catholic 
 Church, the increase of the love of the Crucified Re- 
 deemer and the greater honor of the thrice holy 
 God. 
 
 Let us now consider the watch itself of the 
 sepulchre. 
 
 II. 
 
 Rejoicing at the favorable issue of the audience, 
 the chief-priests and pharisees hurried from the 
 house of Pilate to the neighboring citadel. Of the 
 hundred and twenty-five men granted them by 
 the governor, they, in their fear of the Dead Sav- 
 iour, undoubtedly demanded quite a number. For 
 St. Matthew expressly reports that, after the Res- 
 urrection of Christ, ''several" of the guards ran 
 to the city to announce the fact, from all of which 
 one may conclude that a strong command was 
 there. The commandant of the citadel hesitated. 
 It had never yet happened that his command had 
 been called on to protect the tomb of an executed 
 
THE WATCH AT THE TOMB 421 
 
 criminal against robbery. For what did it matter 
 if the body were indeed stolen? And the Roman 
 soldiers who were anxious for repose, were not 
 much pleased, either, with the command of the 
 governor, especially as it was the doings of the 
 Jews, whom they abominated. They scolded and 
 cursed. But the jingling coin of the chief-priests 
 soon allayed their excitement and elicited uni- 
 versal consent. Thereupon the chief-priests and 
 Pharisees went to the sepulchre with the soldiers. 
 It was, forsooth, a remarkable procession which 
 thus followed the Way of the Cross late in the 
 evening of the first Good Friday. 
 
 According to credible ancient reports mentioned 
 by the ecclesiastical writer Nicephorus,^ the stone 
 was first attached to the wall with iron clamps. 
 It must be made impossible for the Dead in the 
 tomb to roll away the stone. Neither did the 
 chief-priests trust the Roman soldiers. And in 
 this they were right. For men whom money can 
 buy will also for money betray the oath of fealty 
 they have sworn. If, then, any one should offer the 
 soldiers more than the chief-priests had given or 
 at least promised them, they probably would dis- 
 pose of the body, and such a possibility must be 
 prevented. Therefore, according to the narrative 
 of Nicephorus, the priests and pharisees, like 
 stone masons, bored with iron tools through the 
 stone and the wall. Then through both openings 
 they drove a large iron obtained in a neighboring 
 
 lEccl. hist, i., 1, c. 32. He refers to ancient tradition; 
 De locis Sanctis inter opp. Van. Bedae. 
 
422 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 smithy and solidly connected both stone and wall. 
 Furthermore, several other iron bands were passed 
 around the stone and made fast in the wall. Their 
 work was seasoned with sarcastic remarks ad- 
 dressed to the Redeemer, such as, ''Now come 
 forth, if you can," and with jeers and shouts of 
 laughter. "What the chief-priests were doing was, 
 indeed, servile work which was strictly forbidden 
 on the Paschal Sabbath. But, thought they, the 
 deceiver in the tomb also worked on the Sabbath 
 when He prepared the mud to rub on the eyes of 
 the man born blind. 
 
 Then the tomb was sealed. This was done 
 either by drawing a cord across the entrance stone 
 and sealing both ends, or, if the entrance stone 
 was held by a transverse beam, by uniting both 
 stone and beam with a seal. The seal may have 
 been that of the city, but more likely it was 
 the official seal of the Sanhedrim. The Dead 
 would certainly respect the seal of the wise Coun- 
 cil and forbear from making any attempt at res- 
 urrection. 
 
 Finally the guard was stationed. The chief- 
 priests to whom Pilate had entrusted the entire 
 affair, assigned to each soldier his post. The tomb 
 was entirely surrounded by guards. Thus, in 
 coming out of the sepulchre, Christ would neces- 
 sarily fall into the hands of a soldier. In some 
 representations one may see a soldier occupying a 
 position even on the top of the sepulchre. For 
 the Saviour might possibly escape through the 
 top. The guard had orders to make Christ a cap- 
 
THE WATCH AT THE TOMB 423 
 
 tive, in case He opened the entrance to the grave 
 or sought an exit through some other part of the 
 rock. O ye chief -priests ! One prophecy stiU 
 lacked its accompHshment. Saul had placed his 
 mailed satellites before the dwelling of David 
 whom he would destroy. Whereupon ]\Iichol 
 showed David an egress through which he fled. 
 Stand guard, then, ye imperial soldiers, before the 
 grave of the Lord and see whether or not you 
 shall succeed better than the satellites of Saul. 
 
 If ever the words of Holy Writ were accom- 
 plished, it certainly was now: "I will destroy the 
 wisdom of the wise and the prudence of the pru- 
 dent I will reject.''^ '^O unfortunate and mis- 
 erable Jew ! ' ' exclaims in indignation an ancient 
 ecclesiastical writer,^ "Who broke the chains of 
 death, can He not break the seal on the tomb? 
 He Who like a hero overcame hell, shall He fear 
 the locks on the tomb? Seal the stone, place your 
 menials, encircle the tomb with a thousand 
 guards! Thus shalt thou render more glorious 
 the work of Christ's Resurrection, glorious as it 
 is in itself. For thou art placing there spectators 
 and witnesses of His Resurrection and thou art 
 preparing for Him servants who shall annouace 
 His wonderful works.'' 
 
 What this ancient writer said to the enemies 
 of Christ, we can also say to the enemies of the 
 Bride of Jesus Christ: "O ye impious powers of 
 this world, ye powers of darkness, ye diabolical 
 
 il. Cor., i., 19. 
 
 2 Serm. de Pass. Domini, inter spuria S. Athan., n. 4. 
 
424 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 powers! Concoct your plans against the Holy 
 Catholic Church! Excogitate the most astute 
 schemes! Exhaust all the tricks of hypocritical 
 diplomacy, all the power and all the fraudulent 
 methods of your secret society craft! Put in 
 chains the Bride of the Redeemer, crucify her, 
 bury her and surround her grave with your regi- 
 ments! God, reigning in heaven, -svill laugh you 
 to scorn. The sooner Good Friday arrives, the 
 sooner our holy mother, the Catholic Church, will 
 celebrate the feast of Easter. '* 
 
 After the chief-priests and pharisees had again 
 recommended to the guard a conscientious fulfill- 
 ment of their duty, and promised them a liberal 
 reward, they returned home hurriedly and in an 
 exuberant frame of mind. But they arrived too 
 late for a share in the paschal lamb. There was 
 nothing left of the Old Testament but the offal. 
 
 However, before we bid adieu to the chief -priests 
 and Pharisees, let us thank them heartily for the 
 hint they have given us in providing a watch for 
 the sepulchre. For indeed, our good resolutions, 
 even if they were as solid as a rock, can be broken 
 and crushed by the enemies of our souls. It is 
 easy for them to tear away the seal of love which 
 was impressed on our hearts in holy Baptism. If 
 we would be sure that the Redeemer who dwells 
 within us by His grace be not stolen away from 
 us, we must place a guard around our hearts. Ye 
 chief-priests will certainly not blame us for not 
 calling upon you or your soldiers for this purpose. 
 For if I am to believe what you asserted on Easter 
 
THE WATCH AT THE TOMB 425 
 
 Sunday, your guards slept instead of watching, 
 and whilst they were asleep, the disciples stole 
 the body, and when the guards, plunged as they 
 were in a profound sleep, saw all that, they never 
 even ran after the wicked disciples to take away 
 from them their booty. No, your watch is not of 
 the right sort; we cannot rely on them. When 
 the pious women came to the tomb early on the 
 third day, it was empty. We, therefore, turn to 
 those of whom King David sang that God had 
 intended them to be our guardians, and the holy 
 angels, who together held the death-watch at the 
 sepulchre of their Creator, will deem it an honor 
 to defend against all enemies the Redeemer repos- 
 ing in our hearts as in a tomb. 
 
 Indeed, we are not afraid of the apostles of the 
 Lord, whom you chief-priests, pretended to fear. 
 Ah! no! we love the holy apostles; we love them 
 with all our heart, Peter and John and James 
 and all the others, not forgetting Thomas, who 
 with his hand directed us to the Divine Heart. 
 But those we do fear are the apostles of unbelief, 
 the apostles of immorality, those seducers, the 
 rebellious flesh and the infernal spirits. 
 
 Hurry hither, then, ye heavenly spirits, ye an- 
 gels of God, and take charge of the tomb. Shield 
 the Saviour, protect Him, defend Him that He be 
 not stolen from us. Thou especially who hast 
 overcome Satan, Prince of the heavenly hosts, un- 
 conquered. hero of God, Saint Michael! Thou 
 Protector of the Church Militant! With thy 
 shield and sword protect her who is, as it were, 
 
426 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 being pressed toward the tomb, the Bride of the 
 Departed Redeemer. Enchain the unchained 
 forces of hell, throw them back into the abyss 
 and lead the Roman Catholic Church on to a glori- 
 ous victory, to a glorious triumph. Help us also, 
 who are the children of this Holy Mother, help us 
 combat, help us overcome the enemy, thou who 
 art the protector of us all. Upon thee we rely in 
 dangers and temptations, on thee we rely in life, 
 on thee we rely in death, in the last combat, and 
 we shall never be confounded. 
 
 The grave, then, is locked, sealed and well 
 guarded. We may remain without anxiety; the 
 disciples will not rob us of the Saviour. With all 
 peace of heart, then, and collectedness of mind, we 
 can, by prayer and penance, prepare ourselves 
 for the holy feast of Easter and, with the sorrow- 
 ful Mother and all of the Crucified Redeemer's 
 friends with whom we have become acquainted 
 on the Way of the Passion, await the moment in 
 which the cry of victory shall resound: Surrexit, 
 non est hie! Christ is risen. He is no longer in 
 the tomb. Alleluja. 
 
 A. M. D. G. 
 
 TEE END, 
 
NOTES 
 1. (page 5.) 
 
 It has been the concordant teaching of all stand- 
 ard theologians for many centuries past that the soul 
 of Christ, from the moment of its- creation, was in 
 possession of the beatific vision of God. It is true 
 that no ecumenical council has ever declared this teach- 
 ing to be a dogma of faith, but it is rightly deduced 
 from many passages of Holy Writ and from other cer- 
 tain truths of faith with which the former are in 
 natural coherence. This vision of God which consti- 
 tutes the essential beatitude of the saints of heaven, 
 consists in the souPs seeing God directly, face to face, 
 as He is, and, as a result of this clear vision, in its 
 being drawn by unspeakable love to God, the Supreme 
 Good, and being united to Him most intimately. From 
 this vision and love there ought naturally to arise the 
 greatest satisfaction and joy and the most intense de- 
 light, hence complete happiness. Just as naturally an 
 intense, overflowing joy ought to dissipate all sensa- 
 tions of external and internal pain. Still faith teaches 
 that Christ did suffer external and internal pains and 
 that He was, as He said Himself, " sad unto death." 
 Such a union of beatitude and passibility is indeed 
 not imaginable in the saints in heaven. For, arrived 
 at their eternal goal, they have laid aside the qualities 
 of mundane wayfarer, and they experience henceforth 
 only such influences coming from God as are co- 
 ordinate with their beatitude. But Christ was at the 
 427 
 
428 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 same time in possession of the goal and still an earthly 
 pilgrim; He, therefore, was in a double state and ex- 
 perienced divers influences coiTesponding to this two- 
 fold condition, that is to say. He experienced the Di- 
 vine co-operation with His acti\dty in accordance with 
 this double state. 
 
 Joy and grief can co-exist in one human will if the 
 power of perception is, at the same time, impressed 
 by two diverse objects, an agreeable and a disagxeea- 
 ble one, and if it yields to both impressions. Now it 
 is indeed true that the soul of Christ was immersed with 
 all the energy and power of its activity in the infinitely 
 attractive vision of the Divine Essence; but as the 
 Eedeemer was at the same time in the condition of an 
 earthly pilgrim, and had assumed a passible body, God 
 could, by granting the Divine co-operation which cor- 
 responded to this condition, mamtain the soul's en- 
 tire attentiveness directed to the Passion as well as the 
 entire activity of the will coiTesponding to this at- 
 tentiveness. That Christ should thus at the same time 
 and in a twofold condition develop a peculiar and, 
 in truth, most important activity, far from being an 
 imperfection, was rather a greater perfection. Now if 
 all this was as described, we find in Christ the sensa- 
 tion of pain and the natural repugnance of the will in 
 all its strength simultaneously with the beatific vision. 
 Moreover, the fact that Christ exercised the entire 
 activity proper to one who had arrived at the goal 
 not only did not hinder or diminish the pain and the 
 sadness which He felt as an earthly pilgrim, but it 
 rather increased and aggravated them. For the vision 
 and love corresponding to the one condition also helped 
 the other to a greater perfection of perception and of 
 activity of the will, and thus the miion with the God- 
 head not only did not render the sacred Humanity of 
 
NOTES 
 
 429 
 
 Christ impervious to suffering, but it increased its 
 passibility, as it were, to an infinite degree. 
 
 With all this, the proposition stands that, according 
 to the natural course of things, superabundant joy and 
 keen suffering are uicompatible. The above is offered 
 merely as an explanation of the manner in which God 
 mamtamed the compatibility of the two in the soul of 
 
 Christ. 
 
 This diflacult question is clearly and solidly treated ni 
 W. Wilmers', S. J., Lehrbuch der Religion II. (4th 
 edit.), 616 sqq. Confer p. 156 sqq. Confer also 
 Franzelin, Tract, de Verb. Inc. thes. 42, p. 433. 
 
 2. (page 25.) 
 The words of Jesus (St. Matthew, xxvi., 45), "Sleep 
 ye now and take your rest," apparently contradictmg 
 the preceding words, "Watch ye and pray," and the 
 words directly foUowmg, "Rise, let us go," are veiy 
 remarkable and are differently explamed. Some in- 
 terpreters are of t)ie opinion that Christ said the 
 words, " Sleep ye now and take your rest," by way of 
 holy irony. Sleep, that is, if ye can, now that the 
 hostile force is nigh and their weapons are resounding. 
 The foUowmg words, "now it is enough — rise" Avere 
 said by Christ, according to them, in a more serious 
 tone to summon the apostles to join Him in meeting 
 the enemy. Many mterpreters, however, will not con- 
 cede that irony, no matter how well justified, pro- 
 ceeded from the lips of the Saviour m such a serious 
 hour. Not a few believe with St. Augustme that, by 
 these words, Jesus really allowed the disciples to take 
 some sleep and that then, after some lapse of time, he 
 ordered them to rise. But how does this opmion agree 
 with the command immediately preceding (v. 41), 
 " Watch ye and pray " % For this reason St. Chry- 
 
430 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 sostom (in Mattb. horn. 83. n. 1), believes tbat Jesus 
 spoke tbus because He would not plainly reproacb tbe 
 disciples, as He recognized tbe uselessness of re- 
 proacb at tbe present moment. He saw tbat it would 
 only tend to bewilder tbem more, and, besides, in a few 
 moments tbey would take to fligbt. Cbrist needed not 
 tbeir belp; His deliveiy to tbe enemy was a certainty 
 at any rate. According to tbis explanation tbe word of 
 Cbrist would mean, "I do not wisb to cbide you; sleep 
 on if ye be c.z weak as tbat." Even in tbis sense, tbe 
 words contain an indirect reproacb, but no sarcasm. 
 Tbe sense is more moderate and brings tbe perfect res- 
 ignation of tbe Saviour beautifully into relief, wbere- 
 f ore we prefer tbis last explanation. 
 
 Upbeld by St. Luke, xxii., 46, some interpreters be- 
 lieve tbat tbe Saviour again summoned the disciples to 
 prayer immediately before His capture. Tben began 
 for tbem in its greatest extent tbe danger of wavering 
 in tbe faitb. Wliat tben would be more natural and 
 more necessaiy tban tbe repeated summons? Besides 
 St. Luke, xxii., 46, agrees veiy well witb St. Mattbew, 
 xxvi., 45. Cbrist could bave said both. Otber inter- 
 preters, bowever, are of tbe opinion tbat St. Luke, 
 wbo in bis narrative does not disting-uisb different acts 
 of prayer, merely recapitulates (xxii., 46) tbe cbief con- 
 tents of tbe repeated addresses. Tbe subsequent words 
 " adbuc eo loquente " do not contradict tbis explanation. 
 According to tbe evangelists' manner of speaking, tbis 
 expression does not necessarily refer to tbe words im- 
 mediately preceding. 
 
 3. (page 53.) 
 
 Tbe acceptation tbat tbe wasbing of tbe feet took 
 place before tbe institution of tbe Bl. Eucharist, will 
 certainly not meet witb contradiction, in wbicb case 
 
NOTES 431 
 
 the narrative of St. John, xiii., 2-31, decides the present 
 question. Directly after the washing of the feet (v. 
 
 12) Jesus refers to the betrayer and again, immediately, 
 a second time (v. 21 sq.) ; then, without any interrup- 
 tion. He hands him the dipped bread (v. 26), and he 
 "having received the morsel, went out immediately/' 
 In this close and concise narrative the institution of 
 the Bl. Eucharist cannot find room; it must have oc- 
 curred later. Of a truth, St. Matthew (xxvi., 25 sq.) 
 and St. Mark, (xxiv., 18 sq.) refer it to the time after 
 the traitor had heard from Christ that it was he who 
 would betray Him. Ancient testimony is also at hand 
 showing that Judas was not present at the institution. 
 Thus Tatian, a disciple of the holy martyr Justin, in 
 his Concordance of the Gospels, called Diatessaron, 
 records the institution as taking place after the de- 
 parture of Judas and properly begins its description 
 with the words of St. John, xiii., 31: "Now is the son 
 of man glorified, etc." Victor of Capua in his Con- 
 cordance of the Gospels (Migne 1, 68, CIO) says the 
 same; likewise the so called Apostolic Constitutions 5, 
 14. This is also the teaching of St. Hilary (Comment, 
 in Matth. 30, 2), of St. Ephrem, of St. Cyril of Alex- 
 andria, of St. Aphraates, of Rupertus (in Jo. 6, 71), 
 of Pope Innocent III. (De sacro altaris mysterio 4, 
 
 13) who, after giving both opinions, concludes c-3 fol- 
 lows: "Quid ergo est vobis in hoc casu tenendum? 
 Illud forte sine praeiudicio aliorum, quod Joannes in- 
 sinuat, quia cum Judas accepisset bucellam panis, exiit 
 continuo. Christus autem post alicz cibos tradidit 
 Eucharistiam." — This is also the opinion of Zacharias 
 Chrysopolit, Peter Comestor, Salmeron, Barradius, B. 
 Lamy, Turrianus and of the majority of more recent 
 interpreters. Cf. R. Comely, S. J., Historica et Critica 
 Introductio in Libros Sacros (Parisiis 1886. Vol. III. 
 
432 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 p. 298 sqq.)? Corluy, S. J., Cominentarius in Ev. St. 
 Joannis (Gandavi 1880, p. 321-323) and J. Knaben- 
 bauer, S. J., Comment, in Matth, ii., p. 439; Comment. 
 in Luc. p. 576; Comment, in Jo. p. 416 sq. Li reply- 
 to the objection that some of the Holy Fathers are of 
 the opposite opinion, I answer that our opponents in 
 other questions are themselves most pronouncedly in 
 the minority. 
 
 The narration of St. Luke (xxii., 21-23) does indeed 
 appear to report the words concerning the betrayal as 
 being spoken after the institution of the Bl. Eucharist. 
 But just as St. Luke, xxi., 21, 37, 38, adds a supple- 
 mentary?^ statement to that which he has mentioned be- 
 fore, he could m like manner add xxii., 21-23 by way of 
 a supplement to what had taken place during the paschal 
 supper. He probably did not wish to disturb by a dis- 
 cordant note the narrative of the institution of the Bl. 
 Sacrament, and he therefore supplied afterwards the 
 report of what had taken place before. Besides, accord- 
 ing to some commentators, St. Luke, xxii., 46 (compare 
 note 2) and especially xxiii., 36 (comp. note 18) also 
 deviated from the historical series of events. Accord- 
 ing to Dr. Grimm (Einheit der 4 Ev. p. 480) the dis- 
 pute about rank among the disciples and the reprimand 
 of the Saviour took place before the institution of the 
 Bl. Eucharist, although St. Luke tells of them after 
 mentioning the institution (xxii., 24-30). According to 
 Dr. Grimm this scene ought most naturally to be at- 
 tached chronologically to the foot-washing scene. Now 
 if this passage is considered a supplement, then, for the 
 reasons already mentioned, it appears even more reason- 
 able to begin the supplement with v. 21 instead of v. 
 24. Furthermore the followmg is to be considered: 
 according to St. Matth. xxvi., 21, and St. Mark, xiv., 18, 
 Christ speaks of the traitor, and the disciples put their 
 
NOTES 433 
 
 questions during the supper and before the institution 
 of the Bl. Sacrament. The same is reported by St. 
 John, who says that the Redeemer hands Judas the 
 dipped morsel. It is manifest then, according to these 
 narratives, that the address concerning the betrayer and 
 the questions of the disciples occurred during the legal 
 supper and before the institution of the Eucharist. 
 Hereby the assumption is excluded that St. Luke, xxii., 
 21, is to be understood to mean that the same address 
 and tine same questions occurred a second time after 
 the supper in the same manner as they had occurred 
 before it. Abbot Rupert of Deutz remarks aptly: 
 " Verba quae in priori coena Dominus de suo traditore 
 dixit, Lucas sic praeposteravit, ut priorem paschae 
 coenam et sequentem dominici corporis et sanguinis con- 
 secrationem narrando conjungeret et tunc demum verba 
 quae in convivio dicta sunt continuaret." And Father 
 Knabenbauer, in his Comment, in Jo. p. 410, after quot- 
 ing this text, correctly says : " Nisi igitur, quod plane 
 superfluum est, adstruere volueris et Christum et dis- 
 cipulos bis, i. e., inter coenandum et post spatium tem- 
 poris instituta eucharistia eadem dixisse (Christum: 
 Luc. 22, 22: vae etc., discipulos quaesivisse), profecto 
 narratio apud Lueam ita concipi debet." It is 
 not against the chronological order appealed to in favor 
 cf St. Luke that he first reports the legal supper, then 
 the institution and that he finally adds what was stated 
 orally before. Otherwise the passages in St. Luke, iii., 
 19 and xxi., 37 would also lo faults against the rule: 
 ex ordine scribere. This rule refers to events in their 
 totality: Qui ordo ut servetur non opus est ut singulae 
 uniuscujusque eventus conditiones et quasi partes etiam 
 semper ordine temporis enumerentur (cf. Eoiabenbauer, 
 In Luc. p. 37). 
 
 '' Cibum turbae duodenae se dat suis manibus " that 
 
 9« 
 
434 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 is, suis apostolis, who are also called the twelve al- 
 though they were only 11 or (Paul included) 13. 
 Duodecim is just as fixed an official name as decemviri, 
 centumviri, "the 40 Immortals," which names are used 
 even if the number be not complete. 
 
 Supposing however, as some Holy Fathers and in- 
 terpreters (Dr. Paul Schanz, Commentar iiber das 
 Evangelium des St. Lucas, p. 509 and 510) maintain, 
 that Judas was really present at the institution of the 
 Bl. Sacrament, one could with good reason ask the ques- 
 tion whether or not Judas sinned in receiving it. The 
 law that he only who is in the state of grace may re- 
 ceive Holy Communion was without doubt definitely 
 mentioned by Christ, if not proclaimed in expressed 
 terms, when He promised the Bl. Sacrament (St. John, 
 6). For food and drink presupposes life They do 
 not give it. They maintain and strengthen it. The 
 disciples could, then, have concluded from the words of 
 promise that the nourishment presupposes the life of 
 the soul, which is sanctifying grace. But, it may well 
 be doubted that the disciples, who were slow of under- 
 standing, and whom, even after the resurrection, Christ 
 upbraided for their indocility and lack of comprehen- 
 sion of even clearly proposed truth (v. g. that Christ 
 would rise again), really had understood that law and 
 drawn from the words of promise the conclusion that 
 the reception of that food in the state of mortal sin, 
 is a sin, even a mortal sin, a sacrilege. This applies 
 especially to Judas, who had lost the faith before the 
 promise was made, and who therefore was hardly 
 capable of higher comprehension and understanding. 
 Taken for granted, however, that Judas had rightly 
 comprehended and understood the law, it is doubtful 
 whether he thought of it. For at the last supper, the 
 institution of the Holy Eucharist took the disciples un- 
 
NOTES 435 
 
 awares, and the- invitation to partake of that food was 
 spoken before they knew what food was really meant. 
 Taken for granted, finally, that Judas really thought 
 of it, then the positive, personal urging and loving in- 
 vitation of Christ: Eat ye, drink ye all of this, thou 
 also Judas, for no one is excepted, must have neces- 
 sarily forced upon him the conviction that, in his dull- 
 ness, he had misunderstood the words of promise, and 
 that the law really did not exist; or that, notwithstand- 
 ing his sinfulness, Christ was giving him the permission 
 to receive communion and dispensing him from the law. 
 In which case he would have acted in good faith in re- 
 ceiving Holy Communion, and he could not have sinned. 
 If one, nevertheless, maintained that Judas with a 
 clear knowledge of the law deliberately committed a 
 sacrilege, then Christ's manner of speaking and acting 
 would be entirely inexplicable. The objection that 
 Judas was inwardly moved by the Redeemer to renounce 
 his treacherous design and to be contrite for it, and that 
 on this supposition, Christ could invite him to partake 
 of the food, is of no account, because Christ knew that 
 Judas would remain obdurate.^ Thus the Redeemer 
 would not only have permitted a new crime in one 
 whom He knew to be obdurate, but He would have 
 positively invited him to sin : He even would have made 
 this invitation stronger (drink ye all of this) after the 
 
 1 One ought to heed, in this connection, the remarks of 
 Barradius: If Christ gave Holy Communion to Judas, the 
 apostles might draw the conclusion that it might be given 
 to an unworthy person even when the latter could easily 
 be removed. And he adds: Ordine a Joanne proposito 
 ostendit a Christo eum potuisse facillime removeri: ergo 
 censendum esse Christum fecisse quod quivis sacerdos facere 
 debeat, si peccatorem sine ulla peecati manifestatione re- 
 movere possit (ef. Knabenbauer, Comment, in Jo. p. 417.) 
 
436 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 sinner had already received sacrilegiously the Body of 
 the Lord. Had Judas been present, Christ would have 
 formulated differently the words of invitation. But 
 this He did not do. Therefore Judas left the hall be- 
 fore the institution of the Bl. Sacrament. 
 
 4. (page 74.) 
 
 It is on untenable grounds that many moaem scien- 
 tists take this young man to be St. Mark, whilst en- 
 tire tradition denies that he was personally acquainted 
 with the Lord. On account of the scanty attire of 
 the young man it is not probable either that he had re- 
 cently been in the company of the Lord or had come 
 with Him from the city. "Naked," as the evangelist 
 describes the fleeing young man, does not necessarily 
 mean entirely devoid of clothing. Any one was called 
 naked who was clad only in an undergarment or a 
 loin-cloth. The Jews held complete nudeness in great 
 horror. Compare Sepp, Leben Jesu VI. 330 a. 5. 
 
 5. (page 77.) 
 
 Several interpreters (Salm. Tolet. Maid. Com. a 
 Lap., etc.) teach that the preliminaiy trial, which is 
 here described as taking place before Annas, was held 
 before Caiphas. However, Father Knabenbauer, S. J., 
 in his Comment, in Joan., published in 1898, pp. 514 and 
 515, refutes so thoroughly the arguments of these in- 
 terpreters and so clearly solves the difficulties urged by 
 them against the opposite opinion that we are con- 
 strained to follow his teaching, which, besides, has al- 
 ways had many adherents (Chrys., Aug., Thomas and 
 others). Father Knabenbauer shows in the first place 
 from many texts of Holy Writ (St. John, xviii., 3; 
 xviii., 35 ; vii., 45 ; xi., 47, 56 ; xix., 6, xv., 21 : St. Luke, 
 
NOTES 437 
 
 iii., 2), that the high-priests kept their titles after their 
 terms had expired and that, therefore, Caiphas the 
 pontiff in office, need not necessarily be understood as 
 being the one who conducted the prelimmary trial. 
 Moreover, there are several argiuuents demonstrating 
 that the preliminary trial was held before Annas, whilst 
 only the trial proper was held before Caiphas: "Quae 
 V. 19-23 narrantur, plane non congruent cum eis quae 
 coram Caipho fiunt, ibi Jesus privatim interrogatur de 
 doctrina et discipulis; hie mstituitur disquisitio judi- 
 cialis, i. e., re adducta testes surgunt et testunonia 
 dicunt; ibi Jesus respondet, hie tacet et solum ad- 
 juratione per Deum facta edicit quis sit; ibi nulla fertur 
 sententia, hie reus mortis declaratur. Unde, si numc 
 V. 24. legitur; et misit eum Annas etc., ex antecedenti- 
 bus omnino suadetur, hunc versum rite poni suo loco 
 et ordme, imo ipso suo loco rem clare definiri." To 
 consider this verse as a subsequent supplementary ad- 
 dition and to translate it thus: "Annas had sent him 
 bound to Caiphas the high-priest " is also improper for 
 the reason that, ui a principal sentence, the aorist is 
 never to be taken in the sense of the pluperfect. (See 
 Kn. loc. cit.) The apparent contradiction between the 
 other evangelists who speak of the three denials of Peter 
 as occurring in the courtyard of the palace of Caiphas, 
 and St. John, who mentions that the first denial hap- 
 pened in the courtyard of the house of Annas, is solved 
 by Father Knabenbauer, who clearly proves, from the 
 narration itself of St. John, that Annas and Caiphas 
 lived in the same house. For, while Christ was before 
 Caiphas (v. 25), Peter stood at the same fire and, con- 
 sequently, in the same courtyard where he had been 
 when Christ was before Annas (v. 18). St. John, 
 therefore, does not contradict the narratives of the 
 other evangelists, which state that the three denials 
 
438 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 took place in the courtyard of the palace of Caipnas, 
 but he rather completes them by showmg that the fii-st 
 denial took place while Christ was before Annas in the 
 house of C alphas. (Kn. p. 515 and 519.) 
 
 6. (page 90.) 
 
 Regarding the histoiy of the Sanhedrin or " Great 
 Council" which throws such a peculiar light upon the 
 trial of Christ, compare D. Bon. v. Haneberg's 
 Geschichte der bibl. Offenbarung (4th ed. Ratisbon 
 1876), Part VI, ch. 2, p. 435. It consisted formerly 
 of the chiefs of the tribes, of the priests and of men 
 of all tribes who were versed in the law. It had con- 
 tinued throughout the time of the judges and, accord- 
 ing to legendary data of the Rabbis, ever during the 
 time of the kings. According to the Rabbis the greater 
 number and the gTeatest of the prophets, such as Josue, 
 Samuel, Elias, Eliseus, Isaias etc. were presidents of the 
 Sanhedrin. At any rate the Great Comicil was re- 
 organized after the return of many priests and levites 
 under Esdras. Esdras himself belonged to it as also 
 did Aggeus, Zachary and Malachy. 
 
 7. (page 103.) 
 
 Cornelius a Lapide (St. Matthew, xxvi., 58), De la 
 Palma (ch. 11), and Maszl (Vol. III., [St. Mark, xiv., 
 66] Vol V. [St. John, xviii., 15-18]) do not believe that 
 the disciple who entered the courtyard of the high- 
 priest with St. Peter was St. John, but they think that it 
 was another, albeit a secret disciple of the Saviour; 
 that he was perhaps of noble lineage and acquainted 
 with Caiphas on account of his elevated position in life. 
 Cornelius a Lapide appeals especially to the Syrian 
 translation, "one of the other disciples." Opposed to 
 
NOTES 439 
 
 this, however, are the Greek editions of the Bible and 
 all the other translations, so that the text, " the other 
 disciple," stands unshaken. The Syrian translator 
 probably embodied his private view in the text. Now, 
 " the other disciple " is none other than St. John. He 
 alwaj's calls himself by this name. Later also, St. 
 John, XX., 2; xxi., 7, 20, and in the Acts of the Apostles, 
 John and Peter are continually found together. Like 
 Peter, John also entered the court of Caiphas without 
 thinking of any danger. John had less to fear for him- 
 self, as it seems that he was well thought of in the 
 house of the high-priest. But John did not for once 
 imagine that the entrance into that house would prove 
 ruinous to Peter whose attachment to the Redeemer 
 he well knew and who, a few hours before, had made 
 so many courageous protestations. John, however, was 
 more careful than Peter. He did not mingle among 
 the servants and converse with them; but he went into 
 the interior of the palace and contemplated his Saviour. 
 Furthei-more, it is very credible that he soon took his 
 departure to inform the Bl. Virgin of the beginning 
 of the trial. Cf. Dr. J. B. Holzammer, Handbuch zur 
 bibl. Gesehichte, II. (3d ed.), 354, note 1; J. B. Loh- 
 mann, S. J., Betrachtungen, I. (4th ed.), 265. 
 
 8. (page 133.) 
 
 Touching and beautiful is the accomplishment of the 
 ancient prophecies to which the evangelist refers when 
 mentioning the potter's field (St. Matth. xxvii., 9). The 
 prophetic words quoted by him are taken partly from 
 Zachary, xi., 12, and partly from Jeremias. The 
 evangelist, however, mentions only the latter, because 
 he furnishes the chief contents of the entire prophecy 
 quoted as one, namely, the potter's field and its sig- 
 
440 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 nifieance. The whole prophecy embraces three chief 
 points. 
 
 1. The prophet Zachary represents the Lord as a 
 good Shepherd expressing His indignation at the in- 
 gratitude of His flock for all the pastoral care lavished 
 upon it. But to see whether the sheep desired the 
 Shepherd's return or not and to make them reflect 
 upon the benefits bestowed by Him upon them, He 
 asks them to set a piice on His labors and to in- 
 demnify Him, if it appear right to them; otherwise 
 not to mind it. They thereupon pay Him, as a fair 
 price for years of love and care, thirty pieces of 
 silver, the price of a slave. For, according to the 
 law (Exod. xxi., 32), that was the price to be paid 
 to the master as an indemnity for a bond-man or a 
 bond-woman killed by an ox. His price shows con- 
 tempt for the shepherd and, at the same time, his 
 repudiation. He can be dispensed with, and his re- 
 moval is desired. Then God says to the shepherd, 
 "Cast it to the statuary (God, the Creator), a hand- 
 some price, that I was priced at by them. And the 
 shepherd took the thirty pieces of silver and cast 
 them into the house of the Lord to the statuary." 
 He also broke his second pastoral rod as he had broken 
 the first — he ceased to be their shepherd. The good 
 shepherd, then, who saw himself thus priced, throws 
 the insignificant sum contemptuously upon the ground 
 before God, the Lord of Israel, the Owner of the flock. 
 He did this in the Temple, for there the Lord dwells, 
 and he thereby appeals to the judgment of God. God 
 hears the appeal and the flock shall now be abandoned 
 to a bad shepherd. All this the evangelist now sees 
 accomplished: the people have renounced the Mes- 
 sias by appreciating Him at thirty pieces of silver, 
 and they have thus passed judgment upon themselves. 
 
NOTES 441 
 
 The evangelist mentions the fulfillment of this proph- 
 ecy now, when he is about to narrate how the Jews 
 delivered the Redeemer unto Pilate, the heathen. 
 
 2. But the betrayal of Judas, the appreciation of 
 the shepherd by the flock at thirty pieces of silver, the 
 moment, therefore, when the rejection of Israel seems 
 to be accomplished, has as a sequel the guaranty that 
 mercy shall not always keep her face turned away 
 from Israel. And this guaranty is found in the 
 "field of blood," in the potter's field. Whilst the 
 siege of the Chaldeans renders Jerusalem hopeless and 
 makes the people stand aghast at their destruction; 
 whilst the prophet Jeremias, himself a type of the 
 suffering Saviour in his abandonment and nudity, is 
 serving in prison for his prophecies; the word of 
 God comes to him to buy, in Jehovah's name, a field 
 in that land "whereof they say that it is desolate, 
 because there remaineth neither man nor beast and 
 it is given into the hands of the enemy" (Jerem. xxxii., 
 43). The prophet obeys. The contract is closed with 
 proper seals and deed, and the price of the field is 
 paid. According to the will of God this field is to 
 be a pledge that the nation shall be re-established, 
 that it shall return and retake possession of the land. 
 Wherefore the field is not the property of the prophet, 
 but it was bought in the name and as the property of 
 God. 
 
 But it is not so much temporal re-establishment, nor 
 recuperation of external goods, nor political resto- 
 ration, which are promised here. The purchase of the 
 field is rather the pledge of a higher, spiritual resto- 
 ration, of Messianic Salvation, of a new, eternal testa- 
 ment, of a new kingdom of God upon earth to be 
 established by the death of the Redeemer. Neither ex- 
 ternal power nor earthly splendor should characterize 
 
442 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 this restoration, but rather sanctity, concord and 
 love. (See Jerem. ch. xxxii. and xxxiii. ; and also the 
 beautiful description of the Messianic kingdom ac- 
 cording to the sayings of the prophets in J. Kjiaben- 
 bauer, S. J., [Comment, in Prophet. Mm. II., p. 160- 
 168 anent Sophonias, III, 9-13].) 
 
 The fulfillment of this prophecy is the last act per- 
 formed by the high-priests of Israel. In the name 
 of the temple, that is, of Jehovah's dwellmg therein, 
 they buy the potter's field. They buy it with the money 
 donated to the temple, with the price earned with the 
 life and blood of the Messias, the good Shepherd; they 
 buy it for the ridiculous price of thirty pieces of 
 silver, by means of which He has appealed to the God 
 of Israel and which, in the temple. He has laid at 
 the feet of the Lord, the " statuaiy " of Israel. 
 
 3. In the fact that it was the field of a potter which 
 was bought with the blood-money, the evangelist sees 
 no fortuitous event, but he leholds again the fulfill- 
 ment of a glorious prophecy. For according to 
 Zachary the good shepherd sigTiificantly casts the thirty 
 pieces of silver before the "potter'' in the temple, that 
 is to say before the Lord who, in a special manner, is 
 the "statuary" of Israel. He is not only its Creator 
 as He is the Creator of all nations, but in an incom- 
 parably more intimate manner by especial favor and 
 through the inventive power of His love. He is its 
 artistic, modelling Statuary, its Potter. With particu- 
 lar development of details, the prophet Jeremias also 
 (ch. x\dii., and xix.,) represents God to His people as a 
 Potter, and in the name of the Lord, before the eyes of 
 the representatives of the people, he breaks a vessel of 
 clay to make known that as the potter breaks his vessel, 
 so God will destroy the people and the city. But what 
 the prophet already here (Jerem. xviii., 4) indicates. 
 
NOTES 443 
 
 that, uamely, from the broken vessel the potter will 
 form another more pleasing to his eyes, he also ex- 
 pressly promises (xxxiii., 2) when, as a pledge of the 
 fulfillment of his promise, he offers the field bought by 
 himsrslf for the Lord, the Statuary of Israel. By the 
 bringing;;' in oZ the name of "Potter," the same old 
 promise- cZ t. higher, cpiritual restoration of the old 
 testamen'^ fallen in ruins is repeated under another 
 figure, at least by way of intimation. The purchase of 
 the field in the ncma of God and with God's money (the 
 blood-money of the Messias) is the guaranty that now 
 the time lias arrived when this prophecy is to be fulfilled 
 and that the potter i3 to remodel gloriously the broken 
 vessel. And this is what is remarkable in the fulfill- 
 ment of the prophecy and what the evangelist wishes to 
 bring out in relief — the field bought by the chief - 
 priests in the name of the Lord of the temple, is the 
 "field of a potter J' 
 
 Thus the evangelist has seen three prophecies ac- 
 complished simultaneously in the purchase of the pot- 
 ter's field, and he has therefore abridged them into 
 one: The God of Israel with Whose money, earned hy 
 the blood of the Messias, the field is purchased, thereby 
 becomes the owner of the potter's field. He is Him- 
 self the Potter who at this moment rejects His people, 
 as His people has just now rejected its Shepherd; but 
 Who, exactly through the purchase of this field de- 
 clares that He, the same Potter, will remodel the clay 
 in His hands into a new, successful and pleasing form. 
 Compare Dr. J. Grimm, Die Einheit der vier Evange- 
 lien, pp. 715-724, and J. Knabenbauer, S. J., Com- 
 mentarius in Prophet. Min. II, 351 sq. 
 
444 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 P. (page 138 and 232.) 
 
 As it appears veiy probable from the work Hist. 
 Revelationis Divinae N. T. (p. 234 sqq.) of J. Danko, 
 who cites the names of many celebrated authors (p. 
 241) in support of his opinion, the Jews, after their 
 return from the Babylonian captivity, or at least for 
 a long time before the death of Christ, were wont to 
 transfer the feast of the Passover to the Sabbath when- 
 ever it fell on a Friday. This was done in order that 
 there might not be two successive days on which servile 
 labor was forbidden. On the Sabbath and on the feast 
 of reconciliation they were not allowed to work, not 
 even to light a fire. For, considering tho strictness 
 with which the pharisees observ^ed their feast-^. and Sab- 
 baths, two such days in succession would have caused 
 much annoyance; wherefore, on this point, fiey were 
 more excusable than many Christians of our day who 
 have a dread for ecclesiastical feasts. Such a case oc- 
 curred in the year of Christ's death, for v/hich reason 
 the Jews ate the paschal lamb on Friday evering. But 
 the Lord, who had come to " fulfill the law," held 
 strictly to the requirements of the Mosaic law (Num- 
 bers ix., 12), and therefore ate the paschal lamb on 
 Thursday evening after sundown, at the time when, ac- 
 cording to the intimation of the evangelists (St. Luhc, 
 xxii., 7, St. Mark, xiv., 12), it should be slain, and when 
 in olden times, the Jews actually did slay it. Thus, 
 the indication of days as we find it in St. John, is 
 easily explained. At the same time, by means of this 
 fact, Divine Providence so an-anged it that Christ 
 brought about the realization of the types of the Bl. 
 Sacrament as well as of His Sacrifice on the Cross on 
 the same days on which these types were being cele- 
 brated m. Jerusalem. He established the Bl. Eucharist 
 
NOTES 445 
 
 in the hour in which, according to law, the paschal 
 lamb should be eaten. (Thursday evenmg.) And at 
 the hour when the true Lamb of God was taken down 
 dead from the Cross (Friday evenuig), the Jews were 
 engaged in slaymg their paschal lamb. Their work, 
 of course, was for nothing and too late, as Christ by 
 His sacrificial death had already put an end to all the 
 sacrifices of the law. Cf. Maldon. in Matth. cap. 26, 
 Dr. J. Grimm, Die Einheit der vier Evangelien, p. 756 
 sqq. 
 
 10. (page 143.) 
 
 If one, however, lean to the first mentioned albeit 
 more improbable opmion, that Pilate, to rid himself of 
 the affair, actually allowed the chief-priests to execute 
 the death-warrant without his previous investigation, 
 then their words evidently cannot have the meaning 
 that it was beyond their competency. For Pilate then 
 would have given them permission. Neither would 
 they say. " We may not do it to-day on account 
 of the feast of the Passover," because the feast began 
 only on that evening. Neither could the sense be : " We 
 are not permitted to crucify any one. You can stone 
 him, or decapitate him, or bum him, or hang him to a 
 gallows." 
 
 Some interpreters who follow this explanation are 
 of the opinion that the words of the chief-priests con- 
 tam a refusal to make use of the granted permission, 
 as though the Jews said, " Either give us back, Pilate, 
 all our rights and our judiciaiy powers in their fullest 
 extent, or you may keep full charge of this particular 
 case also. We shall not touch it. Either everything 
 or nothing." But they spoke thus with the secret pur- 
 pose of forcing crucifixion upon Christ through Pilate. 
 Other interpreters, however, declare the sense of these 
 
446 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 words to be as follows; "We are not permitted to put 
 Him to death^ that is to-day, because according to our 
 law, the execution must always be relegated to the day 
 following the passing of the judgment. And to pre- 
 vent Pilate from objectmg, "What need is there of 
 hurry? TMiy do you not wait with the execution until 
 after the Paschal days?" they organized the monster 
 massing of the people to give Pilate to understand that 
 here was a case which brooked no delay, a death-sen- 
 tence which he must make his soldiers execute without 
 any further postponement. 
 
 In our explanation we have, from the very begin- 
 ning (chap, xi., page 153), taken the standpoint that the 
 Sanhedrin had power only to impose small penalties. 
 A few commentators, however, think that, mider the 
 governors also, the Sanhediin had the right to impose 
 one of the four death-penalties mentioned above with- 
 out the governor's permission, at least when there was 
 question of crimes committed against religion and the 
 Mosaic law. In this ease, the last two explanations 
 would be well established. The sense of Pilate's words 
 then would be : " We Romans are not accustomed to 
 condemn any one to death without a formal trial merely 
 to please somebody. Now, if you have investigated the 
 matter and found Christ guilty, and if you refuse to 
 even lay before me the points of the accusation, why, 
 then go and do what the law allows you. For my 
 part, I will not meddle with it." Then the chief -priests' 
 answer was either: We will not (with the intention of 
 bringmg Christ to the death of the Cross) or; we may 
 not (meaning to-day). 
 
 ^ 11. (page 183.) 
 
 All that Flavius Josephus reports of Pilate is his re- 
 moval m the year 36, on account of a slaughter of 
 
NOTES 447 
 
 Samaritans on Mount Garizim (Antiq. 18, 4, 2). 
 Eusebius (H. e. II, 7) speaks of his suicide and cites 
 pagan authors. Some apociyphal writers say that he 
 died converted, while others claim that he committed 
 suicide in Rome. Ado of Vienne (f 875) is the first 
 to narrate that Pilate was banished for life to Vienne 
 and that the anger of the emperor C. Caligula terror- 
 ized him to such an extent that he stabbed himself to 
 death. Cf. Chronic. 4840 (Migne P. L. CXXIII, 77). 
 According to the chronicle of Malala, he was beheaded 
 at Rome under the reign of Nero. There are many 
 other tales and legends anent his person and his de- 
 mise. 
 
 The gospel does not mention the name of Pilate's 
 wife, but in tradition (in Evangelium Nicodemi, 
 Nicephorus [H. e. I, 30] and by Malala) she is called 
 Claudia Procula. According to the legend, she was a 
 Jewish proselyte, as was often the case with Roman 
 women. She is said to have been a secret disciple of 
 Jesus. It is also mentioned by Origen (in Matth.), by 
 St. Chrysostom and by St. Hilaiy that she later on be- 
 came a Christian. In the Greek menology, she is ven- 
 erated as a saint on the 27th day of October. 
 
 12. (page 225.) 
 
 Not a few interpreters understand the words of Christ 
 (St. John, xix., 11): "He that hath delivered me to 
 thee, hath the greater sin," to mean that He declared 
 the sin of Caiphas (the Great Council) to be greater 
 than that of Pilate. "Because thou, as judge, hast re- 
 ceived from God especial power, thine is mdeed a great 
 sin if thou judgest not rightly. But to Caiphas no 
 power has been given over me. He has unjustly ar- 
 rogated to himself power over me, and he has also de- 
 
448 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 livered me to thee impelled, as he was, by envy and 
 hatred. Therefore his sin is greater than thine, if, 
 from human respect, thou abusest thy power and con- 
 demnest me notwithstanding my innocence." The re- 
 ligious authorities among the Jews who maliciously sur- 
 rendered to the pagan governor Him who claimed to 
 be the Messias and by intimidation forced the gov- 
 ernor to abuse his authority, were evidently guilty of a 
 greater crime than the judge of weak character, who 
 could not escape the functions of his position. 
 
 Father Knabenbauer, S. J., in his Comm. in Joan, 
 (p. 533) prefers the foregoing opinion to all others, 
 and he solves well the difficulty which the word 
 " propterea " has prepared for many interpreters. As 
 in other matters, we should also in this gladly have 
 adopted the opinion of this excellent interpreter, if 
 there were not one difficulty m our way. For it ap- 
 pears to us to be against practical prudence, even 
 against common sense, to insinuate, by way of con- 
 solation as it were, to a man whom one wishes to 
 caution against crime, that, even if he commit the 
 crime, he shall not be worse, but rather better than he 
 who misled him. "Would that be really a warning 
 against crime? Would it not rather be an encourage- 
 ment to it? Now Christ, at this moment, wished noth- 
 ing else than to warn Pilate, earnestly and impressively, 
 against judicial murder, and, for the time being, this 
 warning did not miss its effect. 
 
 We cannot understand what, under the existing cir- 
 cumstances, could have induced the Saviour to speak 
 to Pilate of the greater sin of Caiphas. Therefore, for 
 the present, we stand by our former interpretation, 
 which we have taken from Toletus (in Joan. 19, 11), 
 without, however, wishing to hinder anyone from adopt- 
 uig the opinion of Fr. Knabenbauer. 
 
NOTES 449 
 
 The opinion of a few that Christ compared the sin 
 of Pilate with that of Judas, does not need a refuta- 
 tion. To betray and to deliver are two different acts. 
 Judas neither executed nor intended the delivering of 
 the Redeemer unto Pilate. He neither foresaw nor did 
 he anticipate it. 
 
 13. (page 248,) 
 
 According to Genesis, xxii., 14, the mount on which 
 Abraham was about to immolate his son, was Mount 
 Moriah, the later site of the Jewish temple. On this 
 occasion the mount was first hallowed, as well through 
 the figure of the intended sacrifice, as by the fact that 
 to the heroic devotion of faith which the patriarch 
 here showed there were attached the great promises for 
 his progeny. (Haneberg, Gesch. der bibl. Offenb. [4th 
 ed.] p. 52.) NoAV the tribunal of Pilate was situated 
 on the south side of the fortress Antonia which occu- 
 pied the northwest corner of the temple court. The 
 place of execution was just above the court-yard of 
 the temple ( Schegg-Haneberg, Evang. nach Johannes 
 II, 441 sqq.). According to Sepp (Leben Jesu, VI, 
 194) Pilate did not have his court-room m the fortress 
 Antonia, on Moriah, but in the royal palace of the 
 Herodians, and thus Christ would have been sentenced 
 on Sion, before the castle of David to which the palace 
 of the Herodians was contiguous. Sepp and Tobler, 
 therefore, locate the begmning of the Way of the Cross 
 on Sion. But this opinion seems to have been success- 
 fully opposed by Sehegg, Holzammer and others. The 
 opinion of Sehegg is, furthermore, entirely favored by 
 the original local traditions of Palestine, accordmg to 
 which the Way of the Cross began on Moriah, in the 
 vicinity of the temple of Solomon. 
 
450 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 14. (page 250.) 
 
 Our description differs from the order followed in 
 the devotion of the Way of Cross only in so far as the 
 three falls of the Redeemer are coucemed. It seems to be 
 beyond a doubt that Christ had fallen the third time 
 before Simon relieved Him of the Cross. Perhaps it 
 was to avoid monotony that in the devotion of the Way 
 of the Cross the meditations on the triple fall were 
 separated by the introduction of other mysteries. The 
 present Way of the Cross in Jerusalem, that is, the 
 direction which it indicates, is undoubtedly correct, and 
 the five of the fourteen stations which commemorate 
 events not expressly mentioned in Holy Writ, are 
 based upon ancient and venerable traditions; but, for 
 all that, no one is bound to cling to the manner and 
 order of representation as found in the Way of the 
 Cross; to all of which Salmeron has already called at- 
 tention. 
 
 15. (page 259) 
 
 Without in any way prejudicing the matter under 
 consideration, one might abstract entirely from the 
 place where Simon, Veronica and the weeping women 
 met Christ. It is the almost unanimous opinion of in- 
 terpreters that Simon met the Redeemer outside the 
 city. As the lamentation of the pious women is men- 
 tioned by St. Luke immediately after Simon's meeting 
 with Christ, the women probably also met Him beyond 
 the city. According to our presentation of matters, 
 which agrees on this point with the devotion of the 
 Way of the Cross, the same may be said of Veronica, 
 who seemed to have been among the lamenting women. 
 According to others, she handed the kerchief to Christ 
 while He was still inside the walls of the city. On this 
 point certainty can no more be obtained. 
 
NOTES 451 
 
 16, (page 269.) 
 
 The ancient Greek interpreters of the Scriptures are 
 wont to distinguish between the "myrrh-wine" which, 
 according to St. Mark, Christ did not drink, and the 
 "gall-potion," which, as St. Matthew says, Christ tasted. 
 According to them, therefore, two different cups were 
 offered to Christ. This interpretation, improbable in 
 itself, arose mainly from an error in regard to the 
 scriptural text. The old Greek editions had instead 
 of the words, " wine with gall," the words very similar 
 in the Greek language, "vinegar with gall." It was 
 the object of St. Matthew to here put in relief the hu- 
 miliating treatment of Jesus as a criminal and, at the 
 same time, the fulfillment of the prophecy, " And they 
 gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave 
 me vinegar to drink." The second part of this text of 
 the psalm was fulfilled when, after the fifth word of 
 Christ on the Cross, vmegar was offered Him, but the 
 first part was fulfilled now. Thick liquids, such as 
 milk and the like, as also wine strongly mixed with 
 bitter herbs, can according to usage be called " food " 
 as well as "drink." 
 
 17, (page 270.) 
 
 It appears to be a thoroughly established fact that 
 when Christ was disrobed the loin-cloth was left Him. 
 Not only is the statement that the Romans attached 
 the condemned to the cross in a condition of entire 
 nudity ditficult to prove on account of the wide and 
 vaiying signification of the word "nudus," but, as 
 Sehegg correctly remarks, we are " justified in makmg 
 a difference between the cmcifixiou of a criminal, or a 
 common slave, and the cnicifixion of Jesus Christ." 
 Surely the pronounced dread of the Jews for complete 
 
452 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 nudity and the presence of the women at the cruci- 
 fixion are a guaranty that there remained to the Lord 
 in his denudation a covering for the loins. This is 
 also the teaching of the " Evangelium Nicodemi," which, 
 although apocryphal and of rather late origin, seems 
 to be supported in many of its paiis by ancient tra- 
 ditions. If some of the Holy Fathei's, thmking of sin- 
 ful Adam, let the second Adam die in complete naked- 
 ness, this mystical view of the matter has been op- 
 posed by another, just as full of meaning. In Exodus, 
 xxviii., 43, it is laid down as a " law forever " to the 
 priests to wear the linen hip gaiTaent at divine service. 
 And Christ, the Priest, was about to offer His sacrifice. 
 The loin-cloth of Christ is among the sacred objects 
 venerated at Aix-la-Chapelle. It is said that Charle- 
 magne brought it there. 
 
 18. (page 335.) 
 
 A few interpreters apply St. Luke, xxiii,, 36, to a 
 special occurrence which must have taken place not 
 after the fifth word, but before. In order to ridicule 
 Christ in His thirst, the soldiers, they say, offered Him 
 vinegar, without however letting Him have it, demand- 
 ing meanwhile that He help Himself. But most in- 
 terpreters apply St. Luke, xxiii., 36, to the scene of 
 humiliation described by St. Matthew and by St. Mark 
 after the fifth word. The description given of the 
 mockery of Christ on the part of the soldiere, seems 
 to be the most simple and natural adjustment of the 
 narratives of St. Matthew, xxvii., 49, St. Mark, xv., 36, 
 and of St. Luke, xxiii., 36. For it will not do to de- 
 clare the words of St. Matthew and of St. Mark to be 
 wholly identical. Nor is there anything which justi- 
 fies the assumption that the soldier offering the vine- 
 
NOTES 453 
 
 gar was better disposed than the others and that he 
 deprecated their derisive language. St. Mark describes 
 him too plainly as a participant in the scene of hu- 
 miliation. Besides the sense already . given, the words 
 of the soldiers might have one of the following mean- 
 ings: a) cease your shouting lest Elias be deterred from 
 coming, b) Cease your cries and your mockery, other- . 
 wise your tormenting will hasten His death before the 
 aiTival of Elias, and He is already very weak as I can 
 see from close observation, c) Cease shouting and keep 
 quiet so that we may observe with undivided attention 
 how Elias will come to liberate Him. 
 
 Those who erroneously assume that the vinegar was 
 handed to the crucified to hasten their death add an- 
 other meaning: d) Let me hand Him the vinegar. 
 The greater the danger of death is, the sooner will 
 Elias come. This meaning is made more untenable by 
 the fact that " vinegar " is here "probably to be under- 
 stood as meaning a sour wine, prepared from the skins 
 of pressed grapes, which laborers were wont to drink, 
 or the so-called " posea," the drink of the soldiers, 
 which was composed of vuiegar, water and eggs. 
 
 19, (page 337.) 
 
 Isaias, lii., 15, describes the Messias as the Chief Priest 
 Who, after the consummation of the sacrifice, recon- 
 ciles all people by means of the sacrificial blood. He 
 also describes Him as a second Moses on the point of 
 establishing a new testament between God and man. 
 The prophet then, liii., 10, says in clear terms that this 
 Messias shall offer His own life as a propitiatoiy sacri- 
 fice. The force of these passages is beautifully shown 
 by J. Knabenbauer, S. J., Commentarius in Isaiam II, 
 319 sq.: cf. p. 308. Regarding Is., liii., 7, see ibid. p. 
 306, 307. 
 
454 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 20. (page 380,) 
 
 Three of the evangelists report the wonderful dark- 
 ness at the death of Christ, aiid they add that it ex- 
 isted " over the whole earth." Now it is not to be for- 
 gotten that the evangelists speak of the things which 
 occuiTed in Judea where they then were, according to 
 the direct knowledge of these thmgs and to the extent 
 of their knowledge of them. Therefore Origen, in 
 his commentary on St. Matthew, remarks that there is 
 nothing to hmder the opinion that the darkness extended 
 only over Jerusalem and its vicinity, or, at most, over 
 the whole of Judea, just as the tearing of the veil in 
 the temple, the quaking of the earth, the bursting of the 
 rocks and the opening of the graves are reported as 
 taking place in Jerusalem. The expression used by the 
 evangelists could then be translated, " over the whole 
 land," " over the whole region," just as is understood in 
 St. Luke, iv., 25, of the famine at the time of Elias 
 and in many other passages of Holy Writ. Origen 
 rightly remarks that, if this extraordinary event had 
 taken place over the entire earth, we ought to have in- 
 formation of it from other sources also. This ec- 
 clesiastical writer was aware, indeed, of the statement 
 of Phlegon of Tralles, a chronicler of the second 
 centuiy, who reports a solar eclipse in Bithynia and an 
 earthquake at Nicea, both occurring about the year 29 
 of our calendar. This testimony is produced by 
 Eusebius in his Chronicles, by St. Jerome in his trans- 
 lation of the last named work, and later on by a few 
 Greek chroniclers. However, Origen points out that 
 it is very uncertain whether or not Phlegon speaks of 
 the same eclipse as the evangelists, because he fails to 
 mention what was the most remarkable feature of it, 
 namely, that it occurred, against the laws of nature, at 
 
NOTES 455 
 
 the time of the full moon and that it lasted three hours. 
 He therefore warns against placing too much re- 
 liance upon it. And indeed Phlegon seems to speak of 
 a common, astronomical eclipse of the sun, and out- 
 side of the writers mentioned, hardly any Fathers of 
 the Church, apologists or Church historians appeal to 
 it. The statement of the Syrian Thallus which is men- 
 tioned, but not given verbatim, in a fragment extant of 
 Julius Africanus, is surrounded with so much obscurity 
 that one can conclude nothing from it \v^th any degree 
 of certainty. Several ancient ecclesiastical writers 
 knew Thallus and quoted passages from him, but 
 the very passage of such importance to them, is not 
 mentioned by any of them. They also leave us in the 
 dark regarding the personality of this writer and the 
 time when he lived. To judge by the expression used in 
 the fragment of Africanus, he also speaks of an astro- 
 nomical, solar eclipse. 
 
 It is however correct that about the year 200, in 
 proof of these miraculous events, TertuUian appealed 
 with all confidence to the official records in the 
 Roman archives. He undoubtedly had in view the re- 
 ports of Pilate concerning the execution of Christ and 
 the events in Palestine. With the knowledge he had 
 of the Roman archival system, he could rightly presup- 
 pose that they were yet extant, and probably he defi- 
 nitely knew of their existence. Very similar to the 
 words of TertuUian are the words which the ecclesias- 
 tical writer Rufinus, in his translation of the Church 
 History of Eusebius (1, IX, c. 6), makes the holy 
 martyr Lucian say about such records in the "Annals." 
 Unfortunately, we have no clue to the source from 
 which, almost 100 years after St. Lucian's death, 
 Rufinus drew forth this address, which had escaped 
 Eusebius, the contemporary of Lucian. All passages 
 
456 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 referred to here, as well as those which refer to these 
 wonderful occurrences in the works known under the 
 name of Dionysius the Areopagite, are grouped to- 
 gether in C. Baronius, Annal. Eccl. a. 34, n. 116. et 117. 
 
 St. Chrysostom and also Cornelius a Lapide believe, 
 however, that the darkness extended over the entire 
 hemisphere reached by the sun's rays, and they are fol- 
 lowed in this belief by many prominent Catholic in- 
 terpreters even to our own day. Regarding the other 
 occurrences in nature, they are of opinion that they 
 occurred over the whole earth. For the Lord of the 
 whole earth was concerned, and, in His behalf, all in- 
 animate nature arose to announce His death as the 
 most important occurrence for the whole world. 
 
 There are many surmises as to the manner in which 
 God's Omnipotence and Wisdom produced these phe- 
 nomena. But they are naught else but surmises. 
 
 21. (page 394.) 
 
 St. John does not say which side was struck by the 
 lance. The outflow of blood and water would of itself 
 indicate the left side where the heart is. The same con- 
 clusion might be drawn from the fact that the soldier, 
 standing opposite the cross with the spear in his right 
 hand, would most naturally strike at the left side. 
 Nevertheless, ancient tradition, frequent, authoritative 
 and clearly expressed, especially in the very ancient 
 Ethiopian translation of the Gospel, declares that it 
 was the right side. According to St. Bonaventure, the 
 stigmata of St. Francis showed the wound to be on the 
 right side. Moreover, the Church looks upon the tem- 
 ple, from the right side of which, according to the 
 vision of Ezechiel (xlvii., 1), the wonderful water 
 flowed, as a type of the body of the Lord, and ap- 
 
NOTES 457 
 
 plies the words of the prophet in this sense during the 
 paschal season. Most commentators therefore assume 
 that the blow was aimed at the right side whence the 
 point of the lance penetrated through the cavity of the 
 breast to the left side into the heart. 
 
 As to the question whether the outflow of blood and 
 water, considered in itself, indicates anything of a 
 miraculous nature, the following may be remarked: 
 
 1. Many holy Fathers and ancient interpreters con- 
 sider the flow of blood to be a miracle, for the reason 
 that soon after death the blood congeals or, to speak 
 more correctly, it decomposes into a liquid similar to 
 water and more solid clots of blood. Naturally then, 
 nothing else could flow out but the first mentioned 
 aqueous fluid which, although eontainmg minute white 
 corpuscles of blood, invisible to the naked eye, is how- 
 ever by no means blood. The outflow of liquid blood, 
 properly speaking, would therefore have been a miracle. 
 Modem medical science, however, disputes the fact of 
 such rapid decomposition. Jos. Bautz in the " Katho- 
 lik" of Mayence (1886, second half, p. 585 etc.) quotes 
 authorities who maintain that this decomposition only 
 begins four hours after death. Only one adds the re- 
 striction that, after a prolonged agony, the blood may 
 perhaps sometimes begin to coagulate at the moment of 
 death. Many physicians here whom I have lately con- 
 sulted regarding this question, have assured me that in 
 the human body the blood decomposes only in from 12 
 to 24 hours after death, and they supported their state- 
 ment with the authority of a noted physiologist of our 
 country (J. C. Dalton, A Treatise on Human Physi- 
 ology, sixth edition, Philadelphia, 1875, p. 263). Bautz 
 himself admits, at the end of his praiseworthy article, 
 that decomposition takes place a considerable time after 
 death. Now, if this be so, then the outpouiing and 
 
458 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 even llie copious outpouring of real, liquid blood can be 
 explained naturally, especially if the lance was with- 
 drawn with much force and quickness. Thus say the 
 physicians. 
 
 2. That real water flowed out of the side of Christ, 
 is beyond a doubt. Thus say St. Ambrose (Exposit. 
 Ev. St. Lucae 1, 10, 135), St. Cyril of Jerusalem 
 (catech. 13, 21), Origen (c. Cels.), St. Thomas (in 
 p. 3, q. 60, ai't. 4 ad 3 and q. 74 art. 7 ad 3), Salmeron 
 (1, 10 tr 45), Toletus and Cornelius a Lapide (John 
 19, 34), De la Palma (ch. 46) and others. Pope In- 
 nocent III. especially expressed himself \ery strongly 
 against the opinion that from the side of Christ there 
 issued not real water but " phlegma " (a thick mucus), 
 or humor aquatieus (a thin, aqueous fluid), (lib. 3 
 decret. tit. 41 de celebr. Miss. c. 8) : " Non aqaam, sed 
 humorem aquaticum mentiuntur exiisse." The above 
 cited authorities consider the outflow of real water to be 
 as manifest a miracle as the outflow of blood. Pope 
 Innocent III. had, indeed, not given a decision on this 
 question. He merely insists that it was not " humor 
 aquatieus " but " vera aqua " which issued from the 
 wound. But can the term " vera aqua," in the mean- 
 ing of the pope, be applied to the aqueous fluid, found 
 one hour after death in the pericardium, in the two 
 pleurae, etc. (in the right ventricle of the heart there 
 is then none as yet) ? Or is this fluid not what he calls 
 "humor aquatieus" ? In English, it is called fluid or 
 liquid, but not water. Let us conclude. If there was 
 " vera aqua " in sufficient quantity in the pericardium 
 and in the pleurae, which were pierced by the lance, a 
 miraculous act of God was required at most to effect 
 an abundant outflowing of the water. If real water 
 was not contained in those parts, then Pope Innocent 
 permits us to accept, with the above mentioned authori- 
 
. NOTES 459 
 
 ties, a miraculous secretion of real water from the 
 sacred body (the human body consists of 70% of real 
 water in divers forms and composites) — and even a 
 new creation, if needs be. 
 
 3. According to the opinion of physicians whom I 
 have consulted, the fact that St. John could distinguish 
 the blood from the water in a simultaneous outflow, 
 was a manifest miracle. Their opinion was that the 
 outflow should have appeared as one substance of the 
 same color. Father Suarez (p. 3 q. 51, disp. 41, sec. 
 1) is of the same mind, and just for this as well as for 
 other reasons, he asserts that at first blood and then 
 water flowed out of the wound, which, perhaps, can be 
 explained on natural grounds without the need of ad- 
 mitting a new miracle. Compare the article of Bautz, 
 quoted elsewhere, p. 592. 
 
 The opinion of the English physician, William Stroud, 
 (A Treatise on the Physical Cause of Death of Christ, 
 London 1847), that Christ died of a broken heart, which 
 opinion was adopted to some extent by physicians as 
 well as theologians in Germany, must be rejected on 
 theological grounds. For m this hypothesis, Christ 
 would not have been put to death by the Jews and His 
 death would degenerate from a freely willed sacrifice 
 to a mere natural process. It is only when organic 
 heart troubles pre-exist that heart rupture is occasioned 
 by violent emotions. But there can be no thought of 
 organic heart disease in Christ nor of any other bodily 
 ailment. Comp. article of Bautz, p. 588. 
 
 22. (page 410.) 
 
 Commonly the words of Isaias (xi., 10), "and his 
 sepulchre shall be glorious," are considered as a proph- 
 ecy regarding the burial of the Redeemer, especially 
 
460 HISTORY OF THE PASSION 
 
 as it is beyond a doubt that iii this passage there is 
 question of the Messias. This, however, is the idea 
 only of St. Jerome, who embodied it in his Latin 
 translation of the Bible. The Hebrew text has it, " the 
 people shall search for him (the glorified Messias) and 
 his repose shall be in glory." From this text one can 
 indeed conclude that also the place of His repose, the 
 place of His dwelling, as for instance, the temple of 
 the Old Law or the Christian Church, shall be par- 
 ticularly glorious, not to forget the sepulchre which, 
 under such extraordinaiy circumstances, He selected as 
 His especial dwellmg. All this can be deduced from 
 the words of the prophet but it is not directly expressed 
 by them. More beautiful and clear is the prediction 
 concerning the Saviour's sepulture by the same prophet 
 (Is., liii., 9). It is well dilated upon in the excellent 
 Commentarius in Isaiam Prophetam auctore J. Kna- 
 benbauer, S. J., Paris 1887, t. I, p. 1 sqq: t. II, p. 315 
 sq. 
 
 23. (page 417.) 
 
 Whilst Christ speaks in many passages of His resur- 
 rection on the third day (St. Matthew, xvi., 21; xvii., 
 22, XX., 19. St. Luke, ix., 22; xviii., 33. St. Mark, 
 x., 34), He only once uses the expression that He will 
 arise after three days (St. Mark, viii., 31) because in 
 this one passage He compares Himself to Jonas. Sim- 
 ilarly He says (St. Matth. xii., 40), again on accomit 
 of the comparison, that the Son of Man will be in the 
 heart of earth three days and three nights. Here, as 
 well as in other passages of Holy Writ, we must have 
 regard for the manner in which the Jews expressed 
 themselves. In determining a time, they were wont to 
 count entire days, months and years, if even only a 
 small part of them, either the beginning or the end, was 
 
NOTES 461 
 
 covered by the events spoken of. As Christ had so 
 often very definitely determined the time of His resur- 
 rection, there could be no doubt as to how this one pas- 
 sage ought to be understood. The words of this pas- 
 sage were incorrectly given by the false witnesses. In 
 a similar way, the latter quoted wrongly the words of 
 Christ declaring (St. John, ii., 19) that, after His 
 enemies had destroyed the temple of His body He would 
 raise it up again in three days, i. e., within the period 
 of three days or before the expiration of three days 
 (see St. Matth. xxvi., 61). 
 

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