/ SACRED PASSION
OF JESUS CHRIST
R. F. CLARKE S.J.

I

LONDON : CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY

For LENT and EASTER
Palm Sunday—Historical Notes
Palm Sunday Ceremonies
Good Friday Mass of the Presanctified
The Stations of the Cross by Cardinal
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The Stations of the Cross (Ulus.) : St. Alphonsus
Liguori
An Hour with Christ in His Passion
(for the Holy Hour)
The Precious Blood (Meditations)
Tenebrae for Good Friday Evening
Holy Saturday Morning Service
Easter Eve (The new Service of the Paschal
Vigil)
The Resurrection: By Dominic Devas O.F.M.

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The Sacred Passion of
Jesus Christ
Short Meditations for Every Day in Lent

By RICHARD F. CLARKE S.J.

LONDON
CATHOLIC

TRUTH

SOCIETY

2

HOW TO MEDITATE

Preliminary Meditation

How to Meditate on the Passion
St Bonaventure tells us that if we desire
to meditate with fruit on the Passion of
Jesus Christ, three conditions are necessary.
Our meditation must be:
1. Humble; for the Passion is unlike
anything else in the world; it is unfathomable
to human reason—a bottomless ocean of
mystery. Reason must bow its head and
confess its inability to grasp the mysteries
that even Faith sees only darkly and through
a glass. The story of Christ’s humiliation
is to the proud a sealed book; they see
nothing attractive in it. Christ suffering
has no beauty that they should admire
Him. I must therefore begin by praying
for humility.
2. Full of confidence; since the Passion is
the source of all our confidence. It is the

ON THE PASSION

3

proof of the exceeding love wherewith
Christ loved us. How can I fear, with the
sight before me of Christ suffering for love
of me?
It is, too, a medicine for every possible
evil, for every temptation, for every sin;
whatever the malady of my soul, the Passion
of Christ can cure it. At the foot of the Cross
each mortal wound will be made whole.
3. Persevering; the beauty of the Passion
does not appear all at once. The world
considers it a degradation, the careless and
the indifferent pass it by unmoved; even
the faithful Christian scarcely penetrates
beneath the surface of that divine mystery,
unless he prays earnestly and continually
to appreciate it, and frequently repeats
his meditations on each mystery of the
Passion. Only gradually and by degrees
are we drawn by the sacred attractiveness
of the Cross.

4

THE ANTICIPATION

1—Ash Wednesday
The Anticipation of the Passion
Read St Matthew xvi. 21; xvii. 21, ?2.

1. From the first moment of His
Incarnation our Blessed Lord had ever
before His eyes the prospect of His approach­
ing Agony and Death. It was present to
Him, not vaguely and uncertainly, like
pain and suffering to which men look
forward, but vividly and distinctly as at
tlie actual time when He suffered. Never
for a single moment was it absent from His
thoughts. 0 wondrous Love of our Incarnate
God, who thus employed His divine power
to protract His sufferings by this continual
prospect !
2. Yet in spite of this He was always
cheerful and full of brightness and joy of
heart. His coming Agony did not weigh

OF THE PASSION

5

Him down or depress Him. In spite of the
bitterness of the chalice, of the unspeakable
agony ever present to Him, no cloud over­
cast His brow, no weakness or dread was
manifest to His Apostles, no thought of
Self interfered with His perfect sympathy
for others. He was a pattern of divine
unselfishness; the unselfish always forget
their own troubles, and so can comfort
and help others.
3. But our Blessed Lord not only was
not cast down by the approaching Passion,
He actually longed for it. " I have a baptism
wherewith I am to be baptized, and how am
I straitened until it be accomplished ? ”
His love for men was such that He rejoiced
in the thought of suffering for us.
How
can I ever thank Him as I ought ? How
can I show my love for Him who loved
me with so great a love ?

6

THE PRELIMINARIES

2—First Thursday in Lent

The Preliminaries of the Passion

Read St Luke xxii. 1-6
1. During the first days of the week in
which He suffered, our Blessed Lord had
been teaching all day in the Temple. The
assembled crowd had cried “ Hosanna to
the Son of David: Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord.” It seemed
as if He were going to be acknowledged
by the voice of the people as the King of
Israel. How deceptive are appearances !
How often, when all seems going well and
the cause of Christ about to triumph, some
grievous disappointment is at hand !
2. Side by side with the enthusiasm of
the people grew the range and fury of the
chief priests and scribes. Why did they thus
hate Him who went about doing good ?

OF THE PASSION

7

In their selfishness and cupidity, they
feared lest He should interfere with their
influence, and they should thus lose their
position, their reputation, their gains. Pride
and self-love blinded their eyes, and made
them hate with a bitter hatred the Son of
God. Am I not sometimes blinded by like
feelings ? filled with unjust dislike of others
because they seem to interfere with my
influence or my personal interests ?
3. The chief priests had a great advantage
in the fact that in the little company that
surrounded Jesus there was a traitor.
Judas, impelled by avarice, had been first
a thief, and then had made overtures to
betray his Master. O fatal influence of
money to harden the heart of man ! How
careful must I be not to set my heart on
any earthly possessions, since nothing has
a more deadly power than this to separate
me from the love of Jesus !

8

THE SUPPER IN

3—First Friday in Lent

The Supper in Simon’s House
Read St Mark xiv. 3-11.

1. The supper in Simon’s house was
remarkable for St Mary Magdalene’s act
of devotion to our Divine Lord. She brought
an alabaster box of ointment of precious
spikenard, and poured it on His Head as
He sat at table. Her gift was very pleasing
to our Lord for three reasons: (a) she gave
of her best; (ά) she gave out of pure love;
(c) she gave in presence of the assembled
guests, fearlessly and knowing that men
would ridicule and blame her. Are the
gifts I give to God marked by generosity,
supernatural love, absence of all human
respect ?
2. Some of those present, instigated by
Judas, began to criticize what they regarded

simon’s house

9

as waste. They had indignation within
themselves and showed it in words. They
veiled their grumbling under show of charity
to the poor. This was very displeasing to
Jesus. He hates the spirit that finds fault
and criticizes and condemns, and all the
more when it hides itself under the cloak
of virtue. Yet is not this spirit strong in
me ?
3. Notice the gratitude of Jesus. A little
box of ointment poured on His Head earns
for the donor a commemoration of her
gift wherever the Gospel shall be preached
in the whole world. And not only this;
it obtains for her also many graces on earth
and great glory in Heaven. There is no one
who is so grateful as Jesus Christ: no one
who will reward with such divine generosity
everything done from love to Him. Nothing
will be forgotten, nothing is too small to
be noticed and richly recompensed by Him.

10

THE EATING OF

4—First Saturday in Lent

The Eating of the Paschal Lamb
Read St Luke xxii. 14-18.

Our Blessed Lord, before He suffered,
celebrated the Jewish rite which above
all the rest foreshadowed His own sacred
sufferings. The paschal lamb was an exact
type of Him, the Lamb of God who taketh
away the sins of the world.
1. The paschal lamb was the means
employed by Almighty God to deliver
His people from Egypt. It was the sprinkling
of its blood on the posts of the door which
caused the avenging angel to pass by and
leave the inmates unharmed. So the Blood
of Jesus Christ sprinkled on our souls, in
the Sacraments and when we make an act
of contrition, saves us from the vengeance
that would otherwise fall upon us. 0 Jesus !

THE PASCHAL LAMB

11

sprinkle me with one drop of Thy precious
Blood, and I shall be free from sin.
2.The paschal lamb had to be drained
of the last drop of its blood. So the Lamb
of God shed for us the last drop of His
precious Blood. He was not satisfied with
merely giving His life for us, but He must
needs endure all the intense agony, the
burning thirst which came of this draining
of His whole Body for love of us. How
can I ever thank Him as I ought ?
3. The lamb endures uncomplainingly.
It never murmurs against its lot, or struggles
against those who lead it here and there;
unlike the filthy swine, who grunt and
grumble at every attempt to control them.
None was ever so submissive as the Lamb
of God. “ Lo, I come to do Thy will, O
my God, I am content to do it.” Can I
echo these words ?

12

JESUS* DESIRE FOR

5—The First Sunday in Lent

Jesus’ Desire for His Sufferings
Read St Luke xii. 49, 50.
1. How are we to account for Christ’s
desire to suffer? Human nature shrinks
from suffering and dreads it, and none of
the sons of men was ever so sensitive as
He, or had sufferings to look forward to
in any way comparable to His. Yet in spite
of this, Christ longed for His sufferings.
O wondrous love, that not only suffered
for us, but longed for the time when His
Passion should come !
2. Was it the suffering in itself for which
Christ longed ? Impossible. It was for the
result of that suffering, for the joy that was
set before Him, that He endured the Cross
and despised the shame.
Even Christ
could not work without the prospect of

HIS SUFFERINGS

13

some reward. So we should encourage
ourselves with the thought of the glorious
recompense God will give to all who suffer
for Him, and who unite their sufferings
to the sacred sufferings of the Son of God.
3. But what sort of reward was that to
which the Son of God looked forward ?
It was no selfish reward. It was the pure,
unselfish joy of seeing others happy, of
knowing that by all He was to endure
millions of mankind would be freed from
the eternal misery of hell, and raised to
the eternal and unspeakable joy of the
Beatific Vision. He knew that it was by
sufferings that graces must be won for others.
This lesson, too, the saints learned from
their Master. How have I learned it ? Do
I recognize the necessity, the dignity, the
happiness of suffering ?

14

THE WASHING

6—Monday after the First Sunday in Lent

The Washing of the Feet
Read St John xiii. 2-20.

1. When the paschal supper was finished
our Lord rose from the table and laid aside
His upper garment; and girding Himself
with a towel, He filled a basin with water
and went round from one to another of the
Apostles, washing with His sacred Hands
the feet of each. This act was intended to
teach us the happiness of performing menial
services for those around us. To wait on
others, especially on our inferiors, for Christ’s
sake, is far more honourable than to be
waited on by them; to make ourselves
the servants of others is far more noble
than to be served by them. Is this the
principle on which I act ?
2. In this act were combined the two
virtues which are most prominent in our

OF THE FEET

15

Lord’s life on earth—charity and humility.
Charity takes a pleasure in everything
that promotes the happiness or the comfort
of our fellow men because they are the
brethren of Christ. Humility takes a pleasure
in whatever puts us in an inferior position.
How sadly wanting I am in these virtues !
I dislike charity if it costs me anything,
and I positively hate to be humbled, to be
despised by men.
3. Yet Christ’s words are true: “ The
disciple is not greater than his master.”
If our Divine Master was glorious in the
sight of the angels as he stooped to wash
the Apostles’ feet, our road to glory must
be by stooping, by ministering in all humility
to others. We never can be as great as our
Master. We must take care lest our selfish­
ness and pride place us in direct contrast
with the Son of God.

16

THE INSTITUTION OF

7—Tuesday after the First Sunday in Lent
The Institution of the Blessed Eucharist

Read St Luke xxii. 19, 20.
1. St Paul tells us with pointed emphasis
that it was on the very night in which He
was betrayed that our Lord instituted the
Mystery of Mysteries, the Sacrament of
His Love. It was worthy of His divine
generosity to choose the occasion when He
was to be outraged, insulted, betrayed,
scourged, and crucified, to invent this
wondrous Sacrament of Love. To forgive
is always generous, but what shall we say
of the generosity of One who not only
forgives the most horrible insults and
cruelty, but chooses the very day on which
He is to suffer them for giving to His
enemies a gift compared with which all
other gifts are small and insignificant—■

THE BLESSED EUCHARIST

17

a gift, too, which is none other than
Himself ?
2. What is the primary end of the
institution of the Blessed Eucharist ? Our
Lord Himself tells us in the words: “ Do
this in commemoration of Me.” It is for
the sake of putting us in mind of His Sacred
Passion that He gives Himself to us, and
that we, His Brethren, for whom He died,
may not forget Him. He loved us so dearly—
He loves us still so dearly—that He cannot
bear to be absent from our thoughts; and
for this end He invented this means of
representing His Passion to us as long as
the world should last.
3. But the Blessed Eucharist is more
than a commemoration of the Sacrifice on
the Cross. It is the same sacrifice: the same
Priest, the same Victim, only the manner of
offering changed. Christ is still mystically
slain each time Holy Mass is said.

18

THE FAREWELL

8—Wednesday after the First Sunday
in Lent
The Farewell Discourse of Jesus

Read St John xiv. 1-3, 27-31
1. Our Lord’s farewell to His Apostles
begins and ends with words of encourage­
ment. He knew the importance of courage
and confidence, and that without these
they would never do great things for God.
He knew, too, how liable all men Eire to
be discouraged and cast down when troubles
and trials arise; how hard it is to struggle
on when all seems dark around. To us as
well as to the Twelve He says: “ Let not
your heart be troubled: you believe in
God; believe also in Me.” Why do not we
believe more in Christ, trust Him more,
appeal more to Him in times of darkness?
He will always have a word of comfort for

DISCOURSE OF JESUS

19

us. " Let not your heart be troubled. I
go to prepare a place for you.”
2. Amid all the troubles that our Lord
foretells to His Apostles, He promises them
one gift that will enable them to rise above
all their difficulties and all their sorrows.
He promises to leave with them peace.
What gift in the world is there which is
like this ? If we are at peace, we can bid
defiance to all our foes; if we are not at
peace, we might be lords of the universe,
yet we should be miserable. No wonder
we pray in holy Mass, Dona nobis pacem
—Give us peace.
3.The peace our Lord promises is His
peace; “ My peace I give unto you.”
What sort of peace is this ? It is the peace
He enjoyed all through His life—the peace
of perfect union of His will with God’s. If
we are thus united to God by perfect
resignation, we too shall have unalterable
and eternal peace.

20

ON THE ROAD

θ—Thursday after the First Sunday in Lent
On the Road to Gethsemani

Read St Mark xiv. 26-34.
1. After singing one of the paschal hymns
our Lord and His Apostles went forth to
the Garden of Gethsemani. On the way a
strange sorrow spread over the countenance
of Jesus. His unfailing cheerfulness forsook
Him. His disciples wondered at the sudden
change. It was the shadow of His Sacred
Passion which fell upon Him, the beginning
of the black darkness which was to envelop
His Sacred Heart. When the shadow of
desolation falls on me, may I remember
Thee, O Lord, thus downcast on the road
to Gethsemani !
2. In mournful words our Lord addresses
the Apostles: “You will be scandalized
in My regard this night. You will all fly

TO GETHSEMANI

21

like cowards when the danger comes. One
of you will betray Me, another will deny
Me thrice, all will forsake Me.” How this
thought pierced with anguish the sensitive
Heart of Jesus ! Of all who for three years
had been His chosen friends and companions,
who had seen His miracles and listened
to His divine words, not one would be
found faithful. My God, how often have I
been found unfaithful to Thee !
3. At length our Lord’s bitter sorrow
breaks out in words still more mournful:
“ My soul is sorrowful even unto death.”
The darkness which was gathering round
Him was even then like the darkness of
death. He began to fear and to be very
heavy. He could hardly endure the misery
which even then began to fall on Him.
Pray for sympathy with Jesus, and the
power of appreciating a little the divine
love which undertook all this for your sake.

22

THE SACRED AGONY

10—Friday after the First Sunday in Lent

The Sacred Agony in the Garden

Read St Matthew xxvi. 30-40.
1. During the Agony in the Garden our
Lord anticipated all the coming agony of
His Passion. He allowed His human Soul
to feel in all its intensity each detail of the
unspeakable suffering that was now close
at hand.
Hitherto it had indeed been
distinctly present to Him, but now it seemed
to take possession of His own Soul. Now
it was mortal fear, resulting from a clear,
vivid realization of all that He had to
endure. When darkness invades our souls,
we should remember that none is like the
deep, black darkness that spread over the
Sacred Soul of Jesus.
2. What relief did Jesus seek in this
agony of terror that had come over Him ?

IN THE GARDEN

23

The relief of prayer. He knew that in all
desolation and distress the best plan, the
only plan, is to throw ourselves upon the
mercy of God. There is no imperfection
in asking to be delivered from something
that we can scarcely endure, whether
present agony or the anticipation of it,
else Christ would not have prayed: " My
Father, if it be possible, let this chalice
pass from Me ! ” In our darkest hours, we
can at least repeat these sacred words that
were spoken as a pattern to us.
3. Yet we must remember the conclusion
of the prayer, the act of resignation, which
leaves all in the hands of God. “ Not as
I will, but as Thou wilt ! ” These words,
spoken from our hearts, will always give
us strength to bear what seems unbearable,
and will take the bitterness out of our pains.

24

THE INTENSITY OF

11—Saturday after the First Sunday in Lent
The Intensity of the Sacred Agony

Read St Mark xiv. 32-42.
1.If it is difficult to suffer, it is far more
difficult to suffer willingly for those who
show no gratitude in return for what we
endure for them. But most difficult, nay,
impossible, save to one who shares the
divine Charity of the Son of God, to suffer
for those who requite love with hatred,
the favours won for them by outrages and
insults. It was this that crushed to the
earth the Son of God. Alas ! how ungrate­
ful I am to Him !
2.During His Sacred Agony He took
upon Himself the sins of the whole world.
Not in a general way, but individually,
so that each and every sin, from the first
sin of Adam to the last that shall be com­
mitted on the eve of the Judgement, was

THE SACRED AGONY

25

present before Him: and not only present,
but each added its own pang. The great
black cloud which passed before His Soul,
contained each sin of each individual man,
woman, and child, and Christ suffered for each.
What a frightful thing it must be to commit
deliberately even the least sin, if thereby we
add fresh pain to the Agony of Jesus !
3. It was in this way that “ He was made
sin for us,” i.e., He identified Himself with
sin as far as it was possible for the
Immaculate Lamb of God. He took upon
Him all the effects of sin except those
which necessarily belong to him who is
guilty of the act of sin. All the darkness,
all the gloom, the despondency, the loss
of God, the feeling of hopelessness, the
terror, which arise from sin, inundated
His Sacred Soul. Thus it was that He saved
me from the punishment my sins deserved.
O my Jesus ! how can I ever thank Thee
as I ought ?

26

THE HELP FOR THE SAINTS

12—The Second Sunday in Lent
The Help for the Saints in the Sacred Agony

iRead St Matthew xxvi. 40-44.

1. Our Blessed Lord was not satisfied
with taking upon Himself the sins of the
world; in His divine mercy and compassion
He added to this a further sacrifice of
Himself.
He also took upon Himself all
the sufferings of the just, and especially
all that His saints and martyrs would have
to suffer for Him. He endured beforehand
the thousand forms of agony to which they
would be subjected for His sake. Not only
would He in His love and mercy redeem
them, but “ He bore their infirmities and
carried their sorrows.”
What sufficient
thanks can we show to Him for His
unbounded goodness ?
2. This it is which enabled the martyrs
to despise their torments, and made the

IN THE SACRED AGONY

27

Apostles rejoice to suffer shame for His
sake. This it is which makes tolerable
anguish which otherwise would be intoler­
able, for if it be borne patiently for love of
Christ, He has already in Himself, if not
exhausted its bitterness, at least taken the
main part of it on Himself. Every pang,
every struggle, every throb of agony which
should fall to the lot of His servants till
the end of the world, He made His own
for their relief.
3. For this reason we are taught to unite
our sufferings with those of our Lord;
for what else does this mean except that
He desires to share them with us? In point
of fact, the more we do, the more we bear
our troubles with a supernatural motive,
the lighter they will become, or rather the
greater will be our power and willingness to
bear them. I will be more resigned, more
patient, for Christ’s sake; to Him I will offer
all my sufferings and unite them to His.

28

THE CONSOLATIONS OF

13—Monday after the Second Sunday in Lent

The Consolations of the Sacred Agony
Read St Luke xxii. 40-46.

1. No words can tell, no human heart
can conceive, the intensity of the Sacred
Agony of Jesus. It would have crushed
Him out of His very life had He not by
means of His Divinity supported His Sacred
Humanity, and so enabled it to suffer more.
See Him pale, haggard, scarce to be recog­
nized in His abasement and His terror !
See the sweat of blood pouring from His
Sacred Limbs ! Can this be the well-beloved
Son of God ? My God, make me more
contrite at the thought that I have taken
part in bringing Thee to this.
2. But He was not without consolation
in His Agony. An angel was sent to comfort
Him, to present before His vision the
innumerable company of the saints won by

THE SACRED AGONY

29

His Precious Blood. He saw their joy and
happiness to be won by His Sacred Passion,
by the labour of His Soul, and seeing it
He was satisfied to bear it all. O pure,
unselfish joy! O joy surpassing all other
joys! The joy of seeing others happy was
the promised reward which supported
Jesus in His Agony.
3. But He had a still greater and stronger
support than this. He beheld the honour
and glory that would accrue to His Eternal
Father. He saw that all the glory God
would reap from His works would be as
nothing in comparison with this greatest
work to be wrought by His Eternal Son,
and seeing this He was satisfied, and more
than satisfied. In the head of the Book
it is written of Him: “ Behold, I come to
do Thy will, O my God. I am content
to do it." Have I the glory of God at heart
as the first and foremost motive of my
actions ?

30

THE

SEQUEL OF

14—Tuesday after the Second Sunday in Lent

The Sequel of the Sacred Agony

Read St Mark xiv. 41, 42.
1. At length our Lord’s mental Agony
in the Garden was over ; He had accepted
the chalice which His Heavenly Father
had given Him to drink. Now He is no
longer sad and downcast, but He returns
to His Apostles full of vigour and courage.
He encounters His Passion almost with
eagerness. This is always the result of a
perfect submission to the will of God and
absolute confidence in Him. God will
always give us the courage to meet every
trial, and when the time comes He will impart
strength and force and light-heartedness
that make it easy to face the trial.
2. Yet this change has another cause.
It was won by prayer; or, rather, our

THE SACRED AGONY

31

Lord as our divine example imparted for
our sakes to His human nature grace such
as earnest prayer alone can obtain for men
from God. This is the secret of all spiritual
victories; all are won by persevering
prayer. Prayer changes the poor, timid,
frightened, shrinking soul to one brave and
courageous and ready to do great things
for God. Without prayer we are sure to
fail. Am I earnest in prayer ?
3. We observe, too, that it was not
merely prayer, but repeated prayer—the
same words over and over again, the same
entreaty to be spared, joined to the same
act of resignation. We sometimes say we
cannot pray, but at least we can repeat
over and over again some prayer for mercy
and for help. Our repetitions will be not
vain repetitions, but will bring certain
relief from Him who encourages us to
importunity in prayer.

32

THE

BETRAYAL

15—Wednesday after the Second Sunday in
Lent
The Betrayal of Jesus

Read St Matthew xxvi. 47-50.
1. As soon as Jesus had for the third
time roused the Apostles from their slumber,
the tramp of approaching soldiery is heard,
and presently a band is seen escorted by
the Pharisees and ancients, and headed by
one who acts as their guide. Who is it who
has pointed out Christ to His foes ? Alas !
it is none other than the traitor Judas;
one of the chosen Twelve who had lived
for three years in familiar intercourse with
Jesus, listened to His words of grace, seen
His acts of love and mercy. If Judas fell
so low, I too am in continual danger. How
awful a thing it would be if I too were to
turn traitor to Jesus !

OF JESUS

33

2. Our Lord does not shrink away from
Judas as we do from those who we think
have treated us ill. On the contrary, He
advances to meet him with words of friend­
ship, in spite of the deadly wrong He had
received. How is it we are so unforgiving,
so slow to make friendly advances, so ready
to wrap ourselves up in our offended dignity ?
It is because we are so ungenerous, so petty,
so mean, so unlike to Jesus.
3. Jesus still loved Judas, sought to win
Judas, strove by words of gentle remon­
strance to bring him to a sense of his
wickedness before it was too late. " Whereunto, friend, art thou come ? ” He calls
this miserable wretch His friend. Jesus
meant what He said; for He is the friend
of sinners, even the greatest. He then is
my friend, so why should I fear ?

34

THE APPREHENSION

16—Thursday after the Second Sunday in Lent
The Apprehension of Jesus

Read St John xviii. 2-11.
1. When Judas had given to his Master
the traitor’s kiss, our Lord, knowing that
His hour was come, boldly advanced to
meet His enemies, and told them that He
was Jesus of Nazareth. At this word they
went backward and fell to the ground. If
this was the result of our Lord’s presenting
Himself to them in His humiliation and
abasement, what will be the terror and dread
of sinners when He comes again in all His
glory ? O my God, grant that I may have
no sin upon my soul, no debt still to pay
when I appear before the judgement-seat of
Christ !
2. The soldiers then advanced to seize
Jesus. St Peter, with impetuous courage

OF JESUS

35

and loyalty, draws his sword and attacks
the servants of the High Priest, and in the
affray cuts off the ear of one of them. But
our Lord checks him, and bids him put up
his sword into the scabbard. His loyalty
was natural, not supernatural, and it did
not endure long in the face of danger.
Natural motives, however good, will not
serve the cause of God.
3. When our Lord was in the hands of
His enemies, all the Apostles forsook Him
and fled. Not one was found to remain
by His side in His abandonment. It was the
will of God that He should suffer alone.
“ I looked about and there was none to
help; I sought, and there was none to give
aid.” Christ then suffered alone, and He
can sympathize with that loneliness in
suffering which adds so much to its bitterness.

36

JESUS LED AWAY CAPTIVE

17—Friday after the Second Sunday in Lent
Jesus led away Captive

Read St John xviii. 12, 13.
1. The chief priests and Pharisees had
brought with them a coil of rope with which
they bound tightly the Sacred Hands of
Jesus, and He was led away like a lamb
going to the slaughter. This is the beginning
of the apparent powerlessness of Jesus.
He who before bid defiance to His enemies,
put them to the rout by word and work,
now seems unable to resist them, feeble
and helpless in their hands. Yet under this
apparent weakness was hidden a divine
force; nay, it was this very weakness
which was the means of conquering the
whole world.
2. The officers tied the Hands of Jesus,
so that He could no longer lay them upon

JESUS LED AWAY CAPTIVE

37

the sick and the afflicted, to heal their
diseases and their miseries. So we too tie
the Hands of Jesus by bands far more
fatal, in hindering His power to heal the
sickness of our soul. When we reject His
graces and turn a deaf ear to His counsel,
we render Him powerless to assist us;
He cannot bestow upon us the blessings
He delights to impart; our obstinacy has
tied His Hands, so that He cannot help
us as He would.
3. Often in our desire to work for others
we find our hands tied. Something hinders
our charitable designs; some hostile influ­
ence renders us apparently powerless. Our
prayers seem to avail nothing; our kind
acts are rejected; we seem to do the wrong
thing when trying our best to do what is
right. Yet we must not repine: we are
only treading in our Master’s steps. The very
suffering entailed in this is a sure means
of earning the graces we desire.

38

IN THE HOUSE

18_ Saturday after the Second Sunday in Lent

In the House of Annas

Read St John xviii. 19-24.
1. Try to picture the scene; watch the
persons, listen to their words, observe their
actions. Annas, a cunning, bitter, cynical
old man, delighted to find his enemy in
his power; the Pharisees crowding round
in eager excitement, the false witnesses
trying to concoct a plausible story, and
in the midst Jesus, sorrowful, bleeding,
exhausted, yet calm and full of dignity.
Hear the insulting questions of Annas,
the derisive cheers of the Pharisees, the
shouts of the mob, the firm, quiet, gentle
words of Jesus. See the angry, eager gestures
of the enemies of Christ, the assumed
indignation of the judge, the cruel blow
struck by the mailed hand of the soldier

OF ANNAS

39

on the Face of Jesus, causing the blood to
flow from His Sacred Mouth.
2. Christ received this blow upon His
Face to atone for our sins of the tongue,
for the wicked words, the censorious words,
the uncharitable words, the impure words
that too often proceed from our mouth.
Grant, O Lord, that I may remember Thee
suffering this cruel blow, and so may learn
to hate my sins of the tongue that inflicted
it upon Thee.
3. Our Lord desired to teach us another
lesson, viz., to bear with patience and
gentleness all outrage and unkindness, all
reproaches and ill-usage, and especially
such as we endure for His sake. “ Blessed
are ye,” He says, “ when men shall revile
you, and persecute you, and speak all that
is evil against you, untruly, for My sake.”
But we must take care to bear it for Christ's
sake, and for love of Him, if we would earn
the blessing.

40

IN THE PALACE

19—The Third Sunday in Lent
In the Palace of Caiaphas

Read St Mark xiv. 55-64.

1. From the house of Annas, Jesus was
dragged to the palace of Caiaphas, the High
Priest. Notice the bustle and activity that
prevail: the chief priests and council
searching everywhere for a show of evidence;
messengers sent to and fro; bribes offered,
all the most worthless summoned to testify
against Him. This is always the way: the
wicked so much more active in fighting
against God than the good in fighting in
His behalf. Our Lord’s disciples and friends
are doing nothing, while His enemies are
seeking to destroy Him. When I look at
myself, how little I have done, how little
I do now, for the interests of Jesus !
2. The false witnesses who came forward
had a certain show of truth. The words

OF CAIAPHAS

41

they quoted against Him were really spoken.
They had learned the ways of their master
the Devil; Satan, when he deceives, always
mixes up a large element of truth with his
deceits. This is why we should never argue
with him, for he can represent what is false
and unlawful as true and right, if once we
listen, by bringing into prominence the
element of truth it contains.
3. These false witnesses, in spite of their
cunning, could not agree together, but
contradicted one another. It is one of the
certain tests of error, that it is inconsistent
and self-contradictory; the city of confusion
and the home of strife always thus betrays
its imposture. Jarring discord is the mark
of the foes of Christ; peace and concord
are the privilege of those who are on His
side. How I should thank God that He has
caused me to dwell in the City of Truth,
the Church of the Living God !

42

THE CONDEMNATION

20—Monday after the Third Sunday in Lent
The Condemnation of Christ

Read St Mark xiv. 60-64.
1. In the midst of the false witnesses
and their lying testimony Jesus remains
silent. The High Priest, angry and impatient,
urges Him to reply: “ Answerest Thou
nothing to the things which these witnesses
allege against Thee ? ” Still Jesus answers
not a word. How different from our eager
anxiety to answer every accusation and
every word of blame ! How much better
if we could hold our peace after the example
of Jesus !
2. At length the High Priest rises and
asks a direct question; nay, he summons
Christ in the name of God to declare the
truth: “ I adjure Thee by the living God,
that Thou tell us if Thou be the Christ, the

OF CHRIST

43

Son of God.” Ordered by authority, Jesus
at once says: “ I am; and one day I shall
come in all the power of God that is now
entrusted to you as the High Priest of
God.” Another lesson for us. We must
obey authority even where he who carries
it shamefully abuses it; for those in
authority, like Caiaphas, speak in their
official capacity as in the place of God.
3. When Christ declares Himself to be
the Son of God, the High Priest and the
council rise indignantly to protest against
such blasphemy. In this they are the type
of modern heretics, who accuse the Church
of God and the Vicar of Christ of blasphem­
ously usurping divine prerogatives. Pride
and jealousy and self-love so blinded the
eyes of the Sanhedrin that they called good
evil, and evil good; condemned the Son of
God to death because He told them the
truth. My God, preserve me from ever
being thus blinded by sin !

44

st peter’s denial

21—Tuesday after the Third Sunday in Lent
St Peter’s Denial of Jesus

Read St Luke xxii. 55-62.
1. What was the secret of Peter’s miserable
fall ? He was brave and generous, and loved
our Lord dearly. Yet through human
respect and fear, he denied all knowledge
of Him. The reason why he fell was that
he trusted in himself and his natural qualities
instead of in God. In the spiritual warfare
natural courage and generosity avail not.
He who does not rely upon God alone is
sure to fall. When dangers are imminent
he loses heart, and then all goes wrong.
2. St Peter had not yet learned that
natural impulse as a motive of action is
sure to lead man astray. It never avails
before God. Its excellence, whatever it
may be, only avails in the things of this

OF JESUS

45

world, and even there it is a dangerous and
untrustworthy motive. In things divine
it is the road to ruiq. We must never be
led by impulse if we are to be safe. We
must do more; we must turn our thoughts
to God, and seek a divine impulse, an
inspiration from Heaven, if we are to remain
faithful and avoid frequent faults.
3. St Peter had neglected prayer. Our
Lord had expressly warned him to watch and
pray and he had allowed himself to sleep while
Christ was suffering His Sacred Agony.
True, he was weary and his eyes were heavy,
but still he could have made the attempt.
It might have seemed an unsatisfactory
prayer, yet it would have saved Peter
from his fall. He might have used vocal
prayers and repeated the same words, like
our Lord did. I earn from this that mere
struggle against heaviness is very pleasing
to God.

46

st peter’s repentance

22—Wednesday after the Third Sunday in Lent

St Peter’s Repentance

Read St Luke xxii. 55-62.
1. St Peter had thrice denied his Master,
and the third time with oaths and curses.
He was ashamed of Christ, afraid to own
himself a servant of Christ, and all because
of a woman’s jeering tongue. As I look
over my life, how many times there have
been when 1 have been faithless as Peter
was ! I have not boldly spoken out as I
ought. I have perhaps taken part in talk
hateful to my Lord and Master. I have
been ashamed to run counter to unchari­
table or evil conversation, though I knew
well enough that it was sinful.
2. After the third denial the cock crew,
and at the same time our Lord turned and
looked on Peter. It was at the moment
when He was being dragged from the

st peter’s repentance

47

tribunal to the servants’ room, amid the
jeers and mockery of the soldiers. All this
time St Peter had been present to His
thoughts, amid all the outrages and insults;
and not St Peter alone, but all who, though
not at heart disloyal, nevertheless fall
through weakness into sin. Remember me,
O Lord, when I am in danger of falling,
and when Satan desires to have me that he
may riddle me as wheat.
3. That look pierced the heart of St
Peter with a keen pang of shame and sorrow
and repentance. How could he have been
faithless to the Lord whom he loved, and
for whom he had joyfully given up all !
At once he made his way out of the hall,
and with tears of anguish begged for pardon.
Those tears were not unmixed with the
sweet consolation of knowing that he was
forgiven, and with a firm resolution not to
let this fall discourage him. Here is a model
for me when I have sinned.

48

JESUS IN THE GUARD-ROOM

23—Thursday after the Third Sunday in Lent

Jesus in the Guard-room of Caiaphas
Read St Luke xxii. 63-65.
1. After our Lord had been condemned
to death, the Sanhedrin rose, and He was
handed over for custody during the night
to the soldiers and servants, who, taking
the cue from their masters, treated their
prisoner with every kind of brutal ill-usage.
They tied a dirty rag over His Face, and
struck Him on the Face, challenging Him
at the same time to show His divine power
by saying the name of the striker. When
He was silent, they mocked and jeered at
Him, and at last they spat their filthy spittle
in His Sacred Face. O my Lord, King of
Heaven and earth, how couldst Thou suffer
Thy Divine Majesty to be outraged by these
wretches ?

,

OF CAIAPHAS

49

2. Yet our Lord was never more glorious
than in the midst of His degradation and
contempt. If at His baptism He was the
beloved Son of God in whom He was well
pleased, much more now. Each blow,
each gibe, each insult added to the glory
of His Sacred Humanity to all eternity.
Truly then does St Peter say: “ If you be
reproached for the name of Christ, you shall
be blessed.” Wisely did the Apostles count
it joy to suffer shame for His sake. My God,
I know it is so; but do I act on this principle,
and rejoice in the reproaches and contempt
that fall to my lot ?
3. What did Christ specially atone for
in the guard-room ? For all the filthy words
men speak, for all the obscene jests, for all
the mockery of holy things, for all the angry,
cruel, uncharitable words. Alas, my Jesus !
have I not taken part in these insults
poured upon Thee ?

50

JESUS IS DRAGGED

24—Friday after the Third Sunday in Lent

Jesus is dragged before Pilate
Read St Luke xxii. 66-70; xxiii. 1.
1. At daybreak the council assembled,
and Jesus was again brought before them
and questioned again. The sentence of
death passed the night before was con­
firmed. The whole multitude then hastened
to Pilate with their prisoner, that they
might obtain from the Roman governor
the ratification of the sentence which they
could not carry out themselves. They were
resolved to have His life—anything to be
rid of Him. How strange it seems that they
should so hate Him without a cause ! Yet
it is ever so; men who are proud and
covetous and selfish instinctively hate the
truth. This is why there prevails all over
the world such a deadly enmity to the
Church of Christ.

BEFORE PILATE

51

2. To wreak their vengeance, the Pharisees
and ancients were ready to rise with the sun.
How active men are in promoting worldly
interests and criminal designs ! So much
more active than in working for God and
for Heaven. Might I not contrive to rise
a little earlier or more punctually, so as
to do something to please our Lord before
I begin my ordinary work ? At least I
might think of Him, and offer my heart and
my life to Him !
3. The Jews actually delivered over one
of their own sacred nation to their enemies
and oppressors, the Romans. No means
are too base to get rid of their enemy. How
much unreasoning malice I have shown
against those whom I disliked or who
interfered with my selfish interests, perhaps
against those who are not only brethren
of Christ, but very dear to Him ?

52

judas’ repentance

25—Saturday after the Third Sunday in Lent

Judas’ Repentance
Read St Matthew xxvii. 3-16.

1. When Judas heard the unanimous
voice of the chief priests and ancients,
declaring that Jesus was guilty of death,
his soul was filled with a black remorse
that made his life intolerable. How he hated
the miserable pieces of silver for which he
had sold his Master ! How he hated himself !
The sweetness and gentleness of Christ
came vividly before him, and only added
to his misery. How bitterly he repented
his folly ! At least he would rid himself
of the accursed money, and declare his
guilt. But he had gone too far. He had
refused so often to listen to the voice of
Jesus that now his hardened heart
refused to melt. What a warning to all

judas’ repentance

53

who turn a deaf ear to the voice of con­
science !
2. Yet he might have been forgiven even
now if he had thrown himself at Jesus’
Feet, and begged for pardon. But this he
would not do. His repentance was a hope­
less, black remorse—no element of hope
or love or humble sorrow. It was the
repentance of the lost in Hell, who cry,
“ Fools that we were ” but yet will not,
cannot humble themselves to cry for mercy.
3. How miserable Judas had been from
the first ! Had those pilfered grains in
early days brought him solid satisfaction ?
Had he been happy when he sacrificed his
Master’s interests to his own ? Are we happy
when we knowingly prefer our own selfish
interests to those of Christ ? Sin and misery
are twin sisters. My God, may I never
wilfully betray Thy interests to my own
pleasure or gain !

54

JESUS BEFORE PILATE

26—The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Jesus before Pilate
Read St John xviii. 28-40.
1. Pilate was at first inclined to look
with contempt on the charge brought
against Christ of setting Himself up as King
of the Jews. But he soon changed his tone.
He was astonished at our Lord’s silence
and reserve. His calm dignity made a deep
impression on him. How few there are who
imitate Christ in this. Our babbling tongues
pour forth so many foolish and ill-considered
words. Learn of Jesus the dignity of timely
silence.
2. Yet Jesus spoke when occasion required.
He said enough to Pilate to convince him,
not only of His innocence, but of His claim
to be king. Pilate was half-inclined to
listen. He could not help recognizing in

JESUS BEFORE PILATE

55

some degree the divine beauty of the Son
of God amid all His humiliations. So the
Catholic Church manifests herself to the
world in a way that is sufficient to attract
men of goodwill. There are few who have
not the chance of recognizing her claims.
Her beauty even in her humiliations and
amid the sins of men shines forth as did the
beauty of her Divine Spouse.
3. Pilate’s long experience tells him
plainly enough that the Jews are all wrong
and Christ is right. His practised eye
detects the malice of the Jews, their hatred
of their victim, their selfishness and un­
scrupulous cruelty. He longs to release
Christ; he knows he ought to do so, but
he fears the Jews, lest he be reported as
favouring revolt. Human respect over­
comes his convictions, and he has not the
courage to set Jesus free. How fatal is
cowardice in things divine ?

56

JESUS BEFORE HEROD

27—Monday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Jesus before Herod
Read St Luke xxiii. 7-12.

1. When Pilate found that the Jews were
determined on the death of Jesus, he tried
to get rid of the responsibility by sending
Him to Herod. Herod rejoiced to see Him.
In his vanity he expected that our Lord
would be glad to conciliate him by per­
forming some miracle in his presence. Vain
expectation ! It is only for the humble
and pure of heart that our Lord works
miracles. Yet I expect Him to work for me,
proud and selfish as I am, miracles of grace,
to enable me easily to overcome long-rooted
faults, to attain a spirit of prayer and close
union with Him. How can I hope for this
while I am so full of the worldly spirit
of Herod ?

JESUS BEFORE HEROD

57

2. Our Lord was ready enough to speak
to Pilate, and even to Caiaphas; but for
Herod He had not a word. There is something
terrible in this silence in the presence of
the sensual, hardened reprobate. There is
something in a sensual life that shuts the
ears of men so that the whispers of grace
never seem to reach them. If I want our
Lord to speak to me, the first thing is to
see that I do not indulge my body inordi­
nately.
3. Herod was also the incarnation of
self-satisfied worldliness. He was munificent,
popular, successful; but he was hateful in
God’s sight, and rejected by Him, so that
our Lord showed an aversion to him that
He showed to none else. What a lesson
for us ! The reprobate Herod, surrounded
by flatterers and admirers; the Eternal
Wisdom of God dressed in a fool’s dress
and treated as an idiot !

58

BARABBAS OR JESUS ?

28—Tuesday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Barabbas or Jesus?
Read St Matthew xxvii. 15-22.

1. Before Pilate sent our Lord to Herod,
he had already sought to take occasion to
release Him from the custom of setting
free at the Pasch some notable prisoner.
In order to secure success he had proposed,
as an alternative, a noted murderer named
Barabbas. To his astonishment, the name
of Barabbas had at once been taken up by
the multitude. It was not that they loved
Barabbas, but they hated Christ. So
wretched men now choose what they know
is evil, simply because they hate God.
They cannot bear the idea of submission.
They long to get God out of the way, as
the Jews desired to be rid of Christ.
2. The multitude shouted for Barabbas
because the chief priests urged them to it.

BARABBAS OR JESUS ?

59

It was the rulers, the ancients, who were
the real murderers of Christ; the ignorant
mob did but follow their leaders. What
a responsibility it is to be in a position
of authority! What an account those who
rule will have to give of those subject to
them !
3. When Christ returned from the palace
of Herod, clad in the fool’s garment, Pilate
made one more attempt to get Him released.
It was a fresh compromise with his con­
science, and, like all such compromises, only
brought fresh insults on the Son of God.
Again the shout rose for Barabbas to be
set free, and Christ to be crucified. O Pilate !
why not listen to the whisper within you,
and set the Just Man free at any risk !
My God, save me from cowardly compro­
mises and dallying with conscience.

60

THE SCOURGING

29—Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday in
Lent

The Scourging

Read St Matthew xxvii. 27-30.
1. When the Jews had shouted for Barab­
bas, and threatened Pilate to denounce
him as disloyal to Rome if he released
Jesus, the Governor made one more attempt
to save the life of Christ. He ordered Him
to be severely scourged, hoping thereby to
move the pity of the Jews. Vain attempt
at a fresh compromise with his conscience !
Pilate only involved himself in a deeper
guilt, and Christ in a greater agony of
suffering. Nothing ever succeeds except a
bold, fearless obedience to God’s holy in­
spirations.
2. Our Lord is handed over to the scourgers, who strip Him naked and then begin

THE SCOURGING

61

their impious barbarity. Blow succeeds
blow from their many-lashed, iron-pointed
scourges. First His Sacred Flesh becomes
red and swollen under the stripes; then
the Blood begins to flow; then the iron
points lacerate and tear His delicate Body
until it is one great wound. Listen as He
piteously moans under the anguish ! See
Him masked in blood! O my Jesus, what
must be Thy love to endure this for me !
3. At length the executioners cut the
cords, and Christ falls heavily in a pool of
His own Blood. What has brought the
King of Heaven to this condition of abject
misery ? It is the sins of men, especially
the sinful indulgence of the body. It was
to atone for sins of luxury and impurity
and drunkenness that the spotless Lamb of
God was thus tortured. Alas ! how often
have I been indulgent to my body ! How
have I yielded to the cravings of sense !

62

THE CROWNING

30—Thursday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent

The Crowning with Thorns

Read St Mark xv. 16, 17.
1. Our Lord was covered with a scarlet
cloak and crowned with thorns as a tra­
vesty or caricature of worldly honour. He
desired to exhibit it in its true light. The
farce played by the soldiers was in truth
no farce, but a reality. It was intended
to show how empty and contemptible is all
earthly glory. It is worth no more than the
mock-respect of the ruffians who bowed
the knee by way of insult to Jesus. O Lord,
by that mockery of honour Thou didst
undergo, grant that I may esteem human
honour at its true value.
2. Watch the soldiers at their cruel sport.
The crown upon the Head of Jesus is plaited
of briars, whose long thorns pierce His

WITH THORNS

63

sacred Forehead as they press it down upon
Him; the drops of Blood and mingled tears
blind His Eyes. One by one they pass before
Him and bow the knee, and then, O shame !
they spit in His Sacred Face, that Face
before which angels and archangels fall in
prostrate homage. O Lord, in return for
those insults Thou didst endure, I will
always bow before Thee in the Blessed
Sacrament with reverent love and adoration;
I will seek to wipe the drops of Blood from
Thine Eyes by denying myself the free
indulgence of my senses even in lawful
things.
3. What were the sins for which Christ
specially atoned in the crowning with
thorns? Evil thoughts and imaginations,
uncharitable thoughts, proud thoughts, im­
pure thoughts. It was these rather than the
thorns which pierced His Sacred Head,
and filled His Eyes with tears of sorrow
and of blood.

64

ECCE HOMO

31—Friday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Ecee Homo

Read St John xix. 4-6.
1. The scourging and crowning with thorns
have brought the Son of God to a condition
pitiable to contemplate. We have seen Him,
and there is no sightliness in Him that we
should desire Him. Pity, contempt, horror,
disgust, indignation, are mingled in the
hearts of those who behold Him. He is
indeed a worm and not a man—He, the
fairest among ten thousand! He, the
sinless Lamb of God ! Oh how frightful
must sin be, if it can work such havoc
even in the Sacred Person of the Son of
God!
2. The sin that did this work, moreover,
was the sin of others, not His own. It was
something external to Him. He took it
indeed upon Himself, He was made sin

ECCE HOMO

65

for us, but sin was never His own as it was
ours. If it could so disfigure and degrade
the sinless Lamb of God when laid upon
Him from without, what must be the dis­
figurement and degradation sin works in
us, springing up as it does out of ourselves,
being a part of our sinful nature producing
its natural fruits ?
3. But was the Son of God really degraded
by all these consequences of sin ? On the
contrary, His Sacred Humanity had never
been so glorious or so worthy of honour as
it was then. If He was unsightly before men,
in the eyes of His Eternal Father He was
crowned with honour and glory. There is
nothing so pleasing to God as voluntary
self-abasement and humiliation, nothing
that brings so rich a recompense. How
foolish then am I when I seek to avoid
humiliation, and hate to be made like to
the Son of God by suffering contempt and
reproach from others !

66

THE CONDEMNATION

32—Saturday after the Fourth Sunday in
Lent
The Condemnation to Death
Read St Matthew xxvii. 24-26.

1. Pilate tries first one plan, then another
to avoid passing a sentence which he knew
to be unjust. One plan after another fails,
and now he is brought face to face with a
choice on which the salvation of his soul
may well depend. It was the turning-point
in his life: the grace of God urging him
on one side, and on the other the fear of
man. So in the life of each there is some
turning-point, some occasion when the choice
made will decide his future, both in
life and eternity. Unhappy those who in
such a moment choose as Pilate chose !
2. The motive that led Pilate to condemn
Jesus was the fear of man. He did not

TO DEATH

67

dare to face the consequences of doing his
duty. He trembled before the opinion of
others and the dread of losing his worldly
position and honour. To how many has the
same motive been a cause of eternal loss ?
Is it not one before which I have some­
times quailed, loving honour from men,
and failing in what I knew was the will of
God from a desire to please others ?
3. Pilate ordered the sentence to be
written out condemning Jesus to death,
and then deliberately signed it. But first
he washed his hands before the people,
declaring himself guiltless of the blood of
the Just Man that he condemned. O fruit­
less ceremony! He could not wash from
his soul the black stain of cowardice and of
treachery to his conscience. It is no use
doing ill and saying we did not mean it.
Such an evasion, like Pilate’s protest,
rather adds to than diminishes the sin.

68

JESUS SETS OUT

33—The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Jesus sets out on the Way to Calvary
Read St Matthew xxvii. 32.

1. It was not really Pilate who condem­
ned Jesus to death, says St Bernard, it
was His love for us. He had been longing
all His life through for that moment when
He was to carry out His Father’s will and
redeem the world by dying for us. He
knew that the divine mandate had gone
forth that without shedding of blood
there would be no remission. The voice
of Pilate, sentencing Him to death, was
but the expression of His own love for sin­
ners, and of His joyful acceptance of the
Cross for their sake. O Jesus, may I love
Thee in return for such love for me !
2. The Cross has been prepared before­
hand, and as soon as the sentence has been

ON THE WAY TO CALVARY

69

passed they bring it forward to be laid
upon the shoulders of their Victim. Jesus
takes the Cross, and kisses the instrument
of His agony as a welcome friend. He did
this not merely because He loved us and
therefore loved the Cross, but to teach us
to love our crosses, to accept them as gifts
from God. How can we dislike them when
they make us like to Jesus, and must be
borne after Him if we are ever to share
His joy in Heaven ?
3. On the shoulder of Jesus was a large,
open wound, scarcely covered by the gar­
ments thrown upon Him. The weight of
the Cross rested on this wound, causing
Him the most exquisite agony. It was by
this that He was earning for us patience
under our bodily sufferings. However keen,
they are nothing to what the Son of God
endured on His road to Calvary. Jesus,
grant me patience under my sufferings !

70

VIA DOLOROSA

34—Monday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent
Via Dolorosa

Read St Luke xxiii. 27-31.
1. Torn and bleeding, scarcely able to
sustain the heavy burden of the Cross, with
His long garment entangling His feet,
dragged on by the brutal soldiery, Jesus
treads the sacred Way of the Cross. After
going on a few steps He stumbles and falls;
rising with difficulty, He totters on a short
distance farther and falls again. O my
Lord and my God, I beseech Thee by
these Thy most painful falls, grant that I
may never again fall into deliberate sin.
2. On the way some women express their
grief and compassion with Jesus. His
appearance is so pitiable that they cannot
restrain their tears. Jesus turns to them,
tells them to weep, not for Him, but for

VIA DOLOROSzV

71

themselves and for their children. If sin
has wrought such a work of destruction in
the Son of God, in whom evil had nothing
to lay hold of, in whom the green wood
could be blackened externally but not con­
sumed by the flame, what would be its
effects on sinners in whom the fire of sin
rages as in the dry tinder ? How ought I
to fear the least spark of sin which may
kindle in me the fire of passion and destroy
me utterly !
3. One of those holy women, named
Veronica, with a handkerchief, wipes from
His Face the blood and sweat. On looking
at the handkerchief she sees the impression
of His Sacred Countenance stamped upon
it. So upon the hearts of all who do acts
of kindness for Christ’s sake there is im­
printed His likeness. Each deed of charity
tends to produce in our soul that likeness
to Him in which all holiness consists.

72

JESUS MEETS

35—Tuesday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Jesus Meets His Holy Mother
Read St Matthew xvi. 24-28.
1. Our Blessed Lady, under the inspira­
tion of the Holy Spirit, goes forth to meet
her Son as He drags Himself up the hill of
Calvary. With what horror and dismay
must she have been stricken through at the
sight of her darling Son and her God, His
divine beauty obliterated, mangled and
tom, covered with blood and filth, unsightly
and terrible to behold ! Heart-broken
anguish fills her soul, and we may well
believe that she would have died of sorrow
had she not been miraculously supported
by the power of God. O Mother of God!
obtain for me a share in thy grief and thy
intercession !
2. What a fresh pang of sorrow to the
gentle Heart of Jesus to see His Holy Mother,

HIS HOLY MOTHER

73

pale and haggard, come to share in His
Sacred Passion by her compassion ! None
so full of sympathy as He, none so full of
acute feeling for the woes of others. If
He compassionated the women on the way,
how much more His own Mother, whom
He loved far better than all the world beside !
0 Mary, obtain for me, a sinner, the sacred
compassion of Jesus!
3. Our Lady shared in the Passion of
Christ in a way in which none else could
—none even of the saints—simply because
she was sinless. She had not to suffer for
herself. She had no sin to expiate. This it
is which justifies us in giving her the title
of co-Redemptrix. She, too, who knew no
sin, was made sin for us. This earned for
her the privilege of sharing in all the agony
of the sinless Lamb of God.

74

SIMON OF CYRENE

36—Wednesday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent
Simon of Cyrene
Read St Mark xv. 21.

1. Our Blessed Lord falls again and
again beneath the weight of the Cross,
until it becomes evident to the soldiers
that He will never be able to drag it to the
place of execution. They accordingly lay
hold of a heathen passing by, Simon the
Cyrenian, and him they compel to carry
the Cross.
How little Simon knew the
happiness in store for him when those rough
soldiers seize him and force him to the igno­
minious task. How often we, too, fail to
recognize in the sudden disagreeables and
contradictions we encounter God’s wonder­
ful designs of mercy to us !
2. Simon at first bore the Cross surlily
and reluctantly, chafing under the hardship

SIMON OF CYRENE

75

inflicted on him. But as he carries it, an
unaccountable change comes over him.
It has the virtue to change his heart, and
to make of him a devoted follower of the
Crucified, one of the pillars of the Apostolic
Church. Thus many a cross that we carry
reluctantly turns out to be really the means
of our sanctification and salvation.
3. Before Simon arrives at the summit of
Calvary the Cross has endeared itself to
him. He has recognized that to carry it
for Jesus was no hardship, but a privilege
and a happiness. So, too, the saints learn
to love the Cross, to embrace it, to seek it,
to carry it with all joy, to be almost dis­
contented if they are without it. This is
the very height of peace and felicity; for
those who find their joy in the Cross, find
everywhere around them cause for rejoicing.

76

JESUS IS NAILED

37—Thursday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
Read St Luke xxiii. 32-34.

1. Arrived at the summit of Calvary our
Divine Saviour is roughly stripped of His
garments and exposed to the rude gaze of
the scoffing multitude. This shame He
endured to atone for our most shameful
deeds, for our human respect, for our
glorying in our shame, for our boasting and
love of display before the eyes of men.
Yet when we see the King of Glory thus
exposed to shame, will not shame be far
dearer to us than the empty honours that
men bestow ?
2. The executioners then seize Jesus and
lay Him down upon the Cross. Holes have
been bored in the wood at the extremities
of the cross-piece and in the lower part of

TO THE CROSS

77

the stem, and our Lord’s Sacred Limbs
are almost dislocated by being dragged
until the Hands and Feet reach the parts
that have been pierced. Then the long,
sharp nails are held by one of the soldiers,
while another with a hammer drives them
in through the hands and feet of Jesus.
The blows are struck; the Blood gushes
forth; while the Divine Victim moans
piteously under the exquisite pain. 0 Jesus,
grant me a heart-felt compassion with Thee
in Thy sufferings !
3. When our Lord is nailed to the Cross
the soldiers raise it on high, and let the base
of it fall into a hole dug in the ground.
The shock renews afresh the agony of Jesus.
No word is heard from His Mouth, save
one which He repeats again and again:
“ Father, forgive them ! ” Even then He
was thinking of others, not of Himself.
Was ever love like His? Why do I not
love Him more in return?

78

THE DERIDING

38—Friday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent

The Deriding of Jesus
Read St Matthew xxvii. 39-44.

1. The sight of Jesus hanging on the Cross,
so far from melting the hearts of the Jews,
only hardened them the more against Him.
Instead of feeling pity, they rejoiced over
their victim and insulted Him in His misery.
When men deliberately refuse to listen to
the voice of Jesus, they become quite in­
sensible after a time to His claim on them.
They think evil good, and good evil; they
are given over to a reprobate mind. Even
in little things, those who do not obey the
impulses of grace become deaf to its calls,
or even feel a positive aversion for that
which they once loved but have now re­
jected.
2. How apparently impotent to save
Himself the King of Glory seems to be !

OF JESUS

79

But that weakness is true strength. It is
by these outrages and insults, by this passive
endurance of their jeers and gibes, that
Christ our Lord is doing the wondrous
work of our redemption and earning graces
for all those who suffer insult for Him, to
rejoice in being counted worthy to suffer
shame for His sake.
3. But He is doing more than this. He
is also preparing for His Sacred Humanity
a glory corresponding to all this ignominy.
Of Him it is true beyond all others that he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Each taunt, each mocking word, was to
earn the praise of the angels and saints to
all eternity. Here is an encouragement for
us ! What matters it if men despise and
insult us, if God approves! The just Judge
will not forget in the day of account what
we have suffered for Him.

80

THE GOOD THIEF

39—Saturday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent

The Good Thief
Read St Luke xxiii. 39—43.

1. Among those who mocked and derided
Jesus were the two thieves crucified with
Him. But very soon His unspeakable
gentleness and meekness touched the heart
of one of the two. First he ceased his words
of insult, then he boldly reproved his com­
panion, and bore testimony to the innocence
of Jesus and to His Authority as King and
Lord. What a divine power there is in
weakness ! The sight of the uncomplaining
patience of Christ convinced this robber
that He was King of all the earth, and
that He who was now dying on the Cross
would soon reign for ever and ever. “ Lord,
remember me when Thou shalt come into
Thy Kingdom ! ”

THE GOOD THIEF

81

2. Remember me ! This was his simple
prayer. But we know that it was enough.
If Christ remembers us, all will be well.
What we have to dread is lest He forget us
by reason of our having forgotten Him.
This prayer should often be on our lips:
“ 0 Lord, remember me ! In the hour of
temptation, remember me ! When sorrow
bears hard on me, remember me ! In
sickness and in my last agony, O Lord,
remember me ! ”
3. Our Lord answers this prayer of the
good thief with divine generosity. All his
sins are forgiven him; and as soon as his
agony is over he is to be received into the
company of the blest and to be with Christ
in Paradise. What a rich reward for his
confession of Christ ! What a glorious
answer to his prayer that Christ will re­
member him !

82

JESUS COMMENDS HIS DISCIPLES

40—The Sixth Sunday in Lent
Jesus Commends His Disciples to His Holy
Mother’s Care

Read St John xix. 25-27.
1. Our Divine Saviour did not depart
from those He loved without providing
them with a Mother who should be their
consoler, their protector, their advocate
with God. In the person of St John, He
entrusted them all to Mary’s care. If He
had simply been providing Mary with a
home, He would first have addressed St
John and commended to him the pious
task of sheltering the Mother of God. By
speaking first to Mary, He showed that it
was she who was to shelter all those who
were desolate and in sorrow. St John was
the representative of all who love Jesus,
when Jesus said to Mary respecting him:
“ Woman, behold thy son.”

TO HIS HOLY MOTHER’S CARE

83

2. This was the occasion when our Lady
for a second time became a mother. The
birth of her first-begotten Jesus cost her
no pang of travail; the birth of her spiritual
children, the sinful sons of men, brought
to her unspeakable anguish. The Queen
of Heaven became the Queen of Dolours
before she could earn the right to exercise
over each of us a mother’s fostering care.
How we ought to value the privilege of
being her children, when it cost Mary such
unspeakable suffering !
3. When Jesus said to Mary, “ Woman,
behold thy son,” He asked our Lady to
regard us with a mother’s love for His sake.
Her love for Him was to be transferred to
us, without, however, becoming one whit
the less. She was to love us for Jesus’ sake;
to show her love for Him by loving us.
With what perfect confidence can we go to
Mary, who sees in each of us, in spite of
our sins, the image of her Divine Son !

84

THE DERELICTION OF

41—Monday in Holy Week

The Dereliction of Jesus on the Cross

Read St Mark xv. 33-36.
1. Our Lord had for a long time been
silent. A thick darkness had gathered;
most of the spectators had departed in
fear. The mocking Pharisees had been
awed to silence. Few were left save the
soldiers, St John, and a faithful group of
holy women. All at once a piercing cry
from the Divine Sufferer breaks the silence,
“ My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken
Me ? ” These words were an expression
of the thick darkness which our Lord had
permitted to gather round His human Soul,
and to hide from Him as it were the face
of His Eternal Father. This desolation
was by far the greatest of all the unspeak­
able sufferings of the Son of God.

JESUS ON THE CROSS

85

2. What was its cause? Nothing else
but sin. He was made sin for us, and having
thus identified Himself with the sins of
men so far as was possible for the sinless
Lamb of God, He allowed Himself to
experience to the utmost degree that He
could the awful misery which is the con­
sequence of sin—the black, dark hopelessness
(if the word is a lawful one) which results
to the sinner whom God forsakes. This
consequence of sin Jesus took upon Himself
to save men from the eternal remorse and
despair which otherwise would have been
their lot.
3. This cry of Jesus is a model prayer
for us in times of darkness and desolation.
We sometimes feel as if God had forsaken
us, and cry out in our misery and sore
distress. We are always safe in echoing
Jesus’ words, and He who hears us use
them will remember His own dereliction
and help us in ours.

86

THE THIRST

42—Tuesday in Holy Week

The Thirst upon the Cross
I
Read St John xix. 28, 29.

1. There is nothing that causes such
agonizing thirst as loss of blood. The prayer
of the wounded soldier upon the battle­
field is always for a drink of water; he
forgets all other pains in his burning thirst.
What must have been the intolerable
suffering of our Lord, whose Sacred Body
had been gradually drained of every drop
of blood? All day long the Blood had
been flowing—at the scourging, on the way
to Calvary, as He was dragged hither and
thither, with the sharp cords cutting His
wrists. And now upon the Cross, as from
hands and feet a stream bedewed the ground,
fiercer and fiercer grew the burning, parch­
ing thirst which consumed Him. O my

UPON THE CROSS

87

Jesus, was there none to quench that thirst
endured for us ?
2. Our Lord’s thirst was to atone especially
for the sins of intemperance and self­
indulgence in drink. Every sin of drunken­
ness and excess or self-indulgence in our
food and drink added to that thirst and
made it still more intolerable. My God,
forgive me any such offences, and help
me to deny myself some lawful indulgence,
that so I may atone for my sins and assuage
in some degree that sacred thirst Thou
didst endure for me.
3. There was, however, a deeper meaning
in our Lord’s cry: “ I thirst !” He was
thirsting for the souls of sinners, thirsting
for the love of ungrateful men, thirsting
for wy love. He thirsts for it still, that I
may be more faithful to His grace. O my
Jesus, help me to love Thee more !

88

THE DEATH OF JESUS

43—Wednesday in Holy Week
The Death of Jesus
Read St Luke xxiii. 45-48.

1. After our Lord has hung in agony
for three hours upon the Cross, at last the
time approaches when His deliverance is
at hand. He has endured every possible
form of suffering, bodily and mental. His
body has been subjected to a physical
torture far worse than the accumulated
sufferings of the martyrs; His Sacred
Soul has been rent asunder with an anguish
and desolation more awful than any save
the eternal anguish of Hell. He has sacrificed
His honour, His reputation; He has been
esteemed a fool and a madman. Now there
is only one sacrifice more that he can make
to His Eternal Father for man—the sacrifice
of His life. He is determined to give up all
for us, to be obedient even to death.

THE DEATH OF JESUS

89

2. What was it that caused the death
of our Lord? Not the executioners, not
the Jews, not the agony on the Cross;
they were but instruments. It was sin.
Sin had in it a malice sufficient even to rob
of life God, our Lord and King. What a
strange mystery sin is ! And how strange
that we do not hate it more when we see
its power to destroy !
3. The death of Jesus is for each one of
us the most important fact in human history,
or even in the order of the Providence of
God. Hence the Sacrament of Sacraments
is primarily a commemoration of it. When
we receive Holy Communion, we “ show
the death of the Lord till He come,” and,
therefore, His Sacred Passion and Death
should be the chief subject of our thoughts
whenever we approach the Holy Table,
and especially on the eve of the solemn day
when He instituted the Sacrament of His
love.

90

JESUS’ MYSTICAL DEATH

44—Maundy Thursday

Jesus’ mystical Death in the Blessed Eucharist
Read St John xiv. 34-37.

1. Each time that Holy Mass is said,
the Sacrifice of our Blessed Lord upon the
Cross is represented in the Sacrifice that
takes place upon the altar. Thus, the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world,
in the divine decree, continues to be slain
mystically, and will continue as long as
the world shall last. With such a sight
before our eyes, how can we ever forget
Him ? How can we ever lose heart or despond
with this abiding proof of His tender love
before our eyes ?
2. In the Blood and Water that flowed
from our Lord’s side when pierced by the
centurion’s spear, were represented the
Sacraments of the Church, the Blood of

IN THE BLESSED EUCHARIST

91

Christ that inebriates us in Holy Com­
munion, the water that cleanses our souls
in Baptism and Penance. His Sacred Heart
that was open then is open still; the rich
stream of graces still continues; it has
flowed even unto me. What countless
graces I have received from the love that
has been poured upon me from the Sacred
Heart of Jesus !
3. The Sacred Host that we receive in
Holy Communion reminds us in many
things of the dead Body of Jesus as it hung
upon the Cross, all the glory hidden—no
life to all appearance there; in the power
of all to treat it as they choose; reduced
to the lowest humiliation. Yet it is our
God and our Lord, the object of the adoring
love of angels and of men, He whom the
Heaven of heavens cannot contain, who
condescends to be our Guest and the food
of our souls. Meditate on the unspeakable
love of Jesus sacrificed for us !

92

THE DESCENT

45—Good Friday
The Descent from the Cross
Read St Mark xv. 38-46.

1. No sooner is the Sacrifice consum­
mated and the last drop of the precious
Blood shed from our Lord’s Sacred Heart,
than all is changed. That lifeless Body is
now treated with the utmost respect and
veneration. See how gently and carefully
Joseph and Nicodemus wind linen bands
around the limbs and lower it to the ground,
reverently adoring that Body which had
only a few hours before been a laughing­
stock and object of contempt. Henceforth
no more ignominy, no more contempt,
no more ill-usage, but the love and adoration
of saints and angels to all eternity.
2. Our Lady receives the body of her
Son. What were her thoughts as she gazes

FROM THE CROSS

93

into the five Wounds and sees how from
head to foot it is covered with gaping
wounds and bruises, battered out of all
shape by the cruelty of man ? O Mother
of Sorrows, great as an ocean is thy sorrow !
What must be thy hatred of sin when thou
seest what it has wrought in the divine
beauty of thy spotless Son ! What a mixture
of agonized compassion and mournful
sorrow, and hope and consolation and
gratitude and triumphant joy, fills thy
sacred soul while thou lookest on the dead
Body of thy Son.
3. The day on which Jesus died is indeed
well called Good Friday. It is the day when
Jesus consummated His victory over death.
While we mourn over His sufferings and
our sins which caused them, we must also
rejoice exceedingly at the thought of Satan
conquered and Heaven opened, and millions
of sinners cleansed from sin in His most
precious Blood.

94

THE ENTOMBMENT

46—Easter Eve
The Entombment

Read St Luke xxiii. 50-56.

1. When our Lady’s mournful task was
finished, the Body of Jesus was laid in the
new tomb of St Joseph of Arimathea, there
to remain until the hour of its joyful
Resurrection. Let us contemplate it as it
lies there: disfigured by countless wounds
and scars, so apparently helpless, yet none
the less the joy of God and worthy of our
highest adoration. Passive and cold and
motionless, but soon to be radiant with the
most dazzling beauty; dead, but living
with a divine life. Learn from this (1) the
glory of suffering; (2) the power of apparent
helplessness when God is with us; (3) the
beauty of passive obedience; (4) the true
life of those who are dead to the world.
2. What was our Lord doing while thus
apparently inactive in the silent tomb ?

THE ENTOMBMENT

95

He was beginning His work of triumph,
delivering countless souls from Purgatory
and from Limbo, consoling the patriarchs
and prophets, fulfilling His promise of
Paradise to the good thief, trampling on
Satan, and changing the kingdoms of this
world into the Kingdom of God and of
His Christ. So it is with us. When we seem
useless and doing nothing, we are often
really doing the greatest things for God.
3. The tomb where Christ is laid is to
be the model of my soul when I receive
Holy Communion; silent from all din of
earthly things, cleansed from all stain of
sin by a good confession and firm resolution
to amend, dedicated to Him alone. His
sacred Body embalmed by my love, and
wrapped in the clean winding-sheet of purity
of intention. Thus will His presence there
be the pledge of my resurrection with Him.

By the same Author
THE SACRED HEART,

D

10, 6d.

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD, Dll, 6d.

charity,
humility,

D

D

OUR FATHER,

PATIENCE,

14, 6d.

16, 6d.

D

D

17, 6d.

18, 6d.

PUBLISHED BY THE INCORPORATED CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY,
LONDON, AND PRINTED BY LAWRENCE BROS. LTD., LONDON
AND WF.STON SL’PER-MARE.

Printed in England.

November, 1955
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