I am the guilty one, not Christ. Jesus is innocent. He is the immaculate lamb who has fallen a victim to this wolf. Why dost Thou punish Him, and not me? Why is the cross His portion, and not rather mine? Ah! my Lord, if thy mercy is so indulgent with me, I ought to take the part of thy justice, and satisfy it, as far as in me lies, during the remainder of my life. Wherefore, I shall control my senses, I shall mortify my passions, I shall do violence to my corrupt will. Be pleased to accept my sacrifice; and now, from this moment forward, I promise Thee, with the assistance of thy grace, to wish to follow Jesus through afflictions, humiliations, and poverty; solely in order to bear a more close resemblance to Him, who, for love of me, deigned to be poor, humbled, and afflicted. I have already taken my resolution: the third degree of humility shall be that which I will make every endeavour to reach. COMPENDIUM. 1. Consider the pains which Jesus suffered in His body. Firstly, He was flogged, and the excessive torture of this punishment may be inferred-(1.) from the delicacy of His body, (2.) from the rage of the executioners, (3.) from the quality of the scourges, (4.) from the number of the blows. Secondly, He was crowned with thorns. This, too, was a terrible torture-(.1) because of the sharpness and number of the thorns; (2.) because of the delicacy of the head; (3.) because of the cruelty of the executioners; (4.) because of the violent manner in which He was stripped of His garments, whereby all His wounds were made to bleed afresh. Thirdly, He Himself carries His cross. This labour was for Jesus distressing beyond measure -(1.) because of the great weight of that beam; (2.) because of the length and ruggedness of the road; (3.) because of the steep ascent of Calvary ; (4.) because of the physical weakness of Jesus. II. Firstly. Consider the manner in which Jesus suffers-(1.) in silence; (2.) with alacrity, and a desire to suffer still more; (3.) with love for His Eternal Father, and for sinners. Secondly. Consider the fruit which you ought to gather from all this. It is (1.) a feeling of noble shame for pampering your flesh, while the body of Jesus is torn with scourges, pierced with thorns, and rent with nails; (2.) a holy emulation to suffer with Christ, and to wish to imitate Him in the third degree of humility. CONSIDERATION. On the happiness and glory of a soul that is despised and afflicted. Since, on the one hand, the end of the exercises of this day is to confirm the soul in the resolution which it adopted yesterday, of striving to attain the third degree of humility—that is, to prefer (even though the glory of God would be the same in any case) to be despised and afflicted with Jesus, rather than live amidst honours and pleasures, in order thus to resemble our Redeemer the more closely; and since, on the other hand, the love of contempt and affliction is entirely opposed to the inclinations of our corrupt nature, it will be most useful to set before us the happiness and the glory which lie concealed beneath affliction and contempt. For what can render disgrace more lovable, than to show that to be despised brings with it not shame but glory, and that suffering renders one not wretched but happy. I. The glory which adversity brings to a despised and afflicted soul, is glory of the very highest order. For it proves a man to be a hero, it makes him like the martyrs and the angels; it makes him very dear to Christ, and closely resembling Him. (1.) Adversity makes the man who bears it with fortitude and patience a hero; and the very Pagans knew this truth, among whom Epictetus gave utterance to these sublime words: "It is by adversity that we are proclaimed to be men" (a), which is the same as to say that, if we be not tried by the test of adversity, it cannot be known whether we really possess the spirit and the hearts of men. Seneca sets forth the same doctrine more at length. "It is no sign," he says, "of a great mind to show itself strong in prosperity, when life glides on smoothly; just as a calm sea and a favourable wind afford no opportunity for displaying the sailor's art. Something adverse must needs turn up, to prove a man possessed of a hero's soul" (b). And S. John Chrysostom says: "God acts in the same manner with those He loves, as a captain does with his soldiers, when he sends the bravest on the most difficult enterprises. So that the more difficult the enterprise is, the greater is the glory of being chosen to undertake it." We have examples of this in Joseph in Egypt, and in the case of David in the cave of Engaddi. (a) Epictetus apud Arianum, lib. I., cap. xxiv. 2. Adversity likens us to the martyrs and to the angels. The first of these assertions is maintained by S. Laurence Justinian, who says: "Patience makes a man a martyr"; and before him St. Climacus had written that the soul of one who is scoffed at is like the soul of a martyr. The second assertion is borne out by St. Chrysos tom, who says: "those noble souls who tranquilly endure insults and contumely resemble the heavenly powers who rejoice in impassibility" (a); and if we call the angels happy, because neither cold, nor hunger, nor thirst can effect them, how much more happy ought we to call that soul which can bravely bear up against every trial and affliction? and what can be more glorious than to be likened to the angels and martyrs ? 3. Adversity proves that we are very dear to Christ; and makes us bear a very striking resem blance to Him; and St. Teresa shows us this from experience, for she says: "It has been always ob served that those who were nearest and dearest to Christ our Lord, were crushed and oppressed above all others by severe trials and bitter tribulations" (b); and Jesus Himself said to the blessed Angela of Foligno: "My daughter, my friends drink with me the cup of my passion, and I feed them off my own plate with the bread of affliction." But still more: not only are the afflicted the friends of Jesus, but they bear moreover a striking resemblance to Him: "For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made comformable to the will of his Son" (c). (a) S. Chrysostom, hom. 47, ad populum. (b) S. Teresa, in MŠ. lib. VII. c. iv. (c) Rom. viii. 29. See how many strokes, scratches, filings, punctures, and incisions an artist must employ in order to produce from a piece of ivory a good representation of the crucifixion-a figure that will show the Redeemer in the very act of expiring, with His chest heaving, His lips parched, agony expressed in His countenance, and the veil of death falling over His eyes. In this behold an image of the manner in which tribulations and trials must work upon your soul, if you wish that it should bear a resemblance to Christ. Yet, nevertheless, you shrink back affrighted from adversity, and every pain causes you dismay. II. The happiness of a despised and afflicted soul will also be very great, both on account of the prerogatives which accompany this state, and the greatness of the grace which lies concealed beneath the garb of adversity. And in respect of the prerogatives, I tell you that adversity is a stepping-stone to perfection; it is an indication of God's love for us; it is a sign of predestination. 1. That it is a means of acquiring sanctity, we are assured by S. Gregory the Great in these words: "I assert confidently that you are leading a less perfect life if you suffer little persecution" (a). And the reason of this is evident, for contempt, poverty, and suffering, withdraw their strength and enticements from pride, gluttony, and self-love. 2. Adversity is a proof of God's love for us, and it is God Himself who so many times bears witness to this truth in the Holy Scriptures: whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth" (b); "because thou wast (a) Lib. vi. ep. 37. (b) Heb. xii. 6. |