Reflections and affections on the passion of Jesus Christ - 35

I. Remember me, said the Good Thief to Thee, O my Jesus; and he had the consolation of hearing these words from Thee: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise. (Luke xxiii. 43). Be mindful of me, say I likewise unto Thee; be mindful, O Lord, that I am one of those sheep for whom Thou didst give Thy life. Give me, too, the consolation of feeling that Thou, dear Jesus, dost forgive me, vouchsafing me a great sorrow for my sins. Do Thou, O great Priest, Who didst sacrifice Thyself for love of Thy creatures, have compassion upon me. From this day forth do I sacrifice to Thee my will, my senses, my satisfactions, and all my desires. I believe that Thou, my God, didst die, crucified for me. Let Thy Divine Blood, I pray Thee, flow also upon me; let it wash me from my sins. Let it inflame me with holy love, and make me all thine own. I love Thee, O my Jesus, and I wish that I could die, crucified, for Thee, Who didst die crucified for me.

O Eternal Father, I have offended Thee; but behold Thy Son, Who, hanging upon this Tree, makes satisfaction to Thee for me with the sacrifice which He offers Thee of His Divine Life. I offer Thee His merits, which are all mine, for He has made them over to me; and, for love of this Thy Son, I pray Thee to have mercy upon me. The greatest mercy which I ask of Thee is, that Thou wouldst give me Thy grace, which, miserable wretch that I am, I have so often wilfully despised. I repent of having outraged Thee, and I love Thee, I love Thee, my God, my All; and, to please Thee, I am ready to endure every shame, every pain, every sorrow, and every kind of death.

II. St. Laurence Justinian says that the death of Jesus was the most bitter and painful of all the deaths that men have ever died; since the Redeemer died upon the Cross without any, even the slightest, alleviation: "He was crucified wholly without any alleviation of suffering." In the case of other sufferers, the pain is always mitigated, at all events, by some consoling thought; but the pain and sorrow of Jesus in His sufferings was pure pain, pure sorrow, without mitigation: "The extent of the suffering of Christ appears to us from the purity of its pain and sorrow," says the angelic Doctor. And hence St. Bernard, when contemplating Jesus dying upon the Cross, utters this lamentation: O my Jesus, when I behold Thee upon this Tree I find nothing in Thee from head to foot but pain and sorrow. "From the sole of Thy foot to the crown of Thy head I find nothing but pain and grief."

O my sweet Redeemer, O Love of my soul, wherefore wouldst Thou shed all Thy Blood? Wherefore sacrifice Thy Divine life for an ungrateful worm like me? O my Jesus, when shall I so unite myself to Thee, as never more to be able to separate myself from Thee, or to cease from loving Thee? Ah, Lord, as long as I live in this world I stand in danger of denying Thee my love, and of losing Thy friendship, as I have done in times past. O my dearest Saviour, if, by continuing in life, I shall have to suffer this great evil, by Thy Passion, I pray Thee, let me die at this moment, while, as I hope, I am in Thy grace. I love Thee, and I wish to love Thee always.

(The Feast of St. Patrick, March 17)