Sunday after the Ascension

Here's something from the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus, on Jesus upon the Cross. Dear Saint Alphonsus sure has a way about writing! His Glories of Mary and Passion and Death of Jesus Christ are two of my most favourite books! :)

St. Alphonsus de Ligouri’s
The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ

Pg 267
V.
Jesus upon the Cross

Jesus upon the Cross was a spectacle which filled heaven and earth with amazement, at the sight of an Almighty God, the Lord of all, dying upon an infamous gibbet, condemned as a malefactor between two other male-factors. It was a spectacle of justice, in displaying the Eternal Father, in order that his justice might be satisfied; punishing the sins of men in the person of his only-begotten Son, loved by him as himself. It was a spectacle of mercy, displaying his innocent Son dying a death so shameful and so bitter, in order to save his creatures from the punishment that was due to them. Especially was it a sight of love, in displaying a God who offered and gave his life to redeem from death his slaves and enemies.

It is this spectacle which ever was and ever will be the dearest object of the contemplations of the saints, through which they have counted it little to strip themselves of all earthly pleasures and goods, and to embrace with desire and joy both pain and death, in order to make some return of gratitude to a God who died for love of them.

Comforted by the sight of Jesus derided upon the Cross, the saints have loved contempt more than worldly people have loved all the honors of the world. At the sight of Jesus naked and dying upon the Cross, they have sought to abandon all the good things of this earth. At the sight of him all wounded upon the cross, while the blood flowed forth from all his limbs, they have learnt to abhor sensual pleasures, and have sought to afflict their flesh as much as they could, in order to accompany with their own sufferings the sufferings of the Crucified. At the sight of the obedience and conformity of will retained by Jesus Christ to the will of his Father, they have labored to conquer all those appetites which were not conformed to the divine pleasure; while many, though occupied in works of piety, yet, knowing that to be deprived of their own will was the sacrifice the most welcome to the heart of God which they could offer, have entered into some religious Order, to lead a life of obedience, and subject their own will to that of others. At the sight of the patience of Jesus Christ, in being willing to suffer so many pains and insults for the love of us, they have received with satisfaction and joy injuries, infirmities, persecutions, and the torments of tyrants. At the sight of the love which Jesus Christ has shown to us in sacrificing to God his life upon the Cross for us, they have sacrificed to Jesus Christ all they possessed, - their property, their pleasures, their honours, and their life.

How is it, then, that so many Christians, although they know by faith that Jesus Christ died for love of them, instead of devoting themselves wholly to love and serve him, devote themselves to offend and despise him for the sake of brief and miserable pleasures? Whence comes this ingratitude? It comes from their forgetfulness of the Passion and death of Jesus Christ. And, O my God, what will be their remorse and shame at the day of judgement, when the Lord shall reproach them with all that he has done and suffered for them?

Let us not, then, cease, O devout souls, ever to keep before our eyes Jesus crucified, and dying in the midst of torments and insults through love of us. From the Passion of Jesus Christ all the saints have drawn those flames of love which made them forget all the good things of this world, and even their own selves, to give themselves up wholly to love and please this divine Saviour, who has so loved men that it seems as if he could not have done more in order to be loved by them. In a word, the cross, that is, the Passion of Jesus Christ, is that which will gain for us the victory over all our passions and all the temptations that hell will hold out to us, in order to separate us from God. The cross is the road and ladder by which we mount to heaven. Happy he who embraces it during his life, and does not put it off till the hour of death. He that dies embracing the cross has a sure pledge of eternal life, which is promised to all those who follow Jesus Christ with their cross.

O my crucified Jesus! To make Thyself loved by men Thou has spared nothing; Thou hast even given Thy life with a most painful death; how, then, can men who love their kindred, their friends, and even animals from whom they receive any token of affection, be so ungrateful to Thee as to despise Thy grace and Thy love, for the sake of miserable and vain delights! Oh, miserable that I am, I am one of those ungrateful beings who, for things of no worth, have renounced Thy friendship, and have turned my back upon Thee. I have deserved that Thou shouldst drive me from Thy face, as I have often banished Thee from my heart. But I know that Thou dost not cease to ask my heart of me: Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God. (Diliges Dominum Deum tuum – Deut. Vi.5.) Yea, O my Jesus, as Thou desirest that I should love Thee and offerest me pardon, I renounce all creatures, and henceforth I desire to love Thee alone, my Creator and my Redeemer. Thou dost deserve to be the only object of my soul’s love.

O Mary, Mother of God, and refuge of sinners, pray for me; obtain for me the grace of loving God, and I ask of nothing more.

Jesus, Mary, I Love Thee; Save Souls!

Regina Caeli, Laetare, Alleluia!

St. Catherine of Sienna (one day late)

... Whoosh, and time does fly since the exams have ended. (lol) :) I'm back.

Here's something that I wanted to post yesterday but was too exhausted to do so. Hence, the title of the post, (yesterday's feast day of St. Catherine de Sienna (one day not too late)) :)

It's from my favourite book by St. Alphonsus Ligouri, on the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ:

St. Alphonsus de Ligouri’s
The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ

Pg 411

Second Meditation – The Great Obligation by which we are Bound to love Jesus Christ

Forget not the kindness of thy surety; for He hath given His life for thee (Gratiam fidejussoris ne obliviscaris; dedit enim pro te animam suam) – Ecclus. Xxix. 20. By this surety, commentators commonly understand Jesus Christ, who, seeing that we were unable to atone to the divine justice, offered Himself because it was His own will. (Oblatus est, quia ipse voluit) – Isa. Liii.7. He offered to make satisfaction for us, and He actually paid our debts by His blood and by His death. He hath given His life for thee.

To repair the insults which we offered to the divine majesty, the sacrifice of the life of all men was not sufficient: God alone could atone for an injury done to a God; and this Jesus Christ has accomplished. By so much, says St. Paul, is Jesus made a surety of a better testament. (In tantum melioris testamenti sponsor factus est Jesus) – Heb. Vii. 22. By making satisfaction, as his surety, in behalf of man, our Redeemer, says the Apostle, obtained by His merits a new compact, - that if man should observe the law, God would grant him grace and eternal life. This is precisely what Jesus Christ himself expressed in the institution of the Eucharist when He said, This chalice is the new testament in my blood. (Hic calix novum testamentum est in meo sanguine) – I Cor. Xi.25. By these words He meant, that the chalice of His blood was the instrument or written security by which was established the new covenant between God and Jesus Christ, that to men who were faithful to Him should be given the gift of grace and of eternal life.

Hence, by suffering the penalties due to us, the Redeemer, through the love which He bore us, made in our behalf a rigorous atonement to the divine justice. Surely, says he Prophet, He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. (Vere languores nostros ipse tulit, et Dolores nostros ipse portavit.) – Isa. Liii, 4. And all this was the fruit of His love. Christ hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us. (Dilexit nos, et tradidit semetipsum pro nobis) – Eph. V.2. St. Bernard says that to pardon us, Jesus Christ has not pardoned Himself. “To redeem a slave He spared not Himself.” (Ut servum redimeret, sibi Filius ipse non pepercit.) O miserable Jews, why do you wait for the Messiah promised by the Prophets? He has already come: you have murdered Him; but, in spite of your guilt, your Redeemer is ready to pardon you; for He has come to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel: The Son of Man came to save that which was lost. (Venit enim Filius hominis salvare quod perierat) – Matt. Xviii.II.

St. Paul has written that, to deliver us from the malediction due to our sins, Jesus Christ has charged Himself with all the maledictions which we merited; and therefore He wished to suffer the death of the accursed, that is, the death of the cross: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. (Christus nos redemit de maledicto legis, factus pro nobis maledictum: quia scriptum est: Maledictus omnis qui pendet in lingo.) – Gal. iii.13.

What a source of glory would it be to a poor peasant, captured by pirates, and reduced to slavery, to be ransomed by his sovereign at the cost of a kingdom! But how much greater glory do we derive from having been redeemed by Jesus Christ at the expense of His own blood, a single drop of which is worth more than a thousand worlds! You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, … but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled. (Non corruptibilibus auro vel argento redempti estis … sed pretioso sanguine quasi Agni immaculati Christi.) – 1 Pet. i.18,19. Hence, St. Paul tells us that we commit an act of injustice against our Saviour if we dispose of ourselves according to our own, and not according to His, will, or if we reserve anything to ourselves, or, what is worse, if we indulge our inclinations so as to offend our God. For we belong not to ourselves, but to Jesus Christ who has purchased us with a great price. Know you not that … you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price. (An nescitis quoniam … non estis vestri? Empti enim estis pretio magno.) – 1 Cor. Vi. 19,20.

Ah, my Redeemer, if I had shed all my blood for Thee, and even given for Thee a thousand lives, what compensation would it be for the love of Thee, who hast given Thy blood and Thy life for me? Give me strength, O my Jesus, to be entirely Thine during the remainder of my life.

Mary, my Mother, my Hope after Jesus, please pray for me and intercede for me.

Dearest Angels and Saints, please guide me and help me.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee, Save Souls!

Regina Caeli, Laetare, Alleluia!

Jesus upon the Cross

Oh how beautiful again it is, Crosses are. :)

The Passion and The Death of Jesus Christ
By St, Alphonsus Ligouri

Page 449

III

For Holy Tuesday

Jesus upon the Cross

Jesus, from the cross, asks us not so much for our compassion as for our love; and, if even He does ask our compassion, He asks it solely in order that the compassion may move us to love Him. As being infinite goodness, He already merits all our love; but when placed upon the cross, it seems as if He sought for us to love Him, at least out of compassion.

Ah, my Jesus, and who is there that will not love Thee, while confessing Thee to be the God that Thou art, and contemplating Thee upon the Cross? Oh, what arrows of fire dost Thou not dart at souls from that throne of love! Oh, how many hearts hast Thou not drawn to Thyself from that Cross of Thine!

O wounds of my Jesus! O beautiful furnaces of love! Admit me, too, amongst yourselves to burn, not indeed with that fire of hell which I have deserved, but with holy flames of love for that God who has been willing to die for me, consumed by torments.

O my dearest Redeemer! Receive back a sinner, who, sorrowing for having offended Thee, is now earnestly longing to love Thee. I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee, O infinite goodness, O infinite love.

O Mary, O Mother of beautiful love! Obtain for me a greater measure of love, to consume me for that God who has died consumed of love for me.

O all ye Dearest Angels and Saints, please pray for me!

Amor meus crucifixus est!

Ecce Homo! - John, xix. 5

Today, being Passion Friday, also the commemoration of the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and on Sunday - Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, here's a meditation from my favourite book on the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, by St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri:

Pg 442

III. Ecce Homo! – John xix 5

But what is it that the Jews reply, on their beholding that King of Sorrows? They raise a shout and say, Crucify, crucify Him! (Crucifige, crucifige eum!) – John, xix. 6. And seeing that Pilate, notwithstanding their clamor, was seeking a means to release Him, they worked upon his fears by telling him: If thou release this Man, thou art not Caesar’s friend. – John xix 12. Pilate still makes resistance, and replies, Shall I crucify your King? And their answer was, We have no king but Caesar. – John xix 15.

Ah, my adorable Jesus, these men will not recognize Thee for their King, and tell Thee that they wish for no other king but Caesar. I acknowledge Thee to be my King and God; and I protest that I wish for no other king of my heart but Thee, my love, and my one and only good. Wretch that I am! I at one time refused Thee for my King, and declared that I did not wish to serve Thee; but now I wish Thee alone to have dominion over my will. Do Thou make it obey Thee in all that Thou dost ordain. O will of God, thou art my love. Do Thou, O Dearest Mother Mary, pray for me. Thy prayers are not rejected.

O all ye Dearest Angels and Saints please pray for me.
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And from today's Epistle from the Proper of today's most beautiful Mass :)

Friday in Passion Week
Commemoration of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Jer. 17:13-18 EPISTLE

The prophet foretells the sorrows and anguish of Jesus our Lord, Who feels Himself surrounded by such treacherous and relentless enemies.

In those days Jeremias said: O Lord, all that forsake Thee shall be confounded: they that depart from Thee shall be written in the earth: because they have forsaken the Lord, the vein of living waters. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed: save me, O Lord, and I shall be saved: for Thou art my praise. Behold they say to me: Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come. And I am not troubled, following Thee for my pastor: and I have not desired the day of man, Thou knowest. That which went out of my lips hath been right in Thy sight. Be not Thou a terror unto me: Thou art my hope in the day of affliction. Let them be confounded that persecute me, and let me not be confounded: let them be afraid, and let me not be afraid. Bring upon them the day of affliction, and with a double destruction destroy them, O Lord our God.

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And O how beautiful is the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremias. I will post the words up tomorrow, but the chant was most enchanting. O how I wish I could put music up on this page. :)

Parce Domine, parce populo tuo: ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.

+ Amor meus crucifixus est.

Mater Dolorosa - Mother of Sorrows.

Notice the 7 swords (representing her 7 sorrows) piercing Her Most Sorrowful Heart, all Compassionate. Her Hands embracing the Crown of Thorns and the Nails. O Mother of Sorrows, I love thee!

O my Jesus, Crowned! with thorns ...

The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ
By St Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri

Pg 258
The Crowning with Thorns

II.

The divine Mother revealed to the same St. Bridget that the crown of thorns surrounded the whole sacred head of her Son, as low down as the middle of his forehead; and that the thorns were driven in with such violence that the blood gushed out in streams over all his countenance, so that the whole face of Jesus Christ appeared covered with blood.

Origen writes that this crown of thorns was not taken from the head of the Lord until he had expired upon the cross. (Corona spinea, semel imposita, et nunquam detracta). In the mean time, as the inner garment of Christ was not sewed together, but woven all in one piece, on this account it was not divided among the soldiers, like his outer garments, but it was given by lot, as St. John writes: The soldiers, therefore, when they had crucified Him, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part, and also His coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said then one to another: Let us not cut it; but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be. (Milites ergo, cum crucifixissent eum, acceperunt vestimenta ejus (et fecerunt quatuor partes, unicuique militia partem), et tunicam; erat autem tunica inconsutilis, desuper contexta per totum; dixerunt ergo ad invicem: Non scindamus eam, sed sortiamur de illa cujus sit.) John, xix. 23,24. As this garment, then, must have been drawn off over the head, many authors write, with great probability, that when Jesus was stripped of it, the crown of thorns was taken from his head, and was replaced before he was nailed to the cross.

In the book of Genesis it is written: Cursed is the earth in thy work; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. (Maledicta terra in opere tuo . . . ; spinas et tribulos germinabit tibi) – Gen. iii. 17. This curse was inflicted by God upon Adam and upon all his posterity; and by the earth here spoken of we must understand, not only the material earth, but the flesh of man, which, being infected by the sin of Adam, brings forth only the thorns of sin. In order to remedy this infection, says Tertullian, it was necessary that Jesus Christ should offer to God in sacrifice this great torment of the crowing with thorns.

This torture also, besides being in itself most acute, was accompanied by blows and spitting, and by the mockings of the soldiers, as St. Matthew and St. John relate: And plaiting a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand. And bowing the knee before Him, they mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And spitting upon Him, they took the reed, and struck His head. And the soldiers plaiting a crown of thorns put it upon His head; and they put on Him a purple garment. And they came to Him and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they gave Him blows. – Matt. Xxvii. 28-30.

O my Jesus! What thorns have I added to this crown with my sinful thoughts to which I have consented! I would I could die with grief! Pardon me, through the merit of this grief, which Thou didst then accept in order to pardon me. O my Lord, thus bruised and thus despised! Thou hast laden Thyself with all these pains and mockeries in order to move me to have compassion upon Thee, that, at least through compassion, I may love Thee, and no more displease Thee. It is enough, O my Jesus; cease to suffer more: I am convinced of the love that Thou bearest to me, and I love Thee with all my heart. But now I see that it is not enough for Thee; Thou art not satisfied with thorns, until Thou findest Thyself dead with anguish upon the cross. O goodness! O infinite love! Miserable is the heart that loves Thee not.

O dearest Mother, O ye Angels and Saints, please pray for me!

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Parce Domine, parce populo tuo: ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.

Mulier, ecce filius tuus … Ecce Mater tua (John, xix. 26, 27.)

Here is a rather long, but very good :) reading from The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus Ligouri:

Pg 284
Considerations on the Words of Jesus Spoken on the Cross

III

Mulier, ecce filius tuus … Ecce Mater tua (John, xix. 26, 27.)

“Women, behold thy son … Behold thy mother.”
We read in St. Mark that on Calvary there were present many women, who watched Jesus on the cross, but from afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalen. (Erant autem et mulieres de longe aspicientes, inter quas erat Maria Magdalene) – Mark. Xv.40. We believe, also, that among these holy women was the divine mother also; while St. John syas that the Blessed Virgin stood, not afar off, but close to the cross, together with Mary of Cleophas and Mary Magdalen. (Stabant autem juxta crucem Jesu Mater ejus, et sorror Matris ejus, Maria Cleophae, et Maria Magadalene.) –John. Xix. 25. Euthymius attempts to reconcile this discrepancy, and says that the Holy Virgin, seeing her son drawing nearer to death, came from among the rest of the women close up to the cross, overcoming her fear of the soldiers who surrounded it, and enduring with patience all the insults and repulses which she had to suffer from these soldiers who watched the condemned, in order that she might draw near her beloved Son. Thus also a learned author, who wrote the life of Jesus, says, “There were his friends, who watched him from afar; but the Holy Virgin, the Magdalen, and another Mary stood close to the cross, with John; wherefore Jesus, seeing his mother and John, spoke to them the words above mentioned. Truly it was the mother who not even in the terror of death deserted her Son. Some other mothers fly when they see their children dying; their love does not suffer them to be present at their death without the power of relieving them; but the holy mother, the nearer her Son approached to death, the nearer she drew to his cross.”

The afflicted mother thus was standing close to the cross; and as the Son sacrificed His life, so she offered her pangs for the salvation of men, sharing with perfect resignation all the pains and insults which her Son suffered in his death. A writer says that they who would describe her fainting at the foot of the cross dishonour the constancy of Mary. She was the strong woman, who neither fainted not wept, as St. Ambrose writes: “I read of her standing, but not of her weeping.” (Stantem lego, flentem non lego.)

The pain which the Holy Virgin endured in the Passion of her Son exceeded all the pains which a human heart can endure; but the grief of Mary was not a barren grief, like that of other mothers who behold the sufferings of their children; it was a fruitful grief, and through her love (according to the opinion of St. Augustine), as she was the natural mother of our head Jesus Christ, so she then became the spiritual mother of us who are his faithful members, in co-operating with him by her love in causing us to be born, and to be the children of the Church.

St. Bernard writes that upon Mount Calvary both of these two great martyrs, Jesus and Mary, were silent, because the great pain that they endured took from them the power of speaking. The mother looked upon her Son in agony upon the cross, and the Son looked upon the mother in agony at the foot of the cross, and torn with compassion for the pains He suffered.

Mary and John then stood nearer to the cross than the other women, so that they could more easily hear the words and mark the looks of Jesus Christ in so great a tumult. St. John writes: When Jesus then saw His mother and the disciple standing, whom He loved, he saith to His mother: Woman, behold thy son. (Cum vidisset ergo Jesus Matrem et Discipuum quem diligebat … ) – John, xix. 26 But if Mary and John were accompanied by other women, why is it said that Jesus beheld his mother and the disciple, as if the other women had not been perceived by him? St. John Chrysostom writes that love always makes us look more closely at the object of our love. (Semper amoris oculus acutius intuetur – Sermon 78) And St. Ambrose in a similar way writes, It is natural that we should see those we love before any others. (Morale est ut, quos diligimus, videamus prae caeteris) The Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget that in order that Jesus might look upon Mary, who stood by the side of the cross, He was obliged first to compress His eyebrows in order to remove the blood from His eyes, which prevented Him from seeing. (Nec ipse me adstantem cruci vedere potuit, nisi sanguine expresso per ciliorum compressionem)

Jesus said to her, Woman, behold thy Son! With His eyes pointing out St. John, who stood by His side. But why did He call her woman, and not mother? He called her “woman,” we may say, because, drawing now near to death, He spoke as if departing from her, as if He had said, Woman, in a little while I shall be dead, and thou wilt have no Son upon earth; I leave thee, therefore, John, who will serve and love thee as a son And from this we many understand that St. Joseph was already dead, since if he had been still alive he would not have been separated from his wife.

All antiquity asserts that St. John was ever a virgin, and specially on this account he was given as a son to Mary, and honored in being made to occupy the place of Jesus Christ; on which account the holy Church sings, “To him a virgin He commended his Virgin Mother.” (Cui Matrem Virginem virgini commendavit.) And from the moment of the Lord’s death, as it is written, St. John received Mary into his own house, and assisted and obeyed her throughout her life, as if she had been his own mother. (Et ex illa hora accepit eam Discipulus in sua) – John, xix. 27. Jesus Christ willed that this beloved disciple should be an eye-witness of His death, in order that he might more confidently bear witness to it in his Gospel, and might say, He that saw it has borne witness; (Qui vidit, testimonium perhibuit.) – John, xix. 35. and in his Epistle, What we have seen with out eyes, that we both testify and make known to you. (Quod vidimus oculis nostris …, testamur et annuntiamus.) 1 John, i.1. And on this account the Lord, at the time when the other disciples abandoned Him, gave to St. John strength to be present until His death in the midst of so many enemies.

But let us return to the Holy Virgin, and examine more deeply the reason why Jesus called Mary woman, and not mother. By this expression He desired to show that she was the great woman foretold in the Book of Genesis, who would crush the serpent’s head: I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. (Inimicitias ponam inter te et Mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius: ipsa conteret caput tuum, et tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus.) – Gen, iii. 15. [*additional note: please check your version of the bible, all the words referring to her and woman have been changed deliberately by luther and his gang (forces against the Church) in protestant translations of the old testament. The original Latin vulgate edition (The Douay-Rheims version is given here)] It is doubted by none that this woman was the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, by means of her Son, would crush the head of Satan, - if it be not more correct to say that her Son, by means of her who would bear Him, would do this. Naturally was Mary the enemy of the serpent, because Lucifer was haughty, ungrateful and disobedient, while She was humble, grateful and obedient. It is said, She shall crush thy head, because Mary, by means of her Son, beat down the pride of Lucifer, who lay in wait for the heel of Jesus Christ, which means His holy humanity, which was the part of him which was nearest to the earth; while the Saviour by His death had the glory of conquering him, and of depriving him of that empire which, through sin, he had obtained over the human race.

God said to the serpent, I will put enmities between thy seed and the woman. This shows that after the fall of man, through sin, notwithstanding all that would be done by the redemption of Jesus Christ, there would be two families and two posterities in the world, the seed of Satan signifying the family of sinners, his children corrupted by him, and the seed of Mary signifying the Holy Family, which includes all the just, with their head Jesus Christ. Hence Mary was destined to be the mother both of the head and of the members, namely, the faithful. The Apostle writes: Ye are all one in Christ Jesus; and if ye are Christ’s, then ye are the seed of Abraham. (Omnes enim vos unum estis in Christo Jesu; si autem vos Christi, ergo semen Abrahae estis.) –Gal. iii. 28. Thus, Jesus Christ and the faithful are one single body, because the head cannot be divided from the members, and these members are all spiritual children of Mary, as they have the same spirit of her Son according to nature, who was Jesus Christ. Therefore, St. John was not called John, but the disciple beloved by the Lord, that we might understand that Mary is the mother of every good Christian who is beloved by Jesus Christ, and in whom Jesus Christ lives by his Spirit. This was expressed by Origen, when he said, “Jesus said to Mary, Behold thy son, as if He had said, This is Jesus, whom thou hast borne, for he who is perfected lives no more himself, but Christ lives in him.” (Dixitque Jesus Matri: “Ecced filius tuus: perinde acsi dixisset: Ecce hic Jesus quem genuisti. – Etenim, qui perfectus est, non amplius vivit ipse, sed in ipso vivit Christus.)

Denis the Carthusian writes that in the Passion of Jesus Christ the breast of Mary was filled with the blood which flowed from His wounds, in order that with it she might nourish her children. And he adds that his divine mother by her prayers and merits, which she especially acquired by sharing in the death of Jesus Christ, obtained for us a participation in the merits of the Passion of the Redeemer. (Promeruit ut per preces ejus ac merita, meritum passionis Christi communicetur hominibus)

O suffering Mother! Thou knowest that I have deserved hell; I have no hope of being saved, except by sharing the merits of the death of Jesus Christ; Thou must pray for me, that I may obtain this grace; and I pray thee to obtain it for me by the love of that Son whom thou sawest bow His head and expire on Calvary before thy eyes. O queen of martyrs, O advocate of sinners, help me always, and especially in the hour of my death! Even now I seem to see the devils, who, in my last agony, will strive to make me despair at the sight of my sins; oh! abandon me not then, when thou seest me thus assaulted; help me with thy prayers, and obtain for me confidence and holy perseverance. And because then, when my speech is gone, and perhaps my senses, I cannot invoke thy name, and that of thy Son, I now call upon thee; Jesus and Mary, I recommend my soul unto you.

O all ye dearest Angels and Saints, please pray for me, intercede for me!

DICI #151

and, this is good.

Parce Domine, parce populo tuo: ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.

The Death of Jesus, Crucifixion by St. Alphonsus Ligouri

The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ
St Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri

Pg 217
The Death of Jesus

V.

O God, had the vilest of all men suffered for me what Jesus Christ has suffered; had I beheld a man torn with scourges, fastened to a cross, and made the laughing stock of the people in order to save my life, could I remember his sufferings without feeling for him the tenderest affection? And were the likeness of my expiring lover brought before me, could I behold it with indifference, and say, Oh! the miserable man has died thus in torture for the love of me? Had he not loved me he would not have died for me. Alas, how many Christians keep a beautiful crucifix in their room, but only as a fine piece of furniture! They praise the workmanship an the expression of grief, but it makes as little impression on their hearts as if it were not the image of the incarnate Word, but of a man who was a stranger and unknown to them.

Ah, my Jesus, do not permit me to be one of them. Remember that Thou didst promise that when Thou wouldst be elevated on the cross, Thou wouldst draw all hearts to Thee. Behold, my heart, softened into tenderness by Thy death, will no longer resist Thy calls. Ah, draw all its affections to Thy love. Thou hast died for me, and I wish to live only for Thee. O sorrows of Jesus, O ignominies of Jesus, O death of Jesus, O love of Jesus! May you be fixed in my heart, and may the sweet remembrance of you remain there forever, to wound me continually, and to inflame me with love. O Eternal Father, behold Jesus dead for my sake, and, through the merits of this Son, show me mercy. My soul, be not diffident on account of the sins thou hast committed against God. It is the Father himself that has given the Son to the world for our salvation, and it is the Son that has voluntarily offered Himself to atone for our sins. Ah, my Jesus, since to pardon me Thou hast not spared Thyself, behold me with the same affection with which Thou didst one day behold me, agonizing for me on the cross. Behold me and enlighten me; and pardon particularly my past ingratitude to Thee, in thinking so little of Thy Passion, and on the love Thou hast shown me in Thy sufferings. I thank Thee for the light which Thou givest me, in making me see in these wounds and lacerated members, as through so many lattices, Thy great and tender affection for me. Unhappy me, if, after this light, I should neglect to love Thee, or if I loved anything out of Thee. May I die (I will say with the enamoured St. Francis of Assisi) for the love of Thee, O my Jesus, who hast condescended to die for the love of me. O pierced heart of my Redeemer, O blessed dwelling of loving souls! Do not disdain to receive also my miserable soul. O Mary, O mother of sorrows! Recommend me to thy Son, whom thou dost hold lifeless in thy arms. Behold his lacerated flesh, behold his divine blood shed for me, and see in them how pleasing it is to him that thou shouldst recommend my salvation to him. My salvation consists in loving himl this love thou hast to obtain for me, but let it be a great and eternal love.

Commenting on the words of St. Paul, The Charity of Christ presseth us, (Charitas Christi urget nos) – 2 Cor. V.14. St Francis de Sales says: “Since we know that Jesus, the true God, has loved us so as to suffer death, and the death of the cross, for our salvation, must not our hearts be under a press which squeezes and forces love from them by a violence which is strong in proportion as it is amiable?” (Love of God by St Francis de Sales) The saint afterwards says that “the hill of Calvary is the mountain of lovers.” He then adds: “Ah, why, then, do we not cast ourselves on Jesus crucified, in order to die on the cross with him who has voluntarily died upon it for the love of us? I will hold him, we ought to say, and will never forsake him; I will die with him, and will burn in the flames of his love. One and the same fire shall consume this divine Creator and his miserable creature. My Jesus gives himself to me, and I give myself entirely to Him. I will live and die on His bosom; neither life nor death shall separate me from him. O eternal love! My soul seeks Thee, and chooses Thee for eternity. Ah! Come, O Holy Ghost, and inflame our hearts with the love of Thee. Either to love or to die. To die to every other love, in order to live to that of Jesus. O Saviour of our souls! Grant that we may sing for eternity: “Live Jesus; I love Jesus. Live Jesus, whom I love; I love Jesus, who lives forever and ever.”

Let us, in conclusion, say: O Lamb of God, who hast sacrificed Thyself for our salvation! O victim of love, who hast been consumed by sorrows on the cross! Oh that I knew how to love Thee as Thou dost deserve to be loved! Oh that I could die for Thee, who hast died for me! By my sins I have been a cause of pain to Thee during Thy entire life; grant that I may please Thee during the remainder of my life, living only in Thee, my love, my all. O Mary, my mother, thou art my hope after Jesus; obtain for me the grace to love Jesus.

O Dearest Angels and Saints, please help me!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum cor tumm!

Mon Dieu, comment je T'aime!