Behold here a mirror of human misery! So easily do we fall; but we rise not again unless the mercy of God come to our aid. We must, therefore, frequently, or rather always, implore it. This is indicated by the frequent repetition of the Kyrie eleison: the conversion and recovery of a sinner is a difficult thing, and the greatest work of the divine mercy. But oh, how great the joy which the Angels derive from it, over one sinner doing penance! This will be aptly recalled by the Angelical Hymn that follows close upon it. Alas, most merciful Jesus, how inconstant and faithless have I also been in my good resolutions! How often have I too, Lord, been forgetful of my promise, and denied thee with Peter! Yet how seldom with tears of true sorrow have I deplored my sins! Oh, that may do this also with Peter! that I may gladden the Angels, by persevering henceforward in good, and in unison with them sing to thee, Glory to God on high! I V. AT THE COLLECT, EPISTLE, AND GRADUAL. Think of the collected accusations of the people against Christ, the council in the house of Caiphas, and the various injuries, spittings, blows, and mockings, which he suffered there. O most meek Lord, what, and how great, &c., as above. VI. AT THE GOSPEL. Which the Priest reads, after passing from right to left. See how Christ passes from Caiphas to Pilate, is questioned by wicked men about his doctrine and disciples, and is accused for the preaching of the Gospel, for which many injuries and affronts are inflicted on him. O Lord most wise! thou camest from heaven to be our Master, to teach us the way of God in truth, and to lead us from earth to heaven. And the more perfectly to execute thy office, thou didst begin by doing before teaching, and yet thou sufferest calumny; there was nought but truth in thy words, probity in thy deeds, sincerity in all thy conversation; (for who could convict thee of sin?) and yet, O Lord, thou, the Master and Judge of all, endurest to be judged and rejected by the wicked and unjust! Oh, that I may receive the seed of thy word or Gospel in a good and fertile heart, and bring forth much fruit in patience! VII. AT THE OFFERTORY. again to Pilate; and is every where derided, despised, and rejected. O beautiful above the sons of men! O Desire and Expectation of nations, can it be that thou art now the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people, on whom the Angels desire to look !2 in whom the eternal Father is well pleased! Thou art of fered for us, because it is thy own will; and alas, thou art thus despised! Behold, O Lord, I offer to thee all myself; despise me not, I beseech thee, who hast vouchsafed to offer thyself all for me. VIII. AT THE WASHING OF THE HANDS, AND THE ORA TE FRATRES. Think how Christ, having been declared innocent by Pilate by the washing of his hands, is exhibited to the people, who, like rabid dogs, shout that he is guilty of death, and esteem him worse than the robber Barabbas. Oh, how often have I too, with perverted affection, preferred a creature to God my Creator! O most innocent Lord! what, and how great, &c., as above. IX. AT THE PREFACE. Ponder Christ's intense pain and torture of mind when he beheld the great hatred and 1 Ps. xxi. 7. 21 Pet. i. 12. extreme fury of the Jews, with which, when Pilate by all means sought to let him go, he was by those wicked men demanded for crucifixion and death, &c. Was it not thou, O Lord, who, as thou enteredst the city, wert applauded a few days before by them all singing, Hosanna! blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord? Is it not thou to whom the Angels sing, Holy, holy, holy? Ah, sad and sudden change! Well may I learn, O Lord, from thee, how to rely on human favour! how to trust in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation; nay, that it is good for me to adhere to thee alone, and to place my hope in thee, O Lord. O Lord, most patient! what, and how great are the things, &c., as above. X. AT THE CANON. See how Christ is most cruelly scourged by the wicked attendants, crowned with thorns, delivered by Pilate to be crucified, and presently, loaded with the heavy wood of the Cross, with great toil ascends Mount Calvary, &c. Alas, O Lord, whither art thou brought by my great iniquity and thy boundless love? had merited the scourges of thy wrath, and thou, though innocent, art scourged for me! An everlasting cross awaited me; but thou drawest it away from my shoulders to thy own! Truly hast thou borne, O Lord, our infirmities, and thyself carried our sorrows! O most merciful Lord, what, and how great, &c., as above. XI. AT THE ELEVATION. Think of Christ being lifted up upon the Cross, and exposed on high naked, in the sight of all the people. O Christ Jesus! I adore thee, because thou wert lifted up from the earth, that thou mayest draw all things to thyself. For with thy arms outstretched upon the Cross, I see thee, as though thou wert wishing to embrace us; and I hear thee cry, Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will receive and refresh you. O Lord, if I am too sluggish in coming to thee, draw me, O Jesus, with the cords of thy love, which thou shewedst in dying on the Cross. Let to know and to seek Jesus, and him crucified, be my supreme and only delight. Far be it from me to glory, save in the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ,' &c. O eternal Father, behold, this is thy beloved Son, in whom thou art well pleased. Look upon the face of thy Christ, and turn away thy face from my sins, for which thy only-begotten Son humbled himself, being made obe1 Gal. vi. 14. dient to thee, even to the death of the Cross. Behold, he is our Advocate with thee, and the Propitiation for our sins; for he has himself borne our sins in his Body on the tree, and by his stripes we are healed.1 Therefore, with the deepest sorrow, with the publican, I strike my heart, that is open to sins so great as alone to have drawn down so heavy a punishment on thy onlybegotten Son. Through him, therefore, be favourable to me a sinner. Behold, the voice of the Blood of thy Son cries to thee from the earth, not for vengeance, but for pardon. Let his Passion and Death be to me, I beseech thee, for the remedy and remission of my sins. Let the pains and wounds of his Body become medicine to heal my soul, &c. XII. AT THE LORD'S PRAYER, Which consists of seven petitions. Think, O my soul! of the words which Christ uttered seven last and most holy on the Cross. 1. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Give me, O Lord, to worship, love, and fear thee, the Father of us all, and to embrace my neighbour for thy sake, with true and sincere affection, as thou hast taught us by thy example, in dying 11 Pet. ii. 24. and praying for thy enemies when hanging on the Cross: FATHER FORGIVE THEM. Oh, rare and wonderful love! oh, that we, who profess Christ's name, did but imitate it! Surely there is none who more honours thy name, O Christ, or more clearly proves himself thy disciple, that is, a Christian, than he who has learnt, by thy love and example, to love even his enemies! 2. Thy kingdom come. That kingdom, fellowship in which thou didst promise to the thief on the cross, in saying, THIS DAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE. Oh, that I may merit to hear those most sweet words at the hour of my death! Give me, O Lord, the faith, hope, and penitence of the thief, and my heart shall fear no evil hearing !! what anguish to their own hearts! Thy will it was that this sword of sorrow should pierce through souls so beloved, and even that of thy most dear Mother; but in such a way as that their affliction should not fail of its consolation. It was for this thou saidst, MOTHER, BEHOLD THY SON; and to the disciple, BEHOLD THY MOTHER. Not that it was an equal exchange, that for the Son of God his Mother should receive the son of this was thy will, thy Mother, Zebedee, &c., but because too, acquiesced. Behold, I am thine, O Lord, wilt thou have me share thy Passion? My heart is ready, O God: thy consolation? my heart is ready. Let thy will be wholly done in me. what it is thy will should be For why should I shrink from done by thy Elect, and those who love thee most? In all 3. Thy will be done on earth, things I desire to please thee, as it is in heaven. For it is thy will, O Jesus! that even those who are dearest to thee should be sharers of thy Cross; nay, thou wilt have this to be the sign and token of thy love. Behold, this may be recognised in thy most sweet Mother, and in the Disciple whom thou lovedst. They were witnesses and spectators of thy Crucifixion; but alas, with 1 Ps. cx1. 7. and to obey thee in all things, but give me thy grace also. I do not refuse to suffer with thee, but then increase my patience. 4. Give us this day our daily bread. Remember that for my sake thou criedst to thy Father, as if abandoned in thy distress, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME? The eyes of all are upon thee, and thou givest them meat and strength in due season. I too cry to thee in my hunger and distress. If thou despise me, who will look upon me? If thou forsake me, who will receive me? If thou repel me, who will refresh me? 5. And forgive us our debts. Because it was for this that thou didst shed thy Blood so profusely, that we might have plentiful redemption, and that thou mightst pay our debts with so great a price, for none could have paid them but thou. Oh, the love, the longing for our salvation, with which, when languishing with love, and now all bloodless and parched, thou criedst, I THIRST; for what, save for the chalice of thy Passion and Death, that by drinking it to the dregs, thou mightst wash out all our debts, that is to say, our sins? 6. And lead us not into temptation. But, as the good Shepherd, lead and guide us as the sheep of thy pasture; and as our Mediator, commend us to the care of the eternal Father, to whom, when dying, thou commendedst thyself in saying, FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT. Suffer us not, O Lord, to perish, for thou camest to seek and to save that which was lost. 7. But deliver us from evil. For to what end were there so many toils, labours, and sorrows in thy whole life? to what end was the whole work of our Redemption, which thou saidst was by thyself CONSUMMATED ON THE CROSS, but that we might be delivered from all evil, and rejoice in thee only, the true and sovereign Good? Oh, may it be given me to enjoy it! Amen. Be it so, O Christ Jesus! Be it so, O my salvation and my life, and my God, who art my portion for ever! XIII. AT THE DIVISION OF Think of the separation of Christ's soul from his body, that is, the death which he, as an innocent lamb led to the slaughter, endured that he might take away the sins of the world. Also of his descent into hell, &c. Dost thou die, O Lord, who art the author of life, that I, who am guilty of death, may live? Who will give me to die to the world and the flesh, and live to thee alone? to be freed from the deep of hell, and rejoice with thee in glory? What, and how great, O Lord, &c., as above. |