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Neither do weakness and passion justify them, since reason ought not to give way thereto; nor even occasions, how unforeseen soever they may be, because they impose no necessity on the human will. And therefore this blindness can proceed from nothing but the malice of the devil, from the corruption of our own wills, and from the falsehood of our judgments, whereby Christ is much more offended than by all the affronts he endured in his passion.

VIII. He declares this expressly, when he says: Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he shall come in his glory, and that of his Father, and of the holy angels.-Luke ix. 26. And certainly it is just that our Lord should not receive with him into heaven, those that were ashamed to do on earth what he himself had done; that preferred the false honours of this world to the imitation of the heavenly King; and that shut their ears 'against the truth of his doctrine, in order to follow the vanity of human opinions.

When we are dispensed with by our state in the cruel obligation which this world imposes, of washing off our dishonour in the blood of our brethren, we have a great many thanks to give to God for that dispensation. That man is happy who has embraced a kind of life, wherein he has no other glory to maintain than that of Christ; and who would scandalize even the most worldly men, if refusing to imitate him, he were impatient and revengeful in injuries? But persons engaged in the world also ought to remember that our Saviour will never dispense with their observance of his law, that he will not receive their excuses, and if he was meek and patient, so far as to suffer for our sakes all manner of affronts, he will not be less severe in condemning those, who allowing themselves to follow those corrupt maxims, of which we have spoken, will not imitate his meekness and patience.

The best counsel that can be given to persons, who, in the injuries they receive, feel an extreme repugnance to the practice of Christian meekness, is first to take a firm resolution in the presence of God, not to do anything at that time according to the judgment of the world; to prostrate themselves afterwards at the feet of Christ, and earnestly to beg of him that grace, by all the affronts he suffered; that those very reproaches which opened us the gates of heaven, may also open our hearts to the divine light, dispel in us the darkness of those false opinions, and give us strength to resist the torrent of worldly maxims, Then Christ, who endured all those ignominies for the purpose of establishing in our hearts the love of those divine truths which he has taught us, will accept our desires, and operate in us those miracles of patience, which he is accustomed to operate in his saints.

CONTEMPLATION.-On Christ abandoned to the insolence of the Soldiers.-Permit me, O my Jesus! to consider the beauty of thy

countenance, before it be disfigured by the cruel hands of those impious persons. I adore thee, O heavenly beauty! which the angels always behold, and which they always desire to behold; who art the joy of heaven, the glory of those that love thee, and the delight of those that seek thee. is it possible that those profligates shall dare to lay their profane hands upon thy sacred face? Hast thou not already suffered affronts enough, O Lord! Permit them not, O thou love of my soul! to deface that divine beauty, lest those souls that are touched therewith, and live only by the pleasure they find therein, should not be able to discover it any more. O inhuman executioners! O hearts harder than rocks! If ye knew who he is whom ye have in your hands; if ye beheld the beauty which ye affront, ye would soon change your contempt into respect, and your cruelty into love. But I must be very obdurate myself, O my Saviour, to see thee thus treated, and not to die, and not to feel my heart burst with grief, at the sight of so horrible an indignity. I behold thy enemies satisfying their cruel hatred upon thy divine countenance, and I am still alive; and can my eyes also behold the other torments which they are preparing for thee?

II. Is it not sufficient for thy love that they should stretch thee on a cross, dislocate thy arms, pierce thy hands and feet, and that no part of thy body should be free from suffering? Why dost thou not at least spare thy countenance? Why wilt thou suffer it to be bruised and disfigured, at the beginning of thy passion? Is it possible there should be any men that are not touched with the modesty and majesty which shines therein? But they are touched therewith, O Lord! and if they cover it, it is to prevent the sentiment of veneration with which it inspires them, and to strike thee afterwards with less moderation. O how true is it that thou art meek and humble of heart! without that couldst thou expose thyself, as thou dost, to such cruel ignominies?

Here it is, O light of my soul! that I clearly see how far I am from thy humility. Sometimes I say in general, when my heart is touched with thy reproaches, that there is none but what I am resolved to bear for thy sake; but when I come to sound my interior, and would speak sincerely, I acknowledge my weakness before thee, O my God! If I saw myself upon the point of receiving in public, and against all manner of justice, any blows from those that are below thee, I should be extremely disturbed, or should do myself a violence, or I could never resolve to bear them. Whence comes this, O Lord? It is because I am only humble in words, and at the bottom am quite full of pride.

But thou, O divine Lamb! because thou art meek and humble of heart, and thy humility being true, sincere, and interior, thou sufferest in silence: thou lovest those that abuse thee, and yield

est up that sacred face to all the confusion wherewith they cover it, in order to deliver me from the eternal confusion which I have deserved. And yet I, always proud in spirit and heart, after such an example, have not the courage, nor even the desire of presenting the other cheek to him that would give me a blow. When wilt thou destroy my pride, O my God! When shall I be, like thee, truly meek, and humble of heart?

III. The laws of the world offer me reasons for killing him that shall give me a blow: and they would have me make a greater account of chimerical honour, than of my neighbour's life. There are none but slaves, the world tells me, that do not revenge themselves for the blows they receive from their masters. How contrary are thy maxims to those of the world, O my God! though I continually affront thee, thou always esteemest my life and salvation more than thy own glory. Thou sufferest them without complaint to bruise thy face; art thou then my slave, O my sovereign Lord! will it not be said, that thy love is blind? For who art thou; and who am I? O mystery! O prodigy! O depth of wisdom and charity of God! O love which workest so many wonders in the heart of Jesus, why dost thou not change mine? Is it possible that thou shouldst find in a worm of the earth more resistance to humiliations, than thou findest in the Divine Majesty.

IV. I am ashamed of myself, O Lord! when I consider that those, who treat thee so unworthily, are not savage beasts, but men of the same nature with myself; that I am a child of Adam, like them, inclined to the same disorders as they are; capable as well as they of hating that divine beauty, of bruising that adorable face, and of veiling it, in order to affront it with greater liberty. I have not only, O my Saviour! deserved by my crimes all the evils I see thee suffer; I am not only the cause of thy suffering them, but also they are my equals, that make thee suffer them; it is my flesh that abuses thee, and yet I hate it not, nor have any abhorrence of myself: on the contrary, I still flatter this criminal flesh, and love myself more than thee, or thy law.

When wilt thou work in me, O Lord! that change which thou desirest? When wilt thou give me a true hatred of myself? When shall I abhor a nature, which, abandoned to itself, and deprived of thy grace, can commit such wickedness? O sweet Jesus! O humble Jesus! accomplish the work in me for which thou endurest such prodigious humiliations, with so much sweetness. For if thou withdrawest thy hand, I shall become worse than those who abuse thee.

V. The hatred they bear thee, O my Saviour! is so great, that they will not admit of anything that can mitigate the fury wherewith they are animated. They cover the beauty of thy face, lest they should be moved to compassion thereby. Ah! hide it not

from me, O Lord! Show me, O thou love of my soul! that divine countenance, quite livid and bruised as it is. I desire it, adore it, and love it in that state; and it is so much the dearer to me, as it is the more disfigured for my sake. I perceive, through all that covers it from me, the attractives wherewith my soul is charmed. Pardon me, O Lord! all the sins I have committed against thee. For, alas! how many times have I veiled thy face, that I might sin with more freedom? How many times have I wished thou might not see me, that I might follow, without any restraint, my disorderly appetites ? Illuminate me, O divine light! and make me discover, in the cruelty of thy executioners, the disorders of my life.

VI. When I read thy holy Scriptures; when I hear thy word; when I consider what thou hast done for me; or else, when thou presentest me interiorly with the blessings of thy sweetness, and I discover what thou art, what I owe thee, and what thou requirest of me; dost thou not then discover the beauty of thy countenance to me; that I may observe thy law, and allow myself to be gained by thy love? And when I am unwilling to hear thy voice! when I reject thy doctrine, and forget thy mercies, to follow the corruption of my own desires, do not I throw a veil over thy face, whose splendour would be capable of dispelling all my darkness? O Divine mercy! couldst thou bear with me, if thou wert not infinite? Forget, O Lord! my past miseries; and grant for the future, I may never lose the sight of thee; that I may always walk in thy presence; that I may apply myself as diligently to seek thee, as I have done to fly from thee; and that my blindness may this moment be at an end. Let not the sins I have hitherto committed hinder thee, O my Saviour! from showing me thy face, and softening the obduracy of my heart. Thou canst this moment convert me, and transform me into thee; do then what thou canst, O my God, my love, and my sovereign good!

VII. Be thou content, O my Jesus! with what thou hast already suffered. Make thy executioners cease, and discover to me that adorable countenance, that I may be moved to compassion by seeing it; and that my soul, in the excess of its grief, may melt with love for thee. The Jews were afraid to see the face of Moses when he came down from the mount, because they could not bear the splendor of it, consequent upon the conversation he had with our Lord; and desired that Moses might speak to them but not God. Souls that love thee, O my Saviour! being charmed with thy immense charity, desire nothing so much as to hear thy voice, and to behold thee openly. They hate everthing that hinders so sweet a commerce; they cannot suffer any medium between thee and them, nor any veil that might hide thy beauty.

Moses, who knew thee, and burnt with love for thee, sighed

continually after that happiness, and earnestly besought thee, that since thou hadst honoured him with thy friendship, thou wouldst also show him thy countenance. Grant the same favour to me, thy unworthy servant; I beg this of thee only, that I may know thee better, love thee more ardently, and see myself happily absorbed in thee. Take away my heart, O my God! Charm all the powers of my soul. Since thou art to do it one day, why dost thou it not at present? It is true, if I were wholly thine, nothing would hide the splendor of thy beauty from me. I should behold thee, know thee, and love thee in all creatures. But who can work that wonder but thyself, O thou salvation of my soul !

VIII. Remember, O Lord! that thy eyes, over which they cast a veil, were not shut in regard to St. Peter, who had denied thee at that time; that thou didst look upon him, and that one single look of thine pierced his heart, and infused a light therein, which made him know and weep for his sin. Thou art the same now as then, O thou God of my soul! Look upon me with the same eyes; penetrate my heart with the rays which then flew from thy countenance; that discovering the miserable state I am in, I may deplore all my life, as the Apostle did, the misfortune of having offended thee. Receive me into the number of thy servants, O charitable master! I offer and resign myself to thee; do with me whatever thou pleasest; I only beg of thee thy love, and the grace of being charmed with thy divine beauty, O my Jesus, my Saviour, and my Sovereign felicity!

O most sacred Mother of God! you who were equally sensible of the charms of the most beautiful of the children of men, and of the affronts which he suffered, be mindful of a miserable sinner, and obtain for me the grace to love everything, for the sake of this divine Saviour, that he has loved for me. Angels of heaven, blessed spirits! ye who continually behold the brightness of his divine beauty; love him, praise him, bless him with all your strength. Be inflamed for yourselves and me with that fire which he kindles in you; supply my tepidity, and beg for me that I may never forget his mercies; that nothing may make me lose the remembrance of his reproaches; and that I may hate everything that can separate me from him. Amen.

THIRTY-SECOND SUFFERING OF CHRIST.—They spit in his face.

I. When Christ had suffered all the blows, buffets, and other bad treatments, which rage inspired his executioners with, they uncovered his face; but it was only to cover it with spittle. This ignominy, which is the basest effort of contempt and hatred, appeared so great to our Saviour, that he had clearly foretold it, by the mouth of his prophet, saying: I have not turned away my face

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