The Blessed Virgin speaks.
At that time, my Son was suffering, and as
Judas the traitor approached, he stooped to-
wards him, for Judas was of low stature,
giving him a kiss, saying: “Friend, wherefore
hast thou come?” And immediately some
seized him, others dragged him by the hair,
others defiled him by spitting upon him. Then
my Son spoke, saying: “I am reputed as a
worm, which lies in winter as if dead, on
which the passer-by spits and tramples. The
Jews have this day treated me like a worm,
because I was deemed most abject and unwor-
thy by them.” — Lib. iv., c. 99.
When the time of my Son’s Passion arrived,
his enemies seized him, striking him on his
cheek and neck ; and spitting upon him, they
mocked him. Then, led to the pillar, he
stripped himself, and himself stretched his
hands to the pillar, which his enemies pitiless
bound. Now, while tied there he had no
clothing, but stood as he was born, and suf-
fered the shame of his nakedness. Then his
enemies rose up, for they stood on all sides,
his friends having fled, and they scourged his
body, pure from all spot or sin. At the first
blow, I, who stood nearest, fell as if dead, and
on recovering my senses, I beheld his body
bruised and beaten to the very ribs, so that
his ribs could be seen ; and what was still
more bitter, when the scourge was raised, his
very flesh was furrowed by the thongs. And
when my Son stood thus, all bloody, all torn,
so that no soundness could be found in him,
nor any spot to scourge, then one, his spirit
roused within him, asked : Will you slay him
thus unjudged ?” and he immediately cut his
bonds. Then my Son put on his clothes, and
I beheld the spot whSre my Son’s feet stood
all full of blood, and I knew my Son’s course
by his footprints, for wherever he went, the
earth seemed stained with blood; nor did
they suffer him to clothe himself, but they
compelled and urged him to hasten.
Now, as my Son was led away like a robber,
he wiped away the blood from his eyes. And
when he was condemned, they gave him his
cross to bear. When he had carried it a
short way, one came up and assumed it.
Meanwhile, as my Son was going to the place
of his Passion, some smote him on the back,
others struck him in the face. And so vio-
lently and rudely was he struck, that though
I did not see the person striking, I distinctly
heard the sound of the blow. And when I
came with him to the place of the Passion, I
there beheld all the instruments prepared for
his death. And my Son himself coming
thither, divested himself of his clothes, the
attendants saying to each other : “ These vest-
ments are ours, nor can he have them again,
that is condemned to death.” Now, while
my Son stood as naked as when he was born,
one running up, handed him a doth, with
which, exulting inwardly, he covered him.
Then his cruel executioners seized him, and
stretched him on the cross. First they fixed
his right hand .to the beam, which was pierced
for nails, and they transfixed his hand in the
part where the bone was firmest. Then
drawing his other hand with a rope, they
affixed it in like manner to the cross. Then
they crucified his right foot, and over it the
left, with nails, so that all the nerves and
veins were extended and broken.
This done, they fitted a crown of thorns to his head,
which so acutely wounded the venerable head
of my Son, that his eyes were filled, his ears
stopped up, with the blood that streamed
down, and his whole beard matted with the
gore. And as he stood thus pierced and
bloody, condoling with me as I stood mourning,
he looked with blood-stained eyes to
John, my kinsman, and commended me to
him. At that time, I heard some saying that
my Son was a robber, others that he was a
liar, others that none better deserved death
than my Son, and these words renewed my
grief. But, as has been said, when the first
nail was driven into him, horrified at the first
blow, I fell as though dead, my eyes darkened,
my hands trembling, my feet quivering, nor
for bitterness could I look again before it was
nailed fast.
On rising, I beheld my Son hanging miserably,
and I, his most wretched mother, filled with
terror on all sides, could scarcely
stand for grief. But my Son, seeing me and
his friends weeping disconsolately, in a loud
and tearful voice cried out to his Father, saying:
“Father, why hast thou forsaken me ?”
Then his eyes appeared half dead, his cheeks
hollow, and his countenance mournful, his
mouth open and his tongue bloodstained, his
body collapsed as though he had nothing
within, the humors being all drained ; his
whole body, pale and languid from the loss
and flow of blood. His hands and feet were
stretched out most rigidly, drawn and shaped
to the form of the cross, his beard and hair all
clotted with blood.
Now when my Son was thus torn and livid, his heart
alone was vigorous, it being naturally very good and strong;
for at his birth he assumed a most pure body
of my flesh, and an excellent constitution.
His skin was so tender and fair, that it could
not be slightly struck without blood issuing at
once. His blood was so fresh, that it could be
seen in his clear skin ; and as he was of an
excellent temperament, life struggled with
death in his pierced body. For sometimes
the pain mounted from his pierced limbs and
nerves to his heart, which was very vigorous
and uncorrupted, and thus tortured him with
incredible pain and suffering. And sometimes
the pain shot from his heart to his lacerated
members, and thus prolonged death with bit-
terness. And when my Son, surrounded with
these pains, looked to his weeping friends,
who would have preferred with his assistance
to bear that penalty in their own persons, or
to burn forever in hell, rather than see him
thus tortured, this' pain, from the grief of
his friends, exceeded all bitterness and tribulation,
which he endured either in body or in
heart, because he loved them tenderly. Then
in his great anguish of body, he cried in his
humanity to his Father: “Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit.”
When I, his most afflicted mother, heard these words, all
my limbs trembled in my bitter grief of heart.
And as often as I thought of this word, it was
present and fresh in my ears. And as death
came on, when his heart was breaking from
excessive pain, then all his members quivered,
and his head, rising slightly, inclined. His
mouth was seen to open, disclosing his tongue
all covered with blood. His hands shrunk a
little from the holes of the nails, and the feet
bore more of the weight of the body. His
fingers and arms extended in a manner, and
his back was pressed back on the cross.
See, my daughter, what my Son endured for thee. — Lib. i., c. 10.
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