When the Lord Jesus, conducted by these wicked men, arrived at that foul place, Calvary, you may depict to yourself the scene of activity which those sinful men displayed on all sides. Gather yourselves up by a great effort of mind, that you may be present at and realize everything which is done against your Lord, and all that is said or done by Him, or at His instance. Behold, then, with your mind’s eye some fixing the Cross into the ground, others preparing the nails and hammers, others getting the ladder with other implements ready for use ; some, indeed, taking the direction of what was being done, others meanwhile stripping our Lord of His raiment. For He was stripped and made bare now for the third time before the multitude, and His Wounds were reopened because His garments had stuck to His Flesh. What a sight was this for His mother, when her Son was thus prepared to undergo death — sad, indeed, beyond measure. We can imagine that she would long to draw near and embrace Him or cover Him. O what bitter-
1 These meditations are arranged according to the Canonical Hours. We have marked the points of time, without using the names of “the Hours,” so that the meditations may be employed by those not familiar with them. ness of soul! No help can be given, no; for they are dragging her Son with fury to the foot of the Cross.
Now diligently behold the process of Crucifixion. Two ladders are accustomed to be placed, one on the one side, the other on the other; upon these, wicked men go up, with nails and hammers ; while another ladder is placed in front, reaching to that part of the Cross where the feet are to be nailed. Contemplate now each event Our Lord may have been compelled by means of this small ladder to ascend the Cross, for He does whatsoever they bid Him, humbly, without resistance or complaint Having reached the top of the ladder, He turns Himself round, it may be, opens His arms, and extends His Hands — so royal and beautiful — and yields Himself up to His crucifiers.
He looks up to Heaven, and addresses His Father : “Lo, here I am, My Father; Thou willedst that I should humble Myself, even to the death of the Cross, for the love and salvation of the human race. I accept it, and for them I offer Myself to Thee, whom Thou hast given Me, and whom Thou hast willed should be My brethren. Accept, then, O Father, My offering ; be it propitious in Thy Sight from love for Me ; blot out all their old stains of sin, and set them free from them. Father, I offer Myself for them to Thee.”
Then he who was behind the Cross, took His Right Hand, and nailed it firmly to the Cross ; which being done, the other on the other side took His Left Hand, stretched It as far as possible, puts another nail to It, sticks and fastens It to the Cross. After this, they descend from the ladders, and remove them. The Lord hangs down by the weight of His Body, supported only by the nails through His Hands. Nevertheless, another comes up, and draws* down His Body by His Feet with all his might, and holds them, whilst another drives a nail most cruelly through them..
Some think that another method was employed in crucifying our Lord : that they laid the Cross on the ground, and there nailed Him to it, and then raised it, and fixed it in the ground. If you are drawn to conceive of the crucifixion after this manner, behold how they rush upon Him contemptuously, as though a most vile person ; and, mad with passion, cast Him down upon the Cross upon the ground, laying hold of His Arms, and cruelly stretching them in opposite directions, and so fastened them with all vengeance to it. In like manner, behold what they did with His Feet, which they dragged down most violently.
Behold, the Lord Jesus is crucified, and so stretched upon the Cross, that “all His bones might be told,” as He complains by His Prophet On all sides streams of the most Sacred Blood flow from those large wounds. So bound is He that He is unable to move any member save His Head. Those three nails bear the whole weight of His Body. He suffers most bitter pain, beyond all description or thought He hangs between two thieves ; on all sides, tortures, revilings, reproaches; for, in all His anguish, they did not refrain from reproaches. Some blaspheme, saying, “Ah, Thou that destroyest the Temple.” Others, indeed, cried out, “Himself He cannot save,” and similar expressions of derision. “If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross, and we will believe Him.” And the soldiers, also, who crucified Him, divided His garments in His presence.
And all this, haply, is said and done in the presence of His most sorrowful mother, whose sympathy with Him much augmented His sorrow. She would wish, indeed, in her sympathy, to hang with Him on the Cross, and would rather die with Him than live any longer. Anguish is on all sides ; such misery as might be felt, but cannot be told. His mother stood by the Cross in the midst, and turned not her eyes from her Son ; she was afflicted with Him, and prayed doubtless to the Father most fervently : “O Father and God Eternal, it is Thy will that my Son should be crucified. I cannot now desire it to be otherwise, but you see the bitter anguish of His soul; wherefore I pray You, ease His sufferings, if it be Thy will.” And the Son, we may believe, similarly prayed for her : “Father, behold My afflicted mother. I ought thus to suffer, but not she; yet in her sympathy she is united with me in the Cross. It is enough that I should be crucified, because I bear the sins of all the people, but her sufferings can have no like merit. Behold her desolate, and worn out with all this grief. I commend her to Thee ; make her sorrow more bearable.”
There were near the Cross, with the Blessed Virgin, John and Magdalen, and the two sisters of Mary ; namely, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, and perhaps others also ; all of whom, and especially that beloved disciple of Jesus, Magdalen, wept bitterly : nor could they be comforted for their beloved Lord and Master ; they suffered with Him, with His mother, and with each other. Again and again was their sorrow renewed, for their compassion was unceasingly called forth, when some new reproach or suffering was added to the Passion of their Lord.