But our Lord, whilst hanging upon the Cross, even to the departure of His spirit, was not idle, but did and spake that which was for our instruction. Whence He spake seven words, which are to be found recorded in the Gospel.
The first word was uttered, in the very act of crucifixion, when He prayed for His crucifiers, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do .”1 Which word affords us a striking instance of patience and of love, yes, of unspeakable charity.
The second word was to His mother, when He said, “Woman, behold Thy son!” and to John, “Behold thy mother !”2 He did not call her mother, lest, through the extreme tenderness of her love, the name itself should make her grieve the more.
The third word was addressed to the penitent thief, when He said, “To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise .”3
The fourth word was, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ?” — that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ?”4 As if He said, “Thou, Father, didst so love the world, that, while Thou hast delivered Me up for it, Thou seemest to have forsaken Me.”
The fifth word was when He said, “I thirst .”5 Which word excited great pity on the part of His mother and her companions, and John ; and called forth great joy on the part of wicked and cruel men. For though the word might be explained of a spiritual thirst for the salvation of souls ; yet, in truth, He endured bodily thirst from loss of blood, whereby He was dried within and quite parched. And when those wretched men were at a loss to know by what means they might do Him some new injury, they invented from this saying a fresh mode of tormenting Him. Wherefore they gave Him vinegar to drink, mingled with galL Accursed be their wrath, for it was insatiable ; for they afflicted Him in every way in which they could.
The sixth word was, “It is finished ;”6 as if to say, “Father, the law of obedience, which Thou gavest Me, I have perfectly fulfilled. Still, whatever now Thou wouldst order Me, Thy Son, order Me, and I am ready to accomplish whatever may remain. For I am prepared for stripes.7 But all that was written of Me is finished ; if it please Thee, O Father, recall Me to Thyself.” Then we can imagine the Father to reply, “Come, My most beloved Son. Thou hast done all things well ; I will not that Thou be afflicted any further. Come; for I will receive Thee in My Bosom, and will embrace Thee.” And from that moment He began to droop, as dying people do, now closing, now opening His Eyes ; and He inclined His Head, now this way, now that, all strength failing Him.
At last He adds the seventh word, with a loud cry and tears, saying to His Father, “Father, into Thy Hands I commend My spirit ;8” and saying this, He gave up the ghost, and with His Head bowed upon His Breast, as if giving thanks to the Father for that He called Him back to Himself, He committed His spirit into His Hands. At this cry, the centurion was converted, who was near, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God,” when He heard Him cry at the very moment of death. For other men at the time of death are unable to cry out, and therefore He believed in Him. Great, indeed, was that cry, heard even in Hell. Oh> what then were the feelings of His mother, when she saw Him thus painfully fail, sink, weep, and die ! I judge that she must have been as one in a trance and unconscious, from the multitude of her troubles, or have become half dead ; much more so now, than when she saw Him bearing His Cross. What now did faithful Magdalen, that beloved disciple? What did John, beloved above all? What did the two sisters of Mary? What, indeed, could they do, steeped in grief, overwhelmed with sorrow, stupefied as with bitterest gall ? They all wept, without any remedy for their grief.
Behold, then, the Lord hangs dead upon the Cross ; the multitude leaves the heights of Calvary ; the mournful mother remains with those four, and sits at the foot of the Cross. They contemplate the Beloved One ; they wait for help from the Lord, to know how to get Him restored to them, and to bury Him. And you, if you have with fixed attention gazed upon your Lord, can tell how, from the sole of the Foot, even to His Head, there is no soundness in Him ; there is no member, no sense, which has not endured some great pain or injury. Here, then, you have, indeed, enough on the Crucifixion and Death of our Lord, which happened at the sixth and ninth hours ; sufficient, indeed, for our little knowledge and experience. But strive devoutly, faithfully, and carefully to give yourself to meditate upon this. For concerning the events which followed upon His Death we will now speak.
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