[Most articles can be downloaded; if you see no download form, write to us.]
Josefa: Meditate for a moment on the martyrdom of My supremely tender and loving Heart at finding Barabbas preferred to Me, and how, at seeing Myself so scorned, I felt cut to the quick by the cries of the crowd urging My death.
St. Alphonsus: Pilate delivers over the innocent Lamb into the hands of those wolves… These ministers of Satan seize hold of Him fiercely… Says St. Ambrose: “They put on Him His own raiment, that He might the better be recognized by all; since, as His face was all bloody and disfigured, it would not have been an easy matter for all to have recognized Him.”
So drained of Blood is He and wearied out with His torments…He can scarcely stand. Behold Him, all torn with wounds… Look at Him as He goes along, with Body bent double, with knees all of a tremble, dripping with Blood; and so painful is it to Him to walk, that at every step He seems ready to die.
If God, then, O my Jesus, burdened Thee with all the sins of men
— “The Lord laid upon Him the iniquities of us all” (Isaiah 53:60) —
with my own sins, added to the weight of the Cross
that Thou didst bear to Calvary.
Dr. Buckley: Present on the back…are two areas of abrasion located over the shoulder blades. These are caused by a heavy object resting across the back.
Msgr. Ricci: Imagine a beam that at the time of Pontius Pilate was put across the shoulders and tied on with a rope. Marks of this beam can be seen in the area of the left and upper right shoulder blades. The lacerations from the scourging spread under the weight of the beam.
Josefa: Wearily I dragged Myself forward… So great was My exhaustion and so heavy the Cross that I fell on the way… See how roughly the inhuman soldiery raised Me to My feet once more…one seized an arm, another My garments which clung to My open wounds…a third grasped hold of Me by the neck…and another by the hair. Some showered blows on Me with their clenched fists and others brutally kicked My prostrate Body… The Cross which fell upon Me crushed Me with its weight. My face bruised and torn, mingled the blood which covered It with the dust of the highway, blinding My eyes and adhering to My sacred face. I became the vilest and most contemptible of all creatures!
Dr. Buckley: On the right cheek is a swelling which has resulted in the partial closing of the right eye. There is also an area on the nose where there is a separation and possible fracture of the nasal cartilage. On the tip of the nose is a small abrasion, possibly resulting from a fall where the nose came in contact with a hard object.
Msgr. Ricci: His fall was unavoidable… The consequences are very clear on the Shroud… The knee cap on the left leg has a very bad laceration and contusion. It is evident that the left leg bent and hit against the stones.
St. Alphonsus: Why was it that in the journey…the Jews took the Cross from off His shoulders, and gave it to the Cyrenian to carry?… As the blessed Denis, the Carthusian, says, “They feared lest He should die upon the way,” seeing that our Lord, after the scourging, was so drained of Blood and so exhausted in strength as to be scarcely able any longer to stand.
Ah, my Lord, great is my happiness in understanding
how much Thou has loved me…
But how great is my sorrow at the thought
of having offended so good a God!
Josefa: Watch Simon carrying (the Cross) behind Me and consider two things; though he was a man of good will, yet he was mercenary, and if he carried My Cross, it was for pay. So when he began to tire, he allowed the weight to bear more and more on Me, and that is how I fell twice…
We have nearly reached Calvary. The crowd is growing excited while I drag Myself along with the utmost difficulty, and soon, worn out with fatigue, I fall for the third time.
By My first fall I obtained for sinners rooted in evil, the grace of conversion…by My second fall, encouragement for those weak souls blinded by sadness and anxiety, so that rising up they might make a fresh start in the way of virtue. My third fall will help souls to repent in the supreme hour of death.
Next: The Crucifixion >>
Compiled and © 1993 by Terry A. Modica
Want a printable PDF copy of this? Download it from the “start” page.
