Lignum vitae

Jesus, born of God.

1. When you hear that Jesus was born of God, take care lest any weak notion of carnal thinking present itself to the eyes of your mind; rather, with the gaze of the dove and the eagle, simply believe and keenly contemplate that from that eternal light, at once immense and most simple, most radiant and supremely hidden, there rises a splendor coeternal, coequal and consubstantial, who is the virtue and wisdom of the Begetter, in whom the Father disposed all things from eternity, through whom he made the ages and governs and orders what has been made to his glory, partly through nature, partly through grace, partly through justice, partly through mercy, so that he leaves nothing in this world unordered.

Jesus, prefigured.

2. From the beginning of the condition of nature, indeed, when the first parents had been placed in paradise and then expelled through the severity of the divine decree because of eating of the forbidden tree, mercy from above did not delay to call wandering man back to the way of penance, giving hope of pardon through the promised coming of the Savior. And lest so great a condescension of God should prove ineffective for our salvation through ignorance and ingratitude, in the five ages of this world, through Patriarchs, judges, priests, kings and Prophets, from Abel the just to John the Baptist, it did not cease to foretell, promise and prefigure the coming of his Son, so that through many thousands of times and years, with great and wondrous oracles multiplied, it might raise our minds to faith and inflame our affections with living desires.

Jesus, sent down from heaven.

3. Finally, after the fullness of time had come, just as man on the sixth day was formed from earth by the virtue and wisdom of the divine hand, so at the beginning of the sixth age, the archangel Gabriel having been sent to Mary, and Mary giving him her assent, the Holy Spirit came upon her, like a divine fire inflaming her mind and sanctifying her flesh with most perfect purity. But the virtue of the Most High overshadowed her, that she might bear so great a burning; by whose working in an instant the body was formed, the soul created, and both at once joined to the Godhead in the person of the Son, so that the same was God and man, with the character of each nature preserved. O if you could in some way feel what and how great was that fire sent from heaven, the refreshment bestowed, the comfort infused, how great the exaltation of Mary the Mother, how great the ennobling of the human race, and how great the condescension of Majesty; if you could hear Mary singing with rejoicing, if you could ascend with your Lady into the hill country, if you could behold the sweet embrace of the barren woman and Mary and the duty of greeting, in which the servant recognized the Lord, the herald the Judge, the voice the Word: I think that you would then sing that holy song, "My soul doth magnify the Lord" etc., with the most blessed Virgin in sweet melody, and would adore the wondrous virginal conception, exulting and rejoicing together with the little Prophet!

Jesus, born of Mary.

4. Indeed, when the quiet silence of universal peace under the rule of Caesar Augustus had calmed the previously troubled ages, so much so that by his decree the whole world was enrolled, by the care of divine providence it came about that Joseph, the spouse of Mary, led the pregnant maiden, sprung from royal stock, to the city of Bethlehem. And nine months having now run their course since the conception, that King of peace came forth as a bridegroom from his chamber, from the virginal womb, brought forth into the light with no corruption at all, just as he had been conceived with no taint of lust; who, though he was great and rich, for our sake became small and poor, chose to be born outside the house in the inn, to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, fed with virginal milk, and laid in a manger between the ox and the ass. Then "the day of new redemption, of ancient restoration, of eternal happiness dawned upon us; then throughout the whole world the heavens became sweet as honey."

Embrace now, therefore, my soul, that divine manger, that you may press your lips to the feet of the child and redouble your kisses. Then ponder in your mind the watching of the shepherds, marvel at the hastening army of Angels, join your part to the heavenly melody, singing with heart and mouth: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."

Jesus, made like the Fathers.

5. On the eighth day indeed the boy is circumcised and called Jesus, that, hastening to pour out the price of his blood for you, he might show himself your most true Savior, promised to the Fathers both in word and in sign, and made like them in all things except ignorance and sin. For this reason he also received the seal of circumcision, just as coming he appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, that of sin he might condemn sin, and become for us salvation and everlasting justice, taking his beginning from humility, which is the root and guardian of all virtues. Why then are you proud, earth and ashes? The innocent Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world, does not shrink from the branding of circumcision; and you, though you are a sinner, when you pretend to be just, flee the remedy of eternal salvation, to which you can in no way attain unless you are willing to follow the humble Savior.

Jesus, shown to the Magi.

6. When the Lord was born in Bethlehem of Juda, a star appeared to the Magi in the east and led them with guiding brightness as far as the house of the humble King. Do not now turn aside from the splendor of that eastern and guiding star, but rather, made a companion of the holy kings, receive the Scripture of the Jews bearing witness to Christ, and shun the malice of the deceitful king. With gold, frankincense and myrrh venerate Christ the king as true God and man, and with the firstfruits of the nations to be called to faith adore, confess and praise the humble God lying in the cradle, so that, warned in sleep not to follow the pride of Herod, you may return to your country following in the footsteps of the humble Christ.

Jesus, made subject to the laws.

7. It was not enough for the master of perfect humility, though in all things equal to the Father, to subject himself to the most lowly Virgin, unless he also submitted himself to the Law, so that he might redeem those who were under the Law and free them from the slavery of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For this reason he willed that his Mother, though most pure, should observe the law of purification, and that he himself, the Redeemer of all, as the firstborn should be redeemed, offered in the temple of God, and a sacrifice given for him, while just men were present and rejoicing. Rejoice therefore with that blessed old man and Anna of great age; go forth to meet the Mother and the Child; let love conquer shame, let affection cast out fear. Take up the Infant in your arms and say with the bride: "I held him, and I will not let him go." Exult with that most holy old man and sing: "Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace."

Jesus, driven from the kingdom.

8. Since perfect humility is fittingly adorned above all by the company of three virtues, namely poverty in fleeing riches as the fuel of pride, patience in calmly enduring contempt, and obedience in obeying the commands of others: therefore by divine disposal, with a higher counsel permitting, while the wicked Herod seeks the little king to destroy him, by the oracle of revelation from above he is carried into Egypt as a pilgrim and a pauper, and at the same time, in the little children of his age slain for his sake, he is slain and as it were butchered in each one. At last, Herod being dead, according to the divine command he is brought back into the land of Juda, and there living and growing in age and grace, he dwelt with his parents and was so subject to them that he never withdrew even for a moment, except when, now twelve years old, he remained in Jerusalem, sought not without much sorrow of his Mother nor found again without immense joy.

Do not then leave the Mother and the Child fleeing into Egypt to go without company; do not cease from seeking until you find, with the beloved seeking the beloved. O with what abundance would tears flow, if with pious eyes you beheld so venerable a Lady and so gracious a maiden a pilgrim with so tender and beautiful a little Boy; if you also heard that sweet rebuke of the most loving Mother of God: "Son, why hast thou done so to us?" as if she said: Most beloved Son, how could you give to a Mother so devoted to you and loving you so great a cause of sorrow!

Jesus, baptized from heaven.

9. When the Savior had reached the thirtieth year of his age, wishing to work our salvation, he began first to do rather than to teach; and beginning first from the door of the Sacraments and the foundation of the virtues, he willed to be baptized by John, to show the example of perfect justice and "to bestow regenerative power upon the waters by contact with his most pure flesh."

Whom do you also faithfully accompany, and now regenerated in him, search out his mysteries, that "beside the Jordan you may see the Father in the voice, the Son in the flesh, the Holy Spirit in the dove, and with the heaven of the Trinity opened to you," you may be raised up to God.

Jesus, tempted by the enemy.

10. For Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, to be tempted by the devil, that by humble endurance of the hostile battle he might make us humble and by the attainment of life make us strong. He also steadfastly took up a hard and solitary life, to raise the minds of the faithful to the undertaking of perfection and to strengthen them to bear hard things.

Come now, disciple of Christ, seek out with the loving master the hidden places of solitude, that made a companion of the wild beasts, an imitator and partaker of hidden silence, devout prayer, long fasting, and the teaching of conflict with the cunning enemy, and in every trial of temptations you may learn to have a safe recourse, because we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin.

Jesus, wondrous in signs.

11. For he it is who alone doth great wonders, while he changes the elements, multiplies loaves, treads the waves and calms them, commands demons and puts them to flight, heals the sick, cleanses lepers and raises the dead, who also restores to the blind sight, to the deaf hearing, to the dumb speech, to the lame walking, and to the paralyzed and the withered both sense and movement.

To him the sinful conscience now cries in the manner of the faithful leper: "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean;" now in the manner of the centurion: "Lord, my boy lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented;" now in the manner of the Chanaanite woman: "Have mercy on me, son of David;" now in the manner of the woman with the issue of blood: "If I shall touch only his garment, I shall be healed;" now after the manner of Martha: "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick."

Jesus, transfigured.

12. To strengthen the human mind through hope of eternal retribution, Jesus took apart Peter, James and John onto a high mountain, to whom he both opened the mystery of the Trinity and foretold the abjection of the Passion and showed in the Transfiguration the future glory of the resurrection, with the Law and the Prophets bearing him witness in the appearing of Moses and Elias, with the Father and the Holy Spirit also bearing witness in the voice and in the cloud, so that the soul devoted to Christ and now established in truth and raised to the height of virtue may faithfully say with Peter: "Lord, it is good for us to be here," that is, in the serene enjoyment of thy contemplation, and, with heavenly sleep and ecstasy sent upon it, may hear secret words which it is not granted to man to utter.

Jesus, the solicitous shepherd.

13. How great was the care of his solicitude for the lost sheep, and how great the mercy, of the most loving shepherd, the good shepherd himself shows by the tender figure of the shepherd and the hundredth sheep that was lost and sought with much care and at last found and carried home on his shoulders with joy, and declares openly in express words when he says: "The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep"; and in him is that prophecy truly and perfectly fulfilled: "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd." For on this account he endured labors, anxieties, and want of food, and amid the snares of the Pharisees and many dangers went about the cities and towns preaching the kingdom of God, spent wakeful nights in prayer, and, fearing neither the murmuring nor the scandal of the Pharisees, showed himself affable to publicans, declaring that he had come into the world for those who are ill. To penitents also he extended a father's affection, showing openly to them the bosom of divine mercy. As witnesses of this I invoke and bring forward Matthew, Zacchaeus, and that sinful woman prostrate at his feet, and the woman taken in adultery. Follow, then, this most loving shepherd perfectly after the manner of Matthew, receive him as a guest after the manner of Zacchaeus, anoint him after the manner of the sinful woman and wash his feet with tears, wipe them with your hair and soothe them with kisses, so that at last, with that woman set before his judgment, you may deserve to hear the sentence of absolution: "Hath no man condemned thee? Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more."

Jesus, watered with weeping.

14. For to unlock the sweetness of the highest love, the fountain of all mercy, the good Jesus, wept for us wretches not only once but many times. For first over Lazarus, then over the city, and at last on the cross, streams of tears flowed from those most loving eyes for the expiation of the sins of all; and the Saviour wept abundantly, now bewailing the misery of human weakness, now the darkness of the blind heart, now the depravity of hardened malice. O hard, mad, and impious heart, to be lamented as though bereft of true life, why, like a madman, do you rejoice and laugh amid such miseries while the Wisdom of the Father weeps over you? Behold your weeping physician and make for yourself the mourning of an only son, a bitter lamentation; let tears run down as a torrent day and night; give yourself no rest, and let not the apple of your eye cease.

Jesus, acknowledged as king of the world.

15. After Lazarus was raised and the alabaster box of ointment poured out upon the head of Jesus, when the fragrance of his fame was now spread abroad among the people, he himself, foreknowing that the crowd would come out to meet him, mounted a little ass, so that amid the applause of the thronging peoples, cutting branches and spreading garments in the way, he might furnish a wondrous example of humility. Nor was he forgetful of his mercy, for while the crowds uttered their song of praise, he himself took up a lament over the destruction of the city. Arise now, handmaid of the Saviour, that as one of the daughters of Jerusalem you may behold King Solomon in the honor which his mother the Synagogue reverently showed him as a figure of the nascent Church, so that with branches of olive and of palm, as it were, that is with works of love and triumphs of the virtues, you may continually accompany the Lord of heaven and earth riding upon the colt of an ass.

Jesus, the consecrated bread.

16. Among all the memorials of Christ, it is agreed that the last banquet of the most sacred supper is worthy of the chief remembrance, in which not only the paschal lamb is set forth to be eaten, but also the spotless Lamb who takes away the sins of the world is given for food under the appearance of bread having all delight and the sweetness of every taste. In this banquet the sweet goodness of Christ shone forth wondrously, when with those poor little disciples and with Judas the traitor he supped at the same table and from the same dish. A wondrous example of humility shone forth when the King of glory, girded with a towel, most diligently washed the feet of fishermen and even of his own betrayer. A wondrous bounty of generosity appeared when to those first priests, and consequently to the whole Church and the whole world, he gave his most sacred body and his true blood for food and drink, so that what was soon to be a sacrifice pleasing to God and the priceless price of our redemption might be our viaticum and sustenance. A wondrous excess of love shone forth at last when, loving his own unto the end, he strengthened them in good with so sweet an exhortation, warning Peter in particular toward strength of faith and offering to John his breast for a sweet and sacred resting place. O how wondrous are all these things, filled with sweetness only for that soul which, called to so renowned a banquet, runs with the whole ardor of its mind, so that it may utter that prophecy: "As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after thee, O God."

Jesus, sold by treachery.

17. For the soul that wishes to consider devoutly the passion of Christ Jesus, the first thing that meets the mind is the perfidy of the traitor, who was so filled with the poison of deceit that he betrayed his Master and Lord; so inflamed with the fire of greed that he sold the best God for silver and valued the most precious blood of Christ at the price of a paltry wage; so ungrateful, finally, that he pursued unto death him who had entrusted all things to him and raised him to the height of apostolic honor; of such hardness, that neither the familiarity of the banquet nor the lowliness of service nor the sweetness of converse could recall him from his conceived malice. O wondrous kindness of the Master toward his hard disciple, of the loving Lord toward his most wicked servant. Surely it were better for him if that man had not been born. But although the impiety of the traitor was unspeakable, yet the sweetest meekness of the Lamb of God surpasses it beyond measure, given as an example to mortals, so that human weakness, provoked by a friend, may no longer say: "If my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it," for behold a man of one mind who seemed a leader and a friend, who ate the bread of Christ and in that sacred supper took sweet food with him, has lifted up his heel against him. And yet that meekest Lamb, in whom no guile was found, did not refuse to press his lips to the mouth that abounded with malice in the very hour of betrayal with a gentle kiss, offering him everything that could have softened the obstinacy of his depraved heart.

Jesus, praying prostrate.

18. For Jesus, knowing all things that were to come upon him according to the mystery of the most high dispensation, when the hymn was said went out to the Mount of Olives to pray to the Father as was his custom. And then above all, with the agony of death now at hand and with the scattering and desolation of the sheep whom the loving shepherd embraced with tender affection, so terrible was the imagining of death in the sensible nature of Christ that he said: "My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me." How great moreover was the anguish in the spirit of the Redeemer for various causes, the drops of bloody sweat running down from his whole body to the ground bear witness. "O Lord Jesus, our Ruler, whence comes so vehement an anguish of your soul and so anxious a supplication? Did you not offer to the Father a sacrifice altogether voluntary? Yet so that we, believing in the true nature of our mortality in you, might be formed to faith and in the like endurance of tribulations might be raised to hope and might have greater spurs of love toward you, you expressed the natural weakness of the flesh by these manifest signs, by which we are taught that you truly bore our sorrows and tasted the bitterness of suffering not without the sense of pain."

Jesus, surrounded by the crowd.

19. How ready the spirit in Jesus was for the passion is clearly known from this, that when the men of blood came with the traitor seeking his life with torches and lanterns and weapons through the night, he went out to meet them of his own accord and manifested and offered himself. And that human presumption might know that it could do nothing against him except what he himself permitted, by the word of his almighty power he struck the wicked officers to the ground. But not even then did he restrain his mercy in anger, nor did that honeycomb cease to distill the sweetness of love. For with the touch of his hand he healed the ear of the insolent servant mutilated by the disciple, and he checked the zeal of his defender from harming the assailants. Cursed be their rage, for it is obstinate, since it could be restrained neither by the miracle of majesty nor by the benefit of love.

Jesus, bound with chains.

20. Who, finally, could hear without a groan how in that hour the cruel officers laid murderous hands upon the King of glory, and binding the innocent hands of the meek Jesus with chains, dragged that gentlest Lamb, speaking nothing in reply, insultingly to the sacrifice like a robber? What sting of grief then pierced the hearts of the disciples when they saw their most beloved Master and Lord betrayed by his own fellow disciple, led to death with his hands bound behind his back like an evildoer; and when that most wicked Judas himself, moved afterward to repentance, was filled with such bitterness over this that he preferred to die rather than to live? But woe to that man, who not even so returned through hope of pardon to the fountain of mercy, but, terrified by the cruelty of his own crime, despaired.

Jesus, unknown to his friends.

21. When the shepherd was seized, the sheep were scattered; when the Master was taken, the disciples fled. Peter, however, as though more faithful, followed from afar even to the court of the high priest, where at the voice of a maidservant he denied with an oath that he knew Christ; and he repeated it a third time, until, the cock crowing, the kind Master looked upon his beloved disciple with a look of mercy and grace. Moved by it, Peter went out and wept bitterly. O whoever you are who at the voice of the assailing maidservant, that is of your own flesh, have insolently denied Christ who suffered for you, whether by will or by deed, remembering the passion of your most beloved Master, go out with Peter, that you may bewail yourself most bitterly, if he who looked upon weeping Peter should ever look upon you, and be inebriated with wormwood of a twofold bitterness, compunction for yourself and compassion toward Christ, so that, cleansed with Peter from the guilt of your crime, you may be filled with Peter with the spirit of holiness.

Jesus, with his face veiled.

22. Presented to the council of evildoing high priests, our high priest Christ Jesus, having confessed the truth, namely that he is the Son of God, was adjudged to death as for blasphemy and suffered countless reproaches. For that venerable face, reverenced by the elders, longed for by angels, which fills all the heavens with joy, is defiled with the spittle of polluted lips, struck by impious sacrilegious hands, covered with a veil in mockery, and the Lord of all creation is buffeted like a contemptible slave, while he with most placid countenance and submissive speech truly and gently rebuked one of the servants of the high priest who struck him on the cheek: "If I have spoken evil, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou me?"

O true and loving Jesus, what soul devoted to you, seeing and hearing these things, could refrain from tears and hide the grief of inward compassion?

Jesus, handed over to Pilate.

23. Utterly dreadful is the impiety of the Jews, which could not be sated with such insults, but rather, raging with savage madness, exposed the soul of the just man to an impious judge like a rabid dog to be devoured. For the high priests led Jesus bound before the face of Pilate, demanding that he who knew no sin at all be put to death by the torment of the cross. But he stood meek and silent before the judge like a lamb before his shearer, while the deceitful and impious, heaping up a mass of false charges, with tumultuous outcries demand the author of life for death and preserve for life a murderous and seditious robber, preferring the wolf to the lamb, death to life, darkness to light, as foolishly as impiously. Sweet Jesus, who could be so hard as to hear with the ear of the body or ponder in mind those dreadful cries, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him," without a groan and a cry of the spirit?

Jesus, condemned to death.

24. But although Pilate knew that the Jewish people were moved against Jesus by zeal not of justice but of envy, when he openly declared that he found in him no cause of death, not even a slight one, yet, overcome by human fear, he filled his own soul with bitterness and subjected the most loving King to the judgment of a cruel tyrant, namely Herod; and when he had been mocked and sent back, by a still crueler command he ordered him to stand naked in the sight of his mockers, so that the savage scourgers might tear that virginal and most pure flesh with most atrocious lashes, cruelly inflicting stripes upon stripes, bruises upon bruises. That most precious blood flowed down over the sacred sides of the innocent and most loving youth, with no guilt at all found in him. And you, lost man, who are the cause of all this shame and crushing, how do you not burst out into weeping? Behold, the most innocent Lamb, to snatch you from the sentence of just damnation, chose for your sake to be condemned by an unjust judgment. Behold, he paid for you what he did not take; and you, my wicked and impious soul, neither pay the gratitude of devotion nor render the affection of compassion.

Jesus, despised by all.

25. After Pilate had adjudged that the wishes of the wicked should be fulfilled, it was not enough for those sacrilegious soldiers to crucify the Saviour unless they first filled their own soul with mockery. For when the whole cohort was gathered in the praetorium, stripping him of his own garments and clothing him in a scarlet tunic, they put a purple cloak about him, and with a crown of thorns set upon his head and a reed in his right hand, they mocked him with bent knee and struck him with blows, and spitting upon him, they beat that sacred head with the reed. Consider now, O pride of the human heart, which flees reproach and aspires to honors: who is this who enters, bearing the likeness of a King, and yet filled with the confusion of a most despised servant? He himself is your King and your God, who was reckoned as a leprous man and the last of men, to snatch you from eternal confusion and to heal you of the plague of pride. Woe therefore to them once and woe again, who after so splendid a mirror of humility are lifted on high in pride, holding the Son of God up to scorn anew, whom it is agreed is all the more worthy of honorificence from men the more unworthy things he endured for men.

Jesus, nailed to the cross.

26. When the wicked were now sated with the reproaches of the most meek King, our King is again clothed in his own garments, to be stripped anew, and bearing his cross for himself he is led to the place of Calvary, and there, stripped wholly, his loins covered only with a cheap cloth, and thrown down roughly upon the wood of the cross, spread out, stretched and dragged and extended on every side as a hide, he is pierced by the points of the nails, his sacred hands and feet fixed to the cross and most cruelly wounded. His garments too are given as plunder and divided into parts, the seamless tunic passing undivided by lot to one man.

See now, my soul, how he who is God blessed above all things is plunged wholly from the sole of his foot to the crown into the waters of the passion, and waters entered even unto his soul, that he might draw you wholly out of those sufferings. For crowned with thorns he is commanded to bend his back beneath the burden of the cross and to bear his own ignominy, and led to the place of punishment he is stripped of his garment, so that from the blows of the scourges across his back and sides, with the bruises and rents of his flesh laid open, he seemed as a leper, and then pierced with nails your beloved might appear to you, cut for your healing with wound upon wound. Who will grant me that my petition may come, and that God may give me what I await, that I may be pierced wholly both in mind and in flesh and fastened to the gibbet of the cross with my beloved?

Jesus, joined with thieves.

27. For the increase of confusion, ignominy of disgrace and sorrow, the innocent Lamb is lifted upon the cross outside the gate in the place of punishment for criminals, on a solemn day, at the hour of noon, in the midst of thieves as for a spectacle, his friends weeping and his enemies insulting. For both those passing by moved their heads, and those standing by heaped revilings, saying that he who had saved others could not now save himself. But one of the thieves by no means abstained from mockery of this kind, while yet the most gentle Lamb with the sweetness of devotion interceded with the Father both for those crucifying and those mocking him, and with most generous charity promised paradise to the thief who confessed and supplicated. O word of all sweetness and pardon: Father, forgive them. O word of all love and grace: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise. Breathe now in the hope of pardon, O soul, however sinful, if only you do not shrink from following the footsteps of the Lord your God suffering for you, "who in all his afflictions did not once open his mouth so as even lightly to speak a word of complaint or excuse or threat or curse against those accursed dogs, but rather poured out over his enemies a word of new blessing such as has not been heard for ages." Say therefore with great confidence: Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for my soul trusteth in thee, that perhaps in the manner of the confessing thief you may merit to hear in the moment of death: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.

Jesus, given gall to drink.

28. Afterwards Jesus knowing that all things were accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. And when a cup of vinegar mixed with gall was held out to him with a sponge, as John who was present attests, he added: It is consummated, as if in the taste of vinegar and gall consisted the completed fullness of the whole most bitter passion. For since through the taste of the sweet and forbidden wood the transgressor Adam became the cause of all our perdition, it was fitting and meet that by the contrary way the remedy of our salvation should be found. Since too in each of his members the darts of the sharpest sufferings warring against him multiplied, whose indignation drank up his spirit, it was fitting that the mouth and tongue, the vehicles of food and speech, should by no means remain exempt, that in our physician that prophecy might be verified: He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood, but that in his most sweet and most loving Mother that too might be fulfilled: He hath made me as it were desolate, wasted with sorrow all the day long. What tongue suffices to tell or what intellect to grasp the weight of your desolations, blessed Virgin?

You who, standing present at all these things set forth above and made a partaker in every way, beheld with bodily sight that blessed and most holy flesh which you had so chastely conceived, so sweetly nourished and fed with milk, so often laid in your bosom and pressed with lip to lips, now torn by the blows of the scourges, now pierced by the points of the thorns, now struck with the reed, now bruised with palms and fists, now pierced with nails and fixed to the beam of the cross and hanging grievously mangled, now held in all mockery, and at last given gall and vinegar to drink. But you also beheld with the eyes of the mind that most divine soul filled with the gall of all bitterness, now groaning in spirit, now fearing, now wearying, now in agony, now anguished, now troubled, now most sorrowful with all sadness and grief, partly for the most keen sense of bodily suffering, partly for the most fervent zeal for the divine honor taken away by sin, partly for the outpoured affection of compassion upon the wretched, and partly for the dart fixed in the depths of your heart by compassion for you, his most sweet Mother, when he saw you set before him and regarded you with devoted eyes and addressed you with gentle words, saying: Woman, behold thy son, to console your soul amid its straits, which he truly knew to be pierced by the sword of his compassion more than if you suffered in your own body.

Jesus, the sun pale in death.

29. At last, when the innocent Lamb, who is the true sun of justice, had hung upon the cross for the space of three hours, and at the same time this visible sun, suffering with its Maker, had hidden the rays of its light, all things now being consummated, the very Fount of life is dried up at the ninth hour, while Jesus, God and man, with a loud cry and tears, to manifest his affection of compassion and to declare the power of his Divinity, commending his spirit into the hands of the Father, expires. Then the veil of the temple was rent from the top even to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened. Then the centurion himself knew that he was truly God. Then those who had gathered to mock at the spectacle returned beating their breasts. Then he who is beautiful above the sons of men, with dimming eyes and paling cheeks, appeared deformed for the sons of men, made a holocaust of sweetest odor in the sight of the glory of the Father, to turn away his wrath from us. Look down therefore, holy Lord Father, from your sanctuary and from your high dwelling of the heavens, look, I say, upon the face of your Christ, look upon this most holy victim which our high priest offers to you for our sins, and be appeased over the wickedness of your people. Consider also, O redeemed man, who and how great and of what kind is he who hangs for you on the cross, whose death gives life to the dead, at whose passing both heaven mourns and earth, and the hard stones are split as by natural compassion. O human heart, harder than all hardness of stones, if at the remembrance of so great a crime you are neither shaken with terror nor touched with compassion nor split with compunction nor softened with devotion.

Jesus, pierced with the lance.

30. Moreover, that from the side of Christ sleeping upon the cross the Church might be formed, and the Scripture fulfilled which says: They shall look on him whom they pierced, it was granted by divine ordination that one of the soldiers should pierce that sacred side by opening it with a lance, so that with blood flowing forth together with water the price of our salvation might be poured out, which poured from the fount, namely the secret place of the heart, might give power to the sacraments of the Church to confer the life of grace, and might now be in Christ for those living a draught of the living fount springing up into life everlasting. Behold, now the lance, borne by divine mercy with a frustrated wound into the wall from the treachery of Saul, that is of the reprobate Jewish people, has made a hole in the rock and a hollow in the wall, as a dwelling for doves. Rise therefore, friend of Christ, be as a dove nesting on the upper lip of the opening, there as a sparrow finding a home cease not to keep watch, there as a turtledove hide the young of chaste love, there set your mouth to draw waters from the fountains of the Saviour. For this is the fount going forth from the midst of paradise, which divided into four heads and diffused into devout hearts makes fruitful and waters the whole earth.

Jesus, wet with blood.

31. For Christ the Lord, stained with his own blood poured out copiously first in sweat, then by scourges and thorns, afterwards by nails and at last by the lance, that with God there might be plenteous redemption, bore a pontifical garment dyed red, so that his apparel truly appeared red, and his garments as of those treading in the winepress. And so, with the true Joseph let down into the old cistern, his tunic dipped in the blood of a kid, for the likeness namely of sinful flesh, was sent to the Father to be discerned by the mark of approval. "Know therefore, most merciful Father, the tunic of your most beloved Son Joseph, whom the envy of his brethren according to the flesh devoured as a most evil wild beast and trod his garment in fury and stained all its beauty with remnants of gore, for it left five lamentable rents in it. For this, Lord, is the garment which your innocent Child willingly left in the hand of the Egyptian harlot, that is of the synagogue, choosing rather, stripped of the cloak of the flesh, to descend into the prison of death than by consenting to the voice of the adulterous people to glory for a time." For also, the joy being set before him, he endured the cross, despising the confusion. But you too, my most merciful Lady, behold that most sacred garment of your beloved Son woven by the artifice of the Holy Spirit from your most chaste members, and as we flee to you with him, seek pardon, that we may be held worthy to flee from the wrath to come.

Jesus, laid in the tomb.

32. At last the noble counselor coming, Joseph namely of Arimathea, and having received permission from Pilate, taking down the body of Christ from the cross with Nicodemus, embalmed it with spices and wrapped it in a shroud and buried it with all reverence in a new tomb which he had cut for himself in the rock in a nearby garden. Moreover, with the Lord buried and soldiers appointed to guard the tomb, those devout and holy women who had followed him living, that they might now render officious service of devotion to him dead, bought spices to anoint the most sacred body of Jesus. Among whom Mary Magdalene was borne with so great a fire of heart, was touched with so great a sweetness of devotion, was drawn with so strong bonds of charity that, forgetful of womanly weakness, she was held back neither by the darkness of gloom nor by the cruelty of the persecutors from visiting the tomb, but rather, standing without and watering the monument with tears, when the disciples departed she did not depart, because kindled with the fire of divine love she burned with so prevailing a desire and was wounded with so impatient a love that nothing had savor for her unless she could weep and could truly breathe out that prophecy: My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God? My God, good Jesus, grant me, though in every way unmerited and unworthy, who in body merited not to be present at these things, yet faithfully pondering these same things in mind, that I may feel toward you my God crucified and dead for me that affection of compassion which your innocent Mother and the penitent Magdalene felt in the very hour of your passion.

Jesus, triumphant in death.

33. When the struggle of the passion was now consummated, while that bloody dragon and raging lion reckoned that he had gained victory over the slain Lamb, the power of the Divinity began to shine forth in the soul descending into hell, by which our most strong Lion of the tribe of Juda, rising against the strong armed man, tore the prey from him, and with the gates of hell broken and the serpent bound, despoiling the principalities and powers, led them confidently, openly triumphing over them in himself. Then leviathan was drawn with a hook, his jaw pierced through by Christ, so that he who had no right in the head which he seized might lose even what he seemed to hold in the body. Then the true Samson dying laid low the hostile army. Then the spotless Lamb in the blood of his testament brought the bound out of the pit wherein there was no water. Then upon those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death shone the long-awaited brightness of new light.

Jesus, rising blessed.

34. For when the third day dawned upon the sacred rest of the Lord in the tomb, which in the cycle of days is the eighth and the first, the virtue and wisdom of God, Christ, with the author of death overthrown, conquered death itself and opened to us the entry of eternity, raising himself from the dead by divine power, to make known to us the ways of life. Then there was a great earthquake, and an Angel of the Lord in white and shining garment and with lightning countenance descended from heaven, appearing gentle to the devoted and severe to the wicked. For which reason he both terrified the insolent soldiers and comforted the fearful women, to whom also the risen Lord himself first appeared, because the affection of intense devotion merited this. Then he was seen by Peter, then by the disciples going into Emmaus, then by all the Apostles without Thomas, then he offered himself to Thomas to be touched, when he faithfully exclaimed: My Lord and my God, and so through forty days appearing in many forms to the disciples and eating and drinking with them, he both enlightened us with proofs unto faith and raised us with promises unto hope, that so at last he might kindle us unto love with gifts given from heaven above.

Jesus, surpassing beauty.

35. Indeed that most beautiful flower from the root of Jesse, which flowered in the incarnation and withered in the passion, so flowered again in the resurrection as to be the beauty of all. For that most glorious body, subtle, agile and immortal, was clothed upon with a glory of such brightness that it is truly more resplendent than the sun, bearing the exemplary beauty of the human bodies to be raised, of which the Saviour himself says: Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father, namely of everlasting beatitude. But if any just man shall shine as the sun, of how great brightness do you think the Sun of justice himself is? So great, I say, that compared to light he is rightly judged more beautiful than the sun and above all the order of the stars, a surpassing beauty. Blessed those eyes which saw, but you too shall truly be blessed if the remnants of your seed remain to see that most desired brightness both within and without.

Jesus, preferred before the world.

36. The Lord also appearing in Galilee to the disciples asserted that all power both of heaven and of earth was given to him by the Father. For which reason he also sent the disciples into the whole world to preach the Gospel to every creature, promising salvation to believers, threatening damnation to unbelievers, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following, that in the virtue of the name of Jesus Christ they might command all creatures and diseases, and it might truly stand proven to the whole world that Jesus Christ, the Son of the great Father, as another Joseph and true Saviour, lives and reigns, not only in the land of Egypt but glorified also "in every place of the dominion of the eternal King, brought forth indeed to the command of the God of heaven from the prison of death and of hell, and shorn of the hair of mortality, he changed the garment of the flesh for the beauty of immortality, and as the true Moses, taken up from the waters of mortality, weakened the empire of Pharaoh," exalted with so great honor that at his name every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.

Jesus, teacher of the army.

37. When forty days had passed after the resurrection of the Lord, by no meaningless sign of mystery on that very fortieth day, as he ate together with his disciples, the kind Master went up to the Mount of Olives, and from there, as they watched, with hands lifted he was carried into heaven, and with a cloud coming between, which received him as he ascended, he was hidden from human sight. And so, ascending on high, he led captivity captive, and with the gate of heaven now opened, laying open the way for those who follow, he led the exiles into the kingdom, making them fellow citizens of the Angels and members of the household of God, so that he might both repair the angelic losses and heap up the honor of the eternal Father and show himself the triumphant conqueror and prove himself to be the Lord of hosts.

Jesus, lifted into heaven.

38. While the Angels sang psalms and the Saints rejoiced, the God and Lord of Angels and men ascended above the heaven of heavens and flew upon the wings of the winds with wondrous swiftness of power, and sat at the right hand of the Father, being made so much better than the Angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they, and there he continually appears before the face of the most kind Father to intercede for us. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, who, standing at the right hand of the Majesty, would show to the face of the paternal glory the scars of the wounds which he bore for us. "May every tongue give thanks to you, Lord Father, for the unspeakable gift of your most abundant charity, who did not spare the only Son of your heart, but delivered him to death for us all, so that we might have so great and so faithful an advocate before you in heaven."

Jesus, giver of the Spirit.

39. When seven weeks of seven days had also run their course from the resurrection, on the fiftieth day, with the disciples gathered together in one place with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, there came suddenly a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind coming, which descended upon the company of a hundred and twenty men and appeared in tongues of fire, because it supplied a word to the mouth, light to the intellect, and burning ardor to the affection. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in various tongues, according as the prompting of the same Holy Spirit directed, who taught them all truth and kindled them to all love and strengthened them in all virtue. For aided by his grace, enlightened by his teaching, and strengthened by his power, though they were few and unlearned, partly by fiery words, partly by perfect examples, partly by wondrous miracles, throughout the whole world "they planted the Church with their own blood." And the Church, cleansed, illumined, and perfected by the power of the same Holy Spirit, was made lovely to her Spouse and to his attendants, so that, adorned round about with great beauty and wondrous variety, she is terrible to Satan and his angels as an army set in array.

Jesus, loosing guilt.

40. In this holy Church throughout the whole world, with the Holy Spirit working wondrously, manifold in its distinctions and one in its union, one high priest presides, Christ, as supreme hierarch, who with wondrous order, after the likeness of the city above, dispenses in her the offices of dignities, distributing the gifts of graces. For in her he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, others indeed as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, for the perfection of the Saints and the building up of the body of Christ. According to the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit he also gave seven sacraments as seven remedies for diseases, through whose administration he both bestows sanctifying grace and forgives sins, which are never loosed except in the faith and unity of the same holy mother Church. And since sins are purged in the fire of tribulation, therefore, just as God exposed Christ, the head of the Church, to the waves of sufferings, so he permits his body, namely his Church, to be afflicted for trial and cleansing even to the end of the age. Thus the Patriarchs, thus the Prophets, thus the Apostles, thus the Martyrs, Confessors, and Virgins, and all who pleased God, passed through many tribulations in faithfulness. So also all the chosen members of Christ will pass through even to the day of judgment.

Jesus, the truthful witness.

41. At the time of the future judgment, when God will judge the hidden things of hearts, fire will go before the face of the judge, the Angels will be sent with the trumpet, the elect will be gathered from the four winds of heaven, all also who are in the graves will rise by the power of the divine command, and all will stand before that tribunal of judgment. Then the hidden things of darkness will be brought to light, then the counsels of hearts will be revealed, then the books of consciences will be opened, and the book itself will be opened which is called the book of life. By this it will come about that at once and in an instant all the secrets of all men will lie open to all with such certain clarity that against the testimony of the truth speaking in Christ and of the conscience of each man likewise bearing witness, no path at all will lie open for denial, defense, excuse, or evasion, but each one will receive according to his works. "Great therefore is the demand laid upon us for uprightness, since we do all things in the sight of a Judge who beholds all things."

Jesus, the angered judge.

42. When the sign of the omnipotent Son of God appears in the clouds, and the powers of heaven are shaken, and the fires of the world rush together for the burning of the world, and all the just are set at the right hand and the wicked at the left, the Judge of all will appear so angered against the reprobate that they will say to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sits upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For he will put on justice as a breastplate and will take true judgment instead of a helmet. He will take equity for an invincible shield, but he will sharpen his dreadful anger into a spear, and the whole world will fight with him against the senseless, so that those who fought insolently against the Author of all things will then by the just judgment of God be fought against by all. "Then above the angered Judge will appear, below a dreadful chaos, hell lying open. On the right the sins accusing, on the left countless demons. The sinner so seized, where will he flee? Surely to hide will be impossible and to appear intolerable. For if the just man shall scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Enter not therefore into judgment with your servant, O Lord.

Jesus, the magnificent victor.

43. When the sentence of damnation has been passed upon the reprobate, that they be burned with eternal flames, and all the enemies of Jesus Christ have been bound together as into a bundle, the omnipotent power of God will expose them, both in flesh and in spirit, to the voracity of the flames forever, so that they never perish and yet are burned and suffer forever, and the smoke of their torments shall ascend for ever and ever. Then the beast and the false prophet and those who received his image will be cast into the pool of fire and brimstone, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Then the elect will go forth to look upon the corpses, dead with a death not of nature but of punishment. Then the just shall wash their hands in the blood of sinners. Then at last the most victorious Lamb will make his enemies his footstool, when the wicked, entering into the lower parts of the earth, will be delivered into the hands of the sword and become portions for foxes, namely for the demons who seduced them by their deceits.

Jesus, the adorned bridegroom.

44. When at last the face of the world has been renewed for the better, when the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days, that holy city Jerusalem, which had come down from heaven adorned as a bride, now prepared for the marriage of the Lamb, clothed also in a double robe, will be led into the palace of the heavenly court, and brought into that holy and hidden bridal chamber, she will be joined to that heavenly Lamb by so close a covenant that bride and Spouse become one spirit, and Christ will be clothed with all the beauty of the elect as with a coat of many colors, in which, adorned with all comeliness, he will shine, as covered with every precious stone. Then that sweet wedding song will resound, and through all the streets of Jerusalem Alleluia will be sung. Then the wise virgins, ready and prepared, will enter with the bridegroom to the marriage, so that, with the door shut, they may sit in the beauty of peace, in the tabernacles of confidence and in wealthy rest.