Carrying of the Cross

LISTEN   Volume III Book II Chapter XXI -PILATE PRONOUNCES THE SENTENCE OF DEATH AGAINST THE AUTHOR OF LIFE; THE LORD TAKES UP THE CROSS ON WHICH HE IS TO DIE; HIS MOST HOLY MOTHER FOLLOWS HIM; WHAT SHE DID ON THIS OCCASION TO RESTRAIN THE DEVIL

"I Pontius Pilate, presiding over lower Galilee and governing Jerusalem, in fealty to the Roman Empire, and being within the executive mansion, judge, decide, and proclaim, that I condemn to death, Jesus, of the Nazarene people and a Galileans by birth, a man seditious and opposed to our laws, to our senate, and to the great emperor Tiberius Cesar. For the execution of this sentence I decree, that his death be upon the cross and that He shall be fastened thereto with nails as is customary with criminals; because, in this very place, gathering around Him every day many men, poor and rich, He has continued to raise tumults throughout Judea, proclaiming Himself the Son of God and King of Israel, at the same time threatening the ruin of this renowned city of Jerusalem and its temple, and of the sacred Empire, refusing tribute to Caesar; and because He dared to enter in triumph this city of Jerusalem and the temple of Solomon, accompanied by a great multitude of the people carrying branches of palms. I command the first centurion, called Quintus Cornelius, to lead Him for his greater shame through the said city of Jerusalem, bound as He is, and scourged by my orders. Let Him also wear His own garments, that He may be known to all, and let Him carry the Cross on which He is to be crucified. Let Him walk through all the public streets between two other thieves, who are likewise condemned to death for their robberies and murders, so that this punishment be an example to all the people and to all malefactors." "I desire also and command in this my sentence, that this malefactor, having been thus led through the public streets, be brought outside the city through the pagora gate, now called the Antonian portal, and under the proclamations of the herald, who shall mention all the crimes pointed out in my sentence, He shall be conducted to the summit of the mountain called Calvary, where justice is wont to be executed upon wicked transgressors. There, fastened and crucified upon the Cross, which He shall carry as decreed above, His body shall remain between the aforesaid thieves. Above the Cross, that is, at its top, He shall have placed for Him His name and title in the three languages; namely in Hebrew, Greek and Latin; and in all and each one of them shall be written: THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS, so that it may be understood by all and become universally known." "At the same time I command, that no one, no matter of what condition, under pain of the loss of his goods and life, and under punishment for rebellion against the Roman empire, presume audaciously to impede the execution of this just sentence ordered by me to be executed with all rigor according to the decrees and laws of the Romans and Hebrews. Year of the creation of the world 5233, the twenty-fifth day of March." Pontius Pilatus Judex et Gubernator Galilaeae inferioris pro Romano Imperio qui supra propria manu. (Pontius Pilate, Judge and Governor of lower Galilee for the Roman Empire, who signed the above with his own hand.)

The sentence of Pilate against our Savior having been published in a loud voice before all the people, the executioners loaded the heavy Cross, on which He was to be crucified, upon His tender and wounded shoulders. 

In order that He might carry it they loosened the bonds holding His hands, but not the others, since they wished to drag Him along by the loose ends of the ropes that bound His body. In order to torment Him the more they drew two loops around His throat. 

The Cross was fifteen feet long, of thick and heavy timbers. The herald began to proclaim the sentence and the whole confused and turbulent multitude of the people, the executioners and soldiers, with great noise, uproar and disorder began to move from the house of Pilate to mount Calvary through the streets of Jerusalem. 

The Master and Redeemer of the world, Jesus, before receiving the Cross, looked upon it with a countenance full of extreme joy and exultation such as would be shown by a bridegroom looking at the rich adornments of His bride, and on receiving it, He addressed it as follows: 

"0 Cross, beloved of My soul, now prepared and ready to still My longings, come to Me, that I may be received in thy arms, and that, attached to them as on an altar, I may be accepted by the Eternal Father as the sacrifice of His everlasting reconciliation with the human race. In order to die upon thee, I have descended from heaven and assumed mortal and passible flesh; for thou art to be the scepter with which I shall triumph over all My enemies, the key with which I shall open the gates of heaven for all the predestined (Is. 22, 22), the sanctuary in which the guilty sons of Adam shall find mercy, and the treasure house for the enrichment of their poverty. Upon thee I desire to exalt and recommend dishonor and reproach among men, in order that My friends may embrace them with joy, seek them with anxious longings, and follow Me on the path which I through thee shall open up before them. My Father and Eternal God, I confess Thee as the Lord of heaven and earth (Matth. 11, 25), subjecting Myself to Thy power and to Thy Divine wishes, I take upon My shoulders the wood for the sacrifice of My innocent and passible humanity and I accept it willingly for the salvation of men. Receive Thou, Eternal Father, this sacrifice as acceptable to Thy justice, in order that from today on they may not any more be servants, but sons and heirs of Thy kingdom together with Me" (Rom. 8, 17). 

None of these sacred mysteries and happenings were hidden from the great Lady of the world, Mary; for she had a most intimate knowledge and understanding of them, far beyond that of all the angels. The events, which she could not see with the eyes of Her body, she perceived by her intelligence and revealed science, which manifested to her the interior operation of her most Holy Son. By this Divine light she recognized the infinite value of the wood of the Cross after once it had come in contact with the deified humanity of Jesus our Redeemer. Immediately she venerated and adored it in a manner befitting it. 

The same was also done by the heavenly spirits attending upon the Queen. She imitated her Divine Son in the tokens of affections, with which He received the Cross, addressing it in the words suited to her office as Coadjutrix of the Redeemer. By her prayers to the Eternal Father she followed Him in His exalted sentiments as the living original and exemplar, without failing in the least point. 

When she heard the voice of the herald publishing and rehearsing the sentence through the streets, the heavenly Mother, in protest against the accusations contained in the sentence and in the form of comments on the glory and honor of the Lord, composed a canticle of praise and worship of the innocence and sinlessness of her all Holy Son and God. In the composing of this canticle the holy angels helped her, conjointly with them she arranged and repeated it, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem were blaspheming their own Creator and Savior.

As all the faith, knowledge and love of creatures, during this time of the Passion, was enshrined in its highest essence in the magnanimous soul of the Mother of wisdom, she alone had the most proper conception and correct judgment of the suffering and death of God for men. 

Without for a moment failing in the attention necessary to exterior actions, her wisdom penetrated all the mysteries of the Redemption and the manner in which it was to be accomplished through the ignorance of the very men who were to be redeemed. 

She entered into the deepest consideration of the dignity of the One, who was suffering, of what He was suffering, from and for whom He was suffering. Of the dignity of the person of Christ our Redeemer, uniting within Himself the Divine and the human natures, of their perfections and attributes, the most Blessed Mary alone possessed the highest and intuitive knowledge outside of the Lord Himself. 

On this account she alone among all mere creatures attached sufficient importance to the Passion and Death of her Son and of the true God. Of what He suffered, she was not only an eyewitness, but she experienced it personally within herself, occasioning the holy envy not only of men, but of the angels themselves, who were not thus favored. But they well knew that their great Queen and Mistress felt and suffered in soul and body the same torments and sorrows as her most Holy Son and that the Holy Trinity was inexpressibly pleased with her; and therefore they sought to make up by their praise and worship for the pains which they could not share. 

Sometimes, when the sorrowful Mother could not personally witness the sufferings of her Son, she was made to feel in her virginal body and in her spirit the effects of His torments before her intelligence made her aware of them. Thus surprised she would say: "Ah! what new martyrdom have they devised for my sweetest Lord and Master?" And then she would receive the clearest knowledge of what the Lord was enduring. 

The most loving Mother was so admirably faithful in her sufferings and in imitating the example of Christ our God, that she never permitted herself any easement either of her bodily pains, such as rest, or nourishment, or sleep; nor any relaxation of the spirit, such as any consoling thoughts or considerations, except when she was visited from on high by Divine influence. Then only would she humbly and thankfully accept relief, in order that she might recover strength to attend still more fervently to the object of her sorrows and to the cause of His sufferings. The same wise consideration she applied to the malicious behavior of the Jews and their servants, to the needs of the human race, to their threatening ruin, and to the ingratitude of men, for whom He suffered. Thus she perfectly and intimately knew of all these things and felt it more deeply than all the creatures.

Another hidden and astonishing miracle was wrought by the right hand of God through the instrumentality of the Blessed Mary against Lucifer and his infernal spirits. It took place in the following manner: The dragon and his associates, though they could not understand the humiliation of the Lord, were most attentive to all that happened in the Passion of the Lord. Now, when He took upon Himself the Cross, all these enemies felt a new and mysterious tremor and weakness, which caused in them great consternation and confused distress. Conscious of these unwonted and invincible feelings the prince of darkness feared, that in the Passion and Death of Christ our Lord some dire and irreparable destruction of his reign was imminent.

In order not to be overtaken by it in the presence of Christ our God, the dragon resolved to retire and fly with all his followers to the caverns of hell. But when he sought to execute this resolve, he was prevented by the great Queen and Mistress of all creation; for the Most High, enlightening Her and intimating to her what she was to do, at the same time invested Her with His power. 

The heavenly Mother, turning toward Lucifer and his squadrons, by Her imperial command hindered them from flying; ordering them to await and witness the Passion to the end on mount Calvary. The demons could not resist the command of the mighty Queen; for they recognized and felt the Divine power operating in Her. Subject to her sway they followed Christ as so many prisoners dragged along in chains to Calvary, where the eternal wisdom had decreed to triumph over them from the throne of the Cross, as we shall see later on. 

There is nothing which can exemplify the discouragement and dismay, which from that moment began to oppress Lucifer and his demons. According to our way of speaking, they walked along to Calvary like criminals condemned to a terrible death, and seized by the dismay and consternation of an inevitable punishment. This punishment of the demon was in conformity with his malicious nature and proportioned to the evil committed by him in introducing death and sin into the world, to remedy which, God Himself was now undergoing Death. 

Our Savior proceeded on the way to Calvary bearing upon His shoulders, according to the saying of Isaias, His own government and principality (Is. 9, 6), which was none else than His Cross, from whence He was to subject and govern the world, meriting thereby that His name should be exalted above all other names and rescuing the human race from the tyrannical power of the demon over the sons of Adam (Col. 2, 15). 

The same Isaias calls it the yoke and scepter of the oppressor and executor, who was imperiously exacting the tribute of the first guilt. In order to destroy this tyrant and break the scepter of his reign and the yoke of our servitude, Christ our Savior placed the Cross upon His shoulders; namely, upon that place, where are borne both the yoke of slavery and the scepter of royal power. He wished to intimate thereby, that He despoiled the demon of this power and transferred it to His own shoulders, in order that thenceforward the captive children of Adam should recognize Him for their legitimate Lord and true King. All mortals were to follow Him in the way of the Cross (Matth. 14, 24) and learn, that by this Cross they were subjected to His power (John 12, 32) and now become His vassals and servants, bought by His own lifeblood (I Cor. 4, 20).

But alas, the pity of our most ungrateful forgetfulness! That the Jews and ministers of the Passion should be ignorant of this mystery hidden to princes of this world, and that they should not dare touch the Cross of the Savior, because they considered it the wood of ignominy and shame, was their own fault and a very great one. 

Yet not so great as our own, since its mystery being already revealed to us, we spend our indignation only on the blindness of those who were persecuting our Lord and God. For, if we blame them for being ignorant of what they ought to have known, how much should we blame ourselves, who, knowing and confessing Christ the Redeemer, persecute and crucify Him by our offenses (Reb. 6, 6)?

O my sweetest Love, Jesus, light of my intellect and glory of my soul! Do not, O my Lord, trust in my sluggish torpidity to follow Thee with my Cross on Thy way! Take it upon Thee to do me this favor; draw me after Thee, to run after the fragrance of Thy sweetest love (Cant. 1, 3) of Thy ineffable patience, of Thy deepest humility, that I may desire for contempt and anguish, and seek after participation in Thy ignominy, insults and sorrows.

Let this be my portion and my inheritance in this mortal and oppressing life, let this be my glory and my repose; and outside of the Cross and its ignominy, I desire not to live or be consoled or to partake of any rest or enjoyment. As the Jews and all of that blind multitude avoided the touch of the Cross of Him, who was so innocently sentenced to die upon it, He opened with it a passage and cleared for Himself a way. His perfidious persecutors looked upon His glorious dishonor as a contagion and they fled from its approach, though all the rest of the streets were full of shouting and clamoring people, who crowded aside as the herald advanced proclaiming the sentence.

The executioners, bare of all human compassion and kindness, dragged our Savior Jesus along with incredible cruelty and insults. Some of them jerked Him forward by the ropes in order to accelerate His passage, while others pulled from behind in order to retard it. On account of this jerking and the weight of the Cross they caused Him to sway to and fro and often to fall to the ground. By the hard knocks He thus received on the rough stones great wounds were opened, especially on the two knees and they were widened at each repeated fall. 

The heavy Cross also inflicted a wound on the shoulder on which it was carried. The unsteadiness caused the Cross sometimes to knock against his sacred head, and sometimes the head against the Cross; thus the thorns of his crown penetrated deeper and wounded the parts, which they had not yet reached. To these torments of the body the ministers of evil added many insulting words and execrable affronts, ejecting their impure spittle and throwing the dirt of the pavement into His face so mercilessly, that they blinded the eyes that looked upon them with such Divine mercy. 

Thus they of their own account condemned themselves to the loss of the graces, with which His very looks were fraught. By the haste with which they dragged Him along in their eagerness to see Him die, they did not allow Him to catch his breath; for His most innocent body, having been in so few hours overwhelmed with such a storm of torments, was so weakened and bruised, that to all appearances He was ready to yield up life under His pains and sorrows. 

From the house of Pilate the sorrowful and stricken Mother followed with the multitudes on the way of Her Divine Son, accompanied by saint John and the pious women. As the surging crowds hindered Her from getting very near to the Lord, She asked the eternal Father to be permitted to stand at the foot of the Cross of Her blessed Son and see Him die with Her own eyes. With the divine consent She ordered Her holy angels to manage things in such a way as to make it possible for Her to execute Her wishes. The holy angels obeyed Her with great reverence; and they speedily led the Queen through some bystreet, in order that She might meet Her Son. 

Thus it came that both of Them met face to face in sweetest recognition of each Other and in mutual renewal of each other's interior sorrows. Yet They did not speak to one another, nor would the fierce cruelty of the executioners have permitted such an intercourse. But the most prudent Mother adored Her Divine Son and true God, laden with the Cross; and interiorly besought Him, that, since She could not relieve Him of the weight of the Cross and since She was not permitted to command Her holy angels to lighten it, He would inspire these ministers of cruelty to procure some one for His assistance. 

This prayer was heard by the Lord Christ; and so it happened, that Simon of Cyrene was afterwards impressed to carry the Cross with the Lord (Matth. 27, 32). The Pharisees and the executioners were moved to this measure, some of them out of natural compassion, others for fear lest Christ, the Author of life, should lose His life by exhaustion before it could be taken from Him on the Cross. 

Beyond all human thought and estimation was the sorrow of the most sincere Dove and Virgin Mother while She thus witnessed with Her own eyes her Son carrying the Cross to Mount Calvary; for She alone could fittingly know and love Him according to His true worth. It would have been impossible for Her to live through this ordeal, if the divine power had not strengthened Her and preserved Her life. 

With bitterest sorrow She addressed the Lord and spoke to Him in her heart: "My Son and eternal God, light of my eyes and life of my soul, receive, O Lord, the sacrifice of my not being able to relieve Thee of the burden of the Cross and carry it myself, who am a daughter of Adam; for it is I who should die upon it in love of Thee, as Thou now wishes to die in most ardent love of the human race. O most loving Mediator between guilt and justice! How dost Thou cherish mercy in the midst of so great injuries and such heinous offenses! O charity without measure or bounds, which permits such torments and affronts in order to afford it a wider scope for its ardor and efficacy! O infinite and sweetest love, would that the hearts and the wills of men were all mine, so that they could give no such thankless return for all that Thou endurest! O who will speak to the hearts of the mortals to teach them what they owe to Thee, since Thou hast paid so dearly for their salvation from ruin!"

Read: Volume III Book II Chapter XXI