Read St. Luke 23:32–34
1. Arrived at the summit of Calvary, our Divine Savior is roughly stripped of His garments and exposed to the rude gaze of the scoffing multitude. This shame He endured to atone for our most shameful deeds, for our human respect, for our glorying in our shame, for our boasting and love of display before the eyes of men. Yet when we see the King of Glory thus exposed to shame, will not shame be far dearer to us than the empty honors that men bestow?
2. The executioners then seize Jesus and lay Him down upon the cross. Holes have been bored in the wood at the extremities of the cross-piece and in the lower part of the stem, and Our Lord’s sacred limbs are almost dislocated by being dragged until the hands and feet reach the parts that have been pierced. Then the long, sharp nails are held by one of the soldiers, while another with a hammer drives them in through the hands and feet of Jesus. The blows are struck; the blood gushes forth; while the Divine Victim moans piteously under the exquisite pain. O Jesus, grant me a heartfelt compassion with Thee in Thy sufferings.
3. When Our Lord is nailed to the cross, the soldiers raise it on high, and let the base of it fall into a hole dug in the ground. The shock renews afresh the agony of Jesus. No word is heard from His mouth, save one which He repeats again and again: “Father, forgive them!” Even then He was thinking of others, not of Himself. Was ever love like His? Why do I not love Him more in return?
Source: Clarke, R. F. (1889). The Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ: Short Meditations for Every Day in Lent (p. 43). Benziger Brothers.
1. Arrived at the summit of Calvary, our Divine Savior is roughly stripped of His garments and exposed to the rude gaze of the scoffing multitude. This shame He endured to atone for our most shameful deeds, for our human respect, for our glorying in our shame, for our boasting and love of display before the eyes of men. Yet when we see the King of Glory thus exposed to shame, will not shame be far dearer to us than the empty honors that men bestow?
2. The executioners then seize Jesus and lay Him down upon the cross. Holes have been bored in the wood at the extremities of the cross-piece and in the lower part of the stem, and Our Lord’s sacred limbs are almost dislocated by being dragged until the hands and feet reach the parts that have been pierced. Then the long, sharp nails are held by one of the soldiers, while another with a hammer drives them in through the hands and feet of Jesus. The blows are struck; the blood gushes forth; while the Divine Victim moans piteously under the exquisite pain. O Jesus, grant me a heartfelt compassion with Thee in Thy sufferings.
3. When Our Lord is nailed to the cross, the soldiers raise it on high, and let the base of it fall into a hole dug in the ground. The shock renews afresh the agony of Jesus. No word is heard from His mouth, save one which He repeats again and again: “Father, forgive them!” Even then He was thinking of others, not of Himself. Was ever love like His? Why do I not love Him more in return?
Source: Clarke, R. F. (1889). The Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ: Short Meditations for Every Day in Lent (p. 43). Benziger Brothers.
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