Caput LX. De passione Christi, et deceptione diaboli.
Zabulus Outmaneuvered
The devil is rebuked for his belated attempt to thwart God's plan through a woman.
You have noticed too late, Zabulus. What did you think to accomplish through a woman, that she would be let go? You have spoken too late.
Behold the Judge Led to Death
Christ the true Judge now carries His cross and is led to death, and the reader is summoned to behold the sight.
The judge sits at the tribunal; sentence has been passed; now he carries his own cross; he is led to death. O what a sight! Do you see it?
The Ruler on His Shoulder
Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled as Christ bears the rod of justice and kingship on His shoulder.
Behold, the ruler upon his shoulder (Isa.✦ IX, 6). This is the rod of justice, the rod of his kingdom.✦✦
The Poured-Out Cup of the Cross
Christ is given gall to drink, stripped of His garments, His seamless tunic allotted by lot, and His hands and feet pierced as He hangs between thieves.
He is given wine mixed with gall.✦✦ He is stripped of his garments, and they are divided among the soldiers.✦ His tunic is not torn — instead it passes by lot to one of them.✦ His sweet hands and feet are pierced with nails, and stretched out on the cross, he is hung between thieves.✦✦✦
Read the original Latin
Sero animadvertisti, Zabule. Quid tibi per mulierem visum est agere, ut dimittatur? Tarde locutus es. Sedet pro tribunali judex: prolata est sententia: jam portat propriam crucem; ducitur ad mortem. O spectaculum! Videsne? Ecce principatus super humerum ejus (Isai. IX, 6).
Haec est virga aequitatis, virga regni sui. Datur ei vinum felle mixtum. Exuitur vestimentis suis, et inter milites dividuntur. Tunica non scinditur: sed sorte transit ad unum. Dulces manus ejus et pedes clavis perforantur, et extensus in cruce inter latrones suspenditur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.9.6 — For the increase of his government and for peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
- ↩Isa.11.1 — A shoot will come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
- ↩Rev.19.15 — And from his mouth goes forth a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations; and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron; and he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
- ↩Matt.27.34 — They gave him wine to drink mixed with gall; and when he tasted it, he was not willing to drink.
- ↩Ps.68.22 — Surely God will shatter the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of one who walks in his guilt.
- ↩Matt.27.28 — And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.
- ↩John.19.23-John.19.24 — So when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his garments and made four parts, one part for each soldier, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top throughout. John.19.24 — So they said to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see whose it shall be' — that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says, 'They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.' So the soldiers did these things.
- ↩Luke.24.39-Luke.24.40 — Look at my hands and my feet; it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. Luke.24.40 — And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
- ↩Isa.52.14 — Just as many were appalled at you — so his appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and his form beyond the sons of Adam.
- ↩Luke.23.32-Luke.23.33 — Two others also, criminals, were led away with him to be executed. Luke.23.33 — And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals—one on his right and one on his left.
De institutione inclusarum (A Rule of Life for a Recluse) companion
A rule only lives if you keep it daily
Chosen Portion gives your new rule its anchor: one free devotional portion every day.
Aelred built his sister's day around fixed times of prayer and meditation; Chosen Portion supplies the fixed daily portion that makes a modern rule of life keepable.
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