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Chapter 42Ansl.1.42

ORATIO XLIII [ol. XLII]. AD CRUCEM DOMINI. De sancta cruce, et beata Virgine, et bono latrone.

Greeting the Holy Cross

The soul greets the holy cross with adoration, trembling before it in awareness of its own unworthiness yet drawn by deep longing.

Hail, holy cross, my salvation and my life. Hail, cross, whom the host of angels adores and longs for. Hail, cross, whom every choir of saints adores and calls upon. O truly holy and venerable cross. Look at me — a sinner and a wretched man — standing before you and before the Crucified One, though I am unworthy; yet because of my own sins I am so anxious that I hardly know what I ought to do.1 For he longs to adore you, but he does not dare to lift his eyes toward you. His desire for you is indeed good, but he feels no merit in himself on which he might place his trust in you. And so I remain in your presence, trembling and full of doubt — so much that I blush to stand before you, and I am afraid to turn away from you.

Torn Between Love and Guilt

The soul confesses being crushed between the pull of divine love and the weight of its own guilt, yet declares it would rather die near the cross than live far from it.

The memory of your divine love and tender care urges me to stand before you; but the weight of my wretched, long-entangled guilt holds me back. I am also crushed between those two forces, and I hardly know which way to turn.2 Still, I would rather stand before you, even at the cost of my life, even if standing there means you must strike me down. For it is better for me to die with you than to live far from you, because no death is worse for a person than being far from you.

Petition for Mercy and Joy Before the Cross

The soul begs the Crucified Lord for mercy, asking to be taught how to worship and love, and that standing before the cross would become a source of joy rather than weariness.

So I humbly beg you, beloved Majesty and great Love, you who hang on the cross: receive my persistence not as a burden but as a need, and look upon me with timely mercy. For you are my hope, you are my refuge, you are my mercy. Have mercy, then — have mercy on me — and teach me how I ought to worship you, and how I may be able to love you. Even though my sins demand so much of me that I do not know how I ought to worship and love you, still this is my heart's desire: to worship you and to love you. I beg you, Jesus, truly attentive to the devout — through all the love you bear for humanity as you hang on the wood — grant this gift especially to your servant: that standing in your presence and before your cross would never weary me or displease me, but rather delight me and bring me joy.✦ Let it be a joy to my soul to stand faithfully in your presence; and let it please the eyes of your Divinity to look upon me with mercy. Let it be a joy to me to grieve over my wretchedness, and let it please your almighty power to turn my sorrow into gladness.

The Blessed Virgin at the Cross

Meditating on Christ's words to Mary from the cross, the soul asks both Jesus and his Mother to claim it as their own, and begs the Virgin to intercede for the forgiveness of its sins.

Let it delight me, then, to recall this: that hanging on the cross you said to the blessed Virgin, your mother: Woman, behold your son.✦ And now, I beg you, most kind Lord, say to me, your servant: Behold, I am your God, your Redeemer. You too, I beseech you, Virgin blessed among all women, say to me: Behold my Son, your Savior.✦ I see, indeed, venerable Lady, your Son lying in the manger; I recognize your Son teaching in the temple; but in no place do I know him more surely than hanging on the cross. For there he himself bears witness about himself, saying: Woman, behold your son.✦ Here, then, blessed mother, worthy of all praise, intercede for me, a wretch, before him who, in calling himself your son, in a way binds himself as a debtor, so that he may receive your prayers with love. Say to him, then: Son, this sinner cries out to me and tearfully implores that I may intercede for him before you, so that you may forgive him his sins, which he foolishly committed against you. It is true, my Lord — it is certainly true.

Confession of Neglect and Trust in Mercy

The soul openly confesses its lifelong failure to worship as it ought, yet casts itself entirely on God's merciful nature as its only hope.

I, a guilty man, confess before you, God, and before your Mother, that from my infancy until now, coming before your glorious cross and the sight of your holy majesty, I have not come as I ought, I have not begged, I have not worshipped. But you, whose nature it is to spare and to show mercy, do not look upon my frailty and my worst uncleanness; but forgive whatever I have carelessly sinned, because you are my only and true hope, and I have no trust in anyone else, except in you alone, the living and true God.3

Confidence from Christ's Prayer for His Crucifiers

Drawing confidence from Christ's prayer of forgiveness from the cross, the soul pleads for mercy and asks to be drawn by the power of the cross into deeper love.

That pious and gentle prayer you offered to the Father on behalf of those crucifying you — 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing' — gives me great confidence too, supreme Redeemer.✦ For if you pleaded like this for your very crucifiers, will you not also pray for those who worship you? And if you showed mercy on the cross, have you forgotten to show mercy now that you are in heaven? Have mercy, I beg you, Lord — have mercy on me, your servant — either you yourself forgive me, or intercede with the Father on my behalf so that he may forgive me. For this reason I remain before you and adore your holy cross, through which you redeemed the world. For I believe and confess that by the lifting up and outstretching of your body on the wood, you drew to yourself all who love you rightly. Draw me then, sweetest Lord — draw me and my longing after you — so that I may feel the power of your cross at work in me.

The Good Thief's Discovery of the Kingdom

The soul marvels at how the thief, unmoved by Christ's miracles, came to true faith through the cross alone, recognizing Christ's kingdom in his very act of hanging on the wood.

Let me perceive, my Savior, the power and fragrance that comes from your cross, just as that thief perceived it when he said: Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.✦ Perhaps that thief had seen you before, giving sight to the blind or raising the dead, and had not worshipped you. But then, when he sees you hanging on the wood, he worships you, saying: Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.✦4 This your cross accomplished for him — something your miracles had not been able to do.5 More truly and more perfectly did that one know you hanging on the cross than teaching in the temple or performing miracles. O how great is the power of your cross! How great is the glory of the one hanging on the wood! That thief, when he saw your wood, at once recognized your kingdom; and when he beheld you hanging there, he understood that you were reigning. O how great a fragrance went forth from the cross, which drove all unbelief away from him!

The Thief's Worthy Confession

The soul reflects that the thief worthily called Jesus Lord because he saw with his own eyes the price of the world's redemption.

How worthily he called you his Lord, since he truly knew himself to be your servant — for with his own eyes he was beholding the price by which you were redeeming the whole entire world.

Where Is Paradise?

Wondering at Christ's promise of paradise to the thief, the soul asks where paradise is and begins to suspect that Christ himself is paradise wherever he is.

But what, good Jesus — what, sweetest Lord — did you say to the thief who was praying to you on the cross?✦ Today you will be with me in paradise.✦6 And what is this, O longed-for King? You are nailed down, and you promise paradise. You hang on the cross, and to the thief you say: Today you will be with me in paradise.✦7 And O desire of souls, where is paradise? — since you say to the thief: Today you will be with me in paradise.✦8 Is paradise wherever you are, and wherever you will it, there paradise is? Could it be that you yourself are paradise, since you promise so confidently: Today you will be with me in paradise?✦9

To Be with Christ Is Paradise

The soul affirms with certainty that wherever Christ is, there is paradise, and that those who abide with him in faith and love truly dwell in the kingdom.

I believe, Lord — yes, I am certain — that wherever you choose to be, wherever you are, that is paradise; and being with you is the same as being in paradise.✦ For that venerable confessor and glorious martyr was with you throughout that entire day, and every moment after. Oh, how good it is to be with you! Oh, how blessed are those who are with you! Those who are with you in faith and in love are truly in paradise, truly in the kingdom.10

Adoration and the Thief's Prayer

The soul adores the cross and the Crucified, then prays the very words of the good thief, begging Christ to remember it and to speak the promise of paradise to its soul.

Your cross, Lord, promises paradise and grants paradise. And so I humbly adore your cross, I adore you on the cross, and the cross in you. Finally, I adore the cross because of the one hanging on it. I adore the one whom the thief adored, and I pray just as he prayed: Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.✦ Acknowledge this prayer in me, Lord, just as you acknowledged it in the thief. Receive this prayer from your servant, just as you received it from your servant. Remember me concerning the kingdom, just as you were mindful of him from the cross.✦11 Say, then — say, I beg you, Lord — say to your servant, say to my soul: Today you will be with me in paradise, so that, strengthened by your longed-for promise, I may faithfully remain in your faith and love, my Redeemer, mediator of God and men, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God forever and ever.✦12

Amen

The prayer concludes with a single word of assent.

Amen.

Read the original Latin

Salve crux sancta, salus et vita mea. Salve crux, quam adorat et desiderat exercitus angelorum. Salve crux, quam adorat et invocat omnis chorus sanctorum. O vere sancta et venerabilis crux. Ecce peccator et infelix homo, ante te, et in te crucifixo manet, quamvis indignus; sed pro peccatis suis ita est anxius, ut fere nesciat quid agere debeat. Desiderat enim te adorare; sed non audet oculos ad te levare. Desiderium quidem bonum habet in te; sed nullum meritum sentit in se, pro quo confidat de te. Maneo itaque in conspectu tuo trepidus et dubius; ita ut coram te stare erubescam, et a te recedere pertimescam.

Hortatur me stare ante conspectum tuum memoria divinae et tuae pietatis; sed dehortatur me conscientia miserabilis et inveteratae meae iniquitatis. Arctor quoque graviter ab iis duobus, et quid eligam fere ignoro. Elegi tamen magis opportuno conspectui tuo importune assistere, etiamsi debeas me occidere. Melius est enim mihi mori juxta te, quam vivere longe a te; quia nulla mors homini pejor est, quam cum homo longe a te est

Suppliciter ergo deprecor te, chara majestas et magna charitas, qui pendes in cruce, ut importunitatem meam non importune suscipias, sed ad necessitatem meam opportune et misericorditer respicias. Tu es enim spes mea, tu refugium meum, tu misericordia mea. Miserere igitur, miserere mei, et doce me quomodo adorare te debeam, et quomodo te diligere valeam. Quamvis peccatis meis exigentibus nesciam quomodo te adorare ac diligere debeam; tamen hoc est meum desiderium, ut te adorem et diligam. Obsecro te, vere piis exaudibilis Jesu, per omnem dilectionem quam habes in homine, dum pendes in ligno, ut hoc bonum specialiter facias cum servo tuo, ne stare in conspectu tuo et ante crucem tuam me aliquando taedeat aut pigeat, sed potius delectet et placeat. Delectet animam meam in conspectu tuo fideliter assistere; et placeat oculis Divinitatis tuae misericorditer in me respicere. Delectet me lugere miseriam meam, et placeat omnipotentiae tuae vertere in gaudium tristitiam meam.

Delectet autem me recordari hoc quod pendens in cruce benedictae virgini matri tuae dixisti: Mulier, ecce filius tuus. Et nunc, quaeso, benignissime Domine, dic mihi servo tuo: Homo, ecce Deus tuus, ecce redemptor tuus. Te quoque, obsecro, virgo inter omnes mulieres benedicta, ut dicas mihi: Homo, ecce filius meus, ecce Salvator tuus. Video quippe, venerabilis domina, filium tuum in praesepio jacentem, recognosco filium tuum in templo docentem; sed in nullo loco eum certius cognosco, quam in cruce pendentem. Ibi enim ipsemet de se testatur dicens: Mulier, ecce filius tuus. Hic ergo, felix mater et omni laude digna, hic intercede pro me misero apud ipsum qui, dum se filium tuum nominat, quodammodo se debitorem obligat, ut preces tuas cum amore suscipiat. Dic illi itaque: Fili, iste peccator clamat ad me, et lacrymabiliter deprecatur ut intercedam pro eo apud te, quatenus remittas ei peccata sua, quae insipienter commisit in te. Verum est, Domine mi, verum est certe.

Ego reus confiteor coram te, Deus, et coram Genitrice tua quia ab infantia mea usque nunc veniens ante gloriosam crucem tuam et sanctae majestatis tuae conspectum non, ut debui, veni, supplicavi, nec adoravi. Sed tu, cui proprium est parcere et misereri, ne respicias fragilitatem meam et immunditiam meam pessimam, sed dimitte quidquid negligenter deliqui; quia tu es spes mea sola et vera, et non habeo in alio fiduciam meam, nisi in te solo Deo vivo et vero.

Dat etiam mihi grandem fiduciam, summe Redemptor meus, illa pia et dulcis oratio, quam pro crucifigentibus te apud Patrem fecisti, dicens: Pater ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt. Qui enim sic exorasti pro tuis crucifixoribus, nunquid non orabis pro tuis adoratoribus? Et qui in cruce recordatus es indulgentiae, nunquid in coelo oblitus es misericordiae? Miserere, quaeso, Domine, miserere mei servi tui; et vel tu ignosce, vel apud Patrem intercede ut ignoscat. Propter hoc namque maneo coram te, et adoro sanctam crucem tuam per quam redemisti mundum. Credo namque et confiteor quia per elevationem et extensionem corporis tui in ligno traxisti omnes ad te qui recte diligunt te. Trahe igitur me, dulcissime, Domine, trahe me et desiderium meum post te; ut ego sentiam virtutem crucis tuae in me.

Sentiam, Salvator meus, virtutem et odorem qui est de cruce tua, sicut sentiebat latro ille qui dicebat: Domine, memento mei, dum veneris in regnum tuum. Viderat forsitan latro iste te antea caecos illuminantem, vel mortuos suscitantem, et non adoraverat te. Tunc vero quanto videt te pendere in ligno, adorat te dicens: Domine, memento mei, dum veneris in regnum tuum. Hoc fecit in illum crux tua, quod non potuerunt facere miracula tua. Verius et perfectius cognovit iste te in cruce pendentem, quam in templo docentem, aut miracula facientem. O quanta est virtus crucis tuae, quanta est gloria pendentis in ligno! Latro iste ubi vidit tuum lignum, mox cognovit tuum regnum; et ubi te pendere aspexit, ibi quod regnares intellexit. O quantus odor de cruce exibat, qui omnem infidelitatem ab eo repellebat.

O quam digne vocabat te Dominum suum, qui veraciter sciebat se servum tuum; quia oculis suis intuebatur pretium, quo redimebas penitus mundum universum.

Sed quid bone Jesu, quid, dulcissime Domine, respondisti latroni te oranti in cruce? Hodie mecum eris in paradiso. Et quid hoc est, o rex desiderabilis? Tu clavis affligeris, et paradisum promittis. Tu pendes in ligno, et latroni dicis: Hodie mecum eris in paradiso. Et, o desiderium animarum ubi est paradisus, quia dicis latroni: Hodie mecum eris in paradiso. An paradisus tecum est, et ubi tu vis, paradisus est? An tu indubitanter paradisus es, quia tam confidenter promittis: Hodie mecum eris in paradiso?

Credo, Domine, credo certe quod ubi tu vis, et ubi tu es, ibi paradisus est; et esse tecum, hoc est esse in paradiso. Quoniam venerabilis ille confessor et gloriosus martyr tecum fuit per totum illud hodie, et postea omni tempore. O quam bonum est esse tecum! O quam beati sunt illi, qui tecum sunt! Illi vere sunt in paradiso, vere sunt in regnis, qui tecum sunt fide et dilectione.

Crux tua, Domine, paradisum promittit et paradisum tribuit. Et ideo suppliciter adoro crucem tuam, adoro te in cruce, et crucem in te. Denique adoro crucem propter pendentem in cruce. Adoro quem latro adorabat, et oro sicut ille orabat: Domine, memento mei, dum veneris in regnum tuum. Recognosce in me, Domine, hanc orationem, sicut recognovisti eam in latrone. Suscipe hanc orationem a servo tuo, sicut suscepisti eam a famulo tuo. Memento mei de regno, sicut fuisti memor illius de ligno. Dic igitur, dic, quaeso, Domine, dic servo tuo, dic animae meae: Hodie mecum eris in paradiso, ut ego confortatus desiderabili tua promissione fideliter permaneam in tua fide et dilectione, Redemptor meus, mediator Dei et hominum; qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivis et regnas Deus in saecula saeculorum.

Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Acts.5.30 — The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.
  2. ↩John.19.26 — When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
  3. ↩John.19.26-John.19.27 — When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." John.19.27 — Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
  4. ↩John.19.26 — When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
  5. ↩Luke.23.34 — Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided his garments by casting lots.
  6. ↩Luke.23.42 — And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
  7. ↩Luke.23.42 — And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
  8. ↩Luke.23.42-Luke.23.43 — And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
  9. ↩Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
  10. ↩Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
  11. ↩Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
  12. ↩Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
  13. ↩Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
  14. ↩Luke.23.42 — And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
  15. ↩Luke.23.42 — And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
  16. ↩Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The ut clause is rendered as a result clause ('so anxious that'), which best fits the context of the sinner's overwhelmed state.
  2. 2 ↩Arctor is a rare verb; reading is uncertain. Rendered as 'crushed' to capture the pressure of the twofold pull described in s1.
  3. 3 ↩vivo et vero: rendered 'living and true' as adjectives modifying Deo, following the confirmatory/postpositive reading of vero.
  4. 4 ↩Tunc vero quanto: the vero carries an adversative force ('but then indeed'), and quanto here functions temporally ('when'), not as a comparative 'how much.' The translation captures the contrast with 'But then, when.'
  5. 5 ↩Hoc fecit in illum: in + accusative here means 'for, with respect to' him, not spatial 'into.' Rendered as 'accomplished for him.'
  6. 6 ↩Quotation of Christ's words to the good thief (Luke 23:43).
  7. 7 ↩Quotation of Luke 23:43.
  8. 8 ↩Quotation of Luke 23:43.
  9. 9 ↩Quotation of Luke 23:43.
  10. 10 ↩regnis (ablative plural of regnum) is rendered 'the kingdom' in the singular for natural English, though the plural may gesture toward the fullness of God's reign or the heavenly kingdom; the ablative of means fide et dilectione is rendered 'in faith and in love' to preserve the instrumental sense.
  11. 11 ↩ligno (ablative of lignum) can mean 'tree' or 'wood/cross'; here it refers to the cross on which Christ was crucified, echoing the biblical 'tree' language (cf. Acts 5:30, 1 Peter 2:24)
  12. 12 ↩The closing doxology (qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivis et regnas Deus in saecula saeculorum) is a liturgical formula; rendered with gravity appropriate to Trinitarian praise

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