Tractatus Prior, Pars Altera, Cap. 30. Depallida et miseranda specie lesu, quando

Tractatus Prior, Pars Altera, Cap. 30. Depallida et miseranda specie lesu, quando

When his soul departed from the body, certain signs of mortality appeared in him. I bless you and give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, mirror without stain of divine majesty, for your wretched and pale appearance contracted from the invasion of death, when your soul, departing from the body, showed certain signs of mortality in you. Alas, alas, Jesus, most beautiful of all, the charm of your most delightful face has perished because of the filth of those who spit on you with unclean lips, and the flower of your most precious youth has fallen in the face of death. Ah, most merciful God, all these things came upon you because of my sins that needed to be cleansed, for in order that I might be purified in my soul, you chose to be disfigured in your body, and in order that I might be rescued from eternal death, you tasted the most terrible death for a time. O death, what have you done? Why didn't you fear to lay your hand on the Lord Christ? What right did you have in him, or what fault could you find in the Son of God? You killed, you invaded, but you did not invade unscathed. For by killing, you have been killed, and by the hook of Christ's divinity, you have lost the power of your tyrannical domination; and with the soul of Christ descending to the dead, you are compelled to give back all the elect. In Adam, the dead, whom hell had held captive for a long time, are released. Thus it is. It had been foretold through the prophets. O death, your death; the sting of death. Therefore, it is fitting. The church sings with lofty voices: He dies on the wood, and hell is stripped of its bite. Therefore, in your death, Christ, my hope is restored to life, and the crown returns to joy, with death defeated. Truly, a great and abundant grace has flowed from you when you died on the wood of the cross for our life. For original sin is erased, personal iniquity is forgiven, grace is increased, punishment is mitigated, vengeance is suspended, every debt is resolved, and no one is denied mercy after tears, because the merit of your passion is inexhaustible. You didn't die for nothing. So why did you die? Indeed, the angel does not lack anything, because he remains stable in truth. The devil does not rise again, because he was hardened immediately after his fall. Therefore, you died for humanity, who, deceived by diabolical fraud, fell into death. And it was just that one whom another's wickedness brought low, so that your love might raise him up. O how great is your mercy, O ineffable depth of divine counsel! O wondrous and memorable mystery, by which truly man earned salvation, through the kingdom of Devallio, through the punishment of his soul, through death reduced to you forever. Your passion, Lord, is the healing balm for all wounds, Your cross is the ruin of all enemies and the stronghold of the faithful; Your death is the destruction of sins and the source of virtues. I will rejoice, therefore, in the merit and fruit of your passion; I will find comfort in my redemption; yet I will grieve over the love that mourns your bitter death. For it is fitting for you to rejoice, since you have conquered death, and it is fitting for you to grieve, because you have endured such heavy burdens for me. Behold now, faithful soul, gaze upon the sorrowful and pale image of the crucified Savior; consider each member of the deceased Jesus, and let your eyes be drawn by the greatness of compassion; for you are fruitfully occupied and take on a very holy imagination as you contemplate Jesus suspended on the cross. The image of the Crucified One is like a cluster of grapes from Cyprus, found in the vineyards of Engaddi, resting in the heart of a just man. So if you have the eye of piety, if you carry the affection of humanity, lift the ray of your contemplation to God, crucified for you, dead on the cross. Behold the wood of the cross, on which your salvation hangs, the redemption of the faithful, the mockery of the unfaithful. His head, crowned with thorns, is bowed low toward his sacred chest, and no vital motion is seen in him anymore. His eyes see nothing, for nothing can be hidden from His sight. His ears hear nothing, even though He knows all things before they happen. He doesn't smell the sweetness of flowers who provides their fragrance. He loses taste who provides life and food for all living beings. He doesn't move his lips who opens the mouths of the mute. No one speaks a word who teaches a person knowledge. The tongue, which always proclaimed the truth, now lies motionless between the jaws. The face, once brighter than the sun, is now veiled in deadly pallor. The beautiful cheeks have lost their charm, like those of a turtle dove. The hands that stretched out to the heavens are pierced with the harshest nails. The knees, often bent in prayer, hang down stupidly and bare. The legs that once bore the weight of the entire body like marble columns have now lost their strength. The feet, often weary from preaching, are like those bound by iron to the wood of the cross. All the members seem full of pain, wounded and drenched in blood. Yet his bones were not broken, like those of the criminals, so that the divine scripture might be fulfilled, because he is the true lamb prefigured in the law, whose bones were commanded to be kept whole. Such is my beloved, and he is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem; and this is the end of his life, for which, if I were to be killed a thousand times, it would not be a worthy return for his love. O sweetest Jesus, Redeemer of my soul, who will grant me to die with you on the cross, to share such a blessed hour with you at the moment of leaving this body? I beg you with all my heart, grant me to live in this fragile body in such a way that all my actions and feelings are aligned with your will. Direct my will so that I may complete my course in a state of grace and reach the eternal reward of beatitude after enduring various temptations and trials.