De Tertia, in Passicme Dondni
The Silent Lamb Before Pilate
Christ endures false accusations and the mockery of a corrupt trial with divine silence and patience.
At the third hour, you'll reflect with sadness and grief on how, when the Lord was brought back to Pilate, those dogs—rejoicing in the alliance between Herod and Pilate—boldly pressed their accusations, even though neither Pilate nor Herod, after diligently questioning and examining Him, could find any cause for death in Him. Thus, to expose the hardness of the Jews and Gentiles, Pilate admits that neither he nor Herod found any cause in Christ, nor anything worthy of death, in either the killing or the mocking. Bede says of this: "By saying this, Pilate indeed absolved Jesus, whom he proved innocent; but the one he absolved by his judgment, he crucified by his office." Listen, blind Jew; listen, cruel pagan. Pilate himself admits that he and Herod found nothing in Christ worthy of death, but that in killing or mocking the innocent one, he merely yielded to the clamor of others; as Bede says, Pilate had a great desire to set Jesus free. But the more carefully he seeks to release Him, the more guilty he finds those who demand His death. And when the Lord was falsely accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing—neither in His own defense, nor to refute their words, nor to address the insults of those speaking; rather, He courageously endured the accusations and remained silent. And then, when He was being accused by them in this way, Pilate said to Him: "Don't you hear how many things they testify against you?" According to Chrysostom, He said this because He wanted to set him free while he was answering in his own defense. But the Lord didn't answer him a single word, so the Governor was greatly amazed at His patience and constancy. He was amazed because someone he had heard was skilled in the Law and capable of answering anything would answer nothing, and because, having been brought to a criminal trial and standing before death—which everyone considers terrible—He remained imperturbable. In this, however, He teaches that accusations and charges are to be sustained patiently, for this makes the patience of the Saints more admirable than any defense. Hence Ambrose says: The Lord is accused and remains silent because He has no need of a defense; nor does He confirm the accusation by His silence, but rather despises it by not refuting it. Those who fear being defeated seek to be defended. A cause that is not defended and is proven is better. Susanna was silent, and she won. Ambrose says this. Therefore, the Judge of all stood before the judge—vile and unworthy—meek and silent, and when accused, He answered nothing. There are, however, four reasons for this silence and taciturnity of Christ: first, He was silent justly, because on account of the falsity of the accusations and the corrupt judgment, they were unworthy to hear; second, mercifully, so that they wouldn't become worse through His answer if they didn't believe Him or wouldn't obey; third, by dispensation, so that if He excused Himself He would be released, and the utility of the cross—namely our salvation and redemption—would be delayed; fourth, exemplarily, so that He might give us an example of patience and fulfill what was written about Him: 'Like a lamb before its shearer He will be silent, and will not open His mouth.' Therefore, as Anselm says, look attentively at how He stands before the Governor with head bowed, eyes cast down, face calm, speech rare, prepared for insults, ready for lashes. Sometimes the Lord answers, sometimes He doesn't: where He answers, He teaches like a good shepherd and fights for the sheep entrusted to Him against the snares of wolves and thieves; where He truly doesn't answer, He is silent like a lamb to be sacrificed for the whole flock, and He provides patience. If only it were clear to everyone when they should act like a lamb and when like a shepherd, so they would know when to stay silent and when to speak! Although he often answered certain questions, when he chose not to respond, he didn't do it like a guilty man burdened by his own conscience and convicted of his sins, but like an innocent and gentle one being sacrificed for the sins of others. That’s why the image of the lamb was given: so that in his silence he would be regarded not as guilty, but as innocent.
The Choice of Barabbas
The people choose the criminal Barabbas over the innocent Christ, illustrating the tragic nature of human preference for evil.
During the Passover feast, it was customary for the Governor to release one prisoner to the people—at their request—whomever they chose, regardless of merit. This was done in memory of the liberation of the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery; the memory of this benefit was celebrated during the Passover festival because on that day they had escaped the slavery of Pharaoh, a practice not observed at other feasts. Because the Angel of the Lord saved the Hebrews on the night of the Passover and struck down the firstborn of the Egyptians, they would save one person facing death and execute some of the prisoners held for execution to represent this and keep the memory of that benefit alive during the solemnity. Alternatively, they did this in memory of the crossing of the Red Sea, in which the children of Israel were liberated and the Egyptians drowned. They had obtained permission from the Roman Emperor to keep this custom, just as it had been observed before Judea was subject to the Romans. Whether they still kill someone every year, God knows, and they know. Pilate, knowing they were eager to observe that custom, and also that Barabbas was a wicked man hated by the people, offered them a choice. He said that for the honor of the feast he would release either Barabbas or Jesus to them, and no one else. By this, he subtly hoped to secure Jesus' release with their consent, because he didn't believe for a moment that they would ask for the release of Barabbas, who was a murderer, a rebel, and a man of the worst kind—notorious not for any nobility of birth but for the infamy of his crime, as he was a public robber well-known for his malice. He believed Jesus was the one who deserved to be chosen, knowing him to be innocent and handed over out of envy because he publicly exposed their vices. Pilate showed great diligence, as has been said, to free Christ: first, through his innocence, because he had escaped Herod's hands; second, through the custom, because he believed he was the one to be chosen. In this, an example is given of working for the liberation of the innocent. Hence Chrysostom says: "And observe wisely, for he did not say, 'because he has sinned.'" And he is worthy of death, to be granted to him by the feast; but first, excusing him and clearing him of all charges, he nevertheless asks for him. This was done so that if they were unwilling to release the innocent man, they might at least release the guilty one, given the festival or the occasion. The vision of Pilate’s wife. Then, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife, named Procula, sent word to him, saying: 'Have nothing to do with that just man, nor anything against that just one.' It was as if she were saying: 'You have no cause, nor any reason.' Don't involve yourself in putting that man to death, because he is just. For I have suffered much today in a vision and in dreams on his account. Therefore, the wife of this Gentile man understood this in her visions and dreams; she realized that the Jews, in their wakefulness, were unwilling to believe or to understand. The devil had indeed appeared to her, moving her with terrors to seek the liberation of Christ. For now, at last, the devil understood that he would lose his spoils through Christ—whether in the world or in the underworld—and he regretted that he had caused him to be arrested. And so he sent visions to this woman, that through her the death of Christ might be hindered; just as before, through a woman, he had brought death into the world. In this way, he was busy trying to rescue Christ from the hands of the Jews through this woman, so that through Christ's death, he would not lose his power. He would lose his power. Already, indeed, by the power and virtue of God, he was able to recognize the mystery of the cross, and so he labored to prevent Christ from dying, for perhaps the saints in hell were already rejoicing, and he knew this. For, as Augustine says, the soul of Lazarus, when recalled to the world, and the souls in hell recognized the Lord who was about to descend to them. From then on they began to rejoice; the devil especially recognized this when the Lord gave up his soul with a loud cry, or he understood it through the fulfillment of the Scriptures, as he saw them being fulfilled in the Lord. Whatever, therefore, Pilate's wife and Pilate himself did to set Christ free, is thought to have been at the devil's instigation, who through Pilate and his wife tried to hinder our redemption, just as he had once brought about our damnation through Adam and Eve. Pilate, therefore, asked them whom they wanted released out of the two mentioned, in honor of the festival, and as if urging them, he pressed the question, asking if they wanted the King of the Jews released. But they, moved by excessive hatred against Christ and persisting in their malice with hardened hearts, chose and demanded that Barabbas, a pestilent man, be released, and that Christ, the innocent one, be taken from their midst and crucified, so that Christ might not be set free. For they thought, as Chrysostom says, that they could prove by this that Jesus was worse than a thief, and that he was not worthy to be released even for the sake of the festival. . In this act, the secret of future infidelity is revealed: that the Antichrist will be preferred over Christ. They demanded a thief and preferred a murderer to the Author of Life. Regarding this, the blessed Peter later said to them: 'You denied the Holy and Just One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but you killed the Author of Life.' O what great unhappiness! What Jewish iniquity and malice, that to procure the death of Christ they demanded the release of a public thief, against the public good and justice: preferring death to life, darkness to light, and the son of the devil to the Son of God, as foolishly as they did impiously! That is why Augustine says, "Oh, the madness of the Jews! Oh, the fury of the frantic!" To say, "Don't release this man, but Barabbas"—what was that but to say, "Let the one who raised the dead be killed, and let the thief be released so he can kill the living again"? Anselm adds, "They even handed your soul over to be devoured by an uncircumcised dog; for they led you, bound, before the judgment seat of Pilate the governor, demanding that you be put to death by the torture of the cross—you who had committed no sin—and that a murderer be granted to them: preferring the lamb to the wolf, and gold to mud." What an unworthy and wretched exchange! Bede also says, "The petition they obtained with such clamor still clings to the Jews to this day." For since they were given the choice and chose a thief over Jesus, a murderer over the Savior, and a destroyer over the Giver of Life, they rightly lost their salvation and their life. They plunged themselves so deeply into robbery and sedition that they lost their homeland and their kingdom—which they loved more than Christ—and to this day have not deserved to regain the freedom of soul or body they sold. And that is why the Jews cannot have peace, because they preferred to choose a seditious leader—that is, the devil, who still reigns in them today—rather than the Lord: so says Bede. Similarly, even today some people strive more to save and promote bad men than good ones. In many elections and appointments, Jesus—that is, the good man, the worthy one, and the friend of God who would save himself and others—is rejected, while Barabbas—a notorious thief, that is, a bad and unworthy man and an enemy of Christ who destroys himself and others in their souls—is chosen. Therefore, those who are guilty of doing this or consenting to it in such promotions, by their very act or consent, say to the Jews: "Not this man, but Barabbas." Jesus, however, is silent before all of this, patiently enduring the barking dogs, and arming us with his own patience. Consider here how much it could wound the soul of Christ that such a wicked and vile man was preferred over Him, the God-man, to the point that they sought the life of the one and the death of the other. They sinned in two ways: by asking for the guilty man to be set free and for the innocent man to be condemned. As it says in Proverbs, 'He who justifies the wicked and condemns the just, both are an abomination.'✦ We can draw two lessons from this passage. The first is that we should calmly endure it if, at times, people of lesser standing and lower status are preferred over us. After all, a thief was preferred to Christ. He was preferred to Christ. The second is that we must be careful not to prefer Barabbas to Christ ourselves. Many people today still want Barabbas set free and Christ kept bound, because, as Origen says, everyone who is like the Jews—whether in their teaching or in their life—wants to have Barabbas set free for themselves. For whoever does evil is set free in their body, while Christ is bound. But whoever does good has Christ set free, and Barabbas bound. And. Therefore, just as the Jews were ruined by robberies and seditions after they chose Barabbas the thief over Christ, so it is now. It is the same today. Whatever soul chooses Barabbas is always destroyed by diabolical robberies. For where Jesus is not, there are quarrels and battles; but where Jesus is, there are all good things. Origen says this: spiritually, a person is bound by sin and imprisoned in both body and soul, so that there are two prisoners: the body and the soul. But of these, only one can be set free in this world: the soul can be set free if the body is subjected to penance and the lash, for this is how it frees the soul from guilt and punishment. If the body is set free, the soul will remain bound and exposed to eternal torments and lashes. Therefore, it is better for the soul to be set free than the body, because if the body is suspended on the cross of penance, it will then free the soul from death. Hence Gregory says: 'If it is a great reward to rescue from death a body that is destined to die, how great is the merit of setting free a soul that will live forever in heaven?' To conform himself to this point, let a person reflect on whether he has ever chosen Barabbas over Christ, and let him grieve and pray, saying: 'Jesus, who did not disdain to be rejected by the Jews when they asked for Barabbas the thief to be released and for You, the Author of life, to be crucified, grant that I may always choose You, my Creator, over all things, and never reject You for any created thing.'
The Scourging and Mockery
Christ is scourged, stripped, and bound, suffering intense physical pain and humiliation for the sins of humanity.
Pilate, however, wanting to release Jesus, spoke to them again, asking what he should do about Jesus, the King of the Jews, and what evil he had done, asserting that he found no cause for death in him; but the more they saw that he wanted to release Christ, the more they shouted again and again, pressing in with loud voices, demanding that he be crucified; and their voices grew stronger. Seeing, however, that he was accomplishing nothing toward the release of Christ—while the favor of the people remained, but rather a tumult and uproar of the people was rising against the contrary, through the seduction of the priests who wanted to obtain through clamor and the tumult of the people what they could not have through reason—and wanting to please and satisfy the people, he released Barabbas to them, whom they were asking for, although he did not doubt that Christ should be preferred. Look: the innocent Christ is condemned, and Barabbas the robber is set free. It happens this way today in the courts of princes and prelates: innocent people are condemned, and perverse sinners are released; minor offenses are punished, but greater ones are overlooked; transgressors of canon law and statutes are punished, while transgressors of divine commandments are let go unpunished. And so that the Jews would take the entire sin of Jesus' death upon themselves, and he himself would be free from the sin, he took water and washed his hands before the people, saying: 'I am innocent of this blood—that is, of the shedding of this blood—and just as I wash my hands, so I wash my conscience, because I wanted to release the innocent one, and I am only a minister of the law; you yourselves will see what happens to you regarding the punishment for the guilt you are committing, for your voice sheds the blood of the just, and you will feel the penalty for it.' It was, in fact, the custom among the ancients that when someone wanted to show they were free from a crime, they would take water and wash their hands before the people. He washed his hands before the people, therefore, so that those he could not move by persuasion, he might move by a sign, by which he was signifying, I say, that he was bringing death upon Christ, and that he was innocent of such a great crime. He washed his hands, imposing the sin of Christ's death upon the Jews, who accepted it, although he was not truly excused by this. Because his guilt was not washed away by water, he was lying when he claimed to be innocent, because he knew that... They handed him over out of envy, even though he was just and innocent, and he could have freed himself. He was therefore a participant in the crime, though he was more innocent than they were. Thus, Pope Leo said: 'Therefore, Pilate exceeded the guilt of the Jews; but he himself did not escape the charge, for he abandoned his own judgment and passed over to another's crime.' Just as Pilate, those who excuse themselves from the consensus of crime can do so when they can protest effectively. And all answered: 'His blood, that is, guilt and punishment, or vengeance and retribution for the shedding of his blood, be upon us and our children.' The Jews have left their best inheritance to their children; for this curse of punishment and crime remains upon the Jews even to this day, and the blood of Christ is not taken away from them, so that they suffer the flow of blood in every lunar cycle, as it is said. For the Lord struck them in the back and gave them eternal disgrace; they are vagabonds and fugitives under servitude, and unless they wash their hands through Baptism, they will continually bear the punishment of crime from this blood. As Jerome says, the Jews spoke the best and most saving words, but with the worst intentions. Therefore, we should desire that his blood come upon us, but for cleansing, according to the words in the Apocalypse: 'He washed us from our sins in his blood.' Pilate, finding no reason for death in Him, tried to let Him go; for the cause of His death was not in Him, but in us. He suffered for our sake, not His own, having no guilt of His own yet bearing the penalty, so that He might resolve both our guilt and our punishment. Hence Bernard says: "O most loving Jesus, what have You to do with death?" We have sinned, and You pay the price; we are the ones who owed the debt, and You are the one who settles it. Finding no reason for death in Him, he said to them: "I will therefore punish Him—that is, by scourging Him—so that if He has committed any fault in your religious ceremonies or has offended in any way, He may be corrected by being punished for it. Once corrected and disciplined, I will let Him go free from death. I will have Him subjected to scourges and mockery as much as you demand, provided you do not thirst for or shed innocent blood." For seeing from their clamor that he could in no way let Jesus go entirely free with their peace, and on the other hand, that it was hard for him to put an innocent man to death, he therefore had Christ scourged and mocked to satisfy them, so that by seeing Him thus punished and mocked beyond what was deserved, their cruelty might be satisfied and mitigated by His pains and insults; and thus, thinking it enough for themselves, they might stop wanting to rage further and might not thirst for His death. Hence Augustine says: "He did not scourge the Lord out of persecution, but wishing to satisfy their fury, so that even in this way they might soften, grow silent, and stop wanting to kill Him whom they saw scourged." So says Augustine. Hence, he even permitted his cohort to mock Him for this reason, or perhaps ordered it, so that he might soften their anger and they might desist from His death. For it is natural that anger should subside if one sees the person against whom one is angry humbled and punished. This is indeed true of anger, which seeks the harm of a neighbor with moderation, but not of hatred, which seeks the total destruction of the one it hates. These men, however, were driven by hatred against Christ; his scourging wasn't enough for them unless they also saw his destruction. O Pilate, Pilate, you want to discipline the Lord. You don't know what you're doing, because he deserves neither the scourges nor the death penalty; you would act more rightly if you corrected yourself according to his will. Therefore, good intentions don't entirely excuse Pilate, because no evil can be made entirely good through a good intention, nor should evils be done so that good may come of them. To afflict an innocent person, especially the Son of God, is a supreme evil, and therefore it is excusable by no intention; and since he was a judge, he shouldn't have inflicted even the slightest penalty upon one whom he knew to be innocent. For this reason also, according to Jerome, he wanted him to be scourged so that he might serve Roman laws, by which it was decreed that one who was to be crucified should be scourged first, perhaps to extort from him the accomplices of his crime; and thus Christ, if he were to be crucified, would already have been scourged. From the very act of his being stripped, we have two lessons. The first is that we should guard ourselves against nakedness, both bodily and spiritual, so that we may never appear naked before God, the angels, and men; for even if a person is sometimes not seen by men, he should still be ashamed of his nakedness before God and the angels. Hence, our first parents were ashamed before the face of God, who is everywhere among us with his angels. Regarding spiritual nakedness, there is that word of the Apostle: 'If we are clothed, and not found naked.' Likewise, there is that word from the Apocalypse: 'Clothe yourself in white garments, so that the shame of your nakedness may not appear.' By 'white garments' is understood the purity of a holy life, which the Lord willed to be scourged, so that—because it is written of the garment of many: 'The many scourges of the sinner'—we might be spared, and we might be freed by His scourging from eternal scourges. It is like a loving mother who, when she sees a father intending to scourge one of his children, runs forward with outstretched arms and protects him, exposing herself to the scourges for his sake. For humanity had offended God, and therefore it had to be disciplined; Christ, therefore, willed to be disciplined, and in this way He appeased God, and for this reason it is said: 'The discipline of our peace was upon Him.' And if the innocent One was scourged so severely for the sins of others, how severely do you think the guilty must be scourged for their own sins if they don't correct themselves? When the Lord was ordered to be scourged, the soldiers and the governor's attendants stripped Him, taking off the clothes He was wearing and leaving Him naked before everyone. It should be understood that just as He had been sent back by Herod in that same garment, He remained in it until the hour of the scourging, and only then did they strip Him of that garment and His other clothes. The faithful soul ought to be clothed in these garments always, so that the shame of her nakedness might not appear before God, the angels, and all people, stripped of virtue. The second lesson is this: just as He was stripped of His own garments, so we too must strip off the old tunic and lay our consciences bare before God through a naked and pure confession of our sins, casting aside every cloak of excuse, for all things are naked and open to His eyes. To conform oneself to this mystery, let a person reflect on how miserably, and with what great injury and shame, Christ was stripped of His clothes and left naked for our sake, so that He might clothe us in virtues. And let them pray in this way: 'Jesus, who willed to be stripped of Your garments and to be scourged, grant that I may strip off the old man with his deeds through a naked confession of my sins, and that I may not appear before Your eyes stripped of virtues.' Then the Lord is bound most cruelly to the pillar—He who is accustomed to set the captive free—and the limbs of the Lord are laid bare to God. He is scourged most savagely, beaten with whips, and tortured with blows. The most loving youth stands before everyone, elegant and modest, and remains silent. He is like a lamb in every way. Fairer in form than the sons of men, He accepts the harsh, bitter, and painful lashes of the cruel. His most innocent and tender flesh—the purest and most beautiful, the flower of all flesh and of all human nature—is torn by lashes, bruises, and wounds; that most holy body is mangled throughout, and from the sole of His foot to the crown of His head, no trace of health remains, and His whole garment is turned to red. The royal and most precious blood flows everywhere from all parts of His body, and His most candid body is reddened throughout by its own crimson. If more is added, the blow is repeated and thickened, bruise upon bruise, wound upon wound, blood upon blood, until He is tortured by the cruel and the onlookers alike, and is left to the mercy of the crowd to whom He is bound. A portion of this is kept in Rome at the church of Saint Praxedes, but a larger part is said to be in the church on Mount Sion, where the Gospel is read—a place that, according to Bede, still shows traces of the Lord's blood to this day. As for the number and severity of the blows or wounds inflicted during this scourging, they can only be known through revelation, as mentioned earlier; however, it is fitting to consider them practically numberless. For if, as they say, the measure of the blows corresponds to the measure of the sin, Christ was scourged for our sins, which are certainly numberless; therefore, the blows were numberless. This is what is written in Isaiah: 'From the sole of the foot to the top of the head, there is no soundness in him.' Then what is said in that same passage was fulfilled: 'He had no beauty or majesty; we saw him, and he had no appearance; his face was as if hidden and despised, and we considered him a leper, struck by God and humiliated.'✦ Hence Augustine says: 'All beauty had drained from his face, and he who was beautiful above the sons of men seemed unsightly to all; because the malice of the wicked had defiled his sacred face with blows.' Anselm, reviewing this, says: 'And indeed, that wicked man knew that everything was being done to you out of envy, yet he did not hold back his reckless hands; but he filled your soul with bitterness without cause.' He sent you to Herod to be mocked, received you back mocked, and ordered you to stand naked in the sight of those who mocked you; nor did he spare your virginal flesh from being torn by the most bitter blows, inflicting wound upon wound and bruise upon bruise. Chosen Boy of my God, why were you worthy of such bitterness, why such confusion? Absolutely nothing. I, a lost soul, am the cause of all your compunction and all your confusion; I, Lord, have eaten the sour grape, and your teeth have been set on edge, because you were paying for what you did not steal. Your love and our wickedness have made you this weak. Cursed be such great wickedness, for which you are afflicted like this! In all these things, the treachery of the Jews was not satisfied—so says Anselm. Look now with attention at how much and what kind of suffering the Lord endured for you, without cause, at the hands of the wicked Pilate and his men, and let his example strengthen you to be patient in your own labors and hardships. For just as Christ is scourged and that most holy flesh and most delicate limbs are torn apart most cruelly by knotted whips, and his beautiful body is bruised with wounds and reddened everywhere with blood, so must the strenuous soldier of Christ punish his own body through the hardships and rigors that are due, lest he begin to kick back in disobedience. Consider him here diligently for a long time and at length, and if you do not feel compassion for him here, consider yourself to have a heart of stone. And then you will exclaim: O good Jesus, how is it that you are stripped bare, you who clothe the naked? How is it that you are bound, you who set the shackled free and deliver those held captive by demons and by infirmities? How is it that you are scourged, you who rescue us from the scourge? Who was bold enough to strip you? Who was reckless enough to bind you to the pillar? Who was sacrilegious enough to scourge you? But you, Sun of Justice, withdrew your rays, and so there is darkness and the powers of darkness; they are all more powerful than you. The scourges of eternal affliction were owed to us, yet you chose to be scourged for our sake, so that you might mercifully rescue us from them.1 The scourging of the Lord was foreshadowed by Achior the prince, who was tied to a tree. Achior was tied to a tree by Holofernes’ soldiers, just as Christ was tied to a pillar by Pilate’s soldiers. Achior was bound because of the truth he spoke; Christ was scourged because of the truth He preached. Achior was bound because he refused to say what would please Holofernes; Christ was scourged because He rebuked the Jews, to their displeasure. Achior was bound because he magnified the glory of the Lord; Christ was scourged because He made known the name of His Father. The scourging of Christ was also foreshadowed by the scourging of Jeremiah, whom Pashhur had beaten. Once the Lord was released from the pillar of scourging, they led him—naked and scourged—through the house to gather up his clothes, which had been scattered across the floor by those who had stripped him. Look closely at him, so afflicted and trembling from the cold, for it was winter. Pay close attention and consider his state in every detail, so that you may feel deep compunction and be nourished at the same time. Turn your eyes away from his divinity for a moment and consider him simply as a man; you will see a young man—elegant, noble, innocent, and full of love—all scourged and splattered with blood and bruises, gathering his clothes from the floor where they had been scattered. You will see him, with a sense of shame and blushing, dressing himself while naked before those who were constantly mocking him, as if he were the lowest of all, abandoned by God, and stripped of all help.2 Look at him, then, with care, and let yourself be moved by pity and compassion. Return afterward to his divinity and consider that immense, eternal, and incomprehensible majesty incarnate—bending down, humbly stooping to the ground, gathering his clothes, and dressing himself with reverence and blushing, just as if he were the most worthless man, indeed, some purchased slave placed under their power, corrected and punished by them for some offense. Look at him again now with care, admire his humility, and imitate it as best you can. Following this same line of thought, you can also look at him when, after the crowning, he is stripped of the purple and wants to dress himself again. From this episode of the scourging, two lessons are drawn. The first point is that we ought to willingly endure the scourges of God, so that each of us can say with the Psalmist: 'I am ready for the scourge.' And we are right to do so, because if the only Son of God was ready to take our scourges upon himself out of obedience to the Father, why shouldn't we, his adopted children, be ready to endure the scourges of that same Father—which he deigns to inflict upon us mercifully, either by himself or through his ministers and instruments, for our own correction? As the Wise Man and the Apostle say: "The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he scourges every son he receives." Second, we must be diligent to ensure we don't scourge Christ again, which is what happens every time we commit a mortal sin. Since Christ was scourged for our sins, whenever we sin, we strike Christ with a blow of the scourge as much as it lies within us to do so; just as the Apostle says of some, "They are crucifying the Son of God for themselves again." To conform himself to this mystery, a person may, if he has the grace, strike himself with a scourge or a rod; or at least, by sympathizing with the scourged Christ, he may scourge himself mentally and pray: "Jesus, who for our sake willed to be scourged on every side, grant me to willingly accept the scourges of your fatherly correction, and never again to scourge you by my sins." When, therefore, after the scourging, Jesus wanted to get dressed again, certain most wicked men argued with Pilate, saying: 'Sir, this man made himself a king; let us clothe him and crown him in the royal manner.' The wretches wanted to mock him to the full before they handed him over to death. Hence Anselm says: "Finally, Lord Jesus, you were handed over into the hands of uncircumcised soldiers to be finished off by a most shameful death; it was a small thing for their sacrilegious hands to scourge you, unless they had first filled your soul with mockery."
The Royal Insignia of Shame
Christ is mocked as a king with a purple robe, a crown of thorns, and a reed, transforming symbols of shame into mysteries of faith.
With Pilate’s consent, they gathered the entire cohort into the praetorium, where the Governor and the senate were sitting, so that everyone could witness the spectacle and they could mock him all the more in public before the crowd. Having barely reclined, they stripped him of his own clothes and dressed him in a purple garment—or tunic—and wrapped him in a scarlet cloak, that is, a mantle or cape, not sewn but fastened with a brooch of scarlet color, which is between red and purple, to the disgrace of the royal name which he, as the Jews claimed, was wrongly usurping. To mock him as a false king, they took a purple robe and a cloak—not new, but old—to add to his confusion; for because he was called a king, they dressed him in the clothes that ancient kings used to wear. Christ was dressed that day in a threefold garment—white, red, and scarlet—to signify that anyone who wishes to belong to Christ’s family must wear the white garment of innocence, the red of love and obedience, and the scarlet of penance. Thus, they dressed him in purple and a cloak, and one Evangelist describes one thing, another something else; for if they had only wrapped him in a cloak, they would not have stripped him, just as he is not recorded as having been stripped before Herod, where they put a white garment on him. The white and red garment was fitting for such a body, since it was entirely reddened with blood from the scourging, fulfilling the words of Isaiah: “Why is your apparel red, and your garments like those of one who treads in the winepress?”✦ According to the Gloss, this question was asked by the angels, who marveled that the body of Christ—which had come from a virginal womb with a brightness no fuller on earth could produce—was now so reddened with blood. He answered this question himself in that same place, saying: “I have trodden the winepress alone.” It was as if he were saying, according to the Gloss: “I alone sustained the pressure of the cross, the scourging, and the suffering of all torments, in which I was pressed as if in a winepress, sprinkled with my own blood over my whole body for the salvation of the world.”✦ The purple garment signifies his flesh exposed to suffering; it also represents the passion of the martyrs, by which the whole mystical body of Christ—the Church—is reddened, and thus it is also clothed in purple when it glories in the triumphs of the holy martyrs. Two lessons are drawn from this passage. The first is that we must cover our sins with works of charity. Just as Christ, bloodied by the scourges of our sins, chose to be covered in purple, so we must cover our own bloody works—that is, our sins—with the purple of fervent charity. For as Peter says, "Charity covers a multitude of sins." It also signifies the memory of the Lord's Passion; hence in the Song of Songs, the locks of the head of the spouse—that is, the faithful soul—are said to be like his purple. This is because the thoughts of our mind, which are understood by the locks of the head, ought to be occupied constantly with the Passion of the Redeemer or with works of charity.3 The second lesson is that, because our Lord chose to be clothed in a royal garment, Theophylact teaches us that we too should be clothed in the royal garment of our mind's disposition. We should be true kings, trampling upon serpents and scorpions—that is, subduing all vices. This is why we are called Christians, meaning we are anointed like kings. To conform oneself to this passage and the seven following passages of mockery, a person should reflect on the nature of each passage and its burdens, and pray as devotion inspires in each case. Lord, you who chose to be clothed in a purple garment in mockery, grant me to wear the constant memory of your Passion, and to cover my sins with the purple of charity. Instead of a royal diadem or crown, they wove—by twisting or plaiting, that is, by joining and connecting—a crown, a wreath made like a head-crown, out of thorns; that is, out of thorny and prickly rushes with very sharp points. They placed it upon his most reverend and tender head, with the points turned toward his head, so that the pain of the piercing would be compounded by the shame of the mockery. Those who say they have considered this more attentively assert that those thorns were actually sea-rushes, whose edges are no less hard, sharp, rough, and piercing than thorns, to the point that even people who walk barefoot over them are wounded by them; hence the poet says: 'And the sharp point of the rush.' May that crown of thorns on your head, Lord, be a most sweet pillow for me, upon which my head may rest gently. From this article, three lessons are drawn. The first is that we should always carry our sins in our mind through remembrance, just as Christ carried the thorns of our sins on his head; for, according to Bede, the crown of thorns he wore shows the taking up of our sins, the thorns of which he removed by the thorns he himself bore. It was said of these thorns to the first man: 'The earth shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you,' because the earth of our body brings forth the sins that prick our conscience with their points, just as thorns do. Christ therefore took these thorns upon himself to bear as a crown of victory. Victors are accustomed to carry the weapons of their defeated enemies as a sign of victory, and to boast of them. Our sins are the devil's weapons, which he uses to arm himself against us; yet the Lord took these away in His Passion, for He is the Lamb who took away the sins of the world. For this reason, He deigned to wear the crown of thorns upon His head as a crown of victory. It's desirable for every loving soul to see our King in this crown; that's why the Bride in the Song of Songs calls out to all faithful souls, saying: 'Go out, daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon in the crown with which his mother crowned him'—meaning the Synagogue, literally; or, his mother, that is, charity, in the present allegorical sense. Another lesson, according to Theophilus, is that we too should take up the crown of thorns—that is, we should hasten to be crowned through a strict life, through acts of self-denial, and through purity of conscience; for these are, in a sense, thorns because of their austerity. The third lesson is that we should also strive to be crowned with the thorns of temptation. For every temptation that attacks us is like a thorn piercing the head of our mind; yet when a person overcomes it, that thorn yields to him as a crown. Therefore, for every thorn of temptation a person endures and overcomes in this life, he gains as many precious gems for his crown. Jesus, You who chose to be crowned with thorns, make me so worthily pierced by these thorns that I may deserve to be crowned with You in the heavens. Instead of a royal scepter, they placed a reed in his right hand, dishonoring with a reed the very hand that governs heaven and earth. By this, they signaled that the kingdom he had claimed by calling himself King was, like a reed, hollow and weak, and that he himself was empty of power—failing to realize that he had said his kingdom was not of this world, but of another, namely eternity, where his kingdom is most firm. From this incident, we draw a lesson we must take to heart: that of ourselves we are weak and fragile, and empty of all good, unless the right hand of God holds us; just as a reed is hollow and frail in itself, but is made firm when grasped by the hand of Christ. Therefore, as Hilary says, our Lord chose to hold the reed in his right hand to show that he sustains us—fragile, empty, and weak as we are—with his hand, and fills us with every good. Furthermore, a reed or pen is an instrument for writing, and so, according to Jerome, Christ chose to hold the reed in his hand to write the sacrilege of the Jews, and to show that he is the one who writes his outcasts in the book of life. Jesus, you who chose to have a reed given to you in your right hand in place of a scepter, deign to sustain my weakness with the right hand of your power, so that your kingdom may be constantly formed within me. What do these three signs mean? Thus, three instruments of mockery are introduced: the purple and scarlet robe, the crown of thorns, and the hollow reed. The robe is placed on the body, the crown on the head, and the reed in the hand as a scepter. Literally, these are three royal insignia bestowed upon him in mockery and derision, so that he might be shown as guilty of treason, for wanting to usurp a kingdom he could not obtain. Morally, however, just as Christ was mocked in three ways, so the soul is frequently mocked and captured by sin in three ways: first, in the display of human power, which is signified by the purple and scarlet robe, the clothing of kings and the powerful; second, in the desire for overflowing wealth, which is noted by the crown of thorns, for riches are full of thorns and cares; third, in the vanity of worldly wisdom, which is signified by the reed, which is beautiful but full of wind and empty. For worldly wisdom, in which people trust and which one uses not for the praise of God but for one's own glory, is like a broken reed staff. See here how Christ obeys in all things—not only the Father, but even those who mock him. He accepts the purple robe, prepares his head for the crown, and takes the reed into his hand. Just as Christ, the King of glory, is crowned with a crown of thorns and mocked with a purple robe and a reed, so too, when a servant of Christ is belittled in this world, cast aside as unworthy of any honor, despised by the arrogant, and troubled by mockery, he should consider that a servant is not greater than his Master, and he should not take it as an evil if he suffers the same things as the supreme King. Then, after they had provided him with royal insignia, they knelt before him and, mocking him, adored him as God and saluted him as king, making fun of him as one who wanted to reign but couldn't; they jeered at him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews.' It was as if to say: 'You wanted to reign, but you couldn't.' By calling him King of the Jews, they speak the truth, even though they are unwilling and mocking. And thus, according to Bede, they adored him as one who had falsely claimed to be God, and they saluted him as one who had falsely made himself King; they did this so that their mockery would correspond to the accusation of the Jews, because he was being accused by the Jews of both things. Detestable. They do this with a specific mindset, crowning Him while causing Him pain, and adoring and saluting Him while mocking Him. Although the Gentiles did this, the Jews are the ones who pay the price, for they were the authors of such a great crime. That is why, on Good Friday, when we pray for the treacherous Jews, we don't genuflect, since it was the Jews who were essentially carrying this out alongside the Gentiles. Chrysostom says that the soldiers, corrupted by money, were doing this to curry favor with the Jews. Augustine, however, says this was done by the command or permission of the Governor, so that the hatred of the Jews might be more fully satisfied and he might more easily rescue Him. From this passage we draw a lesson: we must be careful not to adore or salute Christ falsely. In a mystical sense, those who believe in Him but despise Him through perverse actions adore and salute Christ falsely; they confess Him with their mouths, but deny Him with their deeds. Likewise, those who dwell in their minds on something contrary to divine honor while they are praying are adoring or saluting Him falsely. Likewise, those who show signs of devotion in churches and afterwards commit grave injuries against Christ in His members are adoring and saluting Him falsely. Furthermore, all pseudo-Christians falsely adore and salute Christ. Jesus, you who willed to be mockingly adored and saluted, grant that I may adore you, my true God, in spirit and in truth, and that I may salute you alone as the true King with devout reverence; for Christ is being slapped and spat upon all over again. And so that they might mock him with deeds, just as they had mocked him with signs and words, they struck him with slaps to increase the mockery; they did this to show by their very actions that the honor they were showing him was a sham. In this, they made their mockery all the more contemptuous, for they slapped him while pretending to adore God and salute him as King. This slapping differs from the one that occurred in the house of Annas: there, a single slap was given by one of the guards, but here, many slaps were given by different people; and that one was given out of vengeance, while these were given out of mockery. The lessons set down there can be applied here as well. Jesus, you who willed to be struck with slaps, grant that I may always applaud you with my voice and my life, and allow me to turn the actions of others—even if they are evil—to my own good; for they spat upon your face as if you were a person of no worth and contemptible. Oh, how vile an act that was! It's clear that these men are called soldiers, but not in the modern sense where high-born, noble men are called knights for their gilded spurs. Such nobles wouldn't mock, spit on, or crucify anyone, nor would they divide the clothes of the crucified—that's work for executioners. Instead, they are called soldiers in the ancient sense of paid, foot-soldier mercenaries. This is evident in the records of Julius Caesar, where soldiers are distinguished from knights, and in the Acts of the Apostles, where it's noted that Paul was sent to Caesarea from Jerusalem with two hundred soldiers and seventy horsemen. Therefore, we understand 'soldiers' in this passage to be base, paid executioners who fear no insolence. They are called soldiers not because of nobility, but because of their strength, for they were physically robust and exposed to every kind of evil, as Chrysostom says. Theophilus also says of them that in these mockeries, their military vainglory, always delighting in disordered insults, showed itself for what it was. The lessons here are the same as those mentioned earlier regarding the spitting that took place in the house of Caiaphas. O Jesus, who willed that your most delightful face be spat upon, grant that I may not pollute your face by an unworthy reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, nor defile my conscience with unclean thoughts. The striking of Christ's head with a reed: a lesson from it, and a prayer. They took the reed from his hand and struck his sacred head—both to inflict pain, so that the thorns' points would be driven more deeply into his head, and out of contempt, as a sign of emptiness and nothingness. They did this not so much to hurt him through the pricking of the thorns and the blows of the staff, as to mock and vilify him, for base people are accustomed to being beaten with staves like animals. It was as if they were saying to him, 'You base man, why do you make yourself a King?' In this, he was treated like a thief who is tortured with a rope tied around his head to force a confession of his crimes. Just as a rope is tightened so that it cuts deeper or twists more painfully, so too did they strike Jesus, who was crowned with a reed. They struck with a reed that head which is to be feared, which makes the demons tremble, and which is worthy of all reverence. It is the head that all the powers of heaven adore and all the saints venerate; it is the blessed head for all ages, from which every blessing flows, not only onto the beard, but even to the hem of the garment of the whole Church. Oh, you wretches! How will that head appear fearful to you later, when you don't fear to strike it like this now? And then the blood, drawn from his head by the thorns of the crown and flowing freely, stained his head and cheeks, so that he appeared like a leper, because the blood and the spit smeared on him made him look like a leper. The blood stained his whole head, just like the gore from a scourging, and the bloody sweat stained every other part of his body. We might say that not only his hands, feet, and side were splattered with blood, but that he, Christ, ascended from Bozrah with his whole garment dyed. Behold him, then, with bitterness of heart in each of his afflictions, because he endures everything they inflict upon him like a servant, silent before it all like a mute. Especially behold him with his head full of thorns, struck heavily and repeatedly with a reed, and see how, with his neck bowed, he patiently receives and suffers those bitter blows, yet with great pain. The thorns pierced his most sacred head most bitterly, and soaked it entirely in blood. From this, we draw a lesson: we must be careful not to strike the head of Christ with a reed ourselves. People strike his head when they attack his divinity and deny that he is truly God; for, as the Apostle says, the 'anointed of the Lord'—that is, the divinity itself—is the head of the assumed creature. The reed or cane signifies Holy Scripture, written by the pen of the Holy Spirit, of which the Psalm says: 'My tongue is the pen of a scribe.' Therefore, as Bede says, those who contradict his divinity and try to confirm their error by the authority of Holy Scripture—which was written by that same pen—strike the head of Christ; such are those who say he was merely a man. Likewise, they strike the head of Christ with a reed when, for the sake of the gold of worldly favor—which is signified by the reed—God is offended. They also strike the head of Christ with a pen when they are too eager to investigate his divinity through Scripture, sometimes drawing the blood of error from it. Likewise, they strike Christ on the head with a reed who offend Christ through a hollow—that is, an idle—life; he is our head, from whom all vital operations flow into our senses, and he has provided us with the example of his own works. So, whenever we have an opportunity to do good, the idle person strikes Christ as if on the head. From such a blow and the piercing of the thorns, blood is drawn from Christ's head—meaning that Christ is pained and pierced to the point of bleeding by our idleness, because his examples don't bear fruit in us. Jesus, you who willed that your noble head be struck with a reed, grant that I may not offend you, our head, through my own life, but rather serve you in ways that please you. Christ's coronation, his mockery, and his patience were prefigured in King David when he patiently endured the evils inflicted by his enemy Semei. Semei threw stones at David, bound and cursed him; so the synagogue threw palms, thorns, and spit at Christ. Semei called David a man of blood and a man of Belial; the synagogue called Christ a deceiver and a wrongdoer. But when Abisai wanted to kill Semei, David forbade it; and the angels would have killed Christ's mockers, but he himself permitted it. The messengers of King David, whom Hanon, king of the Ammonites, dishonored so shamefully, also prefigured Christ. David sent messengers to establish peace, whose clothes he cut off up to the buttocks, and he shaved half their beards; so God sent his Son into the world to make peace, whom the synagogue stripped of his clothes, and whose beard they plucked with spit. Regarding the insults the Lord suffered, Augustine says: "For in this way those things which Christ had said about himself were fulfilled; in this way the martyrs were instructed by the Lord's example." For all that the persecutors were permitted to do was to be endured; thus, while his tremendous power was hidden for a little while, his patience was commended first as something to be imitated; thus his kingdom, which was not of this world, conquered the proud world not by the cruelty of fighting, but by the humility of suffering; thus that grain which was to be multiplied was sown in horrible insult, so that it might sprout in wonderful glory." Woe, then, once, woe twice, and woe again to those who, after such a brilliant mirror of humility, are lifted up in pride, flee from insults, and aspire to honors—holding in contempt the Son of God, who is clearly worthy of all the more honor from men, the more unworthy things he endured for them! Hence Chrysostom says: "He himself stood silent through so many such insults; you, hearing these things, keep them constantly in mind, and [keep in mind] the King of the world and of the angels." Seeing him endure insult and bear all things in silence, imitate him. And again: "What concern, then, will we have for the future if we suffer insults from someone, after Christ has suffered these things?" For what was done to Christ was the ultimate limit of insult; not just one small part, but his whole body suffered injuries. His head suffered through the crown, the reed, and the blows; his face, because it was spat upon; his cheeks, because they were struck with palms; his whole body, through the scourges, and because it was stripped, and through the putting on of the cloak, and through that mocking adoration; his hands, through the reed they gave him for a scepter: as if they were afraid they might leave out some act of the gravest presumption. As Anselm says: "He is clothed in royal purple, yet the holy One is despised in the very thing for which He is honored." He carries a scepter in His hand, yet it is by that very thing that His reverend head is struck. They worship before Him on bended knees on the ground and proclaim Him King, but immediately they spit upon His lovely cheeks, strike His jaws with their palms, and dishonor His honorable neck," says Anselm. All these mockeries by the soldiers and insults from the Jews inflicted upon Christ offer us mysteries, even though they were done by them with a different intention, as has been noted often above. According to John, these things happened before Pilate's sentence; however, Matthew and Mark, remembering what they had omitted, record them after the sentence. So, as has been said, the martyrs were instructed to endure everything their persecutors inflicted upon them. The fact that Christ is said to have been mocked in a double garment—white and red—expresses in the one the purity of His humility, and in the other the truth of His Passion. This also signifies the two kinds of martyrdom with which the Church is adorned in tribulations, so that she may be white with virginity and red with blood. The Church herself, flourishing in peace with the various little flowers of her members, brings forth lilies, and in persecution, roses; whence she says in admiration: "My beloved is white and ruddy"—white, that is, in action and in peace, the lily of virgins; and ruddy in blood. And in battle, the rose of the martyrs. In both of the Lord's garments, therefore, the entire multitude of the elect can be understood: virgins and confessors are clothed in the white garment, and martyrs in the red. This is why the Lord himself is clothed in a white garment when he is surrounded by the pure confession of the just, and is clothed in red when he glories in the triumphs of his victorious martyrs. If, however, you find yourself naked and without these garments, clothe yourself in the red garment of Christ, and adorn yourself entirely with the sufferings of Christ.
Behold the Man
Pilate presents the battered Christ to the crowd, yet their hatred remains unquenched, leading to his final condemnation.
But it wasn't enough for them to have gathered a whole cohort of soldiers for a greater mockery; at Pilate's command, in his presence and before the whole Jewish crowd waiting outside—who wouldn't enter the praetorium because of the feast—they brought Jesus out, mocked in this way and prepared for everyone to see, to his derision and shame. Pilate went out again from the praetorium to the Jews and said, "Look, I'm bringing him out to you after I've examined him thoroughly and punished him to satisfy you, so that you may know I find no cause for death in him, even though he's been afflicted and mocked." He added that this should be enough to satisfy their will regarding an innocent man. He showed him in the state in which he had been mocked by the guards, so that they might at least quiet down upon seeing him covered in insults. Jesus went out, then, at Pilate's order, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, the shameful and tattered scarlet cloak, and holding the reed scepter. Look what a lamentable sight! He walked as if in royal attire, but he was exposed on every side to contempt. See how your King and leader is treated with shame, and how he endures it humbly, so that he might rescue you from eternal shame and heal you from the plague of pride. Here, then, we're instructed to be ready to endure all insults for the name of Jesus Christ, and to strive to be humbled in all things. Anselm says: "Pay attention, my soul, to who this is who enters, bearing the image of a king, yet filled with the confusion of the most despised servant; he walks along crowned, but that very crown is a torture to him, and with a thousand punctures it wounds his beautiful head." And then, speaking with a kind of contempt, or perhaps trying to provoke them to mercy, Pilate said to them: "Behold the man; do you believe that this man, who is like this, would try to seize a kingdom for himself?" It was as if he were saying: "Even if he had done something wrong, he has been punished more than he deserves, and that should be enough for you. Look at his head, pierced through; his whole body, torn; his face, spat upon. For God's sake, have compassion on him, for he is your brother." For Pilate wanted them to see for themselves how he had been punished and mocked, so that they might be moved to compassion; he made this display with the intention of setting him free. Chrysostom says: "For this reason he brought Jesus out to them wearing the crown, so that by seeing the insult the soldiers had inflicted upon him, they might find some relief from their passion and vomit out their poison." Augustine adds: "From this it is clear that Pilate was not unaware of what the soldiers had done; whether he ordered it or merely permitted it, the reason was clearly so that his enemies might see these mockeries of his and, having seen them, no longer thirst for his blood." Jesus therefore goes out to them wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe: not glorious in authority, but full of shame, pierced with thorns, mocked with spit, and afflicted with scourges. And it is said to them: "Behold the man." It is as if he were saying: If you envy the King, spare him now, for you see him cast down; he has been scourged, crowned with thorns, dressed in a mocking robe, ridiculed with bitter insults, defiled with spit, and struck with reeds; let the ignominy burn, and let the envy cool. But it does not cool; rather, it burns and grows: so says Augustine. From this point, we take the lesson that we should keep Christ, mocked, before the eyes of our mind, and not boast vainly in our clothing or outward appearance, since our Lord was mocked in his clothing. Religious and monks, who represent the mocked Christ in their habit, tonsure, and staffs, should follow him especially in this: for the monastic habit is lowly and, to worldly people, seems like a mockery; the monastic tonsure represents the crown of thorns, and the staffs or rods that monks used to carry in ancient times represent the reed. And just as Christ didn't disdain being shown to the Jewish people in a mocking habit, so let not monks and other despisers of the world—who, according to the Apostle, have been made a spectacle to the world—be ashamed to imitate Christ the King in their lowly habit and those mocking royal insignia.✦ Furthermore, there is a lesson here: the priest represents this showing of Christ during the elevation of the Host, as if he were saying: Behold the man.✦ Because the Sacrament of the altar is a memorial of the Lord's Passion, and Christ suffered according to his humanity while remaining impassible in his divinity, the priest, in showing Christ there, more fittingly says 'Behold the man' than 'Behold God,' even though he is both man and God; it was the man who was visible in that showing, and the God who was hidden. Furthermore, there is a lesson that we ought to appear before the sight of Christ our King in judgment with the same insignia mystically accepted, as has been said in their places, with which he himself deigned to be shown to the Jews. Jesu, you who willed to be shown to the Jews with the insignia of mockery, grant me to avoid the display of vain glory and to appear before your sight in the final judgment with the same mystical insignia. But even though Pilate does these things, the insatiable fury of the sacrilegious doesn't cease; on the contrary, it presses on all the more. Look at the great stubbornness of the Jews in seeking the death of Christ, for their hardened wickedness isn't softened by mercy. For those Jews, children of the devil, when they saw him so punished and mocked, and knew that Pilate wanted to let him go, felt no pity for him; not content with the correction of his punishment and the shame of his mockery, nor appeased by Pilate’s excuse, they shouted tumultuously and incited others to shout, saying: “Crucify, crucify him!”—as if to say: “This punishment is in no way enough for us, but we demand that he die.” They were all the more stirred up as they watched him, because the heart of one who hates is inflamed all the more against the object of their hatred when they see it. They repeat “Crucify” because of the intensity of their desire, and because they crucified him in both will and deed. It is a great cruelty, for it isn't enough for them to do one thing—to scourge him or to kill him—but they want both. They aren't content with any death, but desire to kill him by the most shameful and harsh death of the cross, seeking to have him fastened to the wood with nails, so that his pain might not end quickly, but that he might die a prolonged death, be seen longer on the cross, and be defamed by the manner of his death. And, according to Chrysostom, fearing lest... ...any memory of him should remain after him, they strive even to lead the cursed one to execution. In truth, as Rabanus says, the Jews were plotting the worst kind of death, but it was chosen by the Lord, even though they didn't understand it. For He was about to set the Cross itself, once the devil was conquered, as a trophy upon the foreheads of the faithful. Look even now at how He walks, dressed and crowned so shamefully, and holding a scepter; look at how He stands with head bowed before such a great crowd, who are shouting and crying out, 'Crucify, crucify Him,' and are constantly mocking and insulting Him, as if they were wiser than He. And so, He received from them not only physical pain and suffering, but also insults and terrors. From this moment, which consists of shouting, we draw the lesson that it makes no difference to the guilt of the intention whether one kills a man with the tongue or with a sword; hence the Psalmist says, 'Their tongue is a sharp sword.' He is speaking literally of the Jews who were shouting, 'Crucify Him,' regarding which Augustine says: 'Do not look at the unarmed hands, but at the armed mouth; from there came the sword by which Christ was killed.' Therefore, let those who slander and defame their neighbors be on their guard, so they don't sharpen their tongues like a sword; for just as the body is destroyed by a sword, so a person's reputation is destroyed by the tongue. Hence it is said in Proverbs: 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue.' Likewise, we learn that one shouldn't always answer every question. To conform oneself to Him. In this moment, let a person reflect on how terrible those shouts of the Jews were, and remember whether he himself has ever joined in with the wicked schemes, insults, or slanders of men against a neighbor, or in any other way that God brings to mind. And let him pray like this: 'Jesus, You who were not afraid to hear the terrible voices of the Jews shouting, "Crucify, crucify Him," grant that I may not be terrified by the hateful words of Your enemies, and that I may not inflict harm upon my neighbor with my tongue.' But Pilate, seeing Christ's innocence and the malice of the Jews in their pursuit of an unlawful act, and refusing to crucify Jesus, said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for you are used to condemning the innocent without cause; I, for my part, find no reason in him to crucify him or to pass such a sentence." Pilate spoke the truth, for Christ committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth; and it is well said that the cause of Christ's death was not in him, but in us. And therefore Bernard says: "Most loving Jesus, what is this to you? We have sinned, and you pay the price; we owed the debt, and you pay it." It is as if Pilate were saying, "It isn't lawful for me to crucify an innocent man; you crucify him, if you wish." He said this mockingly and indignantly, because they didn't have the authority to sentence anyone to death; hence, according to Chrysostom, his word 'Crucify him' was a curse, and he was goading them toward an act not permitted to them. Seeing, however, that Pilate wouldn't yield to their shouting, the Jews began to allege other reasons. They accused him, as they had alleged above, saying that he made himself the Son of God against the Law of God, and therefore, as a blasphemer according to the law they possessed, he ought to die. You are mistaken, O Jew, because he didn't make himself God, but the Father begot him, God from God. So, by calling himself the Son of God, he didn't blaspheme; he spoke the truth. Augustine remarks on this: 'Look, another, greater envy; that small one seemed like an unlawful attempt to seize royal power.' Yet Jesus didn't falsely usurp either for himself, but both. For he was King and Son of God—this is true—and there is no other Son of God, and he is the King established by God over his holy mountain, Zion. Both would have been made manifest now, had he not chosen to be more patient the more powerful he was. Augustine says this: Pilate was afraid, therefore, that it might be true that he was the Son of God, and that he would be committing an enormous crime by punishing and mocking him, and he didn't want to seem to act unjustly by killing him. But they, saying this, didn't tremble; instead, they killed him whom they should have adored. . Following Augustine: Pilate didn't fear their Law enough to kill him, since he was a foreigner and didn't follow their Law; rather, he feared the Son of God more, lest he kill him. He had previously feared killing an innocent man; now he feared even more killing the Power of God. So, wanting to investigate this more privately, he asked no further: 'What have you done?' But he went back into the praetorium with Jesus to better understand the uproar of the Jews, and he asked him, "Where are you from?" In other words, what is your origin? By this, he was asking whether... ...he was God, having a divine origin, or a man, having a human origin. But Jesus didn't. He gave him no answer, fulfilling that prophetic word: "Like a sheep..." ...he did not open his mouth, so that he might give us an example of patience. For because Pilate asked a profound question, he did not hear an answer; for the divine generation was not to be explained to an unfaithful and incredulous man, and because he did not want to hinder his own Passion, since he had come for this purpose, that he might suffer for us. Pilate said to him, therefore, trying to provoke some answer from him by which that accusation might be dismissed: "Will you not speak to me?" He was amazed at his silence, since he was in a position to either release or condemn him. Therefore it follows: "Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you, and the power to release you?" It was as if he were saying: "You ought at least to answer me." Pilate, you are constrained by your own words; you are condemned by your own judgment. For if everything is in your power, why don't you release the innocent man in whom you find no cause for guilt? Therefore, for the powerful one... you don't crucify the Lord for justice; rather, you kill the Author of life by the power you have over the thief. And because anyone who boasts of their own power is wrong, Jesus answered to curb his arrogance and fear, saying: "You would have no power over me at all, not even the little you have, unless it had been given and granted to you from above—that is, by Caesar—and permitted by God, who is the higher power and from whom all power comes." From this, his sin is judged, because he had not received his power from Caesar and from God. Power is meant for protecting the innocent, not condemning them, but rather for setting them free. Because Pilate was a Gentile and was troubled by the fear of a higher power, he is said to have sinned less than the Jews, who knew the Law and were moved by envy. As Augustine says, the one who hands an innocent person over to power out of malice sins more than the power itself does if it kills him out of fear of a greater power. A person shouldn't kill another out of fear, especially an innocent one; but to do so out of malice is far worse than doing it out of fear—so says Augustine. Likewise, the traitor who handed him over to the Jews for profit sinned more. The sin of Judas and the Jews was therefore greater than that of Pilate: Judas was moved to the killing of Christ by greed, while the Jews were moved by malice; but... Pilate acted out of human fear. And from that point—that is, for this reason— and for this reason, namely, so that he wouldn't sin and incur guilt by putting an innocent man to death. Pilate was seeking to release the Son of God, even though he was less guilty than those who had handed Him over—not that he had only just then realized this, but he had been wanting to do so all along and was looking for a way. He had been trying to release Jesus, but he was looking to do it with caution and a steady mind. The Jews, however, unable to trap the judge with false accusations, tried to strike fear into him by bringing up the injury to Caesar, thinking they could terrify him with this more than with all the things mentioned above. They shouted, saying: "If you release this man, who makes Himself a King, you are no friend or faithful minister of Caesar"—that is, you are not zealous for the honor and statutes of your lord, and therefore you will lose his friendship. For everyone who makes himself a king by usurping power for himself contradicts Caesar; the Roman Emperors had taken away the royal dignity from the Jews, and therefore anyone among the Jews who claimed to be a king seemed to be acting against the Emperor's decree, without whose consent no one was accustomed to use a royal title. This is the nature of earthly power: it is impatient of sharing with others, and that is why Caesar would not allow anyone else to rule. As Chrysostom says: "And from where do you show this? From the purple, from the diadem, from the court, from the soldiers?" Did He not always walk alone with His disciples, passing through everything in a lowly way, including His food, His school, and His dwelling? These are the words of Chrysostom. When Pilate heard the threats from the people about Caesar's anger, he became even more afraid. For, according to Augustine, Pilate couldn't ignore Caesar, the source of his own authority, in the same way he could disregard the law of a foreign nation. Fearing Caesar, and not daring to do anything—even in the slightest appearance—against his honor, he brought Jesus out, away from the praetorium, and sat in the judgment seat, that is, before the tribunal or on the tribunal; for among the Greeks, this preposition 'pro' means the same as 'before' or 'in', which is to say he sat in the place of judgment, or for the purpose of judging, which is the duty of one sitting in a tribunal. A tribunal is the seat of judges, just like a throne or royal chair, or the chair of teachers. It's called a tribunal because, among the Romans, the tribunes decided individual cases, named after the tribes they oversaw. . He sat, indeed, in the place called 'Lithostrotos' in Greek. Lithostrotos means a stone pavement or a floor paved with various stones, named from the Greek. This is the stone, and Lithostrotos, which means a paved area or floor; for that place was paved with various stones and was located before the house of Pilate. This same place is called Gabbatha in Hebrew, which means a hill or a high place, from the accumulation of stones; for the place was elevated and paved with various stones, and it was where the tribunal stood. It was the Parasceve, that is, the preparation for the Passover, at about the sixth hour. The Jews who lived among the Greeks frequently used Greek words. Parasceve, however, is called 'preparation' in Greek. It was called the sixth day because on that day they prepared the things necessary for the Sabbath, when it wasn't permitted to cook anything or to work; just as in the desert, they gathered a double portion of manna on the sixth day because of the Sabbath. The sixth day is also called the 'preparation' because the Jews prepared themselves by cleansing. And it is fitting that the Lord was crucified on the sixth day, because through the cross He restored man, who was created by God on the sixth day. The Lord was also crucified at the sixth hour for the sake of humanity, because it was at the sixth hour that humanity fell into sin. For, as Jerome says: "At the same hour that the first Adam brought about death by sinning, the second Adam destroyed death by dying." He also chose to be crucified at the sixth hour, when the heat of the day is greatest, to show that He suffered out of a great fervor of love; then Pilate ordered Jesus to be brought to trial and, arguing for His release, said to the Jews, as if mocking them: "Behold your king." Earlier he had said, "Behold the man," showing his own shame to move them to pity; but now, to move them even more, he insults them ironically by saying, "Behold your king." First he tried to free Him through the mockery of Christ; second, through the reproach of the Jews. It was as if he were saying to them: "It's strange that you claim this man, who has been scourged, mocked, and rejected, is usurping a kingdom for himself." Such a man is incapable of invading or seizing a kingdom; therefore, you should be ashamed that you're afraid of Him being king. Have compassion on Him, then, because there's no need to fear Him or suspect any such thing. And yet, Pilate is afraid of being accused by them before Caesar over this and being stripped of his power. Chrysostom says: "Certainly, what had been said was enough to make them stop their anger from then on; but they were terrified that if he were released, he would lead the crowd again, and they did everything they could to prevent it." For the love of power is a devious thing, and enough to destroy the soul; that is why they insisted all the more." This is Chrysostom. So, like madmen, the Jews shouted, and out of the abundance of their malice, they kept repeating: "Take him away, take him away!"—meaning to his death, and not just any death, but... the most shameful one. And explaining the kind of death, they added: "And crucify him." For they were trying to kill him, and with the most disgraceful death, fearing that any memory of him might remain after he was gone. It was as if they were saying: "Take him away from us and from our sight; he is a burden to look at, and we cannot bear to see him; take him out of the way, and kill him." But the more they heard that Pilate wanted to release him, the more they shouted in opposition. Bede says: "Because they saw that the entire accusation they had brought against the Lord had been invalidated by Pilate's frequent and careful questioning, these shameless men finally turned to mere pleas, so that what they could not achieve by accusing and reasoning, they might now accomplish by demanding and shouting." Ecclesiastical history sufficiently demonstrates that the persecutors of the blessed martyrs followed this same pattern of cruelty from then on." This is Bede. Sweetest Jesus, who could be so hard and godless as to hear those horrible cries—"Take him away, take him away, crucify him"—without a groan and a cry of the spirit, whether listening with the ears of the body or reflecting on it in the mind? Pilate, however, still tried to overcome the terror they were using against him regarding Caesar. Wanting to break them with their own shame—since he could not soften them with the shame of Christ—he pointed to their own disgrace in the crucifixion of Christ and said to them, as if mocking: "Shall I crucify your King?" —which reflects back on your own shame. It was as if to say: Since you are afraid of him reigning, and there has already been great talk about this, it is no honor to you that your king should be condemned, and it will be a disgrace to you if he dies such a wretched death. Therefore, if you aren't moved by his humility, your own disgrace—which would come if I were to crucify him—ought to move you. But they, excluding themselves from the freedom of the kingdom of God and of Christ, took on the yoke of the devil and subjected themselves to perpetual servitude and tyranny, saying: "We have no king but Caesar." From this it is clear that from that time on they bound themselves to the perpetual subjection of the Romans, renouncing all other royal dignity. Their stubbornness in procuring the death of Christ is also clear, since by procuring it, they confessed themselves subject to servitude forever. Hence Chrysostom says: "They rejected the kingdom of God and were handed over to the kingdom of the Romans, because they did not understand what they possessed; and therefore they received what they asked for." Our own prelates and clergy, or those with the care of souls, proclaim this same thing by their actions when they abandon their churches and throw themselves into the temporal business of principalities or kingdoms. With this, however, the Jews once again struck fear into Pilate. As Augustine says, it would seem like an open act of rebellion against Caesar if, after they claimed to have no king but Caesar, Pilate were to force another king on them by letting the man they handed over to be killed for those very claims go unpunished. 26. Two lessons from Christ being brought to the tribunal: the act of confession and prayer. Two lessons are drawn from this point in the story of Christ being brought to the tribunal. First, we must set up a tribunal in our own minds and stand there in judgment, just as Christ stood before the tribunal for our sake, so that we might avoid the strict judgment of God; according to the Apostle's words: 'If we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.' Second, in times of adversity we should endure the judgment of God with patience, just as our Lord, when led before the human tribunal for us, remained silent and did not open His mouth, enduring the judgment with all patience. For in times of adversity, we are, as it were, placed before the tribunal of God; hence the Apostle, after the words already cited, adds: 'But when we are judged'—that is, by temporal punishments—'we are disciplined by the Lord,' because, as the Gloss says, the punishment itself is our own proper purification, so that we may not be condemned along with this world. It is as if to say: It is good to be judged here by God through temporal punishment, so that, being corrected here, we may not be condemned in the final judgment. To conform yourself to this lesson, consider the points already made and pray with a devout heart: 'Jesus, who chose to be brought before the tribunal of Pilate and to be placed on trial, grant that I may ascend to the tribunal of my own mind and judge myself for my faults by the testimony of my conscience; and grant that I may endure Your judgment in times of adversity with such patience here, that I may be able to stand before Your final judgment.' 27. Christ is condemned to the cross.
The Way of the Cross
Christ carries his cross toward Golgotha, inviting his followers to share in his suffering and path to glory.
But Pilate, out of fear... is overcome, and is turned away from the path of truth and justice. When the entire crowd of Jews demanded with loud voices that He be crucified, that wretched governor Pilate—moved by fear of the Emperor and by the favor of the Jewish people he ruled, from whom he hoped to extract money—acted against his own judgment and against his conscience. . Knowing Christ was innocent and that there was no cause in Him, he nevertheless handed down a most cruel sentence regarding the death of the innocent one, and by a definitive judgment, handed Jesus over to be crucified by the power and authority of the governor. The Evangelist didn't say that they crucified Him, but that He was crucified through the judgment of the governor; but for that reason... he said He was handed over to show them to be implicated in the crime from which they were trying to distance themselves. Pilate wouldn't have done this, except to do what he saw they desired. Thus, Pilate—ambitious and unwilling to lose his position—although he had pronounced Christ innocent and said He should be released, still wanted to satisfy the clamor of the people; that is, to do their will rather than what was pleasing to God and justice. Fearing he might be accused of rebellion against Caesar—while suspecting no danger in condemning the innocent poor man to death, especially since no one appeared to contradict him—he delivered the sentence and judged that He should be crucified for the crime of claiming a kingdom. — The Lord. Because the Jews claimed Caesar as their king and denied any other, having submitted themselves to Roman power, Pilate condemned Jesus as if he were usurping Caesar's authority and handed him over to their will to be crucified. What was it? The exact form of the sentence isn't explicitly stated in the Gospels; however, the Gospel of Nicodemus records that Pilate delivered it with these words: 'Your own people have convicted you as a king; therefore, by my order, you are to be scourged according to the statutes of the princes, and then crucified.' Pilate sinned, and he isn't excused, for as a judge he was bound by his office to uphold justice, and he should have yielded to justice, not to love or fear. He did this to act against it; yet if he had truly wanted to, he could have rescued the one he had declared innocent. Nevertheless, he sinned less than the Jews, for he stood firm as much as he could to rescue him from their hands, and his motive was less evil because the Jews were moved to kill Christ by malice and hatred, while Pilate was moved by fear of Caesar and favor toward the Jews; thus, he consented to them, because he could have resisted their fury. He consented, for when he could have argued, he did not argue; he did not consent with a full will, but under pressure. Just as Pilate did then, many judges today turn away from the truth of judgment and subvert justice out of fear or favor. See how the most innocent Lamb chose to be condemned unjustly in judgment for your sake, to rescue you from the judgment of judges and from just and eternal damnation; see how He paid for what He did not steal, and yet you, my wretched and ungodly soul, offer neither the richness of devotion nor the affection of compassion. Consider how much his friends cried out when they heard that sentence. But the cursed rejoice, and... they exult because they have their wicked way. They mock him—and they mock the one who is the true and eternal God—and they hasten his death as much as they can; they don't remember his benefits and his works, nor are they moved by his innocence; and what seems more cruel, they do not... draw back because of the affliction they see in him. And so, at the third hour, the Lord was crucified by the tongues of the Jews, and at the sixth, by the hands of the soldiers. Hence Augustine says: 'Because the Jews tried to shift the crime of killing Christ from themselves onto the Romans—that is, onto Pilate and his soldiers—Mark, suppressing the hour when Christ was crucified by the soldiers (which had already begun at the sixth hour), remembered and recorded the third hour instead, the hour when they are understood to have been able to cry out before Pilate: Crucify him!' Crucify him! …so that not only those are found to have crucified Jesus—that is, the soldiers who hung him on the wood at the sixth hour—but also the Jews, who cried out at the third hour that he should be crucified. And again: The officers of the authorities crucified him at the sixth hour; the violators of the Law cried out at the third hour. They did this with their hands. . at the sixth hour; this they did with their tongues, at the third hour. Those who raged by crying out are more guilty than those who carried it out by obeying, as Augustine says. Others say that the Lord was already condemned at the third hour, and his crucifixion began then; as they were occupied with the crucifixion, time moved on until the sixth hour. At the sixth hour, the crucifixion was completed; therefore, what is said of the third hour is true regarding the beginning of the crucifixion, and what is said of the sixth hour, is understood as the completion of the crucifixion. In truth, it could be the midpoint of the hours, the hour midway between the sixth and the third. Because the middle is named from both extremes, it is sometimes called the third by the Evangelists, and sometimes called the sixth. For this reason, the Church typically celebrates solemn Masses between the third and sixth hours as a sign of this, since these Masses are held in memory of the Passion. From this moment of Christ's condemnation to death by sentence, we draw a lesson: that we should take care never to deserve a just sentence of death, whether for our soul or our body. Likewise, just as our Savior endured an unjust sentence passed against Him by man for our sake, so we, for God's sake, should not be concerned about the unjust judgments of men. Hence the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, says: "It is a very small thing to me that I should be judged by you, or by any human day." To conform himself to this moment, let a person pray: "Jesus, who willingly and innocently endured the sentence of condemnation to death—and the death of the cross—make me not deserve a just sentence of death, whether in body or in soul, and for love of You, help me not to fear the unjust judgments of men." Once the sentence was given, the Lord was led back inside and stripped of the cloak and purple robe they had put on Him; and while He stood there naked, they barely gave Him permission to get dressed. Consider the Lord here as well, following the reasoning provided above regarding the scourging. Finally, they dressed Him again in His own clothes, of which they had stripped Him, so that when led to His death, He would be recognized more by His own clothes than by another's. Once He was dressed again in His own clothes, they led Him out as quickly as possible so as not to delay His death any longer; there, binding His hands and neck with a rope, they imposed the sentence of death upon Him and cast Him out of the city like a criminal. They placed the venerable wood of the cross—long, thick, and very heavy—upon his most delicate shoulders, so that he might carry it to the place where he was to be crucified. According to historical accounts, it's believed the cross was fifteen feet long. Because that wood was considered profane and unclean, and death on a cross was seen as most shameful—as it says in Deuteronomy: 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'—none of them wanted to carry that wood or even touch it. For this reason, they laid it upon Jesus as one already condemned; but the most gentle Lamb patiently accepted it and carried the instrument of his execution on his own shoulders, as a burden of death, heading toward the place of his Passion. Hence Augustine says: 'Here is fulfilled that word of Isaiah: Whose government is upon his shoulder.' For Christ's government is his cross, because of which, according to the Apostle, God exalted him; and just as others wear a belt or a miter as a sign of dignity, so too does the Lord wear the cross. If you look into it, you'll find that Jesus doesn't reign in us except through hardships; which is why those who love comfort are enemies of the cross—so says Augustine. Now the figure of the obedient Isaac is fulfilled, who at his father's command carried the wood for his own sacrifice. And, as Chrysostom says, just as Isaac was released and a ram was sacrificed, so here too the divine nature remains impassible, but the humanity was sacrificed, caught by its horns among the thorns—that is, among the snares of sins by which human nature was held captive. Here also the figure of the widow of Zarephath is fulfilled, who gathered two sticks. Anselm says, "See, my soul, how in every way this man is constrained and despised." He is ordered to bow his back under the weight of the cross and to carry the shame of his own self. O what a spectacle—do you see it? Behold, his government is upon his shoulder; this is the rod of equity, the rod of his kingdom. Jerome also says, "Here Abel is led out into the field by his brother to be killed; here Isaac is present with the wood, and Abraham with the ram caught in the thorns; here Joseph is present with the dreamed-of sheaf of grain and the long tunic stained with blood; here Moses is present with the rod and the serpent hung upon a pole; here is the cluster of grapes carried on a pole; here Elisha is present with the wood to seek the axe that had sunk to the bottom, and it floated to the wood—that is, the human race, which fell into hell from the forbidden tree, floated to paradise through the sign of the cross of Christ and the baptism of water; here Jonah is present, sent for three days into the sea and the belly of the whale from the strong wood." Augustine also says, "What a great spectacle!" But if wickedness looks on, it sees a great mockery; if piety looks on, it sees a great mystery. If wickedness looks on, it sees a great proof of ignominy; if piety looks on, it sees a great bulwark of faith. If wickedness looks on, it sees a King carrying the wood of his own punishment instead of a royal scepter; if piety looks on, it sees a King carrying the wood to fasten himself to, which he would eventually fix even on the foreheads of kings. He is to be despised in the eyes of the wicked in that very thing in which the hearts of the saints were to glory. For Paul was about to say: "But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," commending that very cross by carrying it on his own shoulders; and he was carrying the lampstand for the burning lamp that was not to be put under a basket. This is what Augustine says. Christ, however, carries the cross like a king carrying a scepter as a sign of glory, which is the universal dominion over all things; likewise, like a victor carrying a trophy and a sign of his victory, by which he triumphed, despoiling principalities and powers; likewise, like a teacher, he carries the lampstand on which the lamp of his doctrine was to be placed, because the sign of the cross is the power of God to the faithful. And just as the high priest, when he went to the tabernacle to enter the Holy of Holies, carried the key on his shoulder, so Christ, going to the tabernacle of the Holy of Holies and wishing to open it for us, carried the key—that is, the cross—on his shoulder. The carrying of the cross was prefigured in Isaac, the son of Abraham. For Isaac carried the wood on his own shoulders, on which his father wanted to sacrifice him; so Christ carried the cross on his own shoulders, on which the nation of the Jews wanted to hang him. Isaac showed himself willing to obey his father; so the Son of God obeyed his heavenly Father even unto death. Two peoples, however, led Jesus out to be killed: the Jews who did this in their hearts, and the Gentiles who did it by their deeds. These were prefigured long ago by the two scouts who brought a cluster of grapes from the Promised Land to the desert. By that cluster, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was prefigured, who was led by these two peoples from Jerusalem to the place of Calvary. By that cluster, the children of Israel tested the goodness of the Promised Land; by the doctrine of Christ, however, we can contemplate the sweetness of the heavenly homeland. Christ is led outside the city to his execution; for just as the bodies of the animals whose blood was brought into the Holy of Holies were taken outside the camp to be burned and sacrificed, so he was led outside the city. By carrying his cross, he invites us to follow him, just as he warned earlier: 'If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.' For just as Christ, the Author of life, was led out to the place of execution carrying his own cross, and was judged unworthy of life in this world like a criminal, so the true imitator of Christ denies himself by taking up his own cross and, bearing his reproaches, becomes like the refuse of this world. He always carries the dying of Jesus in his body, so that the life of Jesus may also be clearly manifested in his body. Note that these three things—stripping him of his royal robe, dressing him in his own clothes, and leading him out to be crucified—are figures of the Passion in the mystical body, that is, the Church, especially in the times of the Antichrist. The stripping of the royal robe is the stripping away of worldly power; the putting on of his own clothes is the return to original poverty; the leading out to be crucified is the violence of the final persecution. When Christ was led out to execution at Pilate's command, with a herald proclaiming it and Christ himself carrying his cross, a crowd gathered behind him: some wept over him, others mocked him with insults, and others threw filth at his head and face. But he, like an innocent lamb and like a sheep before its shearer, walked with his head bowed and remained silent through it all, for he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb to be sacrificed, and he did not open his mouth. A triple crowd followed him: the first was the executioners who pressed in on him; the second was the Jews who mocked him; the third was his friends who wept for him. There was also a fourth group of people who came to watch the spectacle. They didn't all follow with the same intention: some came to rejoice at the death of the one they hated while he was alive, while others came to mourn the death of the one they loved while he was alive. He walked with his companions, the thieves, through the middle of the city, where the way was open to everyone at the gates and entrances; this is the fellowship. His own. O good Jesus, what shame they inflict upon you! They associate you with thieves, but they do something even worse: they lay upon you the burden of the cross, which you did not deserve for any sins of your own. Therefore, you were not only counted among the wicked, but you were made the most wicked of them all. This is indescribable. O Lord, your patience. This was arranged by the leaders of the Jews so that Christ would be associated with those men, and so that the common people would see him as having participated in their crimes; and in this way, they themselves might be justified. Justly procuring his death. Wicked people often do this even today, covering up their own worthlessness with a pretense of goodness and hiding their injustice under the guise of justice, just as they have done to the innocent in many places. Christ, however, allowed this to happen so that it would be known he chose to suffer for sinners. As Bede says: 'He was counted among the wicked in his death so that he might justify the ungodly in his resurrection. He who was in the form of God became man for the sake of humanity, so that he might give people the power to become children of God.' Look now, my soul, and see your lover and Lord carrying the cross for you, hurrying toward the gallows, and atoning for your crimes with his own suffering. See how he walks, bent under the weight of the cross, and how he gasps, deeply anxious. Have compassion on him as much as you can. Placed in such great distress and mockery, and in the midst of such usury. You would certainly do a kindness if you helped the Lord God by saying, 'Please, give me some of my Lord's burden, and I will carry it.' But he was occupied. Because his most holy Mother was worn out by grief and couldn't get near him due to the crowd, she couldn't see him; so, she quickly took another, shorter, and more direct path with her companions and John, hoping that by getting ahead, she might be able to approach him. When she met him outside the city gate at the intersection, seeing him burdened by such a great wooden beam—which she hadn't seen before—she became half-dead and nearly fainted from the anguish. She couldn't say a word to him, nor could the Lord speak to her, as he was hurried along by those leading him. Oh, how the holy women went along, crying and grieving, shouting and weeping, supporting our Lady, his Mother, who was unable to support herself or even stand; indeed, it's said she collapsed in a faint. I believe she would have gladly carried the cross if she could have; and although she couldn't, she would have gladly accepted it. Therefore, as Anselm says, she followed him with this cry, as I believe: 'You are going, my gracious Lord, alone to be sacrificed for all.' It doesn't occur to you that Peter said, "I will die for you." Thomas, who said, "Let us go and die with him," leaves you, and none of them except you alone are led—you who have kept me safe, my Son and my God. But let it be enough to have recalled these words, which came from a deep affection of piety. By focusing on these things with the eyes of piety and sympathizing with the sorrowful affections of such a Mother, one may eventually deserve to be rewarded with the fruit of that holy love: this is Anselm. Respect for the daughters of Jerusalem. Furthermore, as the Lord walked on, he turned back to the women who were following and mourning him. For the Lord recognized those who stood by him; leaving aside the raging crowd of the people, he turned his eyes and face toward the women who loved and mourned him. For the Lord gladly looks upon his own, and he said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, and do not lament that I am to die, for my resurrection can undo death, and my death will destroy both all death and the very author of death." For it is not fitting to weep for him who suffers of his own accord, but rather to applaud him. When he calls them "daughters of Jerusalem," it is understood that not only the women from Galilee followed him, but that some women of that same city also clung to him through their devotion. These women were a type of those who sympathize and feel pity for others, but not for themselves—who lament and criticize the sins of others, but do not care about their own character; contrary to what is said in Ecclesiasticus: 'Have pity on your own soul, pleasing God.' The Lord does not forbid compassion, therefore, but predicts another reason for mourning. Therefore, it's added: 'But weep for yourselves and for your children, and for the impending destruction of your city and your people; wash yourselves and your offspring with worthy tears of mourning, so that you aren't condemned in the vengeance of my death, even among the faithless.' Literally, the mourning Christ led the women to was because of the misery coming upon the Jews through the Romans; that misery was a figure of the misery coming upon unbelievers through evil spirits, and to avoid it, one must weep and pray before this life ends. For look, the days are coming—specifically the fortieth year after the Passion of Christ—in which the barren, who haven't given birth or nursed, will be called blessed, because they'll be more agile in fleeing than those who are pregnant and anxious only for themselves. On the day of judgment, too, parents will say to their children that they're condemned because of an excessive love for their children; and conversely, children will say they're condemned because of their love for and imitation of their parents. Then they'll begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us,' because some, out of horror at the misery, were saying then, 'Would that the mountains would fall on us, and the hills would cover us!' Similarly, on the day of judgment, the reprobate will say this, wishing to be hidden from the face of the Lord. For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? Christ is called here the green wood that bears fruit, and consequently, he is unworthy of being cut down by death; the just and the elect are also green and fruit-bearing wood, but the dry and fruitless are the sinners and the wicked. If, then, they do these things to the green wood—that is, to Christ, who is flourishing with the vitality of all virtues—and inflict so many torments upon him, what will happen to the dry wood, that is, to the Jewish people and the sinner who is stripped of all the honor of grace and withered? They will certainly be punished more severely. It's as if he were saying to everyone: If I, who haven't committed sin and am fruitful, don't leave this world without the fire of the Passion, what torments await the sinners and the wicked who are empty of fruit? Certainly, Lord Jesus, it is true, for if you, the holy tree, the fruitful and blessed wood of life, suffer so much and are stripped of your branches, what will become of us miserable ones, who are fruitless and dry wood, fit for the fire and the flames of hell? If, then, judgment begins with the house of God, and all who wish to live godly in Christ will suffer persecution, what will be the end of those who don't believe the Gospel of God and live wickedly? Hence Augustine says: "If he who came here without sin did not leave without the scourge, how can those who came here with sin not be worthy of scourges?" Hence Gregory also says: "As often as I consider the death of the Savior, and the patience of Job, and the death of John the Baptist, I say to you, O sinner: consider from this what those whom he rejects will suffer, if those whom he loves have suffered so much." That is what Gregory says. It’s good to reflect on these things, so that the thought of such great distress might strike fear into us; and that this fear, once instilled, might drive out the sin we’ve committed or keep us from committing it, following the example of Jerome, who says: "Whether I eat, or drink, or do anything else, that terrible voice always seems to ring in my ears: 'Rise, you dead, and come to judgment.'"4 In those two places mentioned above, which are now within the city itself but outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—namely, where Christ met his Mother and where he turned to the women—the remains of churches built there in memory of these events can still be seen, or so it is said. When the Lord had gone further, and was so exhausted, broken, and weakened by the previous suffering that he was walking at a slow pace and could no longer carry the cross, he set it down to rest and catch his breath for a little while. But those wicked men, not wanting to delay his death and fearing that Pilate might revoke the sentence because he had shown a willingness to release him, forced Simon the Cyrenian—named for the city of Cyrene in Libya, and the father of Alexander and Rufus, who were disciples of the Lord—to carry the cross after Jesus all the way to the place of crucifixion, as he was coming from the country and happened to meet them on his way into the city. They didn't do this out of compassion for Christ, but so that he might be led more quickly to be crucified; and also to show that he was a man exhausted and weak, so that he would not be believed to be the Son of God. As Chrysostom says, no one else would agree to carry the cross because it was considered a detestable piece of wood; so they forced Simon the Cyrenian to carry it, as if it were a burden that others refused. He carried it physically and against his will, not spiritually and voluntarily: partly because it was shameful, and partly because he was perhaps a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one. And, as Jerome says, the name of this Simon is mentioned here because of his sons, who were disciples of Christ. Jesus couldn't carry the cross for long because he was exhausted from his previous afflictions; that is why the Jews forced Simon to carry the cross after Jesus. In this we are taught that everyone ought to carry the cross of penance as long as they are able; but when they can no longer do so, it pleases Christ that another should carry it for them. Some say this Simon wasn't from Jerusalem, but was a foreigner and a stranger, having been a Gentile who became a convert. And although they forced the cross onto Jesus as if he were someone contemptible, this wasn't without a deeper meaning. For it signified that the Gentile world was about to take up the cross immediately upon its own shoulders for the sake of redemption; it would root out the darkness of the ignorance of idolatry, which is what 'Alexander' means; it would adorn the whole Church from among the Gentiles with His own blood, which 'Rufus' signifies; it would put away the sorrow of the Gentiles through obedience, which is what 'Simon' means; it would make them heirs of the kingdom, which is what 'Cyrenaeus' means; and it would lift up the cross of Christ on high through penance, which is what 'taking up the cross of Christ' signifies; and the Jews compelled them to this by the fact that they rejected the word of the cross, which is what 'compelled' (angaria) signifies. Christ himself, therefore, was the first to endure the passion of the cross, and others followed afterward, especially the Gentile converts, by imitating him. Divine wisdom ordained that the Lord himself should carry the cross first, and by carrying it, offer it to us to be carried. Hence Hilary says: 'The Jew was unworthy to carry the cross of Christ, because he was still far from the faith of the Gentiles, and unworthy to receive the cross and share in the suffering.' Hence also the Gloss: 'Behold, not a Hebrew, but a foreigner and a stranger is subjected to the reproach of Christ, so that the fullness of the sacraments may be shown to pass from the Jews to the Gentiles.' Simon, indeed, is interpreted as 'obedient,' and Cyrenaeus as 'heir.' Hence, he well represents the Christians converted from the Gentiles, who were once strangers to the covenants of God; but now, by believing and obeying the divine commandments, they have become citizens of the saints and members of the household, and thus heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: so says the Gloss. Simon, therefore, leaving the village, carries the cross after Jesus, just as the people of the nations, having abandoned pagan rites, obediently embrace the footsteps of the Lord's Passion. The word 'village' comes from the Greek 'rhomi,' from which the pagans derive their name; that is why we call those people pagans who are strangers to the city of God. Theophilus says: 'He carries his cross who comes from the village—that is, he who leaves this world and its works behind, heading toward Jerusalem, the heavenly city.' Prayer. Two lessons are drawn from this account of the carrying of the cross. The first is that we Christians must carry the cross after Jesus, because Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his footsteps. The Gloss says: 'The Lord carries the cross first, for he was the first to suffer; afterwards it was placed upon Simon of Cyrene to be carried after Christ, because we must follow his footsteps.' As Ambrose says, Simon did not go ahead, but followed. The Lord says in the Gospel: 'If anyone wants to come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me.' He suggests three things necessary for someone carrying the cross after Jesus: first, that he carry it voluntarily and not be forced, as Simon was—which is why he says, 'If anyone wants,' and so on. Also, that one should carry his own cross—that is, his personal one, not an alien one like this Simon, hence the command: 'Take up your cross'; also, that one should carry the cross not for vanity, but for the glory of God, hence the command: 'And follow me.' It must be noted, as Augustine says, that the cross of the Lord is not only called that which was constructed by the fastening of wood at the time of Christ's Passion, but also that which is fitted together through the virtues of all disciplines throughout the course of one's entire life. Therefore, we must understand the cross not as a wooden gallows, but as a commitment to a life of virtue. According to Augustine, the entire life of a Christian, if lived according to the Gospel, is a cross and a martyrdom. And this is the cross that must be carried daily. Some carry this cross voluntarily, like those who are perfect and imitate Christ; others carry it unwillingly, like those who submit to discipline or perform good works with grumbling and under compulsion. Some even carry an alien cross, not their own, such as those who preach the abstinence and discipline of the saints but do not practice it themselves; or those who boast of serving under a very strict rule but are not mortified by its observance. Furthermore, some carry the cross but do not follow Christ, like those who labor for human praise but are not yet drawn by the love of God; hence they carry the cross like Simon, but they do not die, because while they afflict the body through labor, they live for the world through a desire for glory. The former are figured in the Lord and perform meritorious penance; the latter are figured in Simon, and they perform penance, but it is not meritorious. That is why Bernard says, "Woe to you!" Woe to those who carry the cross yet don't follow Christ; woe to those who carry the cross not as their own, like the Savior, but as a forced burden like Simon, as if it belonged to someone else! If you are carrying the cross with the Crucified, why don't you die to the world? Bernard says this: "Therefore, carry your cross daily after Jesus for the love of Christ, and keep the eye of your mind fixed on Him, and you will carry whatever you suffer more lightly." Hence Augustine says, "No matter how much the tribulation of the present time may offer us, we suffer little if we remember who suffered for us on the gibbet of the cross, and who calls us to glory." Also, be careful never to impose your cross upon Christ or upon his back. For he is said to crucify Christ with his own cross who provides counsel and help to commit evil; and he imposes the cross to be carried upon the back of Christ who attributes his own sin to divine ordination. The second teaching, according to Theophilus, is that whoever is a master in the way of Christ must himself first take up the cross and crucify his own flesh in the fear of God; and thus impose that saving burden upon those who are subject and obedient to him. To align yourself with this, remember how intensely Christ carried the cross and how heavy it was, since he bore all the sins of the world upon it; all of which the sacrificed Lamb carried on his shoulders. You might also imagine yourself carrying the cross after Jesus, and with Jesus, like Simon of Cyrene, or in any other way your devotion toward Jesus prompts you. You who have wanted to carry your cross on your own shoulders, look to me and the cross of my suffering, and with a spirit of self-control, offer it up and carry it after me. Carry it daily, according to the four ways mentioned above. Note that four types of people have carried the cross, even in a material sense: the thief on the left, who represents the unrepentant, who pass from the cross of present suffering to the cross of eternal calamity; the thief on the right, who represents the truly repentant; Simon, who represents those who complain about their penance; and Christ, who represents the innocent, carrying the sins of others. The first endure the punishment but don't perform the penance; the second perform the penance, both in memory and in their own person; the third endure the penance but not in a way that merits grace; the fourth perform the penance not only in their own person, but in a way that is meritorious. Jesus carried the cross himself for as long as he was able; afterward, it was laid upon Simon in the proper order of the mystery. They led Jesus away to Golgotha—the Place of the Skull—to be crucified; he was no longer carrying the cross, but he was bound like a criminal while the crowd shouted and clamored after him. This procession was more shameful and painful than all those mentioned before, for several reasons: first, because of the disgrace, since it's deeply shameful to be led to the gallows; second, because of the company, since two other criminals were led with him to be executed—a detail specifically arranged to increase his confusion and shame, so that no distinction would be seen between Christ and the others. Third, because of the varied company and the mob that followed him, though not with one and the same mind; and fourth, because of the mockery with which they led him, which was equally horrifying and repulsive. From this account of his being led to Golgotha to be crucified, three lessons are drawn. The first is that, just as Christ was led voluntarily to the gallows like a sheep to the slaughter, so we too should be led voluntarily to obedience to God’s commands and to those of our superiors in God’s place, by which our own will is put to death. The second is that we ought to follow Christ as he goes to the place of his Passion, weeping for ourselves along with the women over the misery of our own fragile condition; for as Theophilus says, the weak soul, signified by the woman, follows Christ if it is moved by the compunction of the heart. And so on. Therefore, we should follow this procession of those who grieve and mourn after the Lord, especially when we perform processions and litanies for certain imminent dangers, following the cross that is carried before the procession. It's as if we were saying: Let us go out to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace; and in this way, according to the Lord's command, we weep for ourselves and for our children. Therefore, with a sorrowful heart, you should complain to the Crucified about the likeness of that most bitter procession which Christ made when he was condemned and led out to the place of his Passion, because you don't have—and haven't had until now—an affection as fervent for his Passion as is fitting. The third point is that pilgrims, for the sake of their journey, and religious, for the sake of obedience, should remember this journey of Christ as they go, if they ever grow weary; for he was so weary that he could no longer carry the cross by himself, having been exhausted in many ways throughout that entire night and day. If, therefore, our Savior deigned to suffer such weariness with such disgrace for our sake, why don't we endure the small labor of our own journey for him, and with our own honor intact? To conform oneself to this point, let a person reflect on the great disgrace with which our Lord was led to the gallows for our great glory, and let him weep with the holy women, shedding tears at least from the heart, and pray thus: 'Jesus, who willed to be led to Golgotha to be crucified, guide me into the path of your commandments, so that with the holy women I may follow the way of your Passion, and weep for myself over the misery of my own condition.' See, then, how those things which the Lord suffered during the hours of Compline, Matins, Prime, and Terce—even without any crucifixion—are matters of the most intense and bitter pain, and of truly staggering horror. For when He had been handed over to wicked men to be finished off by a most shameful death, it wasn't enough for those sacrilegious people to crucify Him; they had to fill His soul with torments and mockery first. PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, who at the third hour of the day willed to be scourged for us, free me from the lashes of eternal wrath that I have earned. By the piercings of Your most sacred head, pierce my own mind so that I may have the strength to avoid harmful pleasures, and grant that after my penance I may reach the crown. You, who were also mocked in many ways and finally formally condemned to death, help me to escape the devil's mockery and eternal death. You carried Your cross, Lord; give me the strength to take up my own cross and follow You—my own cross, certainly, which is owed to my sins, but also my own voluntary and devout cross, so that through it I may arrive at glory. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Hora tertia cogitabis moestus et tristis qualiter reducto Domino ad Pilatum, illi canes laetantes de foedere Herodis et Pilati, cum audacia magna prosequuntur accusationes suas, quamvis neque Piiatus, neque Herodes diligenter eum interrogando et examinando invenirent in eo causam mortis. Unde ad exprobrandam duritiam Judaeorum et Gentiiium Piiatus fatetur nec se, nec Herodem, neque in occidendo, neque in illudendo, in Cliristo causam scu aliquid di,gnum morte invenisse. Ubi Beda : a Hoc dicendo Pilatus absolvit quidcm Jesum, quem probavit insontem ; sed quem absolvit judicio , crucifigit ministerio. Audi, caece Judaee, audi, crudelis pagane. Pilatus ipse fatetur neque se, neque Herodem dignum quid morte in Cliristo reperisse ; sed tantum in occidendo vel iiludendo innoxio , aiienae crudelitatis obtemperasse damoribus : n haec Beda, Magnum dimittendi Jesum studium gerebat Pilatus. Sed quanto curiosius dimittcre quaerit, tanto criminosiores ad mortem ejus invenit. Et cum accusareiur , Dominus mendaciter , a principibns sacerdotum et senioribus, nihil respondit, nec ad sui excusationem, nec ad dictorum refutationem, nec ac dicentium improperationem; sed magis accusationes viriiiter sustinuit et tacuit. Et, tunCt cum sic accusaretur ab eis, dixit illi Pilatus : Non audis quanta adversum te dicunt testimnh nia?
Ideo, secundum Chtysosto^ mum, hoc dicebat, quia volebat liberare eum, dum se excusando responderet. Sed Dominus non respbndit ei ad ullum verbum, ita ut miraretur Prceses vehementer, de ejus patientia et constantia, quod ille quem in Lege peritum et ad omnia respondere potentem audierat, nihil responderet, et quod exhibitus ad criminale judicium, et stans ante mortem, quae apud omnes homines aestimatur terribilis, ipse imperturbabilis remaneret. In hoc autem docet accusationes et criminationes patienter esse sustinendas, hoc enim magis mirabilem facit Sanctorum patientiam, quam defensio. Unde Ambrosius : a Accusatur Dominus et tacet, quia defensione non indiget; nec accusationem tacendo confirmat , sed despicit non refellendo. Ambiunt defendi, qui timent vinci. Melios est causa quae non defenditur et ^ probatur. Suzanna tacuit, et vicit : » haec Ambrosius, Judex ergo omnium ante tribunai judicis vilis et indigni, mansuetus et tacitus stetit, et accusatus nihil respondit, Sunt autem quatuor rationes hujus silentii et taciturnitatis Christi : tacuit enim Christifs primo juste, quia propter falsitatem accusationum et corruptam judicium indigni erant audire ; secundo misericorditer, ne scilicet ex responsione sua pejores fierent, si sibi non crederent , vel non obedirent ; tertio dispensative , ne si se excusaret dimitteretur, et crucis utilitas, scilicet nostra salus et redemptio, differretur; quarto exempiariter, ut daret nobis patientiae exempium, et impleret illud de se scriptum : Sicut agnus coram tondente se obmutescet, et non aperiet os suum, Igitur, ut dicit Anselmus, vide attente quomodo stat ante Praesidem inclinato capite , demissis oculis, Yultu placido, sermone raro, paratus ad opprobria, promptus ad verbera. Quandoque Dominus respondet, quandoque non respondet : ubi respondet, quasi pastor bonus docet, et pro creditis sibi ovibus contra luporum latronumque insidias pugnat; ubi vero non respondet, quasi agnus pro toto grege immolandus silet, et patientiam praestat.
Etutinam modo innotesceret, quando quasi agnus et quando quasi pastor quivis esse deberet, ut sciret quando tacere et respondere haberet ! Quamvis ergo quibusdam interrogationibus saepe responderit, quando tamen respondere noluit, non sicut reus et male sibi conscius , qui de peccatis convincebatur suis, sed sicut innocens et mansuetus, qui pro peccatis immolabatur alienis. Et ideo similitudo de agno data est, ut in suo silentio non reus, sed innocens haberetur.
Per dicm au~ tem festum Paschae , consueverat Prceses unum vinctum dimittete populo, id est ad petitionem populi, quem volebant, sine meritorum discretione, in memoriam liberationis filiorum Israel de iEgyptiaca servitute, cujus beneficii memoria in solemnitate paschali fiebat, quod ea die de servitute Pharaonis egressi erant; in aliis autem festis non sic fiebat. Quia enim in nocte Paschae Angelus Domini salvavit Hebraeos, et percussit primogenita iEgyptiorum, ideo ad hoc repraesentandum, et memoriam hujus beneficii, in hac solemnitate salvabant unum morti propinquum, et aliquos interficiebant de vinctis qui custodiebantur ad occidendum ; vel, hoc faciebant in memoriam transitus maris rubri, in quo filii Israel fuerunt iiberati, et iEgyptii submersi. Et istam consuetudinem eis conservari impetraverant ab Imperatore Romanorum, sicut fuerat observata antequam Judaea esset Romanis subjecta. Si adhuc singuiis annis aliquem occidunt, Deus scit, et ipsi sciunt. Pilatus ergo sciens eos cupidos de observanda illa consuetudine, et ex altera parte quod Barrabas esset pessimus , et populo odiosus, proposuit eis sub distinctione optionem dicens, quod ad honorem festi liberaret eis Barrabam vel Jesum, et nullum alium, per hoc subtiliter credens liberare Jesum de consensu eorum, quia non credebat aliquo modo, quod peterent liberationem Barrabae, qui erat homicida et seditiosus, ac pessimus et insignis, non nobilitate generis, sed ex famositate sui criminis, quia erat latro publicus et in malitia vuigatus et famosus ; et ideo credebat merito Jesum esse praeeligendum, sciens eum innocentem et per invidiam traditum, quia publice arguebat yitia eorum. Magnam, ut dictum est, diiigentiam Pilatus ostendlt, ut Christum liberaret : primo, per innocentiam, quia manua HeFodis evaserat; aecundo, per consuetiidinem , quia eum pneeligendum credebat ; in quo datum est exemplumlaborandi ad Uberationem innocentum. Unde Chjysosiomus : « Et intuere sstpienter, non enim dixit, quia peccayit. et dignus est morte, donari eum ex fiesto ; sed primum eum excusans et eruens a causa omni, tamen rogat ex.
superabundanti, ut si nollent innoxium dimittere, saltem ut obnoxium donarent festo vel tempori. » 3 VisuM uxoRis PiLATi. — Timc, sedente illo- pro- tribunali misit ad eum uxor sua, nomine Procula, dicsns : Nihil tibi et justo iUi sit causae, veL contra justum illum. Quasi' dicecftt : Nihil habeas causae, nec. intromittaB te ad interficiendum hominem illum, quia justus est. Multa enim passa sum hodie per visum, et in somniis, propter eunt, Uxox itaque Gentilis viri hoc in vifflonibus et somniifit; intellexit , quod Judaei vigiiantes nec: credere, nec inteiligere voluerunt. Diabolus quippe apparuerat ei, movens eam tecroribus, ad liberationem Christi. Nunc enim demum diabolusr intelligens per Christum sua spolia, sive in mundo, sive in- tartaro se amifisurum, poenituit quod fecerat comprehendi eum,.
et ideo imnnisit visiones huic muiieri, yt per eam impediretur mors Christi; et sicut prius^per mulierem intuterat mundo mortem,. ita modo* sataglt Christumt de manibus Judaeorum libierare' per mulierem^ ne per Chriati morteoL mortis. amittat imperium. Jam quidem: Dei mitu et virtuHe poterat m^steriumi cnids cognoscere, et ideo* labocabat ne Christus iiioreretim,Forte- jami Sasicti iir mferno gaudebant, unde hoc noyerat. Nam , ut ait Augustinus, aninm Lazari revocata ad superosy aninoe In inferno cognoverunt Dominnm dc proadmo descensurum- ad. iait^ros, unde ex tunc laetabantur; ct maxime diabolus hoc cognovilr, cum Domiinus ciamore Yalidoi animam exhaiavit ; vel , etiam per Scripturarum impletionem iioc pcspendit, quia in Domino eas inrrpleri vidit. Quod ergo uxor Pttad et ipse Pilatus- fecerunt tantum pro liberatione Christi,. toCum putatnr fiiisse ex rnstinctu diaboli, qus pcr Pilatum et ejus uxorem nitebtfur impedire nostram redemptioneBs; sicut olim per Adami et Evam £edt nostram damjiationem.
Piilatus ergo quserebat ab ei% quem veilent pcopter honorem festi achi dimitti de duobus praedicti&y et quasi exhoirtatirve expresslti Qzcbstum, quaerens si velient daiimtti regem Judaeorum. Ipsi vero nimio odio contra Christum moti, et obstinato corde in maiitia perdurrantes , ne Christus liberatetur, puaeelegerunt et petierunt Barcabam hominem pestifierum dimitti et liberari;- Christum vero innocentem tolli de medio et crucifigi. Putabant enim, ut dicit Chrys/Mh mus, hoc sfi posse astruerev quod Jiesus deterior esset latrone, et adiOD nfiqjuam, ut neque pro festi prsei»geiLva deberet Uberari. . In quo hcto eocum ostenditur futurae infidelit»iQs arcanum, sciiicet antichristsiin Christo praeferendum. Latrottes httcoofim petierunt, et homlcidacn Auctorivitae praetulerunt. Quodtmpoopecans eis beatus Petrus postca dicebat : Vqs sanctum et jtiatum nefca^is,, et petiisiis virum kegmeidam donari vobis,,Auctorem vero vitat inietTfedstis, O quanta infelieluai! Jhidaeocum iniquitas et maliDE tia, qui ad procurandum Christi mortem petierunt lajtronis publici liberationem, contra bonum publicuxn et justitiam : mortem vitae, tenflbras luci, filium diaboii FiFio £lei tam stulte quam impie praeferentes !
Unde ait Augustinus : « O cxdtas Judaeorum, o furia phreneticorum ! Noli dimittere hunc, sed Barrabam, quid fuit aliud dicere, qjiam occidatur ille qui suscitavit mortuos, et dimittatur latro ut itenun occidat vivos ? » Undfe Anselmus : a Adhuc autem et animam tuam incircumciso cani glutiendam tradiderunt ; vinctum siquidem ante &cieni Pilati pra^sidis te perduxerunt, postuiantes supplicio crucis interimere, qui peccatum non fecera», et virum homicidam donari sitoi : agnum lupo, aurum luto postponentes. O indignum et infeHx concambium \ » Unde etiam Btda T a Haeret autem Jlidaeis usque hodie sua petitio quam tanto tabore Impetraverunt. Quia enim data sibi optione , pro Jesu latronem , pro Saivatore interemptorem, pro datore vitae elegerunt peremptorem, merito salutem vitamque perdiderunt, et latrociniis se ac seditionibus In tantum submerserunt, ut et patriam regnumque suum , quod plus Christo amavere perdiderint, et bactenus eam quam vendidere vd animae vel corporis libertatem recipere non meruerint ; atque ideo Jadaei pacem habere non possunt, qaia seditiosum principem\ id est dia&olum^ qul usque hodie regnat m ^s, magis quam Dominum eligere maluerunt : » haec Beda. Similiter adhuc hodiie aliqui magis nituntur salvare et etiam promoTere malos homines quam bonos, et m multis eBectionibus ac provisrombus Jesus, rd est vir bonus ac digmzs, et Der amicirs, qui se et alios saivare' vellet reprobatur, et BlUTabas latra insignis, irf estmalus ac indignus ct Christi hostis, qui se et alios in anima perimit, eligitur. Unde qui in talibus promotionibus faciendo vel consentiendo culpabilbs sunt, ipso suo facto vel consensu condicunt Judaeis : Kon Hunc, sed Barrabam. Jesus vero ad omnia tacet patienter canes oblatrantes tolerans , et sua patientia nos armans.
Considera hic quantum Christi animum sauciare potuit, quod tam sceleratus et vilis homo praeferebatur sibi homini-Deo in tantum, ut poterent illius vitam et istius mortem. Peccaverunt autem in duobus, scilicet : quia reum petebant liberari , et innocentem daranari, unde in Proverbiis : Qtti justificat impium , et condemnat justum; uterque abominabilis:
Ex isto articulo trahuntur duo dbcumenta. Primum est, quod' nos aequanimiter toleremus, si aliquandb praeferantur nobis personae infirmiores ethumilioris conditionis; q. uia latro. Christo fuit praelatus. — Secundum est„ quod caveamus ne et nos Barrabam Cba:isto praefferamus. cc Multi enim adhuc hodie desiderant Barrabam si-bi solVI, et Ghristum vinctum esae, quia, ut dicit Ch'igenes, omnes qui Judaeis sunt simires, sive in dogmate, sive in vita, Barrabam sibi solvi desiderant. Quicunque enim male agit, solutus est in. corpore ejus Barrabas, Christus autemvinctus \ qui' autem bonum agit , Christum habet solutum, Bairrabam vinctum.
£t. ideo sicut Judaei postquam pro Chriato elegerunt Barrabam j^tronem^ latrociiniis et sedltlonibus sunt subversi;. sic et nunc. quascunque anuna praeelegit Barrabam, illa semper latrociniis diabolicis exterminatuc. Ubi enim non est Jesus, ibi lites et praelia sunt; ubi autem est Jesus, ibi sunt omnia bona etpa\ : » haec Origenes, Spiritualiter homo vinctus est per peccatum et positus in carcere secundum corpu^ et animam, ita quod sint duo vincti : corpus et anima. Sed de his unus tantum, in hoc mundo liberari potest : anima sciiicet poterit liberari, si tamen corpus poenitentiae et flagellis exponatur, sic enim animam a cuipa et a poena liberat; si vero corpus liberetur, adhuc manebit vincta anima, et suppiiciis ac flagellis exponetur aeternis : et ideo melius est quod anima liberetur quam corpus, quia si corpus suspenditur in cruce poenitentiae, tunc animam liberabit a morte. Unde Gregorius : a Si magnae mercedis est eripere a morte carnem morituram, quanti meriti est iiberare animam in coelo sine fine victuram? » Ad conformandum se huic articuio, recogitet homo si ipse unquam Barrabam Christo praeelegit, et doleat ac oret, dicens : Jesu, qui non dedignaius es a Judceis reprobari peteniibus sibi Barrabam latronem dimitti, ie vero auctorem vitce crucifigi , da mihi te Creatorem meum semper eligere pras omnibus, ei pro nulla re creata te unquam reprobare.
Pilalus autem volens dimittere Jesum, iterum locutus est ad illos, quaerens quid faceret de Jesu rege Judaeorum, et quid mali fecisset, et asserens quod nuUam causam mortis in eo invenerit; sed quanto plus videbant quod Christum liberare veilet, tanto magis iterum et iterum clamabant, instabant vocibus magnis, postulantes ut a^ucifigeretur; ei invalescebant voces eorum* Mala fuit Barrabae praeelectio, sed pejor haec sententiatio. Videns autem Pilatus quia nihil proficeret, ad liberationem Christi, salvo favore populi, sed magis tumultus, et stTcpitus fieret populi clamantift ad contrarium per seductionem sacerdotum, volentium per damorem et tumultum populi obtinere quod non poterant per rationem habere; et volens populo placere et satisfacere, dimisit illis Barrabam, quem petebant, quamvis Christum pr«ferendum non dubitaret. Elcce quod Christus innocens damnatur; et Barrabas iatro liberatur. Ita contingit hodie in curiis principum et praelatorum : quia innocentes damnantur, et perversi peccatores liberantur; minora puniuntur, sed majon dissimulantur; puniuntur transgressores decretalium et statutorum, et dimittuntur impuniti transgressores divinorum mandatorum. Et, ut Judaei de morte Jesu totum peccatum super se acciperent, et ipse immunis esset a peccato, accepta aqua, lavii manus suas coram populo, dicens : Jnnocens ego sum a sanguine, id est a sanguinis effusione, jK^f/ hujus, et sicut lavo manus, sic et conscientiam, quia ego volui liberare innocentem, et solum minister legis sum; vos videritis, quid continget vobis quantum ad suppiicium pro culpa quam committitis, vox ,enim vestra sanguinem justi fundit, unde poenam sentietis. Mos quippe erat apud antiquos, ut cum quis vellet se ostendere immunem a crimine aliquo, accepta aqua, lavaret manus suas coram populo. Lavit ergo manus coram populo; ut quos non poterat movere suasione, moveret significatione, qua significabat, inquam, mortem Christo inferre, et se innocentem a tanto scelere. Lavit manus suas, imponens peccatum de morte Christi Judaeis, ipsis hoc recipientibus, quamvis non esset per hoc secundum veritatem excusatus; quia non lotus fuit aqua suus reatus, mentiebatur ergo dicendo se innocentem : quia sciebat quod per 5'» z.
invidiam eum tradidissent, et quod justus ac innocens erat, et ut ipsemet confilebatur, eum liberare poterat. Particeps ergo erat criminis ; sed innocentior illis. Unde Leo Papa : u Excessit ergo Pilati culpam iacinus Judaeorum ; sed nec ipse evasit reatum qui reiiquit proprium judicium , et in crimen transiulit alienum. » Huic Pilato similes sunt excusantes se a criminis consensu, cum possint reclamare cum effectu. Et responderunt omnes : Sanguis ejus, id est culpa et poena, seu ultio et vindicta effusionis sanguinis ejus, super nos et super fi~ lios nosiros, Optimam hereditatem reiiquerunt Judaei filiis suis; perseverat enim usque hodie super Judaeos haec imprecatio poenae et criminis, et sanguis Christi non aufertur ab eis, unde in singuUs lunationibus, ut dicitur, fluxum patiuntur sanguinis. Percussit enim eos Dominus in posteriora, et opprobrium scmpiternum dedit illis, suntque vagi et profugi sub servitute, et nisi laverint manus suas per Baptismum, ab isto sanguine poenam criminis sustinebunt continue. Ut autem dicit Hieronymus, verbum optimum et salutiferum responderunt Judaei; sed intentione pessima. Optandum est ergo ut sanguis ille veniat super nos; sed in ablutionem, secundum iliud Apocalypsis : Lavit nos a peccatis nostris, in sang uine suo.
Pllatus itaque causam mortis in eo non inveniens, nitebatur eum dimittere; non enim in eo, sed in nobis causa mortis ejus fuit, passus est pro nobis, non pro se, non habens culpam et sustinens poenam, ut et culpam nostram solveret et pcenam. Unde Bernardus : a O piissime Jesu, quid tibi et morti ? Nos peccavimus et tu luis, nos debuiJDus et tu solvis. y> NuIIam itaque causam mortis in eo inveniens, dixit illis : Corripiam ergo illum, scilicet flageilando, ut si qua in vestris ceremonialibus commisit, vel in aliquo deliquit, pro ipsis correptus emendetur, et sic emenda» tum et disciplinatum dimittam a raorte liberum ; flagris et ludibriis eum afficiam quantum ipsi jubetls, dummodo innoxium sanguinem non sitiatis vel fundatis. Videns enim ex clamore eorum quod nullo modo poterat dimittere Jesum omnino iiberum cum pace ipsorum, et ex altera parte durum sibi erat intcrticere innocentem, ideo ad satisfaciendum eis fecit Christum fiagellari et illudi, ut videntes eum sic punitum et illusum ultra condignum, poenis ejus et opprobriis crudelitas eorum satiaretur, ac mitigaretur; et sic sufiicere sibi aesti^ mantes ultra sxvire desisterent, et mortem ejus non sitirent. Unde Augustinus : « Non persequendo Dominum fiagellavit, sed illorum furori satisfacere voiens, ut vel sic jam mitescerent, et silerent, et desinerent velle occidere eum quem flagellatum viderent : » haec Augustinus. Unde etiam propter hoc cohortem suam ei illudere permisit, aut forte jussit, ut eorum iram mollirct, et a morte ejus desisterent, Naturale enim est ut ira quiescat, si eum contra quem irascitur humiliatum et punitum videat. Quod quidem verum est in ira, quae cum mensura quaerit proximi nocumentum, sed non in odio, quod totaliter quaerit ejus quem odio habet exitium.
Isti autem ex odio movebantur contra Christum; et ideo flagellatio ejus non sufficiebat, nisi viderent et ejus interitum. O Pilate, Pilate, tu vis Dominum casti-* gare. Nescis quid agis : quia nec flagella meretur, sicut nec poenam mortis, rectius ageres si te ad suum nutum corrigeres. Unde intentio non excusat Pilatum in toto, quia nullum per se malum potest propter bonam intentioncm effici tolaliter bonum , nec facienda sunt mala ut veniant bona; aifligere autem innocentem, et preectpue Dei Filium , est maxime malum , et ideo nulla intentione est excusabile, et cum judex esset, non debebat ei quem innocentem sciebat etiam minimam inferre poenam. Ob hoc etiam, secundum Hieronyynum, eum flagellari voluit, ut Romanis legibus serviret, quibus sancitum erat ut crucifigendus flagellaretur prius , forte ad extorquendum ab eo socios sceleris; et sic Christus, si crucifigi deberet, jam flagellatus esset. Ipse quoquc ticulo exutionis vestlum habemus duo documenta. Primum est, ut c»* veamus nos a nudirate, tam corporali, quam spirituali, ne forte unquam nudi appareamus coFam Deoi et Angelis et hominibus; nam etsi homo interdum oon videatur ab hominibus, erubescat tamen nuditatem suam coram Deo et Angelta. Unde primi parentes erubueru&t a faci-e Dei, qui ubique apud nos est cum Angelis suis.
De nuditate vero spirituali est illud Apostoli : Si ia" men vestiti, et non nudi uivenia" mur; item, est illud Apocalypsis : Vestimentis albis induaris^ }ie appareat confusio nuditatis twce. Ubi per veslimentaalba intelligitur ctndor sanctBB conversationis, quK inDominus flagellari voluit, ut quia ^ star vestimenti multis debet esie scriptum est : Multa flagefla peccatoris, nobis parceretur, et nos suo flagello a perpetuis flageilis liberaremur; sicut pia mater quando videt patrem velle flagellare aliquem de filiis suis, extensis occurrit brachiis, et eum protegit, exponens se pro eo flagellis. Homo enim Deum ofFenderat, et ideo disciplinari debebat; Christus ergo disciplinari voluit, et sic Deum placarvit, et ideo dicitur : Disciplina pacis nostrce super eum. Et si tam graviter flagellatus est innocens pro peccatis alienis, quam graviter putas noxios, nisi se correxerint, flagellandos pro peccatis propriis?
Cum ergo Domtnus flagellari jubetur, spoliatur per milites apparitores Praesidis, et vestibus quibus indutus crat exuitur, et coram otnTiibus denudntur. Eart autem intelUgendum, qiK>d sicut remissus fuerat ab Herode cum i^ba veste, sic remansit in eadem ▼este usque ad lioram flagellationis, et tunc exuerunt eum hac veste et suis aliis vestimentis. Ex hoc arcontexta fllis; his vestimentis semper induta debet esse anima fidelis, ne confusio nuditatis ejus a virtutibus appareat coram Deo et Angelis et hominibus. — Secundum documentum est, quod sicut exutus fuit vestimentis suis, sic et nt3S exuamus veterem tunicam, et nudemus conscientias nostras coram Deo, per nudam et puram coafessionem peccatorum, deponente» omne pallium excusationis , quU mtda et aperta sunt omma ocirfis ^us, Ad conformandum se huic articuio, recogitet homo qnam miaerabiliter, et cum quatita injuri» cx verecnndia Christus fuit exatus festibus suis, et denudatus pro nobis, ut nos vestiret virtutibus,. et oret hoc modo : Jesu, qui vesH^ mentis tuis exui, et adflaffetla dari voluisti, da mihi nuda torum meorum confessione veterem honwnem cum aciibus sttis exuere, €t nr conspectu tuo nudum a vtrtmUbus me nequaquam apparere.
Deinde Dominus ad coluninam dirissime ligatur, ilie qui solvere c<ki»poditoa aolet; et pkaa Deo membra SfONE DOMINl. verbeiibus subdens immanissime flageUatar, et uiuiique ftagellis attentur, yerberibusqvue cruciatur. Stat midaB coram omnibus amantissimus juvenis, elegans et verecundus, et silet. ad omnia quasi agnus. Spe~ ciosus forma prce filiis hominttm, sascipit dura, aspera et dolorosa flagella sfwrcisBimorum. Caro IUa innocentissima et tenerrlma ,, mundiiBinria et pulcherrima, flos dmnis camis et totius humanae naturae, repktur plagis, livoribus et fracturis; wlaeratur pey totura corpus ilhid sanctissimuni, a planta pedis usque ad iKrticem ejus non remanet sanse pirtis vestigium, et totum iit rubnijn i^estimentum suum. Fluit undique regius et pretiosissimus sanrgsis Jie omaibus partibus corporis, elqus corpus candidissimum cruovt e^us loseo rubricatur per totum. Siqieradditur, reiteratur et spissainr plaga super plagam, livor super Hiorem, firactura super fracturam, angiiifl super sanguinera, quous(|DC tam tortK)ribus quam inspectolibaB BatigBtis, solri fubetur a cokionia, cui fwt alligatus.
Cufos cttlum]u& aiiqua pars ostenditur Romae in ecclesia sanctte Praxedis, mi|Dr autem pars fertur esse in ecclesia montis Sion, in loco ubi piQauiitiatar erangeliuraj quae, secaadimi Bedam, Dominici cruoris osqne hodie cemendbus vestigia certt danosstFat. Quot autem et ^mDBte plagae, vel vulnera in iiac iiy llatione si^i itifligebsfftttr, pro oeno sdxi noa potest, nisi per revdaiiaDera, ut supra dictum est; sei opwUuit ea esse quasi innume^ nbiiia. Si eaim, ut dieitur ib DeuIttQsoinia : Pr^ mensura peccati M p lagarum modus, Christns auIttBL flj^Uabalur pro peccatis nottris, quae vtiq^ie snnt tnnumerabifia; qoare « plagae innumcrabnes. Et koc est quod dicitur in Isaia : [ 4 pltmta pedis usque ad verticem, ^ non est m eo saniias, Tunc impletum cst quod ibidem dicitur : Non est ei species neqttc decor ; et vidimus eum, ei non erat aspectus; et quasi abscondiius vultus ejus et deipecius, et reputavimus eum quaft leprosmm, percussum a Deo et I: miliatum. Unde Angustinus ; u i^c vultu illius puichritudo effluierat omnis, et qui erat prae filiis hominum speciosus, videbatur omnium indecorus; quia iniquorum livor sacrum ilHus vultum foedaverat verberibus. » Haec autem recensens Anselmus sic habet : « Et quidem non ignorabat impius ille per invidiam omnia in te fieri, nec tamen abstinuit temerarias a te manus; sed amaritudine repievit animam tuam sine causa. Illudendum tc misit Hcrodi, illusum recepit, nudum in coaspectu irrisorum stare te jussit; nec pepercit amarissimis verberibus virgineam carnem tuam divellere, plagas plagis, livores livoribus infligens. Electe Puer Domini Det mei, quid tanta amaritudine, quid tanta confusione dignum coramtseras?
Prorsus nihil. Ego horao perditus totius contritionis, totius confusionis tuae causa exstiti ; cgo, Domine, uvam acerbam comeJi, et dentes tui obstupuemnt, quia quae non rapuisti tunc exsolvebas. Amor tuus et iniquitas nostra sic te fecit Imbecillem. Maledicta sit tanta iniquitas, pro qua sic affligeris! In omnibus his non est satiata perfidorem Judaeorum impietas : » haec Anselmus. Vide nunc attente quanta et qualia ab impio Pilato et suis, sine causa Dominus passus est pro te, et esemplo ejus ad patientiam in laboribus et adversitatibus confortare. Sicut enim Christus verberatur et fiagellts nodosis caro illa sanctissima et membra delicatissima acerrime dilacerantur, ac corpus ejus formosum plagis livet et sanguine undique rubet ; sic miles / Christi strenuus debet corpus suum per asperitates et duritias debitas castigare, ne inobedienter incipiat recalcitrare. Considera eum hic diligenter per longam moram et spatiose, et si hic ei non compateris, cor lapideum reputa te habere.
Et tunc exclamabis : O bone Jesu , quomodo tu denudaris qui nudos vestis? Quomodo tu ligaris, qui compeditos solvis, et ligatos a dcemonihus et ah infirmitatihus detentos liheras? Quomodo tu flagellaris, qui nos a flagellis eruis ? Quis fuit ille tam audax, qui te spoliavit? Quis tam temerarius, qui ad columnam te ligavit? Quis tam sacrilegus , qui te flagellavit? Sed tu, Sol justitiae, tuos radios subtraxistif et ideo sunt tenebrce ac te~ nebrarum potestates ; omnes sunt te potentiores; nobis debebaniur flagella ceternce afflictionis, tuftagellari voluisti pro nobis, ut nos misericorditer erueres ab illis.
Flageilatio Domini praefigurata fuit per Achior principem ligatum ad arborem. Achior ligatus fuit ad arborem per Holophernis sateliites, Christus ad columnam per Pilati milites; Achior propter veritatem quam dixerat fuit ligatus, Christus propter veritatem quam praedicaverat , fuit flageliatus; Achior ligabatur, quia noluit Holopherni loqui placentia, Christus, quia reprehendit Judaeos cum eorum displicentia ; Achior ligatus est, quia gloriam Domini magnificabat, Christus fiagellatus est, quia nomen Patris sui manifestabat. Flagellatio etiam Christi in flagellatione Jeremiae praefigurata fuit, quem Phassur flagellavit.
Soluto autem Domino a columna flagellationis , ducunt eum sic nudum, sic flagellatum, per domum, pro pannis suis colligendis, qui sparsim per domum ab exspoliatoribus projecti fuerant. In^ tuere bene eum sic afllictum, sic trementem propter frigus, quia hiems erat. Attende diligenter, et considera statum ejus in actibus singulis, ut intime compatiaris, ac simul pascaris; averte autem pa* rumper oculos a divinitate, et eum purum hominem considera; et videbis juvenem elegantem, nobilis* simum, innocentissimum et amantissimum , totum flagellatum , «t sanguine livoribusque respersum« pannos suos undique sparsim projectos de terra recolligere, et cum quadam verecundia et rubore nudum coram illis semper ipsum deridentibus se revestire, ac si foret omnium infimus, a Deo derelictus, et omni auxilio destitutus. Intuere ergo eum diligenter, ac pietate et compassione movearis. Redeas postea ad divinitatem, et considera illam immensam, aeternam et incomprehensibilem, et imperatoriam majestatem incarnatam, se flectentem, et humiliter ad terram inclinantem, pannos recoUigentem, et se cum reverentia rubore similiter revestientem, ac si esset homo vilissimus, imo quidam servus emptitius, sub iilorum dominio constitutus, et ab eis pro aiiquo excessu correptus et castigatus. Intuere et nunc eum diligenter, ac humilitatem suam admirare, et pro posse imitare. Secundum eamdem etiam considerationem intueri potes eumdem, cum post coronationem purpura spoliatus se vult revestire. Ex hoc articulo flagellationis habentur duo documenta.
Primum est, quod nos flagella Dai libenter debemus sufferre, ut unusquisque nostrum possit cum Psalmista dicere ; Qiconiam ego in flagella paratus sum ; et merito, quia si unicus Dei Filiut paratus fuit suscipere in se nostra flagelia ex obedientia Patris, cur et nos adoptivi, non essemus parati sufferre flagella ejusdem Patris , quae ipse per se vel per ministros, seu instrumenta sua media nobis misericorditer infligere dignatur , ad emendationem nostram ? Nam, secimdum Sapientem et Apostolum : Quem diligit Deus, castigat ; flagellat autem omnem filium quem recipit. — Secundum est, quod diligenter caveamus, ne et nos iterato Christum flageiiemus, quod flt quotiescunque mortaliter peccamus. Cum enim Christus flageliatus sit pro peccatis nostris, quandocunque peccamus , tunc Christo unum ictum flageili, quantum in nobis est, incutimus; sicut Apostolus de quibusdam dicit : Rursum crucifigentes in semetipsis Filium Dei. Ad conformandum se huic articulo, poterit homo flagello vel virga seipsum caedere, si gratiam habet; vei saltem compatiendo flageilato Christo, mentaliter se flageilet, et sic oret : Jesu, qui pro nobis flagellari undique voluisti, da mihi flagella tuce patemce correptionis lihenter suscipere, et de peccatis meis nunquam denuo flagellare, 12 iSDUiTUR. — Cum igitur post flagellationem Jesus revestire se veliet, contendunt impiissimi quidam Pilato, dicentes : Domine, hic se regem fecit, vestiamus et coronemus eum more regio. Miseri, ad plenum sibi illudere volebant, antequam eum morti traderent. Unde Anselmus : « Novissime autem, Oomine Jesu, in manus incircumcisonim militum devolutus es , morte turpissima consummandus; parum erat sacrilegis manibus suis cniciflgere te, nisi prius replevistent illusioni^us animam tuam.
» Et, consentiente Pilato, congregavermt ad hoc universam cohortem in prcetorium, ubi sedebat Praeses et senatus , ut omnes interesscnt tali spectaculo, et ut magis illuderent in loco patenti et coram multitudine. Et eum vix revestitum , exuentes vestimentis suis induerunt eum veste, seu tunica purpurea, et circumdederunt ei chlamydem coccineam, id est pallium sive mantellum, non consutum, sed fibula infrenatum coccinei coloris, qui est inter rubeum et purpureum , in opprobrium regii nominis , quod ipse, ut Judaei asserebant, indebite usurpabat ; et ad deridendum eum, sicut regem falsum , acceperunt purpuram et chlamydem, non novam, sed veterem, in confusionis augmentum : quia enim rex dicebatur, induunt eum vestibus quibus reges veteres utebantur. Christus illa die fuit indutus triolici veste, scilicet : alba, rubea et coccinea, ad designandum quod qui vult esse de Christi familia, debet portare vestem albam innocentiae, rubeam caritatis et obedientiae, et coccineam poenitentiae. Sic ergo nunc purpura et chlamyde induerunt eum , et unus Evangelista exprimit unum, alius aliud ; quia si tantum chlamydem ei circumdedissent, non eum nudassent, sicut non legitur nudatus ante Herodem, ubi imposuerunt sibi albam vestem. Et bene conveniebat vestis alba et rubra tali corpori, utpote toti sanguine rubricato ex flagellatione, ut impleretur illud Isaiae : Quare rubrum est indumentum tuum, et vestimentum, sicut calcantium in torculari ? Et haec quaestio, secundum Glossam, fuit Angelorum videntium et mirantium quod Christi corpus, quod de utero virginali, tantum candorem habuit, quantum fullo non potest facere super terram, in tantum fuit sanguine rubricatum. Ad quam quaestionem ipsemet ibidem respondit, dicens ; Torcuiar calcavi solus, Quasi diceret, secundum Glossam : Ego solus sustinui pressuram crucis, flagellorum et omnium tormentorum passiones, in quibus quasi prselo pressus sum, sanguine proprio per totum corpus meum pro salute mundi aspersas. In purpureo ergo vestimento caro cjus passionibus objecta significatuT, per hoc etiam significatur passio Martyrum, qua totum corpus Ciiristi mysticum, id est Ecclesia, rubricatur, et sic etiam purpura vestitur, cum de triumphis sanctorum Martyrum gloriatur.
Ex hoc articulo trahuntur duo documenta. Primum est, quod nos peccata nostra operire debemus aperibus caritatis, ut sicut Christus nostrorum peccatorum tlagellis cruentatus purpura cooperiri voluit, sic et nos opera nostra cruenta, id est peccata nostra, cooperiamus purpura vemantis caritatis, quia, ut ait Petrus, Caritas (vpcrit multitudinem peccatorum, ' 'el etiam pcr purpuram significa; ir memoria Dominicoe Passionis, jnde in Canticis : Comce capitis spoMSCs , id est animae fidelis, dicuntur csse siciit purpura ejus ; quia cogitationes mentis nostra: , qu« per conws capitis intelliguntur, versari debent assidue circa Passionem Redemptoris, vel etiam circa opera caritatis. — Secundum documentum cst, quod per hoc quod Dominus noster veste regali indui voluit, secundum Theophilum, docemur, quod et nos habitu mentis veste regia induamur, et simus vere reges calcantes super serpentes et scorpiones, id est omnia vitia suppeditantes ; unde dicimur Christiani, id est uncti quasi reges. Ad conformandum se isti articulo ct septem sequentibus illusionum articuris, rccogitct homo facruni cujuslibet articuli cam aggravationibus suis, et oret sicut in quolibet articulo devotio ministrabit. Jem, qui veste purpurea illusorie indm voluisti, da miki jugem tuct Pom^ siofds memoriam induere, et peccata mea caritatis purpttra <^erire.
Pro diademtte autem seu corona regali plecitnta, complicftndo seu plicantes, id esl componentes conaectendo , corO' nam, id est sertum ad modum cch ronae capitis, de spinis, hoc estde juncis spinosis et aculeatis valde acutos angulos habentibus, posue7'unt super caput ejus, reverendissimum et tenerrimum, aculeis aii cspput versis, ut poena punctionis cumularetur probro irrisionis. Qm attcntius considerasse se dicunt , spinas illas juncos fuisse marinos asserunt, quorum acies non minus dura et acuta, aspera et pungitiva ac penetrativa spinis esse dicitUT, in tantum ut etiam homines csdceati desuper calcantes inde vulnerentur, unde Poeta : Et acuta cuspide junci. Suavissimum mihi cervical sit illa spinea corona, Domine, capitis tui, super qua-m dulciter caput meum requiescat. Ex hoc articulo tria habentur documenta. Unum, quod nos peccata nostra per recardationem semper in mente portemuB, sicut Christus spinas peccatonnn nostrorum in suo capite portavit; quia, secundum Bedam, in coronr spinea quam portabat, nostrorum susceptio peccatorum ostenditur , quorum spinas removit, per spfnas quas portavit. De his spinis dictum erat primo homini : •Terra spimas et tribulos germinabit tibij quia tcrra rostri corpo-ris pcocata gerniiDE nat, quae suis aculeis conscientiam nostram sicut spin» pungunt. Has ergo spinas Christus suscepit portandas pro corona victoriae. Solent enim victores arma devictorum hostium pro signo victoriaii gestare, et de his glcriari.
Arma diaboli sunt peccata nostra, quibus armatur contra nos, quae Domtnus in Passcone sua abstulit, ipse enim est Agnus qui abstulit peccata mtm' di. Idcirco spineam coronam, utpote victorialem in suo capite gefitEore dignatus est. Ln ista corona videre Regem nostrum desiderabile est omni animse amanti ; unde ad hoc sponsa in Canticis, omnes fideks animas evocat, dicens : Egredimmi, filice Sioriy et videte regem Salormmem in diademate^ quo coroiuant mater sua, scilicet : synagoga, ad iitteram; vel, mater sua, id est caritas, quantum ad tropum praesentem. — Aliud documentum e&t, secundum Theaphilum, ut et Bos sumamus coronam spineam, id est festinemus coronari vita arcta, tbstinentiis et puritate conscientise; hs enim sunt quaedam spinae pro* pter austeritatem quam habent. — Tertium documentum est, ut et nos conemur coronari spinis tentationum. Qwelibet enim tentatio nos impugnans est quasi quaedam spina caput mentis nostrse pungens, quam dum hoiiK) superat, spina ilia cedit sibi ad coronam. Unde quot spinas tentationum homo in hac vita sustiaet et superat, tot gemmas preliosas ad coronam suam comparat. Jesu, qui spiuis coronari voluisti,fac me potniienti(B spinis sic digne com" pungi, ut a t£ merear in coelestibus coronari, i5 Daturei scept&um arundinis, ]>OCUKENTUM £X EO £T <»IAT10.
— ProAceptro quoque regali, dederunt arundinkem in dexta-a ejus, dehonestantes arundine dexteram, quae coelum regit pt terram ; ■&t per hoc signantes regnum quod sibi usurpavit dicendo se Regem, ad modum arundinis esse vacuum ct in£rmum, ac ipsum re^no vacuum : non attendentes, quod ipse dixerat rcgnum suum non esse de hoc mundo, sed in alio mundo, scilicet aeternitatijs, ubi regnum est firmissimum. £x hoc articulo trahitur documentum, quod nos attendere debemus, nos ex nobis esse infirmos et fragiles, ac orani bono vacuos, nisi dextera Dci nos manu teneai ; sicut arundo in se habet vacuitatem et imbecillitatem, sed manu Christi apprehen* sa firmatur. Idcirco ergo, ut dicit Hilarius, Daminus noster arundinera in dextera tenere voluit, ut per hoc ostenderet se nos fragiles, vacuos et infirmos manu tenere, et omnibus bonis implere. Item, arundo sive calamus, est instrumentum scribendi, et iJcirco, secundum Hieronymum, Christus calamum in raanu tenere voluit, ut sacrilegium Judaeorum scriberet, et ostenderet se illum esse, qui eiectos suos scriberet in libro vitae. Jesu, qui arundinem pro sceptro in dextera tibi dari voluisti, imbecillitatem, quaS" so, meam Sextera tuce potentice sic sustentare digneris^ quaienus in me rcgnum tuum jugiier conformetur, 16 TaiA Q.UID SIGNANT \ — Sic ergo tria instrumenta illusionis introducuntur, scilicet : vestis purpurea et cocdnea, corona spinea, arundo vacua. Vestis corpori, corona capiti , arundo pro sceptro raanui imponitur. Ad litteram haec sunt tria regalia insignia contumeliose et in derisionem sibi impensa, ut reus ostendatur laesae majestatis, eo quod regnum veliet sibi Visurpare, nec posset obtinere. Moraliter autem, sicut Christus illusus fuit tripliciter ; sic tripliciter anima frequenter illuditur et per peccatum capitur ; ■■■■■Jl primo, in ostentatione humanas potentia, quae significatur per vestem purpuream et coccineam, quae est vestis regum et potentum ; secundo, in cupiditate affluentis opulentiae, quae notatur per coronam spineam, divitiae enim spinis et curis sunt plenae ; tertio, in vanitate mundanae sapientiae, quae significatur per arundinem, quae pulchra, sed vento plena et vacua est ; mundana enim sapientia in qua confidunt homines, in qua quis non ad Dei laudem, sed ad gloriam suam utitur, est quasi baculus arundineus et confractus.
Vide hic quomodo Christus in omnibus non tantum Patri, sed suis etiam illusoribus obedit. Purpuram suscipit, caput coronae parat, arundinem manu tollit. Sicut crgo Christus Rex gloriae spinea corona coronatur, purpura ac sceptro subsannatorie deluditur; sic etiam cum servus Christi in hoc mundo vilipenditur, et velut omni honore indignus abjicitur, et a praesumptuosis despicitur, et iilusionibus molestatur, cogitet, quod servus non est major Domino suOy nec pro malo habeat si patiatur simiiia Regi summo. Deinde cum signa regalia ei adhibuissent , fiectebant genua coram eo, ac derisorie eum ut Deum adorantes, et, ut regem salutantes, illudebant ei, tanquam regnare volcnti et non valenti ; ac irridebant ei, dicentes : Ave, Rex Judceorum. Q.uasi dicerent : Voluisti regnare, sed non potuisti. Regem Judaeorum eum vocantes, verum dicunt, etiam nolentes et irridentes. £t sic, secundum Bedam, adorabant eum, quasi qul Deum seipsum falso dixisset, et salutabant eum, tanquam qui seipsum falso Regem fecisset; quod fecerunt, ut eorum illusio responderet Judaeorum accusationi, quia de utroque accusabatur a Judaeis. Detestabilis .
mentis afFectu haec hr ciunt , quia compungentes coronant, ac illudentes adorant et salutant. Et licet Gentiles hoc hr cerent, tamen Judaei hoc luunt, qui tanti criminis auctores erant; et ideo in Parasceve cum pro perfidis Judaeis oratur, genua non flectimus, cum forte Judaei hoc agebant cum Gentilibus. Ubi Chrysostomus dicit, quod milites pecunia corrupti hoc ad gratiam Judaicam faciebant. Augustinus autem dicit, hoc esse factum mandato vel permissione Praesidis, ut scilicet magis Judaeorum odia saturarentur, et fiicilius eum eriperet. Ex hoc articulo habetur documentum, quod nos caveamus ne Christum falso adoremus, vel salutemus. Mystice, falso Christum adorant et salutant, qui in eum credunt, sed perversis actibus despiciunt ; ore eum confitentur, sed factis negant. Item, falso adorant , vel salutant , qui inter orandum aliquid quod est contra divinum honorem mente pertractant. Item, falso adorant et salutant, qui in ecclesiis signa devotionis ostendunt, et postea injurias Christo graves in membris suis faciunt.
Item, falso Christum adorant et salutant omnes pseudochristiani . Jesu, qui irrisorie adorari et salutari voluisti, da mihi te Deum meum verum adorare in spiritu et veritate, et te solum verum Regem venerabiliter salutare, 18 Christus denuo alapizatur ET coNSPUiTUR. — Et, ut illuderent factis, sicut illuserant signis et verbis, dabant ei alapas, in augmentum illusionis, et hoc ideo, ut ipso opere ostenderent illusorium esse quod ei talem honorem exhibebant. In hoc enim illusionem suam magis despectivam fecerunt, quod velut adorantes Deum, et saDE lutantes regem, eum alapizaverunt. Et differt ista alapizatio ab illa que in domo Annae fuit facta : quia ibi una alapa ab uno ministrorum, hic autem plures alapae a diversis dabantur; et illa dabatur causa ultionis, istae causa illusionis. Documenta autem ibi posita possunt hic accipi. Jesu, qui alapis ccedi ifoluisti, fac me ore et vita tibi semper plaudere, et aliorum opera, licet mala sint, mihi in bonum coo~ perari concede, Et exspuebant in fadem ejus, sicut personae viles et contemptibiles. O quam yilis actus mili tum !
Ex hoc apparet quod isti dicuntur milites, non secundum nomen militiae praesentis temporis, quo generosi et nobiles, qui equites nominantur de calcaribus deauratis : tales enim nobiles personae non illuderent, non conspuerent, nec crucifigerent, nec vestes crucifixi sibi dividerent, quod ad carnifices potius pertinet; sed dicuntur milites, secundum antiquam consuetudinem, stipendiarii et servientes pedites, sicut patet in gestis Julii Gaesaris, ubi milites ab equitibus distinguuntur, et in Actibus Apostolorum, ubi dicitur, quod Paulus cum militibus ducentis, et equitibus septuaginta de Jerusalem missus est Caesaream. Ergo milites in hoc loco intelligimus viles stipendiarios carnifices, quales nullam f>erhorrescunt insoientiam ; qui dicti sunt milites, non a nobilitate, sed a fortitudine, erant enim robusti corpore, et ad omne malum expositi , ut dicit Chrysostomus, De quibus etiam dicit Theophilus, quod in istis illusionibus militaris vana gloria semper inordinatis gaudens opprobriis sibi propria ostendebat. Documenta hic possunt tumi sicut supra de consputione in domo Caiphae facta. O Jesu, qui in deliciosissimam faciem tuam eonspui voluisti, da mihi faciem tuam sacramenti Eucharistia* sumptione indigna non polluere, et conscientiam meam immundis cogitationibus nonfoedare. 1 9 Percussio capitis Christi cum arundine, documentum ex ea et oRATio. — Et accipiebant arundinem de manu ejus, et percutiebant sacrum caput ipsius : et ratione doloris infligendi, ut aculei spinarum fortius infigerentur capiti; et ratione contemptus, in signum vacuitatis et nihil : non enim tantum causa laedendi eum per puncturas spinarum et per ictus baculi, quantum causa illudendi et vilificandi hoc fecerunt, nam viles personae baculis sicut bestiae percuti consueverunt. Quasi dicerent ad eum : O tu homo vilis, utquid te Regem facis ? In hoc fiebat ei sicut furi, qui fune capiti circumposito , torquetur, ut recognoscat mala quae fecit; et sicut funis constringitur, ut se amplius profundet vel gravius torqueat, sic et Jesum coronatum arundine percutiebant.
Percutiebant arundine caput pavendum , daemonibus tremendum ac reverendura. cunctis coelorum Virtutibus , et venerandum Sanctis omnibus; caput benedictum in secula, a quo omnis benedictio non solum in barbam, verum etiam in oram vestimenti totius Ecclesiae manat. O miseri ! quomodo vobis adhuc tremendum apparebit caput illud, quod nunc sic percutere non formidatis? Et tunc sanguis per aculeos coronae de capite extractus, et largiter fiuens, tinxit caput et genas ejus, ita ut appareret quasi leprosus, quia sanguis et sputa apposita faciebant eum leproso simiiem. Tinxit ergo sanguis totum caput ejus , sicut cruor fiageilis extractus, et sudor sanguineus tinxit omnes alias partes corporis, ut non tantum manus et pedes et latus dicamus sanguine respersa; sed tota yeste tincta, Christum ascendisse de Bozra. Cerne i^tur eum cum cordis amaritudine in singulis suis affiictionibus , quia ; omnia sustinet quee ipsi Tollint quasi eorum servus; et ad omnia tacct quasi mutus. £t maxime cerne eum cum capizt ejus spdnis plemun , arundine grayiter et ssepe percutitur, quomodo depresso coUo patienter, cum dolore tamen magno, acerbos ictus suscipit et patitur.
' Perforabant namque caput sacratissimum acerbissime iils spinae, ac totum madefaciebant sanguine. £x isto articulo trahitur documentum, quod caveamus ne et nos caput Chxisti cum arundine percutiamus. Caput quidem percutiuni, qui divinitatem ejus impugnant, et eum, Deum esse verum denegant, nam, secundum Apostolum : Captii Ckrisii est DeuSf id est divinitas cfeans, est caput creaturae assumptfc. Arundo autem vel calamus signiiicat Scripturam divinara, calamo Spiritus Sancti scriptam, de qua in Psalmo dicitur : Lingua mea calatnus scriba. Calamo igitur, ut dicit Beda^ caput Christi percutiunt, qui divinitati ejus contradicentes , errorem suum auctoritabe sacrae Scripturae, quae calamo scribitur, conhrmare conantur : quales sunt, qui eum purum homiiiem fuisse dicunt. Item, arundine caput Christi percutiunt, quando propter aurum mundani favoris, qui per arundinem signihcatur, Deus ofl^cnditur. Item, caput Christi calamo percutiunt, qui ex Scriptura divinitatem, plus quam oportet investigare satagunt, unde et interdum sanguinem erroris eliciunt. Item, cum arundine Christum in capite percutiunt, qui per vacuam, id cst otiosam vitanx, Christum of£endunt, qui est caput nostrum, a quo in omnes sensus nostros vitaks operationes deduunt, qui -et operum nostrorum exempla nobis prcbuit.
Unde in quolibet otk>, cisi adest nobis opportunitas bonum faciendi, homo otiosus Christum quasi in capite percutit ; ita ut «x tali percvissione et spinarum pvnctione sanguis de capite Chritd emimgatur, hoc est quia Chnstas dolet et pungituT usque ad sanguinem de otio nostro, quia yi^ quod exempla sua non fructifidiit in nobis. Jesu, qui nobile capift iuum arundine percuti voimsli, da miki te caput nosirum per iua" nem vitam non offendere, sed tiki placitis moribus deservire, 20 DoMINIC£ CORONATIONIS 17 ILLU5I0NIS FiGURjE. — Coronatio et iUusio Christi , ac ejus patientia praefigurata fuit in rege David, quando ab inimico Semei , taBftt mala patienter toleravit. Semei pn>jecit super David Isfndes, ligBt et Itttum ; sic synagoga tnTecit in Christum palmas, spinas, et spotum Semei David virum sangiunum, et yirum Belial vocavit; s^magoga Christum seductorem, et maLeficiEm appellavit. Sed cum Abisai voluisset Semei occidere, David prohibuit; et Aageli occidissent derisores Christi, sed ipse xum permisit. Christum etiam prsefigoraverunt nantii regis David, qtios Hanon rex Amfmonitarum tam turpiter dehonestavit. Dayid misit Har non nuntios ad pacem instaunmdam, qiKirum vestes ipse praecidxt usque ad nates, et radii fedt mediam barbam ; sic Deus Filium suuro ad pacem faciendam in mundum misit, quem sjrnagoga nudans vestibus, barbam ip&ius sputis smlcuia^it.
De ftnCmissis autem Domini contumeliis dicit Augustinas : « Sic enim impkbantur quc de se dixerat Christus; sic Martyres informabantur Nfi DOMINI. 4d omnia, qus persecutores libuis> set £icere, perferenda; sic paul^per occultata tremenda potentia, commendatur prius imitanda patientia ; sic regnum, quod de faioc miuido non erat, superbum mundum DAQ atrocitate pugnandi, sed patiendi humilitatie vincebat ; sic ilhid graiLum muitiplicandum seminabatur borribiii contumelia , ut mirabiii pulluiaret ia gloria : » hasc AMgustin%ts. Vae igitur semel, vs YK bis, et v£ iterum his, qui post tam pNraeclarum humilitatis speculum superbia toUuntur in altum, opprobria refugiunt, et ad honores aspirant : rursus contemptui habefttes Det Filium, quem tanto ab hominibus amplius omni constat honorificentia dignum , quanto pro hominibas indigniora sustinuit! Unde Chrysosiomus : « Tot autem talibus fisictis ipse instabat silens, tu Too avLdiens baec in meatie habe continoe, et Regem orbis terranim et AELgelorum Dom. irLum videns contumeliam patientem , et omnia £ercntem silentio imitare. » Et iteram : « Qu« igitur erit nobis cura de cetero, si contiTmeiias ab aliquo padamoar, postquam hsec Christns passus est? » Etenim quod fiebat in Christo , ultimus contnmelise terminus erat; nec una panicula tantum, sed universum corpus patiebfllur injurias -. -caput per coronam, et arundinem, et colaphos; £icies, quia conspuebatur; genae, quia alapis caedebantur; cocpus totsim, per Bagella, et quia denudatum est, et per circumdationem chlamydis , et per ^tam adoratio^iem ; manus, per arundinem quam dedenint ei pro sceptro : ac si timerent ne prsetermitterent aliquid gravissimae praesumptionis.
Unde Ansebmts : « Regali purpura induitur ; sed pius im eo despicitur, quaiB honoratnr. Sceptrum in mami gestat; sed eo ipao reverendum caput qus feritur. Adorant coram ipso positis genibus in terra, et regem conclamant ; sed continuo ad conspuendum amabiles ejus genas sixbsiHunt, maxillas palmis concntiunt, et honorabile collum exhonorant : » haec Ansetmus. Omnes vero ist8B iilusiones militum, et coatumetiae Judaeorum Christo illatae nobis tribuunt mysteria, licet atia intentione ab eis sint facta , prout saepius tactum est supra. Haec autem sccundum Joannem ante sententiam Pilati facta sunt; sed Matthaeus et Marcus, post sententiam ea quae omiserant recordando ponunt. Sic ergo, utdictum est, Martyres informabantur ad perferenda omnia, quae a persecutoribus inferebantur. Quod enim tn veste duplici, scilicet alba et ru> bea Christus iliusus csse perhibetm* : in uno puritas suae hum«ntutis; in altero veritas Passionb eiprimitur. Hoc etiam significat duplex martyrii genus, quo in ptSrsionibus Ecclesia adornatur, ut sit candida virginitate, et rubicunda sanguine; et ipsa Exrclesia variis membrorum suorum flosculis vernans in pace lilia gignit, in bcTk) rosas, unde dicit admirando : X)rlectus meus candidus et rubicwtdtes : candidus, scilicet actione, et in pace lilium virginum; ac rubicundus sanguin.
e et in bello rosa martyrum. In utroque ergo habitu Domini potest omnis multitudo electonim intelligi : alba enira vestc induuntur Virgines et Confessores, et rubea Martyres ; unde et Dominus alba veste induitur, cum raunda justorum confessione circumdatur; rubea vestitur, cum in triumphis victoriosorum Martyrum gloriatur. Si autem te nudum absque his vestibus inveneris, veste Chrtsti rubea induere , et totus Christi passionibus adornare.
Sed nec illis sufficiebat quod ad majorem illusionem totam cohortem militum congregayerant, sed et Pilato jubente, coram ipso et toto popuio Judaeorum foris exspectante, qui propter festum non introibant in praetorium, adduxerunt foras Jesum sic illusum, et ad derisionem et confusionem paratum omnibus demonstrandum. Exivit ergo iterum Pilatus, de praetorio, foras ad Judaeos, et dixit eis : Ecce adduco vobis eumforas, postquam diligenter examinavi , et punivi, ad vobis satisfaciendum ; ut cognoscatis quia nullam in eo causam, scilicet mortis, invenio, licet afilictus et illusus sit; et hoc ad voluntatem vestram innocenti fecisse sufficiat. In eo habitu iilum ostendit, in quo illusus est a ministris, ut saitem sic quiescant videntes eum plenum opprobriis. Exivit ergo Jesus, ex praecepto Pilati, portans spineam coronam, et purpureum vestimentum^ et chlamydera coccineam, turpem et veterera , ac sceptrum arundineum. Ecce quam lamentabile spectaculum ! Incedebat quasi in habitu regali , sed patebat undique despectui. Ecce quomodo Rex et dux tuus confusione repietur et humiliter sustinet, ut te ab aeterna confusione eriperet , et a superbiae peste sanaret. Hic ergo instruimur ut opprobria omnia pro nomine Jesu Christi sustinere parati simus, et in omnibus humiliari ' studeamus.
Unde Anselmus : « Attende, animamea, quis est iste, qui ingreditur habens imaginem quasi regis, et nihilominus servi despectissimi confusione repletus est ; coronatus incedit, sed ipsa ejus corona cruciatus est illi, et mille puncturis speciosum ejus verticem divulnerat ; n haec Anselmus. Et, tunc quali despective loquendo , vel eos ad misericordiam provocando, dixit eis Pilatus : Ecce homo, ecce de quasi homine creditis quod vetiet sibi regnum usurpare. Quasi diceret : Etsi in aliquo male egisset, tamen ultra condignum punitus est , et ideo sufficere vobis deberet : videte caput ejus perforatum, totum corpus laceratum , faciem consputam , et pro Deo compatiamini sibi , quia frater vester est. Volebat enim Pilatus ut sensibiliter viderent qualiter fuisset punitus et illusus, ut sic moverentur ad compassionem ; qui animo liberandi eum fecit hanc ostensionem. Unde Chrysostomus ; « Propterea coronatum Jesum eduxit ad eos, ut convitium quod a militibus factum erat in eum videntes parum respirent a Passione et vomant venenum. » Unde et Augustinus : « Hinc apparet, non ignorante Pilato, haec a miiitibus facta : sive jusserit ea, sive permiserit, illa scilicet causa, ut iiaec ejus iudibria inimici libentissime viderent, et ulterius ejus sanguinem non sitirent. Egreditur ergo ad eos Jesus portans spineam coronam, et purpureum vestimentum : non clarus imperio, sed plenus opprobrio, spinis punctus, sputis illusus, flagellis afilictus. Et dicitur eis : Ecce homo.
Quasi dicatur : Si regi invidetis, jam parcite, quia dejectum videtis ; fiagellatus est ; spinis coronatus est ; ludibriosa veste amictus est; amaris convitiis illusus est; sputis foedatus est; aiapis caesus est ; fervet ignominia, frigescat invidia. Sed non frigescit; inardescit potius et increscit : » haec Augustinus, Ex hoc articulo sumitur documentum, quod nos Christum iilusum ante mentis nostrae ocuios habeamus, et in vestitu aut cxteriori apparatu non vane gioriemur; quoniam Dominus noster in vestitu illusus est. Et maxime in hoc sequi Christum debent religiosi et moDE nachi , qui Christum illusum repraesentant in habitu, tonsura et ferulis : habitus enim monachalis despectibilis est, et quasi illusorius hominibus mundanis ; corona autem capitis monachaiis repraesentat coronam spineam; baculi seu ferulae, quos antiquitus monachi portare consueverunt, repraesentant arundinem. Et sicut Christus non dedignabatur habitu illusorio populo Judaeorum ostendi ; sic non erusbescant monachi et alii mundi contemptores, qui, secundum Apostolum , spectaculum facti sunt mundo, in habitu contemptibili et insigniis regalibus illusoriis praedictis , Christum Regem imitari. — Item, est hic documentum, quod istam ostentationem Christi repraesentat sacerdos in elevatione hostiae, quasi diceret ipse : Etce homo. Quia enim sacramentum altaris est memoriale Dominicae Passionis, et Christus est passus secundum humanitatem, secundum divinitatem vero est impassibilis ; ideo sacerdos ostendens ibi Christum, congruentius dicit : ecce homo, quam, ecce Deus , licet ipse sit et homo et Deus ; sed homo patens fuit in illa ostensione, et Deus latens. — Item, est documentum, quod nos debeamus cum eisdem insigniis mystice acceptis, prout dictum est suis locis, ante conspectum Christi Regis nostri in judicio apparere, cum quibus ipse dignatus fuit Judaeis ostentari. Jesu, qui cum illusionis insigniis Judceis ostentari voluisti, da mihi ostentationem vance glorice devitare , et cum eisdem insigniis mysticis ante conspectum tuum in ex^ tremo judicio comparere.
Sed licet Pilatus haec agat, insatiabilis tamen sacrilegorum fiiror non cessat y quinimo magis instat. Ecce magna pertinacia Judaeorum, in procurando mortem Christi, nam obstinata nequitia non emollitur misericordia. Tunc enim illi Judaei, filii diaboli, cum vidissent eum sic punitum et illusum, et cognoscerent, quod Pilatus sic volebat dimittere eum, in nullo compatientes ei, ac punitionis correptione , et illusionum opprobrio non contenti, nec Pilati excusatione placati, clamabant, tumultuose, et alios ad clamandum excitabant, di^ centes : Crucifige, crucifige eum, Quasi dicerent : Haec poena nullo modo nobis sufficit, sed petimus quod moriatur. Videntes eum magis commovebantur, quia ex aspectu ejus qui odio habetur, magis contra eum cor odientis inflammatur. Ingeminant autem crucifige , propter desiderii vehementiam, et quia voluntate et opere crucifixerunt eum. Magna crudelitas, quia non sufficit eis alterum, scilicet vel flagellare, vel occidere, sed utrumque; nec contenti sunt quacunque morte, sed turpissima et durissima se crucis desiderant occidere, clavis affigi ad lignum quaerunt : ne dolor citius finiatur, sed morte prodacta moriatur, et ut in cruce diutius videatur, et modo mortis diffametur. Et, secundum Chrysostomum, formidantes ne. aliqua ejus post ipsum fiat memoria , student et ad supplicium ducere maledictum.
Verum, ut dicit Rabanus , Judaei de morte pessima cogitabant , sed a Domino, non intelligentibus eis, electa erat. Ipsam enim crucem, diabolo superato , erat tanquam trophaeum in frontibus fidelium positurus. Cerne etidm nunc quomodo sic contumeliose vestitus et coronatus, et cum sceptro incedit, et quomodo facie dimissa stat coram t^mta multitudine vociferante et clamante : Crucifige, crucifige, ac semper eum deridente et slbi insultante, quasi sapientiores co fuerunt ; et sic non solum dolores et poenas, sed etiam coQtumelias et terrores recipiebat ab eis. Ek hoc articulo, qui in clamore consistit, trahitur documentum, quod non refert ad culpae intentionem occidere hominem lingua vel gladio, unde Psaimista : Ldngua eorum gladius acutus; et loquitur ad litteram de Judasis clamantibus : Cj'UCiJige, Superquo Augustinus : « No11, ait, attendere inermes manus, sed os armatum, inde gladius processit quo Christus occideretur. » Caveant ergo sibi detractores, et proximorum infamatores, ne exacuant ut gladium linguas suas : quia sicut gladio corpus, sic lingua fama hominis perimltur ; unde dicitur in Proverbiis : Mors et vita in manihus linguce. Item, est documentum, quod non semper ad quaelibet interrogata est respocdendiun. Ad conformandum se;. ^uU: articulo, recogitet homo quam tcrribiles fuerunt illi clamores Judaeorum, et rememoretur an ipse unquam iniqurs hominum insidiis, aut oblocutionibus , seu detractionibus contra proximum per consensum conclamaverit, vel alias prout Deus dederit, et sic oret : JesUj qui terribiies Judceorum voces, crucifige, crucifige clamantium, audire minbne expavistiy da mihi inimicorum tuorum verbis exsecrabilibus non terreri, et lingua mea noai" mentum proximo non inferre.
Sed Pilatus videns Christi imiocear tiam, et Judaeorum malitiam im{>eilentium ad rem illicitam, et recusans crucifigere Jesum, dixit eis : Accipite eum vos , et crucifigile^ qui sine causa coasuevistis innocentes condemnare, ego enim non invenio in eo causam , sdlicet cructfigendXj et dandi talem seateatiam. Verum dixit Pilatus , quia Christus peccatum non fecii, nec inveMtus est dolus iu ore ejus ; unde bene dicit, in eo, quia causa mortis Christi non fuit in eo, sed in nobis. Et ideo dicit Bemardus : tt Piissime Jesu, quid tibi et mortir Nos peccav^us, et tu luis ; nos debuimu&, et tu solvis. » Ac si diceret Pilatus : Mihi non licet cnicifigere innocentem, vos crucifigite; si vultis. Derisorie et indignanCer hoc dixit, quia non habebant potestatem judicandi aliquem ad mortem ; unde secundum Chrysos^ tomwM, quod dixit : Crucijigite , exsecrantis fuit hoc verbum, et ad rem non concessam illis impellentis. Videntes autem Judaei quod Pilatus clamoribus eorum non acquiesceret y incoeperunt allegare rationes alias j. quam supra allegfrverant , et accusabant eum » quia contra Legem Dei Filium Dei se fecit, et ideo ut blasphemus^ secuxidum Legem quaiia habebant, mori deberet. Erras , o Judaee , quia se Deum non fecit , sed Pater eum genuit Deus Deum ,.
et ergo Filium Dei se dicendo , non blasphemayit, sed veritatem dixit. Unde Augustir nus : a Ecce altera major est invidia^ parva quippe illa videbatiir velut affectatae illicito ausu re^iae potestatis. Ex tamen ueutrum sibi Jesus mendaciter usurpavit, aed utrumque,. scilicet : quia erat Rex, et Filius Dei, verum est : el uni^ nilus est Dei Filios, et Rex a Deo constitutus super Sion montem sanctum ejus ; et utrumque nunc demonstraretur , nisi quanlo enU potentior, tanto mallet esse patientior : )) haec Augusti^us, Tuat ergo Pilatus magis iimuit, ne forte verum esset quod esset Dei Filius» et sic factum enorme fed»set ipsum punicndo et iUudendOr et ne videretur inique agere ocd* dendo. Illi vero hoc dicentes aoa borruerunty sed Lnterficiunt eum, pro quibus oportuerat adorare. . Seauidum Atigustinum, Piiatus non timult Legem eorum , ut ocdderet, qoia alienigena erat, et Legem non ofaservabat; sed magis timuit Fiiium Dei ue occideret, Prius timuit occadere innocentem , nunc magis tiset occidere Dei Virtutem. £t ideo volens de hoc secretius inquirere noa amplius interrogavit : Qytid fecisti?
Sed iugressus est iiirum prcetorium cum Jesu, ut ' YCintafiem magis posset cognoscere estta tumuitum Judeorum, et dixit ad eum : Unde es tu? id est unde dttxisti Ofiginem? Perhoc quaerebat, utnua. esset Deus, originem habens dLwinsm; vei homo,habeiisoriginem tflnenam. Jesus autem non. dedii ei responsum, implens iilud propheticum : Sicut ovis nQn. aperuU os smmmf ut nobiis daret patientiae exemplum. Quxa enim Pilatus altam quaesivit quaestionem, non audivit re^)onsionem : nam divina generatio infideii et incredulo explicaxuiji non erat, et quia suam Passaonem impedire nolebat, cum ad hoc venisset, quod pro nobis pati veUet.
DLxit ergo ei Pilatu&, pro«ocaas eum ad responsum alic^uod, per qfood illa accusatio exciudi po&aet : Mihi non loqueris ? Mirabatur dft ^us taciturnitate , cum esset in faxycXQ Uberationis , vel condemnalioois suae. Ideo sequitur : Nesds ^da potesiateoi habeo crucifigere tt, et potestatem habeo dimiitere te? Qasaa dioeret : Mihi saltem debetes reapondere. Tua, Pilat&« voce constringeris ; tua sententia damnaris. Si enim in te totum est paeitum, quare innocentem, in quo aoilam causam invenis, noQ absolm ? Pro potesXnte ergo,. non pro lequltate cnicifigendum Dominum tnidis; per potesutem latronem «haoiTis* Auctorem vero vitae interficis.
£t quisL glooatur de sua po^ testate , ideo respondit Jesus ad reprimendum ejus jactantiam et tu> morem, dicens : Non haberes potestatem adversum me ullam , quantulamcunque liabes , nisi hoc ipsum quidquid est, tibi essei datum, et conceasum desuper, scilicet a Caesare, et viherius permissum a Deo qui est potestas superior , et a quo est omnis potestas. Et ex hoc arguit ejus peccatum , quia ^ion acceperat potestatem a Caesare et a Deo con. demnandi innoxios, sed magis liberandi eos. Et quia Pilatus Gentilis erat, et superioris potestatis timorc angebatur, dicit eum minus peccare quam Judxos, qui Legem noverant et invidia movebantur. «i PIus enim peccat, ut ait Augustinus^ qui potestati innocentem occideodum livore tradit, quam potestas ipsa si eum timore alterius majoris potestatis ocddit. Nec timendo quidem, praesertim innocentem, homo hominem debet occidere; sed tamen id zelando facere, multo magis mahim est quam tim-endo : » haec Augustinus. Et similiter traditor plus peccavit, qui pro quaestu eum Judsis tradidlt. Majus ergo erat peccatum Judas et Judsorum, quam Pilati : quia ad occiskMiem Christi Judas fuLt motus cupiditate ^ Judaei autem rancore ; sed.
Pilatus humaoao tLmore.
Et exinde ^ id est ex hac causa ,. et propccr hoc ^ scilicet ne peccaret » et peccatum haberet occidendo innocentem,. et Dei Filium, quderebat Pilatus dinUttere eum absolutum , quamvis minu& esset peccans quam aiii qui trttdidcrunt illum z non quod tunc pri-^ mum concLperet, sed ^ prius i^oie^ bat, iDodo quserebaL Supffa enim lentabat Jesum dimittere; sed ez tuac ^mnxTia et constantl aoimo qucrebat hoc facere, JudcBi auteoi non valentes per falsas accusationes circumvenire judicem , nituntur ei de injuria Caesaris ingerere timorem, et ideo de hoc magis quam de omnibus superius diotis eum terrere putantes , clamabant, dicen^ tes : Si hunc dimittis, qui se Regem facit, non es amicus et fidelis minister Ccesaris, id est non zelas pro honore et statuto domini tui custodiendo, et ideo amicitiam ejus amittes. Omnis enim qui se regem facit^ usurpando potestatem sibi, contradicit Ccesari, Imperatores enim Romani abstulerant a Judaeis regiam dignitatem, et ideo qui inter Judaeos dicebat se regem, videbatur facere contra Imperatoris ordinationem, sine cujus consensu non solebat quis titulo uti regio. Haec enim potestatis est terrenae natura , quod una est impatiens consortii aliarum , unde et ideo Caisar non patiebatur alium dominari. Ubi Chrysostomus : a Et unde habetis demonstrare hoc : a purpura, a diademate, a curia, a militibus? Nonne solus semper cum discipulis incedebat, per omnia viliter transiens, et cibum et scholam et habitationem ? » haec Chrysostomus.
Cum autem Pilatus audiisset minas sibi inferri a populo de indignatione Caesaris , adhuc plus timuit. Nam, secundum Augustinum, non sic potuit Pilatus contemnere Caesarem auctorem potestatis suae, quemadmodum Legem gentis alienae. Timens ergo Caesarem, et non audens etiam secundum minimam apparentiam facere contra ejus honorem, adduxit Jesum foras, extra praetorium, et ^edit pro tribunali, id est ante tribunal vel in tribunaii ; nam apud •Graecos haec praepositio pro , idem est quod ante vel in, hoc est sedit in loco sedis judicare, seu ad judicandum, quod est officium sedentis in tribunali. Est enim tribunal sedes judicum , sicut thronus vel solium regnum , et cathedra do« ctorum. Et dicitur tribunal, quia apud Romanos tribuni causas particulares decernebant, dicti a tribubus quibuspraeponebantur. . Sedit vero , 1« loco qm dicitur Graece X'. 06aTO(OTOC, id est lapidum stratura, ^sive pavimentum yariet«te lapidum stratum : sic dictum a X(9o?
, quod est lapis, et (iTpwTbv, quod est stratura, seu pavimentum ; quia ilie locus diversis lapidibus erat pavimentatus, et erat ante domum Pilati. Et idem locus dicitur Hebraice Gabbatha, id est collis, sive sublimitas, ex coaccrva* tione lapidum; quia locus fuit sublimis vario lapide stratui, in quo tribunal erat. Erat autem Para' sceve, id est praeparatio Paschtf, hora quasi sexta. Graecis admixti Judaei Graecis crebro utebantur vocabulis. UapacxcU'^ autem Gr«ce dicitur praeparatio Laline. Sic dicebatur feria sexta, quia in ea prseparabant necessaria pro sabbato, in quo aliquid decoqui, vei operari non licebat ; sicut et in deserto duplex manna feria sexta , propter sabbatum colligebant. Dicitur etiam feria sexta praeparatio, quia Judsi praeparabant se mundando. Et congrue sexta die crucifigitur Dominus , quia per crucem reparaTit hominem, qui sexta die a Deo cst factus.
Sexta etiam hora Dominus pro homine est crucifixus , quia sexta hora homo in peccatum est lapsus. Nam, ut dicit Hieronymus : « Qua hora primus Adam mortem peccando induxit, eadem hora secundus Adam mortem moriendo destruxit. y> Sexta quoque horav qua major fervor diei est, crucifigi voluit ; ad ostendendum quod ez magno fervore caritatis passus rit» Tunc Pilatus jussit Jesum sisti judicio, et allegans pro ejus liberfrtione, dixit Judceis, quasieossubDE DDl sannando : Ecce rex vester. Prius dixerat : Ecce homo, ignominiam suam demonstrans, ut eos ad miserendum moveret, nunc vero ut eos magis moveat, ironice eis insultat, dicens : Ecce rex vester* Primo conabatur eum liberare, per Christi ludibrium ; secundo autem, per Judaeorum opprobrium. Quasi diceret eis : Mirum est quod hunc hominem fiageilatum, illusum et abjectum dicitis usurpare sibi regnum. Talis homo est quod regnum invadere , vel captare non possit ; unde erubescere debetis quod eum esse regem formidatis. Compatiamini ergo illi, quia de eo timere non oportet, vel tale quid suspicari. Et tamen Piiatus super hoc timet ab eis apud Caesarem accusari, et sua potestate privari.
Ubi Ouysostomus : « Et nimirum quae dicta sunt erant sufficientia, ut facerent eos de cetero ab ira cessare ; sed trepidabant ne dimissus rursus turbam ducat, et omnia pro hoc agebant. Amor enim principatus, vcrsutum quid est, et animam suffiviens perdere ; propterea magis iosistunt : » haec Chrysostomus, Unde Judaei sicut furibundi, clamabant, et ex abundantia maJitis iQgeminando dicebant : Tolle, tolle, scilicet ad mortem, et non quamcunque, sed. turpissimam. Et explicantes genus mortis, addiderunt : Et crucifigc eum» Interficere enim eum conabantur, et mortc exprobratissima, formidantes ne aiiqua ejus post ipsum fiat memoria. Quasi dicerent : Tolle eum a nobis, et conspectu nostro : gravis enim est Qobis ad videndum, nec possumus eum videre ; auferque eum de medio, et interfice. At quanto plus audiebant, quod Pilatus vellet libenue eum, tanto magis clamabant in contrarium. Ubi Beda : a Quia totam accusationem, quam adversus Dominum detulerant, crebra et sollicita Pilati interrogatione videbant evacuatam ; tandcm impudici ad solas sd preces convertunt, ut quod criminando, et quasi ratiocinando nequiverant, jam postulando et vociferando perficiant. Quem exinde ordinem saeviendi, etiam beatorum Martyrum persecutores tenuisse , satis ecclesiastica demonstrat historia : » haec Beda.
Dulcissime Jesu, quis tam durus et impius erit, ut clamores illos horribiles, toUe, tolle, crucifige eum, sine gemiiu*et clamore spiritus, aure corporis valeat audire, seu mente tractare? Pilatus vero terrorem, quem de Caesare ingerunt, adhuc superare conatur, et volens de ipsorum ignominia eos frangere, quos de Christi ignominia non potuit » mitigare, allegansque in ■ Christi crucitixione eorum verecundiam, dixit eis, quasi subsannando : Regem vesirum crucifigam? quod redundat in vestram ignominiam. Quasi diceret : Ex quo eum regnare formidatis, et jam de hoc fama magna fuit, non est honor vester quod rex vester condemnetur, et erit vobis verecundia si morte sic abjecta moriatur. £t ideo si non moveamini ab ejus humilitate, debet vos movere vestrum opprobrium, quod esset sl crucifigerem eum. Sed illi se a libertate regni Dei et Christi excludentes, jugum diaboli sumpserunt; ac perpetuae servituti et tyrannidi se subjecerunt, dicentes : Non habemus regem, nisi Ccesarem, Ex quo patet quod ex tunc perpetua; Romanorum se obligaverunt subjectioni , renuntiantes omni altcri regiae dignitati; patet etiam eorum obstinatio ad procurandum mortem Christi, cum pro ejus procurationc, confessi sunt in perpetuum seipsos subjectos servituti. Unde Chrysostomus : a Abnuerunt Dei regnum et traditi sunt regno Romanorum, quia quod habebant non intellexerunt ; ct ideo quod petienint acceperunt. » Hoc idem etiam facto clamant nostri pontifices et i^raelati, seu curatiy qui suas ecclesias dtmittentes ingerunt se negotiis temporalibus principatus, yei regni.
Per hoc autem iterum Judaei timorem Pilato ingerebant. Ut enim dkit Augustinus, apertissime contra Oesarem venire videretur, si regem se non habere nisi Caesarem profitentibus, alium regem vellet ingerere, dimittendo impunitum, quem propter hos ausus ei tradiderant occidendum. 26 documenta duo ex adductione Christi ad tribunal, actus cohFORMATIONIS ET ORATIO. — Ex qUO articulo adductionis Christi ad tribunal habentur^ duo documenta. Primum, quod nos debemus tribunal in mente nostra constituere, et ibi judicio astare, sicut Christus stetit ante tribunal proptcr nos, ut nos districtum Der judicium possimus declinare; juxta illud Apostoli : Si nosmetipsos dijudicaremus, non utique judicaremur, — Secundum est, quod tempore adversitatis judicium Dei cum patientia subeamus, sicut Dominus noster pro nobis ductus ante tribunal hominis obmutuit, et non aperuit os suum, cum omni patientia subiens judicium. Nos quippe tempore adversitatis, quasi ante tribunal Dei sistimur; unde Apostolus, post verba praeailegata, subdit : Cum autem judicamur , scilicet temporalibus poenis, a Domino cornpimnr, quia, ut dicit Glossa, poena ipsa nobis propria est purgatio, ut non cum hoc mundo damnemur. Quasi diceret : Idco cst bonum hic per punitionem temporalem judicari a Deo, ut hic correpti non damnemur in judicio futuro. Ad conformandum se huic articulo, attendat homo documenta jam praemissa, et oret mente devota : Jesu, qui ante iri» bunal Pilati addnci, et in judicia sisti woluisti, da mihi ante iribwiud mentis mea conscendere, et m»-; ipsum de culpis meis consdentiee tesHmonio disirictis judicare; jmdidum quoque tuum in adversis tam patienter hic subire, ut judh^ do tuo extremo valeam seamu astare, 27 Christus damnatur ad ceuCEM.
— Sed Pilatus timore maa. vincitur; et a tramite veritatis et justitiae detorquetur. Petente enim tota Judaeorum multitudine vocibus magnis, ut cructfigeretur, ttndea miser prcses Pilatus motus timore Imperatoris, et favore Judaici fKK puli, cui ipse praeerat, et a quibtis pecunias sperabat levare coirtra jadicium, et contra conscientiam ,. . qua Christum innocentem novcnt^ et in quo nulla causa erat, deiRt sententiam crudelissimam de morte innocentis, et per sententiam diffinitivam, tradidit Jesum, ut crud^" gereiur, judicio et potestate Pnesldis. Non dixit Evangelista ut crucifigerent eum; sed ut crudfi^ geretur , per Praesidis judicium; Sed ideo il! is traditum dixit, at eoa crimine implicatos , a quo alieni esse conabantur, ostenderet; noii enim Pilatus hoc faceret, nisi utid quod eos cupere cemebat imf^eret* Itaque Piiatus ambitiosus noleiifi amittere principatum , quanquam pronuntiasset Christum innocentem, ac per eum dimittendum; volens tamen ad complacendum clamoribus populi satisiBEicere» id est eorum voluntatem feicere, et non quod erat placitum Deo et justitiae; timensque ne accusaretur de Caesaris rebellione , cum hoc nullum suspicans periculum, si innocentem pauperem mortt a^dicaret, maxime quia contradictor aliquis non apparebat, protulit sententiam, et judicavit eum ob culpam affectati regni esse crucifigendum. )iNE DOMINI.
Quia eiiimc JudSasi Cflesarem regem etL dofBifUim fnrofemi- sunt, videna quod sic: se potestala^ Romaaorum subjoQennt , cQndfemAavit Jesum, qpaasi usurpantem Caesaris potestatem; et tradictiteum voluittaii ^so^ rum, ai cruciiigendum. Qua? aiutem fuerit fonntt sententrae, non est exparessum^' 9to Evangelistis ; vn evangelio* tamen Nicodemi scribitur, quod Pilatos protulerit seatentaam sub hia verbi» : Geii& tua coraprobKvit tEt regemv propterea praecipto te pfimunL flagellari , secundum principum statuta; deinde in cruce aUefvarai. Peccavit Piiatus, xtec excusatur, qutt cum judex esset, tenebatur ez officio- servare justitiftm, et VJBt txmore cedere debuit, nec amore,. ut faceret contra eam ; qui si onmiiiO' voluicset, quem justum pronuatiavevat, erifpere potutsset. MdottS: tame» peccavit quam Jvt-' daui : institit enim quantum potuit, itt illum eai eorum raanibus liberaret;, et ej^ moHvum fuit minus nalumf quia Jlidaei*ad occidendum Chriatam moti sunt per rancorem ct •diiim, Pilatus ven> propter timenn» Oessis et fovorem Judaeorum, Sic ergO' eis cxmsensit, quia cum ^Bbctu ^rori eorum obriasse potuit : consentit enim-, qur cum potsst arguere, non argmt;- non conaensit etiam consensu pleno , sed eeact». Stcut autem tmic Pilatus, sic hodie faciunt multi judices, timore ▼el fevore a veritate judicii dtdinante», et justitiam subvertent». EcQ» quomodo innocentissimuft Afnus, ut te a judicib et ltiDeitt(> justae et «etemae damnationiB eriperet, injuste propter te jndicio damnari praeelegit ; ecce quae non rapuit pro te solvit ; et tu, amma mea nequam et impia, nec dcfv^otionis soivis pinguedinem, nec cempasaionisref^ndis affecrom.
Cb^ta qtiantum amici ejus clamavenint, qmmdo iilam sententiam audiverunt. Sed maledicti gaudent et. exsuitant , quod intentum suum pravum habent. Rident„ et eum^ qui est verus et aeternus Deus, derident, et ej\is mortem quantum possunt accelerant„ non beneficiorum et operum ejus recordantur, non propter innocentiam ejus moventur; et quod crudelius videtur, non . propter afHlctionem quam in eo vident retrahuntur. £t sic hora tertia crucifixus est Domiaus linguis Judaeorum ; et sexta manibus militum. Uhde Augustinus : « Quoniam Judaei facinus intecfecti Christi a se, in Romanos, id est in Pilatum et ejus milites trans^rri conati sunt, propterea Marcus, suppressa ea hora qua Christus a militibus crucifixus est, qu£e agi sexta jam coeperat, tertiam potius horam recordatus expressit, qua hora intelliguntur apud Pilatum clamai» potuisse : Crucifige,. crucifige;.
ut non iUi tantum reperiantur crucifixtsse Jesum, id est milites qui eum ligno sexta hora suspenderunt, verum etiam Judaei, qui ut crucifigereturhora tertia clamaverunt.» Et iterum: aApparitores potestatishoca sexta crucifixerunt;, praevaricatoiies ^ Legis hora tertia clamaverujax. Quod illi manibus. . hora sexta; hoc isti lingua, hora tertia. Rei ^ magis isti, qui clamando sae\{iebant, quam illi qui obtemperando administrabant : » haec Auguatinus, Alul dicunt quod in hora tertia Dominus» jam condemnatus sit, et in hora tertia incoepta est crucifixio ejus; et occupatis eis in crucifixione, fiuxit tempus usque ad sextam,. et in hora sexta crucifixio fuit consummata : et ideo quod dicitur de tertia, verum est de crucifixionis principio ; et qjuod dicitur de sextti,. intelligitur de crudfixionis consummatione, secundum veritatem poterit esse meditullium horarum, et hora media inter sextam et tertiam : et quia medium denominatur ab utroque extremorum, ideo ab Evangelistis quandoque dicitur tcrtia , aliquahdo dicitur sexta.
Undc etiam in signum hujus ecciesia communiter, inter tertiam et sextam celebrat missas soiemnes, quia missic in memoriam celebrantur Passionis.
Ex hoc articulo condemnationis Christi ad mortem per sentcntiam trahitur documentum, quod nos caveamus ne unquam justam mortis sententiam animae vel corporis mereamur. Item, sicut Salvator noster sustinuit pro nobis iniquam, ab homine, contra se ferri sentcntiam ; sic et nos pro Deo curare non debemus iniqua hominum judicia. Unde Apostolus ad Corinthios scribens : Mihi, inquit, pro minimo est ui a vobis judicei-, aut ab humano die. Ad conformandum se huic articuio, oret homo, dicendo : Jesu, qui senteniiam condem^ nationis ad mortem, mortem autem crucis, innocenter subire voluisti , fac me justam mortis sententianif sive in corpore, sive in anima non jnereri, et iui amore iniqua homitium judicia non iimere, 29 Crux imponitur Christi hu^ meris. — Data autem sententia , reducitur Dominus intus, et spoliatur chlamyde et purpura, quibus fuerat ab illis indutus; et adhuc nudo coram eo existenti, vix datur sibi licentia vestiendi. Intuere et hic Dominum, secundum conside^ rationem supra de flagellatione positam. Tandem vestimentis suis , quibus eum spoliaverant, reinduerunt eum, ut ductus ad mortem magis cognosceretur in veste propria, quam in aliena. Et cum esset vestimentis suis revestitus, ducunt eum foras quanto citius, ne mortem ejus differant amplius; ubi ligantes fune manus et collum ipsius , judicium suse mortis ei imponunt, et ipsum tanquam malefactorem extra propriam civitatem ejiciunt.
Nam venerabile lignum crucis longum et grossum et multum grave ponunt super humeros suos delicatissimos, ut portet ipsum ad locum ubi erat crucifl^endus. Ut enim dicitur in historiis, opinio est crucem quindecim pedes habuisse in longitudine. Et quia lignum illud reputabatur profanum et immundum, et mors crucis ignominiosissima , quia, ut dicitur in Deuteronomio : Maledictus qui pendet in ligno, ideo nuilus eorum lignum illud nedum portare, sed nec tangere voluit. Idcirco imposuerunt illud Jesu ut jam damnato ; Agnus autem mansuetissimus patienter suscipit, et portat patibulum suis humeris in angariam mortis, tendens ad locum Passionis. Unde Augustinus : « Hic adimpletur illud Isaise : Cujus principatus super humerum ejus. Principatus enim Christi est crux ejus, propter quam, secundum Apostolum, Deus exaltavit illum; et sicut signum dignitatis : alii balteum, alii mitram portant, sic et Dominus crucem. * Et si inquiras, invenies non aliter in nobis regnare Jesum, nisi per asperitates; quo fit ut deliciosi inimici sint crucis : » haec Augustinus, 3o FlGURiE BAJULATIONIS CRUCIS. — Compietur nunc figura Isaac obedientis, et ad patris jussum ligna pro sui immolatione portantis.
£t, secundum Chrybosiomum, quomodo Isaac dimissus est, et mactatus aries; sic et hic divina natura manet impassibilis , sed mactata est humanitas, haerens cornibus inter vepres, id est inter retinacula peccaKpi^um , quibus natura humana detinebatur. Hic etiam completur viduV Sareptanae figura, quae collegit duo ligna. Unde Anselmus : V \ a Vide, anima mea, quomodo per omnia vir iste coarctatur et spernitur. Sub crucis onere dorsum incurvare jubetur, et sui ipsius portare ignominiam. O spectaculum, videsne? Ecce principatus ejus super humerum ejus; haec est virga aequitaiis, virga regni sui. » Unde et Hieronymus : « Hic educitur Abel in agrum a fratre, ut periraatur; hic adest Isaac cum lignis, et Abraham cum ariete vepribus haerente; hic adest Juseph cum gramineo fasce somniato, et tunica talari sanguine lita; hic adest Moyses cum virga et serpente suspenso in ligno; hic adest botrus in ligno portatus; hic adest Elisaeus cum ligno, ad quaerendum securim , quae in imo demersa erat, et natavit ad lignum, id est genus humanum : quod a ligno vetito in infernum decidit, per signum autem crucis Christi, et Baptisraum aquae ad paradisum natavit; hic adest Jonas de ligno forti in mare ventremque ceti triduo missus. » Unde etiam Augustinus : a Grande spectaculum !
Sed si spectet impietas, grande ludibrium; si pietas, grande mysterium; si sp^tet impietas, grande ignominiae documentum; si pietas, grande fidei munimentum ; si spectet impietas, videt regem pro virga regni lignum sui portare supplicii; si pietas, videt regem bajulantem lignum ad seipsum figendum, quod fixurus fuerat etiam in frontibus regum : in eo spernendus oculis impiorum, in quo erant gloriatura corda Sanctorum. Dicturo enim Paulo : Mihi autem absit gloriari, . nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Cktisti, ipsam crucem suis gestans humeris commendabat; et lucernae arsurae, quae sub modio ponenda non erat, candelabrum ferebat : » haec Augustinus, Portat autem Christus crucem, ut rex sceptrum in signum gloriae, quae est univcrsale rerum omnium" dominium item, ut victor trophaeum, et signum suae victoriae, quo principatus et potestates spoliando, triumphavit; item, ut doctor portat candelabrum, in quo ponenda erat lucerna suae doctrinae , quia signum crucis fidelibus est virtus Dei. Et sicut suramus sacerdos, quando ibat ad tabernacuium ut intraret sancta sanctorura, portabat clavem super humerum suum; sic Christus vadens ad tabernaculum sancti sanctorum, et volens nobis aperire, portavit clavem, scilicet crucem, super humerum. Bajulatio crucis praefigurata fuit in Isaac filio Abrahae. Isaac enim ligna propriis humeris ferebat, in quibus eum pater suus immolare volebat; sic Christus propriis humeris crucem bajulabat, in qua ipsum gens Judaeorum suspendere affectabat. Isaac ad obediendum patri se voluntarium exhibuit; sic Filius Dei Patri suo coelesti usque ad mortem obedivit. Duo autem populi Jesum ad interficiendum eduxerunt, videlicet Judaei qui corde, et Gentiles qui opere hoc fecerunt; isti olim per duos exploratores praefigurati erant , qui botrum de terra promissionis ad desertum afFerebant : per botrum praefigurabatur Fiiius Dei Jesus Chri- ^ stus, qui per hos duos populos, de Jerusalem in locum Calvariae est ductus; per botrum illum probabant filii Israel terrae promissionis bonitatem , per doctrinam autem Christi possumus considerare patriae coelestis suavitatem.
3i Christus ad supplicium exTRA CIVITATEM TRAHITUR , — Eduxerunt autem eum extra civitatem, quorum enim animalium sanguis inferebatur in sancta sanctorum, horum corpora educebantur extra c^tra , cum cremabantur et immolabantur. Bajulans vero crucem, per hoc nos inducit ad sui sequelaav» &icut aate dixerat monendo ad eaxn i Si quis mAt venire jpost me, abneget se^ meti^sim, et tollat cruoem sttam, et seguatur me. Sicut enim Christus auctor vitae, senteutit xn»rtis ■super euzn data^ crucem sibi bajulans, confestim ad locum sujz^icii foras educitur, tanquam male£actor, qui hujus mundi vlta iAdignus sstimatur; sic verus Christi imitator seipsum abnegct crucem suam tollendo, et exMrsi cassm, se^ cum improperia ejus portando tanquam purgamentum hujus mundi factus. ; semperque mortificatianem Jesu in corpore suo circuinferat, ut et vita Jesu in cotpoFe suo standfem manifesta fiat. £t nota quod haec tria, scilicet : quia exueruut eum veste re^a, et indu&iunt euni ve^ stimentis suis, et cUucerunt eum ut cruc{figerent, %urativa sunC Pb&* sionis in corpore m}Rstico, sciiioet E^lesia, majume temporabus An^ tichristi. Exutio regifle vestis «st spoliatio terrenfie potestatis ; mduitio proprite vestis est neversaA, pristiiMe paupertatis ; ductio ad orucifigendum «st violentia |>er8ecu> tionis finalis. Cum igitur Christus, Pilato impcrante, prascone damante, baij>ulaiis sibi crucem «mheretur ad supplicium; tunc eum -ducendo et accelerando, et opprobriis satu<* «ando, factuB est concnrsus peypuiorum post ipsom «untiura : «lii «uper i^sum plangebant, alii illudentes irridebaivt, alii iutum «et immunditias in caput et in facienn ejus projiciebant. Sed ipse quasi agntis innocens, et ut ovis coram tondente se, inciinato capite incedens, ad omnia tacebat, quoniam tanquam 4)vis ad occistonem^ et quasi agmus <id immolandum ductus est, et nos apertut os suum.
£t sequebatur eum triplex turba : prima carnificum, quae eum premerbot; secunda Judaeorum, quae eum irridebat; ter* I -tia amiomim, qofle «nirie Ijs^bat*,. et insupor ^uarta illflrum, qui oil videaduim spectacitlum voniebent» Unde noa eadera mente sequebmtur : sed ^uidam ut iaeti ■Norteatemaspiceawiat, quem viyientooi-odfxuAt; alii ut mortentem plangereBt, quem viventem idileKsrunt. DbcMrest aoitem <cum sociis, <kiiobi& u^ qw latronibiis, per medium urbiv ubi c^us oowfusto patebtt singviiB ad ostit et fores <cMiikientibas; iocc est societas. sua. O boDe iesu, quoitura xibi verecmwiiam isli fEUsiunt :. iatroaibus ie associant; sed et deterius tibi fadtmt, quia cfBoem por tandara inuponimt, quod de bftro nibus aon teigilur; tmde wm dcdixm cum miquis deputatns es, sed «t iniquorum iniquior. Indicibifis -esic,. DooBAne,, pfltiQtivida tua.
Hoc ad H^ teram procuratusn fuit per prind-^ pes Joidceorum , ut Cdxristus itiftf' mamtur societate IstFoniim, et a vulgaribus videretur in crimmnbttS oerum participasse ; «t sic ipai m^ derentur .) uste mortem «jus prooarasse. Sic et hodie frreqwMiter maiigni facicmt, qvu sonm nequkiam, per boAomra infomisfm operire<q^ieruot; per justiti« etiam sub^ersi»usem hod-i^ in muliis locis <dieptttantiar josti cum isi^iqaAiis. Ctoristos arutem permisit hoc tieri, US «steni deret qtuod pro peccacoribus TeJtelt pati. Unde Beda : u Sed ille ^cum ini^is deputatus est in morte, ui intquos justificsret in Resunwctio*ne, ^i cwn in Janna Dei esset, pjxh pter homines hoimo factus est, ut hominibos potestatem dantt fii&s D&fteri : » hsec Beda. Oooun« i^tar nu-nc, a<iiima mea, -et vide amatorem tuum -et Dom^inuin, pro tt crucem bajulantem, et ad patibolum properantem, ac taa crimcna suis poenis expiantem. Cenne eam^ quomodo sub cmere cruds curws incedit, et vehementer ansius an* helat. Compatere ei quantum .
po-^ les, in tot angustiis et ludibrionim fenorationibus posito. Certe beneficeres si juvares Dominum Deum tBnm, et diceres : Date, obsecro, aiiht cnicera Domini mei, et ego poftabo eam. 5« Ma&uc occu&sus. — Quia vero maBSta Mater et moerore confecta, propter multitudinem popuii appiopinquare ei non poterat , nec eum viderev ivit celeriter per aliam viam breviorem, et compendiosam cmn aociabus suis et Joanne, ut i^os prsecedens valeret eidem ap> prozimare. Cum autem extra portam civitatis in concursu viarum eom obvium haberet, cemens eum AC Qoeratum ligno tam grandi, quod ante iion viderat, semimortua fiacta est, et pene ezanimata prae anguMia, nec ei verbum dicere poterat, nec Dominus sibi, acceleratus ab Jms qni eum ducebant. O quam Iriales et dolentes, quam clamantes et pkxantes ibant mulieres sanctae sustentantes Dominam nostram Matrem ^us, non valentem se sustentxre yei sustinere; imo dicitur in temun corruisse. Credo quod ipsa libeater cnicem portasset, si poCuisset; et quamvis non posset, libenfsr accepisset. a Unde, ut ait AHsektms, hac voce, ut reor, sequebatur, dicens : Vadis, propitia* tor, aolus ad immolandum' pro omaibus.
Non tibi occurrit Petrus qui dizit : Pro te moriar. Relinquit te Thomas, qui ait : Eamus et noSy ut moriamur cum eo, et nuilus de his nisi tu solus duceris, qui me catlam conservasti, Filius meus et Deiis meus. Verum haec verha ez magnae pietatts affectu producta, ita ad hoc memorasse sufficiat, ut ocuhis ea pietatis attendens, dum tant« Matris gemebundis afFectibus compatitur, fructui pii amoris illius aliquaado remunerari mereatur : » hmc AMselmus. 33 RbSPBCTXO DOMQfl in fxlias JbaUSALEMy XjiTA. -* Uiterius autem Dominus procedens, par&m post vertit se ad ipsas mulieres sequentes et fidntes. Quia enim^ognovit Domi-^ nus qui stmt ejus, praetermissa furends populi turba, ad amantes et plangentes se feminas, oculos et ora convertit; suos enim Dominus libenter respicit, et dixit eis : Fi-' lice Jerusalem, nolite flere super me, nec lamentemini me moriturum, cujus dto resurrectio mortEm solvere potest, cujus mors et omnem mortcm, et ipsum mortis auctorem destruet. Non enim oportet flere eum qui propria patitur spon* te, sed magis ei applaudere. Ubi cum filias Jerusalem appellat, da* tur inteliigi quod non solum mulieres de Galilaea eum secutae sunt ; sed etiam aliquae mulieres ejusdem urbis per devotionem ei adhaeserunt.
Typum gerebant istae mulieres eorum, qui aliis compatiuntur et miscrentur, sed non sibi, aliorum peccata deplorant et accusant, sed de suis moribus non curant; contra quod dicitur in Ecclesiastico : Jdiserere animas tuce placens Deo. Non crgo prohibet £>ominus compassionem, sed praedicit aliam luctus causam. Unde subjungitur : Sed super vos ipsas flete, et super filios vestros, et supcr immioentt excidio urbis et gentis vestrae; vosque ipsas et vestram progeniem dignis lacrymarum fletibus abluite, ne in ultionem meae mortis damne* mini etiam cum perfidis. Secundnm sensum litteraiem, iletus ad quem induxit Christus mulieres, fuit pPCH pter miseriam per Romanos super Judaeos venturam; et iila miseria figura fuit miseriae super incredulos per spiritus malignos venturoe, cujus evasione flendum est, et oran* dum ante terminum hujus vitse. Quoniam ecce venieni dies, scilioet quadragesimo anno post Passionem Christi, in quibus steriles, quce non genuerunt et lactaverunt, dicentur beatce, quia agiliores crunt ad fugiendum, quam gravidae, et pro se solum anxiae. In die quoque judicii parentes dicent filiis se esse damnatos, propter amorem nimium filiorum; et e converso filii dicent se esse damnatos, propter amorem et sequelam parentum. Tunc incipient dicere montibus : Cadite super nos; et collibus, operite nos, quia aliqui prae horrore miseriae tunc dicebant : Utinam montes caderent super nos, et colles operirent nos 1 Similiter in die judicii hoc dicent reprobi optantes abscondi a facie Domini. Quia si in viridi ligno hcec faciunt, in arido qtiid fiet ?
Christus hic diciiur lignum viride faciens fructum, et per consequens indignum abscissione per mortem; viridc etiam lignum et fructiferum sunt justi et electi; sed aridum, infructiferum, peccatores et impii. Si ergo in viridi ligno, id est in Christo omnium virtutum virore virenti, hcecfaciunt, id est tot tormenta inferunt, in arido, id est in populo Judaico et peccatore ab omni honore gratiae destituto et arefacto , quid fiet? Certe gravius punientur. Quasi omnibus diceret : Si ego qui peccatum non feci, et fructuosus sum/sine igne passionis de mundo non exeo, quas tormenta marfent peccatoribus et impiis, qui fructibus sunt vacui? Certe, Domine Jesu, verum est, quia si tu arbor sancta, lignum vitae fructuosum et benedictum, tanta pateris, et ramis tuis spoiiaris, quid erit de nobis miseris, qui sumus lignum infructuosum et siccum, aptum pro igne et gehennae incendiis ? Si ergo incipit judicium de domo Dei , et omnes qui voluntpie vivere in Christo, persecutionem patientur, quis finis eorum qui non credunt Dei Evangelio et impie vivunt? Unde Augustinus : « Si hinc sine fiagello non exiit, qui huc sine peccato venit, quomodo flagellis digni non sunt qui huc cum peccato vencrunt ? » Unde et Gregorius : « Quoties mortem Salvatoris attendor, et patientiam Job et mortem Joannis Baptistae considero, dico tibi, o peccator : hinc considera, quid passuri sunt ilii quos reprobat, si tanta passi sunt quos amat ?
» haec Gregorius. Bonuni esset de his cogitare, ut cogitatio tantae angustias nobis timorem incuteret; et timor incussus a nobis peccatum perpetratum expelleret, vel a perpetrando arceret, exempio Hieronymi dicentis : « Sive comedam, sive bibam, sive aliquid aliud faciam, semper videtur auribus meis insonareilla vox terribilis : Surgite mortui, venite ad judicium. » — In praedictis duobus locis, quae modo sunt in ipsa civitate, sed extra ecclesiam sepulchri, scilicet : ubi Christus obviavit Matri, et ubi se vertit ad mulieres, adhuc, ut dicitur, apparent vestigia ecclesiarum, quae ibi factae erant in horum memoriam.
Cum ergo Dominus ulterius processisset, ct ita fatigatus ac fractus, et ex afflictione praecedenti debilitatus esset, quod lento gradu incederet, et amplius crucem portare non posset, deposuit eam ut aliquantulum pausaret et respiraret. lUi autem pcssimi nolentes differre mortem ejus, timentes ne Pilatus sententiam revocaret, quia voluntatem dimittendi eum ostenderat, coege^ runt Simonem Cyrenceum, sic dictum a Cyrene civitate Lybiae, patrem Alexandri et Rufi, discipulorum Domini, de villa venientem, et ad civitatem eundo eis occurrentem, ut portaret crucem post Jcsum, usque ad crucifixionis locum. Hoc autem non fecerunt ex compassione ad Christum, sed ut , citius duceretur ad crucifigendum ; item, ut ostenderent eum esse hominem fatigatum et infirmum, et sic non crederetur Dei Fiiius. Ut autem ait Chrysostomus , nulius aliorum acceptabat crucem bajuiare, eo quod lignum detestabile putabatur, et ideo Simoni Cyrenaeo, quasi in quamdam jacturam imposuerunt crucem portandam, quam alii recusabant. Qui portavit eam corporaliter et invite, non spiritualiter et voluntarie : tum quia hoc erat turpe ; tum quia forsitan erat Jesu discipulus, licet occultus. Et, ut dicit Hieronymus, nomen istius Simonis hic exprimitur, ratione filiorum suorum, qui erant Christi discipuli. Crucem Jesus diu portare non poterat, quia ex affixionibus praecedentibus fatigatus erat; et ideo Judaei crucem Simoni portare post Jesum imponebant. In quo docemur, quod quilibet debet portare crucem poeni^entise quandiu potest; sed cum ulterius non potest, tunc placet Christo quod alius pro eo portet.
Iste Simon, secundum quosdam , non fuit Jerosoiymita, scd peregrinus et advena, quia fuerat Gentilis, et factus fuit proselytus. Et licet ipsi tanquam contemptibili imposuerunt crucem Jesu, hoc tamen non vacat a mysterio. Significabat enim quod Gentilitas ab ipsis humeris immediate crucem susceptura ad ^redemptionem erat; quae et tenebras ignorantiae idololatriae exstirparet, quod Alexander interpretatur ; et totam Ecdesiam de Gentibus sanguine suo decoraret, quod signat Rufus; et per omnia moerorem Gentium, per obedientiam deponeret, quod interpretatur Simon ; et heredes regni fiaceret, quod interpretatur Cyrenaeus ; et crucem Christi in altum per poenitentiam extolleret, quod sustollere crucem Christi significat ; et ad lioc compellerent Judaei, per hoc quod verbum crucis rejccerunt, quod significat angaria. Ipse ergo Christus primus passionem crucis sustinuit ; et postmodum alii, et maxime advenee Gentiles, eum imitando. Sapientia enim divina ordinavit, ut ipse Dominus crucem primo portaret, et portando nobis portandum praeberet. Unde Hil^rius : a Indignus enim Judaeus erat Christi crucem ferre, quia fidei Gentium erat in reliquum, et crucem accipere, et compati. » Unde et Glossa : a Ecce non Hebraeus, sed alienigena et peregrinus opprobrio Christi subditur, ut plenitudo sacramentorum transire a Judaeis ad Gentes ostendatur. Simon quippe obediens interpretatur, Cyrenaeus heres, Unde bene per eum designantur Christiani ex Gentibus conversi, qui quondam peregrini erant testamentorum Dei ; sed nunc credendo et obediendo divinis mandatis, facti sunt cives sanctorum et domestici, sicque heredes quidem Dei, coheredes autem Christi : » haec Glossa.
De villa ergo Simon egrediens crucem portat post Jesum, cum populus nationum, paganis riiibus dcreiictis, vestigia Dominicae Passionis obedienter amplectitur. Villa enim Grece (r^oc vocatur, a qua pagani nomen trahunt; unde paganos appeliamus eos, quos a civitate Dei alienos videmus. Unde Theophilus : « Ille tollit crucem suam, qui venit a villa, id est qui dimittit hunc mundum et opera ejus, in Jerusalemi^ id est in supernam civitatem tendens. » 35 oRATio. — Ex hoc articulo bajulationis crucis sumuntur duo documenta. Primum cst, quod nos Christiani crucem portare debemus post Jesum, quia Christus passus bCo est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum , ut sequamini vestigia ejus, Unde Ghssa : « Prior Dominus crucem portat, qui prior passus est; postea imposita est Simoni Cyrcnsto, post Christum portanda^ quia debemus sequi ye«tigia e)us. » UnUe, ut dicit Ambrosius, non praecessit Simon, sed sequebatur. Hinc Domtnus in Evangelio : Si quis vult post me venire, tollat crucem smam quoti" die, et sequatur me ; ubi tria innuit necessaria, portanti crucem post Jesum, videlicet : quod portet eam Yoluntarie, et non angariatus, sicut Simon iste, unde dicit : Si quis *vult, etc.
;item, quod portet crucem suam, scilicet propriam, non sicut iste Simon alienam, unde didt : Crucem tuam; itiem, quod portet crucem, non pro inant, sed pro Dei gloria, unde dicit : Et vequatvr me, « Notandum autem, ut dicit : Augustinus, quod crux Domini noa tantum ilia dicitur, quac tempore Passionis Christi, ligni affixione construitur; sed et illa, quae totius yitae curriculo cunctarum disciplinarum ^irtutibus coaptatur. Intelligendum ergo crucem, non ligni patibulum; sed vitae virtutisque propositum. Tota igitur vita Christlani hominis, si secundum Evangelium vivat, crux atque nHUtjrium est : » heec Augustinus. Et ista est crux, quae quotidie est portanda. Hanc autem quidam portant voluntarie, ut viri perfecd, imitatores Christi ; quidam inyite, sicut qui cum murmure et coacti alicui se districtioni subjiciunt, vel bonum faciunt. Quidam etiam portant crucem alienam, non suam, sicut qui abstinentiam et districtionem Sanctorum prcdicant, sed in se non servant; vei, qui sub regida arctissima se miiitare gloriastur, sed per ejus observantiam non mordficantur. Quidam insuper crucem portant, sed Christum Aon sequuntur, ut qui pro laude huaiana laborant, sed adhuc Dei diloctione oon trahuntur; unde et akot Simon cruoem portant, sed noa moriuntur, quia corpus quidem per laborem affligunt, sed per desiderium gloriae mundo vivunt. Primi figurantur in Domino, et £ftciiint pcenitentiam meritoriam ; aUi figu» rantur in Simone , et hi liaciiiftt pcenitentiam, sed non meritorinn.
Unde Bemardus : « Vee seme! , yc iterum cruoem portantibus, et aoft sequentibus Christum ; v« portantibus crucem, non sicut Sal^wilor suam, sed ad angariam sicut Cfro* neeus alienam ! Si a*ucem ptntM cum Crucifixo^ cur non moricris mundo ? )» haec Bemardus, SpoaM igitur et Christi amore crucem tuifli porta p6st Jesum quotidie, et mohper oculum mentis in eum diri^ et levius portabis quscunque pate* ris. Unde Augustinus : « Quantuiiicunque propinat nobis prcsentif temporis tribulatio, parva patimar, si recordamur quis pro nobss iferit ad crucis patibuium , qui noo ux^ tat ad gloriam. » Cave etiam se unquam crucem Christo fobrioBS* vel dorso ejus imponas. Cruceoi enim Christi ad crudfigendn ipsum perhibetur carpeatare, f|iB aid perpetrandum mala oouatiir consilium et auxilium praestare ; ct dorso Christi crucem bajulandam imponit, qui peccatum suom di* vinae cwtiinationi attribuit. — So* cundum documentum est, secm* dum TJieopkilmn, quod qut «d modum Christi magister est, debot ipse primo toUere crucem, et timo* re Dei propriam camem crudfigore; et sic subditis et obedientibos saiutari cam angaria imponere.
M conformandum se huic articulo, vomemoretur homo quanta caiittte Christus crucem portavit, et quanti ponderis ilia crux fuerit, cm Siii omnia peccata mundi iniposita ■enuit; qiue omnia Agnus immoIgirius in humeris suis ■poctavit. Poterit etiam homo per itnaginem lecolere, quasi i^se portct criicem post Jesum, et cum Jesu iasiUr Sinoois Cyrenaei ; vel alias prout 4cfOtio ministrabit ■: Jesu, . gui cru•cem tuam prc^iis humeris bajatlare volmisti , /iK me cruoem •mKsUoris continentia sponie ojf^e' kemdert^ eamquepost ^. ffuotidie Imjulare^ 36 QuxTUOR suNO* caucsu k)&tanXES. — Et hic nota quod quatuor poEtBverunt cruoem -etiam materia]em, scilicet ■: latro slnister, qui ■sigBJfirat impQenitentes, qui decruce prssentis poenalitatis toanseunt ad crucem aeternae calamttatis; latro dexter, qui significat vere poenitentes ; Simon, qui significat de poenitentia murmurantes ; Christus, qui significat innocentes, aliomm peccata portantes. Primi sustinent pcTBttm, sed non fiEiciunt pcenltsn- ' tiam; Becundi f&ciunt posni^entnm, menariam et prcrpriam *; tertii ^ duirt peenitenrtiam, «ed non meritDriam ; qaarti fec^nt poenitentiam «eti ^^Fopria» , 80d meritoriam. FrinM ittqoc Jesus cnicom^uann ^qvandiu poterat •ba^ulavit; posttea imposita est Simoni congruo ordi> ne mysterii.
JeSUm autem sic exoneratum, sed ut latronem ligatum, duxerunt in Golgotha, quod interpreiaiur Calvarice locus, ad crucifigendum, clamantes ^ et vociferantes post ipsum. £t ista ductio fuit exprobrosior et poenosior inter omnes de quibus dictum est supra, pluribus de causis : primo ratione ignominiae, quia valde ignominiosum cst duci ad patibuium ; secundo, ratione societatis, quia ducebantur cum eo et alii duo nequamj ut interficerentur, quod specialiter factum est, ad majorem suam confusionem et verecundiam, ut non videretur distinctio inter Christum et alios. nequam; tertio, ratione multiplicis comitivse et turbc, quae eum sequebantur* sed non una eademque mente ; quarto, ratione ioci ad quea deduxerunt eua^ qui horrorem praestabat pariter et foetorem. £x isto articulo deductionis in Colgotha ad crucifi■gendum tria trahuntur documenta. Primum est, quod sicut Christus voluntarie ductus est ad patibulum, tanquam ovis ad victimam ; sic et nos voluntarie ducamur ad obedientiam mandatonmi Dei, et prselatorum vice Dei, qua propria voluntas mactatur. — Secundum est, quod nos sequi debemus Christum euntem ad locum suae Passionis, s^per nosipsos flentes cum muiierihus miseriam nostrae fragilis conditionis, quia, ut dicit Theophilus, Ettens i-niirma, qua; signiftcatur per feminam, «i smnpta cordis contritioneyerfpcenrheatiam flot, sequitur Christ? aTfi. Unde hanc proces&ionom ptengencivm et lugen«ium post Dcniinum Tept«Bentanni&, quando 'pFocesCTonies et litanias pro aliq»bus innnineivtit>us pericufis faciQUBS, sequentes cruoem quse antc processionem bajulatur.
Quasi dicamus ; Exeamus ad eum extra castra, improperium ejus poriantes; et sic juxta mandatum Domini plangimus super nos et super filios nostros. Similitudinem ergo processionis iiiius amarissimae , quam Christus condemnatus fecit, dum ad locum Passionis educerctur explendo, animo dolenti conqueraris Crucifixo, quod affectum tam fervidum ad suam Passionem prout dignum est, non habeas, nec hactenus habuisti. — Tertium cst, quod peregrini pro -^cfctivxttvvv^, ^^ religiosi pro obedvetvXA^ V^"^ ^^^"^ euntes, si aliquando lassantur, remcmorari debent istius itineris Christi, quo ad patibulum ducebatur; quoniam ita lassus fuit, quod crucem per se amplius ferre nequivit, niniirum cum per totam noctem et diem illam multipHciter fatigatus^fuerit. Si igitur Salvator noster tantam lassitudinem cum tanta ignominia pro nobis sufFerre est dignatus, cur et nos propter eum modicum laborem viae, et cum nostro honore non sustinemus ? Ad conformandum se huic articulo, recogitet homo, cum quanta ignominia Dominus noster ducebatur ad patibulum pro nostra magna gloria, et fleat cum sanctis mulieriribus fundendo lacrymas saltem cordis, et sic oret : Jesu, qui ad cruciftgcndum in Golgotha duci voluisti, deduc me in semitam mandatorum tuorum, ut cumsan' ctis mulieribus tuce sequar was Passionis, et super meipsum fleam miserium proprice conditionis.
VidCS itaque quomodo hsec quae in hora Completorii, Matutinali, Prima et Tertia passus est Dominus, absque aliqua crucifixione, vehementissimi et amarissimi doloris sunt et horroris valde stupendi. Cum enim in manus impiorum devolutus esset morte turpissima eonsummandus, parum erat sacrilegis illis crucifigere eum, nisi prius doloribus et illusionibus animam ejus replevissent. ORATIO • Domine Jesu Christe, qui hora diei tertia pro nobis flagellari voluUti , libera me ab aeternae irae flageilis, quae merui ; per sacratissimi capitis tui punctiones punge mentem meam, ut noxias delectationes vitare praevaleam, et da mihi post poenitentiam pertingere ad coronam. Qui etiam multipliciter derisus, tandem sententialiter condemnatus es ad mortem, fac me evadere diabolicam derisionem et mortem aeternam. Portasti tibi crucem, Domine : da mihi tollere crucem meam, et sequi te, meam utique, quae debetur peccatis meis, meam etiam spontaneam et devotam, ut pcr hanc perveniam ad gloriam. Amen.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Prov.17.15 — He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous—both of them are an abomination to the LORD.
- ↩Isa.53.2-Isa.53.4 — He grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty to draw our eyes, and no beauty that we should desire him. Isa.53.3 — He was despised and rejected by people, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we did not regard him. Isa.53.4 — And Surely he carried our sicknesses and bore our pains, yet we considered him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted.
- ↩Isa.63.2 — Why is your apparel red, and your garments like one who treads the winepress?
- ↩Isa.63.3 — I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples there was no one with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my fury. Their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and I stained all my clothing.
- ↩1Cor.4.9 — For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
- ↩John.19.5 — So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, "Behold, the man."
Notes
- 1 ↩The source text contains a typo 'subtraxistif' for 'subtraxisti' and 'tuftagellari' for 'tu flagellari'. The translation reflects the intended meaning.
- 2 ↩The Latin text contains minor typographical errors ('pa* rumper', 'nobilis* simum', '«t', 'respersum«', 'recoUigentem', 'iilorum', 'aiiquo') which have been corrected in translation.
- 3 ↩The reference to Peter is 1 Peter 4:8; the Song of Songs reference is 7:5.
- 4 ↩The Latin 'angustias' here refers to the narrowness or straits of the judgment, often associated with the 'narrow way' or the crushing weight of the final account.
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