On the stripping of Jesus and his being bound to the pillar and scourged
On the stripping of Jesus and his being bound to the pillar and scourged
LORD JESUS CHRIST, most gentle Protector of all who hope in you, I bless and thank you for your shameful stripping in front of the eyes of your revilers. By command of the impious governor, the praetorium’s guards despoiled you of your clothing—you were to die entirely naked on the Cross—they then bound you with rough ropes and finally beat and scourged you with sharp-ended rods, as though you were a vicious revolutionary and a vile malefactor. All this was done to placate the wrathful spirits of the priests, who were intent on destroying your life and on sending you with sorrow to hell.
With humble voice, I especially praise and honor you for being so tightly bound to that hard and cold pillar to free us from the chains of our sins and to restore everlasting freedom to us.
I praise and glorify you with endless gratitude for your barbarous scourging, for every stinging blow and piercing wound to your most holy and tender body. Those savage flagellators mercilessly struck your most pure flesh, tearing deeply into it, adding bruise upon bruise, wound upon wound, with the result that no part of your body remained untouched. Countless streams of your precious blood flowed in abundance from your wounds—like crimson rivulets from a river—to wash us from the long-standing filth of our sins and to cleanse us from all guilt.
Alas, Lord Jesus, how inconceivable the madness of your villainous tormentors! What hearts of stone in those striking you! Though you gave them no cause, they, nevertheless, did not hesitate to scourge you—the most comely of men—and as giants they stood over you and spared you not.
O holy Son, my God’s beloved Son, what have you done to deserve such dire treatment? Nothing, of course. But I? I am as one who is lost, for I am the cause of all your sorrows and distress. The enormity of my sins has brought this misery upon you, and to forgive my sins it was necessary for the Son of God to pay by suffering these bitter torments.
Therefore, devout soul, redeemed by Christ’s crimson blood, be mindful of the Lord’s scourging and in return acknowledge your gratitude to him with a compassionate heart. God’s servant in religion, you who live under strict monastic rules, bring this scene frequently before your mind’s eye. If you have some difficult task to perform, or if something unexpected happens to your body, all will become light and easy to bear, if you meditate on Jesus’ scourging.
Therefore, whenever you are corrected for your shortcomings or chastised for your sins, immediately call to mind the innocent Jesus, stripped of his garments and severely scourged for you and willingly prepare yourself to take the discipline in memory of the Lord’s Passion and in expiation for all your sins. Humbly kneel down, remove your scapular, and take off your habit; bend your head and according to the rule submit your whole body to the discipline. Between the salutary strokes, reflect in this manner: “I am ready to receive these stripes for my sins are always before me. Wash me, Lord, from all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sins. Against you only have I sinned and before you have I done evil; justly do I deserve this discipline.”1 It is better to suffer temporal punishments now and willingly than later to be sent off to everlasting pain. For he who shuns being scourged with Jesus will in the future be excluded from Christ’s kingdom as being an unworthy son.
O most adorable Jesus, who endured that most painful scourging for me, the worst of sinners, grant that with a sorrowful heart I may gaze on each of your wounds and kiss them with a deep burning love. From them I breathe the perfume of life and partake of the medicine of eternal salvation. Inflame me with the fire of your infinite love, for you have indeed manifested that love for me—your servant worthy of being condemned—by enduring so many stripes from the scourges in your tormentors’ hands. Whenever I am faced with trials, send me your grace to bolster my weakness, lest under the weight of these afflictions I become unduly dejected and agitated, and may I be mindful of your unjust scourging and meekly submit myself to all such ordeals.
Allow me a share in your sufferings and arouse in me the desire to amend my life by taking the discipline, and, being thus humbly chastised, I may present myself as being more pleasing to you in the present life and rejoice with you more gloriously in the next, where all the saints, with all fear of evil gone, rejoice in everlasting contentment.