CHAPTER XIV The stripping naked, the binding to the pillar, and the scourging of the Lord Jesus
CHAPTER XIV
The stripping naked, the binding to the pillar, and the scourging of the Lord Jesus
I BLESS Thee, and give thanks to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, most kind Protector of all who hope in Thee, for the shame Thou didst endure in being stripped naked, in the sight of those who mocked Thee, when, by the cruel order of the wicked Governor, Thou wast ordered to be stripped by the Roman soldiers of Thy clothing, and to be hung upon the Cross quite naked, to be bound with hard cords, to be beaten with sharp-cutting rods, and to be scourged as if Thou hadst been a wicked seducer of the people, and the vilest of malefactors—all which was done to conciliate the wrath of the priests, who sought to glut themselves with Thy Blood, and to bring Thee down with sorrow to the grave.
I laud and magnify, and humbly praise Thee, especially for the fast binding to the stony pillar, which Thou didst endure, that so Thou mightest loose us from the bonds of our sins, and mightest restore to us that freedom which knows no end.
I praise and glorify Thee with thanksgivings which shall never cease, for Thy most cruel scourging; and for each of the hard stripes, and most sharply cutting wounds, inflicted on Thy most sacred and tender Body by those fierce soldiers who mercilessly struck Thy virgin Flesh, and rent it deeply, adding blow to blow, bruise upon bruise, that so there might remain no sound part in Thee, and that at each stroke numberless streams of Thy Precious Blood might gush forth like those of a crimson river—all which Thou didst endure that Thou mightest purge us from the deep-rooted pollutions of our sins, and mightest cleanse our souls from every guilty stain by Thy own most Precious Blood.
Alas, alas, O Lord my God, how great was the fury of those most wicked Jews, what hearts of stone were those of the men who struck Thee, who shrank not from scourging Thee, the fairest of men, all sinless as Thou wert; but reared themselves like giants over Thee, and did their very worst against Thee!
O Thou Holy and Well-Beloved Son of my Lord, Thou Who art Innocence itself, what hadst Thou done to deserve such bitter pains? Nothing, nothing. Why then was all this? It is I—I a man lost and undone—who am the cause of all Thy misery and distress. Woe be to thee, thou mighty burden of my sins, to rid me of which it was needful that the Son of God should endure such torments!
Keep therefore ever in remembrance, O faithful soul, redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ, the Scourging of thy Lord; and, suffering so far as thou mayest with Him, give to Him in return the obedience of a heart filled with a lively sense of gratitude.
And thou, humble servant of God in religion, who livest under the strict rule of monastic life, fail not hither to turn the eye of thy mind in meditation. For if thou hast anything hard, anything contrary to the flesh, to endure; if only thou wilt meditate on the scourging of Jesus, it will be to thee light and easy to be borne. When, therefore, thou art reproved for thy faults, or art even to be scourged for thy transgressions, call to mind at once the thought of the all-sinless Jesus stripped, for thy sake, of His clothes, and for thy sake grievously scourged; and willingly get thyself ready to receive discipline in memory of the Passion of thy Lord, and to expiate thy sins. Fall humbly upon thy knees, lay by thy scapular, take off thy habit, bow thy neck, offer thy whole body to the discipline which has been ordered thee, and between the strokes, as they fall upon thee, meditate devoutly thus: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my affliction is ever in my sight: wash me yet more, O Lord, from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin: against Thee only have I sinned, and done evil in Thy sight: therefore have I justly deserved to receive discipline.” It is better for thee now with good will to receive temporal punishment, than hereafter to be condemned to everlasting torments. For those who shrink now from being scourged as Jesus was, will, in the life which is to come, be shut out from the Kingdom of Christ, as children who are unworthy of it.
O altogether sweet Jesus, Who for me, the chief of sinners, wast most cruelly scourged, grant that I may gaze with a heart full of sorrow upon each wound made upon Thy sacred Body by the scourge, and that I may kiss it with heartfelt fervent love; and so may feel the savour of life, and the medicine of eternal salvation, flowing forth from thence upon me. Set me aflame with the fire of that boundless love, with which Thou didst prove that Thou lovedst me, when Thou didst vouchsafe most patiently to endure so many blows of the cruel scourge for me, Thy servant lying under condemnation. When tribulation of any kind comes upon me, grant, I pray Thee, to my weakness the help of Thy grace; that so I may not be cast down under its burden, nor be too much distressed by it; but, remembering Thy undeserved scourging, may be found meek and submissive under what I have to bear, no matter how heavy it may be. Make me a partner in Thy sufferings, and stir me up to amendment of life by the chastening of sons, that so, by bearing punishment with due meekness and humility, I may in this life present become more pleasing to Thee, and in the life to come may rejoice with Thee more gloriously, in that Place, where all Thy Saints, no longer in fear of sin, rejoice for ever in the victory which Thy sufferings have won for them.