CHAPTER XXI Of the plundering, and the sharing, of the garments of Christ
CHAPTER XXI
Of the plundering, and the sharing, of the garments of Christ
I BLESS Thee, and give thanks to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, and Giver of all good things, for the rude plundering and the mocking partition of Thy garments; when, as soon as Thou hadst been cruelly nailed to Thy Cross, Thou wast savagely despoiled of all Thy clothing, and wast driven forth disinherited even to the last farthing; so that there was not left Thee even a stitch of clothing wherewith to cover Thy nakedness, nor even a piece of linen for a shroud, in which after Thy death Thou mightest be wrapped, and be decently laid in Thy grave. If Thou art not to go to Thy grave naked, a winding-sheet will have to be obtained for Thee from strangers, and will have to be given as an act of kindness to one utterly poor and destitute. How hungry was the covetousness of those soldiers—soldiers indeed, nay rather low vagabonds! How shameless was the rapacity of those base men of the guard set over Him, who in their unholy greed were not ashamed of despoiling Jesus of His scraps of worldly goods; but sated, as best they might, their thirst for gain by making the meagre garments of the Crucified their prey! Having taken His garments, they made of them four parts, to every soldier a part, leaving entire the coat only, because it had no seam; and for it they cast lots, because they could not share it otherwise without wasting it. Alas for the wickedness of those robbers! Alas for the spite of those extortioners, who had not even so much pity for Jesus hanging on the Cross, poor and naked, as to give Him back some little thing, or to leave even a shred of one of His garments for His sorrowing Mother to keep as a remembrance of Him Whom she had lost! Not one of these things did they, because, urged on by the Devil, they were working out their sacrilege, without thought of a judgement to come.
O my most dearly loved Jesus, neither by word, nor by deed, dost Thou offer any opposition to all this: Thou dost endure it all in silence; and surely, in thus bearing the loss of all that belonged to Thee, Thou makest it plain to me what I ought to do when anything which I think needful for me is taken from me; for it is Thy Will that I should show myself more ready to bear the loss of worldly goods, than to claim things which belong to me of right. Thy garments were not, as I suppose, elegantly made, nor of brightly coloured stuffs, but rather plain and simple, such as poor folk would wear; or were, may be, made after the fashion of the clothing of the Nazarites or of the prophets of old; doubtless they were not the dainty work of a cunning tailor, but rather were woven and put together by the hands and the needle of the Holy Virgin, with skill inspired by the Holy Ghost; or were, may be, bought, during His childhood, for the use of her Son, by the Virgin Mother, with money earned by her by work done for her neighbours. To think of the Supreme Creator of Heaven, true God, and true Man, reduced to such straits as this! At His birth he had scarcely a few poor rags to cover Him, and now at His death, He has no clothes at all! Then a narrow manger held His infant limbs; now deprived of all His worldly goods, He has, in all the world which He created, no place to lay His Head except His Cross; for as He came into the world poor and needy, so now He willed to leave it naked and an outcast. At His birth He was tightly wrapped in swaddling-clothes; at His death He is pierced by lance and nails. The thought of so great misery calls surely for compassion; the showing forth of so great patience calls surely for imitation. Be thou, then, more patient than ever before, when things that seem needful to thee are taken from thee, or when things upon which thou hast set thy heart are denied thee. Learn to do with little, and to be content with what is mean and poor; so shalt thou be kept from grumbling, and shalt have peace in thyself, and favour with Almighty God.
O that I could possess, or could devoutly touch or kiss, even one small piece of those sacred garments of Jesus, my Lord, from whence so often went out such great virtue that the sick were healed thereby! How holy are the relics of those garments, and in what veneration should they be held, wherever they are to be found! Truly, if those soldiers had but known their worth, they would never, in their greed, have cut them up, or sold them for some mere trifle; but rather would most carefully, and with due reverence, have preserved them in caskets of silver; for they were indeed more precious than all the royal mantles of kings, and all the robes of bishops, nor has any metal been found so precious as to deserve to be compared with them. But their sanctity and high distinction were hidden from those ungodly men, whose anxiety to satisfy their greedy thirst for gain, made them unable to perceive the fragrance of their holiness. Alas! How sad it is to think that so noble a jewel should have been broken up, and rent asunder by men who cast lots for it. It seems to me that if some rich and powerful follower of Christ had been there at the time, he would willingly, for the redeeming of those holy relics, have offered a great sum of money; or would at any rate have secured some part of them; and having thus acquired a treasure of untold value, would have gone home rejoicing.
And now, O most sweet Jesus, patient endurer of so many wrongs, grant that, to the increase of Thy praise and glory, I may be able, by pious meditation, in some measure to undo the tangle which those soldiers, by way of causing Thee distress, set themselves to weave. Blessed be the holy and spotless garment, with which Thy virginal Body, born of Mary the Virgin, was for many years becomingly clothed. Blessed be the hem of Thy garment, on touching which all who had need of healing, and came to Thee in devout faith, were, as we read, at once made whole. Blessed be Thy coat, woven without seam, that should never have been used by man, but should have been kept for God’s holy service only.
For it ought to have been kept intact, not only on account of the special reverence due to it, but also as a symbol of the unity of Holy Mother Church throughout the world. She indeed, although divided by countries, nations, and languages, and although she has within her fold men of different ranks and stations of life, yet lives, and is governed and sustained under one head, and one chief pastor, as one whole body of the Church, keeping one faith, acknowledging one baptism, believing in God, One in Undivided Trinity; having one Spouse, Jesus Christ, reigning in Heaven, from Whose Side no temptations of whatever kind can separate her: for Thou, O Lord, hast indeed given to Thy Bride, the Catholic Church, an impregnable shield against all error—the word of truth, the light of knowledge, and the fervour of charity—that so she may obtain the crown of everlasting life which fadeth not away.
O Jesus, King of kings, at once the richest and the poorest of men, O Lord most poor, as stripped of Thy clothes, and deserted by Thy friends; but at the same time most rich in the fullness of Thy spiritual gifts; grant, I beseech Thee, to me, Thy poor servant, out of the abundance of Thy excellences, to have one at least in its fullness, that, namely, of not being found naked and ashamed before Thee, like the man who was found at the marriage supper not having on a wedding garment, and was presently, for this defect, cast out from the company of the Saints. May my heart be torn to pieces by a wholesome sorrow for sin, in remembrance of the tearing of Thy garment into four parts, so that by one at least out of four motives I may be moved to repentance; by fear of Hell, by hope of future glory, by sorrow for past sin, or by thankful love for grace given me. Give me also that of which Thy seamless coat is the symbol—the unity, namely, of brotherly love in the bond of peace, that so I may get rid of everything which may lead to dissension; may shun the hubbub of the world; may, for love of inward peace, abstain from foolish talk and speculation; may rejoice to lead a poor and hidden life with Thee; and may have no hankering after this world’s pleasures. May I not be anxious to have anything of my own; since Thou, when on earth, hadst no worldly goods, and the little that Thou thoughtest fit to use for Thy actual need, that even Thou didst allow robbers to take from Thee, and to waste; thus setting to all those who are suffering wrong, an example of patience, that so they may not regret overmuch the loss of what belongs to them.