CHAPTER XXX Of the woeful departure from this world of the Lord Jesus
CHAPTER XXX
Of the woeful departure from this world of the Lord Jesus
I BLESS Thee, and give thanks to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, Life of the living, Hope of the dying, Saviour of all who trust in Thee, for Thy departure for a season out of this world; and for Thy happy return, through the agony of a cruel death, and the splendid martyrdom of the Cross, to the Bosom of the Father.
I praise and glorify Thee for Thy ashy paleness at the moment of death, for Thy sacred last agony, for the gradual failure of Thy bodily powers, and for the breaking of Thy Heart so full of love—all which was the penalty which Thou, the Giver of Life to all things that have breath, didst not shrink from paying, when Thou submittedst Thyself to the sentence of death, in order that thereby Thou mightest open to us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.
I praise and glorify Thee for the loud cry which Thou didst utter from Thy Cross with super-human strength; for the sad divorce and bitter parting of Thy all-glorious Soul from Thy Body so full of love; for Thy most devout commendation of Thy Soul into the Father’s hands; for the meek bowing of Thy sacred and thorn-crowned Head upon Thy Breast, in token of filial obedience persisted in to the last; for Thy loving yielding-up of Thy all-holy Soul for the Salvation of the world; and for that most sacred Word in which Thou didst pour forth Thy cry of loving prayer, saying: “Father, into Thy Hands I commend my Spirit”—which done, Thou didst straightway draw Thy last breath, and falling into a calm sleep, didst bring Thy earthly sojourn to an end.
How precious and victorious a death was that which slew our death, and purchased for us everlasting life. May then, O Christ, Thy death always remain fixed in my remembrance; and when thinking of Thy Blessed Death may I ever be mindful of my own; that so, when the end, all so uncertain, of my life shall come, I may not give way to panic or despair. This is the hour which, from the moment of Thy conception, Thou didst ever keep in mind; and to this hour didst Thou go forward as a traveller hasting to regain his fatherland, or a keen workman longing to attain the object of his toil. From the highest Heaven Thou didst come forth into the world; from the world Thou didst descend even into Hell; and from Hell Thou hast retraced Thy steps to Thy Throne in the highest Heaven.
And now, O my soul, bewail as best thou mayest the most cruel death of the Lord thy God, Who loved thee with so vast a love; think how Jesus died, and of the signs which marked His departure from the world. See how the Holy One and the Just dies, and no man lays it to heart: no one, save His poor sorrowful Mother (who, with a scanty following of her friends, stands weeping at the Cross’s foot) realizes Who, and how mighty He was. She indeed has seen her most dearly-loved Son hang there above her, with His Body naked and covered with blood; she has seen Him growing paler and paler; she has seen Him in His agony; she has heard Him crying with a loud voice, as He yielded up the Ghost. What wonder, then, that she was overwhelmed with grief, that the blood left her cheeks, and that her soul fainted within her when her Saviour hung before her lifeless on His Cross. Stand thou, then, by Mary’s side, and meditate with a sad heart upon the death of Jesus. Jesus, Who had done no wrong to any man, dies naked and as a slave; nowhere could anyone be found in worse case than His. No one was ever so dear to God, no one was ever more despised of men, than was Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified by Jews. See how the world repaid Him for all the mighty works and wonders He had wrought in it. He is put to death as if He were the vilest of robbers; He dies as if He were the poorest of men. The deathbed of Jesus is not of down, but is the hard wood of the Cross: He dies with no house or even roof to cover Him, but in the open air, on a spot loathsome and disgusting; not in a private chamber, but at the place of public execution; not surrounded by His disciples, but between two thieves; not in His Mother’s embrace, but nailed to the arms of a lofty Cross. Beneath Him He had not even a bundle of straw; to cover Him He had not even a piece of the cheapest sackcloth. No pillow had He for His Head; but there was given Him instead a wreath of sharp thorns. No shoes had He for His feet, or gloves for His hands; but instead of these, iron nails driven through both hands and feet, piercing both flesh and bones. In His supreme need He had not even one attendant; but He had to tolerate instead a loathsome companion, to wit, an impenitent thief, who all the while was blaspheming Him. Comforter not only had He none; but He was forsaken by almost all those who had once been His followers and familiar friends. He could move neither hand nor foot, nor was He able to relieve His pain by turning from side to side. There He hangs nailed fast to His Cross, stretched out till He can be stretched no further, tortured to the limit of endurance, racked in every limb, with no one to care for Him, no one to help Him, no one to comfort Him, heartbroken. His tongue was all that was left Him free to use; and He used it in praying for His enemies, and in preaching to us from the pulpit of the Cross His seven most wholesome Words against the seven deadly sins. But even His Tongue was not left without its torments; for when He was athirst it was steeped in gall and vinegar. From the soles of His Feet therefore to the top of His Head, Jesus is overwhelmed in the sea of His Passion; and about the ninth hour He cries out with a loud voice, and dies.
What and how great must He have been Who with this cry draws His last breath; at Whose passing away both Heaven and Earth mourn; at the sight of Whom death takes to flight; at Whose call the dead return to life; at seeing Whom the gates of death are broken down; Whose presence the devil cannot endure; Whose power none can resist; before Whom Hell trembles; Whom Heaven adores; Whom Angels serve, and Archangels obey; at the brightness of Whose shining Limbo becomes radiant with light, the Saints rejoice, chains fall of, and hosts of captive souls are set free. “Indeed,” says the Centurion, “this was the Son of God”; for that blessed man, seeing that Jesus, after so crying out, had breathed His last, understands that the Human Body was indwelt by the invisible God, and straightway confesses that He, Whom the Jews had mocked and crucified, was the Son of God. O stony-hearted Jews, whom neither the Sufferer’s anguish touches, nor the wonders which follow His death impress! Hear now, at length, ye whose ears are stopped; see now, at length, ye whose eyes are blinded, ye who ask for a sign from Heaven to be shown you! Signs are wrought in Heaven above, and on the earth beneath; the elements wait upon Christ; and in the hour of His death, while ye, unhappy ones, laugh, they are overcome with grief. The sun is darkened at high noon, because it shrinks from seeing Him die; the earth quakes with fear, because it cannot quietly endure the insult offered to God; rocks are rent asunder, and with loud noises compassionate their Creator. The veil of the temple is rent, in order that the sacred Mysteries of Christ may be made plain, when the veil of the Old Dispensation which had hidden them is done away. Christ Himself is the true Victim That taketh away all the sins of the world. He is the spotless Lamb of God, slain at Paschal-tide upon the Cross. He is the true Priest, consecrated by God, Who offered Himself as a Sacrifice to the Father for an odour of sweetness. He is the High Priest, Who once in every year enters alone into the Holy of Holies, to pray, not for the people of the Jews only, but for the Salvation of all those who believe in Him; for this He truly did by dying, once for all, for the human race, when the fullness of time was come. The graves also are opened in order that the Resurrection of Christ with many Saints might be shown to be close at hand.
Many there were, who had come together to that sight, and saw the wonderful things that were done, who were pricked in their hearts, and returned smiting their breasts. Retire thou too, O my soul, into thy inner self; mourn with those who mourn, weep with those who weep for Christ; lest thou be found harder than the rocks, and more faithless than the Jews. Blessed are those tears which are shed for love of the Crucified. It is a dutiful and a very pleasant thing to weep for so sweet a Lord. It is a great solace to a lover’s soul to weep freely in compassionating the loved one. Jesus Himself wept often for the woes of men; and moved by His boundless pity, when tears failed, He shed for us His Blood. Thy Lord Jesus Christ died for thee upon the Cross: henceforth therefore let this world be dead to thee. Learn from the death of Jesus to keep ever in mind thy own death; and strive also to prepare thyself to die; for thou knowest not when thy Lord will come; thou knowest not when thy Maker will call thee hence. Watch and pray always, that so thou mayest be found ready. So act, and so speak, as if this day were to be thy last. Learn to die before death comes, that so when it does come, it may not seem to thee a prison-house, but rather the gate of life. Christ is dead and the prophets are dead; and soon thou too must go the way in which thy fathers have gone before thee. But great is the hope, very great the comfort, of those words of Jesus: “He that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live”; and again: “He who heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath life everlasting.” In this life, then, make Jesus thy Friend, that in the life which is to come thou mayest find mercy at His hands. Cast from thee whatever comes between thee and the love of Jesus, whatever keeps thee back from seeking the Kingdom of Heaven. Be on thy guard against everything which can stain the purity of thy conscience: give up everything which tends to destroy thy peace of mind. Keep thyself detached from the world, united to God, friendly with Christ. Walk with Jesus in the liberty of the Spirit; take no thought for the things of the world. Make ready for Jesus the chamber of thy heart, offer to Him a large upper room furnished; that so before thou goest hence, Jesus and His disciples may keep with thee a mystic Passover.
When thy health begins to fail, and thou hast cause to think that thy summons to depart hence is at hand, humbly lift up thy heart to Jesus, and say to Him in the words of Mary and of Martha: “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick”: for the loving and merciful Jesus, Who wept over Lazarus, and brought him back to life, is able to assuage thy pains, and after thy death to raise thee up again at the last day. At that time especially call to mind the Lord’s Supper, and remember how the meek and lowly Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, and before His departure instituted for their comfort the Sacrament of His Holy Body. Pray humbly, then, to the Lord Jesus that thou mayest be cleansed from the stains of thy sins, and that before thy departure thou mayest be duly strengthened for thy journey by receiving His most Precious Body. When thou hast received It, make thy thanksgiving, meditate devoutly on the sweet words of His new commandment, and then, with eyes raised heavenwards, long with all the powers of thy soul to be united with Christ. After this, turn thy thoughts to the Passion of Christ, and draw from it the comfort with which it is so full. Go also with Jesus and His disciples into the garden near the Mount of Olives; that is to say, regardless of thy friends around thee, retire within thyself, so as to be quite alone with God; and pray to our Heavenly Father for a good end of thy earthly pilgrimage. Go down upon thy knees with Jesus, fall upon thy face, put thyself into God’s hands, and use those most perfect words of Christ: “Father, not My Will, but Thine be done”; for He knows well, whether to live or to die is best for thy soul’s health. Ask also thy brethren and all good people who come to visit thee to watch with thee in prayer that thou mayest escape the snares of the enemy. In every trial that besets thee go to Jesus, and follow Him as He bears His Cross to the Hill of Calvary. There take thy stand, choose there to end thy life, and there commend thy spirit too. Put the Passion and the Death of Jesus between thee and the judgement to come, and keep thy eyes ever fixed upon the Crucified. When the Devil seeks to terrify thee, invoke the Name of Jesus and raise the standard of the Holy Cross. If he casts in thy teeth thy past misdeeds and thy many sins, answer him by pleading the infinite merits of Christ.
Call to mind also the seven Words of Jesus, which He spoke from the Cross for thy instruction.
As soon as He had been raised upon His Cross, He prayed for His enemies, and forgave those who were ill-treating Him; and this He did in order that thou mightest learn to forgive from the heart those who have wronged thee, before thou pleadest for thy own forgiveness.
Next, He promised to the penitent thief the joys of Paradise; and this He did in order that thou shouldst not despair by reason of the grievous burden of thy sins; but shouldst, with full trust in His mercy, ask Him to remember thee in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thirdly, He committed His most blessed Virgin Mother to the chaste John; and this He did in order that thou, in thy agony, shouldst confidently have recourse to Mary, His most gentle Mother, who is the helper of those who are in need, and shouldst earnestly commend thyself to her, and to the blessed apostle John, and to all the saints. Commend thyself also to the prayers of thy brethren, and to those of all the faithful, asking them to remember thee after thy departure in their dirges and in Masses.
Fourthly, Jesus made it plain that He was left alone in His anguish; and this He did in order that thou, when thou hast a heavy burden of pain to bear, shouldst not be impatient at not at once finding relief from it, but shouldst submit thyself in all things to God’s Holy Will and pleasure.
Fifthly, He said “I thirst,” in order that thou shouldst have a burning thirst after God, Who is the Fountain of living water, and shouldst long to depart, and to be with Christ; for this is far better than to prolong thy sojourn upon earth, and to be further exposed to dangers of every kind.
Sixthly, He spoke the Word “It is finished,” in order that thou, when thou perceivest thy last hour to be at hand, shouldst render thanks to God for every good action of thy life, and shouldst pray that thy shortcomings may be supplied by the merits of Christ.
Lastly, with a loud voice He commended His soul into the Father’s Hands, in order that at the hour of thy departure from the world thou too shouldst not fail to have upon thy tongue, and often to repeat, the words of that blessed commendation, than which thou canst not find anything more sweet to be remembered at the last.
O most loving Jesus, Brightness of the Father’s glory, and Sun of righteousness, Who for me, Thy poor unworthy servant, didst vouchsafe to suffer this most shameful form of agony; and when delivering up Thy Soul upon the Hill of Calvary, for the redemption of the world, didst commend It in prayer to the Father, grant that I may ever feel within me both sorrow and love for Thy most cruel Death; grant that, by mortifying all my corrupt affections, I may daily exercise myself in dying with Thee; that so, when the hour of my departure shall be at hand, I may be found meet to live again in the light of Thy mercies, and joyfully to enter with Thee into the bliss of Paradise. Stand by my deathbed, help me in my agony, come to me when I need Thee most, defend me from my enemies, deliver me from my distress; comfort me in my sorrow, strengthen me when I am dismayed, refresh me when I faint, take me to Thyself when my last sigh is breathed. May Thy last Word upon the Cross be my last word on earth; and when speech fails me, give heed to this last wish of my soul: “Father, into Thy Hands I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of Truth.”