 Book 2, Chapter 18 of the Mystical City of God, Volume 3, by the venerable sister Mary of Jesus of Agreta. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Book 2, Chapter 18. The Council convenes on the Friday morning to substantiate the charges against the Savior Jesus. They send him to Pilate, Most Holy Mary, with St. John and the Three Marys, goes forth to meet Jesus. At the dawn of Friday morning, say the Evangelists. Matthew, Chapter 27, Verse 1. Mark, Chapter 15, Verse 1. Luke, Chapter 22, Verse 66. John, Chapter 11, Verse 47. The ancients, the chief priests and scribes, who according to the law, were looked upon with greatest respect by the people, gathered together in order to come to a common decision concerning the death of Christ. This they all desired, however, they were anxious to preserve the semblance of justice before the people. This council was held in the house of Caiaphas, where the Lord was imprisoned. Once more they commanded him to be brought from the dungeon to the hall of the council in order to be examined. The satellites of justice rushed below to drag him forth, bound and fettered as he was, and while they untied him from the column of rock, they mocked him with great contempt, saying, Well now, Jesus of Nazareth, how little have thy miracles helped to defend thee, the power which thou dispaunt, of being able to rebuild the temple in three days, has failed altogether in securing thy escape. For thou shalt now pay for thy presumption, and thy proud aspirations shall be brought low. Come now to the chief priests and to the scribes, they are awaiting you to put an end to thy imposition, and deliver thee over to Pilate, who will quickly finish thee. Having freed the Lord from the rock, they dragged him up to the council. The Lord did not open his lips, but the tortures, the blows and the spittle with which they had covered him, and which he could not wipe off on account of his bonds, had so disfigured him that he now filled the members of the council with a sort of dreadful surprise, but not with compassion. Too great was their envious wrath conceived against the Lord. They again asked him to tell them whether he was the Christ. Luke chapter 22 verse 1 That is, the anointed. Just as all their previous questions, so this was put with the malicious determination not to listen or to admit the truth, but to columniate and fabricate a charge against him. But the Lord, being perfectly willing to die for the truth, denied it not. At the same time he did not wish to confess it in such a manner that they could despise it, or borrow out of it some color for their columning. For this was not becoming his innocence and wisdom. Therefore he veiled his answer in such a way that if the Pharisees chose to yield to even the least kindly feeling, they would be able to trace up the mystery hidden in his words. But if they had no such feeling, then should it become clear through their answer that the evil which they imputed to him was the result of their wicked intentions and lay not in his answer. He therefore said to them, If I tell you that I am he of whom you ask, you will not believe what I say, and if I shall ask you, you will not answer, nor release me. But I tell you that the Son of Man, after this, shall seat himself at the right hand of the power of God. Luke chapter 22 verse 67 The priest answered, Then thou art the Son of God? And the Lord replied, You say that I am. This was as if he had said, You have made a very correct inference that I am the Son of God, for my works, my doctrines, and your own scripture, as well as what you are doing now with me, testify to the fact that I am the Christ, the one promised in the law. But this counsel of the wicked was not disposed to assent to divine truth, although they themselves inferred it very correctly from the antecedents and could easily have believed it. They would neither give assent nor belief, but prefer to call it a blasphemy deserving death. Since the Lord had now reaffirmed what he had said before, they all cried out. What need have we of further witnesses, since he himself asserts it by his own lips? And they immediately came to the unanimous conclusion that he should, as one worthy of death, be brought before Pontius Pilate, who governed Judea in the name of the Roman Emperor and was the temporal Lord of Palestine. According to the laws of the Roman Empire, capital punishment was reserved to the Senate or to the Emperor and his representatives in the remote provinces. Cases of such importance as involved in taking away of life upon as worthy of greater attention and as not to be decided without giving the accused a hearing and an opportunity of defense and justification. In these affairs of justice, the Roman people yielded to the requirements of natural reason more faithfully than other nations. In regard to this trial of Christ, the priests and scribes were pleased with the prospect of having sentence of death passed upon Christ our Lord by the heathen Pilate because they could then tell the people that he was condemned by the Roman governor and that this certainly would not have happened if he were not guilty of death. To this extent, they had been blinded by their sins and their hypocrisy, that they failed to see how much more guilty and sacrilegious that they would even then be than the gentle judge. But the Lord arranged it thus in order that by their own wicked behavior before Pilate, they might reveal all their wickedness more plainly as we shall see immediately. The executioners therefore brought our Savior, Jesus Christ, to the house of Pilate, in order to present him, still bound with the same chains and ropes in which they had taken him from the garden before his tribunal. The city of Jerusalem was full of strangers who had come from all Palestine to celebrate the great pash of the Lamb and of the unleavened bread. As the rumor of this arrest was already spread among the people and as the master of life was known to all of them, a countless multitude gathered in the streets to see him brought in chains through the streets. They were divided in their opinion concerning the Messiah. Some of them shouted out, Let him die, let him die this wicked imposter who deceives the whole world. Others answered, His doctrines do not appear to be so bad, nor his works, for he has done good to many. Still others, who had believed in him, were much afflicted and wept while the whole city was in confusion and uproar concerning the Nazarene. Lucifer and all his demons were very attentive to what was passing, for seeing himself secretly overcome by the invincible patience and meekness of Christ the Lord, he was stirred to uncontrollable fury by his own pride and haughtiness at the haunting suspicion that such virtues could not be those of a mere human being. On the other hand, he could not understand how his allowing himself to be despised and ill-treated and his succumbing to so much bodily weakness and, as it were, total annihilation could ever harmonize with his being true God, for if he were God, said the dragon to himself, his divinity would never consent to such annihilation and the power inherent in his divine nature and communicated to the humanity would certainly prevent such weakness. Lucifer argued like one who knew nothing of the suspension of the overflow of the divine upon the human nature, which the Lord has secretly ordained for the purpose of securing the highest degree of suffering possible, as I have mentioned above. By these misgivings, the pride of Satan was last to still more furious efforts in the persecution of the Lord so as to ascertain who this one was that knew how to suffer torments in such a manner. The Son had already arisen while these things happened and the Most Holy Mother, who saw it all from afar, now resolved to leave her retreat and follow her divine Son to the house of Pilate and to his death on the cross. When the great Queen and Lady was about to set forth from the Seneca, Saint John arrived, in order to give an account of all that was happening, for the beloved disciple at that time did not know of the visions by which all the doings and sufferings of her Most Holy Son were manifest to the Blessed Mother. After the denial of Saint Peter, Saint John had retired and had observed more from afar what was going on. Recognizing also the wickedness of his flight in the garden, he confessed it to the Mother of God and asked her pardon as soon as he came into her presence and then he gave an account of all that passed in his heart and of what he had done and what he had seen following his Master. Saint John thought it well to prepare the afflicted Mother for her meeting with her Most Holy Son in order that she might not be overcome by the fearful spectacle of his present condition. Therefore he sought to impress her beforehand with some image of his sufferings by saying, Oh, Lady, in what a state of suffering is our Divine Master, the sight of him cannot but break one's heart, for by the buffets and the blows by the spittle, his most beautiful countenance is so disfigured and defiled that thou wilt scarcely recognize him with thy own eyes. The Most Prudent Lady listened to his description as if she knew nothing of the events, but she broke out in bitterest tears of heart-rending sorrow. The Holy Women, who had come forth with the Lady, also listened to Saint John and all of them were filled with grief and terror at his words. The Queen of Heaven asked the Apostle to accompany her and the devout women and exhorting them all, she said. Let us hasten our steps in order that my eyes may see the Son of the Eternal Father, who took human form in my womb and you shall see, my dearest friends, to what the love of mankind has driven him, my Lord and God, and what it costs him to redeem men from sin and death and to open for them the gates of heaven. The Queen of Heaven set forth through the streets of Jerusalem accompanied by Saint John and by some holy women. Of these not all, but only the three Mary's and other very pious women followed her to the end. With her were also the angels of her guard, whom she asked to open away for her to her Divine Son. The holy angels obeyed and acted as her guard. On the streets, she heard the people expressing their various opinions and sentiments concerning the sorrowful events now transpiring in reference to Jesus of Nazareth. The more kindly-hearted lamented over his fate, and they were fewest in number. Others spake about the intention of his enemies to crucify him. Others related where he now was and how he was conducted through the streets, bound as a criminal. Others spoke of the ill treatment he was undergoing. Others asked what evil he had done that he should be so misused. Others again in their astonishment claimed. To this, then, have his miracles brought him? Without a doubt these were all imposters, since he cannot defend or free himself. All the streets and squares were full of people and excited talk, but in the midst of this excitement the invincible Queen, though filled with the bitterest sorrow, preserved her constancy and composure praying for the unbelievers and the evildoers, as if she had no other care than to implore grace for their sins. She loved them as sincerely as if she were receiving favors and blessings at their hands. She permitted no indignation or anger to arise in her heart against the sacrilegious ministers of the passion and death of her beloved son, nor any sign of such feelings in her exterior conduct. All of them she looked upon with charity and the desire of doing them good. Some of them that met her on the streets, recognized her as the mother of Jesus of Nazareth and moved by their natural compassion said, Oh sorrowful mother, what a misfortune has overtaken thee! How must thy heart be wounded and lacerated with grief? Others again impiously said, Why disthou permit him to introduce such novelties among the people? It would have been better to restrain and dissuade him, but it will be a warning for other mothers, and they will see in their fortunes how to instruct their children. These and other more horrible sentiments were expressed in the hearing of this sincerest dove, but all of them she met with burning charity, accepting the pity of the kind hearted and suffering the malice of the unbelievers. She was not surprised at the ingratitude of the unresponsive and the ignorant, but implored the Eternal Father to impart suitable blessings to all. When the angels used crowds, the angels conducted the Empress of Heaven to a sharp turn of the street, where she met her most holy son. With the profoundest reverence, she prostrated herself before his sovereign person and adored it more fervently and with a reverence more deep and more ardent than ever was given, or ever shall be given to it by all the creatures. She arose and then the mother and son looked upon each other with ineffable tenderness, each other in transports of unspeakable sorrow. The most prudent lady stepped aside and then followed Christ our Lord, continuing at a distance her interior communication with him and with the Eternal Father. The words of her soul are not for the mortal and corruptible tongue, but among other prayers the afflicted mother said, Most high God in my son, I am aware of thy burning love for men which leads thee to hide of thy divinity beneath a form of passable flesh. Letter to the Philippians chapter 2 verse 7 Formed in my womb, I confess thy incomprehensible wisdom in accepting such affronts and torments and in sacrificing thyself who art the Lord of all creation for the rescue of men who is but a servant dust and ashes. Genesis chapter 3 verse 19 Thy goodness is to be praised, blessed, confessed and magnified by all creatures, but how shall I, thy mother, ever cease to desire that all these injuries be heaped upon me and not upon thy divine person who art the beauty of the angels and the glory of the Eternal Father? How shall I cease to desire the end of these pains? With what sorrow is my heart filled to behold thee so afflicted thy most beautiful countenance so defiled and when I see that to the creator and redeemer alone is denied pity and compassion in such bitter suffering but if it is not possible that I relieve thee as mother do thou accept my sorrowful sacrifice in not being able to bring thee the relief which is due to the true and holy Son of God? The image of her divine Son thus wounded, defiled and bound, remains so firmly fixed and imprinted in the soul of our Queen, that during her life it was never effaced and remained in her mind as distinctly as if she were continually beholding him with her own eyes. Christ our God arrived at the house of Pilate, followed by many of the council and a countless multitude of the people, the Jews wishing to preserve themselves as clean before the law as possible for the celebration of the flesh and the unleavened bread. Excuse themselves before Pilate for their refusing to enter the Praetorium or court of Pilate in presenting Jesus. As most absurd hypocrites they paid no attention to the sacrilegious uncleanness with which their souls were affected in becoming the murderers of the innocent God-man. Pilate, although a heathen, yielded to their ceremonious scruples and seeing that he went out to meet them. According to the formality customary among the Romans he asked them John chapter 18 verse 28 What accusation have you against this man? they answered If he were not a criminal we would not have brought him to thee thus bound and fettered. This was as much to say we have convinced ourselves of his misdeeds and we are so attached to justice and to our obligations that we would not have begun any proceedings against him if he were not a great mal-factor. But Pilate pressed his inquiry and said What then are the misdeeds of which he has made himself guilty? they answered He is convicted of disturbing the commonwealth he wishes to make himself our king and forbids paying tribute to Caesar Luke chapter 23 verse 2 He claims to be the son of God and has preached a new doctrine commencing in Galilee through all Judea and Jerusalem Take him then yourselves said Pilate and judge him according to your laws I do not find a just cause for proceeding against him but the Jews replied It is not permitted us to sentence anyone to death nor to execute such a sentence The most holy Mary the most holy Mary with St. John and the women who followed her was present at this interview for the holy angels made room for them where they could hear and see all that was passing shielded by her mantle she wept tears of blood pressed forth by the sorrow which pierced her virginal heart in her interior acts of virtue she faithfully reproduced those practiced by her most holy son while in her pains and endurance she copied those of his body she asked the eternal father to grant her the favor of not losing sight of her divine son as far as was naturally possible until his death and this was conceded to her except during the time in which he was in prison considering it but just that amid all the false accusations of the Jews the innocence of the savior and the injustice of the sentence should become known the most prudent lady fervently prayed and that he obtained clearest insight into Christ being delivered over to him by the envy of the priests and scribes in virtue of this prayer Pilate clearly saw the truth was convinced of the innocence of Christ and of his being a victim of their envy Matthew chapter 28 verse 18 on her account also the Lord declared himself more openly to Pilate although the latter did not cooperate with the truth known to him it profited him not but us and it served to convict the priests and Pharisees of their treachery in their wrath the Jews were anxious to dispose Pilate favorably toward their project and they wished him to pronounce the sentence of death against Jesus without the least delay when they perceived his hesitation they ferociously raised their voices accusing Jesus over and over again of revolting against the government of Judea deceiving and stirring up the people Luke chapter 23 verse 5 calling himself Christ that is an anointed king this malicious accusation they press particularly hoping to stir Pilate to fear for the temporal welfare of his government with which he was charged by the Romans among the Jews the kings were anointed therefore they insisted that Jesus in having called himself Christ intended to constitute himself as king and as Pilate was a heathen and knew nothing of the anointing of kings they wished to persuade him that calling oneself Christ among the Jews was identical with calling oneself king of the Jews Pilate asked the lord what does thou answer to the accusations which they bring against thee but the savior answered not a word in the presence of his accusers causing much wonder in Pilate at such silence and patience but desiring to inquire more closely whether Jesus was truly a king he withdrew from the clamoring Jews and brought Jesus into the Praetorium there he asked him face to face tell me can it be that thou art a king of the Jews Pilate could not bring himself to think that he was a king in fact since he knew that Christ was not reigning therefore he wished to find out whether Jesus claimed or really possessed any right to the title of king our savior answered him say is thou this thing of thyself or have others told it thee of me John chapter 18 verse 34 Pilate replied am I a Jew thy own nation and the chief priest have delivered thee up to me what has thou done Jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world my servants would certainly strive that I be not delivered to the Jews but now my kingdom is not from hence the judge partly believed this assertion of Jesus and therefore answered art thou a king then Jesus answered thou sayest that I am a king for this I was born and for this I came into the world everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice Pilate wondered at this answer and asked what is truth but without waiting for an answer he left him in the Praetorium and said to the Jews I find no cause in him but you have a custom that I should release one unto you at the Pash will you therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews or Barabbas this Barabbas was a thief and murderer who had killed someone in a quarrel all the people and said we desire that you release Barabbas and crucify Jesus in this demand they persisted until it was granted Pilate was much disturbed by the answers of Jesus and the obstinacy of the Jews for on the one hand seeing that they were so determined on the death of Jesus he well knew that it would be difficult to satisfy them without consenting to their demands and on the other hand he saw that they were persecuting him out of mortal envy and that their accusations about his disturbing the people were false and ridiculous Matthew chapter 17 verse 18 in regard to the imputation that he had made himself king he was likewise satisfied of the contrary by the answers of Christ and by his humility poverty and patient forbearance toward their column knees which Pilate received he became fully convinced that Jesus was truly innocent although he never pierced the mystery of his divinity and the greatness of this innocence the living words of Christ created an exalted idea of him in his mind and made him think that some great mystery was connected with him therefore he desired to free him and finally determined to send him to Herod but all these shifts failed because Pilate made himself by his sin and paid attention only to his worldly prospects allowing himself to be governed by them and not by the dictates of justice but more by the suggestions of Lucifer as I have related above than by the truth which he so clearly knew fully understanding the true circumstances he acted the part of a wicked judge in continuing to treat the cause of an innocent man with those who were his declared enemies and false accusers as he committed the still greater crime of condemning Jesus to such an inhuman scourging and then to death without having any other cause than to satisfy the Jews but though Pilate for these and other reasons was a most wicked and unjust judge in thus condemning Christ whom he held to be a mere man though good and innocent yet his crime was much smaller than that of the priests and Pharisees and this not only because they were moved by envy, cruelty and other vices but also because they sinned in not acknowledging Christ as their true messiahs and redeemer God and man such as he had been promised in the law which they believed and professed for their own condemnation the Lord permitted that in their very accusations they call him Christ and anointed king thus confessing with their lips what they denied and discredited in their proceedings they believed this truth which they confessed in their words and thus come to the understanding of the true anointment of the Saviour which was an unction prefigured in the kings and priests of olden times and consisted in the anointment mentioned by David Psalm 44 verse 8 and different from theirs namely the unction of the divinity resulting from its union with the humanity of grace and glory corresponding to the hypostatic union all these mysteries of truth were providentially hidden beneath the accusations of the Jews although they in their perfidy would not believe them and in their envy interpreted them falsely for they imputed to the Saviour the desire of making himself king without his being one while just the contrary was really the truth he was in every respect but did not wish to show or make use of the power of a temporal king he had not come into this world to command men but to obey Matthew chapter 20 verse 28 still greater was the blindness of the Jews in hoping for a temporal king as their messiahs and at the same time columniously asserting that Jesus made of himself a king it seems that they sought for their messiahs a king so powerful that they would not be able to resist him although they then would have to receive a king by compulsion and not with the free will benevolently desired by the Lord our great lady profoundly understood these hidden sacraments and the wisdom of her chaste heart made use of them to excite heroic acts of all the virtues other children of Adam conceived an original sin and defiled by their own are want to be disturbed and oppressed to the increase of sorrow and tribulation and excited to impatience and other inordinate passions but most holy Mary who was actuated not by sin or its effects or by mere nature was impelled by exalted grace to just the contrary course of action for the great persecutions and the vast waters of affliction and sorrow extinguished not in her heart the fire of divine love Canticles chapter 8 verse 7 but they were new incentives to the fire of divine love in her soul breaking forth in petitions for the sinners so much the more ardently as the malice of men reach greater excesses oh queen of virtues mistress of creatures and sweetest mother of mercy how hard of heart am I how slow and insensible that my soul is not annihilated by sorrow at what I understand of thy sufferings and those of thy divine son that I still live knowing all I do know should cause in me a sorrow and to death it is a crime against love and piety to beg favors from the innocent whom we see suffering torments with what truth can we then say as creatures that we love God our redeemer and thee my queen who art his mother if thou in he alone drink out of the chalice of such torments and pains while we are draining the chalice of Babylon oh that I might understand this truth oh that it might penetrate into my deepest heart and that it might pierce my very soul at the sight of such inhuman torments of my savior and his afflicted mother how can I conceive that anyone can do me an injustice in persecuting me that they offend me by despising me that they insult me by a boring me how can I complain of suffering even if I am blamed and neglected and condemned by the world oh great chieftainess of the martyrs, queen of the courageous mistress of all the imitators of thy son if I am thy daughter and disciple as thou condescendest to call me and as my lord wishes me to merit do not reject my longing to desire to follow thy footsteps on the way to the cross if in my weakness I have fallen do thou my lady and mother obtain for me the courage of a contrite heart justly humiliated on account of its vile ingratitude gain for me through thy prayers the love of the eternal father which is so precious that only thy powerful intercession can obtain it and only my lord and redeemer can merit it for me instruction which the great queen of heaven gave me my daughter, great is the neglect and the inattention of men in failing to consider the works of the most holy son and to penetrate with humble reverence the mysteries which he has concealed within them for the salvation of all but many do not know and others are astonished that the lord should have consented to be presented as a criminal before iniquitous judges and be examined by them as a wicked mal-factor that they should have been allowed to treat him as an ignorant fool and that he should not have made use of his divine wisdom and his innocence convict the Jews and all his enemies of their malice since he could so easily have done it but these sentiments of wonder should be especially united to a deep veneration for the judgments of the lord who disposed all things connected with the redemption according to his equity goodness and rectitude and in a manner befitting all his attributes denying none of his enemies sufficient help to follow the good and he wished to use their freedom for that purpose he wished all of them to be saved first letter to saint timothy chapter 2 verse 4 and if not all of them attain this salvation no one can justly complain of his superabundant kindness but besides this I wish my dearest that thou understand the instructive lessons contained in these works for in each one of them the future of men in the silence and the meekness which he maintained during his passion permitting himself to be reputed as a wicked and foolish man he left mankind a lesson just as important as it is unnoticed and unpracticed by the children of Adam because they do not heed the contagion of lucifer through sin which is perpetuated in the world they do not seek in the physician the medicine of suffering charity has left to the world inward indeed let men then consider themselves conceived in sin Psalm 50 verse 7 and let them realize how strong has grown in them the hellish seed of pride a presumption vanity self-esteem avarice hypocrisy deceitfulness and all other vices each one ordinarily seeks to advance his honor and vain glory struggling to be applauded and renowned the learned and those who think themselves wise wish to be applauded and looked up to bragging about their knowledge the unlearned try to appear wise the rich glory in their riches and wish to be respected on their account the poor strive to be and appear rich anxious to gain the approbation of the wealthy the powerful seek to be feared worshipped and obeyed in deceit of seeking to appear what they are not in fact and fail in reality to come up to what they appear to be they palliate their faults extol their virtues and abilities they attribute to themselves the goods and the blessings as if they had not received them from God they receive them as if they were their due and not owing to his liberal kindness instead of being thankful for them they abuse them as weapons against God and against their own selves commonly all are swollen up by the mortal poison of the serpent and so much the more anxious to drink it the more deeply they are already wounded and weakened by his lamentable assaults the way of the cross and imitation of Christ in humble Christian sincerity is deserted because they are so few that walk upon it in order to crush the head of Lucifer and overcome pride and arrogance my son observed this patient silence in his passion permitting himself to be treated as an ignorant and foolish criminal as the teacher of this philosophy and as the physician of the sickness of sin he would not deny the charges nor defend or justify himself nor refute those who accused him showing us by his own living example how to oppose and counteract the intentions of the serpent in the Lord was that teaching of the wise man put into practice precious is a little foolishness in its time then wisdom and glory Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 1 for it is better that human frailty be at times considered ignorant and wicked than that it make a vain show of virtue and wisdom infinite is the number of those who are entangled in this dangerous error who desiring to appear wise speak much and multiply words like the foolish Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 14 they only lose what they strive so much to attain since they become known as foolish all these vices arise from the pride rooted in human nature but do thou my daughter preserve the doctrine of my divine son and that which comes from me abhor human ostentation suffer in silence and let the world consider the ignorant for it does not know where true wisdom dwells end of chapter 18 book 2 chapter 19 of the mystical city of god volume 3 by the venerable sister Mary of Jesus of a greater this LibriVox recording is in the public domain book 2 chapter 19 Pilate sends the Jews with Jesus and their accusations to Herod where they advance their charges Herod treats Jesus with contempt and sends him back to Pilate Mary follows the savior other happenings in connection one of the accusations of the Jews and the priests before Pilate was that Jesus our savior had begun to stir up the people by his preaching in the province of Galilee Luke chapter 23 verse 6 this caused Pilate to inquire was a Galilean and as they told him that Jesus was born and raised in that country he thought this circumstance useful for the solution of his difficulties in regard to Jesus and for escaping the molestations of the Jews who so urgently demanded his death. Herod was at that time in Jerusalem celebrating the patch of the Jews he was the son of the first Herod who had murdered the innocence to procure the death of Jesus soon after his birth Matthew chapter 2 verse 16 this murderer had become a proselytite of the Jews at the time of his marriage with a Jewish woman on this account his son Herod likewise observed the law of Moses and he had come to Jerusalem from Galilee of which he was governor. Pilate was at enmity with Herod for the two govern the two principal provinces of Palestine namely Judea and Galilee and a short time before it had happened that Pilate in his zeal for the supremacy of the Roman empire had murdered some Galileans during a public function in the temple mixing the blood of the insurgents with that of the holy sacrifices. Herod was highly incensed at this sacrilege and Pilate in order to afford him some satisfaction without much trouble to himself resolved to send to him the Lord to be examined and judged as one of the subjects of Herod's sway. Pilate also expected that Herod would set Jesus free as being innocent and a victim of the malice and envy of the priests and scribes. Christ our Lord therefore went forth from the house of Pilate to the palace of Herod being still bound and chained as before and accompanied by the scribes and priests as his accusers. There was also a large number of soldiers and servants who dragged him along by the ropes and cleared the streets, which had been filled with multitudes of people to see the spectacle. The military broke their way through the crowds and as the servants and priests were thirsting so eagerly for the blood of the Savior and wished to shed it on this very day, they hastened with the Lord through the streets nearly on a run and with great tumult. Mary also set forth from the house of Pilate with her company in order to follow her sweetest son Jesus and accompany him on the ways which he was still to go until his death on the cross. It would not have been possible for the lady to follow her beloved closely enough to be in his sight if she had not ordered her holy angels to open away for her. They made it possible for her to be constantly near her son so that she could enjoy his presence though that also brought with it only a fuller participation in all torments and sorrows. She obtained the fulfillment of all her wishes. For walking along through the streets near the Savior, she saw and heard the insults of the servants, the blows they dealt him, the reproaches of the people expressed either as their own or repeated from hearsay. When Herod was informed that Pilate would send Jesus of Nazareth to him he was highly pleased. He knew that Jesus was a great friend to whom he had ordered to be put to death. Mark 6 verse 27 and had heard many reports of his preaching. In vain and foolish curiosity he harbored the desire of seeing Jesus do something new and extraordinary for his entertainment and wonder. Luke 23 verse 8 The author of life therefore came into the presence of the murderer Herod against whom the blood of the Baptist was calling more loudly to this same Lord for vengeance than in its time the blood of Abel. Genesis chapter 4 verse 10 But the unhappy adulterer ignorant of the terrible judgment of the Almighty received him with loud laughter as an enchanter and conjurer. In this dreadful misconception he commenced to examine and question him, persuaded that he could thereby induce him to work some miracle to satisfy his curiosity. But the master of wisdom and prudence, standing with a humble reserve before his most unworthy judge answered him not a word. For on account of his evil doing he well merited the punishment of not hearing the words of life which he would certainly have heard if he had been disposed to listen to them with reverence. The princes and priests of the Jews stood around, continually rehearsing the same accusations and charges which they had advanced in the presence of Pilate. But the Lord maintained silence also in regard to these columnies much to the disappointment of Herod. In his presence the Lord would not open his lips neither in order to answer his questions nor in order to refute the accusations. Herod was altogether unworthy of hearing the truth, this being his greatest punishment and the punishment most to be dreaded by the princes and the powerful of this earth. Herod was much put out by the silence and meekness of our Savior and was much disappointed in his vain curiosity. But the unjust judge tried to hide his confusion by mocking and ridiculing the innocent master with his whole cohort of soldiers and ordering him to be sent back to Pilate. Having made fun of the reserve of the Lord, the servants of Herod joined in treating him as a fool and as one in mind and they clothed him in a white garment in order to mark him as insane and to be avoided as dangerous. But by the hidden providence of the Most High this dress signified the purity and innocence of the Savior and these ministers of wickedness were thus unwittingly giving testimony of the truth which they were trying to obscure in deriding the miraculous power of the Lord. Herod showed himself thankful to Pilate for the courtesy of sending Jesus of Nazareth to be judged before his tribunal. He informed Pilate that he found no cause in him but held him to be an ignorant man of no consequence whatever. By the secret judgments of divine wisdom Herod and Pilate were reconciled on that day and thenceforward remained friends. Conducted by many soldiers, both of Herod and Pilate, amid a still greater concourse, tumult and excitement of the Jesus returned from Herod to Pilate. For the very ones who had some time before, hailed and venerated him as the Savior and Messiahs, blessed of the Lord. Matthew chapter 21 verse 9 Now perverted by the priests and magistrates had changed their minds and they despised and condemned the same Lord whom they had so shortly before reverenced and glorified. For of such influence is usually the erroneous example of the chiefs in misleading the people. In the midst of all this confusion and ignominy the Lord passed along, repeating within himself in unspeakable love, humility and patience those words which he had long before spoken by the mouth of David. I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of people all they that saw me have laughed me to scorn they have spoken with their lips and wagged them. Psalm 21 verse 7 The Lord was a worm and no man not only because he was not engendered like the rest of men and because he was not merely and solely a man, being true God and man, but also because he was not treated like a man but like a wretched and despised worm. Amid all the scorn with which he was overwhelmed and trodden underfoot, he made no more outcry than a humble despised and crushed as a most vile and despicable creature. All the innumerable multitudes that saw our Redeemer spoke of him with wagging heads, as if retracting their previous conception an opinion of this prophet of Nazareth. Although his afflicted mother was made interiorly aware of all that happened, she was not present in body when the priests advanced their insulting accusations before Herod and when he sputtered forth his questions of life. She remained outside of the hall of judgment, wither they had taken the Lord. But when he came forth from the hall, she met him, and they looked upon each other in reciprocal sorrow of their souls, such as corresponded to the love between such a son and mother. The sight of the white vestment by which they proclaimed him fit to be treated only as an insane fool pierced her heart with new sorrow, though she recognized the mystery of his purity and innocence indicated by this vestment. She adored him in it with deepest reverence and followed him through the streets back to the house of Pilate, for in this house was to be executed the divine decree for our salvation. On this way from Herod to Pilate, it happened that on account of the crush of the people and on account of the haste they tripped him up and threw him on the ground by their cruel pulling at the ropes with which he was bound they caused the blood to flow from his sacred veins his hands being tied he could not easily help himself to rise from his falls. Therefore the multitudes of the people who followed and who were neither able nor cared to stop in their onward rush stepped upon the divine Lord treading him under foot and kicking him. The blows and wounds he thus received instead of stirring the compassion of the soldiers only excited them to loud laughter for instigated by the demons they had become devoid of all human compassion no less than so many wild beasts. At the side of such unmeasurable cruelty the most sorrowful and loving mother was moved to deepest compassion and turning to her holy angels she commanded them to gather up the divine blood in order that it might not be trod upon and dishonored by the feet of sinners this the heavenly servants willingly fulfilled. She commanded also that if her divine son should again fall to the earth they hasten to his assistance and prevent these evil doers from injuring and stepping on his most sacred body but she was the most prudent of all mortals she did not wish them to execute her command unless it met the approval of the Lord and therefore she urged them to make this proposal themselves and ask his permission representing to him at the same time her anguish as his mother in seeing him thus irreverently subjected to the feet of sinners in order to so much the sooner moved the Lord to grant this petition she begged him through the holy angels that he commute this humiliation of being trod upon and crushed by the rabble into an act of obedience in complying with the petition of his afflicted mother who at the same time acknowledged herself as his slave and formed of the dust all these petitions of his blessed mother the angels presented to the Lord Christ in her name not that he was ignorant of them since he knew all things and was himself the instigator of them through his divine grace but the Lord desires in all these matters a regard for the due process of reason the great lady was aware of this desire and in her most exalted wisdom practice virtues in diverse ways and by diverse activities unimpeded by the foreknowledge of the Lord concerning all things our savior Jesus yielded to the desire and petitions of his most blessed mother and gave the angels permission to execute her requests as her ministers during the rest of the passage to the house of Pilate they would not permit the Lord to be tripped or cast to the ground or to be stepped upon by the crowd as had happened before but in regard to other injuries he allowed the stupid wrath of the divine malice of the servants of the law and of the populace to vent themselves freely and fully upon his divine person his most holy mother heard and saw all with an unconquered but lacerated heart in a proportionate manner this was also witnessed by the other Marys and Saint John who was ceaseless tears followed the Lord in company with his purest mother I do not stop to describe the sorrows of these and other pious men who attended upon the queen because I would go too wide of my subject especially if I were to describe the doings of Magdalene most distinguished in her ardent love of Christ and most pleasing to the savior for to her we must apply what Christ himself said when he justified her that those love most to whom the greater sins are forgiven Luke chapter 7 verse 43 Pilate was again confronted with this in his palace and was be stormed anew by the Jews to condemn him to the death of the cross convinced of the innocence of Christ and of the mortal envy of the Jews he was much put out at herds again referring the disagreeable decision to his own tribunal feeling himself obliged in his quality of judge to give this decision he sought to placate the Jews in different ways one of these was a private interview with some of the servants and friends and priests he urged them to prevail upon their masters and friends not anymore to ask for the release of the malfactor Barabbas but instead demand the release of our redeemer and to be satisfied with some punishment he was willing to administer before setting him free this measure Pilate had taken before they arrived a second time to press their demand for a sentence upon Jesus the proposal to choose between freeing either Barabbas or Jesus was made to the Jews not only once but two or three times the first time before sending him to Herod and the second time after his return this is related by the evangelist with some variation though not essentially contradicting the truth Matthew chapter 27 verse 17 Pilate spoke to the Jews and said you have brought this man before me accusing him of perverting the people by his doctrines and having examined him in your presence I was not convinced of the truth of your accusations and Herod to whom I have sent him and before whom you repeated your accusations refuse to condemn him to death it will be sufficient to correct and chastise him for the present in order that he may amend as I am to release some malfactor for the feast of the Pash I will release Christ and punish Barabbas but the multitude of the Jews thus informed how much Pilate desired to set Jesus free shouted with one voice enough enough not Christ but Barabbas deliver unto us the custom of giving freedom to an imprisoned criminal at this great solemnity of the Pash was introduced by the Jews in grateful remembrance of the release of their forefathers from servitude the message through the Red Sea when the Almighty freed them from the power of Pharaoh by killing the firstborn children of the Egyptians and afterwards annihilating him and his armies in the waters of the Red Sea Exodus chapter 12 verse 29 in gratitude for this favor the Jews always sought out the greatest malfactor and pardon him his crimes while they refuse such clemency to those who were less guilty in their treaties with the Egyptians they expressly reserved this privilege and the governors complied with it but in the present instance they failed to follow out in their demands what they were so loudly proclaiming in regard to Jesus according to law they were to demand the release of the greatest criminal and this they proclaimed Jesus to be yet they persisted in demanding the punishment of Christ and the release of Barabbas whom they judged less guilty in such blindness and perversity had the wrath and envy of the demon cast them that they lost the light of reason even in their own affairs and against their own selves while Pilate was thus disputing with the Jews in the Praetorium his wife Procula happened to hear of his doings and she sent him a message telling him what has thou to do with this man let him go free for I warned thee that I have had this very day some visions in regard to him this warning of Procula originated through the activity of Lucifer and his demons for they observing all that was happening in regard to the person of Christ and the unchangeable patience with which he bore all injuries were more and more confused and staggered in their rabid fury although the swollen pride of Lucifer could not explain how his divinity could ever subject itself to such great insults nor how he could permit his body to suffer such ill treatment and although he could not come to any certain conviction whether this Jesus was a God man or not yet the dragon was persuaded that some great mystery was here transpiring among men which would be the cause of great damage and defeat to him and his malice if he did not succeed in arresting its progress in the world having come to this conclusion with his demons he many times suggested to the Pharisees the propriety institutions of Christ these suggestions however since they originated from malice and were void of any power for good failed to move the obstinate and perverted hearts of the Jews despairing of success the demons betook themselves to the wife of Pilate and spoke to her in dreams representing to her that this man was just and without guilt that if her husband should sentence him he would be deprived of his rank and she herself would meet with great fear and terror at these visions and as soon as she heard what was passing between the Jews and her husband she sent him the message mentioned by st. Matthew not to meddle with this man nor condemn one to death whom she held to be just the demon also injected similar misgivings into the mind of Pilate and these warners and the people of Pilate and the people of Pilate and the people of Pilate to the mind of Pilate and these warnings of his wife only increased them yet as all his considerations rested upon worldly policy and as he had not cooperated with the true helps given him by the savior all these fears retarded his unjust proceedings only so long as no other more powerful consideration arose as will be seen in effect but just now he began for the third time to argue as st. Luke tells us insisting upon the innocence of Christ our Lord and that he found no crime in him nor any guilt worthy of death and therefore he would punish and then dismiss him Luke chapter 23 verse 22 as we shall see in the next chapter he did really punish Christ in order to see whether the Jews would be satisfied but the Jews on the contrary demanded that Christ be crucified there upon Pilate asked for water release for Rabbis then he washed his hands in the presence of all the people saying I have no share in the death of this just man whom you condemn look to yourselves in what you are doing for I wash my hands in order that you may understand that they are not sullied in the blood of the innocent Pilate thought that by this ceremony he could excuse himself entirely and that he thereby could put his blame upon the princes of the Jews and the people who demanded it the wrath of the Jews was so blind and foolish that for the satisfaction of seeing Jesus crucified they entered upon this agreement with Pilate and took upon themselves and upon their children the responsibility of this crime loudly proclaiming this terrible sentence and curse they exclaimed his blood come upon us and upon our children Matthew chapter 27 verse 25 almost foolish and cruel blindness oh inconceivable rashness the unjust condemnation of the just and the blood of the innocent whom the judge himself is forced to proclaim guiltless you wish to take upon yourselves and upon your children in order that his blood may call out against you to the end of the world oh profiteous and sacrilegious Jews so lightly then weighs the blood of the lamb who bears the sins of the world and the life of a man at the same time God how is it possible you wish to load with it yourselves and your children if he had been only your brother your benefactor and master your audacity would have been tremendous and your malice excreable justly indeed do you merit the punishment which you meet and that the burden which you have put upon yourselves and your children allows you no rest or relief in all the world it is just that this burden should rest upon you heavier than heaven and earth but alas though this divine blood was intended to wash and cleanse all the children of Adam and though it was in effect poured out upon all the children of the holy church yet there are many belonging to it who make themselves guilty of this blood by their works in the same manner as the Jews charge themselves with both by word and deed they did not know or believe that it was the blood of the savior while Catholics both know and confess that it is their redeemers the sins and depraved lives of the Christians proclaim louder than tongues their abuse of the blood of Christ and their consent to the guilt in his death which they load upon themselves let Christ be affronted spit upon, buffeted stretched upon a cross, despised let him yield to Barabbas and die, let him be tormented scourged, crowned with thorns for our sins, let his blood interest us no more, then that it flow copiously and be imputed to us for all eternity let the incarnate God suffer and die if only we are left free to enjoy the apparent goods of this world to seize the pleasing hour to use creatures for our comfort to be crowned with roses live in joy let our power be unrefrained let no one seek preference before us be we permitted to despise humility abhor poverty court up riches engage in all deceits forgive no injuries entertain the delights of carnal pleasures let our eyes see nothing that they shall not covet such be our rule in life without regard for ought else and if by this we crucify Christ let his blood come upon us and upon our children ask the damned in hell whether these were not the sentiments expressed in their works whether it was not because they spoke thus foolishly in their hearts that they were called impious and were so in reality what else except damnation can they expect who abused the blood of Christ and wasted upon themselves not as such who are seeking a remedy where do we find among the children of the church anyone that would willingly permit a thief and mal-factor to be preferred to him so little is this doctrine of humility practiced that one excites surprise if he allows another just as good and honorable as himself or even more honorable to take precedence though it is certain that no one can be found as good as Christ or as bad as Barabbas yet there are innumerable men who in spite of this example are offended and judged themselves disgraced if they are not preferred and exalted by honors riches and dignities and in whatever pertains to the ostentation of the world these are sought after, contended for and solicited and such things are consumed the thoughts and all the exertions and powers of men almost from the time in which they can use their faculties until they lose them the most lamentable misfortune is that even those who by their profession and their state have renounced and turned their backs upon such things do not free themselves while the savior has commanded them to forget their people in the house of their parents Psalm 44 verse 11 they devote to them the best part of their human existence by giving them their attention and solicitude in the direction of their affairs their best wishes and care in the augmentation of their worldly goods it seems but a small matter to them to engage themselves in these vanities instead of forgetting the house of their father they forget the house of their God in which they live and where they are divinely assisted to gain a salvation and honor and esteem never possible in the world and where they receive their sustenance without any anxiety or worry they show themselves ungrateful for all these benefits by drifting away from the humility due to their state thus the humility of Christ our savior his patience, his injuries the dishonor of the cross the imitation of Christ's work the following of his doctrine all is left to the poor to the lonely ones to the weak and humble of this world while the ways of Sion are deserted and full of wailing because there are so few who will come to the solemn feast of the imitation of Christ our Lord Pilate was not conscious of the absurdity of his pretense that to have washed his hands and to have charged the Jews with the blood of Christ was sufficient to clear him for by this ceremony so full of hypocrisy and deceit he tried to satisfy both it is true that the Jews were the principal actors and more guilty in the condemnation of the innocent God-man and that they themselves expressly charged themselves with its guilt but Pilate was not on that account free from it since knowing the innocence of Christ our Lord he should not have allowed a thief and robber to be preferred before Christ neither should he have chastised nor pretended to correct him who showed nothing that could be corrected or amended Luke chapter 23 verse 25 much less should he have condemned and delivered him over to his mortal enemies whose envy and cruelty was so evident he is not a just judge who is aware of the truth and justice and places it in the balance with his own human respect and his own personal interest such a course drags down the right reason of men who are so cowardly of heart since they do not possess the strength and perfection of mind necessary to a judge they cannot resist their greed or their human respect in their blind passions they forsake justice in order to endanger their temporal advantages as happened to Pilate in the house of Pilate through the ministry of the holy angels through the disputes of the iniquitous judge with the scribes and priests concerning the innocence of Christ our Saviour and concerning the release of Barabbas in preference to him all the clamors of these human tigers she heard in silence an admirable weakness as the living counterpart of her most holy son although she preserved the unchanging propriety and modesty of her exterior all the malicious words of the Jews pierced her sorrowful heart soared but the voices of her unspoken sorrows resounded in the ears of the eternal father more pleasantly and sweetly than the lamentation of the beautiful Rachel who, as Jeremiah says was beweeping her children because they cannot be restored Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 15 our most beautiful Rachel the purest Mary sought not revenge but pardon for her enemies who were depriving her of the only begotten of the father and her only son she imitated all the actions of the most holy soul of Christ and accompanied him in the works of most exalted holiness and perfection for neither could her torments hinder her charity nor her affliction diminish her fervor nor could the tumult distract her attention nor the outrageous injuries of the multitudes prevent her interior recollection under all circumstances she practiced the most exalted virtues in the most eminent degree instruction which the great mistress of heaven most blessed Mary gave me my daughter in what thou hast written and understood I see the astonish to find that Pilate and Herod exhibited less unkindness and cruelty in the death of my divine son than the priests, high priests and Pharisees and thou dwellest much upon the fact that those were secular and Gentile judges while these were teachers of the law and priests of the people of Israel professing the true faith in answer to thy thoughts I will remind thee of a doctrine not new which thou hast understood on former occasions but I wish that thou refresh it in thy mind and remember it for the rest of thy life know then, my dearest that a fall from the highest position is extremely dangerous and the damage done is either irreparable or very difficult of redress Lucifer held in an eminent position in heaven as regards both natural gifts and gifts of grace for in beauty he excelled all the creatures and by his sin he fell to the deepest abyss of loathsomeness and misery and into a more hardened obstinacy than all his followers the first parents of the human race Adam and Eve were exalted to the highest dignity and raised to exquisite favor as coming forth on the hand of the Almighty their fall caused perdition to themselves and to all their posterity and faith teaches what was the cost of their salvation to restore them and their posterity was the work of an infinite mercy many other souls have reached the heights of perfection and have thus fallen most unfortunately arriving at a state in which they almost despair or found themselves incapable of rising this sad state in the creature originates from many causes the first is the dismay and boundless confusion of one who feels that he has fallen from an exalted state of virtue for he knows that he has not only lost great blessings but he does not expect to obtain greater ones than those of the past and those he has lost nor does he promise himself more firmness in keeping those he can obtain through renewed efforts than he has shown in those acquired and now lost through his ingratitude from this dangerous distrust originates lukewarmness want of fervor and diligence absence of zeal and devotion since diffidence extinguishes all these in the soul just as the sprightliness of ardent hope overcomes many difficulties strengthens and vivifies weak human creatures to undertake great works another obstacle there is not less formidable namely the souls accustomed to the blessings of God through their office as the priests and religious or by the exercise of virtues and the abundance of divine favors as spiritual minded persons usually aggravate their sins by a certain contempt of these very blessings and a certain abuse of the divine things for by the abundance of the divine favors they fall into a dangerous dullness of mind they begin to think little of the divine favors and become irreverent thus failing to cooperate with God's grace they hinder its effects they lose the grace of holy fear of the Lord which arouses and stimulates the will to obey the divine commandments and to be alert in the avoidance of sin and pursuit of eternal life in the friendship of God this is an evident danger for lukewarm priests who frequent the holy Eucharist and other sacraments without fear and reverence also for the learned and wise and the powerful of this world who so reluctantly correct and amend their lives they have lost the appreciation and veneration of the remedial helps of the church namely the sacraments preaching and instruction thus these medicines which for other sinners are so salutary and counteract ignorance weaken those who are the physicians of the spiritual life there are other reasons for this kind of danger which must be referred to the Lord himself for the sins of those souls who by their state are most closely bound to their God are weighed in the balance of God's justice in quite a different way from the sins of those who have been less favored by his mercy although the sins of all are more or less essentially the same yet the circumstances of sin are very different for the priests and teachers the powerful and the dignitaries and those who on account of their station or by reputation are supposed to be advanced in a holy life cause great scandal by their fall or by any sins they commit there is much more of bold disrespect in their presumption and temerity against God whom they know better and to whom they owe much more but whom they offend with more deliberation and knowledge than the ignorant hence as is evident from the tenor of all the holy scriptures the sins of Catholics and especially of those that are instructed and enlightened and displeasing to God as the term of each man's life is preordained for each one as the time in which he is to gain the eternal reward so the measure or number of sins to be born by the patience or forbearance of the Lord is likewise preordained this measure of divine justice is determined not only by the number and quantity of the sins but also by their quality and weight thus it may happen that in the souls favored by great enlightenment and graces of heaven the grievousness supplies what is wanting in the number of the sins and that with fewer sins they are forsaken sooner and chastise more severely than others with many more sins nor can all expect for themselves the same issue as David Second Book of Kings Chapter 12 verse 13 and Saint Peter because not all of them have to their credit as many good actions to be remembered by the Lord besides the special privileges of some cannot be set up as a rule for all others because according to the secret judgments of the Lord not all are destined for a special office by this explanation my dearest thou wilt be able to satisfy thy doubts and thou wilt understand what a bitter evil so many souls incur whom the Almighty has redeemed by his blood placed in the way of light and drawn toward himself and how some persons can fall from a more exalted state into more perverse obstinacy than others below them in station this truth is well illustrated in the mystery of my son's passion in which the priests scribes and the whole people were much more indebted to their God than the heathens who knew not of the true religion I desire that this truth as exhibited by their example convince thee of this terrible danger sight in thee holy fear and with this fear join humble thanks and an exalted esteem of the favors of the Lord in the days of abundance be not unmindful of the hour of want Ecclesiasticus chapter 13 verse 25 ponder as well the one as the other within thyself and remember that thou carryest thy treasure in a fragile vessel which thou canst easily lose second letter to the Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7 know well that the reception of such blessings argues not merit and the possession of them is not due to thee injustice but comes to thee by liberality and kindness that the most high has favored thee with so much familiar intercourse is no assurance that thou canst not fall and no license to live carelessly and without reverence and fear all things to thee according to the number and greatness of thy blessings for the wrath of the serpent has increased toward thee in proportion and is more alert against thee than against other souls he has become aware that the most high has not been so liberally loving to men of many generations as toward thee and if thou meet so many blessings and mercies within gratitude thou shalt be wretched and worthy of a rigorous punishment against which thou canst end of chapter 19 book 2 chapter 20 of the mystical city of god volume 3 by the venerable sister Mary of jesus of agreda this liber vox recording is in the public domain book 2 chapter 20 our savior by order of pilot is scourged crowned with thorns and mocked the behavior of the most holy Mary during this time pilot aware of the obstinate hostility of the Jews against Jesus of Nazareth and unwilling to condemn him to death of which he knew him to be innocent thought that a severe scourging of Jesus might placate the fury of the ungrateful people and sued the envy of the priests and scribes if he should have failed in anything pertaining to their ceremonies and rights they would probably consider him sufficiently chastised and in their persecutions and in their clamours for his death pilot was led to this belief by what they had told him in the course of his trial for they had vainly and foolishly columnated Christ of not observing the Sabbath and other ceremonies as is evident from his sermons reported by the evangelists John chapter 9 verse 6 but pilot was entirely wrong in his judgment and acted like an ignorant man neither could the master of all holiness be guilty of any defect in the observance of that law which he had come not to abolish but to fulfill Matthew chapter 5 verse 7 nor even if the accusation had been true would he have deserved such an outrageous punishment for the laws of the Jews far from demanding such an inhuman and cruel scourging contained other regulations for atonement of the more common faults in still greater error was this judgment in expecting any mercy or natural kindness and compassion from the Jews their anger and wrath against the most meek master was not human not such as ordinarily is appeased by the overthrow and humiliation of the enemy for men have hearts of flesh and the love of their own kind is natural and the source of at least some compassion but these perfidious Jews were clothed in the guise of demons or rather transformed into demons who exert the more furious rage against those who are rendered more helpless and wretched who when they see anyone most helpless say let us pursue him now since he has none to defend nor free him from our hands such was the implacable fury of the priests and of their confederates the Pharisees against the author of life for Lucifer despairing of being able to hinder his murder by the Jews inspired them with his own dreadful malice and outrageous cruelty Pilate place between the known truth and his human and terrestrial considerations chose to follow the erroneous leading of the latter and ordered Jesus to be severely scourged though he had himself declared him free from guilt John chapter 19 verse 1 there upon those ministers of Satan with many others brought Jesus our savior to the place of punishment which was a courtyard or enclosure attached to the house and set apart for the torture of criminals in order to force them to confess their crimes it was enclosed by a low open building surrounded by columns some of which supported the roof while others were lower and stood free to one of these columns which was of marble they bound Jesus very securely for they still thought him a man and feared his escape they first took off the white garment with not less ignominy than when they clothed him therein in the house of the adulterous homicide Herod in loosening the robes and chains which he had born since his capture in the garden they cruelly widened the wounds which his bonds had made in his arms and wrists having freed his hands they commanded him with infamous blasphemies to dispoil himself of the seamless tunic which he wore this was the identical garment with which his most blessed mother had clothed him in Egypt when he first began to walk as I have related in its place our Lord at present had no other garment since they had taken from him his mantle or cloak when they seized him in the garden the son of the eternal father obeyed the executioners and began to unclothe himself ready to bear the shame of the exposure of his most sacred and body before such a multitude of people but his torturers impatient at the delay which modesty required tore away the tunic with violence in order to hasten his undressing and as is said flay the sheep with the wool with the exception of a strip of cloth were a signature which he wore beneath the tunic and with which his mother likewise had clothed him in Egypt the Lord stood now naked these garments had grown with a sacred body nor had he ever taken them off the same is to be said of his shoes which his mother had placed on his feet however as I have said on a former occasion he had many times walked barefooted during his preaching I understood that some of the doctors have said or have persuaded themselves that our savior Jesus at his scourging and at his crucifixion for his greater humiliation permitted the executioners to disfoil his clothing but having again been commanded under holy obedience to ascertain the truth in this matter I was told that the divine master was prepared to suffer all the insults compatible with decency that the executioners attempted to subject his body to this shame of total nakedness seeking to disfoil him of the which covered his loins but in that they failed because on touching it their arms became paralyzed and stiff as had happened also in the house of Caiaphas when they attempted to take off his clothes all the six of his tormentors separately made the attempt with the same result yet afterwards these ministers of evil in order to scourge him with greater effect raised some of the coverings for so much the Lord permitted but not that he should be uncovered and disfoiled of his garments entirely the miracle of their being hindered they realized in their brutal attempts did not however move or soften the hearts of these human beasts but in their diabolical insanity they attributed it all to the supposed sorcery and witchcraft of the author of truth and life thus the Lord stood uncovered in the presence of a great multitude and the six torturers bound him brutally to one of the columns in order to chastise him so much the more at their ease the two at a time they began to scourge him with such inhuman cruelty as was possible only in men possessed by Lucifer as were these executioners the first two scourged the innocent savior with hard and thick cords full of rough knots and in their sacrilegious fury strained all the powers of their body to inflict the blows this first scourging raised in the deified body of the Lord great welts and livid tumors the sacred blood gathered beneath the skin and disfigured his whole body already it began to ooze through the wounds the first two having at length desisted the second pair continued the scourging instilled greater emulation with hardened leather thongs they leveled their strokes upon the places already sore and caused the discolored tumors to break open and shed forth the sacred blood until it be spattered and drenched the garments of the sacrilegious torturers running down also in streams to the pavement those two gave way to the third pair of scourgers who commenced to beat the Lord with extremely tough raw hides dried hard like ozer twigs they scourged him still more cruelly because they were wounding not so much his virginal body as cutting into the wounds already produced by the previous scourging besides they had been secretly incited to greater fury by the demons who were filled with new rage at the patience of Christ as the veins of the sacred body had now been opened and his whole person seemed but one continued wound the third pair found no more room for new wounds their ceaseless blows inhumanly tore the immaculate and virginal flesh of Christ our redeemer and scattered many pieces of it about the pavement so much so that a large portion of the shoulder bones were exposed and showed red through the flowing blood in other places also the bones were laid bare larger than the palm of the hand in order to wipe out entirely that beauty which exceeded that of all other men Psalm 44 verse 3 they beat him in the face and in the feet and hands thus leaving unwounded not a single spot in which they could exert their fury and wrath against the most innocent lamb the divine blood flowed to the ground gathering here and there in great abundance the scourging in the face and in the hands and feet was unspeakably painful because these parts are so full of sensitive and delicate nerves his venerable countenance became so swollen and wounded that the blood and the swellings blinded him in addition to their blows the executioner spurred it upon his person their disgusting spittle and loaded him with insulting epithets the exact number of blows dealt by the savior from head to foot was 5,115 the great lord and author of all creation who by his divine nature was incapable of suffering was in his human flesh and for our sake reduced to a man of sorrows as prophesied and was made to experience our infirmities becoming the last of men Isaiah chapter 53 verse 3 a man of sorrows the last of the people the multitudes who had followed the lord filled up the courtyard of Pilate's house and the surrounding streets for all of them waited for the issue of this event discussing and arguing about it according to each one's views amid all this confusion the virgin mother endured unheard of insults and she was deeply afflicted by the injuries and blasphemies heaped upon her divine son by the Jews and Gentiles by the cases to the scourging place she retired in the company of the Marys and Saint John to a corner of the courtyard assisted by her divine visions she there witnessed all the scourging and the torments of our savior although she did not see it with the eyes of her body nothing was hidden to her no more than if she had been standing quite near human thoughts cannot comprehend how great and how diverse were the afflictions and sorrows of the great queen of the angels together with many other mysteries of the divinity they shall become manifest in the next life for the glory of the son and mother I have already mentioned in other places of this history and especially in that of the passion that the blessed mother felt in her own body all the torments of her son this was true also of the scourging which she felt in all the parts of her virginal body in the same intensity as they were felt by Christ in his body although she shed no blood except what flowed from her eyes with her tears nor was lacerated in her flesh yet the bodily pains so changed and disfigured her that Saint John and the holy women failed to find in her any resemblance of herself besides the tortures of the body she suffered ineffable sorrows of the soul there sorrow was augmented in proportion to the immensity of her insight Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 18 For her sorrows flowed not only from the natural love of a mother and a supreme love of Christ as her God but it was proportioned to her power of judging more accurately than all creatures of the innocence of Christ the dignity of his divine person the atrocity of the insults coming from the perfidious Jews and the children of Adam whom he was freeing from eternal death having at length executed the sentence of scourging the executioners unbound the Lord from the column and with imperious and blasphemous presumption commanded him immediately to put on his garment but while they had scourged the most meek master one of his tormentors instigated by the devil had hidden his clothes out of sight in order to prolong the nakedness and exposure of his divine person for their derision and sport this evil purpose suggested by the devil was well known to the mother of the Lord she therefore making use of her power as queen commanded Lucifer and all his demons to leave the neighborhood and immediately compelled by her sovereign power and virtue they fled she gave orders that the tunic be brought by the holy angels within reach of her most holy son so that he could again cover his sacred and lacerated body all this was immediately attended to although the sacrilegious executioners understood not the miracle nor how it had been wrought they attributed it all to the sorcery and magic of demons during this protracted nakedness our savior had in addition to his wounds suffered greatly from the cold of that morning as mentioned by the evangelists Mark chapter 14 verse 55 Luke chapter 22 verse 35 John chapter 18 verse 18 his sacred blood had frozen and compressed the wounds which had become inflamed and extremely painful the cold had diminished his powers of resistance although the fire of his infinite charity strained them to the utmost in order to suffer more and more though compassion is so natural in rational creatures there was none for him in his affliction and necessity except that of his sorrowful mother who tearfully bewailed and pitied him in the name of the whole human race among other divine mysteries hidden to the wise of this world this also causes great astonishment that the wrath of the Jews who were men of flesh and blood like ours should not have been appeased at their seeing Christ's torn and wounded by 5,115 lashes that the sight of a person so lacerated should not have moved their natural compassion but should arouse their envy to inflict new and unheard of tortures on the victim their implacable fury at once planned another outrageous cruelty they went to Pilate and in the presence of his counselors said this seducer and deceiver of the people Jesus of Nazareth in his boasting and vanity has sought to be recognized by all as the king of the Jews in order that his pride may be humbled and his presumption be confounded we desire your permission in signia merited by his fantastic pretensions Pilate yielded to the unjust demand of the Jews permitting them to proceed according to their intentions thereupon they took Jesus to the Praetorium where, with the same cruelty and contempt, they again dispoiled him of his garments and in order to deride him before all the people as a counterfeit king clothed him in a much torn and soiled mantle of purple color they placed also upon his sacred head a cap made of woven thorns to serve him as a crown this cap was woven of thorn branches and in such a manner that many of the hard and sharp thorns would penetrate into the skull some of them to the ears and others to the eyes hence one of the greatest tortures suffered by the Lord was that of the crown of thorns instead of the scepter they placed into his hands a contemptible reed they also threw over his shoulders a violet colored mantle something of the style of capes worn in churches for such a garment belonged to the vestiture of a king in this array of a mock king the perfidious Jews decked out him who by his nature and every right was the king of the kings and the lord of lords Apocalypse chapter 19 verse 16 then all the soldiers in the presence of the priests and Pharisees gathered around him and heaped upon him their blasphemous mockery and derision some of them bent their knees and mockingly said to him God save thee king of the Jews others buffeted him others snatched the cane from his hands and struck him on his crowned head others ejected their disgusting spittle upon him all of them instigated by furious demons insulted and affronted him in different manners oh charity incomprehensible and exceeding all measure oh patience never seen or imagine among mortals who oh my lord and god since thou art the true and mighty god both in essence and in thy works who can oblige thee to suffer the humiliation of such unheard of torments insults and blasphemies on the contrary oh my god who among men has not done many things to offend thee and which should have caused thee to refuse suffering and to deny them favor who could ever believe all this if we knew not of thy infinite goodness but now since we see it and infirm faith look upon such admirable blessings and miracles of love where is our judgment what effect upon us has the light of truth what enchantment is this that we suffer since at the very side of thy sorrows thorns insults and affronts we seek for ourselves without the least shame or fear the delights the riches the ease the performance and vanities of this world truly great is the number of fools ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 15 since the greatest foolishness and dishonesty is to recognize a debt and be unwilling to pay it to receive blessings and never give thanks for them to have before one's eyes the greater good and despise it to claim it for ourselves and make no use of it to turn away and fly from life and seek eternal death the most innocent Jesus opened not his mouth in those great and many injuries nor was the furious wrath of the Jews appeased either by the mockery and derision of the divine master or by the torments added to the contempt of his most exalted person it seemed to Pilate that the spectacle of a man so ill-treated as Jesus of Nazareth would move and fill with shame the hearts of that ungrateful people therefore he commanded Jesus to be brought from the Praetorium to an open window where all could see him crowned with thorns disfigured by the scourging and the ignominious vestiture of a mock king Pilate himself spoke to the people calling out to them eche homo behold what a man John chapter 19 verse 5 see this man whom you hold as your enemy what more can I do with him than to have punished him in this severe manner you certainly have nothing more to fear from him I do not find any cause of death in him what this judge said was certainly the full truth but in his own words he condemned his outrageous injustice since knowing and confessing that this man was just and not guilty of death he had nevertheless ordered him to be tormented and punished in such a way that according to the natural course he should have been killed many times over oh blindness of self-love oh hellish malice of estimating only the influence of those who can confer or take away mere earthly dignities how deeply do such motives obscure the reason how much do they twist the course of justice how completely do they pervert the greatest truths in judging of the just by the standards of the unjust tremble ye judges of the earth Psalm 2 verse 10 look to it that the sentences you render are not full of deceit for you yourselves shall be judged and condemned by your unjust judgments as the precinct Pharisees in their eager and insatiable hostility were irrevocably bent upon taking away the life of Christ our savior nothing but his death would content or satisfy them therefore they answered Pilate crucify him crucify him John chapter 19 verse 6 when the blessed among women, most holy Mary saw her divine son as Pilate showed him to the people and heard him say she fell upon her knees and openly adored him as the true god man the same was also done by Saint John and the holy women together with all the holy angels of the queen and lady for they saw that not only Mary as the mother of the savior but that God himself desired them thus to act the most prudent lady spoke to the eternal father to the angels and especially to her most beloved son precious words of sorrow, compassion and profound reverence possible to be conceived only in her chaste and love inflamed bosom in her exalted wisdom she pondered also the ways and means by which the evidences of his innocence could be made most opportunely manifest at a time when he was so insulted, mocked and despised by the Jews with this most proper intention she renewed the petitions above mentioned namely that Pilate in his quality of judge continued to maintain the innocence of Jesus our savior and that all the world should understand that Jesus was not guilty of death nor of any of the crimes imputed to him by the Jews on account of these prayers of the most blessed mother Pilate was made to feel great compassion at seeing Jesus so horribly scourged and ill treated and regret at having punished him so severely although he was naturally disposed to such emotions by his soft and compassionate disposition yet they were principally caused by the light he received by the Queen and Mother of Grace this same light moved the unjust judge after the crowning of thorns to prolong his parlay with the Jews for the release of Christ as is recorded in the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Saint John when they again asked him to crucify the Lord he answered take him yourselves and crucify him for I do not find any cause for doing it they replied according to our law he is guilty of death and claims to be the Son of God this reply through Pilate into greater consternation for he conceived it might be true that Jesus was the Son of God according to his heathen notions of the Divinity therefore he withdrew with Jesus into the Praetorium where speaking with him alone he asked once he was the Lord did not answer this question for Pilate was not in a state of mind either to understand or to merit a reply unless he insisted and said to the king of heaven does thou then not speak to me does thou not know that I have power to crucify thee and power to dismiss thee Pilate sought to move him to defend himself and tell what he wanted to know it seemed to Pilate that a man so wretched and tormented would gladly accept any offer of favor from a judge but the master of truth answered Pilate without defending himself for he expected dignity for he said thou shouldst not have any power against me unless it were given thee from above therefore he that hath delivered me to thee hath the greater sin this answer by itself made the condemnation of Christ inexcusable in Pilate since he could have understood therefrom that neither he nor Caesar had any power of jurisdiction over this man Jesus that by a much higher decree he was so unreasonably and unjustly delivered over to his judgment that therefore Judas and the priests had committed a greater sin than he in not releasing him and that nevertheless he too was guilty of the same crime though in not such high degree Pilate failed to arrive at these mysterious truths but he was struck with still greater consternation at the words of Christ our Lord and therefore made still more strenuous efforts to liberate him the priests who were now abundantly aware of his intentions threatened him with the displeasure of the emperor which he would incur if he permitted this one who had aspired to be king to escape death they said if thou freest this man thou art no friend of Caesar since he who makes a king of himself rises up against his orders and commands they argued this because the Roman emperors never permitted anyone in the whole empire to assume the title or insignia of a king without their consent and order if therefore Pilate should permit it he would contraven the decrees of Caesar he was much disturbed at this malicious and threatening intimation of the Jews and seating himself in his tribunal at the sixth hour in order to pass sentence upon the Lord he once more turned to plead with the Jews saying see there you're king and all of them answered away with him away with him, crucify him he replied shall I crucify your king whereupon they shouted unanimously we have no other king than Caesar Pilate permitted himself to be overcome by the obstinacy and malice of the Jews on the day of the Perescave then seated in his tribunal which in Greek was called Lithostratos and in Hebrew Gabbatha he pronounced the sentence of death against the author of life as I shall relate in the following chapter the Jews departed from the hall in great exultation and joy proclaiming the sentence of the most innocent lamb that they did not realize whom they thus sought to annihilate was the occasion of our redemption all this was well known to the sorrowful mother who though outside of the hall of judgment saw all the proceedings by exalted vision when the priests and Pharisees rushed forth exalting in the condemnation of Christ to the death of the cross the pure heart of this most blessed mother was fixed with new sorrow and was pierced and transfixed with the sword of unaliviated bitterness since the sorrow of most holy Mary on this occasion surpassed all that can enter the thoughts of man it is useless to speak more of it and it must be referred to the pious meditation of Christians just as impossible is it to commemorate her interior acts of adoration worship reverence love compassion sorrow and resignation instruction which the great queen and lady of heaven gave me my daughter thou reflectest with wonder upon the hardness and malice of the Jews the weakness of Pilate who knew of their evil dispositions and permitted himself to be overcome though fully convinced of the innocence of the Lord I wish to relieve thee of this astonishment by furnishing thee with instructions and warnings suitable for making thee careful on the path to eternal life know then that the ancient prophecies concerning the mysteries of the redemption and all the holy scriptures were to be infallibly fulfilled for sooner shall heaven and earth fall to pieces than that their words fail their effect as determined in the divine mind chapter 24 verse 35 acts of the apostles chapter 3 verse 18 in order that the most ignominious death foretold for my Lord should be brought about wisdom chapter 2 verse 20 Jeremiah chapter 11 verse 19 it was necessary that he should be persecuted by men but that these men should happen to be the Jews the priests and the unjust Pilate was their own misfortune not the choice of the Almighty who wishes to save all first letter to St. Timothy chapter 2 verse 4 their own wickedness and malice brought them to their ruin for they resisted the great grace of having in their midst their redeemer and master of knowing him of conversing with him of hearing his doctrine and preaching of witnessing his miracles they had received such great favors that none of the ancient patriarchs had attained by their longings Matthew chapter 13 verse 7 hence the cause of the Savior was justified he manifestly had cultivated his vineyard by his own hands and showered his favors upon it Matthew chapter 21 verse 33 but it brought him only thorns and briars and its keepers took away his life refusing to recognize him as was the opportunity and their duty before all other men this same which happened in the head Christ the Lord and Son of God must happen to all the members of his mystical body that is to the just and predestined to the end of the world for it would be monstrous to see the members incongruous with the head the children show no relation with the father or the disciples unlike their master although sinners must always exist Matthew chapter 18 verse 7 since in this world the just shall always be mingled with the unjust the predestined with the reprobate the persecutors with the persecuted the murderers with the murdered the afflicting with the afflicted yet these lots are decided by the malice and the goodness of men unhappy shall be he through whom scandal comes into the world and who thus makes himself an instrument of the demon this kind of activity was begun in the new church by the priests and Pharisees and by Pilate who all persecuted the head of this mystical body and in the further course of the world by all those who persecuted its members the saints and the predestined imitating and following the Jews and the devil in their evil work think well then my dearest which of these lots thou wishes to choose in the sight of my son and me if thou seeest thy redeemer thy spouse and thy chief tormented afflicted crowned with thorns and saturated with reproaches and at the same time desirous to have a part in him and be a member of his mystical body it is not becoming or even possible that thou live steeped in the pleasures of the flesh thou must be the persecuted not the persecutor the oppressed and not the oppressor the one that bears the cross that encounters the scandal that gives it the one that suffers and at the same time makes none of the neighbors suffer on the contrary thou must exert thyself for their conversion and salvation in as far as is compatible with the perfection of thy state and vocation this is the portion of the friends of God and the inheritance of his children in mortal life in this consists the participation in grace and glory which by his torments and reproaches and by his death cross my son and lord has purchased for them I too have cooperated in this work and have paid the sorrows and afflictions which thou has understood and which I wish thou shall never allow to be blotted out from my inmost memory the almighty would indeed have been powerful enough to exalt his predestined in this world to give them riches and favors beyond those of others to make them strong as lions to the rest of mankind to their invincible power but it was inopportune to exalt them in this manner in order that men might not be led into the error of thinking that greatness consists in what is visible and happiness in earthly goods lest being induced to forsake virtues and obscure the glory of the lord they fail to experience the efficacy of divine grace and cease to aspire to spiritual and eternal things the science which I wish thee to study continually and in which thou must advance day by day putting into practice all that thou learnest to understand and know End of Chapter 20