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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10866 ***
+
+ The Dolorous Passion of
+ Our Lord Jesus Christ
+
+
+   From the Meditations of
+   Anne Catherine Emmerich
+
+
+    Copyright Notice: This ebook was prepared from the 20th edition of
+this book, which was published in 1904 by Benziger Brothers in New
+York. The copyright for that edition is expired and the text is in the
+public domain. This ebook is not copyrighted and is also in the public
+domain.
+
+PREFACE TO THE FRENCH TRANSLATION.
+   BY THE ABBE DE CAZALES.
+
+   The writer of this Preface was travelling in Germany, when he
+chanced to meet with a book, entitled, The History of the Passion of
+our Lord Jesus Christ, from the Meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich,
+which appeared to him both interesting and edifying. Its style was
+unpretending, its ideas simple, its tone unassuming, its sentiments
+unexaggerated, and its every sentence expressive of the most complete
+and entire submission to the Church. Yet, at the same time, it would
+have been difficult anywhere to meet with a more touching and lifelike
+paraphrase of the Gospel narrative. He thought that a book possessing
+such qualities deserved to be known on this side the Rhine, and that
+there could be no reason why it should not be valued for its own sake,
+independent of the somewhat singular source whence it emanated.
+
+Still, the translator has by no means disguised to himself that this
+work is written, in the first place, for Christians; that is to say,
+for men who have the right to be very diffident in giving credence to
+particulars concerning facts which are articles of faith; and although
+he is aware that St. Bonaventure and many others, in their paraphrases
+of the Gospel history, have mixed up traditional details with those
+given in the sacred text, even these examples have not wholly reassured
+him. St. Bonaventure professed only to give a paraphrase, whereas these
+revelations appear to be something more. It is certain that the holy
+maiden herself gave them no higher title than that of dreams, and that
+the transcriber of her narratives treats as blasphemous the idea of
+regarding them in any degree as equivalent to a fifth Gospel; still it
+is evident that the confessors who exhorted Sister Emmerich to relate
+what she saw, the celebrated poet who passed four years near her couch,
+eagerly transcribing all he heard her say, and the German Bishops, who
+encouraged the publication of his book, considered it as something more
+than a paraphrase. Some explanations are needful on this head.
+
+The writings of many Saints introduce us into a new, and, if I may
+be allowed the expression, a miraculous world. In all ages there have
+been revelations about the past, the present, the future, and even
+concerning things absolutely inaccessible to the human intellect. In
+the present day men are inclined to regard these revelations as simple
+hallucinations, or as caused by a sickly condition of body.
+
+The Church, according to the testimony of her most approved writers,
+recognises three descriptions of ecstasy; of which the first is simply
+natural, and entirely brought about by certain physical tendencies and
+a highly imaginative mind; the second divine or angelic, arising from
+intercourse held with the supernatural world; and the third produced by
+infernal agency. (See, on this head, the work of Cardinal Bona, De
+Discretione Spirituum.) Lest we should here write a book instead of a
+preface, we will not enter into any development of this doctrine, which
+appears to us highly philosophical, and without which no satisfactory
+explanation can be given on the subject of the soul of man and its
+various states.
+
+The Church directs certain means to be employed to ascertain by what
+spirit these ecstasies are produced, according to the maxim of St.
+John: 'Try the spirits, if they be of God.' (1 Jn 4:1). When circumstances
+or events claiming to be supernatural have been properly examined
+according to certain rules, the Church has in all ages made a selection
+from them.
+
+Many persons who have been habitually in a state of ecstasy have
+been canonised, and their books approved. But this approbation has
+seldom amounted to more than a declaration that these books contained
+nothing contrary to faith, and that they were likely to promote a
+spirit of piety among the faithful. For the Church is only founded on
+the word of Christ and on the revelations made to the Apostles.
+Whatever may since have been revealed to certain saints possesses
+purely a relative value, the reality of which may even be disputed--it
+being one of the admirable characteristics of the Church, that, though
+inflexibly one in dogma, she allows entire liberty to the human mind in
+all besides. Thus, we may believe private revelations, above all, when
+those persons to whom they were made have been raised by the Church to
+the rank of Saints publicly honoured, invoked, and venerated; but, even
+in these cases, we may, without ceasing to be perfectly orthodox,
+dispute their authenticity and divine origin. It is the place of reason
+to dispute and to select as it sees best.
+
+With regard to the rule for discerning between the good and the evil
+spirit, it is no other, according to all theologians, than that of the
+Gospel. A fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos. By their fruits you shall
+know them. It must be examined in the first place whether the person
+who professes to have revelations mistrusts what passes within himself;
+whether he would prefer a more common path; whether far from boasting
+of the extraordinary graces which he receives, he seeks to hide them,
+and only makes them known through obedience; and, finally, whether he
+is continually advancing in humility, mortification, and charity. Next,
+the revelations themselves must be very closely examined into; it must
+be seen whether there is anything in them contrary to faith; whether
+they are conformable to Scripture and Apostolic tradition; and whether
+they are related in a headstrong spirit, or in a spirit of entire
+submission to the Church.
+
+Whoever reads the life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, and her book,
+will be satisfied that no fault can be found in any of these respects
+either with herself or with her revelations. Her book resembles in many
+points the writings of a great number of saints, and her life also
+bears the most striking similitude to theirs. To be convinced of this
+fact, we need but study the writings or what is related of Saints
+Francis of Assisi, Bernard, Bridget, Hildegard, Catherine of Genoa,
+Catherine of Sienna, Ignatius, John of the Cross, Teresa, and an
+immense number of other holy persons who are less known. So much being
+conceded, it is clear that in considering Sister Emmerich to have been
+inspired by God's Holy Spirit, we are not ascribing more merit to her
+book than is allowed by the Church to all those of the same class. They
+are all edifying, and may serve to promote piety, which is their sole
+object. We must not exaggerate their importance by holding as an
+absolute fact that they proceed from divine inspiration, a favour so
+great that its existence in any particular case should not be credited
+save with the utmost circumspection.
+
+With regard, however, to our present publication, it may be urged
+that, considering the superior talents of the transcriber of Sister
+Emmerich's narrations, the language and expressions which he has made use
+of may not always have been identical with those which she employed. We
+have no hesitation whatever in allowing the force of this argument.
+Most fully do we believe in the entire sincerity of M. Clement
+Brentano, because we both know and love him, and, besides, his
+exemplary piety and the retired life which he leads, secluded from a
+world in which it would depend but on himself to hold the highest
+place, are guarantees amply sufficient to satisfy any impartial mind of
+his sincerity. A poem such as he might publish, if he only pleased,
+would cause him to be ranked at once among the most eminent of the
+German poets, whereas the office which he has taken upon himself of
+secretary to a poor visionary has brought him nothing but contemptuous
+raillery. Nevertheless, we have no intention to assert that in giving
+the conversations and discourses of Sister Emmerich that order and
+coherency in which they were greatly wanting, and writing them down in
+his own way, he may not unwittingly have arranged, explained, and
+embellished them. But this would not have the effect of destroying the
+originality of the recital, or impugning either the sincerity of the
+nun, or that of the writer.
+
+The translator professes to be unable to understand how any man can
+write for mere writing's sake, and without considering the probable
+effects which his work will produce. This book, such as it is, appears
+to him to be at once unusually edifying, and highly poetical. It is
+perfectly clear that it has, properly speaking, no literary pretensions
+whatever. Neither the uneducated maiden whose visions are here relate,
+nor the excellent Christian writer who had published them in so entire
+a spirit of literary disinterestedness, ever had the remotest idea of
+such a thing. And yet there are not, in our opinion, many highly
+worked-up compositions calculated to produce an effect in any degree
+comparable to that which will be brought about by the perusal of this
+unpretending little work. It is our hope that it will make a strong
+impression even upon worldlings, and that in many hearts it will
+prepare the way for better ideas,--perhaps even for a lasting change of
+life.
+
+In the next place, we are not sorry to call public attention in some
+degree to all that class of phenomena which preceded the foundation of
+the Church, which has since been perpetuated uninterruptedly, and which
+too many Christians are disposed to reject altogether, either through
+ignorance and want of reflection, or purely through human respect. This
+is a field which has hitherto been but little explored historically,
+psychologically, and physiologically; and it would be well if
+reflecting minds were to bestow upon it a careful and attentive
+investigation. To our Christian readers we must remark that this work
+has received the approval of ecclesiastical authorities. It has been
+prepared for the press under the superintendence of the two late
+Bishops of Ratisbonne, Sailer and Wittman. These names are but little
+known in France; but in Germany they are identical with learning,
+piety, ardent charity, and a life wholly devoted to the maintenance and
+propagation of the Catholic faith. Many French priests have given their
+opinion that the translation of a book of this character could not but
+tend to nourish piety, without, however, countenancing that weakness of
+spirit which is disposed to lend more importance in some respects to
+private than to general revelations, and consequently to substitute
+matters which we are simply permitted to believe, in the place of those
+which are of faith.
+
+We feel convinced that no one will take offence at certain details
+given on the subject of the outrages which were suffered by our divine
+Lord during the course of his passion. Our readers will remember the
+words of the psalmist: 'I am a worm and no man; the reproach of men, and
+the outcast of the people;' (Ps 22:6) and those of the Apostle: 'Tempted in
+all things like as we are, without sin.' (Heb 4:15). Did we stand in need
+of a precedent, we should request our readers to remember how plainly
+and crudely Bossuet describes the same scenes in the most eloquent of
+his four sermons on the Passion of our Lord. On the other hand, there
+have been so many grand platonic or rhetorical sentences in the books
+published of late years, concerning that abstract entity; on which the
+writers have been pleased to bestow the Christian title of the Word, or
+Logos, that it may be eminently useful to show the Man-God, the Word
+made flesh, in all the reality of his life on earth, of his
+humiliation, and of his sufferings. It must be evident that the cause
+of truth, and still more that of edification, will not be the losers.
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+The following meditations will probably rank high among many similar
+works which the contemplative love of Jesus has produced; but it is our
+duty here plainly to affirm that they have no pretensions whatever to
+be regarded as history.1 They are but intended to take one of the
+lowest places among those numerous representations of the Passion which
+have been given us by pious writers and artists, and to be considered
+at the very utmost as the Lenten meditations of a devout nun, related
+in all simplicity, and written down in the plainest and most literal
+language, from her own dictation. To these meditations, she herself
+never attached more than a mere human value, and never related them
+except through obedience, and upon the repeated commands of the
+directors of her conscience.
+
+The writer of the following pages was introduced to this holy
+religious by Count Leopold de Stolberg. (The Count de Stolberg is one
+of the most eminent converts whom the Catholic Church has made from
+Protestantism. He died in 1819.) Dean Bernard Overberg, her director
+extraordinary, and Bishop Michael Sailer, who had often been her
+counsellor and consoler, urged her to relate to us in detail all that
+she experienced; and the latter, who survived her, took the deepest
+interest in the arrangement and publication of the notes taken down
+from her dictation. (The Bishop of Ratisbonne, one of the most
+celebrated defenders of the faith in Germany.) These illustrious and
+holy men, now dead, and whose memory is blessed, were in continual
+communion of prayer with Anne Catherine, whom they loved and respected,
+on account of the singular graces with which God had favoured her. The
+editor of this book received equal encouragement, and met with no less
+sympathy in his labours, from the late Bishop of Ratisbonne, Mgr.
+Wittman. (Mgr. Wittman was the worthy successor of Sailer, and a man of
+eminent sanctity, whose memory is held in veneration by all the
+Catholics of the south of Germany.) This holy Bishop, who was so deeply
+versed in the ways of Divine grace, and so well acquainted with its
+effects on certain souls, both from his private investigations of the
+subject, and his own experience, took the most lively interest in all
+that concerned Anne Catherine, and on hearing of the work in which the
+editor of this book was engaged, he strongly exhorted him to publish
+it. 'These things have not been communicated to you for nothing,' would he
+often say; 'God had his views in all. Publish something at least of what
+you know, for you will thereby benefit many souls.' He at the same time
+brought forward various instances from his own experience and that of
+others, showing the benefit which had been derived from the study of
+works of a similar character. He delighted in calling such privileged
+souls as Anne Catherine the marrow of the bones of the Church,
+according to the expression of St. John Chrysostom, medulla enim hujus
+mundi sunt, and he encouraged the publication of their lives and
+writings as far as lay in his power.
+
+The editor of this book being taken by a kind friend to the dying
+bed of the holy Bishop, had no reason whatever to expect to be
+recognised, as he had only once in his life conversed with him for a
+few minutes; nevertheless the dying saint knew him again, and after a
+few most kind words blessed and exhorted him to continue his work for
+the glory of God.
+
+Encouraged by the approbation of such men, we therefore yield to the
+wishes of many virtuous friends in publishing the Meditations on the
+Passion, of this humble religious, to whom God granted the favour of
+being at times simple, ingenuous, and ignorant as a child, while at
+others she was clear sighted, sensible, possessed of a deep insight
+into the most mysterious and hidden things, and consumed with burning
+and heroic zeal, but ever forgetful of self, deriving her whole
+strength from Jesus alone, and steadfast in the most perfect humility
+and entire self-abnegation.
+
+We give our readers a slight sketch of her life, intending at some
+future day to publish her biography more in full.
+
+
+The Life Of Anne Catherine Emmerich,
+
+Religious Of The Order Of St. Augustine,
+
+At The Convent Of Agnetenberg, Dulmen, Westphalia.
+
+
+
+Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich2 was born at Flamske, a village
+situated about a mile and a half from Coesfeld, in the bishopric of
+Munster, on the 8th of September 1774, and was baptised in the church
+of St. James at Coesfeld. Her parents, Bernard Emmerich and Anne
+Hiller, were poor peasants, but distinguished for their piety and
+virtue.
+
+The childhood of Anne Catherine bore a striking resemblance to that
+of the Venerable Anne Garzias de St. Barthelemi, of Dominica del
+Paradiso, and of several other holy persons born in the same rank of
+life as herself. Her angel-guardian used to appear to her as a child;
+and when she was taking care of sheep in the fields, the Good Shepherd
+himself, under the form of a young shepherd, would frequently come to
+her assistance. From childhood she was accustomed to have divine
+knowledge imparted to her in visions of all kinds, and was often
+favoured by visits from the Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, who,
+under the form of a sweet, lovely, and majestic lady, would bring the
+Divine Child to be, as it were, her companion, and would assure her
+that she loved and would ever protect her. Many of the saints would
+also appear to her, and receive from her hands the garlands of flowers
+which she had prepared in honour of their festivals. All these favours
+and visions surprised the child less than if an earthly princess and
+the lords and ladies of her court had come to visit her. Nor was she,
+later in life, more surprised at these celestial visits, for her
+innocence caused her to feel far more at her ease with our Divine Lord,
+his Blessed Mother and the Saints, than she could ever be with even the
+most kind and amiable of her earthly companions. The names of Father,
+Mother, Brother, and Spouse, appeared to her expressive of the real
+connections subsisting between God and man, since the Eternal word had
+been pleased to be born of a woman, and so to become our Brother, and
+these sacred titles were not mere words in her mouth.
+
+While yet a child, she used to speak with innocent candour and
+simplicity of all that she saw, and her listeners would be filled with
+admiration at the histories she would relate from Holy Writ; but their
+questions and remarks having sometimes disturbed her peace of mind, she
+determined to keep silence on such subjects for the future. In her
+innocence of heart, she thought that it was not right to talk of things
+of this sort, that other persons never did so, and that her speech
+should be only Yea, yea, and Nay, nay, or Praise be to Jesus Christ.
+The visions with which she was favoured were so like realities, and
+appeared to her so sweet and delightful, that she supposed all
+Christian children were favoured with the same; and she concluded that
+those who never talked on such subjects were only more discreet and
+modest than herself, so she resolved to keep silence also, to be like
+them.
+
+
+Almost from her cradle she possessed the gift of distinguishing what
+was good or evil, holy or profane, blessed or accursed, in material as
+well as in spiritual things, thus resembling St. Sibyllina of Pavia,
+Ida of Louvain, Ursula Benincasa, and some other holy souls. In her
+earliest childhood she used to bring out of the fields useful herbs,
+which no one had ever before discovered to be good for anything, and
+plant them near her father's cottage, or in some spot where she was
+accustomed to work and play; while on the other hand she would root up
+all poisonous plants, and particularly those ever used for
+superstitious practices or in dealings with the devil. Were she by
+chance in a place where some great crime had been committed, she would
+hastily run away, or begin to pray and do penance. She used also to
+perceive by intuition when she was in a consecrated spot, return thanks
+to God, and be filled with a sweet feeling of peace. When a priest
+passed by with the Blessed Sacrament, even at a great distance from her
+home or from the place where she was taking care of her flock, she
+would feel a strong attraction in the direction whence he was coming,
+run to meet him, and be kneeling in the road, adoring the Blessed
+Sacrament, long before he could reach the spot.
+
+She knew when any object was consecrated, and experienced a feeling
+of disgust and repugnance when in the neighbourhood of old pagan
+cemeteries, whereas she was attracted to the sacred remains of the
+saints as steel by the magnet. When relics were shown to her, she knew
+what saints they had belonged to, and could give not only accounts of
+the minutest and hitherto unknown particulars of their lives, but also
+histories of the relics themselves, and of the places where they had
+been preserved. During her whole life she had continual intercourse
+with the souls in purgatory; and all her actions and prayers were
+offered for the relief of their sufferings. She was frequently called
+upon to assist them, and even reminded in some miraculous manner, if
+she chanced to forget them. Often, while yet very young, she used to be
+awakened out of her sleep by bands of suffering souls, and to follow
+them on cold winter's nights with bare feet, the whole length of the Way
+of the Cross to Coesfeld, though the ground was covered with snow.
+
+From her infancy to the day of her death she was indefatigable in
+relieving the sick, and in dressing and curing wounds and ulcers, and
+she was accustomed to give to the poor every farthing she possessed. So
+tender was her conscience, that the slightest sin she fell into caused
+her such pain as to make her ill, and absolution then always restored
+her immediately to health.
+
+The extraordinary nature of the favours bestowed on her by Almighty
+God was no hindrance in the way of her devoting herself to hard labour,
+like any other peasant-girl; and we may also be allowed to observe that
+a certain degree of the spirit of prophecy is not unusually to be found
+among her country men and women. She was taught in the school of
+suffering and mortification, and there learned lessons of perfection.
+She allowed herself no more sleep or food than was absolutely
+necessary; passed whole hours in prayer every night; and in winter
+often knelt out of doors on the snow. She slept on the ground on planks
+arranged in the form of a cross. Her food and drink consisted of what
+was rejected by others; she always kept the best parts even of that for
+the poor and sick, and when she did not know of anyone to give them to,
+she offered them to God in a spirit of child-like faith, begging him to
+give them to some person who was more in need than herself. When there
+was anything to be seen or heard which had no reference to God or
+religion, she found some excuse for avoiding the spot to which others
+were hastening, or, if there, closed her eyes and ears. She was
+accustomed to say that useless actions were sinful, and that when we
+denied our bodily senses any gratification of this kind, we were amply
+repaid by the progress which we made in the interior life, in the same
+manner as pruning renders vines and other fruittrees more productive.
+From her early youth, and wherever she went, she had frequent
+symbolical visions, which showed her in parables, as it were, the
+object of her existence, the means of attaining it, and her future
+sufferings, together with the dangers and conflicts which she would
+have to go through.
+
+She was in her sixteenth year, when one day, whilst at work in the
+fields with her parents and sisters, she heard the bell ringing at the
+Convent of the Sisters of the Annunciation, at Coesfeld. This sound so
+inflamed her secret desire to become a nun, and had so great an effect
+upon her, that she fainted away, and remained ill and weak for a long
+time after. When in her eighteenth year she was apprenticed at Coesfeld
+to a dressmaker, with whom she passed two years, and then returned to
+her parents. She asked to be received at the Convents of the
+Augustinians at Borken, of the Trappists at Darfeld, and of the Poor
+Clares at Munster; but her poverty, and that of these convents, always
+presented an insuperable obstacle to her being received. At the age of
+twenty, having saved twenty thalers (about 3l. English), which she had
+earned by her sewing, she went with this little sum--a perfect fortune for
+a poor peasant-girl--to a pious organist of Coesfeld, whose daughter she
+had known when she first lived in the town. Her hope was that, by
+learning to play on the organ, she might succeed in obtaining
+admittance into a convent. But her irresistible desire to serve the
+poor and give them everything she possessed left her no time to learn
+music, and before long she had so completely stripped herself of
+everything, that her good mother was obliged to bring her bread, milk,
+and eggs, for her own wants and those of the poor, with whom she shared
+everything. Then her mother said: 'Your desire to leave your father and
+myself, and enter a convent, gives us much pain; but you are still my
+beloved child, and when I look at your vacant seat at home, and reflect
+that you have given away all your savings, so as to be now in want, my
+heart is filled with sorrow, and I have now brought you enough to keep
+you for some time.' Anne Catherine replied: 'Yes, dear mother, it is true
+that I have nothing at all left, because it was the holy will of God
+that others should be assisted by me; and since I have given all to
+him, he will now take care of me, and bestow his divine assistance upon
+us all.' She remained some years at Coesfeld, employed in labour, good
+works, and prayer, being always guided by the same inward inspirations.
+She was docile and submissive as a child in the hands of her
+guardian-angel.
+
+Although in this brief sketch of her life we are obliged to omit
+many interesting circumstances, there is one which we must not pass
+over in silence. When about twenty-four years of age, she received a
+favour from our Lord, which has been granted to many persons devoted in
+an especial manner to meditation on his painful Passion; namely, to
+experience the actual and visible sufferings of his sacred Head, when
+crowned with thorns. The following is the account she herself has given
+of the circumstances under which so mysterious a favour was bestowed
+upon her: 'About four years previous to my admittance into the convent,
+consequently in 1798, it happened that I was in the Jesuits' Church at
+Coesfeld, at about twelve o'clock in the day, kneeling before a crucifix
+and absorbed in meditation, when all on a sudden I felt a strong but
+pleasant heat in my head, and I saw my Divine Spouse, under the form of
+a young man clothed with light, come towards me from the altar, where
+the Blessed Sacrament was preserved in the tabernacle. In his left hand
+he held a crown of flowers, in his right hand a crown of thorns, and he
+bade me choose which I would have. I chose the crown of thorns; he
+placed it on my head, and I pressed it down with both hands. Then he
+disappeared, and I returned to myself, feeling, however, violent pain
+around my head. I was obliged to leave the church, which was going to
+be closed. One of my companions was kneeling by my side, and as I
+thought she might have seen what happened to me, I asked her when we
+got home whether there was not a wound on my forehead, and spoke to her
+in general terms of my vision, and of the violent pain which had
+followed it. She could see nothing outwardly, but was not astonished at
+what I told her, because she knew that I was sometimes in an
+extraordinary state, without her being able to understand the cause.
+The next day my forehead and temples were very much swelled, and I
+suffered terribly. This pain and swelling often returned, and sometimes
+lasted whole days and nights. I did not remark that there was blood on
+my head until my companions told me I had better put on a clean cap,
+because mine was covered with red spots. I let them think whatever they
+liked about it, only taking care to arrange my head dress so as to hide
+the blood which flowed from my head, and I continued to observe the
+same precaution even after I entered the convent, where only one person
+perceived the blood, and she never betrayed my secret.'
+
+Several other contemplative persons, especially devoted to the
+passion of our Lord, have been admitted to the privilege of suffering
+the torture inflicted by the crown of thorns, after having seen a
+vision in which the two crowns were offered them to choose between, for
+instance, among others, St. Catherine of Sienna, and Pasithea of
+Crogis, a Poor Clare of the same town, who died in 1617.
+
+The writer of these pages may here be allowed to remark that he
+himself has, in full daylight, several times seen blood flow down the
+forehead and face, and even beyond the linen wrapped round the neck of
+Anne Catherine. Her desire to embrace a religious life was at length
+gratified. The parents of a young person whom the Augustinian nuns of
+Dulmen wished to receive into their order, declared that they would not
+give their consent except on condition that Anne Catherine was taken at
+the same time. The nuns yielded their assent, though somewhat
+reluctantly, on account of their extreme poverty; and on the 13th
+November 1802, one week before the feast of the Presentation of the
+Blessed Virgin, Anne Catherine entered on her novitiate. At the present
+day vocations are not so severely tested as formerly; but in her case,
+Providence imposed special trials, for which, rigorous as they were,
+she felt she never could be too grateful. Sufferings or privations,
+which a soul, either alone or in union with others, imposes upon
+herself, for God's greater glory, are easy to bear; but there is one
+cross more nearly resembling the cross of Christ than any other, and
+that is, lovingly and patiently to submit to unjust punishment,
+rebuffs, or accusations. It was the will of God that during her year's
+novitiate she should, independently of the will of any creature, be
+tried as severely as the most strict mistress of novices could have
+done before any mitigations had been allowed in the rules. She learned
+to regard her companions as instruments in the hands of God for her
+sanctification; and at a later period of her life many other things
+appeared to her in the same light. But as it was necessary that her
+fervent soul should be constantly tried in the school of the Cross, God
+was pleased that she should remain in it all her life.
+
+In many ways her position in the convent was excessively painful.
+Not one of her companions, nor even any priest or doctor, could
+understand her case. She had learned, when living among poor peasants,
+to hide the wonderful gifts which God had bestowed on her; but the case
+was altered now that she was in familiar intercourse with a large
+number of nuns, who, though certainly good and pious, were filled with
+ever-increasing feelings of curiosity, and even of spiritual jealousy
+in her regard. Then, the contracted ideas of the community, and the
+complete ignorance of the nuns concerning all those exterior phenomena
+by which the interior life manifests itself, gave her much to endure,
+the more so, as these phenomena displayed themselves in the most
+unusual and astonishing manner. She heard everything that was said
+against her, even when the speakers were at on end of the convent and
+she at the other, and her heart was most deeply wounded as if by
+poisoned arrows. Yet she bore all patiently a lovingly without showing
+that she knew what was said of her. More than once charity impelled her
+to cast herself at the feet of some nun who was particularly prejudiced
+against her, and ask her pardon with tears. Then, she was suspected of
+listening at the doors, for the private feelings of dislike entertained
+against her became known, no one knew how, and the nuns felt
+uncomfortable and uneasy, in spite of themselves, when in her company.
+
+Whenever the rule (the minutest point of which was sacred in her
+eyes) was neglected in the slightest degree, she beheld in spirit each
+infringement, and at times was inspired to fly to the spot where the
+rule was being broken by some infringement of the vow of poverty, or
+disregards of the hours of silence, and she would then repeat suitable
+passages from the rule, without having ever learned them. She thus
+became an object of aversion to all those religious who broke the rule;
+and her sudden appearance among them had almost the effect of
+apparitions. God had bestowed upon her the gift of tears to so great an
+extent, that she often passed whole hours in the church weeping over
+the sins and ingratitude of men, the sufferings of the Church, the
+imperfections of the community, and her own faults. But these tears of
+sublime sorrow could be understood by none but God, before whom she
+shed them, and men attributed them to mere caprice, a spirit of
+discontent, or some other similar cause. Her confessor had enjoined
+that she should receive the holy communion more frequently than the
+other nuns, because, so ardently did she hunger after the bread of
+angels, that she had been more than once near dying. These heavenly
+sentiments awakened feelings of jealousy in her sisters, who sometimes
+even accused her of hypocrisy.
+
+The favour which had been shown her in her admittance into the
+convent, in spite of her poverty, was also made a subject of reproach.
+The thought of being thus an occasion of sin to others was most painful
+to her, and she continually besought God to permit her to bear herself
+the penalty of this want of charity in her regard. About Christmas, of
+the year 1802, she had a very severe illness, which began by a violent
+pain about her heart.
+
+This pain did not leave her even when she was cured, and she bore it
+in silence until the year 1812, when the mark of a cross was imprinted
+exteriorly in the same place, as we shall relate further on. Her
+weakness and delicate health caused her to be looked upon more as
+burdensome than useful to the community; and this, of course, told
+against her in all ways, yet she was never weary of working and serving
+the others, nor was she ever so happy as at this period of her life--spent
+in privations and sufferings of every description.
+
+On the 13th of November 1803, at the age of twenty-nine, she
+pronounced her solemn vows, and became the spouse of Jesus Christ, in
+the Convent of Agnetenberg, at Dulmen. 'When I had pronounced my vows,' she
+says, 'my relations were again extremely kind to me. My father and my
+eldest brother brought me two pieces of cloth. My father, a good, but
+stern man, and who had been much averse to my entering the convent, had
+told me, when we parted, that he would willingly pay for my burial, but
+that he would give nothing for the convent; and he kept his word, for
+this piece of cloth was the winding sheet used for my spiritual burial
+in the convent.'
+
+'I was not thinking of myself,' she says again, 'I was thinking of nothing
+but our Lord and my holy vows. My companions could not understand me;
+nor could I explain my state to them. God concealed from them many of
+the favours which he bestowed upon me, otherwise they would have had
+very false ideas concerning me. Notwithstanding all my trials and
+sufferings, I was never more rich interiorly, and my soul was perfectly
+flooded with happiness. My cell only contained one chair without a
+seat, and another without a back; yet in my eyes, it was magnificently
+furnished, and when there I often thought myself in Heaven. Frequently
+during the night, impelled by love and by the mercy of God, I poured
+forth the feelings of my soul by conversing with him on loving and
+familiar language, as I had always done from my childhood, and then
+those who were watching me would accuse me of irreverence and
+disrespect towards God. Once, I happened to say that it appeared to me
+that I should be guilty of greater disrespect did I receive the Body of
+our Lord without having conversed familiarly with him, and I was
+severely reprimanded. Amid all these trials, I yet lived in peace with
+God and with all his creatures. When I was working in the garden, the
+birds would come and rest on my head and shoulders, and we would
+together sing the praises of God. I always beheld my angel-guardian at
+my side, and although the devil used frequently to assault and terrify
+me in various ways, he was never permitted to do me much harm. My
+desire for the Blessed Sacrament was so irresistible, that often at
+night I left my cell and went to the church, if it was open; but if
+not, I remained at the door or by the walls, even in winter, kneeling
+or prostrate, with my arms extended in ecstasy. The convent chaplain,
+who was so charitable as to come early to give me the Holy Communion,
+used to find me in this state, but as soon as he was come and had
+opened the church, I always recovered, and hastened to the holy table,
+there to receive my Lord and my God. When I was sacristan, I used all
+on a sudden to feel myself ravished in spirit, and ascend to the
+highest parts of the church, on to cornices, projecting parts of the
+building, and mouldings, where it seemed impossible for any being to
+get by human means. Then I cleaned and arranged everything, and it
+appeared to me that I was surrounded by blessed spirits, who
+transported me about and held me up in their hands. Their presence did
+not cause me the least uneasiness, for I had been accustomed to it from
+my childhood, and I used to have the most sweet and familiar
+intercourse with them. It was only when I was in the company of certain
+men that I was really alone; and so great was then my feeling of
+loneliness that I could not help crying like a child that has strayed
+from home.'
+
+We now proceed to her illnesses, omitting any description of some
+other remarkable phenomena of her ecstatic life, only recommending the
+reader to compare the accounts we have already given with what is
+related of St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi.
+
+Anne Catherine had always been weak and delicate, and yet had been,
+from her earliest childhood, in the habit of practising many
+mortifications, of fasting and of passing the night in watching and
+prayer in the open air. She had been accustomed to continue hard labour
+in the fields, at all seasons of the year, and her strength was also
+necessarily much tried by the exhausting and supernatural states
+through which she so frequently passed. At the convent she continued to
+work in the garden and in the house, whilst her spiritual labours and
+sufferings were ever on the increase, so that it is by no means
+surprising that she was frequently ill; but her illnesses arose from
+yet another cause. We have learned, from careful observations made
+every day for the space of four years, and also from what she herself
+was unwillingly forced to admit, that during the whole course of her
+life, and especially during that part of it which she spent at the
+convent, when she enjoyed the highest spiritual favours, a great
+portion of her illnesses and sufferings came from taking upon herself
+the sufferings of others. Sometimes she asked for the illness of a
+person who did not bear it patiently, and relieved him of the whole or
+of a part of his sufferings, by taking them upon herself; sometimes,
+wishing to expiate a sin or put an end to some suffering, she gave
+herself up into the hands of God, and he, accepting her sacrifice,
+permitted her thus, in union with the merits of his passion, to expiate
+the sin by suffering some illness corresponding to it. She had
+consequently to bear, not only her own maladies, but those also of
+others--to suffer in expiation of the sins of her brethren, and of the
+faults and negligences of certain portions of the Christian
+community--and, finally, to endure many and various sufferings in
+satisfaction for the souls of purgatory. All these sufferings appeared
+like real illnesses, which took the most opposite and variable forms,
+and she was placed entirely under the care of the doctor, who
+endeavoured by earthly remedies to cure illnesses which in reality were
+the very sources of her life. She said on this subject--'Repose in suffering
+has always appeared to me the most desirable condition possible. The
+angels themselves would envy us, were envy not an imperfection. But for
+sufferings to bear really meritorious we must patiently and gratefully
+accept unsuitable remedies and comforts, and all other additional
+trials. I did not myself fully understand my state, nor know what it
+was to lead to. In my soul I accepted my different sufferings, but in
+my body it was my duty to strive against them. I had given myself
+wholly and entirely to my Heavenly Spouse, and his holy will was being
+accomplished in me; but I was living on earth, where I was not to rebel
+against earthly wisdom and earthly prescriptions. Even had I fully
+comprehended my state, and had both time and power to explain it, there
+was no one near who would have been able to understand me. A doctor
+would simply have concluded that I was entirely mad, and would have
+increased his expensive and painful remedies tenfold. I have suffered
+much in this way during the whole of my life, and particularly when I
+was at the convent, from having unsuitable remedies administered to me.
+Often, when my doctors and nurses had reduced me to the last agony, and
+that I was near death, God took pity on me, and sent me some
+supernatural assistance, which effected an entire cure.'
+
+Four years before the suppression of her convent she went to Flamske
+for two days to visit her parents. Whilst there she went once to kneel
+and pray for some hours before the miraculous Cross of the Church of
+St. Lambert, at Coesfeld. She besought the Almighty to bestow the gifts
+of peace and unity upon her convent, offered him the Passion of Jesus
+Christ for that intention, and implored him to allow her to feel a
+portion of the sufferings which were endured by her Divine Spouse on
+the Cross. From the time that she made this prayer her hands and feet
+became burning and painful, and she suffered constantly from fever,
+which she believed was the cause of the pain in her hands and feet, for
+she did not dare to think that her prayer had been granted. Often she
+was unable to walk, and the pain in her hands prevented her from
+working as usual in the garden. On the 3rd December 1811, the convent
+was suppressed, and the church closed. (Under the Government of Jerome
+Bonaparte, King of Westphalia.) The nuns dispersed in all directions,
+but Anne Catherine remained, poor and ill. A kindhearted servant
+belonging to the monastery attended upon her out of charity, and an
+aged emigrant priest, who said Mass in the convent, remained also with
+her. These three individuals, being the poorest of the Community, did
+not leave the convent until the spring of 1812. She was still very
+unwell, and could not be moved without great difficulty. The priest
+lodged with a poor widow who lived in the neighbourhood, and Anne
+Catherine had in the same house a wretched little room on the
+ground-floor, which looked on the street. There she lived, in poverty
+and sickness, until the autumn of 1813. Her ecstasies in prayer, and
+her spiritual intercourse with the invisible world, became more and
+more frequent. She was about to be called to a state with which she was
+herself but imperfectly acquainted, and in order to enter which she did
+nothing but submissively abandon herself to the will of God. Our Lord
+was pleased about this time to imprint upon her virginal body the
+stigmas of his cross and of his crucifixion, which were to the Jews a
+stumbling-block, and to the Gentiles folly, and to many persons who
+call themselves Christians, both the one and the other. From her very
+earliest childhood she had besought our Lord to impress the marks of
+his cross deeply upon her heart, that so she might never forget his
+infinite love for men; but she had never thought of receiving any
+outward marks. Rejected by the world, she prayed more fervently than
+ever for this end. On the 28th of August, the feast of St. Augustine,
+the patron of her order, as she was making this prayer in bed, ravished
+in ecstasy and her arms stretched forth, she beheld a young man
+approach her surrounded with light. It was under this form that her
+Divine Spouse usually appeared to her, and he now made upon her body
+with his right hand the mark of a common cross. From this time there
+was a mark like a cross upon her bosom, consisting of two bands
+crossed, about three inches long and one wide. Later the skin often
+rose in blisters on this place, as if from a burn, and when these
+blisters burst a burning colourless liquid issued from them, sometimes
+in such quantities as to soak through several sheets. She was long
+without perceiving what the case really was, and only thought that she
+was in a strong perspiration. The particular meaning of this mark has
+never been known.
+
+Some weeks later, when making the same prayer, she fell into an
+ecstasy, and beheld the same apparition, which presented her with a
+little cross of the shape described in her accounts of the Passion. She
+eagerly received and fervently pressed it to her bosom, and then
+returned it. She said that this cross was as soft and white as wax, but
+she was not at first aware that it had made an external mark upon her
+bosom. A short time after, having gone with her landlady's little girl to
+visit an old hermitage near Dulmen, she all on a sudden fell into an
+ecstasy, fainted away, and on her recovery was taken home by a poor
+peasant woman. The sharp pain which she felt in her chest continued to
+increase, and she saw that there was what looked like a cross, about
+three inches in length, pressed tightly upon her breast-bone, and
+looking red through the skin. As she had spoken about her vision to a
+nun with whom she was intimate, her extraordinary state began to be a
+good deal talked of. On All Souls' day, 1812, she went out for the last
+time, and with much difficulty succeeded in reaching the church. From
+that time till the end of the year she seemed to be dying, and received
+the last Sacraments. At Christmas a smaller cross appeared on the top
+of that upon her chest. It was the same shape as the larger one, so
+that the two together formed a double forked cross. Blood flowed from
+this cross every Wednesday, so as to leave the impression of its shape
+on paper laid over it. After a time this happened on Fridays instead.
+In 1814 this flow of blood took place less frequently, but the cross
+became as red as fire every Friday. At a later period of her life more
+blood flowed from this cross, especially every Good Friday; but no
+attention was paid to it. On the 30th March 1821, the writer of these
+pages saw this cross of a deep red colour, and bleeding all over. In
+its usual state it was colourless, and its position only marked by
+slight cracks in the skin... Other Ecstaticas have received similar marks
+of the Cross; among others, Catherine of Raconis, Marina de l' Escobar,
+Emilia Bichieri, S. Juliani Falconieri, etc.
+
+She received the stigmas on the last days of the year 1812. On the
+29th December, about three o'clock in the afternoon, she was lying on her
+bed in her little room, extremely ill, but in a state of ecstasy and
+with her arms extended, meditating on the sufferings of her Lord, and
+beseeching him to allow her to suffer with him. She said five Our
+Fathers in honour of the Five Wounds, and felt her whole heart burning
+with love. She then saw a light descending towards her, and
+distinguished in the midst of it the resplendent form of her crucified
+Saviour, whose wounds shone like so many furnaces of light. Her heart
+was overflowing with joy and sorrow, and, at the sight of the sacred
+wounds, her desire to suffer with her Lord became intensely violent.
+Then triple rays, pointed like arrows, of the colour of blood, darted
+forth from the hands, feet, and side of the sacred apparition, and
+struck her hands, feet, and right side. The triple rays from the side
+formed a point like the head of a lance. The moment these rays touched
+her, drops of blood flowed from the wounds which they made. Long did
+she remain in a state of insensibility, and when she recovered her
+senses she did not know who had lowered her outstretched arms. It was
+with astonishment that she beheld blood flowing from the palms of her
+hands, and felt violent pain in her feet and side. It happened that her
+landlady's little daughter came into her room, saw her hands bleeding,
+and ran to tell her mother, who with great anxiety asked Anne Catherine
+what had happened, but was begged by her not to speak about it. She
+felt, after having received the stigmas, that an entire change had
+taken place in her body; for the course of her blood seemed to have
+changed, and to flow rapidly towards the stigmas. She herself used to
+say: 'No words can describe in what manner it flows.'
+
+We are indebted to a curious incident for our knowledge of the
+circumstances which we have here related. On the 15th December 1819,
+she had a detailed vision of all that had happened to herself, but so
+that she thought it concerned some other nun who she imagined must be
+living not far off, and who she supposed had experienced the same
+things as herself. She related all these details with a very strong
+feeling of compassion, humbling herself, without knowing it, before her
+own patience and sufferings. It was most touching to hear her say: 'I
+ought never to complain anymore, now that I have seen the sufferings of
+that poor nun; her heart is surrounded with a crown of thorns, but she
+bears it placidly and with a smiling countenance. It is shameful indeed
+for me to complain, for she had a far heavier burden to bear than I
+have.'
+
+These visions, which she afterwards recognised to be her own
+history, were several times repeated, and it is from them that the
+circumstances under which she received the stigmas became known.
+Otherwise she would not have related so many particulars about what her
+humility never permitted her to speak of, and concerning which, when
+asked by her spiritual superiors whence her wounds proceeded, the
+utmost she said was: 'I hope that they come from the hand of God.'
+
+The limits of this work preclude us from entering upon the subject
+of stigmas in general, but we may observe that the Catholic Church has
+produced a certain number of persons, St. Francis of Assisi being the
+first, who have attained to that degree of contemplative love of Jesus
+which is the most sublime effect of union with his sufferings, and is
+designated by theologians, Vulnus divinum, Plago amoris viva. There are
+known to have been at least fifty. Veronica Giuliani, a Capuchiness,
+who died at Citta di Castello in 1727, is the last individual of the
+class who has been canonised (on the 26th May 1831). Her biography,
+published at Cologne in 1810, gives a description of the state of
+persons with stigmas, which in many ways is applicable to Anne
+Catherine. Colomba Schanolt, who died at Bamberg in 1787, Magdalen
+Lorger, who died at Hadamar in 1806, both Dominicanesses, and Rose
+Serra, a Capuchiness at Ozieri in Sardinia, who received the stigmas in
+1801, are those of our own times of whom we know the most. Josephine
+Kumi, of the Convent of Wesen, near Lake Wallenstadt in Switzerland,
+who was still living in 1815, also belonged to this class of persons,
+but we are not entirely certain whether she had the stigmas. 3
+
+Anne Catherine being, as we have said, no longer able to walk or
+rise from her bed, soon became unable also to eat. Before long she
+could take nothing but a little wine and water, and finally only pure
+water; sometimes, but very rarely, she managed to swallow the juice of
+a cherry or a plum, but she immediately vomited any solid food, taken
+in ever so small a quantity. This inability to take food, or rather
+this faculty of living for a great length of time upon nothing but
+water, we are assured by learned doctors is not quite unexampled in the
+history of the sick.
+
+Theologians will be perfectly aware that here are many instances of
+contemplative ascetics, and particularly of persons frequently in a
+state of ecstasy and who have received the stigmas, remaining long
+without taking any other food than the Blessed Sacrament; for instance,
+St. Nicholas of Flue, St. Liduvina of Schiedam, St. Catherine of
+Sienna, St. Angela of Foligno, and St. Louise de l'Ascension. All the
+phenomena exhibited in the person of Anne Catherine remained concealed
+even from those who had the most intercourse with her, until the 25th
+February 1812, when they were discovered accidentally by one of her old
+convent companions. By the end of March, the whole town talked of them.
+On the 23rd of March, the physician of the neighbourhood forced her to
+undergo an examination. Contrary to his expectation, he was convinced
+of the truth, drew up an official report of what he had seen, became
+her doctor and her friend, and remained such to her death. On the 28th
+of March, commissioners were appointed to examine into her case by the
+spiritual authorities of Munster. The consequence of this was that Anne
+Catherine was henceforth looked upon kindly by her superiors, and
+acquired the friendship of the late Dean Overberg, who from that time
+paid her every year a visit of several days' duration, and was her
+consoler and spiritual director. The medical counsellor from Druffel,
+who was present at this examination in the capacity of doctor, never
+ceased to venerate her. In 1814, he published in the Medical Journal of
+Salzbourg a detailed account of the phenomena which he had remarked in
+the person of Anne Catherine, and to this we refer those of our readers
+who desire more particulars upon the subject. On the 4th of April, M.
+Garnier, the Commissary-General of the French police, came from Munster
+to see her; he inquired minutely into her case, and having learned that
+she neither prophesied nor spoke on politics, declared that there was
+no occasion for the police to occupy themselves about her. In 1826, he
+still spoke of her at Paris with respect and emotion.
+
+On the 22nd of July 1813, Overberg came to see her, with Count de
+Stolberg and his family. They remained two days with her, and Stolberg,
+in a letter which has been several times printed, bore witness to the
+reality of the phenomena observed in Anne Catherine, and gave
+expression to his intense veneration for her. He remained her friend as
+long as he lived, and the members of his family never ceased
+recommending themselves to her prayers. On the 29th of September 1813,
+Overberg took the daughter of the Princess Galitzin (who died in 1806)
+to visit her, and they saw with their own eyes blood flow copiously
+from her stigmas. This distinguished lady repeated her visit, and,
+after becoming Princess of Salm, never varied in her sentiments, but,
+together with her family, remained in constant communion of prayer with
+Anne Catherine. Many other persons in all ranks of life were, in like
+manner, consoled and edified by visiting her bed of suffering. On the
+23rd of October 1813, she was carried to another lodging, the window of
+which looked out upon a garden. The condition of the saintly nun became
+day by day more painful. Her stigmas were a source of indescribable
+suffering to her, down to the moment of her death. Instead of allowing
+her thoughts to dwell upon those graces to the interior presence of
+which they bore such miraculous outward testimony, she learned from
+them lessons of humility, by considering them as a heavy cross laid
+upon her for her sins. Her suffering body itself was to preach Jesus
+crucified. It was difficult indeed to be an enigma to all persons, an
+object of suspicion to the greatest number, and of respect mingled with
+fear to some few, without yielding to sentiments of impatience,
+irritability, or pride. Willingly would she have lived in entire
+seclusion from the world, but obedience soon compelled her to allow
+herself to be examined and to have judgment passed upon her by a vast
+number of curious persons. Suffering, as she was, the most excruciating
+pains, she was not even allowed to be her own mistress, but was
+regarded as something which everyone fancied he had a right to look at
+and to pass judgment upon,--often with no good results to anyone, but
+greatly to the prejudice of her soul and body, because she was thus
+deprived of so much rest and recollection of spirit. There seemed to be
+no bounds to what was expected of her, and one fat man, who had some
+difficulty in ascending her narrow winding staircase, was heard to
+complain that a person like Anne Catherine, who ought to be exposed on
+the public road, where everyone could see her, should remained in a
+lodging so difficult to reach. In former ages, persons in her state
+underwent in private the examination of the spiritual authorities, and
+carried out their painful vocation beneath the protecting shadow of
+hallowed walls; but our suffering heroine had been cast forth from the
+cloister into the world at a time when pride, coldness of heart, and
+incredulity were all the vogue; marked with the stigmas of the Passion
+of Christ, she was forced to wear her bloody robe in public, under the
+eyes of men who scarce believed in the Wounds of Christ, far less in
+those which were but their images.
+
+Thus this holy woman, who in her youth had been in the habit of
+praying for long hours before pictures of all the stages of Christ's
+painful Passion, or before wayside crosses, was herself made like unto
+a cross on the public road, insulted by one passer by, bathed in warm
+tears of repentance by a second, regarded as a mere physical curiosity
+by a third, and venerated by a fourth, whose innocent hands would bring
+flowers to lay at her feet.
+
+In 1817 her aged mother came from the country to die by her side.
+Anne Catherine showed her all the love she could by comforting and
+praying for her, and closing her eyes with her own hands--those hands
+marked with the stigmas on the 13th of March of the same year. The
+inheritance left to Anne Catherine by her mother was more than
+sufficient for one so imbued with the spirit of mortification and
+sufferings; and in her turn she left it unimpaired to her friends. It
+consisted of these three sayings:--'Lord, thy will, not mine, be done; '
+'Lord, give me patience, and then strike hard;' 'Those things which are not
+good to put in the pot are at least good to put beneath it.' The meaning
+of this last proverb was: If things are not fit to be eaten, they may
+at least be burned, in order that food may be cooked; this suffering
+does not nourish my heart, but by bearing it patiently, I may at least
+increase the fire of divine love, by which alone life can profit us
+anything. She often repeated these proverbs, and then thought of her
+mother with gratitude. Her father had died some little time before.
+
+The writer of these pages became acquainted with her state first
+through reading a copy of that letter of Stolberg, to which we have
+already alluded, and afterwards through conversation with a friend who
+had passed several weeks with her. In September 1818 he was invited by
+Bishop Sailer to meet him at the Count de Stolberg's, in Westphalia; and
+he went in the first place to Sondermuhlen to see the count, who
+introduced him to Overberg, from whom he received a letter addressed to
+Anne Catherine's doctor. He paid her his first visit on the 17th of
+September 1818; and she allowed him to pass several hours by her side
+each day, until the arrival of Sailer. From the very beginning, she
+gave him her confidence to a remarkable extent, and this in the most
+touching and ingenuous manner. No doubt she was conscious that by
+relating without reserve the history of all the trials, joys, and
+sorrows of her whole life, she was bestowing a most precious spiritual
+alms upon him. She treated him with the most generous hospitality, and
+had no hesitation in doing so, because he did not oppress her and alarm
+her humility by excessive admiration. She laid open her interior to him
+in the same charitable spirit as a pious solitary would in the morning
+offer the flowers and fruit which had grown in his garden during the
+night to some way-worn traveller, who, having lost his road in the
+desert of the world, finds him sitting near his hermitage. Wholly
+devoted to her God, she spoke in this open manner as a child would have
+done, unsuspectingly, with no feelings of mistrust, and with no selfish
+end in view. May God reward her!
+
+Her friend daily wrote down all the observations that he made
+concerning her, and all that she told him about her life, whether
+interior or exterior. Her words were characterised alternately by the
+most childlike simplicity and the most astonishing depth of thought,
+and they foreshadowed, as it were, the vast and sublime spectacle which
+later was unfolded, when it became evident that the past, the present,
+and the future, together with all that pertained to the sanctification,
+profanation, and judgment of souls, formed before and within her an
+allegorical and historical drama, for which the different events of the
+ecclesiastical year furnished subjects, and which it divided into
+scenes, so closely linked together were all the prayers and sufferings
+which she offered in sacrifice for the Church militant.
+
+On the 22nd of October 1818 Sailer came to see her, and having
+remarked that she was lodging at the back of a public house, and that
+men were playing at nine-pins under her window, said in the playful yet
+thoughtful manner which was peculiar to him: 'See, see; all things are as
+they should be--the invalid nun, the spouse of our Lord, is lodging in a
+publichouse above the ground where men are playing at nine-pins, like
+the soul of man in his body.' His interview with Anne Catherine was most
+affecting; it was indeed beautiful to behold these two souls, who were
+both on fire with the love of Jesus, and conducted by grace through
+such different paths, meet thus at the foot of the Cross, the visible
+stamp of which was borne by one of them. On Friday, the 23rd of
+October, Sailer remained alone with her during nearly the whole of the
+day; he saw blood flow from her head, her hands, and her feet, and he
+was able to bestow upon her great consolation in her interior trials.
+He most earnestly recommended her to tell everything without reserve to
+the writer of these pages, and he came to an understanding upon the
+subject with her ordinary director. He heard her confession, gave her
+the Holy Communion on Saturday, the 24th, and then continued his
+journey to the Count de Stolberg's. On his return, at the beginning of
+November, he again passed a day with her. He remained her friend until
+death, prayed constantly for her, and asked her prayers whenever he
+found himself in trying of difficult positions. The writer of these
+pages remained until January. He returned in May 1819, and continued to
+watch Anne Catherine almost uninterruptedly until her death.
+
+The saintly maiden continually besought the Almighty to remove the
+exterior stigmas, on account of the trouble and fatigue which they
+occasioned, and her prayer was granted at the end of seven years.
+Towards the conclusion of the year 1819, the blood first flowed less
+frequently from her wounds, and then ceased altogether. On the 25th of
+December, scabs fell from her feet and hands, and there only remained
+white scars, which became red on certain days, but the pain she
+suffered was undiminished in the slightest degree. The mark of the
+cross, and the wound on her right side, were often to be seen as
+before, but not at any stated times. On certain days she always had the
+most painful sensations around her head, as though a crown of thorns
+were being pressed upon it. On these occasions she could not lean her
+head against anything, nor even rest it on her hand, but had to remain
+for long hours, sometimes even for whole nights, sitting up in her bed,
+supported by cushions, whilst her pallid face, and the irrepressible
+groans of pain which escaped her, made her like an awful living
+representation of suffering. After she had been in this state, blood
+invariably flowed more or less copiously from around her head.
+Sometimes her head-dress only was soaked with it, but sometimes the
+blood would flow down her face and neck. On Good Friday, April 19th,
+1819, all her wounds re-opened and bled, and closed again on the
+following days. A most rigorous inquiry into her state was made by some
+doctors and naturalists. For that end she was placed alone in a strange
+house, where she remained from the 7th to the 29th of August; but this
+examination appears to have produced no particular effects in any way.
+She was brought back to her own dwelling on the 29th of August, and
+from that time until she died she was left in peace, save that she was
+occasionally annoyed by private disputes and public insults. On this
+subject Overberg wrote her the following words: 'What have you had to
+suffer personally of which you can complain? I am addressing a soul
+desirous of nothing so much as to become more and more like to her
+divine Spouse. Have you not been treated far more gently than was your
+adorable Spouse? Should it not be a subject of rejoicing to you,
+according to the spirit, to have been assisted to resemble him more
+closely, and thus to be more pleasing in his eyes? You had suffered
+much with Jesus, but hitherto insults had been for the most part spared
+you. With the crown of thorns you had not worn the purple mantle and
+the robe of scorn, much less had you yet heard, Away with him! Crucify
+him! Crucify him! I cannot doubt but that these sentiments are yours.
+Praise be to Jesus Christ.'
+
+On Good Friday, the 30th of March 1820, blood flowed from her head,
+feet, hands, chest, and side. It happened that when she fainted, one of
+the persons who were with her, knowing that the application of relics
+relieved her, placed near her feet a piece of linen in which some were
+wrapped, and the blood which came from her wounds reached this piece of
+linen after a time. In the evening, when this same piece of linen with
+the relics was being placed on her chest and shoulders, in which she
+was suffering much, she suddenly exclaimed, while in a state of
+ecstasy: 'It is most wonderful, but I see my Heavenly spouse lying in the
+tomb in the earthly Jerusalem; and I also see him living in the
+heavenly Jerusalem surrounded by adoring saints, and in the midst of
+these saints I see a person who is not a saint--a nun. Blood flows from
+her head, her side, her hands, and her feet, and the saints are above
+the bleeding parts.'
+
+On the 9th February 1821 she fell into an ecstasy at the time of the
+funeral of a very holy priest. Blood flowed from her forehead, and the
+cross on her breast bled also. Someone asked her, 'What is the matter
+with you?' She smiled, and spoke like one awakening from a dream: 'We were
+by the side of the body. I have been accustomed lately to hear sacred
+music, and the De Profundis made a great impression upon me.' She died
+upon the same day three years later. In 1821, a few weeks before
+Easter, she told us that it had been said to her during her prayer: 'Take
+notice, you will suffer on the real anniversary of the Passion, and not
+on the day marked this year in the Ecclesiastical Calendar.' On Friday,
+the 30th of March, at ten o'clock in the morning, she sank down
+senseless. Her face and bosom were bathed in blood, and her body
+appeared covered with bruises like what the blows of a whip would have
+inflicted. At twelve o'clock in the day, she stretched herself out in the
+form of a cross, and her arms were so extended as to be perfectly
+dislocated. A few minutes before two o'clock, drops of blood flowed from
+her feet and hands. On Good Friday, the 20th of April, she was simply
+in a state of quiet contemplation. This remarkable exception to the
+general rule seemed to be an effect of the providence of God, for, at
+the hour when her wounds usually bled, a number of curious and
+ill-natured individuals came to see her with the intention of causing
+her fresh annoyances, by publishing what they saw; but they thus were
+made unintentionally to contribute to her peace, by saying that her
+wounds had ceased to bleed.
+
+On the 19th of February 1822 she was again warned that she would
+suffer on the last Friday of March, and not on Good Friday.
+
+On Friday the 15th, and again on Friday the 29th, the cross on her
+bosom and the wound of her side bled. Before the 29th, she more than
+once felt as though a stream of fire were flowing rapidly from her
+heart to her side, and down her arms and legs to the stigmas, which
+looked red and inflamed. On the evening of Thursday the 28th, she fell
+into a state of contemplation on the Passion, and remained in it until
+Friday evening. Her chest, head, and side bled; all the veins of her
+hands were swollen, and there was a painful spot in the centre of them,
+which felt damp, although blood did not flow from it. No blood flowed
+from the stigmas excepting upon the 3rd of March, the day of the
+finding of the holy Cross. She had also a vision of the discovery of
+the true cross by St. Helena, and imagined herself to be lying in the
+excavation near the cross. Much blood came in the morning from her head
+and side, and in the afternoon from her hands and feet, and it seemed
+to her as though she were being made the test of whether the cross was
+really the Cross of Jesus Christ, and that her blood was testifying to
+its identity.
+
+In the year 1823, on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, which came on
+the 27th and 28th of March, she had visions of the Passion, during
+which blood flowed from all her wounds, causing her intense pain. Amid
+these awful sufferings, although ravished in spirit, she was obliged to
+speak and give answers concerning all her little household affairs, as
+if she had been perfectly strong and well, and she never let fall a
+complaint, although nearly dying. This was the last time that her blood
+gave testimony to the reality of her union with the sufferings of him
+who has delivered himself up wholly and entirely for our salvation.
+Most of the phenomena of the ecstatic life which are shown us in the
+lives and writings of Saints Bridget, Gertrude, Mechtilde, Hildegarde,
+Catherine of Sienna, Catherine of Genoa, Catherine of Bologna, Colomba
+da Rieti, Lidwina of Schiedam, Catherine Vanini, Teresa of Jesus, Anne
+of St. Bartholomew, Magdalen of Pazzi, Mary Villana, Mary Buonomi,
+Marina d' Escobar, Crescentia de Kaufbeuern, and many other nuns of
+contemplative orders, are also to be found in the history of the
+interior life of Anne Catherine Emmerich. The same path was marked out
+for her by God. Did she, like these holy women, attain the end? God
+alone knows. Our part is only to pray that such may have been the case,
+and we are allowed to hope it. Those among our readers who are not
+acquainted with the ecstatic life from the writings of those who have
+lived it, will find information on this subject in the Introduction of
+Goerres to the writings of Henry Suso, published at Ratisbonne in 1829.
+
+Since many pious Christians, in order to render their life one
+perpetual act of adoration, endeavour to see in their daily employments
+a symbolical representation of some manner of honouring God, and offer
+it to him in union with the merits of Christ, it cannot appear
+extraordinary that those holy souls who pass from an active life to one
+of suffering and contemplation, should sometimes see their spiritual
+labours under the form of those earthly occupations which formerly
+filled their days. Then their acts were prayers; now their prayers are
+acts; but the form remains the same. It was thus that Anne Catherine,
+in her ecstatic life, beheld the series of her prayers for the Church
+under the forms of parables bearing reference to agriculture,
+gardening, weaving, sowing, or the care of sheep. All these different
+occupations were arranged, according to their signification, in the
+different periods of the common as well as the ecclesiastical year, and
+were pursued under the patronage and with the assistance of the saints
+of each day, the special graces of the corresponding feasts of the
+Church being also applied to them. The signification of this circles of
+symbols had reference to all the active part of her interior life. One
+example will help to explain our meaning. When Anne Catherine, while
+yet a child, was employed in weeding, she besought God to root up the
+cockle from the field of the Church. If her hands were stung by the
+nettles, or if she was obliged to do afresh the work of idlers, she
+offered to God her pain and her fatigue, and besought him, in the name
+of Jesus Christ, that the pastor of souls might not become weary, and
+that none of them might cease to labour zealously and diligently. Thus
+her manual labour became a prayer.
+
+I will now give a corresponding example of her life of contemplation
+and ecstasy. She had been ill several times, and in a state of almost
+continual ecstasy, during which she often moaned, and moved her hands
+like a person employed in weeding. She complained one morning that her
+hands and arms smarted and itched, and on examination they were found
+to be covered with blisters, like what would have been produced by the
+stinging of nettles. She then begged several persons of her
+acquaintance to join their prayers to hers for a certain intention. The
+next day her hands were inflamed and painful, as they would have been
+after hard work; and when asked the cause, she replied: 'Ah! I have so
+many nettles to root up in the vineyard, because those whose duty it
+was to do it only pulled off the stems, and I was obliged to draw the
+roots with much difficulty out of a stony soil.' The person who had asked
+her the question began to blame these careless workmen, but he felt
+much confused when she replied: 'You were one of them,--those who only pull
+off the stems of the nettles, and leave the roots in the earth, are
+persons who pray carelessly.' It was afterwards discovered that she had
+been praying for several dioceses which were shown to her under the
+figure of vineyards laid waste, and in which labour was needed. The
+real inflammation of her hands bore testimony to this symbolical
+rooting up of the nettles; and we have, perhaps, reason to hope that
+the churches shown to her under the appearances of vineyards
+experienced the good effects of her prayer and spiritual labour; for
+since the door is opened to those who knock, it must certainly be
+opened above all to those who knock with such energy as to cause their
+fingers to be wounded.
+
+Similar reactions of the spirit upon the body are often found in the
+lives of persons subject to ecstasies, and are by no means contrary to
+faith. St. Paula, if we may believe St. Jerome, visited the holy places
+in spirit just as if she had visited them bodily; and a like thing
+happened to St. Colomba of Rieti and St. Lidwina of Schiedam. The body
+of the latter bore tracks of this spiritual journey, as if she had
+really travelled; she experienced all the fatigue that a painful
+journey would cause: her feet were wounded and covered with marks which
+looked as if they had been made by stones or thorns, and finally she
+had a sprain from which she long suffered.
+
+She was led on this journey by her guardian angel, who told her that
+these corporeal wounds signified that she had been ravished in body and
+spirit.
+
+Similar hurts were also to be seen upon the body of Anne Catherine
+immediately after some of her visions. Lidwina began her ecstatic
+journey by following her good angel to the chapel of the Blessed Virgin
+before Schiedam; Anne Catherine began hers by following her angel
+guardian either to the chapel which was near her dwelling, or else to
+the Way of the Cross of Coesfeld.
+
+Her journeys to the Holy Land were made, according to the accounts
+she gave of them, by the most opposite roads; sometimes even she went
+all round the earth, when the task spiritually imposed upon her
+required it. In the course of these journeys from her home to the most
+distant countries, she carried assistance to many persons, exercising
+in their regard works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, and this
+was done frequently in parables. At the end of a year she would go over
+the same ground again, see the same persons, and give an account of
+their spiritual progress or of their relapse into sin. Every part of
+this labour always bore some reference to the Church, and to the
+kingdom of God upon earth.
+
+The end of these daily pilgrimages which she made in spirit was
+invariably the Promised Land, every part of which she examined in
+detail, and which she saw sometimes in its present state, and sometimes
+as it was at different periods of sacred history; for her
+distinguishing characteristic and special privilege was an intuitive
+knowledge of the history of the Old and New Testaments, and of that of
+the members of the Holy Family, and of all the saints whom she was
+contemplating in spirit. She saw the signification of all the festival
+days of the ecclesiastical year under both a devotional and a
+historical point of view. She saw and described, day by day, with the
+minutest detail, and by name, places, persons, festivals, customs, and
+miracles, all that happened during the public life of Jesus until the
+Ascension, and the history of the Apostles for several weeks after the
+Descent of the Holy Ghost. She regarded al her visions not as mere
+spiritual enjoyments, but as being, so to speak, fertile fields,
+plentifully strewn with the merits of Christ, and which had not as yet
+been cultivated; she was often engaged in spirit in praying that the
+fruit of such and such sufferings of our Lord might be given to the
+Church, and she would beseech God to apply to his Church the merits of
+our Saviour which were its inheritance, and of which she would, as it
+were, take possession, in its name, with the most touching simplicity
+and ingenuousness.
+
+She never considered her visions to have any reference to her
+exterior Christian life, nor did she regard them as being of any
+historical value. Exteriorly she knew and believed nothing but the
+catechism, the common history of the Bible, the gospels for Sundays and
+festivals, and the Christian almanac, which to her far-sighted vision
+was an inexhaustible mine of hidden riches, since it gave her in a few
+pages a guiding thread which led her through all time, and by means of
+which she passed from mystery to mystery, and solemnised each with all
+the saints, in order to reap the fruits of eternity in time, and to
+preserve and distribute them in her pilgrimage around the
+ecclesiastical year, that so the will of God might be accomplished on
+earth as it is in Heaven. She had never read the Old or the New
+Testaments, and when she was tired of relating her visions, she would
+sometimes say: 'Read that in the Bible,' and then be astonished to learn
+that it was not there; 'for,' she would add, 'people are constantly saying
+in these days that you need read nothing but the Bible, which contains
+everything, etc., etc.'
+
+The real task of her life was to suffer for the Church and for some
+of its members, whose distress was shown her in spirit, or who asked
+her prayers without knowing that this poor sick nun had something more
+to do for them than to say the Pater noster, but that all their
+spiritual and corporal sufferings became her own, and that she had to
+endure patiently the most terrible pains, without being assisted, like
+the contemplatives of former days, by the sympathising prayers of an
+entire community. In the age when she lived, she had no other
+assistance than that of medicine. While thus enduring sufferings which
+she had taken upon herself for others, she often turned her thoughts to
+the corresponding sufferings of the Church, and when thus suffering for
+one single person, she would likewise offer all she endured for the
+whole Church.
+
+The following is a remarkable instance of the sort: During several
+weeks she had every symptom of consumption; violent irritation of the
+lungs, excessive perspiration, which soaked her whole bed, a racking
+cough, continual expectoration, and a strong continual fever. So
+fearful were her sufferings that her death was hourly expected and even
+desired. It was remarked that she had to struggle strangely against a
+strong temptation to irritability. Did she yield for an instant, she
+burst into tears, her sufferings increased tenfold, and she seemed
+unable to exist unless she immediately gained pardon in the sacrament
+of penance.
+
+She had also to combat a feeling of aversion to a certain person
+whom she had not seen for years. She was in despair because this
+person, with whom nevertheless she declared she had nothing in common,
+was always before her eyes in the most evil dispositions, and she wept
+bitterly, and with much anxiety of conscience, saying that she would
+not commit sin, that her grief must be evident to all, and other things
+which were quite unintelligible to the persons listening to her. Her
+illness continued to increase, and she was thought to be on the point
+of death. At this moment one of her friends saw her, to his great
+surprise, suddenly raise herself up on her bed, and say:
+
+'Repeat with me the prayers for those in their last agony.' He did as
+requested, and she answered the Litany in a firm voice. After some
+little time, the bell for the agonising was heard, and a person came in
+to ask Anne Catherine's prayers for his sister, who was just dead. Anne
+Catherine asked for details concerning her illness and death, as if
+deeply interested in the subject, and the friend above-mentioned heard
+the account given by the new comer of a consumption resembling in the
+minutest particulars the illness of Anne Catherine herself. The
+deceased woman had at first been in so much pain and so disturbed in
+mind that she had seemed quite unable to prepare herself for death; but
+during the last fortnight she had been better, had made her peace with
+God, having in the first place been reconciled to a person with whom
+she was at enmity, and had died in peace, fortified by the last
+sacraments, and attended by her former enemy. Anne Catherine gave a
+small sum of money for the burial and funeral-service of this person.
+Her sweatings, cough, and fever now left her, and she resembled a
+person exhausted with fatigue, whose linen has been changed, and who
+has been placed on a fresh bed. Her friend said to her, 'When this
+fearful illness came upon you, this woman grew better, and her hatred
+for another was the only obstacle to her making peace with God. You
+took upon yourself, for the time, her feelings of hatred, she died in
+good dispositions, and now you seem tolerably well again. Are you still
+suffering on her account?' 'No, indeed!' she replied; 'that would be most
+unreasonable; but how can any person avoid suffering when even the end
+of this little finger is in pain? We are all one body in Christ.' 'By the
+goodness of God,' said her friend, 'you are now once more somewhat at ease.'
+'Not for very long, though,' she replied with a smile; 'there are other
+persons who want my assistance.' Then she turned round on her bed, and
+rested awhile.
+
+A very few days later, she began to feel intense pain in all her
+limbs, and symptoms of water on the chest manifested themselves. We
+discovered the sick person for whom Anne Catherine was suffering, and
+we saw that his sufferings suddenly diminished or immensely increased
+in exact inverse proportion to those of Anne Catherine.
+
+Thus did charity compel her to take upon herself the illnesses and
+even the temptations of others, that they might be able in peace to
+prepare themselves for death. She was compelled to suffer in silence,
+both to conceal the weaknesses of her neighbour, and not to be regarded
+as mad herself; she was obliged to receive all the aid that medicine
+could afford her for an illness thus taken voluntarily for the relief
+of others, and to be reproached for temptations which were not her own;
+finally, it was necessary that she should appear perverted in the eyes
+of men; that so those for whom she was suffering might be converted
+before God.
+
+One day a friend in deep affliction was sitting by her bedside, when
+she suddenly fell into a state of ecstasy, and began to pray aloud: 'O,
+my sweet Jesus, permit me to carry that heavy stone!' Her friend asked
+her what was the matter. 'I am on my way to Jerusalem,' she replied, 'and I
+see a poor man walking along with the greatest difficulty, for there is
+a large stone upon his breast, the weight of which nearly crushes him.'
+Then again, after a few moments, she exclaimed: 'Give me that heavy
+stone, you cannot carry it any farther; give it to me.' All on a sudden
+she sank down fainting, as if crushed beneath some heavy burden, and at
+the same moment her friend felt himself relieved from the weight of
+sorrow which oppressed him, and his heart overflowing with
+extraordinary happiness. Seeing her in such a state of suffering, he
+asked her what the matter was, and she looking at him with a smile,
+replied: 'I cannot remain here any longer. Poor man, you must take back
+your burden.' Instantly her friend felt all the weight of his affliction
+return to him, whilst she, becoming as well again as before, continued
+her journey in spirit to Jerusalem.
+
+We will give one more example of her spiritual exertions. One
+morning she gave her friend a little bag containing some rye-flour and
+eggs, and pointed out to him a small house where a poor woman, who was
+in a consumption, was living with her husband and two little children.
+He was to tell her to boil and take them, as when boiled they would be
+good for her chest. The friend, on entering the cottage, took the bag
+from under his cloak, when the poor mother, who, flushed with fever,
+was lying on a mattress between her half-naked children fixed her eyes
+bright upon him, and holding out her thin hands, exclaimed: 'O, sir, it
+must be God or Sister Emmerich who sends you to me! You are bringing me
+some ryeflour and eggs.' Here the poor woman, overcome by her feelings,
+burst into tears, and then began to cough so violently that she had to
+make a sign to her husband to speak for her. He said that the previous
+night Gertrude had been much disturbed, and had talked a great deal in
+her sleep, and that on awaking she had told him her dream in these
+words: 'I thought that I was standing at the door with you, when the holy
+nun came out of the door of the next house, and I told you to look at
+her. She stopped in front of us, and said to me: "Ah, Gertrude, you look
+very ill; I will send you some rye-flour and eggs, which will relieve
+your chest." Then I awoke.' Such was the simple tale of the poor man; he
+and his wife both eagerly expressed their gratitude, and the bearer of
+Anne Catherine's alms left the house much overcome. He did not tell her
+anything of this when he saw her, but a few days after, she sent him
+again to the same place with a similar present, and he then asked her
+how it was she knew that poor woman? 'You know,' she replied, 'that I pray
+every evening for all those who suffer; I should like to go and relieve
+them, and I generally dream that I am going from one abode of suffering
+to another, and that I assist them to the best of my power. In this way
+I went in my dream to that poor woman's house; she was standing at the
+door with her husband, and I said to her: "Ah, Gertrude, you look very
+ill; I will send you some rye-flour and eggs, which will relieve your
+chest." And this I did through you, the next morning.' Both persons had
+remained in their beds, and dreamed the same thing, and the dream came
+true. St. Augustine, in his City of God, book 18, c. 18, relates a
+similar thing of two philosophers, who visited each other in a dream,
+and explained some passages of Plato, both remaining asleep in their
+own houses.
+
+These sufferings, and this peculiar species of active labour, were
+like a single ray of light, which enlightened her whole life. Infinite
+was the number of spiritual labours and sympathetic sufferings which
+came from all parts and entered into her heart--that heart so burning with
+love of Jesus Christ. Like St. Catherine of Sienna and some other
+ecstatics, she often felt the most profound feeling of conviction that
+our Saviour had taken her heart out of her bosom, and placed his own
+there instead for a time.
+
+The following fragment will give some idea of the mysterious
+symbolism by which she was interiorly directed. During a portion of the
+year 1820 she performed many labours in spirit, for several different
+parishes; her prayers being represented under the figure of most severe
+labour in a vineyard. What we have above related concerning the nettles
+is of the same character.
+
+On the 6th of September her heavenly guide said to her: ' "You weeded,
+dug around, tied, and pruned the vine; you ground down the weeds so
+that they could never spring up anymore; and then you went away
+joyfully and rested from your prayers. Prepare now to labour hard from
+the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin to that of St. Michael;
+the grapes are ripening and must be well watched." Then he led me,' she
+continued, 'to the vineyard of St. Liboire, and showed me the vines at
+which I had worked. My labour had been successful, for the grapes were
+getting their colour and growing large, and in some parts the red juice
+was running down on the ground from them. My guide said to me: "When the
+virtues of the good begin to shine forth in public, they have to combat
+bravely, to be oppressed, to be tempted, and to suffer persecution. A
+hedge must be planted around the vineyard in order that the ripe grapes
+may not be destroyed by thieves and wild beasts, i.e. by temptation and
+persecution." He then showed me how to build a wall by heaping up stones,
+and to raise a thick hedge of thorns all around. As my hands bled from
+such severe labour, God, in order to give me strength, permitted me to
+see the mysterious signification of the vine, and of several other
+fruit trees. Jesus Christ is the true Vine, who is to take root and
+grow in us; all useless wood must be cut away, in order not to waste
+the sap, which is to become the wine, and in the Most Blessed Sacrament
+the Blood of Christ. The pruning of the vine has to be done according
+to certain rules which were made known to me. This pruning is, in a
+spiritual sense, the cutting off whatever is useless, penance and
+mortification, that so the true Vine may grow in us, and bring forth
+fruit, in the place of corrupt nature, which only bears wood and
+leaves. The pruning is done according to fixed rules, for it is only
+required that certain useless shoots should be cut off in man, and to
+lop off more would be to mutilate in a guilty manner. No pruning should
+ever be done upon the stock which has been planted in humankind through
+the Blessed Virgin, and is to remain in it for ever. The true Vine
+unites heaven to earth, the Divinity to humanity; and it is the human
+part that is to be pruned, that so the divine alone may grow. I saw so
+many other things relating to the vine that a book as large as the
+Bible could not contain them. One day, when I was suffering acute pain
+in my chest, I besought our Lord with groans not to give me a burthen
+above my strength to bear; and then my Heavenly Spouse appeared, and
+said to me, ... "I have laid thee on my nuptial couch, which is a couch of
+suffering; I have given thee suffering and expiation for thy bridal
+garments and jewels. Thou must suffer, but I will not forsake thee;
+thou art fastened to the Vine, and thou wilt not be lost." Then I was
+consoled for all my sufferings. It was likewise explained to me why in
+my visions relating to the feasts of the family of Jesus, such, for
+instance, as those of St. Anne, St. Joachim, St. Joseph, etc., I always
+saw the Church of the festival under the figure of a shoot of the vine.
+The same was the case on the festivals of St. Francis of Assisi, St.
+Catherine of Sienna, and of all the saints who have had the stigmas.
+
+'The signification of my sufferings in all my limbs was explained to
+me in the following vision: I saw a gigantic human body in a horrible
+state of mutilation, and raised upwards towards the sky. There were no
+fingers or toes on the hands and feet, the body was covered with
+frightful wounds, some of which were fresh and bleeding, others covered
+with dead flesh or turned into excrescences. The whole of one side was
+black, gangrened, and as it were half eaten away. I suffered as though
+it had been my own body that was in this state, and then my guide said
+to me "This is the body of the Church, the body of all men and thine also."
+Then, pointing to each wound, he showed me at the same time some part
+of the world; I saw an infinite number of men and nations separated
+from the Church, all in their own peculiar way, and I felt pain as
+exquisite from this separation as if they had been torn from my body.
+Then my guide said to me: "Let thy sufferings teach thee a lesson, and
+offer them to God in union with those of Jesus for all who are
+separated. Should not one member call upon another, and suffer in order
+to cure and unite it once more to the body? When those parts which are
+most closely united to the body detach themselves, it is as though the
+flesh were torn from around the heart." In my ignorance, I thought that
+he was speaking of those brethren who are not in communion with us, but
+my guide added: "Who are our brethren? It is not our blood relations who
+are the nearest to our hearts, but those who are our brethren in the
+blood of Christ--the children of the Church who fall away." He showed me
+that the black and gangrened side of the body would soon be cured; that
+the putrefied flesh which had collected around the wounds represented
+heretics who divide one from the other in proportion as they increase;
+that the dead flesh was the figure of all who are spiritually dead, and
+who are void of any feeling; and that the ossified parts represented
+obstinate and hardened heretics. I saw and felt in this manner every
+wound and its signification. The body reached up to heaven. It was the
+body of the Bride of Christ, and most painful to behold. I wept
+bitterly, but feeling at once deeply grieved and strengthened by sorrow
+and compassion, I began again to labour with all my strength.'
+
+Sinking beneath the weight of life and of the task imposed upon her
+she often besought God to deliver her, and she then would appear to be
+on the very brink of the grave. But each time she would say: 'Lord, not
+my will but thine be done! If my prayers and sufferings are useful let
+me live a thousand years, but grant that I may die rather than ever
+offend thee.' Then she would receive orders to live, and arise, taking up
+her cross, once more to bear it in patience and suffering after her
+Lord. From time to time the road of life which she was pursuing used to
+be shown to her, leading to the top of a mountain on which was a
+shining and resplendent city--the heavenly Jerusalem. Often she would
+think she had arrived at that blissful abode, which seemed to be quite
+near her, and her joy would be great. But all on a sudden she would
+discover that she was still separated from it by a valley and then she
+would have to descend precipices and follow indirect paths, labouring,
+suffering, and performing deeds of charity everywhere. She had to
+direct wanderers into the right road, raise up the fallen, sometimes
+even carry the paralytic, and drag the unwilling by force, and all
+these deeds of charity were as so many fresh weights fastened to her
+cross. Then she walked with more difficulty, bending beneath her burden
+and sometimes even falling to the ground.
+
+In 1823 she repeated more frequently than usual that she could not
+perform her task in her present situation, that she had not strength
+for it, and that it was in a peaceful convent that she needed to have
+lived and died. She added that God would soon take her to himself, and
+that she had besought him to permit her to obtain by her prayers in the
+next world what her weakness would not permit her to accomplish in
+this. St. Catherine of Sienna, a short time before death, made a
+similar prayer.
+
+Anne Catherine had previously had a vision concerning what her
+prayers might obtain after death, with regard to things that were not
+in existence during her life. The year 1823, the last of which she
+completed the whole circle, brought her immense labours. She appeared
+desirous to accomplish her entire task, and thus kept the promise which
+she had previously made of relating the history of the whole Passion.
+It formed the subject of her Lenten meditations during this year, and
+of them the present volume is composed. But she did not on this account
+take less part in the fundamental mystery of this penitential season,
+or in the different mysteries of each of the festival days of the
+Church, if indeed the words to take part be sufficient to express the
+wonderful manner in which she rendered visible testimony to the mystery
+celebrated in each festival by a sudden change in her corporal and
+spiritual life. See on this subject the chapter entitled Interruption
+of the Pictures of the Passion.
+
+Everyone of the ceremonies and festivals of the Church was to her
+far more than the consecration of a remembrance. She beheld in the
+historical foundation of each solemnity an act of the Almighty, done in
+time for the reparation of fallen humanity. Although these divine acts
+appeared to her stamped with the character of eternity, yet she was
+well aware that in order for man to profit by them in the bounded and
+narrow sphere of time, he must, as it were, take possession of them in
+a series of successive moments, and that for this purpose they had to
+be repeated and renewed in the Church, in the order established by
+Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. All festivals and solemnities were in
+her eyes eternal graces which returned at fixed epochs in every
+ecclesiastical year, in the same manner as the fruits and harvests of
+the earth come in their seasons in the natural year.
+
+Her zeal and gratitude in receiving and treasuring up these graces
+were untiring, nor was she less eager and zealous in offering them to
+those who neglected their value. In the same manner as her compassion
+for her crucified Saviour had pleased God and obtained for her the
+privilege of being marked with the stigmas of the Passion as with a
+seal of the most perfect love, so all the sufferings of the Church and
+of those who were in affliction were repeated in the different states
+of her body and soul. And all these wonders took place within her,
+unknown to those who were around her; nor was she herself even more
+fully conscious of them than is the bee of the effects of its work,
+while yet she was tending and cultivating, with all the care of an
+industrious and faithful gardener, the fertile garden of the
+ecclesiastical year. She lived on its fruits, and distributed them to
+others; she strengthened herself and her friends with the flowers and
+herbs which she cultivated; or, rather, she herself was in this garden
+like a sensitive plant, a sunflower, or some wonderful plant in which,
+independent of her own will, were reproduced all the seasons of the
+year, all the hours of the day, and all the changes of the atmosphere.
+
+At the end of the ecclesiastical year of 1823, she had for the last
+time a vision on the subject of making up the accounts of that year.
+The negligences of the Church militant and of her servants were shown
+to Anne Catherine, under various symbols; she saw how many graces had
+not been cooperated with, or been rejected to a greater or less extent,
+and how many had been entirely thrown away. It was made known to her
+how our Blessed Redeemer had deposited for each year in the garden of
+the Church a complete treasure of his merits, sufficient for every
+requirement, and for the expiation of every sin. The strictest account
+was to be given of all graces which had been neglected, wasted, or
+wholly rejected, and the Church militant was punished for this
+negligence of infidelity of her servants by being oppressed by her
+enemies, or by temporal humiliations. Revelations of this description
+raised to excess her love for the Church, her mother. She passed days
+and nights in praying for her, in offering to God the merits of Christ,
+with continual groans, and in imploring mercy. Finally, on these
+occasions, she gathered together all her courage, and offered to take
+upon herself both the fault and the punishment, like a child presenting
+itself before the king's throne, in order to suffer the punishment she
+had incurred. It was then said to her, 'See how wretched and miserable
+thou art thyself; thou who art desirous to satisfy for the sins of
+others.' And to her great terror she beheld herself as one mournful mass
+of infinite imperfection. But still her love remained undaunted, and
+burst forth in these words, 'Yes, I am full of misery and sin; but I am
+thy spouse, O my Lord, and my Saviour! My faith in thee and in the
+redemption which thou hast brought us covers all my sins as with thy
+royal mantle. I will not leave thee until thou hast accepted my
+sacrifice, for the superabundant treasure of thy merits is closed to
+none of thy faithful servants.' At length her prayer became wonderfully
+energetic, and to human ears there was like a dispute and combat with
+God, in which she was carried away and urged on by the violence of
+love. If her sacrifice was accepted, her energy seemed to abandon her,
+and she was left to the repugnance of human nature for suffering. When
+she had gone through this trial, by keeping her eyes fixed on her
+Redeemer in the Garden of Olives, she next had to endure indescribable
+sufferings of every description, bearing them all with wonderful
+patience and sweetness. We used to see her remain several days
+together, motionless and insensible, looking like a dying lamb. Did we
+ask her how she was, she would half open her eyes, and reply with a
+sweet smile, 'My sufferings are most salutary.'
+
+At the beginning of Advent, her sufferings were a little soothed by
+sweet visions of the preparations made by the Blessed Virgin to leave
+her home, and then of her whole journey with St. Joseph to Bethlehem.
+She accompanied them each day to the humble inns where they rested for
+the night, or went on before them to prepare their lodgings. During
+this time she used to take old pieces of linen, and at night, while
+sleeping, make them into baby clothes and caps for the children of poor
+women, the times of whose confinements were near at hand. The next day
+she would be surprised to see all these things neatly arranged in her
+drawers. This happened to her every year about the same time, but this
+year she had more fatigue and less consolation. Thus, at the hour of
+our Saviour's birth, when she was usually perfectly overwhelmed with joy,
+she could only crawl with the greatest difficulty to the crib where the
+Child Jesus was lying, and bring him no present but myrrh, no offering
+but her cross, beneath the weight of which she sank down half dying at
+his feet. It seemed as though she were for the last time making up her
+earthly accounts with God, and for the last time also offering herself
+in the place of a countless number of men who were spiritually and
+corporally afflicted. Even the little that is known of the manner in
+which she took upon herself the sufferings of others is almost
+incomprehensible. She very truly said: 'This year the Child Jesus has
+only brought me a cross and instruments of suffering.'
+
+She became each day more and more absorbed in her sufferings, and
+although she continued to see Jesus travelling from city to city during
+his public life, the utmost she ever said on the subject was, briefly
+to name in which direction he was going. Once, she asked suddenly in a
+scarcely audible voice, 'What day is it?' When told that it was the 14th of
+January, she added: 'Had I but a few days more, I should have related the
+entire life of our Saviour, but now it is no longer possible for me to
+do so.' These words were the more incomprehensible as she did not appear
+to know even which year of the public life of Jesus she was then
+contemplating in spirit. In 1820 she had related the history of our
+Saviour down to the Ascension, beginning at the 28th of July of the
+third year of the public life of Jesus, and had continued down to the
+10th of January of the third year of his public life. On the 27th of
+April 1823, in consequence of a journey made by the writer, an
+interruption of her narrative took place, and lasted down to the 21st
+of October. She then took up the tread of her narrative where she had
+left it, and continued it to the last weeks of her life. When she spoke
+of a few days being wanted her friend himself did not know how far her
+narrative went, not having had leisure to arrange what he had written.
+After her death he became convinced that if she had been able to speak
+during the last fourteen days of her life, she would have brought it
+down to the 28th of July of the third year of the public life of our
+Lord, consequently to where she had taken it up in 1820.4
+
+Her condition daily became more frightful. She, who usually suffered
+in silence, uttered stifled groans, so awful was the anguish she
+endured. On the 15th of January she said: 'The Child Jesus brought me
+great sufferings at Christmas. I was once more by his manger at
+Bethlehem. He was burning with fever, and showed me his sufferings and
+those of his mother. They were so poor that they had no food but a
+wretched piece of bread. He bestowed still greatest sufferings upon me,
+and said to me: "Thou art mine; thou art my spouse; suffer as I suffered,
+without asking the reason why." I do not know what my sufferings are to
+be, nor how long they will last. I submit blindly to my martyrdom,
+whether for life or for death: I only desire that the hidden designs of
+God may be accomplished in me. On the other hand, I am calm, and I have
+consolations in my sufferings. Even this morning I was very happy.
+Blessed be the Name of God!'
+
+Her sufferings continued, if possible, to increase. Sitting up, and
+with her eyes closed, she fell from one side to another, while
+smothered groans escaped her lips. If she laid down, she was in danger
+of being stifled; her breathing was hurried and oppressed, and all her
+nerves and muscles were shaken and trembled with anguish. After violent
+retching, she suffered terrible pain in her bowels, so much so that it
+was feared gangrene must be forming there. Her throat was parched and
+burning, her mouth swollen, her cheeks crimson with fever, her hands
+white as ivory. The scars of the stigmas shone like silver beneath her
+distended skin.
+
+Her pulse gave from 160 to 180 pulsations per minute. Although
+unable to speak from her excessive suffering, she bore every duty
+perfectly in mind. On the evening of the 26th, she said to her friend,
+'Today is the ninth day, you must pay for the wax taper and novena at the
+chapel of St. Anne.' She was alluding to a novena which she had asked to
+have made for her intention, and she was afraid lest her friends should
+forget it. On the 27th, at two o'clock in the afternoon, she received
+Extreme Unction, greatly to the relief both of her soul and body. In
+the evening her friend, the excellent Cure of H___, prayed at her
+bedside, which was an immense comfort to her. She said to him: 'How good
+and beautiful all this is!' And again: 'May God be a thousand times praised
+and thanked!'
+
+The approach of death did not wholly interrupt the wonderful union
+of her life with that of the Church. A friend having visited her on the
+1st of February in the evening, had placed himself behind her bed where
+she could not see him, and was listening with the utmost compassion to
+her low moans and interrupted breathing, when suddenly all became
+silent, and he thought that she was dead. At this moment the evening
+bell ringing for the matins of the Purification was heard. It was the
+opening of this festival which had caused her soul to be ravished in
+ecstasy. Although still in a very alarming state, she let some sweet
+and loving  words concerning the Blessed Virgin escape her lips during
+the night and day of the festival. Towards twelve o'clock in the day, she
+said in a voice already changed by the near approach of death, 'It was
+long since I had felt so well. I have been ill quite a week, have I
+not? I feel as though I knew nothing about this world of darkness! O,
+what light the Blessed Mother of God showed me! She took me with her,
+and how willingly would I have remained with her!' Here she recollected
+herself for a moment, and then said, placing her finger on her lip: 'But
+I must not speak of these things.' From that time she said that the
+slightest word in her praise greatly increased her sufferings.
+
+The following days she was worse. On the 7th, in the evening, being
+rather more calm, she said: 'Ah, my sweet Lord Jesus, thanks be to thee
+again and again for every part of my life. Lord, thy will and not mine
+be done.' On the 8th of February, in the evening, a priest was praying
+near her bed, when she gratefully kissed his hand, begged him to assist
+at her death and said, 'O Jesus, I live for thee, I die for thee. O Lord,
+praise be to thy holy name, I no longer see or hear!' Her friends wished
+to change her position, and thus ease her pain a little; but she said, 'I
+am on the Cross, it will soon all be over, leave me in peace.' She had
+received all the last Sacraments, but she wished to accuse herself once
+more in confession of a slight fault which she had already many times
+confessed; it was probably of the same nature as a sin which she had
+committed in her childhood, of which she often accused herself, and
+which consisted in having gone through a hedge into a neighbour's garden,
+and coveted some apples which had fallen on the ground. She had only
+looked at them; for, thank God, she said, she did not touch them, but
+she thought that was a sin against the tenth commandment. The priest
+gave her a general absolution; after which she stretched herself out,
+and those around her thought that she was dying. A person who had often
+given her pain now drew near her bed and asked her pardon. She looked
+at him in surprise, and said with the most expressive accent of truth, 'I
+have nothing to forgive any living creature.'
+
+During the last days of her life, when her death was momentarily
+expected, several of her friends remained constantly in the room
+adjoining hers. They were speaking in a low tone, and so that she could
+not hear them, of her patience, faith, and other virtues, when all on a
+sudden they heard her dying voice saying: 'Ah, for the love of God, do
+not praise me--that keeps me here, because I then have to suffer double. O
+my God! how many fresh flowers are falling upon me!' She always saw
+flowers as the forerunners and figures of sufferings. Then she rejected
+all praises, with the most profound conviction of her own unworthiness,
+saying: 'God alone is good: everything must be paid, down to the last
+farthing. I am poor and loaded with sin, and I can only make up for
+having been praised by sufferings united to those of Jesus Christ. Do
+not praise me, but let me die in ignominy with Jesus on the cross.'
+
+Boudon, in his life of Father Surin, relates a similar trait of a
+dying man, who had been thought to have lost the sense of hearing, but
+who energetically rejected a word of praise pronounced by those who
+were surrounding his bed.
+
+A few hours before death, for which she was longing, saying, 'O Lord
+assist me; come, O Lord Jesus!' a word of praise appeared to detain her,
+and she most energetically rejected it by making the following act of
+humility: 'I cannot die if so many good persons think well of me through
+a mistake; I beg of you to tell them all that I am a wretched sinner!
+Would that I could proclaim so as to be heard by all men, how great a
+sinner I am! I am far beneath the good thief who was crucified by the
+side of Jesus, for he and all his contemporaries had not so terrible an
+account as we shall have to render of all the graces which have been
+bestowed upon the Church.' After this declaration, she appeared to grow
+calm, and she said to the priest who was comforting her: 'I feel now as
+peaceful and as much filled with hope and confidence as if I had never
+committed a sin.' Her eyes turned lovingly towards the cross which was
+placed at the foot of her bed, her breathing became accelerated, she
+often drank some liquid; and when the little crucifix was held to her,
+she from humility only kissed the feet. A friend who was kneeling by
+her bedside in tears, had the comfort of often holding her the water
+with which to moisten her lips. As he had laid her hand, on which the
+white scar of the wound was most distinctly visible, on the
+counterpane, he took hold of that hand, which was already cold, and as
+he inwardly wished for some mark of farewell from her, she slightly
+pressed his. Her face was calm and serene, bearing an expression of
+heavenly gravity, and which can only be compared to that of a valiant
+wrestler, who after making unheard of efforts to gain the victory,
+sinks back and dies in the very act of seizing the prize. The priest
+again read through the prayers for persons in their last agony, and she
+then felt an inward inspiration to pray for a pious young friend whose
+feast day it was. Eight o'clock struck; she breathed more freely for the
+space of a few minutes, and then cried three times with a deep groan: 'O
+Lord, assist me: Lord, Lord, come!' The priest rang his bell, and said,
+'She is dying.' Several relations and friends who were in the next room
+came in and knelt down to pray. She was then holding in her hand a
+lighted taper, which the priest was supporting. She breathed forth
+several slight sighs, and then her pure soul escaped her chaste lips,
+and hastened, clothed in the nuptial garment, to appear in heavenly
+hope before the Divine Bridegroom, and be united for ever to that
+blessed company of virgins who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
+Her lifeless body sank gently back on the pillows at halfpast eight
+o'clock p.m., on the 9th February 1824.
+
+A person who had taken great interest in her during life wrote as
+follows: 'After her death, I drew near to her bed. She was supported by
+pillows, and lying on her left side. Some crutches, which had been
+prepared for her by her friends on one occasion when she had been able
+to take a few turns in the room, were hanging over her head, crossed,
+in a corner. Near them hung a little oil painting representing the
+death of the Blessed Virgin, which had been given her by the Princess
+of Salm. The expression of her countenance was perfectly sublime, and
+bore the traces of the spirit of self-sacrifice, the patience and
+resignation of her whole life; she looked as though she had died for
+the love of Jesus, in the very act of performing some work of charity
+for others. Her right hand was resting on the counterpane--that hand on
+which God had bestowed the unparalleled favour of being able at once to
+recognise by the touch anything that was holy, or that had been
+consecrated by the Church--a favour which perhaps no one had ever before
+enjoyed to so great an extent--a favour by which the interests of
+religion might be inconceivably promoted, provided it was made use of
+with discretion, and which surely had not been bestowed upon a poor
+ignorant peasant girl merely for her own personal gratification. For
+the last time I took in mine the hand marked with a sign so worthy of
+our utmost veneration, the hand which was as a spiritual instrument in
+the instant recognition of whatever was holy, that it might be honoured
+even in a grain of sand--the charitable industrious hand, which had so
+often fed the hungry and clothed the naked--this hand was now cold and
+lifeless. A great favour had been withdrawn from earth, God had taken
+from us the hand of his spouse, who had rendered testimony to, prayed,
+and suffered for the truth. It appeared as though it had not been
+without meaning, that she had resignedly laid down upon her bed the
+hand which was the outward expression of a particular privilege granted
+by Divine grace. Fearful of having the strong impression made upon me
+by the sight of her countenance diminished by the necessary but
+disturbing preparations which were being made around her bed, I
+thoughtfully left her room. If, I said to myself--if, like so many holy
+solitaries, she had died alone in a grave prepared by her own hands,
+her friends--the birds--would have covered her with flowers and leaves; if,
+like other religious, she had died among virgins consecrated to God,
+and that their tender care and respectful veneration had followed her
+to the grave, as was the case, for example, with St. Colomba of Rieti,
+it would have been edifying and pleasing to those who loved her; but
+doubtless such honours rendered to her lifeless remains would not have
+been conformable to her love for Jesus, whom she so much desired to
+resemble in death as in life.'
+
+The same friend later wrote as follows: 'Unfortunately there was no
+official post-mortem examination of her body, and none of those
+inquiries by which she had been so tormented during life were
+instituted after her death. The friends who surrounded her neglected to
+examine her body, probably for fear of coming upon some striking
+phenomenon, the discovery of which might have caused much annoyance in
+various ways. On Wednesday the 11th of February her body was prepared
+for burial. A pious female, who would not give up to anyone the task of
+rendering her this last mark of affection, described to me as follows
+the condition in which she found her: "Her feet were crossed like the
+feet of a crucifix. The places of the stigmas were more red than usual.
+When we raised her head blood flowed from her nose and mouth. All her
+limbs remained flexible and with none of the stiffness of death even
+till the coffin was closed." On Friday the 13th of February she was taken
+to the grave, followed by the entire population of the place. She
+reposes in the cemetery, to the left of the cross, on the side nearest
+the hedge. In the grave in front of hers there rests a good old peasant
+of Welde, and in the grave behind a poor but virtuous female from
+Dernekamp.
+
+On the evening of the day when she was buried, a rich man went, not
+to Pilate, but to the cure of the place. He asked for the body of Anne
+Catherine, not to place it in a new sepulchre, but to buy it at a high
+price for a Dutch doctor. The proposal was rejected as it deserved, but
+it appears that the report was spread in the little town that the body
+had been taken away, and it is said that the people went in great
+numbers to the cemetery to ascertain whether the grave had been robbed.'
+
+To these details we will add the following extract from an account
+printed in December 1824, in the Journal of Catholic literature of
+Kerz. This account was written by a person with whom we are
+unacquainted, but who appears to have been well informed: 'About six or
+seven weeks after the death of Anne Catherine Emmerich, a report having
+got about that her body had been stolen away, the grave and coffin were
+opened in secret, by order of the authorities, in the presence of seven
+witnesses. They found with surprise not unmixed with joy that
+corruption had not yet begun its work on the body of the pious maiden.
+Her features and countenance were smiling like those of a person who is
+dreaming sweetly. She looked as though she had but just been placed in
+the coffin, nor did her body exhale any corpse-like smell. It is good
+to keep the secret of the king, says Jesus the son of Sirach; but it is
+also good to reveal to the world the greatness of the mercy of God.'
+
+We have been told that a stone has been placed over her grave. We
+lay upon it these pages; may they contribute to immortalise the memory
+of a person who has relieved so many pains of soul and body, and that
+of the spot where her mortal remains lie awaiting the Day of
+Resurrection.
+
+
+TO THE READER
+
+Whoever compares the following meditations with the short history of
+the Last Supper given in the Gospel will discover some slight
+differences between them. An explanation should be given of this,
+although it can never be sufficiently impressed upon the reader that
+these writings have no pretensions whatever to add an iota to Sacred
+Scripture as interpreted by the Church.
+
+Sister Emmerich saw the events of the Last Supper take place in the
+following order:--The Paschal Lamb was immolated and prepared in the
+supper-room; our Lord held a discourse on that occasion--the guests were
+dressed as travellers, and ate, standing, the lamb and other food
+prescribed by the law--the cup of wine was twice presented to our Lord,
+but he did not drink of it the second time; distributing it to his
+Apostles with these words: I shall drink no more of the fruit of the
+vine, etc. Then they sat down; Jesus spoke of the traitor; Peter feared
+lest it should be himself; Judas received from our Lord the piece of
+bread dipped, which was the sign that it was he; preparations were made
+for the washing of the feet; Peter strove against his feet being
+washed; then came the institution of the Holy Eucharist: Judas
+communicated, and afterwards left the apartment; the oils were
+consecrated, and instructions given concerning them; Peter and the
+other Apostles received ordination; our Lord made his final discourse;
+Peter protested that he would never abandon him; and then the Supper
+concluded. By adopting this order, it appears, at first, as though it
+were in contradiction to the passages of St. Matthew (31:29), and of
+St. Mark (14:26), in which the words: I will drink no more of the fruit
+of the vine, etc., come after the consecration, but in St. Luke, they
+come before. On the contrary, all that concerns the traitor Judas comes
+here, as in St. Matthew and St. Mark, before the consecration; whereas
+in St. Luke, it does not come till afterwards. St. John, who does not
+relate the history of the institution of the Holy Eucharist, gives us
+to understand that Judas went out immediately after Jesus had given him
+the bread; but it appears most probable, from the accounts of the other
+Evangelists, that Judas received the Holy Communion under both forms,
+and several of the fathers--St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, and St.
+Leo the Great--as well as the tradition of the Catholic Church, tell us
+expressly that such was the case. Besides, were the order in which St.
+John presents events taken literally, he would contradict, not only St.
+Matthew and St. Mark, but himself, for it must follow, from verse 10,
+chap. 13, that Judas also had his feet washed. Now, the washing of the
+feet took place after the eating of the Paschal lamb, and it was
+necessarily whilst it was being eaten that Jesus presented the bread to
+the traitor. It is plain that the Evangelists here, as in several other
+parts of their writings, gave their attention to the sacred narrative
+as a whole, and did not consider themselves bound to relate every
+detail in precisely the same order, which fully explains the apparent
+contradictions of each other, which are to be found in their Gospels.
+The following pages will appear to the attentive reader rather a simple
+and natural concordance of the Gospels than a history differing in any
+point of the slightest importance from that of Scripture.
+
+
+MEDITATION I.
+
+Preparations for the Pasch
+
+
+Holy Thursday, the 13th Nisan (29th of March).
+
+
+
+Yesterday evening it was that the last great public repast of our
+Lord and his friends took place in the house of Simon the Leper, at
+Bethania, and Mary Magdalen for the last time anointed the feet of
+Jesus with precious ointment. Judas was scandalised upon this occasion,
+and hastened forthwith to Jerusalem again to conspire with the
+high-priests for the betrayal of Jesus into their hands. After the
+repast, Jesus returned to the house of Lazarus, and some of the
+Apostles went to the inn situated beyond Bethania. During the night
+Nicodemus again came to Lazarus' house, had a long conversation with our
+Lord, and returned before daylight to Jerusalem, being accompanied part
+of the way by Lazarus.
+
+The disciples had already asked Jesus where he would eat the Pasch.
+To-day, before dawn, our Lord sent for Peter, James, and John, spoke to
+them at some length concerning all they had to prepare and order at
+Jerusalem, and told them that when ascending Mount Sion, they would
+meet the man carrying a pitcher of water. They were already well
+acquainted with this man, for at the last Pasch, at Bethania, it had
+been he who prepared the meal for Jesus, and this is why St. Matthew
+says: a certain man. They were to follow him home, and say to him: the
+Master saith, My time is near at hand, with thee I make the Pasch with
+my disciples (Matt. 26:18). They were than to be shown the supper-room,
+and make all necessary preparations.
+
+I saw the Apostles ascending towards Jerusalem, along a ravine, to
+the south of the Temple, and in the direction of the north side of
+Sion. On the southern side of the mountain on which the Temple stood,
+there were some rows of houses; and they walked opposite these houses,
+following the stream of an intervening torrent. When they had reached
+the summit of Mount Sion, which is higher than the mountain of the
+Temple, they turned their steps towards the south, and, just at the
+beginning of a small ascent, met the man who had been named to them;
+they followed and spoke to him as Jesus had commanded. He was much
+gratified by their words, and answered, that a supper had already been
+ordered to be prepared at his house (probably by Nicodemus), but that
+he had not been aware for whom, and was delighted to learn that it was
+for Jesus. This man's name was Heli, and he was the brother-in-law of
+Zachary of Hebron, in whose house Jesus had in the preceding year
+announced the death of John the Baptist. He had only one son, who was a
+Levite, and a friend of St. Luke, before the latter was called by our
+Lord, and five daughters, all of whom were unmarried. He went up every
+year with his servants for the festival of the Pasch, hired a room and
+prepared the Pasch for persons who had no friend in the town to lodge
+with. This year he had hired a supper-room which belonged to Nicodemus
+and Joseph of Arimathea. He showed the two Apostles its position and
+interior arrangement.
+
+
+MEDITATION II.
+
+The Supper-Room.
+
+
+
+On the southern side of Mount Sion, not far from the ruined Castle
+of David, and the market held on the ascent leading to that Castle,
+there stood, towards the east, an ancient and solid building, between
+rows of thick trees, in the midst of a spacious court surrounded by
+strong walls. To the right and left of the entrance, other buildings
+were to be seen adjoining the wall, particularly to the right, where
+stood the dwelling of the major-domo, and close to it the house in
+which the Blessed Virgin and the holy women spent most of their time
+after the death of Jesus. The supper-room, which was originally larger,
+had formerly been inhabited by David's brave captains, who had there
+learned the use of arms.
+
+Previous to the building of the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant had
+been deposited there for a considerable length of time, and traces of
+its presence were still to be found in an underground room. I have also
+seen the Prophet Malachy hidden beneath this same roof: he there wrote
+his prophecies concerning the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacrifice of
+the New Law. Solomon held this house in honour, and performed within
+its walls some figurative and symbolical action, which I have
+forgotten. When a great part of Jerusalem was destroyed by the
+Babylonians, this house was spared. I have seen many other things
+concerning this same house, but I only remember what I have now told.
+
+This building was in a very dilapidated state when it became the
+property of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who arranged the
+principal building in a very suitable manner, and let it as a
+supper-room to strangers coming to Jerusalem for the purpose of
+celebrating the festival of the Pasch. Thus it was that our Lord had
+made use of it the previous year. Moreover, the house and surrounding
+buildings served as warehouses for monuments and other stones, and as
+workshops for the labourers; for Joseph of Arimathea possessed valuable
+quarries in his own country, from which he had large blocks of stone
+brought, that his workmen might fashion them, under his own eye, into
+tombs, architectural ornaments, and columns, for sale. Nicodemus had a
+share in this business, and used to spend many leisure hours himself in
+sculpturing. He worked in the room, or in a subterraneous apartment
+which saw beneath it, excepting at the times of the festivals; and this
+occupation having brought him into connection with Joseph of Arimathea,
+they had become friends, and often joined together in various
+transactions.
+
+This morning, whilst Peter and John were conversing with the man who
+had hired the supper-room, I saw Nicodemus in the buildings to the left
+of the court, where a great many stones which filled up the passages
+leading to the supper-room had been placed. A week before, I had seen
+several persons engaged in putting the stones on one side, cleaning the
+court, and preparing the supper-room for the celebration of the Pasch;
+it even appears to me that there were among them some disciples of our
+Lord, perhaps Aram and Themein, the cousins of Joseph of Arimathea.
+
+The supper-room, properly so called, was nearly in the centre of the
+court; its length was greater than its width; it was surrounded by a
+row of low pillars, and if the spaces between the pillars had been
+cleared, would have formed a part of the large inner room, for the
+whole edifice was, as it were, transparent; only it was usual, except
+on special occasions, for the passages to be closed up. The room was
+lighted by apertures at the top of the walls. In front, there was first
+a vestibule, into which three doors gave entrance; next, the large
+inner room, where several lamps hung from the platform; the walls were
+ornamented for the festival, half way up, with beautiful matting or
+tapestry, and an aperture had been made in the roof, and covered over
+with transparent blue gauze.
+
+The back part of this room was separated from the rest by a curtain,
+also of blue transparent gauze. This division of the supper-room into
+three parts gave a resemblance to the Temple--thus forming the outer
+Court, the Holy, and the Holy of Holies. In the last of these
+divisions, on both sides, the dresses and other things necessary for
+the celebration of the feast were placed. In the centre there was a
+species of altar. A stone bench raised on three steps, and of a
+rectangular triangular shape, came out of the wall; it must have
+constituted the upper part of the oven used for roasting the Paschal
+Lamb, for to-day the steps were quite heated during the repast. I
+cannot describe in detail all that there was in this part of the room,
+but all kinds of arrangements were being made there for preparing the
+Paschal Supper. Above this hearth of altar, there was a species of
+niche in the wall, in front of which I saw an image of the Paschal
+Lamb, with a knife in its throat, and the blood appearing to flow drop
+by drop upon the altar; but I do not remember distinctly how that was
+done. In a niche in the wall there were three cupboards of various
+colours, which turned like our tabernacles, for opening or closing. A
+number of vessels used in the celebration of the Pasch were kept in
+them; later, the Blessed Sacrament was placed there.
+
+In the rooms at the sides of the supper-room, there were some
+couches, on which thick coverlids rolled up were placed, and which
+could be used as beds. There were spacious cellars beneath the whole of
+this building. The Ark of the Covenant was formerly deposited under the
+very spot where the hearth was afterwards built. Five gutters, under
+the house, served to convey the refuse to the slope of the hill, on the
+upper part of which the house was built. I had preciously seen Jesus
+preach and perform miraculous cures there, and the disciples frequently
+passed the night in the side rooms.
+
+
+MEDITATION III.
+
+Arrangements for eating the Paschal Lamb.
+
+
+
+When the disciples had spoken to Heli of Hebron, the latter went
+back into the house by the court, but they turned to the right, and
+hastened down the north side of the hill, through Sion. They passed
+over a bridge, and walking along a road covered with brambles, reached
+the other side of the ravine, which was in front of the Temple, and of
+the row of houses which were to the south of that building. There stood
+the house of the aged Simeon, who died in the Temple after the
+presentation of our Lord; and his sons, some of whom were disciples of
+Jesus in secret, were actually living there. The Apostles spoke to one
+of them, a tall dark-complexioned man, who held some office in the
+Temple. They went with him to the eastern side of the Temple, through
+that part of Ophel by which Jesus made his entry into Jerusalem on
+Palm-Sunday, and thence to the cattle-market, which stood in the town,
+to the north of the Temple. In the southern part of this market I saw
+little enclosures in which some beautiful lambs were gambolling about.
+Here it was that lambs for the Pasch were bought. I saw the son of
+Simeon enter one of these enclosures; and the lambs gambolled round him
+as if they knew him. He chose out four, which were carried to the
+supper-room, engaged in preparing the Paschal Lamb.
+
+I saw Peter and John go to several different parts of the town, and
+order various things. I saw them also standing opposite the door of a
+house situated to the north of Mount Calvary, where the disciples of
+Jesus lodged the greatest part of the time, and which belonged to
+Seraphia (afterwards called Veronica). Peter and John sent some
+disciples from thence to the supper-room, giving them several
+commissions, which I have forgotten.
+
+They also went into Seraphia's house, where they had several
+arrangements to make. Her husband, who was a member of the council, was
+usually absent and engaged in business; but even when he was at home
+she saw little of him. She was a woman of about the age of the Blessed
+Virgin, and had long been connected with the Holy Family; for when the
+Child Jesus remained the three days in Jerusalem after the feast, she
+it was who supplied him with food.
+
+The two Apostles took from thence, among other things, the chalice
+of which our Lord made use in the institution of the Holy Eucharist.
+
+
+MEDITATION IV.
+
+The Chalice used at the Last Supper
+
+
+
+The chalice which the Apostles brought from Veronica's house was
+wonderful and mysterious in its appearance. It had been kept a long
+time in the Temple among other precious objects of great antiquity, the
+use and origin of which had been forgotten. The same has been in some
+degree the case in the Christian Church, where many consecrated jewels
+have been forgotten and fallen into disuse with time. Ancient vases and
+jewels, buried beneath the Temple, had often been dug up, sold, or
+reset. Thus it was that, by God's permission, this holy vessel, which
+none had ever been able to melt down on account of its being made of
+some unknown material, and which had been found by the priests in the
+treasury of the Temple among other objects no longer made use of, had
+been sold to some antiquaries. It was bought by Seraphia, was several
+times made use of by Jesus in the celebration of festivals, and, from
+the day of the Last Supper, became the exclusive property of the holy
+Christian community. This vessel was not always the same as when used
+by our Lord at his Last Supper, and perhaps it was upon that occasion
+that the various pieces which composed it were first put together. The
+great chalice stood upon a plate, out of which a species of tablet
+could also be drawn, and around it there were six little glasses. The
+great chalice contained another smaller vase; above it there was a
+small plate, and then came a round cover. A spoon was inserted in the
+foot of the chalice, and could be easily drawn out for use. All these
+different vessels were covered with fine linen, and, if I am not
+mistaken, were wrapped up in a case made of leather. The great chalice
+was composed of the cup and of the foot, which last must have been
+joined on to it at a later period, for it was of a different material.
+The cup was pear-shaped, massive, dark-coloured, and highly polished,
+with gold ornaments, and two small handles by which it could be lifted.
+The foot was of virgin gold, elaborately worked, ornamented with a
+serpent and a small bunch of grapes, and enriched with precious stones.
+
+The chalice was left in the Church of Jerusalem, in the hand of St.
+James the Less; and I see that it is still preserved in that town--it will
+reappear some day, in the same manner as before. Other Churches took
+the little cups which surrounded it; one was taken to Antioch, and
+another to Ephesus. They belonged to the patriarchs, who drank some
+mysterious beverage out of them when they received or gave a
+Benediction, as I have seen many times.
+
+The great chalice had formerly been in the possession of Abraham;
+Melchisedech brought it with him from the land of Semiramis to the land
+of Canaan, when he was beginning to found some settlements on the spot
+where Jerusalem was afterwards built; he made use of it then for
+offering sacrifice, when he offered bread and wine in the presence of
+Abraham, and he left it in the possession of that holy patriarch. This
+same chalice had also been preserved in Noah's Ark.
+
+
+MEDITATION V.
+
+Jesus goes up to Jerusalem.
+
+
+
+In the morning, while the Apostles were engaged at Jerusalem in
+preparing for the Pasch, Jesus, who had remained at Bethania, took an
+affecting leave of the holy women, of Lazarus, and of his Blessed
+Mother, and gave them some final instructions. I saw our Lord
+conversing apart with his Mother, and he told her, among other things,
+that he had sent Peter, the apostle of faith, and John, the apostle of
+love, to prepare for the Pasch at Jerusalem. He said, in speaking of
+Magdalen, whose grief was excessive, that her love was great, but still
+somewhat human, and that on this account her sorrow made her beside
+herself. He spoke also of the schemes of the traitor Judas, and the
+Blessed Virgin prayed for him. Judas had again left Bethania to go to
+Jerusalem, under pretence of paying some debts that were due. He spent
+his whole day in hurrying backwards and forwards from one Pharisee to
+another, and making his final agreements with them. He was shown the
+soldiers who had been engaged to seize the person of our Divine
+Saviour, and he so arranged his journeys to and fro as to be able to
+account for his absence. I beheld all his wicked schemes and all his
+thoughts. He was naturally active and obliging, but these good
+qualities were choked by avarice, ambition, and envy, which passions he
+made no effort to control. In our Lord's absence he had even performed
+miracles and healed the sick.
+
+When our Lord announced to his Blessed Mother what was going to take
+place, she besought him, in the most touching terms, to let her die
+with him. But he exhorted her to show more calmness in her sorrow than
+the other women, told her that he should rise again, and named the very
+spot where he should appear to her. She did not weep much, but her
+grief was indescribable, and there was something almost awful in her
+look of deep recollection. Our Divine Lord returned thanks, as a loving
+Son, for all the love she had borne him, and pressed her to his heart.
+He also told her that he would make the Last Supper with her,
+spiritually, and named the hour at which she would receive his precious
+Body and Blood. Then once more he, in touching language, bade farewell
+to all, and gave them different instructions.
+
+About twelve o'clock in the day, Jesus and the nine Apostles went from
+Bethania up to Jerusalem, followed by seven disciples, who, with the
+exception of Nathaniel and Silas, came from Jerusalem and the
+neighbourhood. Among these were John, Mark, and the son of the poor
+widow who, the Thursday previous, had offered her mite in the Temple,
+whilst Jesus was preaching there. Jesus had taken him into his company
+a few days before. The holy women set off later.
+
+Jesus and his companions walked around Mount Olivet, about the
+valley of Josaphat, and even as far as Mount Calvary. During the whole
+of this walk, he continued giving them instructions. He told the
+Apostles, among other things, that until then he had given them his
+bread and his wine, but that this day he was going to give them his
+Body and Blood, his whole self--all that he had and all that he was. The
+countenance of our Lord bore so touching an expression whilst he was
+speaking, that his whole soul seemed to breathe forth from his lips,
+and he appeared to be languishing with love and desire for the moment
+when he should give himself to man. His disciples did not understand
+him, but thought that he was speaking of the Paschal Lamb. No words can
+give an adequate idea of the love and resignation which were expressed
+in these last discourses of our Lord at Bethania, and on his way to
+Jerusalem.
+
+The seven disciples who had followed our Lord to Jerusalem did not
+go there in his company, but carried the ceremonial habits for the
+Pasch to the supper-room, and then returned to the house of Mary, the
+mother of Mark. When Peter and John came to the supper-room with the
+chalice, all the ceremonial habits were already in the vestibule,
+whither they had been brought by his disciples and some companions.
+They had also hung the walls with drapery, cleared the higher openings
+in the sides, and put up three lamps. Peter and John then went to the
+Valley of Josaphat, and summoned our Lord and the twelve Apostles. The
+disciples and friends who were also to make their Pasch in the
+supperroom, came later.
+
+
+MEDITATION VI.
+
+The Last Pasch.
+
+
+
+Jesus and his disciples ate the Paschal Lamb in the supper-room.
+They divided into three groups. Jesus ate the Paschal Lamb with the
+twelve Apostles in the supper-room, properly so called; Nathaniel with
+twelve other disciples in one of the lateral rooms, and Eliacim (the
+son of Cleophas and Mary, the daughter of Heli), who had been a
+disciple of John the Baptist, with twelve more, in another side-room.
+
+Three lambs were immolated for them in the Temple, but there was a
+fourth lamb which was immolated in the supper-room, and was the one
+eaten by Jesus with his Apostles. Judas was not aware of this
+circumstance, because being engaged in plotting his betrayal of our
+Lord, he only returned a few moments before the repast, and after the
+immolation of the lamb had taken place. Most touching was the scene of
+the immolation of the lamb to be eaten by Jesus and his Apostles; it
+took place in the vestibule of the supper-room. The Apostles and
+disciples were present, singing the 118th Psalm. Jesus spoke of a new
+period then beginning, and said that the sacrifice of Moses and the
+figure of the Paschal Lamb were about to receive their accomplishment,
+but that on this very account, the lamb was to be immolated in the same
+manner as formerly in Egypt, and that they were really about to go
+forth from the house of bondage.
+
+The vessels and necessary instruments were prepared, and then the
+attendants brought a beautiful little lamb, decorated with a crown,
+which was sent to the Blessed Virgin in the room where she had remained
+with the other holy women. The lamb was fastened with its back against
+a board by a cord around its body, and reminded me of Jesus tied to the
+pillar and scourged. The son of Simeon held the lamb's head; Jesus made a
+slight incision in its neck with the point of a knife, which he then
+gave to the son of Simeon, that he might complete killing it. Jesus
+appeared to inflict the wound with a feeling of repugnance, and he was
+quick in his movements, although his countenance was grave, and his
+manner such as to inspire respect. The blood flowed into a basin, and
+the attendants brought a branch of hyssop, which Jesus dipped in it.
+Then he went to the door of the room, stained the sideposts and the
+lock with blood, and placed the branch which had been dipped in blood
+above the door. He then spoke to the disciples, and told them, among
+other things, that the exterminating angel would pass by, that they
+would adore in that room without fear or anxiety, when he, the true
+Paschal Lamb, should have been immolated--that a new epoch and a new
+sacrifice were about to begin, which would last to the end of the world.
+
+They then went to the other side of the room, near the hearth where
+the Ark of the Covenant had formerly stood. Fire had already been
+lighted there, and Jesus poured some blood upon the hearth,
+consecrating it as an altar; and the remainder of the blood and the fat
+were thrown on the fire beneath the altar, after which Jesus, followed
+by his Apostles, walked round the supper-room, singing some psalms, and
+consecrating it as a new Temple. The doors were all closed during this
+time. Meanwhile the son of Simeon had completed the preparation of the
+lamb. He passed a stake through its body, fastening the front legs on a
+cross piece of wood; and stretching the hind ones along the stake. It
+bore a strong resemblance to Jesus on the cross, and was placed in the
+oven, to be there roasted with the three other lambs brought from the
+Temple.
+
+The Paschal Lambs of the Jews were all immolated in the vestibule of
+the Temple, but in different parts, according as the persons who were
+to eat them were rich, or poor, or strangers.5 The Paschal Lamb
+belonging to Jesus was not immolated in the Temple, but everything else
+was done strictly according to the law. Jesus again addressed his
+disciples, saying that the lamb was but a figure, that he himself would
+next day be the true Paschal Lamb, together with other things which I
+have forgotten.
+
+When Jesus had finished his instructions concerning the Paschal Lamb
+and its signification, the time being come, and Judas also returned,
+the tables were set out. The disciples put on travelling dresses which
+were in the vestibule, different shoes, a white robe resembling a
+shirt, and a cloak, which was short in front and longer behind, their
+sleeves were large and turned back, and they girded up their clothes
+around the waist. Each party went to their own table; and two sets of
+disciples in the side rooms, and our Lord and his Apostles in the
+supper-room. They held staves in their hands, and went two and two to
+the table, where they remained standing, each in his own place, with
+the stave resting on his arms, and his hands upraised.
+
+The table was narrow, and about half a foot higher than the knees of
+a man; in shape it resembled a horseshoe, and opposite Jesus, in the
+inner part of the half-circle, there was a space left vacant, that the
+attendants might be able to set down the dishes. As far as I can
+remember, John, James the Greater, and James the Less sat on the
+right-hand of Jesus; after them Bartholomew, and then, round the
+corner, Thomas and Judas Iscariot. Peter, Andrew, and Thaddeus sat on
+the left of Jesus; next came Simon, and then (round the corner) Matthew
+and Philip.
+
+The Paschal Lamb was placed on a dish in the centre of the table.
+Its head rested on its front legs, which were fastened to a
+cross-stick, its hind legs being stretched out, and the dish was
+garnished with garlic. By the side there was a dish with the Paschal
+roast meat, then came a plate with green vegetables balanced against
+each other, and another plate with small bundles of bitter herbs, which
+had the appearance of aromatic herbs. Opposite Jesus there was also one
+dish with different herbs, and a second containing a brown-coloured
+sauce of beverage. The guest had before them some round loaves instead
+of plates, and they used ivory knives.
+
+After the prayer, the major-domo laid the knife for cutting the lamb
+on the table before Jesus, who placed a cup of wine before him, and
+filled six other cups, each one of which stood between two Apostles.
+Jesus blessed the wine and drank, and the Apostles drank two together
+out of one cup. Then our Lord proceeded to cut up the lamb; his
+Apostles presented their pieces of bread in turn, and each received his
+share. They ate it in haste, separating the flesh from the bone, by
+means of their ivory knives, and the bones were afterwards burnt. They
+also ate the garlic and green herbs in haste, dipping them in the
+sauce. All this time they remained standing, only leaning slightly on
+the backs of their seats. Jesus brake one of the loaves of unleavened
+bread, covered up a part of it, and divided the remainder among his
+Apostles. Another cup of wine was brought, but Jesus drank not of it:
+'Take this,' he said, 'and divide it among you, for I will not drink from
+henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink
+it with you new in the kingdom of my Father' (Matt. 26:29). When they had
+drunk the wine, they sang a hymn; then Jesus prayed or taught, and they
+again washed their hands. After this they sat down.
+
+Our Lord cut up another lamb which was carried to the holy women in
+one of the buildings of the court, where they were seated at table. The
+Apostles ate some more vegetables and lettuce. The countenance of our
+Divine Saviour bore an indescribable expression of serenity and
+recollection, greater than I had ever before seen. He bade the Apostles
+forget all their cares. The Blessed Virgin also, as she sat at table
+with the other women, looked most placid and calm. When the other women
+came up, and took hold of her veil to make her turn round and speak to
+them, her every movement expressed the sweetest self-control and
+placidity of spirit.
+
+At first Jesus conversed lovingly and calmly with his disciples, but
+after a while he became grave and sad: 'Amen, amen, I say to you, that
+one of you is about to betray me:' he said, he that dippeth his hand with
+me in the dish' (Matt. 26:21.23). Jesus was then distributing the
+lettuce, of which there was only one dish, to those Apostles who were
+by his side, and he had given Judas, who was nearly opposite to him,
+the office of distributing it to the others. When Jesus spoke of a
+traitor, an expression which filled all the Apostles with fear, he
+said: 'he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish,' which means: 'one of
+the twelve who are eating and drinking with me--one of those with whom I
+am eating bread.' He did not plainly point out Judas to the others by
+these words; for to dip the hand in the same dish was an expression
+used to signify the most friendly and intimate intercourse. He was
+desirous, however, to give a warning to Judas, who was then really
+dipping his hand in the dish with our Saviour, to distribute the
+lettuce. Jesus continued to speak: 'The Son of Man indeed goeth,' he said,
+'as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man
+shall be betrayed: It were better for him if that man had not been born.'
+
+The Apostles were very much troubled, and each one of them
+exclaimed: 'Lord, is it I?' for they were all perfectly aware that they did
+not entirely understand his words. Peter leaned towards John, behind
+Jesus, and made him a sign to ask our Lord who the traitor was to be,
+for, having so often been reproved by our Lord, he trembled lest it
+should be himself who was referred to. John was seated at the right
+hand of Jesus, and as all were leaning on their left arms, using the
+right to eat, his head was close to the bosom of Jesus. He leaned then
+on his breast and said: 'Lord, who is it?' I did not see Jesus say to him
+with his lips: 'He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped.' I do not know
+whether he whispered it to him, but John knew it, when Jesus having
+dipped the bread, which was covered with lettuce, gave it tenderly to
+Judas, who also asked: 'Is it I, Lord?' Jesus looked at him with love, and
+answered him in general terms. Among the Jews, to give bread dipped was
+a mark of friendship and confidence; Jesus on this occasion gave Judas
+the morsel, in order thus to warn him, without making known his guilt
+to the others. But the heart of Judas burned with anger, and during the
+whole time of the repast, I saw a frightful little figure seated at his
+feet, and sometimes ascending to his heart. I did not see John repeat
+to Peter what he had learned from Jesus, but he set his fears at rest
+by a look.
+
+
+MEDITATION VII.
+
+The Washing of the Feet.
+
+
+
+They arose from table, and whilst they were arranging their clothes,
+as they usually did before making their solemn prayer, the major-domo
+came in with two servants to take away the table. Jesus, standing in
+the midst of his Apostles, spoke to them long, in a most solemn manner.
+I could not repeat exactly his whole discourse, but I remember he spoke
+of his kingdom, of his going to his Father, of what he would leave them
+now that he was about to be taken away, etc. He also gave them some
+instructions concerning penance, the confession of sin, repentance, and
+justification.
+
+I felt that these instructions referred to the washing of the feet,
+and I saw that all the Apostles acknowledged their sins and repented of
+them, with the exception of Judas. This discourse was long and solemn.
+When it was concluded, Jesus sent John and James the Less to fetch
+water from the vestibule, and he told the Apostles to arrange the seats
+in a half circle. He went himself into the vestibule, where he girded
+himself with a towel. During this time, the Apostles spoke among
+themselves, and began speculating as to which of them would be the
+greatest, for our Lord having expressly announced that he was about to
+leave them and that his kingdom was near at hand, they felt
+strengthened anew in their idea that he had secret plans, and that he
+was referring to some earthly triumph which would be theirs at the last
+moment.
+
+Meanwhile Jesus, in the vestibule, told John to take a basin, and
+James a pitcher filled with water, with which they followed him into
+the room, where the major-domo had placed another empty basin.
+
+Jesus, on returning to his disciples in so humble a manner,
+addressed them a few words of reproach on the subject of the dispute
+which had arisen between them, and said among other things, that he
+himself was their servant, and that they were to sit down, for him to
+wash their feet. They sat down, therefore, in the same order as they
+had sat at table. Jesus went from one to the other, poured water from
+the basin which John carried on the feet of each, and then, taking the
+end of the towel wherewith he was girded, wiped them. Most loving and
+tender was the manner of our Lord while thus humbling himself at the
+feet of his Apostles.
+
+Peter, when his turn came, endeavoured through humility to prevent
+Jesus from washing his feet: 'Lord,' he exclaimed, 'dost thou wash my feet?'
+Jesus answered: 'What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
+hereafter.' It appeared to me that he said to him privately: 'Simon, thou
+hast merited for my Father to reveal to thee who I am, whence I come,
+and whither I am going, thou alone hast expressly confessed it,
+therefore upon thee will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall
+not prevail against it. My power will remain with thy successors to the
+end of the world.'
+
+Jesus showed him to the other Apostles, and said, that when he
+should be no more present among them, Peter was to fill his place in
+their regard. Peter said: 'Thou shalt never wash my feet!' Our Lord
+replied: 'If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me.' Then Peter
+exclaimed: 'Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.' Jesus
+replied: 'He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is
+clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all.'
+
+By these last words he referred to Judas. He had spoken of the
+washing of the feet as signifying purification from daily faults,
+because the feet, which are continually in contact with the earth, are
+also continually liable to be soiled, unless great care is taken.
+
+This washing of the feet was spiritual, and served as a species of
+absolution. Peter, in his zeal, saw nothing in it but too great an act
+of abasement on the part of his Master; he knew not that to save him
+Jesus would the very next day humble himself even to the ignominious
+death of the cross.
+
+When Jesus washed the feet of Judas, it was in the most loving and
+affecting manner; he bent his sacred face even on to the feet of the
+traitor; and in a low voice bade him now at least enter into himself,
+for that he had been a faithless traitor for the last year. Judas
+appeared to be anxious to pay no heed whatever to his words, and spoke
+to John, upon which Peter became angry, and exclaimed: 'Judas, the Master
+speaks to thee!' Then Judas made our Lord some vague, evasive reply, such
+as, 'Heaven forbid, Lord!' The others had not remarked that Jesus was
+speaking to Judas, for this words were uttered in a low voice, in order
+not to be heard by them, and besides, they were engaged in putting on
+their shoes. Nothing in the whole course of the Passion grieved Jesus
+so deeply as the treason of Judas.
+
+Jesus finally washed the feet of John and James.
+
+He then spoke again on the subject of humility, telling them that he
+that was the greatest among them was to be as their servant, and that
+henceforth they were to wash one another's feet. Then he put on his
+garments, and the Apostles let down their clothes, which they had
+girded up before eating the Paschal Lamb.
+
+
+MEDITATION VIII.
+
+Institution of the Holy Eucharist.
+
+
+
+By command of our Lord, the major-domo had again laid out the table,
+which he had raised a little; then, having placed it once more in the
+middle of the room, he stood one urn filled with wine, and another with
+water underneath it. Peter and John went into the part of the room near
+the hearth, to get the chalice which they had brought from Seraphia's
+house, and which was still wrapped up in its covering. They carried it
+between them as if they had been carrying a tabernacle, and placed it
+on the table before Jesus. An oval plate stood there, with three fine
+white azymous loaves, placed on a piece of linen, by the side of the
+half loaf which Jesus had set aside during the Paschal meal, also a jar
+containing wine and water, and three boxes, one filled with thick oil,
+a second with liquid oil, and the third empty.
+
+In earlier times, it had been the practice for all at table to eat
+of the same loaf and drink of the same cup at the end of the meal,
+thereby to express their friendship and brotherly love, and to welcome
+and bid farewell to each other. I think Scripture must contain
+something upon this subject.
+
+On the day of the Last Supper, Jesus raised this custom (which had
+hitherto been no more than a symbolical and figurative rite) to the
+dignity of the holiest of sacraments. One of the charges brought before
+Caiphas, on occasion of the treason of Judas, was, that Jesus had
+introduced a novelty into the Paschal ceremonies, but Nicodemus proved
+from Scripture that it was an ancient practice.
+
+Jesus was seated between Peter and John, the doors were closed, and
+everything was done in the most mysterious and imposing manner. When
+the chalice was taken out of its covering, Jesus prayed, and spoke to
+his Apostles with the utmost solemnity. I saw him giving them an
+explanation of the Supper, and of the entire ceremony, and I was
+forcibly reminded of a priest teaching others to say Mass.
+
+He then drew a species of shelf with grooves from the boars on which
+the jars stood, and taking a piece of white linen with which the
+chalice was covered, spread it over the board and shelf. I then saw him
+lift a round plate, which he placed on this same shelf, off the top of
+the chalice. He next took the azymous loaves from beneath the linen
+with which they were covered and placed them before him on the board;
+then he took out of the chalice a smaller vase, and ranged the six
+little glasses on each side of it. Then he blessed the bread and also
+the oil, to the best of my belief after which he lifted up the paten
+with the loaves upon it, in his two hands, raised his eyes, prayed,
+offered, and replaced the paten on the table, covering it up again. He
+then took the chalice, had some wine poured into it by Peter, and some
+water, which he first blessed, by John, adding to it a little more
+water, which he poured into a small spoon, and after this he blessed
+the chalice, raised it up with a prayer, made the oblation, and
+replaced it on the table.
+
+John and Peter poured some water on his hands, which he held over
+the plate on which the azymous loaves had been placed; then he took a
+little of the water which had been poured on his hands, in the spoon
+that he had taken out of the lower part of the chalice, and poured it
+on theirs. After this, the vase was passed round the table, and all the
+Apostles washed their hands in it. I do not remember whether this was
+the precise order in which these ceremonies were performed; all I know
+is, that they reminded me in a striking manner of the holy sacrifice of
+the Mass.
+
+Meanwhile, our Divine Lord became more and more tender and loving in
+his demeanour; he told his Apostles that he was about to give them all
+that he had, namely, his entire self, and he looked as though perfectly
+transformed by love. I saw him becoming transparent, until he resembled
+a luminous shadow. He broke the bread into several pieces, which he
+laid together on the paten, and then took a corner of the first piece
+and dripped it into the chalice. At the moment when he was doing this, I
+seemed to see the Blessed Virgin receiving the Holy Sacrament in a
+spiritual manner, although she was not present in the supper-room. I do
+not know how it was done, but I thought I saw her enter without
+touching the ground, and come before our Lord to receive the Holy
+Eucharist; after which I saw her no more. Jesus had told her in the
+morning, at Bethania, that he would keep the Pasch with her
+spiritually, and he had named the hour at which she was to betake
+herself to prayer, in order to receive it in spirit.
+
+Again he prayed and taught; his words came forth from his lips like
+fire and light, and entered into each of the Apostles, with the
+exception of Judas. He took the paten with the pieces of bread (I do
+not know whether he had placed it on the chalice) and said: 'Take and
+eat; this is my Body which is given for you.' He stretched forth his
+right hand as if to bless, and, whilst he did so, a brilliant light
+came from him, his words were luminous, the bread entered the mouths of
+the Apostles as a brilliant substance, and light seemed to penetrate
+and surround them all, Judas alone remaining dark. Jesus presented the
+bread first to Peter, next to John and then he made a sign to Judas to
+approach.6 Judas was thus the third who received the Adorable
+Sacrament, but the words of our Lord appeared to turn aside from the
+mouth of the traitor, and come back to their Divine Author. So
+perturbed was I in spirit at this sight, that my feelings cannot be
+described. Jesus said to him: 'That which thou dost, do quickly.' He then
+administered the Blessed Sacrament to the other Apostles, who
+approached two and two.
+
+Jesus raised the chalice by its two handles to a level with his
+face, and pronounced the words of consecration. Whilst doing so, he
+appeared wholly transfigured, as it were transparent, and as though
+entirely passing into what he was going to give his Apostles. He made
+Peter and John drink from the chalice which he held in his hand, and
+then placed it again on the table. John poured the Divine Blood from
+the chalice into the smaller glasses, and Peter presented them to the
+Apostles, two of whom drank together out of the same cup. I think, but
+am not quite certain, that Judas also partook of the chalice; he did
+not return to his place, but immediately left the supper-room, and the
+other Apostles thought that Jesus had given him some commission to do.
+He left without praying or making any thanksgiving, and hence you may
+perceive how sinful it is to neglect returning thanks either after
+receiving our daily food, or after partaking of the Life-Giving Bread
+of Angels. During the entire meal, I had seen a frightful little
+figure, with one foot like a dried bone, remaining close to Judas, but
+when he had reached the door, I beheld three devils pressing round him;
+one entered into his mouth, the second urged him on, and the third
+preceded him. It was night, and they seemed to be lighting him, whilst
+he hurried onward like a madman.
+
+Our Lord poured a few drops of the Precious Blood remaining in the
+chalice into the little vase of which I have already spoken, and then
+placed his fingers over the chalice, while Peter and John poured water
+and wine upon them. This done, he caused them to drink again from the
+chalice, and what remained of its contents was poured into the smaller
+glasses, and distributed to the other Apostles. Then Jesus wiped the
+chalice, put into it the little vase containing the remainder of the
+Divine Blood, and placed over it the paten with the fragments of the
+consecrated bread, after which he again put on the cover, wrapped up
+the chalice, and stood it in the midst of the six small cups. I saw the
+Apostles receive in communion these remains of the Adorable Sacrament,
+after the Resurrection.
+
+I do not remember seeing our Lord himself eat and drink of the
+consecrated elements, neither did I see Melchisedech, when offering the
+bread and wine, taste of them himself. It was made known to me why
+priests partake of them, although Jesus did not.
+
+Here Sister Emmerich looked suddenly up, and appeared to be
+listening. Some explanation was given her on this subject, but the
+following words were all that she could repeat to us: 'If the office of
+distributing it had been given to angels, they would not have partaken,
+but if priests did not partake, the Blessed Eucharist would be lost--it is
+through their participation that it is preserved.'
+
+There was an indescribable solemnity and order in all the actions of
+Jesus during the institution of the Holy Eucharist, and his every
+movement was most majestic. I saw the Apostles noting things down in
+the little rolls of parchment which they carried on their persons.
+Several times during the ceremonies I remarked that they bowed to each
+other, in the same way that our priests do.
+
+
+MEDITATION IX.
+
+Private Instruction and Consecrations.
+
+
+
+Jesus gave his Apostles some private instructions; he told them how
+they were to preserve the Blessed Sacrament in memory of him, even to
+the end of the world; he taught them the necessary forms for making use
+of and communicating it, and in what manner they were, by degrees, to
+teach and publish this mystery; finally he told them when they were to
+receive what remained of the consecrated Elements, when to give some to
+the Blessed Virgin, and how to consecrate, themselves, after he should
+have sent them the Divine Comforter. He then spoke concerning the
+priesthood, the sacred unction, and the preparation of the Chrism and
+Holy Oils.7 He had there three boxes, two of which contained a mixture
+of oil and balm. He taught them how to make this mixture, what parts of
+the body were to be anointed with them, and upon what occasions. I
+remember, among other things, that he mentioned a case in which the
+Holy Eucharist could not be administered; perhaps what he said had
+reference to Extreme Unction, for my recollections on this point are
+not very clear. He spoke of different kinds of anointing, and in
+particular of that of kings, and he said that even wicked kings who
+were anointed, derived from it especial powers. He put ointment and oil
+in the empty box, and mixed them together, but I cannot say for certain
+whether it was at this moment, or at the time of the consecration of
+the bread, that he blessed the oil.
+
+I then saw Jesus anoint Peter and John, on whose hands he had
+already poured the water which had flowed on his own, and two whom he
+had given to drink out of the chalice. Then he laid his hands on their
+shoulders and heads, while they, on their part, joined their hands and
+crossed their thumbs, bowing down profoundly before him--I am not sure
+whether they did not even kneel. He anointed the thumb and fore-finger
+of each of their hands, and marked a cross on their heads with Chrism.
+He said also that this would remain with them unto the end of the world.
+
+James the Less, Andrew, James the Greater, and Bartholomew, were
+also consecrated. I saw likewise that on Peter's bosom he crossed a sort
+of stole worn round the neck, whilst on the others he simply placed it
+crosswise, from the right shoulder to the left side. I do not know
+whether this was done at the time of the institution of the Blessed
+Sacrament, or only for the anointing.
+
+I understood that Jesus communicated to them by this unction
+something essential and supernatural, beyond my power to describe. He
+told them that when they should have received the Holy Spirit they were
+to consecrate the bread and wine, and anoint the other Apostles. It was
+made known to me then that, on the day of Pentecost, Peter and John
+imposed their hands upon the other Apostles, and a week later upon
+several of the disciples. After the Resurrection, John gave the
+Adorable Sacrament for the first time to the Blessed Virgin. It is a
+festival no longer kept in the Church on earth, but I see it celebrated
+in the Church triumphant. For the first few days after Pentecost I saw
+only Peter and John consecrate the Blessed Eucharist, but after that
+the others also consecrated.
+
+Our Lord next proceeded to bless fire in a brass vessel, and care
+was taken that it should not go out, but it was kept near the spot
+where the Blessed Sacrament had been deposited, in one division of the
+ancient Paschal hearth, and fire was always taken from it when needed
+for spiritual purposes.
+
+    All that Jesus did upon this occasion was done in private, and
+taught equally in private. The Church has retained all that was
+essential of these secret instructions, and, under the inspiration of
+the Holy Ghost, developed and adapted them to all her requirements.
+
+Whether Peter and John were both consecrated bishops, or Peter alone
+as bishop and John as priest, or to what dignity the other four
+Apostles were raised, I cannot pretend to say. But the different ways
+in which our Lord arranged the Apostles' stoles appear to indicate
+different degrees of consecration.
+
+When these holy ceremonies were concluded, the chalice (near which
+the blessed Chrism also stood) was re-covered, and the Adorable
+Sacrament carried by Peter and John into the back part of the room,
+which was divided off by a curtain, and from thenceforth became the
+Sanctuary. The spot where the Blessed Sacrament was deposited was not
+very far above the Paschal stove. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
+took care of the Sanctuary and of the supper-room during the absence of
+the Apostles.
+
+Jesus again instructed his Apostles for a considerable length of
+time, and also prayed several times. He frequently appeared to be
+conversing with his Heavenly Father, and to be overflowing with
+enthusiasm and love. The Apostles also were full of joy and zeal, and
+asked him various questions which he forthwith answered. The scriptures
+must contain much of this last discourse and conversation. He told
+Peter and John different things to be made known later to the other
+Apostles, who in their turn were to communicate them to the disciples
+and holy women, according to the capacity of each for such knowledge.
+He had a private conversation with John, whom he told that his life
+would be longer than the lives of the others. He spoke to him also
+concerning seven Churches, some crowns and angels, and instructed him
+in the meaning of certain mysterious figures, which signified, to the
+best of my belief, different epochs. The other Apostles were slightly
+jealous of this confidential communication being made to John.
+
+Jesus spoke also of the traitor. 'Now he is doing this or that,' he
+said, and I, in fact, saw Judas doing exactly as he said of him. As
+Peter was vehemently protesting that he would always remain faithful,
+our Lord said to him: 'Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have
+you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy
+faith fail not: and thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren.'
+
+Again, our Lord, said, that whither he was going they could not
+follow him, when Peter exclaimed: 'Lord, I am ready to go with thee both
+into prison and to death.' And Jesus replied: 'Amen, amen, I say to thee,
+before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.'
+
+ Jesus, while making known to his Apostles that trying times were at
+hand for them, said: 'When I sent you without purse, or scrip, or shoes,
+did you want anything?' They answered: 'Nothing.' 'But now,' he continued,
+'he that hath a purse let him take it, and likewise a scrip, and he that
+hath not, let him sell his coat and buy a sword. For I say to you, that
+this that is written must yet be fulfilled in me: AND WITH THE WICKED WAS
+HE RECKONED. For the things concerning me have an end.' The Apostles only
+understood his words in a carnal sense, and Peter showed him two
+swords, which were short and thick, like cleavers. Jesus said: 'It is
+enough: let us go hence.' Then they sang the thanksgiving hymn, put the
+table on one side, and went into the vestibule.
+
+There, Jesus found his Mother, Mary of Cleophas, and Magdalen, who
+earnestly besought him not to go to Mount Olivet, for a report has
+spread that his enemies were seeking to lay hands on him. But Jesus
+comforted them in few words, and hastened onward--it being then about nine
+o'clock. They went down the road by which Peter and John had come to the
+supper-room, and directed their steps towards Mount Olivet.
+
+I have always seen the Pasch and the institution of the Blessed
+Sacrament take place in the order related above. But my feelings were
+each time so strongly excited and my emotion so great, that I could not
+give much attention to all the details, but now I have seen them more
+distinctly. No words can describe how painful and exhausting is such a
+sight as that of beholding the hidden recesses of hearts, the love and
+constancy of our Saviour, and to know at the same time all that is
+going to befall him. How would it be possible to observe all that is
+merely external! The heart is overflowing with admiration, gratitude,
+and love--the blindness of men seems perfectly incomprehensible--and the
+soul is overwhelmed with sorrow at the thought of the ingratitude of the
+whole world, and of her own sins!
+
+The eating of the Paschal Lamb was performed by Jesus rapidly, and
+in entire conformity with all the legal ordinances. The Pharisees were
+in the habit of adding some minute and superstitious ceremonies.
+
+
+THE PASSION.
+
+
+
+ "If thou knowest not how to meditate on high and heavenly things,
+rest on the Passion of Christ, and willingly dwell in his sacred
+wounds. For, if thou fly devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmas of
+Jesus, thou shalt feel great comfort in tribulation."--Imitation of Christ,
+book 2, chapter 1.
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+
+On the evening of the 18th of February, 1823, a friend of Sister
+Emmerich went up to the bed, where she was lying apparently asleep; and
+being much struck by the beautiful and mournful expression of her
+countenance, felt himself inwardly inspired to raise his heart
+fervently to God, and offer the Passion of Christ to the Eternal
+Father, in union with the sufferings of all those who have carried
+their cross after him. While making this short prayer, he chanced to
+fix his eyes for a moment upon the stigmatised hands of Sister
+Emmerich. She immediately hid them under the counterpane, starting as
+if someone had given her a blow. He felt surprised at this, and asked
+her, 'What has happened to you?' 'Many things,' she answered in an expressive
+tone. Whilst he was considering what her meaning could be, she appeared
+to be asleep. At the end of about a quarter of an hour, she suddenly
+started up with all the eagerness of a person having a violent struggle
+with another, stretched out both her arms, clenching her hand, as if to
+repel an enemy standing on the left side of her bed, and exclaimed in
+an indignant voice: 'What do you mean by this contract of Magdalum?' Then
+she continued to speak with the warmth of a person who is being
+questioned during a quarrel--'Yes, it is that accursed spirit--the liar from
+the beginning--Satan, who is reproaching him about the Magdalum contract,
+and other things of the same nature, and says that he spent all that
+money upon himself.' When asked, 'Who has spent money? Who is being spoken
+to in that way?' she replied, 'Jesus, my adorable Spouse, on Mount Olivet.'
+Then she again turned to the left, with menacing gestures, and
+exclaimed, 'What meanest thou, O father of lies, with thy Magdalum
+contract? Did he not deliver twenty-seven poor prisoners at Thirza,
+with the money derived from the sale of Magdalum? I saw him, and thou
+darest to say that he has brought confusion into the whole estate,
+driven out its inhabitants, and squandered the money for which it was
+sold? But thy time is come, accursed spirit! Thou wilt be chained, and
+his heel will crush thy head.'
+
+Here she was interrupted by the entrance of another person; her
+friends thought that she was in delirium, and pitied her. The following
+morning she owned that the previous night she had imagined herself to
+be following our Saviour to the Garden of Olives, after the institution
+of the Blessed Eucharist, but that just at that moment someone having
+looked at the stigmas on her hands with a degree of veneration, she
+felt so horrified at this being done in the presence of our Lord, that
+she hastily hid them, with a feeling of pain. She then related her
+vision of what took place in the Garden of Olives, and as she continued
+her narrations the following days, the friend who was listening to her
+was enabled to connect the different scenes of the Passion together.
+But as, during Lent, she was also celebrating the combats of our Lord
+with Satan in the desert, she had to endure in her own person many
+sufferings and temptations. Hence there were a few pauses in the
+history of the Passion, which were, however, easily filled up by means
+of some later communications.
+
+She usually spoke in common German, but when in a state of ecstasy,
+her language became much purer, and her narrations partook at once of
+child-like simplicity and dignified inspiration. Her friend wrote down
+all that she had said, directly he returned to his own apartments; for
+it was seldom that he could so much as even take notes in her presence.
+The Giver of all good gifts bestowed upon him memory, zeal, and
+strength to bear much trouble and fatigue, so that he has been enabled
+to bring this work to a conclusion. His conscience tells him that he
+has done his best, and he humbly begs the reader, if satisfied with the
+result of his labours, to bestow upon him the alms of an occasional
+prayer.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Jesus in the Garden of Olives.
+
+
+
+When Jesus left the supper-room with the eleven Apostles, after the
+institution of the Adorable Sacrament of the Altar, his soul was deeply
+oppressed and his sorrow on the increase. He led the eleven, by an
+unfrequented path, to the Valley of Josaphat. As they left the house, I
+saw the moon, which was not yet quite at the full, rising in front of
+the mountain.
+
+Our Divine Lord; as he wandered with his Apostles about the valley,
+told them that here he should one day return to judge the world, but
+not in a state of poverty and humiliation, as he then was, and that men
+would tremble with fear, and cry: 'Mountains, fall upon us!' His disciples
+did not understand him, and thought, by no means for the first time
+that night, that weakness and exhaustion had affected his brain. He
+said to them again: 'All you shall be scandalised in me this night. For
+it is written: I WILL STRIKE THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK
+SHALL BE DISPERSED. But after I shall be risen again, I will go before
+you into Galilee.'
+
+The Apostles were still in some degree animated by the spirit of
+enthusiasm and devotion with which their reception of the Blessed
+Sacrament and the solemn and affecting words of Jesus had inspired
+them. They eagerly crowded round him, and expressed their love in a
+thousand different ways, earnestly protesting that they would never
+abandon him. But as Jesus continued to talk in the same strain, Peter
+exclaimed: 'Although all shall be scandalised in thee, I will never be
+scandalised!' and our Lord answered him: 'Amen, I say to thee, that in this
+night, before the cock crow, thou wilt deny me thrice.' But Peter still
+insisted, saying: 'Yea, though I should die with thee, I will not deny
+thee.' And the others all said the same. They walked onward and stopped,
+by turns, for the sadness of our Divine Lord continued to increase. The
+Apostles tried to comfort him by human arguments, assuring him that
+what he foresaw would not come to pass. They tired themselves in these
+vain efforts, began to doubt, and were assailed by temptation.
+
+They crossed the brook Cedron, not by the bridge where, a few hours
+later, Jesus was taken prisoner, but by another, for they had left the
+direct road. Gethsemani, whither they were going, was about a mile and
+a half distant from the supper-hall, for it was three quarters of a
+mile from the supper-hall to the Valley of Josaphat, and about as far
+from thence to Gethsemani. The place called Gethsemani (where latterly
+Jesus had several times passed the night with his disciples) was a
+large garden, surrounded by a hedge, and containing only some fruit
+trees and flowers, while outside there stood a few deserted unclosed
+buildings.
+
+The Apostles and several others persons had keys of this garden,
+which was used sometimes as a pleasure ground, and sometimes as a place
+of retirement for prayer. Some arbours made of leaves and branches had
+been raised there, and eight of the Apostles remained in them, and were
+later joined by others of the disciples. The Garden of Olives was
+separated by a road from that of Gethsemani, and was open, surrounded
+only by an earthern wall, and smaller than the Garden of Gethsemani.
+There were caverns, terraces, and many olive-trees to be seen in this
+garden, and it was easy to find there a suitable spot for prayer and
+meditation. It was to the wildest part that Jesus went to pray.
+
+It was about nine o'clock when Jesus reached Gethsemani with his
+disciples. The moon had risen, and already gave light in the sky,
+although the earth was still dark. Jesus was most sorrowful, and told
+his Apostles that danger was at hand. The disciples felt uneasy, and he
+told eight of those who were following him, to remain in the Garden of
+Gethsemani whilst he went on to pray. He took with him Peter, James,
+and John, and going on a little further, entered into the Garden of
+Olives. No words can describe the sorrow which then oppressed his soul,
+for the time of trial was near. John asked him how it was that he, who
+had hitherto always consoled them, would now be so dejected? 'My soul is
+sorrowful even unto death,' was his reply. And he beheld sufferings and
+temptations surrounding him on all sides, and drawing nearer and
+nearer, under the forms of frightful figures borne on clouds. Then it
+was that he said to the three Apostles: 'Stay you here and watch with me.
+Pray, lest ye enter into temptation.' Jesus went a few steps to the left,
+down a hill, and concealed himself beneath a rock, in a grotto about
+six feet deep, while the Apostles remained in a species of hollow
+above. The earth sank gradually the further you entered this grotto,
+and the plants which were hanging from the rock screened its interior
+like a curtain from persons outside.
+
+When Jesus left his disciples, I saw a number of frightful figures
+surrounding him in an ever-narrowing circle.
+
+His sorrow and anguish of soul continued to increase, and he was
+trembling all over when he entered the grotto to pray, like a wayworn
+traveller hurriedly seeking shelter from a sudden storm, but the awful
+visions pursued him even there, and became more and more clear and
+distinct. Alas! this small cavern appeared to contain the awful picture
+of all the sins which had been or were to be committed from the fall of
+Adam to the end of the world, and of the punishment which they
+deserved. It was here, on Mount Olivet, that Adam and Eve took refuge
+when drive out of Paradise to wander homeless on earth, and they had
+wept and bewailed themselves in this very grotto.
+
+I felt that Jesus, in delivering himself up to Divine Justice in
+satisfaction for the sins of the world, caused his divinity to return,
+in some sort, into the bosom of the Holy Trinity, concentrated himself,
+so to speak, in his pure, loving and innocent humanity, and strong only
+in his ineffable love, gave it up to anguish and suffering.
+
+He fell on his face, overwhelmed with unspeakable sorrow, and all
+the sins of the world displayed themselves before him, under countless
+forms and in all their real deformity. He took them all upon himself,
+and in his prayer offered his own adorable Person to the justice of his
+Heavenly Father, in payment for so awful a debt. But Satan, who was
+enthroned amid all these horrors, and even filled with diabolical joy
+at the sight of them, let loose his fury against Jesus, and displayed
+before the eyes of his soul increasingly awful visions, at the same
+time addressing his adorable humanity in words such as these: 'Takest
+thou even this sin upon thyself? Art thou willing to bear its penalty?
+Art thou prepared to satisfy for all these sins?'
+
+And now a long ray of light, like a luminous path in the air
+descended from Heaven; it was a procession of angels who came up to
+Jesus and strengthened and re-invigorated him. The remainder of the
+grotto was filled with frightful visions of our crimes; Jesus took them
+all upon himself, but that adorable Heart, which was so filled with the
+most perfect love for God and man, was flooded with anguish, and
+overwhelmed beneath the weight of so many abominable crimes. When this
+huge mass of iniquities, like the waves of a fathomless ocean, has
+passed over his soul, Satan brought forward innumerable temptations, as
+he had formerly done in the desert, even daring to adduce various
+accusations against him. 'And takest thou all these things upon thyself,'
+he exclaimed, 'thou who art not unspotted thyself?' then he laid to the
+charge of our Lord, with infernal impudence, a host of imaginary
+crimes. He reproached him with the faults of his disciples, the
+scandals which they had caused, and the disturbances which he had
+occasioned in the world by giving up ancient customs. No Pharisee,
+however wily and severe, could have surpassed Satan on this occasion;
+he reproached Jesus with having been the cause of the massacre of the
+Innocents, as well as of the sufferings of his parents in Egypt, with
+not having saved John the Baptist from death, with having brought
+disunion into families, protected men of despicable character, refused
+to cure various sick persons, injured the inhabitants of Gergesa by
+permitting men possessed by the devil to overturn their vats,8 and
+demons to make swine cast themselves into the sea; with having deserted
+his family, and squandered the property of others; in one word Satan,
+in the hopes of causing Jesus to waver, suggested to him every thought
+by which he would have tempted at the hour of death an ordinary mortal
+who might have performed all these actions without a superhuman
+intention; for it was hidden from him that Jesus was the Son of God,
+and he tempted him only as the most just of men. Our Divine Saviour
+permitted his humanity thus to preponderate over his divinity, for he
+was pleased to endure even those temptations with which holy souls are
+assailed at the hour of death concerning the merit of their good works.
+That he might drink the chalice of suffering even to the dregs, he
+permitted the evil spirit to tempt his sacred humanity, as he would
+have tempted a man who should wish to attribute to his good works some
+special value in themselves, over and above what they might have by
+their union with the merits of our Saviour. There was not an action out
+of which he did not contrive to frame some accusation, and he
+reproached Jesus, among other things, with having spent the price of
+the property of Mary Magdalen at Magdalum, which he had received from
+Lazarus.
+
+Among the sins of the world which Jesus took upon himself, I saw
+also my own; and a stream, in which I distinctly beheld each of my
+faults, appeared to flow towards me from out of the temptations with
+which he was encircled. During this time my eyes were fixed upon my
+Heavenly Spouse; with him I wept and prayed, and with him I turned
+towards the consoling angels. Ah, truly did our dear Lord writhe like a
+worm beneath the weight of his anguish and sufferings!
+
+Whilst Satan was pouring forth his accusations against Jesus, it was
+with difficulty that I could restrain my indignation, but when he spoke
+of the sale of Magdalen's property, I could no longer keep silence, and
+exclaimed: 'How canst thou reproach him with the sale of this property as
+with a crime? Did I not myself see our Lord spend the sum which was
+given him by Lazarus in works of mercy, and deliver twenty-eight
+debtors imprisoned at Thirza?'
+
+At first Jesus looked calm, as he kneeled down and prayed, but after
+a time his soul became terrified at the sight of the innumerable crimes
+of men, and of their ingratitude towards God, and his anguish was so
+great that the trembled and shuddered as he exclaimed: 'Father, if it is
+possible, let this chalice pass from me! Father, all things are
+possible to thee, remove this chalice from me!' But the next moment he
+added: 'Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.' His will and that of
+his Father were one, but now that his love had ordained that he should
+be left to all the weakness of his human nature, he trembled at the
+prospect of death.
+
+I saw the cavern in which he was kneeling filled with frightful
+figures; I saw all the sins, wickedness, vices, and ingratitude of
+mankind torturing and crushing him to the earth; the horror of death
+and terror which he felt as man at the sight of the expiatory
+sufferings about to come upon him, surrounded and assailed his Divine
+Person under the forms of hideous spectres. He fell from side to side,
+clasping his hands; his body was covered with a cold sweat, and he
+trembled and shuddered. He then arose, but his knees were shaking and
+apparently scarcely able to support him; his countenance was pale, and
+quite altered in appearance, his lips white, and his hair standing on
+end. It was about half-past ten o'clock when he arose from his knees,
+and, bathed in a cold sweat, directed his trembling, weak footsteps
+towards his three Apostles. With difficulty did he ascend the left side
+of the cavern, and reach a spot where the ground was level, and where
+they were sleeping, exhausted with fatigue, sorrow and anxiety. He came
+to them, like a man overwhelmed with bitter sorrow, whom terror urges
+to seek his friends, but like also to a good shepherd, who, when warned
+of the approach of danger, hastens to visit his flock, the safety of
+which is threatened; for he well knew that they also were being tried
+by suffering and temptation. The terrible visions never left him, even
+while he was thus seeking his disciples. When he found that they were
+asleep, he clasped his hands and fell down on his knees beside them,
+overcome with sorrow and anxiety, and said: 'Simon, sleepest thou?' They
+awoke, and raised him up, and he, in his desolation of spirit, said to
+them: 'What? Could you not watch one hour with me?' When they looked at
+him, and saw him pale and exhausted, scarcely able to support himself,
+bathed in sweat, trembling and shuddering,--when they heard how changed
+and almost inaudible his voice had become, they did not know what to
+think, and had he not been still surrounded by a well-known halo of
+light, they would never have recognised him as Jesus. John said to him:
+'Master, what has befallen thee? Must I call the other disciples? Ought
+we to take to flight?' Jesus answered him: 'Were I to live, teach, and
+perform miracles for thirty-three years longer, that would not suffice
+for the accomplishment of what must be fulfilled before this time
+tomorrow. Call not the eight; I did not bring them hither, because they
+could not see me thus agonising without being scandalised; they would
+yield to temptation, forget much of the past, and lose their confidence
+in me. But you, who have seen the Son of Man transfigured, may also see
+him under a cloud, and in dereliction of spirit; nevertheless, watch
+and pray, lest ye fall into temptation, for the spirit indeed is
+willing, but the flesh is weak.'
+
+ By these words he sought at once to encourage them to persevere,
+and to make known to them the combat which his human nature was
+sustaining against death, together with the cause of his weakness. In
+his overwhelming sorrow, he remained with them nearly a quarter of an
+hour, and spoke to them again. He then returned to the grotto, his
+mental sufferings being still on the increase, while his disciples, on
+their part, stretched forth their hands towards him, wept, and embraced
+each other, asking, 'What can it be? What is happening to him? He appears
+to be in a state of complete desolation.' After this, they covered their
+heads, and began to pray, sorrowfully and anxiously.
+
+About an hour and a half had passed since Jesus entered the Garden
+of Olives. It is true that Scripture tells us he said, 'Could you not
+watch one hour with me?' but his words should not be taken literally, nor
+according to our way of counting time. The three Apostles who were with
+Jesus had prayed at first, but then they had fallen asleep, for
+temptation had come upon them by reason of their want of trust in God.
+The other eight, who had remained outside the garden, did not sleep,
+for our Lord's last words, so expressive of suffering and sadness, had
+filled their hearts with sinister forebodings, and they wandered about
+Mount Olivet, trying to find some place of refuge in case of danger.
+
+The town of Jerusalem was very quiet; the Jews were in their houses,
+engaged in preparing for the feast, but I saw, here and there, some of
+the friends and disciples of Jesus walking to and fro, with anxious
+countenances, conversing earnestly together, and evidently expecting
+some great event. The Mother of our Lord, Magdalen, Martha, Mary of
+Cleophas, Mary Salome, and Salome had gone from the supper-hall to the
+house of Mary, the mother of Mark. Mary was alarmed at the reports
+which were spreading, and wished to return to the town with her
+friends, in order to hear something of Jesus. Lazarus, Nicodemus,
+Joseph of Arimathea, and some relations from Hebron, came to see and
+endeavour to tranquillise her, for as they were aware, either from
+their own knowledge or from what the disciples had told them, of the
+mournful predictions which Jesus had made in the supper-room, they had
+made inquiries of some Pharisees of their acquaintance, and had not
+been able to hear that any conspiracy was on foot for the time against
+our Lord. Being utterly ignorant of the treason of Judas, they assured
+Mary that the danger could not yet be very great, and that the enemies
+of Jesus would not make any attempt upon his person, at least until the
+festival was over. Mary told them how restless and disturbed in mind
+Judas had latterly appeared, and how abruptly he had left the
+supper-room. She felt no doubt of his having gone to betray our Lord,
+for she had often warned him that he was a son of perdition. The holy
+women then returned to the house of Mary, the mother of Mark.
+
+When Jesus, unrelieved of all the weight of his sufferings, returned
+to the grotto, he fell prostrate, with his face on the ground and his
+arms extended, and prayed to his Eternal Father; but his soul had to
+sustain a second interior combat, which lasted three-quarters of an
+hour. Angels came and showed him, in a series of visions, all the
+sufferings that he was to endure in order to expiate sin; how great was
+the beauty of man, the image of God, before the fall, and how that
+beauty was changed and obliterated when sin entered the world. He
+beheld how all sins originated in that of Adam, the signification and
+essence of concupiscence, its terrible effect on the powers of the
+soul, and likewise the signification and essence of all the sufferings
+entailed by concupiscence. They showed him the satisfaction which he
+would have to offer to Divine Justice, and how it would consist of a
+degree of suffering in his soul and body which would comprehend all the
+sufferings due to the concupiscence of all mankind, since the debt of
+the whole human race had to be paid by that humanity which alone was
+sinless--the humanity of the Son of God. The angels showed him all these
+things under different forms, and I felt what they were saying,
+although I heard no voice. No tongue can describe what anguish and what
+horror overwhelmed the soul of Jesus at the sight of so terrible an
+expiation--his sufferings were so great, indeed, that a bloody sweat
+issued forth from all the pores of this sacred body.
+
+Whilst the adorable humanity of Christ was thus crushed to the earth
+beneath this awful weight of suffering, the angels appeared filled with
+compassion; there was a pause, and I perceived that they were earnestly
+desiring to console him, and praying to that effect before the throne
+of God. For one instant there appeared to be, as it were, a struggle
+between the mercy and justice of God and that love which was
+sacrificing itself. I was permitted to see an image of God, not, as
+before, seated on a throne, but under a luminous form. I beheld the
+divine nature of the Son in the Person of the Father, and, as it were,
+withdrawn in his bosom; the Person of the Holy Ghost proceeded from the
+Father and the Son, it was, so to speak, between them, and yet the
+whole formed only one God--but these things are indescribable.
+
+All this was more an inward perception than a vision under distinct
+forms, and it appeared to me that the Divine Will of our Lord withdrew
+in some sort into the Eternal Father, in order to permit all those
+sufferings which his human will besought his Father to spare him, to
+weigh upon his humanity alone. I saw this at the time when the angels,
+filled with compassion, were desiring to console Jesus, who, in fact,
+was slightly relieved at that moment. Then all disappeared, and the
+angels retired from our Lord, whose soul was about to sustain fresh
+assaults.
+
+When our Redeemer, on Mount Olivet, was pleased to experience and
+overcome that violent repugnance of human nature to suffering and death
+which constitutes a portion of all sufferings, the tempter was
+permitted to do to him what he does to all men who desire to sacrifice
+themselves in a holy cause. In the first portion of the agony, Satan
+displayed before the eyes of our Lord the enormity of that debt of sin
+which he was going to pay, and was even bold and malicious enough to
+seek faults in the very works of our Saviour himself. In the second
+agony, Jesus beheld, to its fullest extent and in all its bitterness,
+the expiatory suffering which would be required to satisfy Divine
+Justice. This was displayed to him by angels; for it belongs not to
+Satan to show that expiation is possible, and the father of lies and
+despair never exhibits the works of Divine Mercy before men. Jesus
+having victoriously resisted all these assaults by his entire and
+absolute submission to the will of his Heavenly Father, a succession of
+new and terrifying visions were presented before his eyes, and that
+feeling of doubt and anxiety which a man on the point of making some
+great sacrifice always experiences, arose in the soul of our Lord, as
+he asked himself the tremendous question: 'And what good will result from
+this sacrifice?' Then a most awful picture of the future was displayed
+before his eyes and overwhelmed his tender heart with anguish.
+
+When God had created the first Adam, he cast a deep sleep upon him,
+opened his side, and took one of his ribs, of which he made Eve, his
+wife and the mother of all the living. Then he brought her to Adam, who
+exclaimed: 'This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh... Wherefore
+a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and
+they shall be two in one flesh.' That was the marriage of which it is
+written: 'This is a great Sacrament. I speak in Christ and in the Church.'
+Jesus Christ, the second Adam, was pleased also to let sleep come upon
+him--the sleep of death on the cross, and he was also pleased to let his
+side be opened, in order that the second Eve, his virgin Spouse, the
+Church, the mother of all the living, might be formed from it. It was
+his will to give her the blood of redemption, the water of
+purification, and his spirit--the three which render testimony on earth--and
+to bestow upon her also the holy Sacraments, in order that she might be
+pure, holy, and undefiled; he was to be her head, and we were to be her
+members, under submission to the head, the bone of his bones, and the
+flesh of his flesh. In taking human nature, that he might suffer death
+for us, he had also left his Eternal Father, to cleave to his Spouse,
+the Church, and he became one flesh with her, by feeding her with the
+Adorable Sacrament of the Altar, in which he unites himself unceasingly
+with us. He had been pleased to remain on earth with his Church, until
+we shall all be united together by him within her fold, and he has
+said: 'The gates of hell shall never prevail against her.' To satisfy his
+unspeakable love for sinners, our Lord had become man and a brother of
+these same sinners, that so he might take upon himself the punishment
+due to all their crimes. He had contemplated with deep sorrow the
+greatness of this debt and the unspeakable sufferings by which it was
+to be acquitted. Yet he had most joyfully given himself up to the will
+of his Heavenly Father as a victim of expiation. Now, however, he beheld
+ all the future sufferings, combats, and wounds of his heavenly Spouse;
+in one word, he beheld the ingratitude of men.
+
+The soul of Jesus beheld all the future sufferings of his Apostles,
+disciples, and friends; after which he saw the primitive Church,
+numbering but few souls in her fold at first, and then in proportion as
+her numbers increased, disturbed by heresies and schisms breaking out
+among her children, who repeated the sin of Adam by pride and
+disobedience. He saw the tepidity, malice and corruption of an infinite
+number of Christians, the lies and deceptions of proud teachers, all
+the sacrileges of wicked priests, the fatal consequences of each sin,
+and the abomination of desolation in the kingdom of God, in the
+sanctuary of those ungrateful human beings whom he was about to redeem
+with his blood at the cost of unspeakable sufferings.
+
+The scandals of all ages, down to the present day and even to the
+end of the world--every species of error, deception, mad fanaticism,
+obstinacy and malice--were displayed before his eyes, and he beheld, as it
+were floating before him, all the apostates, heresiarchs, and pretended
+reformers, who deceive men by an appearance of sanctity. The corrupters
+and the corrupted of all ages outraged and tormented him for not having
+been crucified after their fashion, or for not having suffered
+precisely as they settled or imagined he should have done. They vied
+with each other in tearing the seamless robe of his Church; many
+illtreated, insulted, and denied him, and many turned contemptuously
+away, shaking their heads at him, avoiding his compassionate embrace,
+and hurrying on to the abyss where they were finally swallowed up. He
+saw countless numbers of other men who did not dare openly to deny him,
+but who passed on in disgust at the sight of the wounds of his Church,
+as the Levite passed by the poor man who had fallen among robbers. Like
+unto cowardly and faithless children, who desert their mother in the
+middle of the night, at the sight of the thieves and robbers to whom
+their negligence or their malice has opened the door, they fled from
+his wounded Spouse. He beheld all these men, sometimes separated from
+the True Vine, and taking their rest amid the wild fruit trees,
+sometimes like lost sheep, left to the mercy of the wolves, led by base
+hirelings into bad pasturages, and refusing to enter the fold of the
+Good Shepherd who gave his life for his sheep. They were wandering
+homeless in the desert in the midst of the sand blown about by the
+wind, and were obstinately determined not to see his City placed upon a
+hill, which could not be hidden, the House of his Spouse, his Church
+built upon a rock, and with which he had promised to remain to the end
+of ages. They built upon the sand wretched tenements, which they were
+continually pulling down and rebuilding, but in which there was neither
+altar nor sacrifice; they had weathercocks on their roofs, and their
+doctrines changed with the wind, consequently they were for ever in
+opposition one with the other. They never could come to a mutual
+understanding, and were forever unsettled, often destroying their own
+dwellings and hurling the fragments against the Corner-Stone of the
+Church, which always remained unshaken.
+
+As there was nothing but darkness in the dwelling of these men, many
+among them, instead of directing their steps towards the Candle placed
+on the Candlestick in the House of the Spouse of Christ, wandered with
+closed eyes around the gardens of the Church, sustaining life only by
+inhaling the sweet odours which were diffused from them far and near,
+stretching forth their hands towards shadowy idols, and following
+wandering stars which led them to wells where there was no water. Even
+when on the very brink of the precipice, they refused to listen to the
+voice of the Spouse calling them, and, though dying with hunger,
+derided, insulted, and mocked at those servants and messengers who were
+sent to invite them to the Nuptial Feast. They obstinately refused to
+enter the garden, because they feared the thorns of the hedge, although
+they had neither wheat with which to satisfy their hunger nor wine to
+quench their thirst, but were simply intoxicated with pride and
+self-esteem, and being blinded by their own false lights, persisted in
+asserting that the Church of the Word made flesh was invisible. Jesus
+beheld them all, he wept over them, and was pleased to suffer for all
+those who do not see him and who will not carry their crosses after him
+in his City built upon a hill--his Church founded upon a rock, to which he
+has given himself in the Holy Eucharist, and against which the gates of
+Hell will never prevail.
+
+Bearing a prominent place in these mournful visions which were
+beheld by the soul of Jesus, I saw Satan, who dragged away and
+strangled a multitude of men redeemed by the blood of Christ and
+sanctified by the unction of his Sacrament. Our Divine Saviour beheld
+with bitterest anguish the ingratitude and corruption of the Christians
+of the first and of all succeeding ages, even to the end of the world,
+and during the whole of this time the voice of the tempter was
+incessantly repeating: 'Canst thou resolve to suffer for such ungrateful
+reprobates?' while the various apparitions succeeded each other with
+intense rapidity, and so violently weighed down and crushed the soul of
+Jesus, that his sacred humanity was overwhelmed with unspeakable
+anguish. Jesus--the Anointed of the Lord--the Son of Man struggled and
+writhed as he fell on his knees, with clasped hands, as it were
+annihilated beneath the weight of his suffering. So violent was the
+struggle which then took place between his human will and his
+repugnance to suffer so much for such an ungrateful race, that from
+every pore of his sacred body there burst forth large drops of blood,
+which fell trickling on to the ground. In his bitter agony, he looked
+around, as though seeking help, and appeared to take Heaven, earth, and
+the stars of the firmament to witness of his sufferings.
+
+Jesus, in his anguish of spirit, raised his voice, and gave
+utterance to several cries of pain. The three Apostles awoke, listened,
+and were desirous of approaching him, but Peter detained James and
+John, saying: 'Stay you here; I will join him.' Then I saw Peter hastily
+run forward and enter the grotto. 'Master,' he exclaimed, 'what has befallen
+thee?' But at the sight of Jesus, thus bathed in his own blood, and
+sinking to the ground beneath the weight of mortal fear and anguish, he
+drew back, and paused for a moment, overcome with terror. Jesus made
+him no answer, and appeared unconscious of his presence. Peter returned
+to the other two, and told them that the Lord had not answered him
+except by groans and sighs. They became more and more sorrowful after
+this, covered their heads, and sat down to weep and pray.
+
+I then returned to my Heavenly Spouse in his most bitter agony. The
+frightful visions of the future ingratitude of the men whose debt to
+Divine Justice he was taking upon himself, continued to become more and
+more vivid and tremendous. Several times I heard him exclaim: 'O my
+Father, can I possibly suffer for so ungrateful a race? O my Father, if
+this chalice may not pass from me, but I must drink it, thy will be
+done!'
+
+Amid all these apparitions, Satan held a conspicuous place, under
+various forms, which represented different species of sins. Sometimes
+he appeared under the form of a gigantic black figure, sometimes under
+those of a tiger, a fox, a wolf, a dragon, or a serpent. Not, however,
+that he really took any of these shapes, but merely some one of their
+characteristics, joined with other hideous forms. None of these
+frightful apparitions entirely resembled any creature, but were symbols
+of abomination, discord, contradiction, and sin--in one word, were
+demoniacal to the fullest extent. These diabolical figures urged on,
+dragged, and tore to pieces, before the very eyes of Jesus, countless
+numbers of those men for whose redemption he was entering upon the
+painful way of the Cross. At first I but seldom saw the serpent: soon,
+however, it made its appearance, with a crown upon its head. This
+odious reptile was of gigantic size, apparently possessed of unbounded
+strength, and led forward countless legions of the enemies of Jesus in
+every age and of every nation. Being armed with all kinds of
+destructive weapons, they sometimes tore one another in pieces, and
+then renewed their attacks upon our Saviour with redoubled rage. It was
+indeed an awful sight; for they heaped upon him the most fearful
+outrages, cursing, striking, wounding, and tearing him in pieces. Their
+weapons, swords, and spears flew about in the air, crossing and
+recrossing continually in all directions, like the flails of threshers
+in an immense barn; and the rage of each of these fiends seemed
+exclusively directed against Jesus--that grain of heavenly wheat descended
+to the earth to die there, in order to feed men eternally with the
+Bread of Life.
+
+Thus exposed to the fury of these hellish bands, some of which
+appeared to me wholly composed of blind men, Jesus was as much wounded
+and bruised as if their blows had been real. I saw him stagger from
+side to side, sometimes raising himself up, and sometimes falling
+again, while the serpent, in the midst of the crowds whom it was
+unceasingly leading forward against Jesus, struck the ground with its
+tail, and tore to pieces or swallowed all whom it thus knocked to the
+ground.
+
+It was made known to me that these apparitions were all those
+persons who in divers ways insult and outrage Jesus, really and truly
+present in the Holy Sacrament. I recognised among them all those who in
+any way profane the Blessed Eucharist. I beheld with horror all the
+outrages thus offered to our Lord, whether by neglect, irreverence, and
+omission of what was due to him; by open contempt, abuse, and the most
+awful sacrileges; by the worship of worldly idols; by spiritual
+darkness and false knowledge; or, finally, by error, incredulity,
+fanaticism, hatred, and open persecution. Among these men I saw many
+who were blind, paralysed, deaf, and dumb, and even children;--blind men
+who would not see the truth; paralytic men who would not advance,
+according to its directions, on the road leading to eternal live; deaf
+men who refused to listen to its warnings and threats; dumb men who
+would never use their voices in its defence; and, finally, children who
+were led astray by following parents and teachers filled with the love
+of the world and forgetfulness of God, who were fed on earthly
+luxuries, drunk with false wisdom, and loathing all that pertained to
+religion. Among the latter, the sight of whom grieved me especially,
+because Jesus so loved children, I saw many irreverent, ill-behaved
+acolytes, who did not honour our Lord in the holy ceremonies in which
+they took a part. I beheld with terror that many priests, some of whom
+even fancied themselves full of faith and piety, also outraged Jesus in
+the Adorable Sacrament. I saw many who believed and taught the doctrine
+of the Real Presence, but did not sufficiently take it to heart, for
+they forgot and neglected the palace, throne, and seat of the Living
+God, that is to say, the church, the altar, the tabernacle, the
+chalice, the monstrance, the vases and ornaments; in one word, all that
+is used in his worship, or to adorn his house.
+
+Entire neglect reigned everywhere, all things were left to moulder
+away in dust and filth, and the worship of God was, if not inwardly
+profaned, at least outwardly dishonoured. Nor did this arise from real
+poverty, but from indifference, sloth, preoccupation of mind about vain
+earthly concerns, and often also from egotism and spiritual death; for
+I saw neglect of this kind in churches the pastors and congregations of
+which were rich, or at east tolerably well off. I saw many others in
+which worldly, tasteless, unsuitable ornaments had replaced the
+magnificent adornments of a more pious age.
+
+I saw that often the poorest of men were better lodged in their
+cottages than the Master of heaven and earth in his churches. Ah, how
+deeply did the inhospitality of men grieve Jesus, who had given himself
+to them to be their Food! Truly, there is no need to be rich in order
+to receive him who rewards a hundredfold the glass of cold water given
+to the thirsty; but how shameful is not our conduct when in giving
+drink to the Divine Lord, who thirst for our souls, we give him
+corrupted water in a filthy glass! In consequence of all this neglect,
+I saw the weak scandalised, the Adorable Sacrament profaned, the
+churches deserted, and the priests despised. This state of impurity and
+negligence extended even to the souls of the faithful, who left the
+tabernacle of their hearts unprepared and uncleansed when Jesus was
+about to enter them, exactly the same as they left his tabernacle on
+the altar.
+
+Were I to speak for an entire year, I would never detail all the
+insults offered to Jesus in the Adorable Sacrament which were made
+known to me in this way. I saw their authors assault Jesus in bands,
+and strike him with different arms, corresponding to their various
+offences. I saw irreverent Christians of all ages, careless or
+sacrilegious priests, crowds of tepid and unworthy communicants, wicked
+soldiers profaning the sacred vessels, and servants of the devil making
+use of the Holy Eucharist in the frightful mysteries of hellish
+worship. Among these bands I saw a great number of theologians, who had
+been drawn into heresy by their sins, attacking Jesus in the Holy
+Sacrament of his Church, and snatching out of his Heart, by their
+seductive words and promises, a number of souls for whom he had shed
+his blood. Ah! it was indeed an awful sight, for I saw the Church as
+the body of Christ; and all these bands of men, who were separating
+themselves from the Church, mangled and tore off whole pieces of his
+living flesh. Alas! he looked at them in the most touching manner, and
+lamented that they should thus cause their own eternal loss. He had
+given his own divine Self to us for our Food in the Holy Sacrament, in
+order to unite in one body--that of the Church, his Spouse--men who were to
+an infinite extent divided and separated from each other; and now he
+beheld himself torn and rent in twain in that very body; for his
+principal work of love, the Holy Communion, in which men should have
+been made wholly one, was become, by the malice of false teachers, the
+subject of separation. I beheld whole nations thus snatched out of his
+bosom, and deprived of any participation in the treasure of graces left
+to the Church. Finally, I saw all who were separated from the Church
+plunged into the depths of infidelity, superstition, heresy, and false
+worldly philosophy; and they gave vent to their fierce rage by joining
+together in large bodies to attack the Church, being urged on by the
+serpent which was disporting itself in the midst of them. Alas! it was
+as though Jesus himself had been torn in a thousand pieces!
+
+So great was my horror and terror, that my Heavenly Spouse appeared
+to me, and mercifully placed his hand upon my heart, saying: 'No one has
+yet seen all these things, and thy heart would burst with sorrow if I
+did not give thee strength.'
+
+I saw the blood flowing in large drops down the pale face of our
+Saviour, his hair matted together, and his beard bloody and entangled.
+After the vision which I have last described, he fled, so to speak, out
+of the cave, and returned to his disciples. But he tottered as he
+walked; his appearance was that of a man covered with wounds and
+bending beneath a heavy burden, and he stumbled at every step.
+
+When he came up to the three Apostles, they were not lying down
+asleep as they had been the first time, but their heads were covered,
+and they had sunk down on their knees, in an attitude often assumed by
+the people of that country when in sorrow or desiring to pray. They had
+fallen asleep, overpowered by grief and fatigue. Jesus, trembling and
+groaning, drew nigh to them, and they awoke.
+
+But when, by the light of the moon, they saw him standing before
+them, his face pale and bloody, and his hair in disorder, their weary
+eyes did not at the first moment recognise him, for he was
+indescribably changed. He clasped his hands together, upon which they
+arose and lovingly supported him in their arms, and he told them in
+sorrowful accents that the next day he should be put to death,--that in
+one hour's time he should be seized, led before a tribunal, maltreated,
+outraged, scourged, and finally put to a most cruel death. He besought
+them to console his Mother, and also Magdalen. They made no reply, for
+they knew not what to say, so greatly had his appearance and language
+alarmed them, and they even thought his mind must be wandering. When he
+desired to return to the grotto, he had not strength to walk. I saw
+John and James lead him back, and return when he had entered the
+grotto. It was then about a quarter-past eleven.
+
+During this agony of Jesus, I saw the Blessed Virgin also
+overwhelmed with sorrow and anguish of soul, in the house of Mary, the
+mother of Mark. She was with Magdalen and Mary in the garden belonging
+to the house, and almost prostrate from grief, with her whole body
+bowed down as she knelt. She fainted several times, for she beheld in
+spirit different portions of the agony of Jesus. She had sent some
+messengers to make inquiries concerning him, but her deep anxiety would
+not suffer her to await their return, and she went with Magdalen and
+Salome as far as the Valley of Josaphat. She walked along with her head
+veiled, and her arms frequently stretched forth towards Mount Olivet;
+for she beheld in spirit Jesus bathed in a bloody sweat, and her
+gestures were as though she wished with her extended hands to wipe the
+face of her Son. I saw these interior movements of her soul towards
+Jesus, who thought of her, and turned his eyes in her direction, as if
+to seek her assistance. I beheld the spiritual communication which they
+had with each other, under the form of rays passing to and fro between
+them. Our Divine Lord thought also of Magdalen, was touched by her
+distress, and therefore recommended his Apostles to console her; for he
+knew that her love for his adorable Person was greater than that felt
+for him by any one save his Blessed Mother, and he foresaw that she
+would suffer much for his sake, and never offend him more.
+
+About this time, the eight Apostles returned to the arbour of
+Gethsemani, and after talking together for some time, ended by going to
+sleep. They were wavering, discouraged, and sorely tempted. They had
+each been seeking for a place of refuge in case of danger, and they
+anxiously asked one another, 'What shall we do when they have put him to
+death? We have left all to follow him; we are poor and the offscouring
+of the world, we gave ourselves up entirely to his service, and now he
+is so sorrowful and so defected himself, that he can afford us no
+consolation.' The other disciples had at first wandered about in various
+directions, but then, having heard something concerning the awful
+prophecies which Jesus had made, they had nearly all retired to
+Bethphage.
+
+I saw Jesus still praying in the grotto, struggling against the
+repugnance to suffering which belonged to human nature, and abandoning
+himself wholly to the will of this Eternal Father. Here the abyss
+opened before him, and he had a vision of the first part of Limbo. He
+saw Adam and Eve, the patriarchs, prophets, and just men, the parents
+of his Mother, and John the Baptist, awaiting his arrival in the lower
+world with such intense longing, that the sight strengthened and gave
+fresh courage to his loving heart. His death was to open Heaven to
+these captives,--his death was to deliver them out of that prison in which
+they were languishing in eager hope! When Jesus had, with deep emotion,
+looked upon these saints of antiquity, angels presented to him all the
+bands of saints of future ages, who, joining their labours to the
+merits of his Passion, were, through him, to be united to his Heavenly
+Father. Most beautiful and consoling was this vision, in which he
+beheld the salvation and sanctification flowing forth in ceaseless
+streams from the fountain of redemption opened by his death.
+
+The Apostles, disciples, virgins, and holy women, the martyrs,
+confessors, hermits, popes, and bishops, and large bands of religious
+of both sexes--in one word, the entire army of the blessed--appeared before
+him. All bore on their heads triumphal crowns, and the flowers of their
+crowns differed in form, in colour, in odour, and in perfection,
+according to the difference of the sufferings, labours and victories
+which had procured them eternal glory. Their whole life, and all their
+actions, merits, and power, as well as all the glory of their triumph,
+came solely from their union with the merits of Jesus Christ.
+
+The reciprocal influence exercised by these saints upon each other,
+and the manner in which they all drank from one sole Fountain--the
+Adorable Sacrament and the Passion of our Lord--formed a most touching and
+wonderful spectacle. Nothing about them was devoid of deep meaning,--their
+works, martyrdom, victories, appearance, and dress,--all, though
+indescribably varied, was confused together in infinite harmony and
+unity; and this unity in diversity was produced by the rays of one
+single Sun, by the Passion of the Lord, of the Word made flesh, in whom
+was life, the light of men, which shined in darkness, and the darkness
+did not comprehend it.
+
+The army of the future saints passed before the soul of our Lord,
+which was thus placed between the desiring patriarchs, and the
+triumphant band of the future blessed, and these two armies joining
+together, and completing one another, so to speak, surrounded the
+loving Heart of our Saviour as with a crown of victory. This most
+affecting and consoling spectacle bestowed a degree of strength and
+comfort upon the soul of Jesus. Ah! He so loved his brethren and
+creatures that, to accomplish the redemption of one single soul, he
+would have accepted with joy all the sufferings to which he was now
+devoting himself. As these visions referred to the future, they were
+diffused to a certain height in the air.
+
+But these consoling visions faded away, and the angels displayed
+before him the scenes of his Passion quite close to the earth, because
+it was near at hand. I beheld every scene distinctly portrayed, from
+the kiss of Judas to the last words of Jesus on the cross, and I saw in
+this single vision all that I see in my meditations on the Passion. The
+treason of Judas, the flight of the disciples, the insults which were
+offered our Lord before Annas and Caiphas, Peter's denial, the tribunal
+of Pilate, Herod's mockery, the scourging and crowning with thorns, the
+condemnation to death, the carrying of the cross, the linen cloth
+presented by Veronica, the crucifixion, the insults of the Pharisees,
+the sorrows of Mary, of Magdalen, and of John, the wound of the lance
+in his side, after death;--in one word, every part of the Passion was
+shown to him in the minutest detail. He accepted all voluntarily,
+submitting to everything for the love of man. He saw also and felt the
+sufferings endured at that moment by his Mother, whose interior union
+with his agony was so entire that she had fainted in the arms of her
+two friends.
+
+When the visions of the Passion were concluded, Jesus fell on his
+face like one at the point of death; the angels disappeared, and the
+bloody sweat became more copious, so that I saw it had soaked his
+garment. Entire darkness reigned in the cavern, when I beheld an angel
+descent to Jesus. This angel was of higher stature than any whom I had
+before beheld, and his form was also more distinct and more resembling
+that of a man. He was clothed like a priest in a long floating garment,
+and bore before him, in his hands, a small vase, in shape resembling
+the chalice used at the Last Supper. At the top of this chalice, there
+was a small oval body, about the size of a bean, and which diffused a
+reddish light. The angel, without touching the earth with his feet,
+stretched forth his right hand to Jesus, who arose, when he placed the
+mysterious food in his mouth, and gave him to drink from the luminous
+chalice. Then he disappeared.
+
+Jesus having freely accepted the chalice of his sufferings, and
+received new strength, remained some minutes longer in the grotto,
+absorbed in calm meditation, and returning thanks to his Heavenly
+Father. He was still in deep affliction of spirit, but supernaturally
+comforted to such a degree as to be able to go to his disciples without
+tottering as he walked, or bending beneath the weight of his
+sufferings. His countenance was still pale and altered, but his step
+was firm and determined. He had wiped his face with a linen cloth, and
+rearranged his hair, which hung about his shoulders, matted together
+and damp with blood.
+
+When Jesus came to his disciples, they were lying, as before,
+against the wall of the terrace, asleep, and with their heads covered.
+Our Lord told them that then was not the time for sleep, but that they
+should arise and pray: 'Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man
+shall be betrayed into the hand of sinners,' he said: 'Arise, let us go,
+behold he is at hand that will betray me. It were better for him, if
+that man had not been born.' The Apostles arose in much alarm, and looked
+round with anxiety. When they had somewhat recovered themselves, Peter
+said warmly: 'Lord, I will call the others, that so we may defend thee.'
+But Jesus pointed out to them at some distance in the valley, on the
+other side of the Brook of Cedron, a band of armed men, who were
+advancing with torches, and he said that one of their number had
+betrayed him. He spoke calmly, exhorted them to console his Mother, and
+said: 'Let us go to meet them--I shall deliver myself up without resistance
+into the hands of my enemies.' He then left the Garden of Olives with the
+three Apostles, and went to meet the archers on the road which led from
+that garden to Gethsemani.
+
+When the Blessed Virgin, under the care of Magdalen and Salome,
+recovered her senses, some disciples, who had seen the soldiers
+approaching, conducted her back to the house of Mary, the mother of
+Mark. The archers took a shorter road than that which Jesus followed
+when he left the supper-room.
+
+The grotto in which Jesus had this day prayed was not the one where
+he usually prayed on Mount Olivet. He commonly went to a cabin at a
+greater distance off, where, one day, after having cursed the barren
+fig-tree, he had prayed in great affliction of spirit, with his arms
+stretched out, and leaning against a rock.
+
+The traces of his body and hands remained impressed on the stone,
+and were honoured later. But it was not known on what occasion the
+miracle had taken place. I have several times seen similar impressions
+left upon the stone, either by the Prophets of the Old Testament, or by
+Jesus, Mary, or some of the Apostles, and I have also seen those made
+by the body of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. These impressions do not
+seem deep, but resemble what would be made upon a thick piece of dough,
+if a person leaned his hand upon it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Judas and his band.
+
+
+
+Judas had not expected that his treason would have produced such
+fatal results. He had been anxious to obtain the promised reward, and
+to please the Pharisees by delivering up Jesus into their hands, but he
+had never calculated on things going so far, or thought that the
+enemies of his Master would actually bring him to judgment and crucify
+him; his mind was engrossed with the love of gain alone, and some
+astute Pharisees and Sadducees, with whom he had established an
+intercourse, had constantly urged him on to treason by flattering him.
+He was sick of the fatiguing, wandering, and persecuted life which the
+Apostles led. For several months past he had continually stolen from
+the alms which were consigned to his care, and his avarice, grudging
+the expenses incurred by Magdalen when she poured the precious ointment
+on the feet of our Lord, incited him to the commission of the greatest
+of crimes. He had always hoped that Jesus would establish a temporal
+kingdom, and bestow upon him some brilliant and lucrative post in it,
+but finding himself disappointed, he turned his thoughts to amassing a
+fortune. He saw that sufferings and persecutions were on the increase
+for our Lord and his followers, and he sought to make friends with the
+powerful enemies of our Saviour before the time of danger, for the saw
+that Jesus did not become a king, whereas the actual dignity and power
+of the High Priest, and of all who were attached to his service, made a
+very strong impression upon his mind.
+
+He began to enter by degrees into a close connection with their
+agents, who were constantly flattering him, and assuring him in strong
+terms that, in any case, an end would speedily be put to the career of
+our Divine Lord. He listened more and more eagerly to the criminal
+suggestions of his corrupt heart, and he had done nothing during the
+last few days but go backwards and forwards in order to induce the
+chief priests to come to some agreement. But they were unwilling to act
+at once, and treated him with contempt. They said that sufficient time
+would not intervene before the festival day, and that there would be a
+tumult among the people. The Sanhedrin alone listened to his proposals
+with some degree of attention. After Judas had sacrilegiously received
+the Blessed Sacrament, Satan took entire possession of him, and he went
+off at once to complete his crime. He in the first place sought those
+persons who had hitherto flattered and entered into agreements with
+him, and who still received him with pretended friendship. Some others
+joined the party, and among the number Annas and Caiphas, but the
+latter treated him with considerable pride and scorn. All these enemies
+of Christ were extremely undecided and far from feeling any confidence
+of success, because they mistrusted Judas.
+
+I saw the empire of Hell divided against itself; Satan desired the
+crime of the Jews, and earnestly longed for the death of Jesus, the
+Converter of souls, the holy Teacher, the Just Man, who was so
+abhorrent to him; but at the same time he felt an extraordinary
+interior fear of the death of the innocent Victim, who would not
+conceal himself from his persecutors. I saw him then, on the one hand,
+stimulate the hatred and fury of the enemies of Jesus, and on the
+other, insinuate to some of their number that Judas was a wicked;
+despicable character, and that the sentence could not be pronounced
+before the festival, or a sufficient number of witnesses against Jesus
+be gathered together.
+
+Everyone proposed something different, and some questioned Judas,
+saying: 'Shall we be able to take him? Has he not armed men with him?' And
+the traitor replied: 'No, he is alone with eleven disciples; he is
+greatly depressed, and the eleven are timid men.' He told them that now
+or never was the time to get possession of the person of Jesus, that
+later he might no longer have it in his power to give our Lord up into
+their hands, and that perhaps he should never return to him again,
+because for several days past it had been very clear that the other
+disciples and Jesus himself suspected and would certainly kill him if
+he returned to them. He told them likewise that if they did not at once
+seize the person of Jesus, he would make his escape, and return with an
+army of his partisans, to have himself proclaimed King. These threats
+of Judas produced some effect, his proposals were acceded to, and he
+received the price of this treason--thirty pieces of silver. These pieces
+were oblong, with holes in their sides, strung together by means of
+rings in a kind of chain, and bearing certain impressions.
+
+Judas could not help being conscious that they regarded him with
+contempt and distrust, for their language and gestures betrayed their
+feelings, and pride suggested to him to give back the money as an
+offering for the Temple, in order to make them suppose his intentions
+to have been just and disinterested. But they rejected his proposal,
+because the price of blood could not be offered in the Temple. Judas
+saw how much they despised him, and his rage was excessive. He had not
+expected to reap the bitter fruits of his treason even before it was
+accomplished, but he had gone so far with these men that he was in
+their power, and escape was no longer possible. They watched him
+carefully, and would not let him leave their presence, until he had
+shown them exactly what steps were to be taken in order to secure the
+person of Jesus. Three Pharisees accompanied him when he went down into
+a room where the soldiers of the Temple (some only of whom were Jews,
+and the rest of various nations) were assembled. When everything was
+settled, and the necessary number of soldiers gathered together, Judas
+hastened first to the supper-room, accompanied by a servant of the
+Pharisees, for the purpose of ascertaining whether Jesus had left, as
+they would have seized his person there without difficulty, if once
+they had secured the doors. He agreed to send them a messenger with the
+required information.
+
+A short time before when Judas had received the price of this
+treason, a Pharisee had gone out, and sent seven slaves to fetch wood
+with which to prepare the Cross for our Saviour, in case he should be
+judged, because the next day there would not be sufficient time on
+account of the commencement of the Paschal festivity. They procured
+this wood from a spot about three-quarters of a mile distant, near a
+high wall, where there was a great quantity of other wood belonging to
+the Temple, and dragged it to a square situated behind the tribunal of
+Caiphas. The principal piece of the Cross came from a tree formerly
+growing in the Valley of Josaphat, near the torrent of Cedron, and
+which, having fallen across the stream, had been used as a sort of
+bridge. When Nehemias hid the sacred fire and the holy vessels in the
+pool of Bethsaida, it had been thrown over the spot, together with
+other pieces of wood,--then later taken away, and left on one side. The
+Cross was prepared in a very peculiar manner, either with the object of
+deriding the royalty of Jesus, or from what men might term chance. It
+was composed of five pieces of wood, exclusive of the inscription. I
+saw many other things concerning the Cross, and the meaning of
+different circumstances was also made known to me, but I have forgotten
+all that. Judas returned, and said that Jesus was no longer in the
+supper-room, but that he must certainly be on Mount Olivet, in the spot
+where he was accustomed to pray. He requested that only a small number
+of men might be sent with him, lest the disciples who were on the watch
+should perceive anything and raise a sedition. Three hundred men were
+to be stationed at the gates and in the streets of Ophel, a part of the
+town situated to the south of the Temple, and along the valley of Millo
+as far as the house of Annas, on the top of Mount Sion, in order to be
+ready to send reinforcements if necessary, for, he said, all the people
+of the lower class of Ophel were partisans of Jesus. The traitor
+likewise bade them be careful, lest he should escape them--since he, by
+mysterious means, had so often hidden himself in the mountain, and made
+himself suddenly invisible to those around. He recommended them,
+besides, to fasten him with a chain, and make use of certain magical
+forms to prevent his breaking it. The Jews listened to all these pieces
+of advice with scornful indifference, and replied, 'If we once have him
+in our hands, we will take care not to let him go.'
+
+Judas next began to make his arrangements with those who were to
+accompany him. He wished to enter the garden before them, and embrace
+and salute Jesus as if he were returning to him as his friend and
+disciple, and then for the soldiers to run forward and seize the person
+of Jesus. He was anxious that it should be thought they had come there
+by chance, that so, when they had made their appearance, he might run
+away like the other disciples and be no more heard of. He likewise
+thought that, perhaps, a tumult would ensue, that the Apostles might
+defend themselves, and Jesus pass through the midst of his enemies, as
+he had so often done before. He dwelt upon these thoughts especially,
+when his pride was hurt by the disdainful manner of the Jews in his
+regard; but he did not repent, for he had wholly given himself up to
+Satan. It was his desire also that the soldiers following him should
+not carry chains and cords, and his accomplices pretended to accede to
+all his wishes, although in reality they acted with him as with a
+traitor who was not to be trusted, but to be cast off as soon as he had
+done what was wanted. The soldiers received orders to keep close to
+Judas, watch him carefully, and not let him escape until Jesus was
+seized, for he had received his reward, and it was feared that he might
+run off with the money, and Jesus not be taken after all, or another be
+taken in his place. The band of men chosen to accompany Judas was
+composed of twenty soldiers, selected from the Temple guard and from
+others of the military who were under the orders of Annas and Caiphas.
+They were dressed very much like the Roman soldiers, had morions
+(crested metal helmets) like them, and wore hanging straps round their
+thighs, but their beards were long, whereas the Roman soldiers at
+Jerusalem had whiskers only, and shaved their chins and upper lips.
+They all had swords, some of them being also armed with spears, and
+they carried sticks with lanterns and torches; but when they set off
+they only lighted one. It had at first been intended that Judas should
+be accompanied by a more numerous escort, but he drew their attention
+to the fact that so large a number of men would be too easily seen,
+because Mount Olivet commanded a view of the whole valley. Most of the
+soldiers remained, therefore, at Ophel, and sentinels were stationed on
+all sides to put down any attempt which might be made to release Jesus.
+Judas set off with the twenty soldiers, but he was followed at some
+distance by four archers, who were only common bailiffs, carrying cords
+and chains, and after them came the six agents with whom Judas had been
+in communication for some time. One of these was a priest and a
+confidant of Annas, a second was devoted to Caiphas, the third and
+fourth were Pharisees, and the other two Sadducees and Herodians. These
+six men were courtiers of Annas and Caiphas, acting in the capacity of
+spies, and most bitter enemies of Jesus.
+
+The soldiers remained on friendly terms with Judas until they
+reached the spot where the road divides the Garden of Olives from the
+Garden of Gethsemani, but there they refused to allow him to advance
+alone, and entirely changed their manner, treating him with much
+insolence and harshness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Jesus is arrested.
+
+
+
+Jesus was standing with his three Apostles on the road between
+Gethsemani, and the Garden of Olives, when Judas and the band who
+accompanied him made their appearance. A warm dispute arose between
+Judas and the soldiers, because he wished to approach first and speak
+to Jesus quietly as if nothing was the matter, and then for them to
+come up and seize our Saviour, thus letting him suppose that he had no
+connection with the affair. But the men answered rudely, 'Not so, friend,
+thou shalt not escape from our hands until we have the Galilean safely
+bound,' and seeing the eight Apostles who hastened to rejoin Jesus when
+they heard the dispute which was going on, they (notwithstanding the
+opposition of Judas) called up four archers, whom they had left at a
+little distance, to assist. When by the light of the moon Jesus and the
+three Apostles first saw the band of armed men, Peter wished to repel
+them by force of arms, and said: 'Lord, the other eight are close at
+hand, let us attack the archers,' but Jesus bade him hold his peace, and
+then turned and walked back a few steps. At this moment four disciples
+came out of the garden, and asked what was taking place. Judas was
+about to reply, but the soldiers interrupted, and would not let him
+speak. These four disciples were James the Less, Philip, Thomas, and
+Nathaniel; the last named, who was a son of the aged Simeon, had with a
+few others joined the eight Apostles at Gethsemani, being perhaps sent
+by the friends of Jesus to know what was going on, or possibly simply
+incited by curiosity and anxiety. The other disciples were wandering to
+and fro, on the look out, and ready to fly at a moment's notice.
+
+Jesus walked up to the soldiers and said in a firm and clear voice,
+'Whom seek ye?' The soldiers answered, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus said to them,
+'I am he.' Scarcely had he pronounced these words than they all fell to the
+ground, as if struck with apoplexy. Judas, who stood by them, was much
+alarmed, and as he appeared desirous of approaching, Jesus held out his
+hand and said: 'Friend, whereto art thou come?' Judas stammered forth
+something about business which had brought him. Jesus answered in few
+words, the sense of which was: 'It were better for thee that thou hadst
+never been born;' however, I cannot remember the words exactly. In the
+mean time, the soldiers had risen, and again approached Jesus, but they
+waited for the sign of the kiss, with which Judas had promised to
+salute his Master that they might recognise him. Peter and the other
+disciples surrounded Judas, and reviled him in unmeasured terms,
+calling him thief and traitor; he tried to mollify their wrath by all
+kinds of lies, but his efforts were vain, for the soldiers came up and
+offered to defend him, which proceeding manifested the truth at once.
+
+Jesus again asked, 'Whom seek ye?' They replied: 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus
+made answer, 'I have told you that I am he,' 'if therefore you seek me, let
+these go their way.' At these words the soldiers fell for the second time
+to the ground, in convulsions similar to those of epilepsy, and the
+Apostles again surrounded Judas and expressed their indignation at his
+shameful treachery. Jesus said to the soldiers, 'Arise,' and they arose,
+but at first quite speechless from terror. They then told Judas to give
+them the signal agreed upon instantly, as their orders were to seize
+upon no one but him whom Judas kissed. Judas therefore approached
+Jesus, and gave him a kiss, saying, 'Hail Rabbi.' Jesus replied, 'What,
+Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?' The soldiers
+immediately surrounded Jesus, and the archers laid hands upon him.
+Judas wished to fly, but the Apostles would not allow it, they rushed
+at the soldiers and cried out, 'Master, shall we strike with the sword?'
+Peter, who was more impetuous than the rest, seized the sword, and
+struck Malchus, the servant of the high priest, who wished to drive
+away the Apostles, and cut off his right ear; Malchus fell to the
+ground, and a great tumult ensued.
+
+The archers had seized upon Jesus, and wished to bind him; while
+Malchus and the rest of the soldiers stood around. When Peter struck
+the former, the rest were occupied in repulsing those among the
+disciples who approached too near, and in pursuing those who ran away.
+Four disciples made their appearance in the distance, and looked
+fearfully at the scene before them; but the soldiers were still too
+much alarmed at their late fall to trouble themselves much about them,
+and besides they did not wish to leave our Saviour without a certain
+number of men to guard him. Judas fled as soon as he had given the
+traitorous kiss, but was met by some of the disciples, who overwhelmed
+him with reproaches. Six Pharisees, however, came to his rescue, and he
+escaped whilst the archers were busily occupied in pinioning Jesus.
+
+When Peter struck Malchus, Jesus said to him, 'Put up again thy sword
+into its place; for all that take the sword shall perish with the
+sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot ask my Father, and he will give me
+presently more than twelve legions of angels? How then shall the
+Scriptures be fulfilled, that so it must be done?' Then he said, 'Let me
+cure this man;' and approaching Malchus, he touched his ear, prayed, and
+it wad healed. The soldiers who were standing near, as well as the
+archers and the six Pharisees, far from being moved by this miracle,
+continued to insult our Lord, and said to the bystanders, 'It is a trick
+of the devil, the powers of witchcraft made the ear appear to be cut
+off, and now the same power gives it the appearance of being healed.'
+
+Then Jesus again addressed them, 'You are come out as it were to a
+robber, with swords and clubs, to apprehend me. I sat daily with you
+teaching in the Temple, and you laid not hands upon me, but this is
+your hour and the power of darkness.' The Pharisees ordered him to be
+bound still more strongly, and made answer in a contemptuous tone, 'Ah!
+Thou couldst not overthrow us by thy witchcraft.' Jesus replied, but I do
+not remember his words, and all the disciples fled. The four archers
+and the six Pharisees did not fall to the ground at the words of Jesus,
+because, as was afterwards revealed to me, they as well as Judas, who
+likewise did not fall, were entirely in the power of Satan, whereas all
+those who fell and rose again were afterwards converted, and became
+Christians; they had only surrounded Jesus, and not laid hands upon
+him. Malchus was instantly converted by the cure wrought upon him, and
+during the time of the Passion his employment was to carry messages
+backwards and forwards to Mary and the other friends of our Lord.
+
+The archers, who now proceeded to pinion Jesus with the greatest
+brutality, were pagans of the lowest extraction, short, stout, and
+active, with sandy complexions, resembling those of Egyptian slaves,
+and bare legs, arms, and neck.
+
+They tied his hands as tightly as possible with hard new cords,
+fastening the right-hand wrist under the left elbow, and the left-hand
+wrist under the right elbow. They encircled his waist with a species of
+belt studded with iron points, and to this collar were appended two
+leathern straps, which were crossed over his chest like a stole and
+fastened to the belt. They then fastened four ropes to different parts
+of the belt, and by means of these ropes dragged our Blessed Lord from
+side to side in the most cruel manner. The ropes were new; I think they
+were purchased when the Pharisees first determined to arrest Jesus. The
+Pharisees lighted fresh torches, and the procession started. Ten
+soldiers walked in front, the archers who held the ropes and dragged
+Jesus along, followed, and the Pharisees and ten other soldiers brought
+up the rear. The disciples wandered about at a distance, and wept and
+moaned as if beside themselves from grief. John alone followed, and
+walked at no great distance from the soldiers, until the Pharisees,
+seeing him, ordered the guards to arrest him. They endeavoured to obey,
+but he ran away, leaving in their hands a cloth with which he was
+covered, and of which they had taken hold when they endeavoured to
+seize him. He had slipped off his coat, that he might escape more
+easily from the hands of his enemies, and kept nothing on but a short
+under garment without sleeves, and the long band which the Jews usually
+wore, and which was wrapped round his neck, head, and arms. The archers
+behaved in the most cruel manner to Jesus as they led him along; this
+they did to curry favour with the six Pharisees, who they well knew
+perfectly hated and detested our Lord. They led him along the roughest
+road they could select, over the sharpest stones, and through the
+thickest mire; they pulled the cords as tightly as possible; they
+struck him with knotted cords, as a butcher would strike the beast he
+is about to slaughter; and they accompanied this cruel treatment with
+such ignoble and indecent insults that I cannot recount them. The feet
+of Jesus were bare; he wore, besides the ordinary dress, a seamless
+woollen garment, and a cloak which was thrown over all. I have
+forgotten to state that when Jesus was arrested, it was done without
+any order being presented or legal ceremony taking place; he was
+treated as a person without the pale of the law.
+
+The procession proceeded at a good pace; when they left the road
+which runs between the Garden of Olives and that of Gethsemani, they
+turned to the right, and soon reached a bridge which was thrown over
+the Torrent of Cedron. When Jesus went to the Garden of Olives with the
+Apostles, he did not cross this bridge, but went by a private path
+which ran through the Valley of Josaphat, and led to another bridge
+more to the south. The bridge over which the soldiers led Jesus was
+long, being thrown over not only the torrent, which was very large in
+this part, but likewise over the valley, which extends a considerable
+distance to the right and to the left, and is much lower than the bed
+of the river. I saw our Lord fall twice before he reached the bridge,
+and these falls were caused entirely by the barbarous manner in which
+the soldiers dragged him; but when they were half over the bridge they
+gave full vent to their brutal inclination, and struck Jesus with such
+violence that they threw him off the bridge into the water, and
+scornfully recommended him to quench his thirst there. If God had not
+preserved him, he must have been killed by this fall; he fell first on
+his knee, and then on his face, but saved himself a little by
+stretching out his hands, which, although so tightly bound before, were
+loosened, I know not whether by miracle, or whether the soldiers had
+cut the cords before they threw him into the water. The marks of his
+feet, his elbows, and his fingers were miraculously impressed on the
+rock on which he fell, and these impressions were afterwards shown for
+the veneration of Christians. These stones were less hard than the
+unbelieving hearts of the wicked men who surrounded Jesus, and bore
+witness at this terrible moment to the Divine Power which had touched
+them.
+
+I had not seen Jesus take anything to quench the thirst which had
+consumed him ever since his agony in the garden, but he drank when he
+fell into the Cedron, and I heard him repeat these words from the
+prophetic Psalm, 'In his thirst he will drink water from the torrent'
+(Psalm 108).
+
+The archers still held the ends of the ropes with which Jesus was
+bound, but it would have been difficult to drag him out of the water on
+that side, on account of a wall which was built on the shore; they
+turned back and dragged him quite through the Cedron to the shore, and
+then made him cross the bridge a second time, accompanying their every
+action with insults, blasphemies, and blows. His long woollen garment,
+which was quite soaked through, adhered to his legs, impeded every
+movement, and rendered it almost impossible for him to walk, and when
+he reached the end of the bridge he fell quite down. They pulled him up
+again in the most cruel manner, struck him with cords, and fastened the
+ends of his wet garment to the belt, abusing him at the same time in
+the most cowardly manner. It was not quite midnight when I saw the four
+archers inhumanly dragging Jesus over a narrow path, which was choked
+up with stones, garments of rock, thistles, and thorns, on the opposite
+shore of the Cedron. The six brutal Pharisees walked as close to our
+Lord as they could, struck him constantly with thick pointed sticks,
+and seeing that his bare and bleeding feet were torn by the stones and
+briars, exclaimed scornfully: 'His precursor, John the Baptist, has
+certainly not prepared a good path for him here;' or, 'The words of
+Malachy, "Behold, I send my angel before thy face, to prepare the way
+before thee," do not exactly apply now.' Every jest uttered by these men
+incited the archers to greater cruelty.
+
+The enemies of Jesus remarked that several persons made their
+appearance in the distance; they were only disciples who had assembled
+when they heard that their Master was arrested, and who were anxious to
+discover what the end would be; but the sight of them rendered the
+Pharisees uneasy, lest any attempt should be made to rescue Jesus, and
+they therefore sent for a reinforcement of soldiers. At a very short
+distance from an entrance opposite to the south side of the Temple,
+which leads through a little village called Ophel to Mount Sion, where
+the residences of Annas and Caiphas were situated, I saw a band of
+about fifty soldiers, who carried torches, and appeared ready for
+anything; the demeanour of these men was outrageous, and they gave loud
+shouts, both to announce their arrival, and to congratulate their
+comrades upon the success of the expedition. This caused a slight
+confusion among the soldiers who were leading Jesus, and Malchus and a
+few others took advantage of it to depart, and fly towards Mount Olivet.
+
+When the fresh band of soldiers left Ophel, I saw those disciples
+who had gathered together disperse; some went one way, and some
+another. The Blessed Virgin and about nine of the holy women, being
+filled with anxiety, directed their steps towards the Valley of
+Josaphat, accompanied by Lazarus, John the son of Mark, the son of
+Veronica, and the son of Simon. The last-named was at Gethsemani with
+Nathaniel and the eight Apostles, and had fled when the soldiers
+appeared. He was giving the Blessed Virgin the account of all that had
+been done, when the fresh band of soldiers joined those who were
+leading Jesus, and she then heard their tumultuous vociferations, and
+saw the light of the torches they carried. This sight quite overcame
+her; she became insensible, and John took her into the house of Mary,
+the mother of Mark.
+
+The fifty soldiers who were sent to join those who had taken Jesus,
+were a detachment from a company of three hundred men posted to guard
+the gates and environs of Ophel; for the traitor Judas had reminded the
+High Priests that the inhabitants of Ophel (who were principally of the
+labouring class, and whose chief employment was to bring water and wood
+to the Temple) were the most attached partisans of Jesus, and might
+perhaps make some attempts to rescue him. The traitor was aware that
+Jesus had both consoled, instructed, assisted, and cured the diseases
+of many of these poor workmen, and that Ophel was the place where he
+halted during his journey from Bethania to Hebron, when John the
+Baptist had just been executed. Judas also knew that Jesus had cured
+many of the masons who were injured by the fall of the Tower of Siloe.
+The greatest part of the inhabitants of Ophel were converted after the
+death of our Lord, and joined the first Christian community that was
+formed after Pentecost, and when the Christians separated from the Jews
+and erected new dwellings, they placed their huts and tents in the
+valley which is situated between Mount Olivet and Ophel, and there St.
+Stephen lived. Ophel was on a hill to the south of the Temple,
+surrounded by walls, and its inhabitants were very poor. I think it was
+smaller than Dulmen.9
+
+The slumbers of the good inhabitants of Ophel were disturbed by the
+noise of the soldiers; they came out of their houses and ran to the
+entrance of the village to ask the cause of the uproar; but the
+soldiers received them roughly, ordered them to return home, and in
+reply to their numerous questions, said, 'We have just arrested Jesus,
+your false prophet--he who has deceived you so grossly; the High Priests
+are about to judge him, and he will be crucified.' Cries and lamentations
+arose on all sides; the poor women and children ran backwards and
+forwards, weeping and wringing their hands; and calling to mind all the
+benefits they had received from our Lord, they cast themselves on their
+knees to implore the protection of Heaven. But the soldiers pushed them
+on one side, struck them, obliged them to return to their houses, and
+exclaimed, 'What farther proof is required? Does not the conduct of these
+persons show plainly that the Galilean incites rebellion?'
+
+They were, however, a little cautious in their expressions and
+demeanour for fear of causing an insurrection in Ophel, and therefore
+only endeavoured to drive the inhabitants away from those parts of the
+village which Jesus was obliged to cross.
+
+When the cruel soldiers who led our Lord were near the gates of
+Ophel he again fell, and appeared unable to proceed a step farther,
+upon which one among them, being moved to compassion, said to another,
+'You see the poor man is perfectly exhausted, he cannot support himself
+with the weight of his chains; if we wish to get him to the High Priest
+alive we must loosen the cords with which his hands are bound, that he
+may be able to save himself a little when he falls.' The band stopped for
+a moment, the fetters were loosened, and another kind-hearted soldier
+brought some water to Jesus from a neighbouring fountain. Jesus thanked
+him, and spoke of the 'fountains of living water,' of which those who
+believed in him should drink; but his words enraged the Pharisees still
+more, and they overwhelmed him with insults and contumelious language.
+I saw the heart of the soldier who had caused Jesus to be unbound, as
+also that of the one who brought him water, suddenly illuminated by
+grace; they were both converted before the death of Jesus, and
+immediately joined his disciples.
+
+The procession started again, and reached the gate of Ophel. Here
+Jesus was again saluted by the cries of grief and sympathy of those who
+owed him so much gratitude, and the soldiers had considerable
+difficulty in keeping back the men and women who crowded round from all
+parts. They clasped their hands, fell on their knees, lamented, and
+exclaimed, 'Release this man unto us, release him! Who will assist, who
+will console us, who will cure our diseases? Release him unto us!' It was
+indeed heart-rending to look upon Jesus; his face was white,
+disfigured, and wounded, his hair dishevelled, his dress wet and
+soiled, and his savage and drunken guards were dragging him about and
+striking him with sticks like a poor dumb animal led to the slaughter.
+Thus was he conducted through the midst of the afflicted inhabitants of
+Ophel, and the paralytic whom he had cured, the dumb to whom he had
+restored speech, and the blind whose eyes he had opened, united, but in
+vain, in offering supplications for his release.
+
+Many persons from among the lowest and most degraded classes had
+been sent by Annas, Caiphas, and the other enemies of Jesus, to join
+the procession, and assist the soldiers both in ill-treating Jesus, and
+in driving away the inhabitants of Ophel. The village of Ophel was
+seated upon a hill, and I saw a great deal of timber placed there ready
+for building. The procession had to proceed down a hill, and then pass
+through a door made in the wall. On one side of this door stood a large
+building erected originally by Solomon, and on the other the pool of
+Bethsaida. After passing this, they followed a westerly direction down
+a steep street called Millo, at the end of which a turn to the south
+brought them to the house of Annas. The guards never ceased their cruel
+treatment of our Divine Saviour, and excused such conduct by saying
+that the crowds who gathered together in front of the procession
+compelled them to severity. Jesus fell seven times between Mount Olivet
+and the house of Annas.
+
+The inhabitants of Ophel were still in a state of consternation and
+grief, when the sight of the Blessed Virgin who passed through the
+village accompanied by the holy women and some other friends on her way
+from the Valley of Cedron to the house of Mary the mother of Mark,
+excited them still more, and they made the place re-echo with sobs and
+lamentations, while they surrounded and almost carried her in their
+arms. Mary was speechless from grief, and did not open her lips after
+she reached the house of Mary the mother of Mark, until the arrival of
+John, who related all he had seen since Jesus left the supper-room; and
+a little later she was taken to the house of Martha, which was near
+that of Lazarus. Peter and John, who had followed Jesus at a distance,
+went in haste to some servants of the High Priest with whom the latter
+was acquainted, in order to endeavour by their means to obtain
+admittance into the tribunal where their Master was to be tried. These
+servants acted as messengers, and had just been ordered to go to the
+houses of the ancients, and other members of the Council, to summon
+them to attend the meeting which was convoked. As they were anxious to
+oblige the Apostles, but foresaw much difficulty in obtaining their
+admittance into the tribunal, they gave them cloaks similar to those
+they themselves wore, and made them assist in carrying messages to the
+members in order that afterwards they might enter the tribunal of
+Caiphas, and mingle, without being recognised, among the soldiers and
+false witnesses, as all other persons were to be expelled. As
+Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and other well-intentioned persons were
+members of this Council, the Apostles undertook to let them know what
+was going to be done in the Council, thus securing the presence of
+those friends of Jesus whom the Pharisees had purposely omitted to
+invite. In the mean time Judas wandered up and down the steep and wild
+precipices at the south of Jerusalem, despair marked on his every
+feature, and the devil pursuing him to and fro, filling his imagination
+with still darker visions, and not allowing him a moment's respite.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+Means employed by the enemies of Jesus for carrying out their
+designs against him.
+
+
+
+No sooner was Jesus arrested than Annas and Caiphas were informed,
+and instantly began to arrange their plans with regard to the course to
+be pursued. Confusion speedily reigned everywhere--the rooms were lighted
+up in haste, guards placed at the entrances, and messengers dispatched
+to different parts of the town to convoke the members of the Council,
+the scribes, and all who were to take a part in the trial. Many among
+them had, however, assembled at the house of Caiphas as soon as the
+treacherous compact with Judas was completed, and had remained there to
+await the course of events. The different classes of ancients were
+likewise assembled, and as the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians were
+congregated in Jerusalem from all parts of the country for the
+celebration of the festival, and had long been concerting measures with
+the Council for the arrest of our Lord, the High Priests now sent for
+those whom they knew to be the most bitterly opposed to Jesus, and
+desired them to assemble the witnesses, gather together every possible
+proof, and bring all before the Council. The proud Sadducees of
+Nazareth, of Capharnaum, of Thirza, of Gabara, of Jotapata, and of
+Silo, whom Jesus had so often reproved before the people, were actually
+dying for revenge. They hastened to all the inns to seek out those
+persons whom they knew to be enemies of our Lord, and offered them
+bribes in order to secure their appearance. But, with the exception of
+a few ridiculous calumnies, which were certain to be disproved a soon
+as investigated, nothing tangible could be brought forward against
+Jesus, excepting, indeed, those foolish accusations which he had so
+often refuted in the synagogue.
+
+The enemies of Jesus hastened, however, to the tribunal of Caiphas,
+escorted by the scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem, and accompanied by
+many of those merchants whom our Lord drove out of the Temple when they
+were holding market there; as also by the proud doctors whom he had
+silenced before all the people, and even by some who could not forgive
+the humiliation of being convicted of error when he disputed with them
+in the Temple at the age of twelve. There was likewise a large body of
+impenitent sinners whom he had refused to cure, relapsed sinners whose
+diseases had returned, worldly young men whom he would not receive as
+disciples, avaricious persons whom he had enraged by causing the money
+which they had been in hopes of possessing to be distributed in alms.
+Others there were whose friends he had cured, and who had thus been
+disappointed in their expectations of inheriting property; debauchees
+whose victims he had converted; and many despicable characters who made
+their fortunes by flattering and fostering the vices of the great.
+
+All these emissaries of Satan were overflowing with rage against
+everything holy, and consequently with an indescribable hatred of the
+Holy of Holies. They were farther incited by the enemies of our Lord,
+and therefore assembled in crowds round the palace of Caiphas, to bring
+forward all their false accusations and to endeavour to cover with
+infamy that spotless Lamb, who took upon himself the sins of the world,
+and accepted the burden in order to reconcile man with God.
+
+Whilst all these wicked beings were busily consulting as to what was
+best to be done, anguish and anxiety filled the hearts of the friends
+of Jesus, for they were ignorant of the mystery which was about to be
+accomplished, and they wandered about, sighing, and listening to every
+different opinion. Each word they uttered gave raise to feelings of
+suspicion on the part of those who they addressed, and if they were
+silent, their silence was set down as wrong. Many well-meaning but weak
+and undecided characters yielded to temptation, were scandalised, and
+lost their fait; indeed, the number of those who persevered was very
+small indeed. Things were the same then as they oftentimes are now,
+persons were willing to serve God if they met with no opposition from
+their fellowcreatures, but were ashamed of the Cross if held in
+contempt by others. The hearts of some were, however, touched by the
+patience displayed by our Lord in the midst of his sufferings, and they
+walked away silent and sad.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A Glance at Jerusalem.
+
+
+
+The customary prayers and preparations for the celebration of the
+festival being completed, the greatest part of the inhabitants of the
+densely-populated city of Jerusalem, as also the strangers congregated
+there, were plunged in sleep after the fatigues of the day, when, all
+at once, the arrest of Jesus was announced, and everyone was aroused,
+both his friends and foes, and numbers immediately responded to the
+summons of the High Priest, and left their dwellings to assemble at his
+court. In some parts the light of the moon enabled them to grope their
+way in safety along the dark and gloomy streets, but in other parts
+they were obliged to make use of torches. Very few of the houses were
+built with their windows looking on the street, and, generally
+speaking, their doors were in inner courts, which gave the streets a
+still more gloomy appearance than is usual at this hour. The steps of
+all were directed towards Sion, and an attentive listener might have
+heard persons stop at the doors of their friends, and knock, in order
+to awaken them--then hurry on, then again stop to question others, and,
+finally, set off anew in haste towards Sion. Newsmongers and servants
+were hurrying forward to ascertain what was going on; in order that
+they might return and give the account to those who remained at home;
+and the bolting and barricading of doors might be plainly heard, as
+many persons were much alarmed and feared an insurrection, while a
+thousand different propositions were made and opinions given, such as
+the following:--'Lazarus and his sisters will soon know who is this man in
+whom they have placed such firm reliance. Johanna Chusa, Susannah, Mary
+the mother of Mark, and Salome will repent, but too late, the
+imprudence of their conduct; Seraphia, the wife of Sirach, will be
+compelled to make an apology to her husband now, for he has so often
+reproached her with her partiality for the Galilean. The partisans of
+this fanatical man, this inciter of rebellion, pretended to be filled
+with compassion for all who looked upon things in a different light
+from themselves, and now they will not know where to hide their heads.
+He will find no one now to cast garments and strew olive-branches at
+his feet. Those hypocrites who pretended to be so much better than
+other persons will receive their deserts, for they are all implicated
+with the Galilean. It is a much more serious business than was at first
+thought. I should like to know how Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea
+will get out of it; the High Priests have mistrusted them for some
+time; they made common cause with Lazarus: but they are extremely
+cunning. All will now, however, be brought to light.'
+
+Speeches such as these were uttered by persons who were exasperated,
+not only against the disciples of Jesus, but likewise with the holy
+women who had supplied his temporal wants, and had publicly and
+fearlessly expressed their veneration for his doctrines, and their
+belief in his Divine mission.
+
+But although many persons spoke of Jesus and his followers in this
+contemptuous manner, yet there were others who held very different
+opinions, and of these some were frightened, and others, being overcome
+with sorrow, sought friends to whom they might unburden their hearts,
+and before whom they could, without fear, give vent to their feelings;
+but the number of those sufficiently daring openly to avow their
+admiration for Jesus was but small.
+
+Nevertheless, it was in parts only of Jerusalem that these
+disturbances took place--in those parts where the messengers had been sent
+by the High Priests and the Pharisees, to convoke the members of the
+Council and to call together the witnesses. It appeared to me that I
+saw feelings of hatred and fury burst forth in different parts of the
+city, under the form of flames, which flames traversed the streets,
+united with others which they met, and proceeded in the direction of
+Sion, increasing every moment, and at last came to a stop beneath the
+tribunal of Caiphas, where they remained, forming together a perfect
+whirlwind of fire.
+
+The Roman soldiers took no part in what was going on; they did not
+understand the excited feelings of the people, but their sentinels were
+doubled, their cohorts drawn up, and they kept a strict look out; this,
+indeed, was customary at the time of the Paschal solemnity, on account
+of the vast number of strangers who were then assembled together. The
+Pharisees endeavoured to avoid the neighbourhood of the sentinels, for
+fear of being questioned by them, and of contracting defilement by
+answering their questions. The High Priests had sent a message to
+Pilate intimating their reasons for stationing soldiers round Ophel and
+Sion; but he mistrusted their intentions, as much ill-feeling existed
+between the Romans and the Jews. He could not sleep, but walked about
+during the greatest part of the night, hearkening to the different
+reports and issuing orders consequent on what he heard; his wife slept,
+but her sleep was disturbed by frightful dreams, and she groaned and
+wept alternately.
+
+In no part of Jerusalem did the arrest of Jesus produce more
+touching demonstrations of grief than among the poor inhabitants of
+Ophel, the greatest part of whom were daylabourers, and the rest
+principally employed in menial offices in the service of the Temple.
+The news came unexpectedly upon them; for some time they doubted the
+truth of the report, and wavered between hope and fear; but the sight
+of their Master, their Benefactor, their Consoler, dragged through the
+streets, torn, bruised, and ill-treated in every imaginable way, filled
+them with horror; and their grief was still farther increased by
+beholding his afflicted Mother wandering about from street to street,
+accompanied by the holy women, and endeavouring to obtain some
+intelligence concerning her Divine Son. These holy women were often
+obliged to hide in corners and under door-ways for fear of being seen
+by the enemies of Jesus; but even with these precautions they were
+oftentimes insulted, and taken for women of bad character--their feelings
+were frequently harrowed by hearing the malignant words and triumphant
+expressions of the cruel Jews, and seldom, very seldom, did a word of
+kindness or pity strike their ears. They were completely exhausted
+before reaching their place of refuge, but they endeavoured to console
+and support one another, and wrapped thick veils over their heads. When
+at last seated, they heard a sudden knock at the door, and listened
+breathlessly--the knock was repeated, but softly, therefore they made
+certain that it was no enemy, and yet they opened the door cautiously,
+fearing a stratagem. It was indeed a friend, and they issued forth and
+walked about for a time, and then again returned to their place of
+refuge--still more heartbroken than before.
+
+The majority of the Apostles, overcome with terror, were wandering
+about among the valleys which surround Jerusalem, and at times took
+refuge in the caverns beneath Mount Olivet. They started if they came
+in contact with one another, spoke in trembling tones, and separated on
+the least noise being heard. First they concealed themselves in one
+cave and then in another, next they endeavoured to return to the town,
+while some of their number climbed to the top of Mount Olivet and cast
+anxious glances at the torches, the light of which they could see
+glimmering at and about Sion; they listened to every distant sound,
+made a thousand different conjectures, and then returned to the valley,
+in hopes of getting some certain intelligence.
+
+The streets in the vicinity of Caiphas's tribunal were brightly
+illuminated with lamps and torches, but, as the crowds gathered around
+it, the noise and confusion continued to increase. Mingling with these
+discordant sounds might be heard the bellowing of the beasts which were
+tethered on the outside of the walls of Jerusalem, and the plaintive
+bleating of the lambs. There was something most touching in the
+bleating of these lambs, which were to be sacrificed on the following
+day in the Temple,--the one Lamb alone who was about to be offered a
+willing sacrifice opened not his mouth, like a sheep in the hands of
+the butcher, which resists not, or the lamb which is silent before the
+shearer; and that Lamb was the Lamb of God--the Lamb without spot--the true
+Paschal Lamb--Jesus Christ himself.
+
+The sky looked dark, gloomy, and threatening--the moon was red, and
+covered with livid spots; it appeared as if dreading to reach its full,
+because its Creator was then to die.
+
+Next I cast a glance outside the town, and, near the south gate, I
+beheld the traitor, Judas Iscariot, wandering about, alone, and a prey
+to the tortures of his guilty conscience; he feared even his own
+shadow, and was followed by many devils, who endeavoured to turn his
+feelings of remorse into black despair. Thousands of evil spirits were
+busying themselves in all parts, tempting men first to one sin and then
+to another. It appeared as if the gates of hell were flung open, and
+Satan madly striving and exerting his whole energies to increase the
+heavy load of iniquities which the Lamb without spot had taken upon
+himself. The angels wavered between joy and grief; they desired
+ardently to fall prostrate before the throne of God, and to obtain
+permission to assist Jesus; but at the same time they were filled with
+astonishment, and could only adore that miracle of Divine justice and
+mercy which had existed in Heaven for all eternity, and was now about
+to be accomplished; for the angels believe, like us, in God, the Father
+Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only
+Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin
+Mary, who began on this night to suffer under Pontius Pilate, and the
+next day was to be crucified; to die, and be buried; descend into hell,
+rise again on the third day, ascent into Heaven, be seated at the right
+hand of God the Father Almighty, and from thence come to judge the
+living and the dead; they likewise believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy
+Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
+resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Jesus before Annas.
+
+
+
+It was towards midnight when Jesus reached the palace of Annas, and
+his guards immediately conducted him into a very large hall, where
+Annas, surrounded by twentyeight councillors, was seated on a species
+of platform, raised a little above the level of the floor, and placed
+opposite to the entrance. The soldiers who first arrested Jesus now
+dragged him roughly to the foot of the tribunal. The room was quite
+full, between soldiers, the servants of Annas, a number of the mob who
+had been admitted, and the false witnesses who afterwards adjourned to
+Caiphas's hall.
+
+Annas was delighted at the thought of our Lord being brought before
+him, and was looking out for his arrival with the greatest impatience.
+The expression of his countenance was most repulsive, as it showed in
+every lineament not only the infernal joy with which he was filled, but
+likewise all the cunning and duplicity of this heart. He was the
+president of a species of tribunal instituted for the purpose of
+examining persons accused of teaching false doctrines; and if convicted
+there, they were then taken before the High Priest.
+
+Jesus stood before Annas. He looked exhausted and haggard; his
+garments were covered with mud, his hands manacled, his head bowed
+down, and he spoke not a word. Annas was a thin ill-humoured-looking
+old man, with a scraggy beard. His pride and arrogance were great; and
+as he seated himself he smiled ironically, pretending that he knew
+nothing at all, and that he was perfectly astonished at finding that
+the prisoner, whom he had just been informed was to be brought before
+him, was no other than Jesus of Nazareth. 'Is it possible,' said he, 'is it
+possible that thou art Jesus of Nazareth? Where are thy disciples, thy
+numerous followers? Where is thy kingdom? I fear affairs have not
+turned out as thou didst expect. The authorities, I presume, discovered
+that it was quite time to put a stop to thy conduct, disrespectful as
+it was towards God and his priests, and to such violations of the
+Sabbath. What disciples hast thou now? Where are they all gone? Thou
+are silent! Speak out, seducer! Speak out, thou inciter of rebellion!
+Didst thou not eat the Paschal lamb in an unlawful manner, at an
+improper time, and in an improper place? Dost thou not desire to
+introduce new doctrines? Who gave thee the right of preaching? Where
+didst thou study? Speak, what are the tenets of thy religion?'
+
+Jesus then raised his weary head, looked at Annas, and said, 'I have
+spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogue, and
+in the Temple, whither all the Jews resort; and in secret I have spoken
+nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them who have heard what I have spoken
+unto them; behold, they know what thing I have said.'
+
+At this answer of Jesus the countenance of Annas flushed with fury
+and indignation. A base menial who was standing near perceived this,
+and he immediately struck our Lord on the face with his iron gauntlet,
+exclaiming at the same moment, 'Answerest thou the High Priest so?' Jesus
+was so nearly prostrated by the violence of the blow, that when the
+guards likewise reviled and struck him, he fell quite down, and blood
+trickled from his face on to the floor. Laughter, insults, and bitter
+words resounded through the hall. The archers dragged him roughly up
+again, and he mildly answered, 'If I have spoken evil, give testimony of
+the evil; but if well, why strikest thou me?'
+
+Annas became still more enraged when he saw the calm demeanour of
+Jesus, and, turning to the witnesses, he desired them to bring forward
+their accusations. They all began to speak at once:--'He has called himself
+king; he says that God is his Father; that the Pharisees are an
+adulterous generation. He causes insurrection among the people; he
+cures the sick by the help of the devil on the Sabbath-day. The
+inhabitants of Ophel assembled round him a short time ago, and
+addressed him by the titles of Saviour and Prophet. He lets himself be
+called the Son of God; he says that he is sent by God; he predicts the
+destruction of Jerusalem. He does not fast; he eats with sinners, with
+pagans, and with publicans, and associates with women of evil repute. A
+short time ago he said to a man who gave him some water to drink at the
+gates of Ophel, "that he would give unto him the water of eternal life,
+after drinking which he would thirst no more." He seduces the people by
+words of double meaning,' etc., etc.
+
+These accusations were all vociferated at once; some of the
+witnesses stood before Jesus and insulted him while they spoke by
+derisive gestures, and the archers went so far as even to strike him,
+saying at the same time, 'Speak; why dost thou not answer?' Annas and his
+adherents added mockery to insult, exclaiming at every pause in the
+accusations, 'This is thy doctrine, then, is it? What canst thou answer
+to this? Issue thy orders, great King; man sent by God, give proofs of
+thy mission.' 'Who art thou?' continued Annas, in a tone of cutting contempt;
+'by whom art thou sent? Art thou the son of an obscure carpenter, or art
+thou Elias, who was carried up to heaven in a fiery chariot? He is said
+to be still living, and I have been told that thou canst make thyself
+invisible when thou pleasest. Perhaps thou art the prophet Malachy,
+whose words thou dost so frequently quote. Some say that an angel was
+his father, and that he likewise is still alive. An impostor as thou
+art could not have a finer opportunity of taking persons in than by
+passing thyself off as this prophet. Tell me, without farther preamble,
+to what order of kings thou dost belong? Thou art greater than
+Solomon,--at least thou pretendest so to be, and dost even expect to be
+believed. Be easy, I will no longer refuse the title and the sceptre
+which are so justly thy due.'
+
+Annas then called for the sheet of parchment, about a yard in
+length, and six inches in width; on this he wrote a series of words in
+large letters, and each word expressed some different accusation which
+had been brought against our Lord. He then rolled it up, placed it in a
+little hollow tube, fastened it carefully on the top of a reed, and
+presented this reed to Jesus, saying at the same time, with a
+contemptuous sneer, 'Behold the sceptre of thy kingdom; it contains thy
+titles, as also the account of the honours to which thou art entitled,
+and thy right to the throne. Take them to the High Priest, in order
+that he may acknowledge thy regal dignity, and treat thee according to
+thy deserts. Tie the hands of this king, and take him before the High
+Priest.'
+
+The hands of Jesus, which had been loosened, were then tied across
+his breast in such a manner as to make him hold the pretended sceptre,
+which contained the accusations of Annas, and he was led to the Court
+of Caiphas, amidst the hisses, shouts, and blows lavished upon him by
+the brutal mob.
+
+The house of Annas was not more than three hundred steps from that
+of Caiphas; there were high walls and common-looking houses on each
+side of the road, which was lighted up by torches and lanterns placed
+on poles, and there were numbers of Jews standing about talking in an
+angry excited manner. The soldiers could scarcely make their way
+through the crowd, and those who had behaved so shamefully to Jesus at
+the Court of Annas continued their insults and base usage during the
+whole of the time sent in walking to the house of Caiphas. I saw money
+given to those who behaved the worst to Jesus by armed men belonging to
+the tribunal, and I saw them push out of the way all who looked
+compassionately at him. The former were allowed to enter the Court of
+Caiphas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+The Tribunal of Caiphas.
+
+
+
+To enter Caiphas's tribunal persons had to pass through a large court,
+which may be called the exterior court; from thence they entered into
+an inner court, which extended all round the building. The building
+itself was of far greater length than breadth, and in the front there
+was a kind of open vestibule surrounded on three sides by columns of no
+great height. On the fourth side the columns were higher, and behind
+them was a room almost as large as the vestibule itself, where the seat
+of the members of the Council were placed on a species of round
+platform raised above the level of the floor. That assigned to the High
+Priest was elevated above the others; the criminal to be tried stood in
+the centre of the halfcircle formed by the seats. The witnesses and
+accusers stood either by the side or behind the prisoner. There were
+three doors at the back of the judges' seats which led into another
+apartment, filled likewise with seats. This room was used for secret
+consultation. Entrances placed on the right and left hand sides of this
+room opened into the interior court, which was round, like the back of
+the building. Those who left the room by the door on the righthand side
+saw on the left-hand side of the court the gate which led to a
+subterranean prison excavated under the room. There were many
+underground prisons there, and it was in one of these that Peter and
+John were confined a whole night, when they had cured the lame man in
+the Temple after Pentecost. Both the house and the courts were filled
+with torches and lamps, which made them as light as day. There was a
+large fire lighted in the middle of the porch, on each side of which
+were hollow pipes to serve as chimneys for the smoke, and round this
+fire were standing soldiers, menial servants, and witnesses of the
+lowest class who had received bribes for giving their false testimony.
+A few women were there likewise, whose employment was to pour out a
+species of red beverage for the soldiers, and to bake cakes, for which
+services they received a small compensation. The majority of the judges
+were already seated around Caiphas, the others came in shortly
+afterwards, and the porch was almost filled, between true and false
+witnesses, while many other persons likewise endeavoured to come in to
+gratify their curiosity, but were prevented. Peter and John entered the
+outer court, in the dress of travellers, a short time before Jesus was
+led through, and John succeeded in penetrating into the inner court, by
+means of a servant with whom he was acquainted. The door was instantly
+closed after him, therefore Peter, who was a little behind, was shut
+out. He begged the maid-servant to open the door for him, but she
+refused both his entreaties and those of John, and he must have
+remained on the outside had not Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who
+came up at this moment, taken him with them. The two Apostles then
+returned the cloaks which they had borrowed, and stationed themselves
+in a place from whence they could see the judges, and hear everything
+that was going on. Caiphas was seated in the centre of the raised
+platform, and seventy of the members of the Sanhedrin were placed
+around him, while the public officers, the scribes, and the ancients
+were standing on either side, and the false witnesses behind them.
+Soldiers were posted from the base of the platform to the door of the
+vestibule through which Jesus was to enter. The countenance of Caiphas
+was solemn in the extreme, but the gravity was accompanied by
+unmistakable signs of suppressed rage and sinister intentions. He wore
+a long mantle of a dull red colour, embroidered in flowers and trimmed
+with golden fringe; it was fastened at the shoulders and on the chest,
+besides being ornamented in the front with gold clasps. His head-attire
+was high, and adorned with hanging ribbons, the sides were open, and it
+rather resembled a bishop's mitre. Caiphas had been waiting with his
+adherents belonging to the Great Council for some time, and so
+impatient was he that he arose several times, went into the outer court
+in his magnificent dress, and asked angrily whether Jesus of Nazareth
+was come. When he saw the procession drawing near he returned to his
+seat.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Jesus before Caiphas.
+
+
+
+Jesus was led across the court, and the mob received him with groans
+and hisses. As he passed by Peter and John, he looked at them, but
+without turning his head, for fear of betraying them. Scarcely had he
+reached the council-chamber, than Caiphas exclaimed in a loud tone, 'Thou
+art come, then, at last, thou enemy of God, thou blasphemer, who dost
+disturb the peace of this holy night!' The tube which contained the
+accusations of Annas, and was fastened to the pretended sceptre in the
+hands of Jesus, was instantly opened and read.
+
+Caiphas made use of the most insulting language, and the archers
+again struck and abused our Lord, vociferating at the same time, 'Answer
+at once! Speak out! Art thou dumb?' Caiphas, whose temper was
+indescribably proud and arrogant, became even more enraged than Annas
+had been, and asked a thousand questions one after the other, but Jesus
+stood before him in silence, and with his eyes cast down. The archers
+endeavoured to force him to speak by repeated blows, and a malicious
+child pressed his thumb into his lips, tauntingly bidding him to bite.
+The witnesses were then called for. The first were persons of the
+lowest class, whose accusations were as incoherent and inconsistent as
+those brought forward at the court of Annas, and nothing could be made
+out of them; Caiphas therefore turned to the principal witnesses, the
+Pharisees and the Sadducees, who had assembled from all parts of the
+country. They endeavoured to speak calmly, but their faces and manner
+betrayed the virulent envy and hatred with which their hearts were
+overflowing, and they repeated over and over again the same
+accusations, to which he had already replied so many times: 'That he
+cured the sick, and cast out devils, by the help of devils--that he
+profaned the Sabbath--incited the people to rebel--called the Pharisees a
+race of vipers and adulterers--predicted the destruction of
+Jerusalem--frequented the society of publicans and sinners--assembled the
+people and gave himself out as a king, a prophet, and the Son of God.'
+They deposed 'that he was constantly speaking of his kingdom,--that he
+forbade divorce,--called himself the Bread of Life, and said that whoever
+did not eat his flesh and drink his blood would not have eternal life.'
+
+Thus did they distort and misinterpret the words he had uttered, the
+instructions he had given and the parables by which he had illustrated
+his instructions, giving them the semblance of crimes. But these
+witnesses could not agree in their depositions, for one said, 'He calls
+himself king;' and a second instantly contradicted, saying, 'No, he allows
+persons to call him so; but directly they attempted to proclaim him, he
+fled.' Another said, 'He calls himself the Son of God,' but he was
+interrupted by a fourth, who exclaimed, 'No, he only styles himself the
+Son of God because he does the will of his Heavenly Father.' Some of the
+witnesses stated that he had cured them, but that their diseases had
+returned, and that his pretended cures were only performed by magic.
+They spoke likewise of the cure of the paralytic man at the pool of
+Bethsaida, but they distorted the facts so as to give them the
+semblance of crimes, and even in these accusations they could not
+agree, contradicting one another. The Pharisees of Sephoris, with whom
+he had once had a discussion on the subject of divorces, accused him of
+teaching false doctrines, and a young man of Nazareth, whom he had
+refused to allow to become one of his disciples, was likewise base
+enough to bear witness against him.
+
+It was found to be utterly impossible to prove a single fact, and
+the witnesses appeared to come forward for the sole purpose of
+insulting Jesus, rather than to demonstrate the truth of their
+statements. Whilst they were disputing with one another, Caiphas and
+some of the other members of the Council employed themselves in
+questioning Jesus, and turning his answers into derision. 'What species
+of king art thou? Give proofs of thy power! Call the legions of angels
+of whom thou didst speak in the Garden of Olives! What hast thou done
+with the money given unto thee by the widows, and other simpletons whom
+thou didst seduce by thy false doctrines? Answer at once: speak out,--art
+thou dumb? Thou wouldst have been far wiser to have kept silence when
+in the midst of the foolish mob: there thou didst speak far too much.'
+
+All these questions were accompanied by blows from the
+under-servants of the members of the tribunal, and had our Lord not
+been supported from above, he could not have survived this treatment.
+Some of the base witnesses endeavoured to prove that he was an
+illegitimate son; but others declared that his mother was a pious
+Virgin, belonging to the Temple, and that they afterwards saw her
+betrothed to a man who feared God. The witnesses upbraided Jesus and
+his disciples with not having offered sacrifice in the Temple. It is
+true that I never did see either Jesus or his disciples offer any
+sacrifice in the Temple, excepting the Paschal lamb; but Joseph and
+Anna used frequently during their lifetime to offer sacrifice for the
+Child Jesus. However, even this accusation was puerile, for the
+Essenians never offered sacrifice, and no one thought the less well of
+them for not doing so. The enemies of Jesus still continued to accuse
+him of being a sorcerer, and Caiphas affirmed several times that the
+confusion in the statements of the witnesses was caused solely by
+witchcraft.
+
+Some said that he had eaten the Paschal lamb on the previous day,
+which was contrary to the law, and that the year before he had made
+different alterations in the manner of celebrating this ceremony. But
+the witnesses contradicted one another to such a degree that Caiphas
+and his adherents found, to their very great annoyance and anger, that
+not one accusation could be really proved. Nicodemus and Joseph of
+Arimathea were called up, and being commanded to say how it happened
+that they had allowed him to eat the Pasch on the wrong day in a room
+which belonged to them, they proved from ancient documents that from
+time immemorial the Galileans had been allowed to eat the Pasch a day
+earlier than the rest of the Jews. They added that every other part of
+the ceremony had been performed according to the directions given in
+the law, and that persons belonging to the Temple were present at the
+supper. This quite puzzled the witnesses, and Nicodemus increased the
+rage of the enemies of Jesus by pointing out the passages in the
+archives which proved the right of the Galileans, and gave the reason
+for which this privilege was granted. The reason was this: the
+sacrifices would not have been finished by the Sabbath if the immense
+multitudes who congregated together for that purpose had all been
+obliged to perform the ceremony on the same day; and although the
+Galileans had not always profited by this right, yet its existence was
+incontestably proved by Nicodemus; and the anger of the Pharisees was
+heightened by his remarking that the members of the Council had cause
+to be greatly offended at the gross contradictions in the statements of
+the witnesses, and that the extraordinary and hurried manner in which
+the whole affair had been conducted showed that malice and envy were
+the sole motives which induced the accusers, and made them bring the
+case forward at a moment when all were busied in the preparations for
+the most solemn feast of the year. They looked at Nicodemus furiously,
+and could not reply, but continued to question the witnesses in a still
+more precipitate and imprudent manner. Two witnesses at last came
+forward, who said, 'This man said, "I will destroy this Temple made with
+hands, and within three days I will build another not made with hands;"'
+however, even these witnesses did not agree in their statements, for
+one said that the accused wished to build a new Temple, and that he had
+eaten the Pasch in an unusual place, because he desired the destruction
+of the ancient Temple; but the other said, 'Not so: the edifice where he
+ate the Pasch was built by human hands, therefore he could not have
+referred to that.'
+
+The wrath of Caiphas was indescribable; for the cruel treatment
+which Jesus had suffered, his Divine patience, and the contradiction of
+the witnesses, were beginning to make a great impression on many
+persons present, a few hisses were heard, and the hearts of some were
+so touched that they could not silence the voice of their consciences.
+Ten soldiers left the court under pretext of indisposition, but in
+reality overcome by their feelings. As they passed by the place where
+Peter and John were standing, they exclaimed, 'The silence of Jesus of
+Nazareth, in the midst of such cruel treatment, is superhuman: it would
+melt a heart of iron: the wonder is, that the earth does not open and
+swallow such reprobates as his accusers must be. But tell us, where
+must we go?' The two Apostles either mistrusted the soldiers, and thought
+they were only seeking to betray them, or they were fearful of being
+recognised by those around and denounced as disciples of Jesus, for
+they only made answer in a melancholy tone: 'If truth calls you, follow
+it, and all will come right of itself.' The soldiers instantly went out
+of the room, and left Jerusalem soon after. They met persons on the
+outskirts of the town, who directed them to the caverns which lay to
+the south of Jerusalem, on the other side of Mount Sion, where many of
+the Apostles had taken refuge. These latter were at first alarmed at
+seeing strangers enter their hiding-place; but the soldiers soon
+dispelled all fear, and gave them an account of the sufferings of Jesus.
+
+The temper of Caiphas, which was already perturbed, became quite
+infuriated by the contradictory statements of the two last witnesses,
+and rising from his seat he approached Jesus, and said: 'Answerest thou
+nothing to the things which these witness against thee?'
+
+Jesus neither raised his head nor looked at the High Priest, which
+increased the anger of the latter to the greatest degree; and the
+archers perceiving this seized our Lord by the hair, pulled his head
+back, and gave him blows under the chin; but he still kept his eyes
+cast down. Caiphas raised his hands, and exclaimed in an enraged tone: 'I
+adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us if thou be Christ the
+Messiah, the son of the living God?'
+
+ A momentary and solemn pause ensued. Then Jesus in a majestic and
+superhuman voice replied, 'Thou hast said it. Nevertheless I say to you,
+hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the
+power of God, and coming in the clouds of Heaven.' Whilst Jesus was
+pronouncing these words, a bright light appeared to me to surround him;
+Heaven was opened above his head; I saw the Eternal Father; but no
+words from a human pen can describe the intuitive view that was then
+vouchsafed me of him. I likewise saw the angels, and the prayers of the
+just ascending to the throne of God.
+
+At the same moment I perceived the yawning abyss of hell like a
+fiery meteor at the feet of Caiphas; it was filled with horrible
+devils; a slight gauze alone appeared to separate him from its dark
+flames. I could see the demoniacal fury with which his heart was
+overflowing, and the whole house looked to me like hell. At the moment
+that our Lord pronounced the solemn words, 'I am the Christ, the Son of
+the living God,' hell appeared to be shaken from one extremity to the
+other, and then, as it were, to burst forth and inundate every person
+in the house of Caiphas with feelings of redoubled hatred towards our
+Lord. These things are always shown to me under the appearance of some
+material object, which renders them less difficult of comprehension,
+and impresses them in a more clear and forcible manner on the mind,
+because we ourselves being material beings, facts are more easily
+illustrated in our regard if manifested through the medium of the
+senses. The despair and fury which these words produced in hell were
+shown to me under the appearance of a thousand terrific figures in
+different places. I remember seeing, among other frightful things, a
+number of little black objects, like dogs with claws, which walked on
+their hind legs; I knew at the time what kind of wickedness was
+indicated by this apparition, but I cannot remember now. I saw these
+horrible phantoms enter into the bodies of the greatest part of the
+bystanders, or else place themselves on their head or shoulders. I
+likewise at this moment saw frightful spectres come out of the
+sepulchres on the other side of Sion; I believe they were evil spirits.
+I saw in the neighbourhood of the Temple many other apparitions, which
+resembled prisoners loaded with chains: I do not know whether they were
+demons, or souls condemned to remain in some particular part of the
+earth, and who were then going to Limbo, which our Lord's condemnation to
+death had opened to them.
+
+It is extremely difficult to explain these facts, for fear of
+scandalising those who have no knowledge of such things; but persons
+who see feel them, and they often cause the very hair to stand on end
+on the head. I think that John saw some of these apparitions, for I
+heard him speak about them afterwards. All whose hearts were not
+radically corrupted felt excessively terrified at these events, but the
+hardened were sensible of nothing but an increase of hatred and anger
+against our Lord.
+
+Caiphas then arose, and, urged on by Satan, took up the end of his
+mantle, pierced it with his knife, and rent it from one end to the
+other, exclaiming at the same time, in a loud voice, 'He hath blasphemed,
+what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the
+blasphemy: what think you?' All who were then present arose, and
+exclaimed with astounding malignancy, 'He is guilty of death!'
+
+ During the whole of this frightful scene, the devils were in the
+most tremendous state of excitement; they appeared to have complete
+possession not only of the enemies of Jesus, but likewise of their
+partisans and cowardly followers. The powers of darkness seemed to me
+to proclaim a triumph over the light, and the few among the spectators
+whose hearts still retained a glimmering of light were filled with such
+consternation that, covering their heads, they instantly departed. The
+witnesses who belonged to the upper classes were less hardened than the
+others; their consciences were racked with remorse, and they followed
+the example given by the persons mentioned above, and left the room as
+quickly as possible, while the rest crowded round the fire in the
+vestibule, and ate and drank after receiving full pay for their
+services. The High Priest then addressed the archers, and said, 'I
+deliver this king up into your hands; render the blasphemer the honours
+which are his due.' After these words he retired with the members of his
+Council into the round room behind the tribunal, which could not be
+seen from the vestibule.
+
+In the midst of the bitter affliction which inundated the heart of
+John, his thoughts were with the Mother of Jesus; he feared that the
+dreadful news of the condemnation of her Son might be communicated to
+her suddenly, or that perhaps some enemy might give the information in
+a heartless manner. He therefore looked at Jesus, and saying in a low
+voice, 'Lord, thou knowest why I leave thee,' went away quickly to seek the
+Blessed Virgin, as if he had been sent by Jesus himself. Peter was
+quite overcome between anxiety and sorrow, which, joined to fatigue,
+made him chilly; therefore, as the morning was cold, he went up to the
+fire where many of the common people were warming themselves. He did
+his best to hide his grief in their presence, as he could not make up
+his mind to go home and leave his beloved Master.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+The Insults received by Jesus in the Court of Caiphas.
+
+
+
+No sooner did Caiphas, with the other members of the Council, leave
+the tribunal than a crowd of miscreants--the very scum of the
+people--surrounded Jesus like a swarm of infuriated wasps, and began to
+heap every imaginable insult upon him. Even during the trial, whilst
+the witnesses were speaking, the archers and some others could not
+restrain their cruel inclinations, but pulled out handfuls of his hair
+and beard, spat upon him, struck him with their fists, wounded him with
+sharp-pointed sticks, and even ran needles into his body; but when
+Caiphas left the hall they set no bounds to their barbarity. They first
+placed a crown, made of straw and the bark of trees, upon his head, and
+then took it off, saluting him at the same time with insulting
+expressions, like the following: 'Behold the Son of David wearing the
+crown of his father.' 'A greater than Solomon is here; this is the king who
+is preparing a wedding feast for his son.' Thus did they turn into
+ridicule those eternal truths which he had taught under the from of
+parables to those whom he came from heaven to save; and whilst
+repeating these scoffing words, they continued to strike him with their
+fists and sticks, and to spit in his face. Next they put a crown of
+reeds upon his head, took off his robe and scapular, and then threw an
+old torn mantle, which scarcely reached his knees, over his shoulders;
+around his neck they hung a long iron chain, with an iron ring at each
+end, studded with sharp points, which bruised and tore his knees as he
+walked. They again pinioned his arms, put a reed into his hand, and
+covered his Divine countenance with spittle. They had already thrown
+all sorts of filth over his hair, as well as over his chest, and upon
+the old mantle. They bound his eyes with a dirty rag, and struck him,
+crying out at the same time in loud tones, 'Prophesy unto us, O Christ,
+who is he that struck thee?' He answered not one word, but sighed, and
+prayed inwardly for them.
+
+After many more insults, they seized the chain which was hanging on
+his neck, dragged him towards the room into which the Council had
+withdrawn, and with their stick forced him in, vociferating at the same
+time, 'March forward, thou King of Straw! Show thyself to the Council
+with the insignia of the regal honours we have rendered unto thee.' A
+large body of councillors, with Caiphas at their head, were still in
+the room, and they looked with both delight and approbation at the
+shameful scene which was enacted, beholding with pleasure the most
+sacred ceremonies turned into derision. The pitiless guards covered him
+with mud and spittle, and with mock gravity exclaimed, 'Receive the
+prophetic unction--the regal unction.' Then they impiously parodied the
+baptismal ceremonies, and the pious act of Magdalen in emptying the
+vase of perfume on his head. 'How canst thou presume,' they exclaimed, 'to
+appear before the Council in such a condition? Thou dost purify others,
+and thou art not pure thyself; but we will soon purify thee.' They
+fetched a basin of dirty water, which they poured over his face and
+shoulders, whilst they bent their knees before him, and exclaimed,
+'Behold thy precious unction, behold the spikenard worth three hundred
+pence; thou hast been baptised in the pool of Bethsaida.' They intended
+by this to throw into ridicule the act of respect and veneration shown
+by Magdalen, when she poured the precious ointment over his head, at
+the house of the Pharisee.
+
+By their derisive words concerning his baptism in the pool of
+Bethsaida, they pointed out, although unintentionally, the resemblance
+between Jesus and the Paschal lamb, for the lambs were washed in the
+first place in the pond near the Probatica gate, and then brought to
+the pool of Bethsaida, where they underwent another purification before
+being taken to the Temple to be sacrificed. The enemies of Jesus
+likewise alluded to the man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years,
+and who was cured by Jesus at the pool of Bethsaida; for I saw this man
+either washed or baptised there; I say either washed or baptised,
+because I do not exactly remember the circumstances.
+
+They then dragged Jesus round the room, before all the members of
+the Council, who continued to address him in reproachful and abusive
+language. Every countenance looked diabolical and enraged, and all
+around was dark, confused, and terrified. Our Lord, on the contrary,
+was from the moment that he declared himself to be the Son of God,
+generally surrounded with a halo of light. Many of the assembly
+appeared to have a confused knowledge of this fact, and to be filled
+with consternation at perceiving that neither outrages or ignominies
+could alter the majestic expression of his countenance.
+
+The halo which shone around Jesus from the moment he declared
+himself to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God, served but to
+incite his enemies to greater fury, and yet it was so resplendent that
+they could not look at it, and I believe their intention in throwing
+the dirty rag over his head was to deaden its brightness.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+The Denial of St. Peter
+
+
+
+ At the moment when Jesus uttered the words, 'Thou hast said it,' and
+the High Priest rent his garment, the whole room resounded with
+tumultuous cries. Peter and John, who had suffered intensely during the
+scene which had just been enacted, and which they had been obliged to
+witness in silence, could bear the sight no longer. Peter therefore got
+up to leave the room, and John followed soon after. The latter went to
+the Blessed Virgin, who was in the house of Martha with the holy women,
+but Peter's love for Jesus was so great, that he could not make up his
+mind to leave him; his heart was bursting, and he wept bitterly,
+although he endeavoured to restrain and hide his tears. It was
+impossible for him to remain in the tribunal, as his deep emotion at
+the sight of his beloved Master's sufferings would have betrayed him;
+therefore he went into the vestibule and approached the fire, around
+which soldiers and common people were sitting and talking in the most
+heartless and disgusting manner concerning the sufferings of Jesus, and
+relating all that they themselves had done to him. Peter was silent,
+but his silence and dejected demeanour made the bystanders suspect
+something. The portress came up to the fire in the midst of the
+conversation, cast a bold glance at Peter and said, 'Thou also wast with
+Jesus the Galilean.' These words startled and alarmed Peter; he trembled
+as to what might ensue if he owned the truth before his brutal
+companions, and therefore answered quickly, 'Woman, I know him not,' got
+up, and left the vestibule. At this moment the cock crowed somewhere in
+the outskirts of the town. I do not remember hearing it, but I felt
+that is was crowing. As he went out, another maid-servant looked at
+him, and said to those who were with her, 'This man was also with him,' and
+the persons she addressed immediately demanded of Peter whether her
+words were true, saying, 'Art thou not one of this man's disciples?' Peter
+was even more alarmed than before, and renewed his denial in these
+words, 'I am not; I know not the man.'
+
+He left the inner court, and entered the exterior court; he was
+weeping, and so great was his anxiety and grief, that he did not
+reflect in the least on the words he had just uttered. The exterior
+court was quite filled with persons, and some had climbed on to the top
+of the wall to listen to what was going on in the inner court which
+they were forbidden to enter. A few of the disciples were likewise
+there, for their anxiety concerning Jesus was so great that they could
+not make up their minds to remain concealed in the caves of Hinnom.
+They came up to Peter, and with many tears questioned him concerning
+their loved Master, but he was so unnerved and so fearful of betraying
+himself, that he briefly recommended them to go away, as it was
+dangerous to remain, and left them instantly. He continued to indulge
+his violent grief, while they hastened to leave the town. I recognised
+among these disciples, who were about sixteen in number, Bartholomew,
+Nathaniel, Saturninus, Judas Barsabeas, Simon, who was afterwards
+bishop of Jerusalem, Zacheus, and Manahem, the man who was born blind
+and cured by our Lord.
+
+Peter could not rest anywhere, and his love for Jesus prompted him
+to return to the inner court, which he was allowed to enter, because
+Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had, in the first instance, taken him
+in. He did not re-enter the vestibule, but turned to the right and went
+towards the round room which was behind the tribunal, and in which
+Jesus was undergoing every possible insult and ignominy from his cruel
+enemies. Peter walked timidly up to the door, and although perfectly
+conscious that he was suspected by all present of being a partisan of
+Jesus, yet he could not remain outside; his love for his Master
+impelled him forward; he entered the room, advanced, and soon stood in
+the very midst of the brutal throng who were feasting their cruel eyes
+on the sufferings of Jesus. They were at that moment dragging him
+ignominiously backwards and forwards with the crown of straw upon his
+head; he cast a sorrowful and even severe glance upon Peter, which cut
+him to the heart, but as he was still much alarmed, and at that moment
+heard some of the bystanders call out, 'Who is that man?' he went back
+again into the court, and seeing that the persons in the vestibule were
+watching him, came up to the fire and remained before it for some time.
+Several persons who had observed his anxious troubled countenance began
+to speak in opprobrious terms of Jesus, and one of them said to him,
+'Thou also art one of his disciples; thou also art a Galilean; thy very
+speech betrays thee.' Peter got up, intending to leave the room, when a
+brother of Malchus came up to him and said, 'Did I not see thee in the
+garden with him? Didst thou not cut off my brother's ear?'
+
+Peter became almost beside himself with terror; he began to curse
+and to swear 'that he knew not the man,' and ran out of the vestibule into
+the outer court; the cock then crowed again, and Jesus, who at that
+moment was led across the court, cast a look of mingled compassion and
+grief upon his Apostle. This look of our Lord pierced Peter to the very
+heart,--it recalled to his mind in the most forcible and terrible manner
+the words addressed to him by our Lord on the previous evening: 'Before
+the cock crows twice, thou shalt thrice deny me.' He had forgotten all
+his promises and protestations to our Lord, that he would die rather
+than deny him--he had forgotten the warning given to him by our Lord;--but
+when Jesus looked at him, he felt the enormity of his fault, and his
+heart was nigh bursting with grief. He had denied his Lord, when that
+beloved Master was outraged, insulted, delivered up into the hands of
+unjust judges,--when he was suffering all in patience and in silence. His
+feelings of remorse were beyond expression; he returned to the exterior
+court, covered his face and wept bitterly; all fear of being recognised
+was over;--he was ready to proclaim to the whole universe both his fault
+and his repentance.
+
+What man will dare assert that he would have shown more courage than
+Peter if, with his quick and ardent temperament, he were exposed to
+such danger, trouble, and sorrow, at a moment, too, when completely
+unnerved between fear and grief, and exhausted by the sufferings of
+this sad night? Our Lord left Peter to his own strength, and he was
+weak; like all who forget the words: 'Watch and pray, that ye enter not
+into temptation.'
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Mary in the House of Caiphas.
+
+
+
+The Blessed Virgin was ever united to her Divine Son by interior
+spiritual communications; she was, therefore, fully aware of all that
+happened to him--she suffered with him, and joined in his continual prayer
+for his murderers. But her maternal feelings prompted her to supplicate
+Almighty God most ardently not to suffer the crime to be completed, and
+to save her Son from such dreadful torments. She eagerly desired to
+return to him; and when John, who had left the tribunal at the moment
+the frightful cry, 'He is guilty of death,' was raised, came to the house
+of Lazarus to see after her, and to relate the particulars of the
+dreadful scene he had just witnessed, she, as also Magdalen and some of
+the other holy women, begged to be taken to the place where Jesus was
+suffering. John, who had only left our Saviour in order to console her
+whom he loved best next to his Divine Master, instantly acceded to
+their request, and conducted them through the streets, which were
+lighted up by the moon alone, and crowded with persons hastening to
+their home. The holy women were closely veiled; but the sobs which they
+could not restrain made many who passed by observe them, and their
+feelings were harrowed by the abusive epithets they overheard bestowed
+upon Jesus by those who were conversing on the subject of his arrest.
+The Blessed Virgin, who ever beheld in spirit the opprobrious treatment
+which her dear Son was receiving, continued 'to lay up all these things
+in her heart;' like him she suffered in silence; but more than once she
+became totally unconscious. Some disciples of Jesus, who were returning
+from the hall of Caiphas, saw her fainting in the arms of the holy
+women, and, touched with pity, stopped to look at her compassionately,
+and saluted her in these words: 'Hail! Unhappy Mother--hail, Mother of the
+Most Holy One of Israel, the most afflicted of all mothers!' Mary raised
+her head, thanked them gratefully, and continued her sad journey.
+
+When in the vicinity of Caiphas's house, their grief was renewed by
+the sight of a group of men who were busily occupied under a tent,
+making the cross ready for our Lord's crucifixion. The enemies of Jesus
+had given orders that the cross should be prepared directly after his
+arrest, that they might without delay execute the sentence which they
+hoped to persuade Pilate to pass on him. The Romans had already
+prepared the crosses of the two thieves, and the workmen who were
+making that of Jesus were much annoyed at being obliged to labour at it
+during the night; they did not attempt to conceal their anger at this,
+and uttered the most frightful oaths and curses, which pierced the
+heart of the tender Mother of Jesus through and through; but she prayed
+for these blind creatures who thus unknowingly blasphemed the Saviour
+who was about to die for their salvation, and prepared the cross for
+his cruel execution.
+
+Mary, John, and the holy women traversed the outer court attached to
+Caiphas's house. They stopped under the archway of a door which opened
+into the inner court. Mary's heart was with her Divine Son, and she
+desired most ardently to see this door opened, that she might again
+have a chance of beholding him, for she knew that it alone separated
+her from the prison where he was confined. The door was at length
+opened, and Peter rushed out, his face covered with his mantle,
+wringing his hands, and weeping bitterly. By the light of the torches
+he soon recognised John and the Blessed Virgin, but the sight of them
+only renewed those dreadful feelings of remorse which the look of Jesus
+had awakened in his breast. Mary approached him instantly, and said,
+'Simon, tell me, I entreat you, what is become of Jesus, my Son?' These
+words pierced his very heart; he could not even look at her, but turned
+away, and again wrung his hands. Mary drew close to him, and said in a
+voice trembling with emotion: 'Simon, son of John, why dost thou not
+answer me?'--Mother!' exclaimed Peter, in a dejected tone, 'O, Mother, speak not
+to me--thy Son is suffering more than words can express: speak not to me!
+They have condemned him to death, and I have denied him three times.'
+John came up to ask a few more questions, but Peter ran out of the
+court as if beside himself, and did not stop for a single moment until
+he reached the cave at Mount Olivet--that cave on the stones of which the
+impression of the hands of our Saviour had been miraculously left. I
+believe it is the cave in which Adam took refuge to weep after his fall.
+
+The Blessed Virgin was inexpressibly grieved at hearing of the fresh
+pang inflicted on the loving heart of her Divine Son, the pang of
+hearing himself denied by that disciple who had first acknowledged him
+as the Son of the Living God; she was unable to support herself, and
+fell down on the door-stone, upon which the impression of her feet and
+hands remains to the present day. I have seen the stones, which are
+preserved somewhere, but I cannot at this moment remember where. The
+door was not again shut, for the crowd was dispersing, and when the
+Blessed Virgin came to herself, she begged to be taken to some place as
+near as possible to her Divine Son. John, therefore, led her and the
+holy women to the front of the prison where Jesus was confined. Mary
+was with Jesus in spirit, and Jesus was with her; but this loving
+Mother wished to hear with her own ear the voice of her Divine Son. She
+listened and heard not only his moans, but also the abusive language of
+those around him. It was impossible for the holy women to remain in the
+court any longer without attracting attention. The grief of Magdalen
+was so violent that she was unable to conceal it; and although the
+Blessed Virgin, by a special grace from Almighty God, maintained a calm
+and dignified exterior in the midst of her sufferings, yet even she was
+recognised, and overheard harsh words, such as these: 'Is not that the
+Mother of the Galilean? Her Son will most certainly be executed, but
+not before the festival, unless, indeed, he is the greatest of
+criminals.'
+
+The Blessed Virgin left the court, and went up to the fireplace in
+the vestibule, where a certain number of persons were still standing.
+When she reached the spot where Jesus had said that he was the Son of
+God, and the wicked Jews cried out, 'He is guilty of death,' she again
+fainted, and John and the holy women carried her away, in appearance
+more like a corpse than a living person. The bystanders said not a
+word; they seemed struck with astonishment, and silence, such as might
+have been produced in hell by the passage of a celestial being, reigned
+in that vestibule.
+
+The holy women again passed the place where the cross was being
+prepared; the workmen appeared to find as much difficulty in completing
+it as the judges had found in pronouncing sentence, and were obliged to
+fetch fresh wood every moment, for some bits would not fit, and others
+split; this continued until the different species of wood were placed
+in the cross according to the intentions of Divine Providence. I saw
+angels who obliged these men to recommence their work, and who would
+not let them rest, until all was accomplished in a proper manner; but
+my remembrance of this vision is indistinct.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Jesus confined in the subterranean Prison.
+
+
+
+The Jews, having quite exhausted their barbarity, shut Jesus up in a
+little vaulted prison, the remains of which subsist to this day. Two of
+the archers alone remained with him, and they were soon replaced by two
+others. He was still clothed in the old dirty mantle, and covered with
+the spittle and other filth which they had thrown over him; for they
+had not allowed him to put on his own clothes again, but kept his hands
+tightly bound together.
+
+When our Lord entered this prison, he prayed most fervently that his
+Heavenly Father would accept all that he had already suffered, and all
+that he was about to suffer, as an expiatory sacrifice, not only for
+his executioners, but likewise for all who in future ages might have to
+suffer torments such as he was about to endure, and be tempted to
+impatience or anger.
+
+The enemies of our Lord did not allow him a moment's respite, even in
+this dreary prison, but tied him to a pillar which stood in the centre,
+and would not allow him to lean upon it, although he was so exhausted
+from ill treatment, the weight of his chains, and his numerous falls,
+that he could scarcely support himself on his swollen and torn feet.
+Never for a moment did they cease insulting him; and when the first set
+were tired out, others replaced them.
+
+It is quite impossible to describe all that the Holy of Holies
+suffered from these heartless beings; for the sight affected me so
+excessively that I became really ill, and I felt as if I could not
+survive it. We ought, indeed, to be ashamed of that weakness and
+susceptibility which renders us unable to listen composedly to the
+descriptions, or speak without repugnance, of those sufferings which
+our Lord endured so calmly and patiently for our salvation. The horror
+we feel is as great as that of a murderer who is forced to place his
+hands upon the wound he himself has inflicted on his victim. Jesus
+endured all without opening his mouth; and it was man, sinful man, who
+perpetrated all these outrages against one who was at once their
+Brother, their Redeemer, and their God. I, too, am a great sinner, and
+my sins cause these sufferings. At the day of judgment, when the most
+hidden things will be manifested, we shall see the share we have had in
+the torments endured by the Son of God; we shall see how far we have
+caused them by the sins we so frequently commit, and which are, in
+fact, a species of consent which we give to, and a participation in,
+the tortures which were inflicted on Jesus by his cruel enemies. If,
+alas! we reflected seriously on this, we should repeat with much
+greater fervour the words which we find so often in prayer books: 'Lord,
+grant that I may die, rather than ever wilfully offend thee again by
+sin.'
+
+Jesus continued to pray for his enemies, and they being at last
+tired out left him in peace for a short time, when he leaned against
+the pillar to rest, and a bright light shone around him. The day was
+beginning to dawn,--the day of his Passion, of our Redemption,--and a faint
+ray penetrating the narrow vent-hole of the prison, fell upon the holy
+and immaculate Lamb, who had taken upon himself the sins of the world.
+Jesus turned towards the ray of light, raised his fettered hands, and,
+in the most touching manner, returned thanks to his Heavenly Father for
+the dawn of that day, which had been so long desired by the prophets,
+and for which he himself had so ardently sighed from the moment of his
+birth on earth, and concerning which he had said to his disciples, 'I
+have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptised, and how am I straitened
+until it be accomplished!' I prayed with him; but I cannot give the words
+of his prayer, for I was so completely overcome, and touched to hear
+him return thanks to his Father for the terrible sufferings which he
+had already endured for me, and for the still greater which he was
+about to endure. I could only repeat over and over with the greatest
+fervour, 'Lord, I beseech thee, give me these sufferings: they belong to
+me: I have deserved them in punishment for my sins.' I was quite
+overwhelmed with feelings of love and compassion when I looked upon him
+thus welcoming the first dawn of the great day of his Sacrifice, and
+that ray of light which penetrated into his prison might, indeed, be
+compared to the visit of a judge who wishes to be reconciled to a
+criminal before the sentence of death which he has pronounced upon him
+is executed.
+
+The archers, who were dozing, woke up for a moment, and looked at
+him with surprise: they said nothing, but appeared to be somewhat
+astonished and frightened. Our Divine Lord was confined in this prison
+an hour, or thereabouts.
+
+Whilst Jesus was in this dungeon, Judas, who had been wandering up
+and down the valley of Hinnom like a madman, directed his step towards
+the house of Caiphas, with the thirty pieces of silver, the reward of
+his treachery, still hanging to his waist. All was silent around, and
+he addressed himself to some of the sentinels, without letting them
+know who he was, and asked what was going to be done to the Galilean. 'He
+has been condemned to death, and he will certainly be crucified,' was the
+reply. Judas walked to and fro, and listened to the different
+conversations which were held concerning Jesus. Some spoke of the cruel
+treatment he had received, other of his astonishing patience, while
+others, again discoursed concerning the solemn trial which was to take
+place in the morning before the great Council. Whilst the traitor was
+listening eagerly to the different opinions given, day dawned; the
+members of the tribunal commenced their preparations, and Judas slunk
+behind the building that he might not be seen, for like Cain he sought
+to hide himself from human eyes, and despair was beginning to take
+possession of his soul. The place in which he took refuge happened to
+be the very spot where the workmen had been preparing the wood for
+making the cross of our Lord; all was in readiness, and the men were
+asleep by its side. Judas was filled with horror at the sight: he
+shuddered and fled when he beheld the instrument of that cruel death to
+which for a paltry sum of money he had delivered up his Lord and
+Master; he ran to and fro in perfect agonies of remorse, and finally
+hid himself in an adjoining cave, where he determined to await the
+trial which was to take place in the morning.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+The Morning Trial.
+
+
+
+Caiphas, Annas, the ancients, and the scribes assembled in the
+morning in the great hall of the tribunal, to have a legal trial, as
+meetings at night were not lawful, and could only be looked upon in the
+light of preparatory audiences. The majority of the members had slept
+in the house of Caiphas, where beds had been prepared for them, but
+some, and among them Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, had gone home,
+and returned at the dawn of day. The meeting was crowded, and the
+members commenced their operations in the most hurried manner possible.
+They wished to condemn Jesus to death at once, but Nicodemus, Joseph,
+and some others opposed their wishes and demanded that the decision
+should be deferred until after the festival, for fear of causing an
+insurrection among the people, maintaining likewise that no criminal
+could be justly condemned upon charges which were not proved, and that
+in the case now before them all the witnesses contradicted one another.
+The High Priests and their adherents became very angry, and told Joseph
+and Nicodemus, in plain terms, that they were not surprised at their
+expressing displeasure at what had been done, because they were
+themselves partisans of the Galilean and his doctrines, and were
+fearful of being convicted. The High Priest even went so far as to
+endeavour to exclude from the Council all those members who were in the
+lightest degree favourable to Jesus. These members protested that they
+washed their hands of all the future proceedings of the Council, and
+leaving the room went to the Temple, and from this day never again took
+their seats in the Council. Caiphas then ordered the guards to bring
+Jesus once more into his presence, and to prepare everything for taking
+him to Pilate's court directly he should have pronounced sentence. The
+emissaries of the Council hurried off to the prison, and with their
+usual brutality untied the hands of Jesus, dragged off the old mantle
+which they had thrown over his shoulders, made him put on his own
+soiled garment, and having fastened ropes round his waist, dragged him
+out of the prison. The appearance of Jesus, when he passed through the
+midst of the crowd who were already assembled in the front of the
+house, was that of a victim led to be sacrificed; his countenance was
+totally changed and disfigured from ill-usage, and his garments stained
+and torn; but the sight of his sufferings, far from exciting a feeling
+of compassion in the hard hearted Jews, simply filled them with
+disgust, and increased their rage. Pity was, indeed, a feeling unknown
+in their cruel breasts.
+
+Caiphas, who did not make the slightest effort to conceal his
+hatred, addressed our Lord haughtily in these words: 'If thou be Christ ,
+tell us plainly.' Then Jesus raised his head, and answered with great
+dignity and calmness, 'If I shall tell you, you will not believe me; and
+if I shall also ask you, you will not answer me, or let me go. But
+hereafter the Son of Man shall be sitting on the right hand of the
+power of God.' The High Priests looked at one another, and said to Jesus,
+with a disdainful laugh, 'Art thou, then, the Son of God?' And Jesus
+answered, with the voice of eternal truth, 'You say that I am.' At these
+words they all exclaimed, 'What need we any further testimony? For we
+ourselves have heard it from his own mouth.'
+
+ They all arose instantly and vied with each other as to who should
+heap the most abusive epithets upon Jesus, whom they termed a low-born
+miscreant, who aspired to being their Messiah, and pretended to be
+entitled to sit at the right hand of God. They ordered the archers to
+tie his hands again, and to fasten a chain round his neck (this was
+usually done to criminals condemned to death), and they then prepared
+to conduct him to Pilate's hall, where a messenger had already been
+dispatched to beg him to have all in readiness for trying a criminal,
+as it was necessary to make no delay on account of the festival day.
+
+The Jewish Priests murmured among themselves at being obliged to
+apply to the Roman governor for the confirmation of their sentence, but
+it was necessary, as they had not the right of condemning criminals
+excepting for things which concerned religion and the Temple alone, and
+they could not pass a sentence of death. They wished to prove that
+Jesus was an enemy to the emperor, and this accusation concerned those
+departments which were under Pilate's jurisdiction. The soldiers were all
+standing in front of the house, surrounded by a large body of the
+enemies of Jesus, and of common persons attracted by curiosity. The
+High Priests and a part of the Council walked at the head of the
+procession, and Jesus, led by archers, and guarded by soldiers,
+followed, while the mob brought up the rear. They were obliged to
+descend Mount Sion, and cross a part of the lower town to reach Pilate's
+palace, and many priests who had attended the Council went to the
+Temple directly afterwards, as it was necessary to prepare for the
+festival.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+The Despair of Judas
+
+
+
+Whilst the Jews were conducting Jesus to Pilate, the traitor Judas
+walked about listening to the conversation of the crowd who followed,
+and his ears were struck by words such as these: 'They are taking him
+before Pilate; the High Priests have condemned the Galilean to death;
+he will be crucified; they will accomplish his death; he has been
+already dreadfully illtreated; his patience is wonderful, he answers
+not; his only words are that he is the Messiah, and that he will be
+seated at the right hand of God; they will crucify him on account of
+those words; had he not said them they could not have condemned him to
+death. The miscreant who sold him was one of his disciples; and had a
+short time before eaten the Paschal lamb with him; not for worlds would
+I have had to do with such an act; however guilty the Galilean may be,
+he has not at all events sold his friend for money; such an infamous
+character as this disciple is infinitely more deserving of death.' Then,
+but too late, anguish, despair, and remorse took possession of the mind
+of Judas. Satan instantly prompted him to fly. He fled as if a thousand
+furies were at his heel, and the bag which was hanging at his side
+struck him as he ran, and propelled him as a spur from hell; but he
+took it into his hand to prevent its blows. He fled as fast as
+possible, but where did he fly? Not towards the crowd, that he might
+cast himself at the feet of Jesus, his merciful Saviour, implore his
+pardon, and beg do die with him,--not to confess his fault with true
+repentance before God, but to endeavour to unburden himself before the
+world of his crime, and of the price of his treachery. He ran like one
+beside himself into the Temple, where several members of the Council
+had gathered together after the judgment of Jesus. They looked at one
+another with astonishment; and then turned their haughty countenances,
+on which a smile of irony was visible, upon Judas. He with a frantic
+gesture tore the thirty pieces of silver from his side, and holding
+them forth with his right hand, exclaimed in accents of the most deep
+despair, 'Take back your silver--that silver with which you bribed me to
+betray this just man; take back your silver; release Jesus; our compact
+is at an end; I have sinned grievously, for I have betrayed innocent
+blood.' The priests answered him in the most contemptuous manner, and, as
+if fearful of contaminating themselves by the contact of the reward of
+the traitor, would not touch the silver he tended, but replied, 'What
+have we to do with thy sin? If thou thinkest to have sold innocent
+blood, it is thine own affair; we know what we have paid for, and we
+have judged him worthy of death. Thou hast thy money, say no more.' They
+addressed these words to him in the abrupt tone in which men usually
+speak when anxious to get rid of a troublesome person, and instantly
+arose and walked away. These words filled Judas with such rage and
+despair that he became almost frantic: his hair stood on end on his
+head; he rent in two the bag which contained the thirty pieces of
+silver, cast them down in the Temple, and fled to the outskirts of the
+town.
+
+I again beheld him rushing to and fro like a madman in the valley of
+Hinnom: Satan was by his side in a hideous form, whispering in his ear,
+to endeavour to drive him to despair, all the curses which the prophets
+had hurled upon this valley, where the Jews formerly sacrificed their
+children to idols.
+
+It appeared as if all these maledictions were directed against him,
+as in these words, for instance: 'They shall go forth, and behold the
+carcases of those who have sinned against me, whose worm dieth not, and
+whore fires shall never be extinguished.' Then the devil murmured in his
+ears, 'Cain, where is thy brother Abel? What hast thou done?--his blood
+cries to me for vengeance: thou art cursed upon earth, a wanderer for
+ever.' When he reached the torrent of Cedron, and saw Mount Olivet, he
+shuddered, turned away, and again the words vibrated in his ear, 'Friend,
+whereto art thou come? Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a
+kiss?' Horror filled his soul, his head began to wander, and the arch
+fiend again whispered, 'It was here that David crossed the Cedron when he
+fled from Absalom. Absalom put an end to his life by hanging himself.
+It was of thee that David spoke when he said: "And they repaid me evil
+for good; hatred for my love. May the devil stand at his right hand;
+when he is judged, may he go out condemned. May his days be few, and
+his bishopric let another take. May the iniquity of his father be
+remembered in the sight of the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother
+be blotted out, because he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted
+the poor man and the beggar and the broken in heart, to put him to
+death. And he loved cursing, and it shall come unto him. And he put on
+cursing like a garment, and it went in like water into his entrails,
+and like oil into his bones. May it be unto him like a garment which
+covereth him; and like a girdle, with which he is girded continually."
+Overcome by these terrible thoughts Judas rushed on, and reached the
+foot of the mountain. It was a dreary, desolate spot filled with
+rubbish and putrid remains; discordant sounds from the city
+reverberated in his ears, and Satan continually repeated, 'They are now
+about to put him to death; thou has sold him. Knowest thou not the
+words of the law, "He who sells a soul among his brethren, and receives
+the price of it, let him die the death"? Put an end to thy misery,
+wretched one; put an end to thy misery.' Overcome by despair Judas tore
+off his girdle, and hung himself on a tree which grew in a crevice of
+the rock, and after death his body burst asunder, and his bowels were
+scattered around.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Jesus is taken before Pilate.
+
+
+
+The malicious enemies of our Saviour led him through the most public
+part of the town to take him before Pilate. The procession wended its
+way slowly down the north side of the mountain of Sion, then passed
+through that section on the eastern side of the Temple, called Acre,
+towards the palace and tribunal of Pilate, which were seated on the
+north-west side of the Temple, facing a large square. Caiphas, Annas,
+and many others of the Chief Council, walked first in festival attire;
+they were followed by a multitude of scribes and many other Jews, among
+whom were the false witnesses, and the wicked Pharisees who had taken
+the most prominent part in accusing Jesus. Our Lord followed at a short
+distance; he was surrounded by a band of soldiers, and led by the
+archers. The multitude thronged on all sides and followed the
+procession, thundering forth the most fearful oaths and imprecations,
+while groups of persons were hurrying to and fro, pushing and jostling
+one another. Jesus was stripped of all save his under garment, which
+was stained and soiled by the filth which had been flung upon it; a
+long chain was hanging round his neck, which struck his knees as he
+walked; his hands were pinioned as on the previous day, and the archers
+dragged him by the ropes which were fastened round his waist. He
+tottered rather than walked, and was almost unrecognisable from the
+effects of his sufferings during the night;--he was colourless, haggard,
+his face swollen and even bleeding, and his merciless persecutors
+continued to torment him each moment more and more. They had gathered
+together a large body of the dregs of the people, in order to make his
+present disgraceful entrance into the city a parody on his triumphal
+entrance on Palm Sunday. They mocked, and with derisive gestures called
+him king, and tossed in his path stones, bits of wood; and filthy rags;
+they made game of, and by a thousand taunting speeches mocked him,
+during this pretended triumphal entry.
+
+In the corner of a building, not far from the house of Caiphas, the
+afflicted Mother of Jesus, with John and Magdalen, stood watching for
+him. Her soul was ever united to his; but propelled by her love, she
+left no means untried which could enable her really to approach him.
+She remained at the Cenacle for some time after her midnight visit to
+the tribunal of Caiphas, powerless and speechless from grief; but when
+Jesus was dragged forth from his prison, to be again brought before his
+judges, she arose, cast her veil and cloak about her, and said to
+Magdalen and John: 'Let us follow my Son to Pilate's court; I must again
+look upon him.' They went to a place through which the procession must
+pass, and waited for it. The Mother of Jesus knew that her Son was
+suffering dreadfully, but never could she have conceived the
+deplorable, the heartrending condition to which he was reduced by the
+brutality of his enemies. Her imagination had depicted him to her as
+suffering fearfully, but yet supported and illuminated by sanctity,
+love, and patience. Now, however, the sad reality burst upon her. First
+in the procession appeared the priests, those most bitter enemies of
+her Divine Son. They were decked in flowing robes; but at, terrible to
+say, instead of appearing resplendent in their character of priests of
+the Most High, they were transformed into priests of Satan, for no one
+could look upon their wicked countenances without beholding there,
+portrayed in vivid colours, the evil passions with which their souls
+were filled--deceit, infernal cunning, and a raging anxiety to carry out
+that most tremendous of crimes, the death of their Lord and Saviour,
+the only Son of God. Next followed the false witnesses, his perfidious
+accusers, surrounded by the vociferating populace; and last of
+all--himself--her Son--Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Man, loaded with
+chains, scarcely able to support himself, but pitilessly dragged on by
+his infernal enemies, receiving blows from some, buffets from others,
+and from the whole assembled rabble curses, abuse, and the most
+scurrilous language. He would have been perfectly unrecognisable even
+to her maternal eyes, stripped as he was of all save a torn remnant of
+his garment, had she not instantly marked the contrast between his
+behaviour and that of his vile tormentors. He alone in the midst of
+persecution and suffering looked calm and resigned, and far from
+returning blow for blow, never raised his hands but in acts of
+supplication to his Eternal Father for the pardon of his enemies. As he
+approached, she was unable to restrain herself any longer, but
+exclaimed in thrilling accents: 'Alas! is that my Son? Ah, yes! I see
+that it is my beloved Son. O, Jesus, my Jesus!' When the procession was
+almost opposite, Jesus looked upon her with an expression of the
+greatest love and compassion; this look was too much for the
+heartbroken mother: she became for the moment totally unconscious, and
+John and Magdalen endeavoured to carry her home, but she quickly roused
+herself, and accompanied the beloved disciple to Pilate's house.
+
+The inhabitants of the town of Ophel were all gathered together in
+an open space to meet Jesus, but far from administering comfort, they
+added a fresh ingredient to his cup of sorrow; they inflicted upon him
+that sharp pang which must ever be felt by those who see their friends
+abandon them in the hour of adversity. Jesus had done much for the
+inhabitants of Ophel, but no sooner did they see him reduced to such a
+state of misery and degradation, than their faith was shaken; they
+could no longer believe him to be a king, a prophet, the Messiah, and
+the Son of God. The Pharisees jeered and made game of them, on account
+of the admiration they had formerly expressed for Jesus. 'Look at your
+king now,' they exclaimed; 'do homage to him; have you no congratulations
+to offer him now that he is about to be crowned , and seated on his
+throne? All his boasted miracles are at an end; the High Priest has put
+an end to his tricks and witchcraft.'
+
+Notwithstanding the remembrance which these poor people had of the
+miracles and wonderful cures which had been performed under their very
+eyes by Jesus; notwithstanding the great benefits he had bestowed upon
+them, their faith was shaken by beholding him thus derided and pointed
+out as an object of contempt by the High Priest and the members of the
+Sanhedrin, who were regarded in Jerusalem with the greatest veneration.
+Some went away doubting, while others remained and endeavoured to join
+the rabble, but they were prevented by the guards, who had been sent by
+the Pharisees, to prevent riots and confusion.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+Description of Pilate's Palace and the adjacent Buildings.
+
+
+
+The palace of the Roman governor, Pilate, was built on the
+north-west side of the mountain on which the Temple stood, and to reach
+it persons were obliged to ascend a flight of marble steps. It
+overlooked a large square surrounded by a colonnade, under which the
+merchants sat to sell their various commodities. A parapet, and an
+entrance at the north, south, east, and west sides alone broke the
+uniformity of this part of the market-place, which was called the
+forum, and built on higher ground than the adjacent streets, which
+sloped down from it. The palace of Pilate was not quite close, but
+separated by a large court, the entrance to which at the eastern side
+was through a high arch facing a street leading to the door called the
+'Probatica,' on the road to the Mount of Olives. The southern entrance was
+through another arch, which leads to Sion, in the neighbourhood of the
+fortress of Acre. From the top of the marble steps of Pilate's palace,
+a person could see across the court as far as the forum, at the
+entrance of which a few columns and stone seats were placed. It was at
+these seats that the Jewish priests stopped, in order not to defile
+themselves by entering the tribunal of Pilate, a line traced on the
+pavement of the court indicating the precise boundary beyond which they
+could not pass without incurring defilement. There was a large parapet
+near the western entrance, supported by the sides of Pilate's
+Praetorium, which formed a species of porch between it and the square.
+That part of Pilate's palace which he made use of when acting in the
+capacity of judge, was called the Praetorium. A number of columns
+surrounded the parapet of which we have just spoken, and in the centre
+was an uncovered portion, containing an underground part, where the two
+thieves condemned to be crucified with our Lord were confined, and this
+part was filled with Roman soldiers. The pillar upon which our Lord was
+scourged was placed on the forum itself, not far from this parapet and
+the colonnade. There were many other columns in this place; those
+nearest to the palace were made use of for the infliction of various
+corporal punishments, and the others served as posts to which were
+fastened the beasts brought for sale. Upon the forum itself, opposite
+this building, was a platform filled with seats made of stone; and from
+this platform, which was called Gabbatha, Pilate was accustomed to
+pronounce sentence on great criminals. The marble staircase ascended by
+persons going to the governor's palace led likewise to an uncovered
+terrace, and it was from this terrace that Pilate gave audience to the
+priests and Pharisees, when they brought forward their accusations
+against Jesus. They all stood before him in the forum, and refused to
+advance further than the stone seats before mentioned. A person
+speaking in a loud tone of voice from the terrace could be easily heard
+by those in the forum.
+
+Behind Pilate's palace there were many other terraces, and likewise
+gardens, and a country house. The gardens were between the palace of
+the governor and the dwelling of his wife, Claudia Procles. A large
+moat separated these buildings from the mountain on which the Temple
+stood, and on this side might be seen the houses inhabited by those who
+served in the Temple. The palace of Herod the elder was placed on the
+eastern side of Pilate's palace; and it was in its inner court that
+numbers of the Innocents were massacred. At present the appearance of
+these two buildings is a little altered, as their entrances are
+changed. Four of the principal streets commenced at this part of the
+town, and ran in a southerly direction, three leading to the forum and
+Pilate's palace, and the fourth to the gate through which persons
+passed on their way to Bethsur. The beautiful house which belonged to
+Lazarus, and likewise that of Martha, were in a prominent part of this
+street.
+
+One of these streets was very near to the Temple, and began at the
+gate which was called Probatica. The pool of Probatica was close to
+this gate on the right hand side, and in this pool the sheep were
+washed for the first time, before being taken to the Temple; while the
+second and more solemn washing took place in the pool of Bethsaida,
+which is near the south entrance to the Temple. The second of the
+above-mentioned streets contained a house belonging to St. Anna, the
+mother of the Blessed Virgin, which she usually inhabited when she came
+up to Jerusalem with her family to offer sacrifice in the Temple. I
+believe it was in this house that the espousals of St. Joseph and the
+Blessed Virgin were celebrated.
+
+The forum, as I have already explained, was built on higher ground
+than the neighbouring streets, and the aqueducts which ran through
+these streets flowed into the Probatica pool. On Mount Sion, directly
+opposite to the old castle of King David, stood a building very similar
+to the forum, while to the south-east might be seen the Cenacle, and a
+little towards the north the tribunals of Annas and Caiphas. King David's
+castle was a deserted fortress, filled with courts, empty rooms, and
+stables, generally let to travellers. It had long been in this state of
+ruin, certainly before the time of our Lord's nativity. I saw the Magi
+with their numerous retinue enter it before going into Jerusalem.
+
+When in meditation I behold the ruins of old castles and temples,
+see their neglected and forlorn state, and reflect on the uses to which
+they are now put, so different from the intentions of those who raised
+them, my mind always reverts to the events of our own days, when so
+many of the beautiful edifices erected by our pious and zealous
+ancestors are either destroyed, defaced, or used for worldly, if not
+wicked purposes. The little church of our convent, in which our Lord
+deigned to dwell, notwithstanding our unworthiness, and which was to me
+a paradise upon earth, is now without either roof or windows, and all
+the monuments are effaced or carried away. Our beloved convent, too,
+what will be done with it in a short time? That convent, where I was
+more happy in my little cell with my broken chair, than a king could be
+on his throne, for from its window I beheld that part of the church
+which contained the Blessed Sacrament. In a few years, perhaps, no one
+will know that it ever existed,--no one will know that it once contained
+hundreds of souls consecrated to God, who spent their days in imploring
+his mercy upon sinners. But God will know all, he never forgets,--the past
+and the future are equally present to him. He it is who reveals to me
+events which took place so long ago, and on the day of judgment, when
+all must be accounted for, and every debt paid, even to the farthing,
+he will remember both the good and the evil deeds performed in places
+long since forgotten. With God there is no exception of persons or
+places, his eyes see all, even the Vineyard of Naboth. It is a
+tradition among us that our convent was originally founded by two poor
+nuns, whose worldly possessions consisted in a jar of oil and a sack of
+beans. On the last day God will reward them for the manner in which
+they put out this small talent to interest, and for the large harvest
+which they reaped and presented to him. It is often said that poor
+souls remain in purgatory in punishment for what appears to us so small
+a crime as not having made restitution of a few coppers of which they
+had unlawful possession. May God therefore have mercy upon those who
+have seized the property of the poor, or of the Church.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Jesus before Pilate.
+
+
+
+It was about eight in the morning, according to our method of
+counting time, when the procession reached the palace of Pilate. Annas,
+Caiphas, and the chiefs of the Sanhedrin stopped at a part between the
+forum and the entrance to the Praetorium, where some stone seats were
+placed for them. The brutal guards dragged Jesus to the foot of the
+flight of stairs which led to the judgment-seat of Pilate. Pilate was
+reposing in a comfortable chair, on a terrace which overlooked the
+forum, and a small three-legged table stood by his side, on which was
+placed the insignia of his office, and a few other things. He was
+surrounded by officers and soldiers dressed with the magnificence usual
+in the Roman army. The Jews and the priests did not enter the
+Praetorium, for fear of defiling themselves, but remained outside.
+
+When Pilate saw the tumultuous procession enter, and perceived how
+shamefully the cruel Jews had treated their prisoner, he arose, and
+addressed them in a tone as contemptuous as could have been assumed by
+a victorious general towards the vanquished chief of some insignificant
+village: 'What are you come about so early? Why have you illtreated this
+prisoner so shamefully? Is it not possible to refrain from thus tearing
+to pieces and beginning to execute your criminals even before they are
+judged?' They made no answer, but shouted out to the guards, 'Bring him
+on--bring him to be judged!' and then, turning to Pilate, they said, 'Listen
+to our accusations against this malefactor; for we cannot enter the
+tribunal lest we defile ourselves.' Scarcely had they finished these
+words; when a voice was heard to issue from the midst of the dense
+multitude; it proceeded from a venerable-looking old man, of imposing
+stature, who exclaimed, 'You are right in not entering the Praetorium,
+for it has been sanctified by the blood of Innocents; there is but one
+Person who has a right to enter, and who alone can enter, because he
+alone is pure as the Innocents who were massacred there.' The person who
+uttered these words in a loud voice, and then disappeared among the
+crowd, was a rich man of the name of Zadoc, first-cousin to Obed, the
+husband of Veronica; two of his children were among the Innocents whom
+Herod had caused to be butchered at the birth of our Saviour. Since
+that dreadful moment he had given up the world, and, together with his
+wife, followed the rules of the Essenians. He had once seen our Saviour
+at the house of Lazarus, and there heard him discourse, and the sight
+of the barbarous manner in which he was dragged before Pilate recalled
+to his mind all he himself had suffered when his babes were so cruelly
+murdered before his eyes, and he determined to give this public
+testimony of his belief in the innocence of Jesus. The persecutors of
+our Lord were far too provoked at the haughty manner which Pilate
+assumed towards them, and at the humble position they were obliged to
+occupy, to take any notice of the words of a stranger.
+
+The brutal guards dragged our Lord up the marble staircase, and led
+him to the end of the terrace, from whence Pilate was conferring with
+the Jewish priests. The Roman governor had often heard of Jesus,
+although he had never seen him, and now he was perfectly astonished at
+the calm dignity of department of a man brought before him in so
+pitiable a condition. The inhuman behaviour of the priests and ancients
+both exasperated him and increased his contempt for them, and he
+informed them pretty quickly that the had not the slightest intention
+of condemning Jesus without satisfactory proofs of the truth of their
+accusation. 'What accusation do you bring against this man?' said he,
+addressing the priests in the most scornful tone possible. 'If he were
+not a malefactor we would not have delivered him up to thee,' replied the
+priests sullenly. 'Take him,' said Pilate, 'and judge you him according to
+your law.' 'Thou knowest well,' replied they, 'that it is not lawful for us to
+condemn any man to death.' The enemies of Jesus were furious--they wished to
+have the trial finished off, and their victim executed as quickly as
+possible, that they might be ready at the festival-day to sacrifice the
+Paschal lamb, not knowing, miserable wretches as they were, that he
+whom they had dragged before the tribunal of an idolatrous judge (into
+whose house they would not enter, for fear of defiling themselves
+before partaking of the figurative victim), that he, and he alone, was
+the true Paschal Lamb, of which the other was only the shadow.
+
+Pilate, however, at last ordered them to produce their accusations.
+These accusations were three in number, and they brought forward ten
+witnesses to attest the truth of each. Their great aim was to make
+Pilate believe that Jesus was the leader of a conspiracy against the
+emperor, in order that he might condemn him to death as a rebel. They
+themselves were powerless in such matters, being allowed to judge none
+but religious offences. Their first endeavour was to convict him of
+seducing the people, exciting them to rebellion, and of being an enemy
+to public peace and tranquillity. To prove these charges they brought
+forward some false witnesses, and declared likewise that he violated
+the Sabbath, and even profaned it by curing the sick upon that day. At
+this accusation Pilate interrupted them, and said in a jeering tone, 'It
+is very evident you were none of you ill yourselves--had you been so you
+would not have complained of being cured on the Sabbath-day.' 'He seduces
+the people, and inculcates the most disgusting doctrines. He even says,
+that no person can attain eternal life unless they eat his flesh and
+drink his blood.' Pilate was quite provoked at the intense hatred which
+their words and countenances expressed and, turning from them with a
+look of scorn, exclaimed, 'You most certainly must wish to follow his
+doctrines and to attain eternal life, for you are thirsting for both
+his body and blood.'
+
+The Jews then brought forward the second accusation against Jesus,
+which was that he forbad the people to pay tribute to the emperor.
+These words roused the indignation of Pilate, as it was his place to
+see that all the taxes were properly paid, and he exclaimed in an angry
+tone, 'That is a lie! I must know more about it than you.' This obliged the
+enemies of our Lord to proceed to the third accusation, which they did
+in words such as these: 'Although this man is of obscure birth, he is the
+chief of a large party. When at their head, he denounces curses upon
+Jerusalem, and relates parables of double meaning concerning a king who
+is preparing a wedding feast for his son. The multitude whom he had
+gathered together on a mountain endeavoured once to make him their
+king; but it was sooner than he intended: his plans were not matured;
+therefore he fled and hid himself. Latterly he has come forward much
+more: it was but the other day that he entered Jerusalem at the head of
+a tumultuous assembly, who by his orders made the people rend the air
+with acclamations of "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed be the empire
+of our Father David, which is now beginning." He obliges his partisans to
+pay him regal honours, and tells them that he is the Christ, the
+Anointed of the Lord, the Messiah, the king promised to the Jews, and
+he wishes to be addressed by these fine titles.' Then witnesses gave
+testimony concerning these things. The last accusation--that of Jesus
+causing himself to be called king--made some impression upon Pilate; he
+became a little thoughtful, left the terrace and, casting a
+scrutinising glance on Jesus, went into the adjoining apartment, and
+ordered the guards to bring him alone into his presence. Pilate was not
+only superstitious, but likewise extremely weak-minded and susceptible.
+He had often, during the course of his pagan education, heard mention
+made of sons of his gods who had dwelt for a time upon earth; he was
+likewise fully aware that the Jewish prophets had long foretold that
+one should appear in the midst of them who should be the Anointed of
+the Lord, their Saviour, and Deliverer from slavery; and that many
+among the people believed this firmly. He remembered likewise that
+kings from the east had come to Herod, the predecessor of the present
+monarch of that name, to pay homage to a newly-born king of the Jews,
+and that Herod had on this account given orders for the massacre of the
+Innocents. He had often heard of the traditions concerning the Messiah
+and the king of the Jews, and even examined them with some curiosity;
+although of course, being a pagan, without the slightest belief. Had he
+believed at all, he would probably have agreed with the Herodians, and
+with those Jews who expected a powerful and victorious king. With such
+impressions, the idea of the Jews accusing the poor miserable
+individual whom they had brought into his presence of setting himself
+up as the promised king and Messiah, of course appeared to him absurd;
+but as the enemies of Jesus brought forward these charges in proof of
+treason against the emperor, he thought it proper to interrogate him
+privately concerning them.
+
+'Art thou the king of the Jews,' said Pilate, looking at our Lord, and
+unable to repress his astonishment at the divine expression of his
+countenance.
+
+Jesus made answer, 'Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others
+told it thee of me?'
+
+Pilate was offended that Jesus should think it possible for him to
+believe such a thing, and answered, 'Am I a Jew? Thy own nation and the
+chief priests have delivered thee up to me as deserving of death: what
+hast thou done?'
+
+Jesus answered majestically, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If my
+kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I
+should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from
+hence.'
+
+Pilate was somewhat moved by these solemn words, and said to him in
+a more serious tone, 'Art thou a king, then?'
+
+Jesus answered, 'Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born,
+and for this I came into the world, that I should give testimony to the
+truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.'
+
+ Pilate looked at him, and rising from his seat said, 'The truth! What
+is truth?'
+
+They then exchanged a few more words, which I do not now remember,
+and Pilate returned to the terrace. The answers and deportment of Jesus
+were far beyond his comprehension; but he saw plainly that his
+assumption of royalty would not clash with that of the emperor, for
+that it was to no worldly kingdom that he laid claim; whereas the
+emperor cared for nothing beyond this world. He therefore again
+addressed the chief priests from the terrace, and said, 'I find no cause
+in him.' The enemies of Jesus became furious, and uttered a thousand
+different accusations against our Saviour. But he remained silent,
+solely occupied in praying for his base enemies, and replied not when
+Pilate addressed him in these words, 'Answerest thou nothing? Behold in
+how many things they accuse thee!' Pilate was filled with astonishment,
+and said, 'I see plainly that all they allege is false.' But his accusers,
+whose anger continued to increase, cried out, 'You find no cause in him?
+Is it no crime to incite the people to revolt in all parts of the
+kingdom?--to spread his false doctrines, not only here, but in Galilee
+likewise?'
+
+The mention of Galilee made Pilate pause: he reflected for a moment,
+and then asked, 'Is this man a Galilean, and a subject of Herod's?' They made
+answer, 'He is; his parents lived at Nazareth, and his present dwelling
+is in Capharnaum.'
+
+'Since that is the case,' replied Pilate, 'take him before Herod; he is
+here for the festival, and can judge him at once, as he is his subject.'
+Jesus was immediately led out of the tribunal, and Pilate dispatched an
+officer to Herod, to inform him that Jesus of Nazareth, who was his
+subject, was about to be brought to him to be judged. Pilate had two
+reasons for following this line of conduct; in the first place he was
+delighted to escape having to pass sentence himself, as he felt very
+uncomfortable about the whole affair; and in the second place he was
+glad of an opportunity of pleasing Herod, with whom he had had a
+disagreement, for he knew him to be very curious to see Jesus.
+
+The enemies of our Lord were enraged at being thus dismissed by
+Pilate in the presence of the whole multitude, and gave vent to their
+anger by ill-treating him even more than before. They pinioned him
+afresh, and then ceased not overwhelming him with curses and blows as
+they led him hurriedly through the crowd, towards the palace of Herod,
+which was situated at no great distance from the forum. Some Roman
+soldiers had joined the procession.
+
+During the time of the trial Claudia Procles, the wife of Pilate,
+had sent him frequent messages to intimate that she wished extremely to
+speak to him; and when Jesus was sent to Herod, she placed herself on a
+balcony and watched the cruel conduct of his enemies with mingled
+feelings of fear, grief, and horror.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+The Origin of the Way of the Cross.
+
+
+
+During the whole of the scene which we have just described, the
+Mother of Jesus, with Magdalen and John, had stood in a recess in the
+forum: they were overwhelmed with the most bitter sorrow, which was but
+increased by all they heard and saw. When Jesus was taken before Herod,
+John led the Blessed Virgin and Magdalen over the parts which had been
+sanctified by his footsteps. They again looked at the house of Caiphas,
+that of Annas, Ophel, Gethsemani, and the Garden of Olives; they
+stopped and contemplated each spot where he had fallen, or where he had
+suffered particularly; and they wept silently at the thought of all he
+had undergone. The Blessed Virgin knelt down frequently and kissed the
+ground where her Son had fallen, while Magdalen wrung her hands in
+bitter grief, and John, although he could not restrain his own tears,
+endeavoured to console his companions, supported and led them on. Thus
+was the holy devotion of the 'Way of the Cross' first practised; thus were
+the Mysteries of the Passion of Jesus first honoured, even before that
+Passion was accomplished, and the Blessed Virgin, that model of
+spotless purity, was the first to show forth the deep veneration felt
+by the Church for our dear Lord. How sweet and consoling to follow this
+Immaculate Mother, passing to and fro, and bedewing the sacred spots
+with her tears. But, ah! Who can describe the sharp, sharp sword of
+grief which then transfixed her tender soul? She who had once borne the
+Saviour of the world in her chaste womb, and suckled him for so long,--she
+who had truly conceived him who was the Word of God, in God from all
+eternity, and truly God,--she beneath whose heart, full of grace, he had
+deigned to dwell nine months, who had felt him living within her before
+he appeared among men to impart the blessing of salvation and teach
+them his heavenly doctrines; she suffered with Jesus, sharing with him
+not only the sufferings of his bitter Passion, but likewise that ardent
+desire of redeeming fallen man by an ignominious death, which consumed
+him.
+
+In this touching manner did the most pure and holy Virgin lay the
+foundation of the devotion called the Way of the Cross; thus at each
+station, marked by the sufferings of her Son, did she lay up in her
+heart the inexhaustible merits of his Passion, and gather them up as
+precious stones or sweet-scented flowers to be presented as a choice
+offering to the Eternal Father in behalf of all true believers. The
+grief of Magdalen was so intense as to make her almost like an insane
+person. The holy and boundless love she felt for our Lord prompted her
+to cast herself at his feet, and there pour forth the feelings of her
+heart (as she once poured the precious ointment on his head as he sat
+at table); but when on the point of following this impulse, a dark gulf
+appeared to intervene between herself and him. The repentance she felt
+for her faults was immense, and not less intense was her gratitude for
+their pardon; but when she longed to offer acts of love and
+thanksgiving as precious incense at the feet of Jesus, she beheld him
+betrayed, suffering, and about to die for the expiation of her offences
+which he had taken upon himself, and this sight filled her with horror,
+and almost rent her soul asunder with feelings of love, repentance, and
+gratitude. The sight of the ingratitude of those for whom he was about
+to die increased the bitterness of these feelings tenfold, and every
+step, word, or movement demonstrated the agony of her soul. The heart
+of John was filled with love, and he suffered intensely, but he uttered
+not a word. He supported the Mother of his beloved Master in this her
+first pilgrimage through the stations of the Way of the Cross, and
+assisted her in giving the example of that devotion which has since
+been practised with so much fervour by the members of the Christian
+Church.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Pilate and his Wife.
+
+
+
+Whilst the Jews were leading Jesus to Herod, I saw Pilate go to his
+wife, Claudia Procles. She hastened to meet him, and they went together
+into a small garden-house which was on one of the terraces behind the
+palace. Claudia appeared to be much excited, and under the influence of
+fear. She was a tall, fine-looking woman, although extremely pale. Her
+hair was plaited and slightly ornamented, but partly covered by a long
+veil which fell gracefully over her shoulders. She wore earrings, a
+necklace, and her flowing dress was drawn together and held up by a
+species of clasp. She conversed with Pilate for a long time, and
+entreated him by all that he held sacred not to injure Jesus, that
+Prophet, that saint of saints; and she related the extraordinary dreams
+or visions which she had had on the previous night concerning him.
+
+Whilst she was speaking I saw the greatest part of these visions:
+the following were the most striking. In the first place, the principal
+events in the life of our Lord--the annunciation, the nativity, the
+adoration of the shepherds and that of the kings, the prophecy of
+Simeon and that of Anna, the flight into Egypt, the massacre of the
+Innocents, and our Lord's temptation in the wilderness. She had likewise
+been shown in her sleep the most striking features of the public life
+of Jesus. He always appeared to her environed with a resplendent light,
+but his malicious and cruel enemies were under the most horrible and
+disgusting forms imaginable. She saw his intense sufferings, his
+patience, and his inexhaustible love, likewise the anguish of his
+Mother, and her perfect resignation. These visions filled the wife of
+Pilate with the greatest anxiety and terror, particularly as they were
+accompanied by symbols which made her comprehend their meaning, and her
+tender feelings were harrowed by the sight of such dreadful scenes. She
+had suffered from them during the whole of the night; they were
+sometimes obscure, but more often clear and distinct; and when morning
+dawned and she was roused by the noise of the tumultuous mob who were
+dragging Jesus to be judged, she glanced at the procession and
+instantly saw that the unresisting victim in the midst of the crows,
+bound, suffering, and so inhumanely treated as to be scarcely
+recognisable, was no other than that bright and glorious being who had
+been so often brought before her eyes in the visions of the past night.
+She was greatly affected by this sight, and immediately sent for
+Pilate, and gave him an account of all that had happened to her. She
+spoke with much vehemence and emotion; and although there was a great
+deal in what she had seen which she could not understand, much less
+express, yet she entreated and implored her husband in the most
+touching terms to grant her request.
+
+Pilate was both astonished and troubled by the words of his wife. He
+compared the narration with all he had previously heard concerning
+Jesus; and reflected on the hatred of the Jews, the majestic silence of
+our Saviour, and the mysterious answers he had given to all his
+questions. He hesitated for some time, but was at last overcome by the
+entreaties of his wife, and told her that he had already declared his
+conviction of the innocence of Jesus, and that he would not condemn
+him, because he saw that the accusations were mere fabrications of his
+enemies. He spoke of the words of Jesus to himself, promised his wife
+that nothing should induce him to condemn this just man, and even gave
+her a ring before they parted as a pledge of his promise.
+
+The character of Pilate was debauched and undecided, but his worst
+qualities were an extreme pride and meanness which made him never
+hesitate in the performance of an unjust action, provided it answered
+his ends. He was excessively superstitious, and when in any difficulty
+had recourse to charms and spells. He was much puzzled and alarmed
+about the trial of Jesus; and I saw him running backwards and forwards,
+offering incense first to one god and then to another, and imploring
+them to assist him; but Satan filled his imagination with still greater
+confusion; he first instilled one false idea and then another into his
+mind. He then had recourse to one of his favourite superstitious
+practices, that of watching the sacred chickens eat, but in vain,--his
+mind remained enveloped in darkness, and he became more and more
+undecided. He first thought that he would acquit our Saviour, whom he
+well knew to be innocent, but then he feared incurring the wrath of his
+false gods if he spared him, as he fancied he might be a species of
+demigod, and obnoxious to them. 'It is possible,' said he inwardly, 'that
+this man may really be that king of the Jews concerning whose coming
+there are so many prophecies. It was a king of the Jews whom the Magi
+came from the East to adore. Perhaps he is a secret enemy both of our
+gods and of the emperor; it might be most imprudent in me to spare his
+life. Who knows whether his death would not be a triumph to my gods?'
+Then he remembered the wonderful dreams described to him by his wife,
+who had never seen Jesus, and he again changed, and decided that it
+would be safer not to condemn him. He tried to persuade himself that he
+wished to pass a just sentence; but he deceived himself, for when he
+asked himself, 'What is the truth?' he did not wait for the answer. His
+mind was filled with confusion, and he was quite at a loss how to act,
+as his sole desire was to entail no risk upon himself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+Jesus before Herod.
+
+
+
+The palace of the Tetrarch Herod was built on the north side of the
+forum, in the new town; not very far from that of Pilate. An escort of
+Roman soldiers, mostly from that part of the country which is situated
+between Switzerland and Italy, had joined the procession. The enemies
+of Jesus were perfectly furious at the trouble they were compelled to
+take in going backwards and forwards, and therefore vented their rage
+upon him. Pilate's messenger had preceded the procession, consequently
+Herod was expecting them. He was seated on a pile of cushions, heaped
+together so as to form a species of throne, in a spacious hall, and
+surrounded by courtiers and warriors. The Chief Priests entered and
+placed themselves by his side, leaving Jesus at the entrance. Herod was
+much elated and pleased at Pilate's having thus publicly acknowledged his
+right of judging the Galileans, and likewise rejoiced at seeing that
+Jesus who had never deigned to appear before him reduced to such a
+state of humiliation and degradation. His curiosity had been greatly
+excited by the high terms in which John the Baptist had announced the
+coming of Jesus, and he had likewise heard much about him from the
+Herodians, and through the many spies whom he had sent into different
+parts: he was therefore delighted at this opportunity of interrogating
+him in the presence of the courtiers and of the Jewish priests, hoping
+to make a grand display of this own knowledge and talents. Pilate
+having sent him word, 'that he could find no cause in the man,' he
+concluded that these words were intended as a hint that he (Pilate)
+wished the accusers to be treated with contempt and mistrust. He,
+therefore, addressed them in the most haughty distant manner possible,
+and thereby increased their rage and anger indescribably.
+
+They all began at once to vociferate their accusations, to which
+Herod hardly listened, being intent solely on gratifying his curiosity
+by a close examination of Jesus, whom he had so often wished to see.
+But when he beheld him stripped of all clothing save the remnant of a
+mantel, scarcely able to stand, and his countenance totally disfigured
+from the blows he had received, and from the mud and missiles which the
+rabble had flung at his head, the luxurious and effeminate prince
+turned away in disgust, uttered the name of God, and said to the
+priests in a tone of mingled pity and contempt, 'Take him hence, and
+bring him not back into my presence in such a deplorable state.' The
+guards took Jesus into the outer court, and procured some water in a
+basin, with which they cleansed his soiled garments and disfigured
+countenance; but they could not restrain their brutality even while
+doing this, and paid no regard to the wounds with which he was covered.
+
+Herod meantime accosted the priests in much the same strain as
+Pilate had done. 'Your behaviour vastly resembles that of butchers,' he
+said, 'and you commence your immolations pretty early in the morning.' The
+Chief Priests produced their accusations at once. Herod, when Jesus was
+again brought into his presence, pretended to feel some compassion, and
+offered him a glass of wine to recruit his strength; but Jesus turned
+his head away and refused this alleviation.
+
+Herod then began to expatiate with great volubility on all he had
+heard concerning our Lord. He asked a thousand questions, and exhorted
+him to work a miracle in his presence; but Jesus answered not a word,
+and stood before him with his eyes cast down, which conduct both
+irritated and disconcerted Herod, although he endeavoured to conceal
+his anger, and continued his interrogations. He at first expressed
+surprise, and made use of persuasive words. 'Is it possible, Jesus of
+Nazareth,' he exclaimed, 'that it is thou thyself that appearest before me
+as a criminal? I have heard thy actions so much spoken of. Thou art not
+perhaps aware that thou didst offend me grievously by setting free the
+prisoners whom I had confined at Thirza, but possibly thy intentions
+were good. The Roman governor has now sent thee to me to be judged;
+what answer canst thou give to all these accusations? Thou art silent?
+I have heard much concerning thy wisdom, and the religion thou
+teachest, let me hear thee answer and confound thy enemies. Art thou
+the king of the Jews? Art thou the Son of God? Who art thou? Thou art
+said to have performed wonderful miracles; work one now in my presence.
+I have the power to release thee. Is it true that thou hast restored
+sight to the blind, raised up Lazarus from the dead, and fed two or
+three thousand persons with a few loaves? Why dost thou not answer? I
+recommend thee to work a miracle quickly before me; perhaps thou mayest
+rejoice afterwards at having complied with my wishes.'
+
+Jesus still kept silence, and Herod continued to question him with
+even more volubility.
+
+'Who art thou?' said he. 'From whence hast thou thy power? How is it that
+thou dost no longer possess it? Art thou he whose birth was foretold in
+such a wonderful manner? Kings from the East came to my father to see a
+newly-born king of the Jews: is it true that thou wast that child?
+Didst thou escape when so many children were massacred, and how was thy
+escape managed? Why hast thou been for so many years unknown? Answer my
+questions! Art thou a king? Thy appearance certainly is not regal. I
+have been told that thou wast conducted to the Temple in triumph a
+short time ago. What was the meaning of such an exhibition?--speak out at
+once!--Answer me!'
+
+Herod continued to question Jesus in this rapid manner; but our Lord
+did not vouchsafe a reply. I was shown (as indeed I already knew) that
+Jesus was thus silent because Herod was in a state of excommunication,
+both on account of his adulterous marriage with Herodias, and of his
+having given orders for the execution of St. John the Baptist. Annas
+and Caiphas, seeing how indignant Herod was at the silence of Jesus,
+immediately endeavoured to take advantage of his feelings of wrath, and
+recommenced their accusations, saying that he had called Herod himself
+a fox; that his great aim for many years had been the overthrow of
+Herod's family; that he was endeavouring to establish a new religion, and
+had celebrated the Pasch on the previous day. Although Herod was
+extremely enraged at the conduct of Jesus, he did not lose sight of the
+political ends which he wished to forward. He was determined not to
+condemn our Lord, both because he experienced a secret and indefinable
+sensation of terror in his presence, and because he still felt remorse
+at the thought of having put John the Baptist to death, besides which
+he detested the High Priests for not having allowed him to take part in
+the sacrifices on account of his adulterous connection with Herodias.
+
+But his principal reason for determining not to condemn Jesus was,
+that he wished to make some return to Pilate for his courtesy, and he
+thought the best return would be the compliment of showing deference to
+his decision and agreeing with him in opinion. But he spoke in the most
+contemptuous manner to Jesus, and turning to the guards and servants
+who surrounded him, and who were about two hundred in number, said: 'Take
+away this fool, and pay him that homage which is his due; he is mad,
+rather than guilty of any crime.'
+
+Our Lord was immediately taken into a large court, where every
+possible insult and indignity was heaped upon him. This court was
+between the two wings of the palace, and Herod stood a spectator on a
+platform for some time. Annas and Caiphas were by his side,
+endeavouring to persuade him to condemn our Saviour. But their efforts
+were fruitless, and Herod answered in a tone loud enough to be heard by
+the Roman soldiers: 'No, I should act quite wrongly if I condemned him.'
+His meaning was, that it would be wrong to condemn as guilty one whom
+Pilate had pronounced innocent, although he had been so courteous as to
+defer the final judgment to him.
+
+When the High Priests and the other enemies of Jesus perceived that
+Herod was determined no to give in to their wishes, they dispatched
+emissaries to that division of the city called Acre, which was chiefly
+inhabited by Pharisees, to let them know that they must assemble in the
+neighbourhood of Pilate's palace, gather together the rabble, and bribe
+them to make a tumult, and demand the condemnation of our Lord. They
+likewise sent forth secret agents to alarm the people by threats of the
+divine vengeance if they did not insist on the execution of Jesus, whom
+they termed a sacrilegious blasphemer. These agents were ordered
+likewise to alarm them by intimating that if Jesus were not put to
+death, he would go over to the Romans, assist in the extermination of
+the Jewish nation, for that it was to this he referred when he spoke of
+his future kingdom. They endeavoured to spread a report in other parts
+of the city, that Herod had condemned him, but still that it was
+necessary for the people likewise to express their wishes, as his
+partisans were to be feared; for that if he were released he would join
+the Romans, make a disturbance on the festival day, and take the most
+inhuman revenge. Some among them circulated contradictory and alarming
+reports, in order to excite the people and cause an insurrection; while
+others distributed money among the soldiers to bribe them to ill-treat
+Jesus, so as to cause his death, which they were most anxious should be
+brought about as quickly as possible, lest Pilate should acquit him.
+
+Whilst the Pharisees were busying themselves in this manner, our
+Blessed Saviour was suffering the greatest outrages from the brutal
+soldiers to whom Herod had delivered him, that they might deride him as
+a fool. They dragged him into the court, and one of their number having
+procured a large white sack which had once been filled with cotton,
+they made a hole in its centre with a sword, and then tossed it over
+the head of Jesus, accompanying each action with bursts of the most
+contemptuous laughter. Another soldier brought the remnant of an old
+scarlet cloak, and passed it round his neck, while the rest bent their
+knee before him--shoved him--abused him--spat upon him--struck him on the check,
+because he had refused to answer their king, mocked him by pretending
+to pay homage--threw mud upon him--seized him by the waist, pretending to
+make him dance; then, having thrown him down, dragged him through a
+gutter which ran on the side of the court, thus causing his sacred head
+to strike against the columns and sides of the wall, and when at last
+they raised him up, it was only in order to recommence their insults.
+The soldiers and servants of Herod who were assembled in this court
+amounted to upwards of two hundred, and all thought to pay court to
+their monarch by torturing Jesus in some unheard-of way. Many were
+bribed by the enemies of our Lord to strike him on the head with their
+sticks, and they took advantage of the confusion and tumult to do so.
+Jesus looked upon them with compassion; excess of pain drew from him
+occasional moans and groans, but his enemies rejoiced in his
+sufferings, and mocked his moans, and not one among the whole assembly
+showed the slightest degree of compassion. I saw blood streaming from
+his head, and three times did the blows prostrate him, but angels were
+weeping at his side, and they anointed his head with heavenly balsam.
+It was revealed to me that had it not been for this miraculous
+assistance he must have died from those wounds. The Philistines at
+Gaza, who gave vent to their wrath by tormenting poor blind Samson;
+were far less barbarous than these cruel executioners of our Lord.
+
+The priests were, however, impatient to return to the Temple;
+therefore, having made certain that their orders regarding Jesus would
+be obeyed, they returned to Herod, and endeavoured to persuade him to
+condemn our Lord. But he, being determined to do all in his power to
+please Pilate, refused to accede to their wishes, and sent Jesus back
+again clothed in the fool's garment.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+Jesus led back from the Court of Herod to that of Pilate.
+
+
+
+The enemies of Jesus were perfectly infuriated at being obliged to
+take Jesus back, still uncondemned, to Pilate, who had so many times
+declared his innocence. They led him round by a much longer road, in
+order in the first place to let the persons of that part of the town
+see him in the state of ignominy to which he was reduced, and in the
+second place to give their emissaries more time to stir up the populace.
+
+This road was extremely rough and uneven; and the soldiers,
+encouraged by the Pharisees, scarcely refrained a moment from
+tormenting Jesus. The long garment with which he was clothed impeded
+his steps, and caused him to fall heavily more than once; and his cruel
+guards, as also many among the brutal populace, instead of assisting
+him in his state of exhaustion, endeavoured by blows and kicks to force
+him to rise.
+
+To all these outrages Jesus offered not the smallest resistance; he
+prayed constantly to his Father for grace and strength that he might
+not sink under them, but accomplish the work of his Passion for our
+redemption.
+
+It was about eight o'clock when the procession reached the palace of
+Pilate. The crowd was dense, and the Pharisees might be seen walking to
+and fro, endeavouring to incite and infuriate them still more. Pilate,
+who remembered an insurrection which had taken place the year before at
+the Paschal time, had assembled upwards of a thousand soldiers, whom he
+posted around the Praetorium, the Forum, and his palace.
+
+The Blessed Virgin, her elder sister Mary (the daughter of Heli),
+Mari (the daughter of Cleophas), Magdalen, and about twenty of the holy
+women, were standing in a room from whence they could see all which
+took place, and at first John was with them.
+
+The Pharisees led Jesus, still clothed in the fool's garment, through
+the midst of the insolent mob, and had done all in their power to
+gather together the most vile and wicked of miscreants from among the
+dregs of the people. A servant sent by Herod had already reached
+Pilate, with a message to the effect that his master had fully
+appreciated his polite deference to his opinion, but that he looked
+upon the far famed Galilean as not better than a fool, that he had
+treated him as such, and now sent him back. Pilate was quite satisfied
+at finding that Herod had come to the same conclusion as himself, and
+therefore returned a polite message. From that hour they became
+friends, having been enemies many years; in fact, ever since the
+falling-in of the aqueduct.
+
+
+
+ [The cause of the quarrel between Pilate and Herod was, according
+to the account of Sister Emmerich, simply this: Pilate had undertaken
+to build an aqueduct on the south-east side of the mountain on which
+the Temple stood, at the edge of the torrent into which the waters of
+the pool of Bethsaida emptied themselves, and this aqueduct was to
+carry off the refuse of the Temple. Herod, through the medium of one of
+his confidants, who was a member of the Sanhedrin, agreed to furnish
+him with the necessary materials, as also with twenty-eight architects,
+who were also Herodians. His aim was to set the Jews still more against
+the Roman governor, by causing the undertaking to fail. He accordingly
+came to a private understanding with the architects, who agreed to
+construct the aqueduct in such a manner that it would be certain to
+fail. When the work was almost finished, and a number of bricklayers
+from Ophel were busily employed in removing the scaffolding, the
+twenty-eight builders went on to the top of the Tower of Siloe to
+contemplate the crash which they knew must take place. Not only did the
+whole of the building crumble to pieces, fall, and kill ninety-three
+workmen, but even the tower containing the twenty-eight architects came
+down, and not one escaped death. This accident occurred a short time
+previous to the 8th of January, two years after Jesus had commenced
+preaching; it took place on Herod's birthday, the same day that John the
+Baptist was beheaded in the Castle of Marcherunt. No Roman officer
+attended these festivities on account of the affair of the aqueduct,
+although Pilate had, with hypocritical politeness, been requested to
+take a part in them. Sister Emmerich saw some of the disciples of Jesus
+carry the news of this event into Samaria, where he was teaching, on
+the 8th of January. Jesus went from thence to Hebron, to comfort the
+family of John; and she saw him, on the 13th of January, cure many
+among the workmen of Ophel who had been injured by the fall of the
+aqueduct. We have seen by the relation previously given how little
+gratitude they showed him. The enmity of Herod towards Pilate was still
+farther increased by the manner in which the latter revenged himself on
+the followers of Herod. We will insert here a few details which were
+communicated at different times to Sister Emmerich. On the 25th of
+March, of the second year of our Lord's preaching, when Jesus and his
+disciples were in the neighbourhood of Bethania, they were warned by
+Lazarus that Judas of Gaulon intended to excite an insurrection against
+Pilate. On the 28th of March, Pilate issued a proclamation to the
+effect that he intended to impose a tax, the proceeds of which were
+partly to cover the expenses he had incurred in raising the building
+which had just fallen to the ground. This announcement was followed by
+a sedition headed by Judas of Gaulon, who always stood up for liberty,
+and who was (unknown to himself) a tool in the hands of the Herodians.
+The Herodians were rather like our Freemasons. On the 30th of March, at
+ten o'clock p.m., Jesus, dressed in a dark garment, was teaching in the
+Temple, with his Apostles and thirty disciples. The revolt of the
+Galileans against Pilate burst forth on this very day, and the rebels
+set free fifty of their number who had been imprisoned the day before;
+and many among the Romans were killed. On the 6th of April, Pilate
+caused the Galileans to be massacred at the moment of offering
+sacrifice, by disguised soldiers whom he had concealed in the Temple.
+Judas was killed with his companions. This massacre exasperated Herod
+still more against Pilate, and we have just seen by what means their
+reconciliation was effected.]
+
+
+
+Jesus was again led to the house of Pilate. The archers dragged him
+up the stairs with their usual brutality; his feet became entangled in
+his long robe, and he fell upon the white marble steps, which were
+stained with blood from his sacred head. His enemies had again taken
+their seats at the entrance of the forum; the mob laughed at his fall,
+and the archers truck their innocent victim, instead of assisting him
+to rise. Pilate was reclining on a species of easy-chair, with a little
+table before him, and surrounded with officers and persons who held
+strips of parchment covered with writing in their hands. He came
+forward and said to the accusers of Jesus: 'You have presented unto me
+this man, as one that perverteth the people, and behold I, having
+examined him before you, find no cause in this man in those things
+wherein you accuse him. No, nor Herod neither. For I sent you to him,
+and behold, nothing worthy of death is done to him. I will chastise
+him, therefore, and release him.'
+
+ When the Pharisees heard these words, they became furious, and
+endeavoured to the utmost of their power to persuade the people to
+revolt, distributing money among them to effect this purpose. Pilate
+looked around with contempt, and addressed them in scornful words.
+
+It happened to be the precise time when, according to an ancient
+custom, the people had the privilege of demanding the deliverance of
+one prisoner. The Pharisees had dispatched emissaries to persuade the
+people to demand the death, and not the life, of our Lord. Pilate hoped
+that they would ask for Jesus, and determined to give them to choose
+between him and a criminal called Barabbas, who had been convicted of a
+dreadful murder committed during a sedition, as also of many other
+crimes, and was, moreover, detested by the people.
+
+There was considerable excitement among the crowd; a certain portion
+came forward, and their orators, addressing Pilate in a loud voice,
+said: 'Grant us the favour you have always granted on the festival day.'
+Pilate made answer: 'It is customary for me to deliver to you a criminal
+at the Paschal time; whom will you that I release to you, Barabbas, or
+Jesus that is called Christ?'
+
+Although Pilate did not in his own mind feel at all certain that
+Jesus was the King of the Jews, yet he called him so, partly because
+his Roman pride made him take delight in humbling the Jews by calling
+such a despicable-looking person their king; and partly because he felt
+a kind of inward belief that Jesus might really be that miraculous
+king, that Messiah who had been promised. He saw plainly that the
+priests were incited by envy alone in their accusations against Jesus;
+this made him most anxious to disappoint them; and the desire was
+increased by that glimmering of the truth which partly enlightened his
+mind. There was some hesitation among the crowd when Pilate asked this
+question, and a few voices answered, 'Barabbas.' A servant sent by Pilate's
+wife asked for him at this moment; he left the platform, and the
+messenger presented the pledge which he had given her, saying at the
+same time: 'Claudia Procles begs you to remember your promise this
+morning.' The Pharisees and the priests walked anxiously and hastily
+about among the crowd, threatening some and ordering others, although,
+in fact, little was required to incite the already infuriated multitude.
+
+Mary, with Magdalen, John, and the holy women, stood in a corner of
+the forum, trembling and weeping; for although the Mother of Jesus was
+fully aware that the redemption of man could not be brought about by
+any other means than the death of her Son, yet she was filled with the
+anguish of a mother, and with a longing desire to save him from those
+tortures and from that death which he was about to suffer. She prayed
+God not to allow such a fearful crime to be perpetrated; she repeated
+the words of Jesus in the Garden of Olives: 'If it is possible, let this
+chalice pass away.' She still felt a glimmering of hope, because there
+was a report current that Pilate wished to acquit Jesus. Groups of
+persons, mostly inhabitants of Capharnaum, where Jesus had taught, and
+among whom he had wrought so many miraculous cures, were congregated in
+her vicinity; they pretended not to remember either her or her weeping
+companions; they simply cast a glance now and then, as if by chance, at
+their closely-veiled figures. Many thought, as did her companions
+likewise, that these persons at least would reject Barabbas, and beg
+for the life of their Saviour and Benefactor; but these hopes were,
+alas, fallacious.
+
+Pilate sent back the pledge to his wife, as an assurance of his
+intention to keep his promise. He again came forward on the platform,
+and seated himself at the little table. The Chief Priests took their
+seats likewise, and Pilate once more demanded: 'Which of the two am I to
+deliver up to you?' A general cry resounded through the hall: 'Not this
+man, but Barabbas!' 'But what am I to do with Jesus, who is called Christ?'
+replied Pilate. All exclaimed in a tumultuous manner: 'Let him be
+crucified! Let him be crucified!' 'But what evil has he done?' asked Pilate
+for the third time. 'I find no cause in him. I will scourge and then
+acquit him.' But the cry, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' burst from the crowd,
+and the sounds echoed like an infernal tempest; the High Priests and
+the Pharisees vociferated and hurried backwards and forwards as if
+insane. Pilate at last yielded; his weak pusillanimous character could
+not withstand such violent demonstrations; he delivered up Barabbas to
+the people, and condemned Jesus to be scourged.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+The Scourging of Jesus.
+
+
+
+That most weak and undecided of all judges, Pilate, had several
+times repeated these dastardly words: 'I find no crime in him: I will
+chastise him, therefore, and let him go;' to which the Jews had continued
+to respond, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' but he determined to adhere to his
+resolution of not condemning our Lord to death, and ordered him to be
+scourged according to the manner of the Romans. The guards were
+therefore ordered to conduct him through the midst of the furious
+multitude to the forum, which they did with the utmost brutality, at
+the same time loading him with abuse, and striking him with their
+staffs. The pillar where criminals were scourged stood to the north of
+Pilate's palace, near the guard-house, and the executioners soon arrived,
+carrying whips, rods, and ropes, which they tossed down at its base.
+They were six in number, dark, swarthy men, somewhat shorter than
+Jesus; their chests were covered with a piece of leather, or with some
+dirty stuff; their loins were girded, and their hairy, sinewy arms
+bare. They were malefactors from the frontiers of Egypt, who had been
+condemned for their crimes to hard labour, and were employed
+principally in making canals, and in erecting public buildings, the
+most criminal being selected to act as executioners in the Praetorium.
+
+These cruel men had many times scourged poor criminals to death at
+this pillar. They resembled wild beasts or demons, and appeared to be
+half drunk. They struck our Lord with their fists, and dragged him by
+the cords with which he was pinioned, although he followed them without
+offering the least resistance, and, finally, they barbarously knocked
+him down against the pillar. This pillar, placed in the centre of the
+court, stood alone, and did not serve to sustain any part of the
+building; it was not very high, for a tall man could touch the summit
+by stretching out his arm; there was a large iron ring at the top, and
+both rings and hooks a little lower down. It is quite impossible to
+describe the cruelty shown by these ruffians towards Jesus: they tore
+off the mantle with which he had been clothed in derision at the court
+of Herod, and almost threw prostrate again.
+
+Jesus trembled and shuddered as he stood before the pillar, and took
+off his garments as quickly as he could, but his hands were bloody and
+swollen. The only return he made when his brutal executioners struck
+and abused him was, to pray for them in the most touching manner: he
+turned his face once towards his Mother, who was standing overcome with
+grief; this look quite unnerved her: she fainted, and would have
+fallen, had not the holy women who were there supported her. Jesus put
+his arms round the pillar, and when his hands were thus raised, the
+archers fastened them to the iron ring which was at the top of the
+pillar; they then dragged his arms to such a height that his feet,
+which were tightly bound to the base of the pillar, scarcely touched
+the ground. Thus was the Holy of Holies violently stretched, without a
+particle of clothing, on a pillar used for the punishment of the
+greatest criminals; and then did two furious ruffians who were
+thirsting for his blood begin in the most barbarous manner to scourge
+his sacred body from head to foot. The whips or scourges which they
+first made use of appeared to me to be made of a species of flexible
+white wood, but perhaps they were composed of the sinews of the ox, or
+of strips of leather.
+
+Our loving Lord, the Son of God, true God and true Man, writhed as a
+worm under the blows of these barbarians; his mild but deep groans
+might be heard from afar; they resounded through the air, forming a
+kind of touching accompaniment to the hissing of the instruments of
+torture. These groans resembled rather a touching cry of prayer and
+supplication, than moans of anguish. The clamour of the Pharisees and
+the people formed another species of accompaniment, which at times as a
+deafening thunder-storm deadened and smothered these sacred and
+mournful cries, and in their place might be heard the words, 'Put him to
+death!' 'Crucify him!' Pilate continued parleying with the people, and when
+he demanded silence in order to be able to speak, he was obliged to
+proclaim his wishes to the clamorous assembly by the sound of a
+trumpet, and at such moments you might again hear the noise of the
+scourges, the moans of Jesus, the imprecations of the soldiers, and the
+bleating of the Paschal lambs which were being washed in the Probatica
+pool, at no great distance from the forum. There was something
+peculiarly touching in the plaintive bleating of these lambs: they
+alone appeared to unite their lamentations with the suffering moans of
+our Lord.
+
+The Jewish mob was gathered together at some distance from the
+pillar at which the dreadful punishment was taking place, and Roman
+soldiers were stationed in different parts round about. Many persons
+were walking to and fro, some in silence, others speaking of Jesus in
+the most insulting terms possible, and a few appearing touched, and I
+thought I beheld rays of light issuing from our Lord and entering the
+hearts of the latter. I saw groups of infamous, bold-looking young men,
+who were for the most part busying themselves near the watch-house in
+preparing fresh scourges, while others went to seek branches of thorns.
+Several of the servants of the High Priests went up to the brutal
+executioners and gave them money; as also a large jug filled with a
+strong bright red liquid, which quite inebriated them, and increased
+their cruelty tenfold towards their innocent Victim. The two ruffians
+continued to strike our Lord with unremitting violence for a quarter of
+an hour, and were then succeeded by two others. His body was entirely
+covered with black, blue, and red marks; the blood was trickling down
+on the ground, and yet the furious cries which issued from among the
+assembled Jews showed that their cruelty was far from being satiated.
+
+The night had been extremely cold, and the morning was dark and
+cloudy; a little hail had fallen, which surprised everyone, but towards
+twelve o'clock the day became brighter, and the sun shone forth.
+
+The two fresh executioners commenced scourging Jesus with the
+greatest possible fury; they made use of a different kind of rod,--a
+species of thorny stick, covered with knots and splinters. The blows
+from these sticks tore his flesh to pieces; his blood spouted out so as
+to stain their arms, and he groaned, prayed, and shuddered. At this
+moment, some strangers mounted on camels passed through the forum; they
+stopped for a moment, and were quite overcome with pity and horror at
+the scene before them, upon which some of the bystanders explained the
+cause of what they witnessed. Some of these travellers had been
+baptised by John, and others had heard the sermon of Jesus on the
+mountain. The noise and the tumult of the mob was even more deafening
+near the house of Pilate.
+
+Two fresh executioners took the places of the last mentioned, who
+were beginning to flag; their scourges were composed of small chains,
+or straps covered with iron hooks, which penetrated to the bone, and
+tore off large pieces of flesh at every blow. What word, alas! could
+describe this terrible--this heartrending scene!
+
+The cruelty of these barbarians was nevertheless not yet satiated;
+they untied Jesus, and again fastened him up with his back turned
+towards the pillar. As he was totally unable to support himself in an
+upright position, they passed cords round his waist, under his arms,
+and above his knees, and having bound his hands tightly into the rings
+which were placed at the upper part of the pillar, they recommenced
+scourging him with even greater fury than before; and one among them
+struck him constantly on the face with a new rod. The body of our Lord
+was perfectly torn to shreds,--it was but one wound. He looked at his
+torturers with his eyes filled with blood; as if entreating mercy; but
+their brutality appeared to increase, and his moans each moment became
+more feeble.
+
+The dreadful scourging had been continued without intermission for
+three quarters of an hour, when a stranger of lowly birth, a relation
+to Ctesiphon, the blind man whom Jesus had cured, rushed from amidst
+the crowd, and approached the pillar with a knife shaped like a cutlass
+in his hand. 'Cease!' he exclaimed, in an indignant tone; 'Cease! Scourge not
+this innocent man unto death!' The drunken miscreants, taken by surprise,
+stopped short, while he quickly severed the cords which bound Jesus to
+the pillar, and disappeared among the crowd. Jesus fell almost without
+consciousness on the ground, which was bathed with his blood. The
+executioners left him there, and rejoined their cruel companions, who
+were amusing themselves in the guardhouse with drinking, and plaiting
+the crown of thorns.
+
+Our Lord remained for a short time on the ground, at the foot of the
+pillar, bathed in his own blood, and two or three bold-looking girls
+came up to gratify their curiosity away in disgust, but at the moment
+the pain of the wounds of Jesus was so intense that he raised his
+bleeding head and looked at them. They retired quickly, and the
+soldiers and guards laughed and made game of them.
+
+During the time of the scourging of our Lord, I saw weeping angels
+approach him many times; I likewise heard the prayers he constantly
+addressed to his Father for the pardon of our sins--prayers which never
+ceased during the whole time of the infliction of this cruel
+punishment. Whilst he lay bathed in his blood I saw an angel present to
+him a vase containing a bright-looking beverage which appeared to
+reinvigorate him in a certain degree. The archers soon returned, and
+after giving him some blows with their sticks, bade him rise and follow
+them. He raised himself with the greatest difficulty, as his trembling
+limbs could scarcely support the weight of this body; they did not give
+him sufficient time to put on his clothes, but threw his upper garment
+over his naked shoulders and led him from the pillar to the guardhouse,
+where he wiped the blood which trickled down his face with a corner of
+his garment. When he passed before the benches on which the High
+Priests were seated, they cried out, 'Put him to death! Crucify him!
+Crucify him!' and then turned away disdainfully. The executioners led him
+into the interior of the guardhouse, which was filled with slaves,
+archers, hodmen, and the very dregs of the people, but there were no
+soldiers.
+
+The great excitement among the populace alarmed Pilate so much, that
+he sent to the fortress of Antonia for a reinforcement of Roman
+soldiers, and posed these well-disciplined troops round the
+guard-house; they were permitted to talk and to deride Jesus in every
+possible way, but were forbidden to quit their ranks. These soldiers,
+whom Pilate had sent for to intimidate the mob, numbered about a
+thousand.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Mary during the Scourging of our Lord.
+
+
+
+I saw the Blessed Virgin in a continual ecstasy during the time of
+the scourging of her Divine Son; she saw and suffered with
+inexpressible love and grief all the torments he was enduring. She
+groaned feebly, and her eyes were red with weeping. A large veil
+covered her person, and she leant upon Mary of Heli, her eldest sister,
+who was old and extremely like their mother, Anne.10 Mary of Cleophas,
+the daughter of Mary of Heli, was there also. The friends of Jesus and
+Mary stood around the latter; they wore large veils, appeared overcome
+with grief and anxiety, an were weeping as if in the momentary
+expectation of death. The dress of Mary was blue; it was long, and
+partly covered by a cloak made of white wool, and her veil was of
+rather a yellow white. Magdalen was totally beside herself from grief,
+and her hair was floating loosely under her veil.
+
+When Jesus fell down at the foot of the pillar, after the
+flagellation, I saw Claudia Procles, the wife of Pilate, sent some
+large pieces of linen to the Mother of God. I know not whether she
+thought that Jesus would be set free, and that his Mother would then
+require linen to dress his wounds, or whether this compassionate lady
+was aware of the use which would be made of her present. At the
+termination of the scourging, Mary came to herself for a time, and saw
+her Divine Son all torn and mangled, being led away by the archers
+after the scouring: he wiped his eyes, which were filled with blood,
+that he might look at his Mother, and she stretched out her hands
+towards him, and continued to look at the bloody traces of his
+footsteps. I soon after saw Mary and Magdalen approach the pillar where
+Jesus had been scourged; the mob were at a distance, and they were
+partly concealed by the other holy women, and by a few kind-hearted
+persons who had joined them; they knelt down on the ground near the
+pillar, and wiped up the sacred blood with the linen which Claudia
+Procles had sent. John was not at that time with the holy women, who
+were about twenty in number. The sons of Simeon and of Obed, and
+Veronica, as also the two nephews of Joseph of Arimathea--Aram and
+Themni--were in the Temple, and appeared to be overwhelmed with grief. It
+was not more than nine o'clock a.m. when the scourging terminated.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+Interruption of the Visions of the Passion by the Appearance of St.
+Joseph under the form of a Child.
+
+
+
+During the whole time of the visions which we have just narrated
+(that is to say, from the 18th of February until the 8th of March),
+Sister Emmerich continued to suffer all the mental and bodily tortures
+which were once endured by our Lord. Being totally immersed in these
+meditations, and, as it were, dead to exterior objects, she wept and
+groaned like a person in the hands of an executioner, trembled,
+shuddered, and writhed on her couch, while her face resembled that of a
+man about to expire under torture, and a bloody sweat often trickled
+over her chest and shoulders. She generally perspired so profusely that
+her bed and clothes were saturated. Her sufferings from thirst were
+likewise fearful, and she might truly be compared to a person perishing
+in a desert from the want of water. Generally speaking, her mouth was
+so parched in the morning, and her tongue so contracted and dried up,
+that she could not speak, but was obliged by signs and inarticulate
+sounds to beg for relief. Her constant state of fever was probably
+brought on by the great pains she endured, added to which she likewise
+often took upon herself the illnesses and temporal calamities merited
+by others. It was always necessary for her to rest for a time before
+relating the different scenes of the Passion, nor was it always that
+she could speak of what she had seen, and she was even often obliged to
+discontinue her narrations for the day. She was in this state of
+suffering on Saturday the 8th of March, and with the greatest
+difficulty and suffering described the scourging of our Lord which she
+had seen in the vision of the previous night, and which appeared to be
+present to her mind during the greatest part of the following day.
+Towards evening, however, a change took place, and there was an
+interruption in the course of meditations on the Passion which had
+latterly followed one another so regularly. We will describe this
+interruption, in order, in the first place, to give our readers a more
+full comprehension of the interior life of this most extraordinary
+person; and, in the second, to enable them to pause for a time to rest
+their minds, as I well know that meditations on the Passion of our Lord
+exhaust the weak, even when they remember that it was for their
+salvation that he suffered and died.
+
+The life of Sister Emmerich, both as regarded her spiritual and
+intellectual existence, invariably harmonised with the spirit of the
+Church at different seasons of the year. It harmonised even more
+strongly than man's natural life does with season, or with the hours of
+the day, and this caused her to be (if we may thus express ourselves) a
+realisation of the existence and of the various intentions of the
+Church. Her union with its spirit was so complete, that no sooner did a
+festival day begin (that is to say, on the eve), than a perfect change
+took place within her, both intellectually and spiritually. As soon as
+the spiritual sun of these festival days of the Church was set, she
+directed all her thoughts towards that which would rise on the
+following day, and disposed all her prayers, good works, and sufferings
+for the attainment of the special graces attached to the feast about to
+commence, like a plant which absorbs the dew, and revels in the warmth
+and light of the first rays of the sun. These changes did not, as will
+readily be believed, always take place at the exact moment when the
+sound of the Angelus announced the commencement of a festival, and
+summoned the faithful to prayer; for this bell is often, either through
+ignorance or negligence, rung at the wrong time; but they commenced at
+the time when the feast really began.
+
+If the Church commemorated a sorrowful mystery, she appeared
+depressed, faint, and almost powerless; but the instant the celebration
+of a joyful feast commenced, both body and soul revived to a new life,
+as if refreshed by the dew of new graces, and she continued in this
+calm, quiet, and happy state, quite released from every kind of
+suffering, until the evening. These things took place in her soul quite
+independently of her will; but as she had had from infancy the most
+ardent desire of being obedient to Jesus and to his Church, God had
+bestowed upon her those special graces which give a natural facility
+for practising obedience. Every faculty of her soul was directed
+towards the Church, in the same manner as a plant which, even if put
+into a dark cellar, naturally turns its leaves upwards, and appears to
+seek the light.
+
+On Saturday, 8th of March 1823, after sunset, Sister Emmerich had,
+with the greatest difficulty, portrayed the different events of the
+scourging of our Lord, and the writer of these pages thought that her
+mind was occupied in the contemplation of the 'crowning with thorns,' when
+suddenly her countenance, which was preciously pale and haggard, like
+that of a person on the point of death, became bright and serene and
+she exclaimed in a coaxing tone, as if speaking to a child, 'O, that dear
+little boy! Who is he?--Stay, I will ask him. His name is Joseph. He has
+pushed his way through the crowd to come to me. Poor child, he is
+laughing: he knows nothing at all of what is going on. How light his
+clothing is! I fear he must be cold, the air is so sharp this morning.
+Wait, my child; let me put something more over you.' After saying these
+words in such a natural tone of voice that it was almost impossible for
+those present not to turn round and expect to see the child, she held
+up a dress which was near her, as would be done by a kind-hearted
+person wishing to clothe a poor frozen child. The friend who was
+standing by her bedside had not sufficient time to ask her to explain
+the words she had spoken, for a sudden change took place, both in her
+whole appearance and manner, when her attendant pronounced the word
+obedience,--one of the vows by which she had consecrated herself to our
+Lord. She instantly came to herself, and, like an obedient child
+awakening from a sound sleep and starting up at the voice of its
+mother, she stretched forth her hand, took the rosary and crucifix
+which were always at her side, arranged her dress, rubbed her eyes, and
+sat up. She was then carried from her bed to a chair, as she could
+neither stand nor walk; and it being the time for making her bed, her
+friend left the room in order to write out what he had heard during the
+day.
+
+On Sunday, the 9th of March, the friend asked her attendant what
+Sister Emmerich meant the evening before when she spoke of a child
+called Joseph. The attendant answered, 'She spoke of him again many times
+yesterday evening; he is the son of a cousin of mine, and a great
+favourite of hers. I fear that her talking so much about him is a sign
+that he is going to have an illness, for she said so many times that
+the poor child was almost without clothing, and that he must be cold.'
+
+The friend remembered having often seen this little Joseph playing
+on the bed of Sister Emmerich, and he supposed that she was dreaming
+about him on the previous day. When the friend went to see her later in
+the day to endeavour to obtain a continuation of the narrations of the
+Passion, he found her, contrary to his expectation, more calm, and
+apparently better in health than on the previous day. She told him that
+she had seen nothing more after the scourging of our Lord; and when he
+questioned her concerning what she had said about little Joseph, she
+could not remember having spoken of the child at all. He then asked the
+reason of her being so calm, serene, and apparently well in health; and
+she answered, 'I always feel thus when Mid-Lent comes, for then the
+Church sings with Isaias in the introit at Mass: "Rejoice, O, Jerusalem,
+and come together all you that love her; rejoice with joy, you that
+have been in sorrow, that you may exult and be filled from the breasts
+of your consolation." Mid-Lent Sunday is consequently a day of rejoicing;
+and you may likewise remember that, in the gospel of this day, the
+Church relates how our Lord fed five thousand men with five loaves and
+two fishes, of which twelve baskets of fragments remained, consequently
+we ought to rejoice.'
+
+She likewise added, that our Lord had deigned to visit her on that
+day in the Holy Communion, and that she always felt especial spiritual
+consolation when she received him on that particular day of the year.
+The friend cast his eyes on the calendar of the diocese of Munster, and
+saw that on that day they not only kept Mid-Lent Sunday, but likewise
+the Feast of St. Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord; he was not
+aware of this before, because in other places the feast of St. Joseph
+is kept on the 19th, and he remarked this circumstance to Sister
+Emmerich, and asked her whether she did not think that was the cause of
+her speaking about Joseph. She answered that she was perfectly aware of
+its being the feast of the foster-father of Jesus, but that she had not
+been thinking of the child of that name. However, a moment after, she
+suddenly remembered what her thoughts had been the day before, and
+explained to her friend that the moment the feast of St. Joseph began,
+her vision of the sorrowful mysteries of the Passion ceased, and were
+superseded by totally different scenes, in which St. Joseph appeared
+under the form of a child, and that it was to him that the words we
+have mentioned above were addressed.
+
+We found that when she received these communications the vision was
+often in the form of a child, especially in those cases when an artist
+would have made use of that simile to express his ideas. If, for
+instance, the accomplishment of some Scripture prophecy was being shown
+to her, she often saw by the side of the illustration a child, who
+clearly designated the characteristics of such or such a prophet, by
+his position, his dress, and the manner in which he held in his hand
+and waved to and fro the prophetic roll appended to a staff.
+
+Sometimes, when she was in extreme suffering, a beautiful child,
+dressed in green, with a calm and serene countenance, would approach,
+and seat himself in a posture of resignation at the side of her bed,
+allowing himself to be moved from one side to the other, or even put
+down on to the ground, without the smallest opposition and constantly
+looking at her affectionately and consoling her. If, when quite
+prostrate from illness and the sufferings of others which she had taken
+upon herself, she entered into communication with a saint, either by
+participation in the celebration of his feast, or from his relics being
+brought to her, she sometimes saw passages of the childhood of
+martyrdom. In her greatest sufferings she was usually consoled,
+instructed, or reproved (whichever the occasion called for) by
+apparitions under the form of children. Sometimes, when totally
+overcome by trouble and distress, she would fall asleep, and be carried
+back in imagination to the scenes and perils of her childhood. She
+sometimes dreamed, as her exclamations and gestures demonstrated, that
+she was once more a little country girl of five years old, climbing
+over a hedge, caught in the briars, and weeping with fear.
+
+These scenes of her childhood were always events which had really
+occurred, and the words which escaped her showed what was passing in
+her mind. She would exclaim (as if repeating the words of others): 'Why
+do you call out so?' 'I will not hold the hedge back until you are quiet
+and ask me gently to do so.' She had obeyed this injunction when she was
+a child and caught in the hedge, and she followed the same rule when
+grown up and suffering from the most terrible trials. She often spoke
+and joked about the thorn hedge, and the patience and prayer which had
+then been recommended to her, which admonition she, in after-life, had
+frequently neglected, but which had never failed her when she had
+recourse to it. This symbolical coincidence of the events of her
+childhood with those of her riper years shows that, in the individual
+no less than in humanity at large, prophetic types may be found. But,
+to the individual as well as to mankind in general, a Divine Type has
+been given in the person of our Redeemer, in order that both the one
+and the other, by walking in his footsteps and with his assistance, may
+surpass human nature and attain to perfect wisdom and grace with God
+and man. Thus it is that the will of God is done on earth as in heaven,
+and that this kingdom is attained by 'men of good will.'
+
+She then gave a short account of the visions which had, on the
+previous night, interrupted her visions of the Passion at the
+commencement of the feast of St. Joseph.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+Description of the Personal Appearance of the Blessed Virgin.
+
+
+
+While these sad events were taking place I was in Jerusalem,
+sometimes in one locality and sometimes in another; I was quite
+overcome, my sufferings were intense, and I felt as if about to expire.
+During the time of the scourging of my adorable Spouse I sat in the
+vicinity, in a part which no Jew dared approach, for fear of defiling
+himself; but I did not fear defilement, I was only anxious for a drop
+of our Lord's blood to fall upon me, to purify me. I felt so completely
+heartbroken that I thought I must die as I could not relieve Jesus, and
+each blow which he received drew from me such sobs and moans that I
+felt quite astonished at not being driven away. When the executioners
+took Jesus into the guardhouse, to crown him with thorns, I longed to
+follow that I might again contemplate him in his sufferings. Then it
+was that the Mother of Jesus, accompanied by the holy women, approached
+the pillar and wiped up the blood with which it and the ground around
+were saturated. The door of the guardhouse was open, and I heard the
+brutal laughter of the heartless men who were busily employed in
+finishing off the crown of thorns which they had prepared for our Lord.
+I was too much affected to weep, but I endeavoured to drag myself near
+to the place where our Lord was to be crowned with thorns.
+
+I once more saw the Blessed Virgin; her countenance was wan and
+pale, her eyes red with weeping, but the simple dignity of her
+demeanour cannot be described. Notwithstanding her grief and anguish,
+notwithstanding the fatigue which she had endured (for she had been
+wandering ever since the previous evening through the streets of
+Jerusalem, and across the Valley of Josaphat), her appearance was
+placid and modest, and not a fold of her dress out of place. She looked
+majestically around, and her veil fell gracefully over her shoulders.
+She moved quietly, and although her heart was a prey to the most bitter
+grief, her countenance was calm and resigned. Her dress was moistened
+by the dew which had fallen upon it during the night, and by the tears
+which she had shed in such abundance; otherwise it was totally
+unsoiled. Her beauty was great, but indescribable, for it was
+super-human--a mixture of majesty, sanctity, simplicity, and purity.
+
+The appearance of Mary Magdalen was totally different; she was
+taller and more robust, the expression of her countenance showed
+greater determination, but its beauty was almost destroyed by the
+strong passions which she had so long indulged, and by the violent
+repentance and grief she had since felt. It was painful to look upon
+her; she was the very picture of despair, her long dishevelled hair was
+partly covered by her torn and wet veil, and her appearance was that of
+one completely absorbed by woe and almost beside herself from sorrow.
+Many of the inhabitants of Magdalum were standing near, gazing at her
+with surprise and curiosity, for they had known her in former days,
+first in prosperity and afterwards in degradation and consequent
+misery. They pointed, they even cast mud upon her, but she saw nothing,
+knew nothing, and felt nothing, save her agonising grief.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+The Crowning with Thorns.
+
+
+
+No sooner did Sister Emmerich recommence the narrative of her
+visions on the Passion than she again became extremely ill, oppressed
+with fever, and so tormented by violent thirst that her tongue was
+perfectly parched and contracted; and on the Monday after Mid-Lent
+Sunday, she was so exhausted that it was not without great difficulty,
+and after many intervals of rest, that she narrated all which our Lord
+suffered in this crowning with thorns. She was scarcely able to speak,
+because she herself felt every sensation which she described in the
+following account:
+
+Pilate harangued the populace many times during the time of the
+scourging of Jesus, but they interrupted him once, and vociferated, 'He
+shall be executed, even if we die for it.' When Jesus was led into the
+guardhouse, they all cried out again, 'Crucify him, crucify him!'
+
+After this there was silence for a time. Pilate occupied himself in
+giving different orders to the soldiers, and the servants of the High
+Priests brought them some refreshments; after which Pilate, whose
+superstitious tendencies made him uneasy in mind, went into the inner
+part of his palace in order to consult his gods, and to offer them
+incense.
+
+When the Blessed Virgin and the holy women had gathered up the blood
+of Jesus, with which the pillar and the adjacent parts were saturated,
+they left the forum and went into a neighbouring small house, the owner
+of which I do not know. John was not, I think, present at the scourging
+of Jesus.
+
+A gallery encircled the inner court of the guardhouse where our Lord
+was crowned with thorns, and the doors were open. The cowardly
+ruffians, who were eagerly waiting to gratify their cruelty by
+torturing and insulting our Lord, were about fifty in number, and the
+greatest part slaves or servants of the jailers and soldiers. The mob
+gathered round the building, but were soon displaced by a thousand
+Roman soldiers, who were drawn up in good order and stationed there.
+Although forbidden to leave their ranks, these soldiers nevertheless
+did their utmost by laughter and applause to incite the cruel
+executioners to redouble their insults; and as public applause gives
+fresh energy to a comedian, so did their words of encouragement
+increase tenfold the cruelty of these men.
+
+In the middle of the court there stood the fragment of a pillar, and
+on it was placed a very low stool which these cruel men maliciously
+covered with sharp flints and bits of broken potsherds. Then they tore
+off the garments of Jesus, thereby reopening all his wounds; threw over
+his shoulders an old scarlet mantle which barely reached his knees;
+dragged him to the seat prepared, and pushed him roughly down upon it,
+having first placed the crown of thorns upon his head. The crown of
+thorns was made of three branches plaited together, the greatest part
+of the thorns being purposely turned inwards so as to pierce our Lord's
+head. Having first placed these twisted branches on his forehead, they
+tied them tightly together at the back of his head, and no sooner was
+this accomplished to their satisfaction than they put a large reed into
+his hand, doing all with derisive gravity as if they were really
+crowning him king. They then seized the reed, and struck his head so
+violently that his eyes were filled with blood; they knelt before him,
+derided him, spat in his face, and buffeted him, saying at the same
+time, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' Then they threw down his stool, pulled him
+up again from the ground on which he had fallen, and reseated him with
+the greatest possible brutality.
+
+It is quite impossible to describe the cruel outrages which were
+thought of and perpetrated by these monsters under human form. The
+sufferings of Jesus from thirst, caused by the fever which his wounds
+and sufferings had brought on, were intense.11 He trembled all over,
+his flesh was torn piecemeal, his tongue contracted, and the only
+refreshment he received was the blood which trickled from his head on
+to his parched lips. This shameful scene was protracted a full
+half-hour, and the Roman soldiers continued during the whole time to
+applaud and encourage the perpetration of still greater outrages.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+Ecce Homo.
+
+
+
+The cruel executioners then reconducted our Lord to Pilate's palace,
+with the scarlet cloak still thrown over his shoulders, the crown of
+thorns on his head, and the reed in his fettered hands. He was
+perfectly unrecognisable, his eyes, mouth, and beard being covered with
+blood, his body but one wound, and his back bowed down as that of an
+aged man, while every limb trembled as he walked. When Pilate saw him
+standing at the entrance of his tribunal, even he (hart-hearted as he
+usually was) started, and shuddered with horror and compassion, whilst
+the barbarous priests and the populace, far from being moved to pity,
+continued their insults and mockery. When Jesus had ascended the
+stairs, Pilate came forward, the trumpet was sounded to announce that
+the governor was about to speak, and he addressed the Chief Priests and
+the bystanders in the following words: 'Behold, I bring him forth to you,
+that you may know that I find no cause in him.'
+
+The archers then led Jesus up to Pilate, that the people might again
+feast their cruel eyes on him, in the state of degradation to which he
+was reduced. Terrible and heartrending, indeed, was the spectacle he
+presented, and an exclamation of horror burst from the multitude,
+followed by a dead silence, when he with difficulty raised his wounded
+head, crowned as it was with thorns, and cast his exhausted glance on
+the excited throng. Pilate exclaimed, as he pointed him out to the
+people; 'Ecce homo! Behold the man!' The hatred of the High Priests and
+their followers was, if possible, increased at the sight of Jesus, and
+they cried out, 'Put him to death; crucify him.' 'Are you not content?' said
+Pilate. 'The punishment he has received is, beyond question, sufficient
+to deprive him of all desire of making himself king.' But they cried out
+the more and the multitude joined in the cry, 'Crucify him, crucify him!'
+Pilate then sounded the trumpet to demand silence, and said: 'Take you
+him and crucify him, for I find no cause in him.' 'We have a law, and
+according to that law he ought to die,' replied the priests, 'because he
+made himself the Son of God.' These words, 'he made himself the Son of God,'
+revived the fears of Pilate; he took Jesus into another room, and asked
+him; 'Whence art thou?' But Jesus made no answer. 'Speakest thou not to me?'
+said Pilate; 'knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and
+power to release thee?' 'Thou shouldst not have any power against me,'
+replied Jesus, 'unless it were given thee from above; therefore he that
+hath delivered me to thee hath the greater sin.'
+
+The undecided, weak conduct of Pilate filled Claudia Procles with
+anxiety; she again sent him the pledge, to remind him of his promise,
+but he only returned a vague, superstitious answer, importing that he
+should leave the decision of the case to the gods. The enemies of
+Jesus, the High Priests and the Pharisees, having heard of the efforts
+which were being made by Claudia to save him, caused a report to be
+spread among the people, that the partisans of our Lord had seduced
+her, that he would be released, and then join the Romans and bring
+about the destruction of Jerusalem, and the extermination of the Jews.
+
+Pilate was in such a state of indecision and uncertainty as to be
+perfectly beside himself; he did not know what step to take next, and
+again addressed himself to the enemies of Jesus, declaring that 'he found
+no crime in him,' but they demanded his death still more clamorously. He
+then remembered the contradictory accusations which had been brought
+against Jesus, the mysterious dreams of his wife, and the unaccountable
+impression which the words of Jesus had made on himself, and therefore
+determined to question him again in order thus to obtain some
+information which might enlighten him as to the course he ought to
+pursue; he therefore returned to the Praetorium, went alone into a
+room, and sent for our Saviour. He glanced at the mangled and bleeding
+Form before him, and exclaimed inwardly: 'Is it possible that he can be
+God?' Then he turned to Jesus, and adjured him to tell him if he was God,
+if he was that king who had been promised to the Jews, where his
+kingdom was, and to what class of gods he belonged. I can only give the
+sense of the words of Jesus, but they were solemn and severe. He told
+him 'that his kingdom was not of this world,' and likewise spoke strongly
+of the many hidden crimes with which the conscience of Pilate was
+defiled; warned him of the dreadful fate which would be his if he did
+not repent; and finally declared that he himself, the Son of Man, would
+come at the last day, to pronounce a just judgment upon him.
+
+Pilate was half frightened and half angry at the words of Jesus; he
+returned to the balcony, and again declared that he would release
+Jesus; but they cried out: 'If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's
+friend. For whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.'
+Others said that they would accuse him to the Emperor of having
+disturbed their festival; that he must make up his mind at once,
+because they were obliged to be in the Temple by ten o'clock at night.
+The cry, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' resounded on all sides; it re-echoed
+even from the flat roofs of the houses near the forum, where many
+persons were assembled. Pilate saw that all his efforts were vain, that
+he could make no impression on the infuriated mob; their yells and
+imprecations were deafening, and he began to fear an insurrection.
+Therefore he took water, and washed his hands before the people,
+saying, 'I am innocent of the blood of this just man; look you to it.' A
+frightful and unanimous cry then came from the dense multitude, who
+were assembled from all parts of Palestine, 'His blood be upon us, and
+upon our children.'
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+Reflections on the Visions.
+
+
+
+Whenever, during my meditations on the Passion of our Lord, I
+imagine I hear that frightful cry of the Jews, 'His blood be upon us, and
+upon our children,' visions of a wonderful and terrible description
+display before my eyes at the same moment the effect of that solemn
+curse. I fancy I see a gloomy sky covered with clouds, of the colour of
+blood, from which issue fiery swords and darts, lowering over the
+vociferating multitude; and this curse, which they have entailed upon
+themselves, appears to me to penetrate even to the very marrow of their
+bones,--even to the unborn infants. They appear to me encompassed on all
+sides by darkness; the words they utter take, in my eyes, the form of
+black flames, which recoil upon them, penetrating the bodies of some,
+and only playing around others.
+
+The last-mentioned were those who were converted after the death of
+Jesus, and who were in considerable numbers, for neither Jesus nor Mary
+ever ceased praying, in the midst of their sufferings, for the
+salvation of these miserable beings.
+
+When, during visions of this kind, I turn my thoughts to the holy
+souls of Jesus and Mary, and to those of the enemies of Christ, all
+that takes place within them is shown me under various forms. I see
+numerous devils among the crowd, exciting and encouraging the Jews,
+whispering in their ears, entering their mouths, inciting them still
+more against Jesus, but nevertheless trembling at the sight of his
+ineffable love and heavenly patience. Innumerable angels surrounded
+Jesus, Mary, and the small number of saints who were there. The
+exterior of these angels denotes the office they fill; some represent
+consolation, others prayer, or some of the works of mercy.
+
+I likewise often see consolatory, and at other times menacing
+voices, under the appearance of bright or coloured gleams of light,
+issuing from the mouths of these different apparitions; and I see the
+feelings of their souls, their interior sufferings, and in a word,
+their every thought, under the appearance of dark or bright rays. I
+then understand everything perfectly, but it is impossible for me to
+give an explanation to others; besides which, I am so ill, and so
+totally overcome by the grief which I feel for my own sins and for
+those of the world, I am so overpowered by the sight of the sufferings
+of our Lord, that I can hardly imagine how it is possible for me to
+relate events with the slightest coherency. Many of these things, but
+more especially the apparitions of devils and of angels, which are
+related by other persons who have had visions of the Passion of Jesus
+Christ, are fragments of symbolical interior perceptions of this
+species, which vary according to the state of the soul of the
+spectator. Hence the numerous contradictions, because many things are
+naturally forgotten or omitted.
+
+Sister Emmerich sometimes spoke on these subjects, either during the
+time of her visions on the Passion, or before they commenced; but she
+more often refused to speak at all concerning them, for fear of causing
+confusion in the visions. It is easy to see how difficult it must have
+been for her, in the midst of such a variety of apparitions, to
+preserve any degree of connection in her narrations. Who can therefore
+be surprised at finding some omissions and confusion in her
+descriptions?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+Jesus condemned to be crucified.
+
+
+
+Pilate, who did not desire to know the truth, but was solely anxious
+to get out of the difficulty without harm to himself, became more
+undecided than ever; his conscience whispered--'Jesus is innocent;' his wife
+said, 'he is holy;' his superstitious feelings made him fear that Jesus was
+the enemy of his gods; and his cowardice filled him with dread lest
+Jesus, if he was a god, should wreak his vengeance upon his judge. He
+was both irritated and alarmed at the last words of Jesus, and he made
+another attempt for his release; but the Jews instantly threatened to
+lay an accusation against him before the Emperor. This menace terrified
+him, and he determined to accede to their wishes, although firmly
+convinced in his own mind of the innocence of Jesus, and perfectly
+conscious that by pronouncing sentence of death upon him he should
+violate every law of justice, besides breaking the promise he had made
+to his wife in the morning. Thus did he sacrifice Jesus to the enmity
+of the Jews, and endeavour to stifle remorse by washing his hands
+before the people, saying, 'I am innocent of the blood of this just man;
+look you to it.' Vainly dost thou pronounce these words, O Pilate! for
+his blood is on thy head likewise; thou canst not wash his blood from
+thy soul, as thou dost from thy hands.
+
+Those fearful words, 'His blood be upon us and upon our children,' had
+scarcely ceased to resound, when Pilate commenced his preparations for
+passing sentence. He called for the dress which he wore on state
+occasions, put a species of diadem, set in precious stones, on his
+head, changed his mantle, and caused a staff to be carried before him.
+He was surrounded with soldiers, preceded by officers belonging to the
+tribunal, and followed by Scribes, who carried rolls of parchments and
+books used for inscribing names and dates. One man walked in front, who
+carried the trumpet. The procession marched in this order from Pilate's
+palace to the forum, where an elevated seat, used on these particular
+occasions, was placed opposite to the pillar where Jesus was scourged.
+This tribunal was called Gabbatha; it was a kind of round terrace,
+ascended by means of staircases; on the top was a seat for Pilate, and
+behind this seat a bench for those in minor offices, while a number of
+soldiers were stationed round the terrace and upon the staircases. Many
+of the Pharisees had left the palace and were gone to the Temple, so
+that Annas, Caiphas, and twenty-eight priests alone followed the Roman
+governor on to the forum, and the two thieves were taken there at the
+time that Pilate presented our Saviour to the people, saying: 'Ecce homo!'
+
+Our Lord was still clothed in his purple garment, his crown of
+thorns upon his head, and his hands manacled, when the archers brought
+him up to the tribunal, and placed him between the two malefactors. As
+soon as Pilate was seated, he again addressed the enemies of Jesus, in
+these words, 'Behold your King!' But the cries of 'Crucify him! Crucify him!'
+resounded on all sides.
+
+'Shall I crucify your King?' said Pilate.
+
+'We have no King but Caesar!' responded the High Priests.
+
+Pilate found it was utterly hopeless to say anything more, and
+therefore commenced his preparations for passing sentence. The two
+thieves had received their sentence of crucifixion some time before;
+but the High Priests had obtained a respite for them, in order that our
+Lord might suffer the additional ignominy of being executed with two
+criminals of the most infamous description. The crosses of the two
+thieves were by their sides; that intended fro our Lord was not
+brought, because he was not as yet sentenced to death.
+
+The Blessed Virgin, who had retired to some distance after the
+scourging of Jesus, again approached to hear the sentence of death
+pronounced upon her Son and her God. Jesus stood in the midst of the
+archers, at the foot of the staircase leading up to the tribunal. The
+trumpet was sounded to demand silence, and then the cowardly, the base
+judge, in a tremulous undecided voice, pronounced the sentence of death
+on the Just Man. The sight of the cowardice and duplicity of this
+despicable being, who was nevertheless puffed up with pride at his
+important position, almost overcame me, and the ferocious joy of the
+executioners--the triumphant countenances of the High Priests, added to
+the deplorable condition to which our loving Saviour was reduced, and
+the agonising grief of his beloved Mother--still further increased my
+pain. I looked up again, and saw the cruel Jews almost devouring their
+victim with their eyes, the soldiers standing coldly by, and multitudes
+of horrible demons passing to and fro and mixing in the crowd. I felt
+that I ought to have been in the place of Jesus, my beloved Spouse, for
+the sentence would not then have been unjust; but I was so overcome
+with anguish, and my sufferings were so intense, that I cannot exactly
+remember all that I did see. However, I will relate all as nearly as I
+can.
+
+After a long preamble, which was composed principally of the most
+pompous and exaggerated eulogy of the Emperor Tiberias, Pilate spoke of
+the accusations which had been brought against Jesus by the High
+Priests. He said that they had condemned him to death for having
+disturbed the public peace, and broken their laws by calling himself
+the Son of God and King of the Jews; and that the people had
+unanimously demanded that their decree should be carried out.
+Notwithstanding his oft repeated conviction of the innocence of Jesus,
+this mean and worthless judge was not ashamed of saying that he
+likewise considered their decision a just one, and that he should
+therefore pronounce sentence--which he did in these words: 'I condemn Jesus
+of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, to be crucified;' and he ordered the
+executioners to bring the cross. I think I remember likewise that he
+took a long stick in his hands, broke it, and threw the fragments at
+the feet of Jesus.
+
+On hearing these words of Pilate the Mother of Jesus became for a
+few moments totally unconscious, for she was now certain that her
+beloved Son must die the most ignominious and the most painful of all
+deaths. John and the holy women carried her away, to prevent the
+heartless beings who surrounded them from adding crime to crime by
+jeering at her grief; but no sooner did she revive a little than she
+begged to be taken again to each spot which had been sanctified by the
+sufferings of her Son, in order to bedew them with her tears; and thus
+did the Mother of our Lord, in the name of the Church, take possession
+of those holy places.
+
+Pilate then wrote down the sentence, and those who stood behind him
+copied it out three times. The words which he wrote were quite
+different from those he had pronounced; I could see plainly that his
+mind was dreadfully agitated--an angel of wrath appeared to guide his
+hand. The substance of the written sentence was this: 'I have been
+compelled, for fear of an insurrection, to yield to the wishes of the
+High Priests, the Sanhedrin, and the people, who tumultuously demanded
+the death of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they accused of having disturbed
+the public peace, and also of having blasphemed and broken their laws.
+I have given him up to them to be crucified, although their accusations
+appeared to be groundless. I have done so for fear of their alleging to
+the Emperor that I encourage insurrections, and cause dissatisfaction
+among the Jews by denying them the rights of justice.'
+
+He then wrote the inscription for the cross, while his clerks copied
+out the sentence several times, that these copies might be sent to
+distant parts of the country.
+
+The High Priests were extremely dissatisfied at the words of the
+sentence, which they said were not true; and they clamorously
+surrounded the tribunal to endeavour to persuade him to alter the
+inscription; and not to put King of the Jews, but that he said, I am
+the King of the Jews.
+
+Pilate was vexed, and answered impatiently, 'What I have written I
+have written!' They were likewise anxious that the cross of our Lord
+should not be higher than those of the two thieves, but it was
+necessary for it to be so, because there would otherwise not have been
+sufficient place for Pilate's inscription; they therefore endeavoured to
+persuade him not to have this obnoxious inscription put up at all. But
+Pilate was determined, and their words made no impression upon him; the
+cross was therefore obliged to be lengthened by a fresh bit of wood.
+Consequently the form of the cross was peculiar--the two arms stood out
+like the branches of a tree growing from the stem, and the shape was
+very like that of the letter Y, with the lower part lengthened so as to
+rise between the arms, which had been put on separately, and were
+thinner than the body of the cross. A piece of wood was likewise nailed
+at the bottom of the cross for the feet to rest upon.
+
+During the time that Pilate was pronouncing the iniquitous sentence,
+I saw his wife, Claudia Procles, send him back the pledge which he had
+given her, and in the evening she left his palace and joined the
+friends of our Lord, who concealed her in a subterraneous vault in the
+house of Lazarus at Jerusalem. Later in the same day, I likewise saw a
+friend of our Lord engrave the words, Judex injustus, and the name of
+Claudia Procles, on a greenlooking stone, which was behind the terrace
+called Gabbatha--this stone is still to be found in the foundations of a
+church or house at Jerusalem, which stands on the spot formerly called
+Gabbatha. Claudia Procles became a Christian, followed St. Paul, and
+became his particular friend.
+
+No sooner had Pilate pronounced sentence than Jesus was given up
+into the hands of the archers, and the clothes which he had taken off
+in the court of Caiphas were brought for him to put on again. I think
+some charitable persons had washed them, for they looked clean. The
+ruffians who surrounded Jesus untied his hands for his dress to be
+changed, and roughly dragged off the scarlet mantle with which they had
+clothed him in mockery, thereby reopening all his wounds; he put on his
+own linen under-garment with trembling hands, and they threw his
+scapular over his shoulders. As the crown of thorns was too large and
+prevented the seamless robe, which his Mother had made for him, from
+going over his head, they pulled it off violently, heedless of the pain
+thus inflicted upon him. His white woollen dress was next thrown over
+his shoulders, and then his wide belt and cloak. After this, they again
+tied round his waist a ring covered with sharp iron points, and to it
+they fastened the cords by which he was led, doing all with their usual
+brutal cruelty.
+
+The two thieves were standing, one on the right and the other on the
+left of Jesus, with their hands tied and a chain round their necks;
+they were covered with black and lived marks, the effects of the
+scourging of the previous day. The demeanour of the one who was
+afterwards converted was quiet and peaceable, while that of the other,
+on the contrary, was rough and insolent, and he joined the archers in
+abusing and insulting Jesus, who looked upon his two companions with
+love and compassion, and offered up his sufferings for their salvation.
+The archers gathered together all the implements necessary for the
+crucifixions, and prepared everything for the terrible and painful
+journey to Calvary.
+
+Annas and Caiphas at last left off disputing with Pilate, and
+angrily retired, taking with them the sheets of parchment on which the
+sentence was written; they went away in haste, fearing that they should
+get to the Temple too late for the Paschal sacrifice. Thus did the High
+Priests, unknowingly to themselves, leave the true Paschal Lamb. They
+went to a temple made of stone, to immolate and to sacrifice that lamb
+which was but a symbol, and they left the true Paschal Lamb, who was
+being led to the Altar of the Cross by the cruel executioners; they
+were most careful not to contract exterior defilement, while their
+souls were completely defiled by anger, hatred, and envy. They had
+said, 'His blood be upon us and upon our children!' And by these words they
+had performed the ceremony, and had placed the hand of the sacrificer
+upon the head of the Victim. Thus were the two paths formed--the one
+leading to the altar belonging to the Jewish law, the other leading to
+the Altar of Grace: Pilate, that proud and irresolute pagan, that slave
+of the world, who trembled in the presence of the true God, and yet
+adored his false gods, took a middle path, and returned to his palace.
+
+The iniquitous sentence was given at about ten in the morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+The Carrying of the Cross.
+
+
+
+When Pilate left the tribunal a portion of the soldiers followed
+him, and were drawn up in files before the palace; a few accompanying
+the criminals. Eight-and-twenty armed Pharisees came to the forum on
+horseback, in order to accompany Jesus to the place of execution, and
+among these were the six enemies of Jesus, who had assisted in
+arresting him in the Garden of Olives. The archers led Jesus into the
+middle of the court, the slaves threw down the cross at his feet, and
+the two arms were forthwith tied on to the centre piece. Jesus knelt
+down by its side, encircled it with his sacred arms, and kissed it
+three times, addressing, at the same time, a most touching prayer of
+thanksgiving to his Heavenly Father for that work of redemption which
+he had begun. It was the custom among pagans for the priest to embrace
+a new altar, and Jesus in like manner embraced his cross, that august
+altar on which the bloody and expiatory sacrifice was about to be
+offered. The archers soon made him rise, and then kneel down again, and
+almost without any assistance, place the heavy cross on his right
+shoulder, supporting its great weight with his right hand. I saw angels
+come to his assistance, otherwise he would have been unable even to
+raise it from the ground. Whilst he was on his knees, and still
+praying, the executioners put the arms of the crosses, which were a
+little curbed and not as yet fastened to the centre pieces, on the
+backs of the two thieves, and tied their hands tightly to them. The
+middle parts of the crosses were carried by slaves, as the transverse
+pieces were not to be fastened to them until just before the time of
+execution. The trumpet sounded to announce the departure of Pilate's
+horsemen, and one of the Pharisees belonging to the escort came up to
+Jesus, who was still kneeling, and said, 'Rise, we have had a sufficiency
+of thy fine speeches; rise and set off.' They pulled him roughly up, for
+he was totally unable to rise without assistance, and he then felt upon
+his shoulders the weight of that cross which we must carry after him,
+according to his true and holy command to follow him. Thus began that
+triumphant march of the King of Kings, a march so ignominious on earth,
+and so glorious in heaven.
+
+By means of ropes, which the executioners had fastened to the foot
+of the cross, two archers supported it to prevent its getting entangled
+in anything, and four other soldiers took hold of the ropes, which they
+had fastened to Jesus underneath his clothes. The sight of our dear
+Lord trembling beneath his burden, reminded me forcibly of Isaac, when
+he carried the wood destined for his own sacrifice up the mountains.
+The trumpet of Pilate was sounded as the signal for departure, for he
+himself intended to go to Calvary at the head of a detachment of
+soldiers, to prevent the possibility of an insurrection. He was on
+horseback, in armour, surrounded by officers and a body of cavalry, and
+followed by about three hundred of the infantry, who came from the
+frontiers of Italy and Switzerland. The procession was headed by a
+trumpeter, who sounded his trumpet at every corner and proclaimed the
+sentence. A number of women and children walked behind the procession
+with ropes, nails, wedges, and baskets filled with different articles,
+in their hands; others, who were stronger, carried poles, ladders, and
+the centre pieces of the crosses of the two thieves, and some of the
+Pharisees followed on horseback. A boy who had charge of the
+inscription which Pilate had written for the cross, likewise carried
+the crown of thorns (which had been taken off the head of Jesus) at the
+end of a long stick, but he did not appear to be wicked and
+hard-hearted like the rest. Next I beheld our Blessed Saviour and
+Redeemer--his bare feet swollen and bleeding--his back bent as though he were
+about to sink under the heavy weight of the cross, and his whole body
+covered with wounds and blood. He appeared to be half fainting from
+exhaustion (having had neither refreshment or sleep since the supper of
+the previous night), weak from loss of blood, and parched with thirst
+produced by fever and pain. He supported the cross on his right
+shoulder with his right hand, the left hung almost powerless at his
+side, but he endeavoured now and then to hold up his long garment to
+prevent his bleeding feet from getting entangled in it. The four
+archers who held the cords which were fastened round his waist, walked
+at some distance from him, the two in front pulled him on, and the two
+behind dragged him back, so that he could not get on at all without the
+greatest difficulty. His hands were cut by the cords with which they
+had been bound; his face bloody and disfigured; his hair and beard
+saturated with blood; the weight of the cross and of his chains
+combined to press and make the woollen dress cleave to his wounds, and
+reopen them: derisive and heartless words alone were addressed to him,
+but he continued to pray for his persecutors, and his countenance bore
+an expression of combined love and resignation. Many soldiers under
+arms walked by the side of the procession, and after Jesus came the two
+thieves, who were likewise led, the arms of their crosses, separate
+from the middle, being placed upon their backs, and their hands tied
+tightly to the two ends. They were clothed in large aprons, with a sort
+of sleeveless scapular which covered the upper part of their bodies,
+and they had straw caps upon their heads. The good thief was calm, but
+the other was, on the contrary furious, and never ceased cursing and
+swearing. The rear of the procession was brought up by the remainder of
+the Pharisees on horseback, who rode to and fro to keep order. Pilate
+and his courtiers were at a certain distance behind; he was in the
+midst of his officers clad in armour, preceded by a squadron of
+cavalry, and followed by three hundred foot soldiers; he crossed the
+forum, and then entered one of the principal streets, for he was
+marching through the town in order to prevent any insurrection among
+the people.
+
+Jesus was conducted by a narrow back street, that the procession
+might not inconvenience the persons who were going to the Temple, and
+likewise in order that Pilate and his band might have the whole
+principal street entirely to themselves. The crowd had dispersed and
+started in different directions almost immediately after the reading of
+the sentence, and the greatest part of the Jews either returned to
+their own houses, or to the Temple, to hasten their preparations for
+sacrificing the Paschal lamb; but a certain number were still hurrying
+on in disorder to see the melancholy procession pass; the Roman
+soldiers prevented all persons from joining the procession, therefore
+the most curious were obliged to go round by back streets, or to
+quicken their steps so as to reach Calvary before Jesus. The street
+through which they led Jesus was both narrow and dirty; he suffered
+much in passing through it, because the archers were close and harassed
+him. Persons stood on the roofs of the houses, and at the windows, and
+insulted him with opprobrious language; the slaves who were working in
+the streets threw filth and mud at him; even the children, incited by
+his enemies, had filled their pinafores with sharp stones, which they
+throw down before their doors as he passed, that he might be obliged to
+walk over them.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+The First Fall of Jesus.
+
+
+
+The street of which we have just spoken, after turning a little to
+the left, became rather steep, as also wider, a subterranean aqueduct
+proceeding from Mount Sion passed under it, and in its vicinity was a
+hollow which was often filled with water and mud after rain, and a
+large stone was placed in its centre to enable persons to pass over
+more easily. When Jesus reached this spot, his strength was perfectly
+exhausted; he was quite unable to move; and as the archers dragged and
+pushed him without showing the slightest compassion, he fell quite down
+against this stone, and the cross fell by his side. The cruel
+executioners were obliged to stop, they abused and struck him
+unmercifully, but the whole procession came to a standstill, which
+caused a degree of confusion. Vainly did he hold out his hand for
+someone to assist him to rise: 'Ah!' he exclaimed, 'all will soon be over;' and
+he prayed for his enemies. Lift him up,' said the Pharisees, 'otherwise he
+will die in our hands.' There were many women and children following the
+procession; the former wept, and the latter were frightened. Jesus,
+however, received support from above, and raised his head; but these
+cruel men, far from endeavouring to alleviate his sufferings, put the
+crown of thorns again on his head before they pulled him out of the
+mud, and no sooner was he once more on his feet than they replaced the
+cross on his back. The crown of thorns which encircled his head
+increased his pain inexpressibly, and obliged him to bend on one side
+to give room for the cross, which lay heavily on his shoulders.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+The Second Fall of Jesus.
+
+
+
+The afflicted Mother of Jesus had left the forum, accompanied by
+John and some other women, immediately after the unjust sentence was
+pronounced. She had employed herself in walking to many of the spots
+sanctified by our Lord and watering them with her tears; but when the
+sound of the trumpet, the rush of people, and the clang of the horsemen
+announced that the procession was about to start for Calvary, she could
+not resist her longing desire to behold her beloved Son once more, and
+she begged John to take her to some place through which he must pass.
+John conducted her to a palace, which had an entrance in that street
+which Jesus traversed after his first fall; it was, I believe, the
+residence of the high priest Caiphas, whose tribunal was in the
+division called Sion. John asked and obtained leave from a kind-hearted
+servant to stand at the entrance mentioned above, with Mary and her
+companions. The Mother of God was pale, her eyes were red with weeping,
+and she was closely wrapped in a cloak of a bluish-grey colour. The
+clamour and insulting speeches of the enraged multitude might be
+plainly heard; and a herald at that moment proclaimed in a loud voice,
+that three criminals were about to be crucified. The servant opened the
+door; the dreadful sounds became more distinct every moment; and Mary
+threw herself on her knees. After praying fervently, she turned to John
+and said, 'Shall I remain? Ought I to go away? Shall I have strength to
+support such a sight?' John made answer, 'If you do not remain to see him
+pass, you will grieve afterwards.' They remained therefore near the door,
+with their eyes fixed on the procession, which was still distant, but
+advancing by slow degrees. When those who were carrying the instruments
+for the execution approached, and the Mother of Jesus saw their
+insolent and triumphant looks, she could not control her feelings, but
+joined her hands as if to implore the help of heaven; upon which one
+among them said to his companions: 'What woman is that who is uttering
+such lamentations?' Another answered: 'She is the Mother of the Galilean.'
+When the cruel men heard this, far from being moved to compassion, they
+began to make game of the grief of this most afflicted Mother: they
+pointed at her, and one of them took the nails which were to be used
+for fastening Jesus to the cross, and presented them to her in an
+insulting manner; but she turned away, fixed her eyes upon Jesus, who
+was drawing near, and leant against the pillar for support, lest she
+should again faint from grief, for her cheeks were as pale as death,
+and her lips almost blue. The Pharisees on horseback passed by first,
+followed by the boy who carried the inscription. Then came her beloved
+Son. He was almost sinking under the heavy weight of his cross, and his
+head, still crowned with thorns, was drooping in agony on his shoulder.
+He cast a look of compassion and sorrow upon his Mother, staggered, and
+fell for the second time upon his hands and knees. Mary was perfectly
+agonised at this sight; she forgot all else; she saw neither soldiers
+nor executioners; she saw nothing but her dearly-loved Son; and,
+springing from the doorway into the midst of the group who were
+insulting and abusing him, she threw herself on her knees by his side
+and embraced him. The only words I heard were, 'Beloved Son!' and 'Mother!' but
+I do not know whether these words were really uttered, or whether they
+were only in my own mind.
+
+A momentary confusion ensued. John and the holy women endeavoured to
+raise Mary from the ground, and the archers reproached her, one of them
+saying, 'What hast thou to do her, woman? He would not have been in our
+hands if he had been better brought up.'
+
+A few of the soldiers looked touched; and, although they obliged the
+Blessed Virgin to retire to the doorway, not one laid hands upon her.
+John and the women surrounded her as she fell half fainting against a
+stone, which was near the doorway, and upon which the impression of her
+hands remained. This stone was very hard, and was afterwards removed to
+the first Catholic church built in Jerusalem, near the Pool of
+Bethsaida, during the time that St. James the Less was Bishop of that
+city. The two disciples who were with the Mother of Jesus carried her
+into the house, and the door was shut. In the mean time the archers had
+raised Jesus, and obliged him to carry the cross in a different manner.
+Its arm being unfastened from the centre, and entangled in the ropes
+with which he was bound, he supported them on his arm, and by this
+means the weight of the body of the cross was a little taken off, as it
+dragged more on the ground. I saw numbers of persons standing about in
+groups, the greatest part amusing themselves by insulting our Lord in
+different ways, but a few veiled females were weeping.
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+Simon of Cyrene. Third Fall of Jesus.
+
+
+
+The procession had reached an arch formed in an old wall belonging
+to the town, opposite to a square, in which three streets terminated,
+when Jesus stumbled against a large stone which was placed in the
+middle of the archway, the cross slipped from his shoulder, he fell
+upon the stone, and was totally unable to rise. Many
+respectable-looking persons who were on their way to the Temple
+stopped, and exclaimed compassionately: 'Look at that poor man, he is
+certainly dying!' but his enemies showed no compassion. This fall caused
+a fresh delay, as our Lord could not stand up again, and the Pharisees
+said to the soldiers: 'We shall never get him to the place of execution
+alive, if you do not find someone to carry his cross.' At this moment
+Simon of Cyrene, a pagan, happened to pass by, accompanied by his three
+children. He was a gardener, just returning home after working in a
+garden near the eastern wall of the city, and carrying a bundle of
+lopped branches. The soldiers perceiving by his dress that he was a
+pagan, seized him, and ordered him to assist Jesus in carrying his
+cross. He refused at first, but was soon compelled to obey, although
+his children, being frightened, cried and made a great noise, upon
+which some women quieted and took charge of them. Simon was much
+annoyed, and expressed the greatest vexation at being obliged to walk
+with a man in so deplorable a condition of dirt and misery; but Jesus
+wept, and cast such a mild and heavenly look upon him that he was
+touched, and instead of continuing to show reluctance, helped him to
+rise, while the executioners fastened one arm of the cross on his
+shoulders, and he walked behind our Lord, thus relieving him in a great
+measure from its weight; and when all was arranged, the procession
+moved forward. Simon was a stout-looking man, apparently about forty
+years of age. His children were dressed in tunics made of a variegated
+material; the two eldest, named Rufus and Alexander, afterwards joined
+the disciples; the third was much younger, but a few years later went
+to live with St. Stephen. Simon had not carried the cross after Jesus
+any length of time before he felt his heart deeply touched by grace.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+The Veil of Veronica.
+
+
+
+While the procession was passing through a long street, an incident
+took place which made a strong impression upon Simon. Numbers of
+respectable persons were hurrying towards the Temple, of whom many got
+out of the way when they saw Jesus, from a Pharisaical fear of
+defilement, while others, on the contrary, stopped and expressed pity
+for his sufferings. But when the procession had advanced about two
+hundred steps from the spot where Simon began to assist our Lord in
+carrying his cross, the door of a beautiful house on the left opened,
+and a woman of majestic appearance, holding a young girl by the hand,
+came out, and walked up to the very head of the procession. Seraphia
+was the name of the brave woman who thus dared to confront the enraged
+multitude; she was the wife of Sirach, one of the councillors belonging
+to the Temple, and was afterwards known by the name of Veronica, which
+name was given from the words vera icon (true portrait), to commemorate
+her brave conduct on this day.
+
+Seraphia had prepared some excellent aromatic wine, which she
+piously intended to present to our Lord to refresh him on his dolorous
+way to Calvary. She had been standing in the street for some time, and
+at last went back into the house to wait. She was, when I first saw
+her, enveloped in a long veil, and holding a little girl of nine years
+of age, whom she had adopted, by the hand; a large veil was likewise
+hanging on her arm, and the little girl endeavoured to hide the jar of
+wine when the procession approached. Those who were marching at the
+head of the procession tried to push her back; but she made her way
+through the mob, the soldiers, and the archers, reached Jesus, fell on
+her knees before him, and presented the veil, saying at the same time,
+'Permit me to wipe the face of my Lord.' Jesus took the veil in his left
+hand, wiped his bleeding face, and returned it with thanks. Seraphia
+kissed it, and put it under her cloak. The girl then timidly offered
+the wine, but the brutal soldiers would not allow Jesus to drink it.
+The suddenness of this courageous act of Seraphia had surprised the
+guards, and caused a momentary although unintentional halt, of which
+she had taken advantage to present the veil to her Divine Master. Both
+the Pharisees and the guards were greatly exasperated, not only by the
+sudden halt, but much more by the public testimony of veneration which
+was thus paid to Jesus, and they revenged themselves by striking and
+abusing him, while Seraphia returned in haste to her house.
+
+No sooner did she reach her room than she placed the woollen veil on
+a table, and fell almost senseless on her knees. A friend who entered
+the room a short time after, found her thus kneeling, with the child
+weeping by her side, and saw, to his astonishment, the bloody
+countenance of our Lord imprinted upon the veil, a perfect likeness,
+although heartrending and painful to look upon. He roused Seraphia, and
+pointed to the veil. She again knelt down before it, and exclaimed
+through her tears, 'Now I shall indeed leave all with a happy heart, for
+my Lord has given me a remembrance of himself.' The texture of this veil
+was a species of very fine wool; it was three times the length of its
+width, and was generally worn on the shoulders. It was customary to
+present these veil to persons who were in affliction, or overfatigued,
+or ill, that they might wipe their faces with them, and it was done in
+order to express sympathy or compassion. Veronica kept this veil until
+her death, and hung it at the head of her bed; it was then given to the
+Blessed Virgin, who left it to the Apostles and they afterwards passed
+it on to the Church.
+
+Seraphis and John the Baptist were cousins, her father and Zacharias
+being brothers. When Joachim and Anna brought the Blessed Virgin, who
+was then only four years old, up to Jerusalem, to place her among the
+virgins in the Temple, they lodged in the house of Zacharias, which was
+situated near the fish-market. Seraphia was at least five years older
+than the Blessed Virgin, was present at her marriage with St. Joseph,
+and was likewise related to the aged Simeon, who prophesied when the
+Child Jesus was put into his arms. She was brought up with his sons,
+both of whom, as well as Seraphia, he imbued with his ardent desire of
+seeing our Lord. When Jesus was twelve years old, and remained teaching
+in the Temple, Seraphia, who was not then married, sent food for him
+every day to a little inn, a quarter of a mile from Jerusalem, where he
+dwelt when he was not in the Temple. Mary wet there for two days, when
+on her way from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to offer her Child in the
+Temple. The two old men who kept this inn were Essenians, and well
+acquainted with the Holy Family; it contained a kind of foundation for
+the poor, and Jesus and his disciples often went there for a night's
+lodging.
+
+Seraphia married rather late in life; her husband, Sirach, was
+descended from the chaste Susannah, and was a member of the Sanhedrin.
+He was at first greatly opposed to our Lord, and his wife suffered much
+on account of her attachment to Jesus, and to the holy women, but
+Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus brought him to a better state of
+feeling, and he allowed Seraphia to follow our Lord. When Jesus was
+unjustly accused in the court of Caiphas, the husband of Seraphia
+joined with Joseph and Nicodemus in attempts to obtain the liberation
+of our Lord, and all three resigned their seats in the Council.
+
+Seraphia was about fifty at the time of the triumphant procession of
+our Lord when he entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and I then saw
+her take off her veil and spread it on the ground for him to walk upon.
+It was this same veil, which she presented to Jesus, at this his second
+procession, a procession which outwardly appeared to be far less
+glorious, but was in fact much more so. This veil obtained for her the
+name of Veronica, and it is still shown for the veneration of the
+faithful.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+The Fourth and Fifth Falls of Jesus.
+
+The Daughters of Jerusalem.
+
+
+
+The procession was still at some distance from the south-west gate,
+which was large, and attached to the fortifications, and the street was
+rough and steep; it had first to pass under a vaulted arch, then over a
+bridge, and finally under a second arch. The wall on the left side of
+the gate runs first in southerly direction, then deviates a little to
+the west, and finally runs to the south behind Mount Sion. When the
+procession was near this gate, the brutal archers shoved Jesus into a
+stagnant pool, which was close to it; Simon of Cyrene, in his
+endeavours to avoid the pool, gave the cross a twist, which caused
+Jesus to fall down for the fourth time in the midst of the dirty mud,
+and Simon had the greatest difficulty in lifting up the cross again.
+Jesus then exclaimed in a tone which, although clear, was moving and
+sad: 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered together thy
+children as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou
+wouldst not!' When the Pharisees heard these words, they became still
+more angry, and recommencing their insults and blows endeavoured to
+force him to get up out of the mud. Their cruelty to Jesus so
+exasperated Simon of Cyrene that he at last exclaimed, 'If you continue
+this brutal conduct, I will throw down the cross and carry it no
+farther. I will do so if you kill me for it.'
+
+A narrow and stony path was visible as soon as the gate was passed,
+and this path ran in a northerly direction, and led to Calvary. The
+high road from which it deviates divided shortly after into three
+branches, one to the south-west, which led to Bethlehem, through the
+vale of Gihon; a second to the south towards Emmaus and Joppa; a third,
+likewise to the south-west, wound round Calvary, and terminated at the
+gate which led to Bethsur. A person standing at the gate through which
+Jesus was led might easily see the gate of Bethlehem. The officers had
+fastened an inscription upon a post which stood at the commencement of
+the road to Calvary, to inform those who passed by that Jesus and the
+two thieves were condemned to death. A group of women had gathered
+together near this spot, and were weeping and lamenting; many carried
+young children in their arms; the greatest part were young maidens and
+women from Jerusalem, who had preceded the procession, but a few came
+from Bethlehem, from Hebron, and from other neighbouring places, in
+order to celebrate the Pasch.
+
+Jesus was on the point of again falling, but Simon, who was behind,
+perceiving that he could not stand, hastened to support him; he leant
+upon Simon, and was thus saved from falling to the ground. When the
+women and children of whom we have spoken above, saw the deplorable
+condition to which our Lord was reduced, they uttered loud cries, wept,
+and, according to the Jewish custom, presented him cloths to wipe his
+face. Jesus turned towards them and said: 'Daughters of Jerusalem, weep
+not over me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold
+the days shall come wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren, and
+the wombs that have not borne, and the papas that have not given suck.
+Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us, and to the
+hills: Cover us. For if in the green wood they do these things, what
+shall be done in the dry?' He then addressed a few words of consolation
+to hem, which I do not exactly remember.
+
+The procession made a momentary halt. The executioners, who set of
+first, had reached Calvary with the instruments for the execution, and
+were followed by a hundred of the Roman soldiers who had started with
+Pilate; he only accompanied the procession as far as the gateway, and
+returned to the town.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+Jesus on Mount Golgotha.
+
+Sixth and Seventh Falls of Jesus.
+
+
+
+The procession again moved on; the road was very steep and rough
+between the walls of the town and Calvary, and Jesus had the greatest
+difficulty in walking with his heavy burden on his shoulders; but his
+cruel enemies, far from feeling the slightest compassion, or giving the
+least assistance, continued to urge him on by the infliction of hard
+blows, and the utterance of dreadful curses. At last they reached a
+spot where the pathway turned suddenly to the south; here he stumbled
+and fell for the sixth time. The fall was a dreadful one, but the
+guards only struck him the harder to force him to get up, and no sooner
+did he reach Calvary that he sank down again for the seventh time.
+
+Simon of Cyrene was filled with indignation and pity;
+notwithstanding his fatigue, he wished to remain that he might assist
+Jesus, but the archers first reviled, and then drove him away, and he
+soon after joined the body of disciples. The executioners then ordered
+the workmen and the boys who had carried the instruments of the
+execution to depart, and the Pharisees soon arrived, for they were on
+horseback, and had taken the smooth and easy road which ran to the east
+of Calvary. There was a fine view of the whole town of Jerusalem from
+the top of Calvary. This top was circular, and about the size of an
+ordinary ridingschool, surrounded by a low wall, and with five separate
+entrances. This appeared to be the usual number in those parts, for
+there were five roads at the baths, at the place where they baptised,
+at the pool of Bethsaida, and there were likewise many towns with five
+gates. In this, as in many other peculiarities of the Holy Land, there
+was a deep prophetic signification; that number five, which so often
+occurred, was a type of those five sacred wound of our Blessed Saviour,
+which were to open to us the gates of Heaven.
+
+The horsemen stopped on the west side of the mount, where the
+declivity was not so steep; for the side up which the criminals were
+brought was both rough and steep. About a hundred soldiers were
+stationed on different parts of the mountain, and as space was
+required, the thieves were not brought to the top, but ordered to halt
+before they reached it, and to lie on the ground with their arms
+fastened to their crosses. Soldiers stood around and guarded them,
+while crowds of persons who did not fear defiling themselves, stood
+near the platform or on the neighbouring heights; these were mostly of
+the lower classes--strangers, slaves, and pagans, and a number of them
+were women.
+
+It wanted about a quarter to twelve when Jesus, loaded with his
+cross, sank down at the precise spot where he was to be crucified. The
+barbarous executioners dragged him up by the cords which they had
+fastened round his waist, and then untied the arms of the cross, and
+threw them on the ground. The sight of our Blessed Lord at this moment
+was, indeed, calculated to move the hardest heart to compassion; he
+stood or rather bent over the cross, being scarcely able to support
+himself; his heavenly countenance was pale and was as that of a person
+on the verge of death, although wounds and blood disfigured it to a
+frightful degree; but the hearts of these cruel men were, alas! harder
+than iron itself, and far from showing the slightest commiseration,
+they threw him brutally down, exclaiming in a jeering tone, 'Most
+powerful king, we are about to prepare thy throne.' Jesus immediately
+placed himself upon the cross, and they measured him and marked the
+places for his feet and hands; whilst the Pharisees continued to insult
+their unresisting Victim. When the measurement was finished, they led
+him to a cave cut in the rock, which had been used formerly as a
+cellar, opened the door, and pushed him in so roughly that had it not
+been for the support of angels, his legs must have been broken by so
+hard a fall on the rough stone floor. I most distinctly heard his
+groans of pain, but they closed the door quickly, and placed guards
+before it, and the archers continued their preparations for the
+crucifixion. The centre of the platform mentioned above was the most
+elevated part of Calvary,--it was a round eminence, about two feet high,
+and persons were obliged to ascend two of three steps to reach its top.
+The executioners dug the holes for the three crosses at the top of this
+eminence, and placed those intended for the thieves one on the right
+and the other on the left of our Lord's; both were lower and more roughly
+made than his. They then carried the cross of our Saviour to the spot
+where they intended to crucify him, and placed it in such a position
+that it would easily fall into the hole prepared for it. They fastened
+the two arms strongly on to the body of the cross, nailed the board at
+the bottom which was to support the feet, bored the holes for the
+nails, and cut different hollows in the wood in the parts which would
+receive the head and back of our Lord, in order that his body might
+rest against the cross, instead of being suspended from it. Their aim
+in this was the prolongation of his tortures, for if the whole weight
+of this body was allowed to fall upon the hands the holes might be
+quite torn open, and death ensue more speedily than they desired. The
+executioners then drove into the ground the pieces of wood which were
+intended to keep the cross upright, and made a few other similar
+preparations.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+The Departure of Mary and the holy Women of Calvary.
+
+
+
+Although the Blessed Virgin was carried away fainting after the sad
+meeting with her Son loaded with his cross, yet she soon recovered
+consciousness; for love, and the ardent desire of seeing him once more,
+imparted to her a supernatural feeling of strength. Accompanied by her
+companions she went to the house of Lazarus, which was at the bottom of
+the town, and where Martha, Magdalen, and many holy women were already
+assembled. All were sad and depressed, but Magdalen could not restrain
+her tears and lamentations. They started from this house, about
+seventeen in number, to make the way of the cross, that is to say, to
+follow every step Jesus had taken in this most painful journey. Mary
+counted each footstep, and being interiorly enlightened, pointed out to
+her companions those places which had been consecrated by peculiar
+sufferings. Then did the sharp sword predicted by aged Simeon impress
+for the first time in the heart of Mary that touching devotion which
+has since been so constantly practised in the Church. Mary imparted it
+to her companions, and they in their turn left it to future
+generations,--a most precious gift indeed, bestowed by our Lord on his
+beloved Mother, and which passed from her heart to the hearts of her
+children through the revered voice of tradition.
+
+When these holy women reached the house of Veronica they entered it,
+because Pilate and his officers were at that moment passing through the
+street, on their way home. They burst forth into unrestrained tears
+when they beheld the countenance of Jesus imprinted on the veil, and
+they returned thanks to God for the favour he had bestowed on his
+faithful servant. They took the jar of aromatic wine which the Jews had
+prevented Jesus from drinking, and set off together towards Golgotha.
+Their number was considerably increased, for many pious men and women
+whom the sufferings of our Lord had filled with pity had joined them,
+and they ascended the west side of Calvary, as the declivity there was
+not so great. The Mother of Jesus, accompanied by her niece, Mary (the
+daughter of Cleophas), John, and Salome went quite up to the round
+platform; but Martha, Mary of Heli, Veronica, Johanna Chusa, Susanna,
+and Mary, the mother of Mark, remained below with Magdalen, who could
+hardly support herself. Lower down on the mountain there was a third
+group of holy women, and there were a few scattered individuals between
+the three groups, who carried messages from one to the other. The
+Pharisees on horseback rode to and fro among the people, and the five
+entrances were guarded by Roman soldiers. Mary kept her eyes fixed on
+the fatal spot, and stood as if entranced,--it was indeed a sight
+calculated to appal and rend the heart of a mother. There lay the
+terrible cross, the hammers, the ropes, the nails, and alongside of
+these frightful instruments to torture stood the brutal executioners,
+half drunk, and almost without clothing, swearing and blaspheming,
+whilst making their preparations. The sufferings of the Blessed Virgin
+were greatly increased by her not being able to see her Son; she knew
+that he was still alive, and she felt the most ardent desire once more
+to behold him, while the thought of the torments he still had to endure
+made her heart ready to burst with grief.
+
+A little hail had been falling at times during the morning, but the
+sun came out again after ten o'clock, and a thick red fog began to
+obscure it towards twelve.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+The Nailing of Jesus to the Cross.
+
+
+
+The preparations for the crucifixion being finished four archers
+went to the cave where they had confined our Lord and dragged him out
+with their usual brutality, while the mob looked on and made use of
+insulting language, and the Roman soldiers regarded all with
+indifference, and thought of nothing but maintaining order. When Jesus
+was again brought forth, the holy women gave a man some money, and
+begged him to pay the archer anything they might demand if they would
+allow Jesus to drink the wine which Veronica had prepared; but the
+cruel executioners, instead of giving it to Jesus, drank it themselves.
+They had brought two vases with them, one of which contained vinegar
+and gall, and the other a mixture which looked like wine mixed with
+myrrh and absinthe; they offered a glass of the latter to our Lord,
+which he tasted, but would not drink.
+
+There were eighteen archers on the platform; the six who had
+scourged Jesus, the four who had conducted him to Calvary, the two who
+held the ropes which supported the cross, and six others who came for
+the purpose of crucifying him. They were strangers in the pay of either
+the Jews or the Romans, and were short thick-set men, with most
+ferocious countenances, rather resembling wild beasts than human
+beings, and employing themselves alternately in drinking and in making
+preparations for the crucifixion.
+
+This scene was rendered the more frightful to me by the sight of
+demons, who were invisible to others, and I saw large bodies of evil
+spirits under the forms of toads, serpents, sharp-clawed dragons, and
+venomous insects, urging these wicked men to still greater cruelty, and
+perfectly darkening the air. They crept into the mouths and into the
+hearts of the assistants, sat upon their shoulders, filled their minds
+with wicked images, and incited them to revile and insult our Lord with
+still greater brutality. Weeping angels, however, stood around Jesus,
+and the sight of their tears consoled me not a little, and they were
+accompanied by little angels of glory, whose heads alone I saw. There
+were likewise angels of pity and angels of consolation among them; the
+latter frequently approached the Blessed Virgin and the rest of the
+pious persons who were assembled there, and whispered words of comfort
+which enabled them to bear up with firmness.
+
+The executioners soon pulled off our Lord's cloak, the belt to which
+the ropes were fastened, and his own belt, when they found it was
+impossible to drag the woollen garment which his Mother had woven for
+him over his head, on account of the crown of thorns; they tore off
+this most painful crown, thus reopening every wound, and seizing the
+garment, tore it mercilessly over his bleeding and wounded head. Our
+dear Lord and Saviour then stood before his cruel enemies, stripped of
+all save the short scapular which was on his shoulders, and the linen
+which girded his loins. His scapular was of wool; the wool had stuck to
+the wounds, and indescribable was the agony of pain he suffered when
+they pulled it roughly off. He shook like the aspen as he stood before
+them, for he was so weakened from suffering and loss of blood that he
+could not support himself for more than a few moments; he was covered
+with open wounds, and his shoulders and back were torn to the bone by
+the dreadful scourging he had endured. He was about to fall when the
+executioners, fearing that he might die, and thus deprive them of the
+barbarous pleasure of crucifying him, led him to a large stone and
+placed him roughly down upon it, but no sooner was he seated than they
+aggravated his sufferings by putting the crown of thorns again upon his
+head. They then offered him some vinegar and gall, from which, however,
+he turned away in silence. The executioners did not allow him to rest
+long, but bade him rise and place himself on the cross that they might
+nail him to it. Then seizing his right arm they dragged it to the hole
+prepared for the nail, and having tied it tightly down with a cord, one
+of them knelt upon his sacred chest, a second held his hand flat, and a
+third taking a long thick nail, pressed it on the open palm of that
+adorable hand, which had ever been open to bestow blessings and favours
+on the ungrateful Jews, and with a great iron hammer drove it through
+the flesh, and far into the wood of the cross. Our Lord uttered one
+deep but suppressed groan, and his blood gushed forth and sprinkled the
+arms of the archers. I counted the blows of the hammer, but my extreme
+grief made me forget their number. The nails were very large, the heads
+about the size of a crown piece, and the thickness that of a man's thumb,
+while the points came through at the back of the cross. The Blessed
+Virgin stood motionless; from time to time you might distinguish her
+plaintive moans; she appeared as if almost fainting from grief, and
+Magdalen was quite beside herself. When the executioners had nailed the
+right hand of our Lord, they perceived that his left hand did not reach
+the hole they had bored to receive the nail, therefore they tied ropes
+to his left arm, and having steadied their feet against the cross,
+pulled the left hand violently until it reached the place prepared for
+it. This dreadful process caused our Lord indescribable agony, his
+breast heaved, and his legs were quite contracted. They again knelt
+upon him, tied down his arms, and drove the second nail into his left
+hand; his blood flowed afresh, and his feeble groans were once more
+heard between the blows of the hammer, but nothing could move the
+hard-hearted executioners to the slightest pity. The arms of Jesus,
+thus unnaturally stretched out, no longer covered the arms of the
+cross, which were sloped; there was a wide space between them and his
+armpits. Each additional torture and insult inflicted on our Lord
+caused a fresh pang in the heart of his Blessed Mother; she became
+white as a corpse, but as the Pharisees endeavoured to increase her
+pain by insulting words and gestures, the disciples led her to a group
+of pious women who were standing a little farther off.
+
+The executioners had fastened a piece of wood at the lower part of
+the cross under where the feet of Jesus would be nailed, that thus the
+weight of his body might not rest upon the wounds of his hands, as also
+to prevent the bones of his feet from being broken when nailed to the
+cross. A hole had been pierced in this wood to receive the nail when
+driven through his feet, and there was likewise a little hollow place
+for his heels. These precautions were taken lest his wounds should be
+torn open by the weight of this body, and death ensue before he had
+suffered all the tortures which they hoped to see him endure. The whole
+body of our Lord had been dragged upward, and contracted by the violent
+manner with which the executioners had stretched out his arms, and his
+knees were bent up; they therefore flattened and tied them down tightly
+with cords; but soon perceiving that his feet did not reach the bit of
+wood which was placed for them to rest upon, they became infuriated.
+Some of their number proposed making fresh holes for the nails which
+pierced his hands, as there would be considerable difficulty in
+removing the bit of wood, but the others would do nothing of the sort,
+and continued to vociferate, 'He will not stretch himself out, but we
+will help him;' they accompanied these words with the most fearful oaths
+and imprecations, and having fastened a rope to his right leg, dragged
+it violently until it reached the wood, and then tied it down as
+tightly as possible. The agony which Jesus suffered from this violent
+tension was indescribable; the words 'My God, my God,' escaped his lips,
+and the executioners increased his pain by tying his chest and arms to
+the cross, lest the hands should be torn from the nails. They then
+fastened his left foot on to his right foot, having first bored a hole
+through them with a species of piercer, because they could not be
+placed in such a position as to be nailed together at once. Next they
+took a very long nail and drove it completely through both feet into
+the cross below, which operation was more than usually painful, on
+account of his body being so unnaturally stretched out; I counted at
+least six and thirty blows of the hammer. During the whole time of the
+crucifixion our Lord never ceased praying, and repeating those passages
+in the Psalms which he was then accompanying, although from time to
+time a feeble moan caused by excess of suffering might be heard. In
+this manner he had prayed when carrying his cross, and thus he
+continued to pray until his death. I heard him repeat all these
+prophecies; I repeated them after him, and I have often since noted the
+different passages when reading the Psalms, but I now feel so exhausted
+with grief that I cannot at all connect them.
+
+When the crucifixion of Jesus was finished, the commander of the
+Roman soldiers ordered Pilate's inscription to be nailed on the top of
+the cross. The Pharisees were much incensed at this, and their anger
+was increased by the jeers of the Roman soldiers, who pointed at their
+crucified king; they therefore hastened back to Jerusalem, determined
+to use their best endeavours to persuade the governor to allow them to
+substitute another inscription.
+
+It was about a quarter past twelve when Jesus was crucified, and at
+the moment the cross was lifted up, the Temple resounded with the blast
+of trumpets, which were always blown to announce the sacrifice of the
+Paschal Lamb.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+Raising of the Cross.
+
+
+
+When the executioners had finished the crucifixion of our Lord, they
+tied ropes to the trunk of the cross, and fastened the ends of these
+ropes round a long beam which was fixed firmly in the ground at a
+little distance, and by means of these ropes they raised the cross.
+Some of their number supported it while others shoved its foot towards
+the hole prepared for its reception--the heavy cross fell into this hole
+with a frightful shock--Jesus uttered a faint cry, and his wounds were
+torn open in the most fearful manner, his blood again burst forth, and
+his half dislocated bones knocked one against the other. The archers
+pushed the cross to get it thoroughly into the hole, and caused it to
+vibrate still more by planting five stakes around to support it.
+
+A terrible, but at the same time a touching sight it was to behold
+the cross raised up in the midst of the vast concourse of persons who
+were assembled all around; not only insulting soldiers, proud
+Pharisees, and the brutal Jewish mob were there, but likewise strangers
+from all parts. The air resounded with acclamations and derisive cries
+when they beheld it towering on high, and after vibrating for a moment
+in the air, fall with a heavy crash into the hole cut for it in the
+rock. But words of love and compassion resounded through the air at the
+same moment; and need we say that these words, these sounds, were
+emitted by the most saintly of human beings--Mary--John--the holy women, and all
+who were pure of heart? They bowed down and adored the 'Word made flesh,'
+nailed to the cross; they stretched forth their hands as if desirous of
+giving assistance to the Holy of Holies, whom they beheld nailed to a
+cross and in the power of his furious enemies. But when the solemn
+sound of the fall of the cross into the hole prepared for it in the
+rock was heard, a dead silence ensued, every heart was filled with an
+indefinable feeling of awe--a feeling never before experienced, and for
+which no one could account, even to himself; all the inmates of hell
+shook with terror, and vented their rage by endeavouring to stimulate
+the enemies of Jesus to still greater fury and brutality; the souls in
+Limbo were filled with joy and hope, for the sound was to them a
+harbinger of happiness, the prelude to the appearance of their
+Deliverer. Thus was the blessed cross of our Lord planted for the first
+time on the earth; and well might it be compared to the tree of life in
+Paradise, for the wounds of Jesus were as sacred fountains, from which
+flowed four rivers destined both to purify the world from the curse of
+sin, and to give it fertility, so as to produce fruit unto salvation.
+
+The eminence on which the cross was planted was about two feet
+higher than the surrounding parts; the feet of Jesus were sufficiently
+near the ground for his friends to be able to reach to kiss them, and
+his face was turned to the north-west.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+Crucifixion of the Thieves.
+
+
+
+During the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, the two thieves were
+left lying on the ground at some distance off; their arms were fastened
+to the crosses on which they were to be executed, and a few soldiers
+stood near on guard. The accusation which had been proved against them
+was that of having assassinated a Jewish woman who, with her children,
+was travelling from Jerusalem to Joppa. They were arrested, under the
+disguise of rich merchants, at a castle in which Pilate resided
+occasionally, when employed in exercising his troops, and they had been
+imprisoned for a long time before being brought to trial. The thief
+placed on the left-hand side was much older than the other; a regular
+miscreant, who had corrupted the younger. They were commonly called
+Dismas and Gesmas, and as I forget their real names I shall distinguish
+them by these terms, calling the good one Dismas, and the wicked one
+Gesmas. Both the one and the other belonged to a band of robbers who
+infested the frontiers of Egypt; and it was in a cave inhabited by
+these robbers that the Holy Family took refuge when flying into Egypt,
+at the time of the massacre of the Innocents. The poor leprous child,
+who was instantly cleansed by being dipped in the water which had been
+used for washing the infant Jesus, was no other than this Dismas, and
+the charity of his mother, in receiving and granting hospitality to the
+Holy Family, had been rewarded by the cure of her child; while this
+outward purification was an emblem of the inward purification which was
+afterwards accomplished in the soul of Dismas on Mount Calvary, through
+that Sacred Blood which was then shed on the cross for our redemption.
+Dismas knew nothing at all about Jesus, but as his heart was not
+hardened, the sight of the extreme patience of our Lord moved him much.
+When the executioners had finished putting up the cross of Jesus, they
+ordered the thieves to rise without delay, and they loosened their
+fetters in order to crucify them at once, as the sky was becoming very
+cloudy and bore every appearance of an approaching storm. After giving
+them some myrrh and vinegar, they stripped off their ragged clothing,
+tied ropes round their arms, and by the help of small ladders dragged
+them up to their places on the cross. The executioners then bound the
+arms of the thieves to the cross, with cords made of the bark of trees,
+and fastened their wrists, elbows, knees, and feet in like manner,
+drawing the cords so tight that their joints cracked, and the blood
+burst out. They uttered piercing cries, and the good thief exclaimed as
+they were drawing him up, 'This torture is dreadful, but if they had
+treated us as they treated the poor Galilean, we should have been dead
+long ago.'
+
+The executioners had divided the garments of Jesus, in order to draw
+lots for them; his mantle, which was narrow at the top, was very wide
+at the bottom, and lined over the chest, thus forming a pocket between
+the lining and the material itself; the lining they pulled out, tore
+into bands, and divided. They did the same with his long white robe,
+belt, scapular, and under-garment, which was completely saturated with
+his Sacred Blood. Not being able to agree as to who was to be the
+possessor of the seamless robe woven by his Mother, which could not be
+cut up and divided, they brought out a species of chessboard marked
+with figures, and were about to decide the point by lots, when a
+messenger, sent by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, informed them
+that there were persons ready to purchase all the clothes of Jesus;
+they therefore gathered them together and sold them in a bundle. Thus
+did the Christians get possession of these precious relics.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+Jesus hanging on the Cross between two Thieves.
+
+
+
+The tremendous concussion caused by the fall of the cross into the
+hole prepared for it drove the sharp points of the crown of thorns,
+which was still upon the head of our dear Saviour, still deeper into
+his sacred flesh, and blood ran down again in streams, both from it and
+from his hands and feet. The archers then placed ladders against the
+sides of the cross, mounted them and unfastened the ropes with which
+they had bound our Lord to the cross, previous to lifting it up,
+fearing that the shock might tear open the wounds in his hands and
+feet, and that then the nails would no longer support his body. His
+blood had become, in a certain degree, stagnated by his horizontal
+position and the pressure of the cords, but when these were withdrawn,
+it resumed its usual course, and caused such agonising sensations
+throughout his countless wounds, that he bowed his head, and remained
+as if dead for more than seven minutes. A pause ensued; the
+executioners were occupied with the division of his garments; the
+trumpets in the Temple no longer resounded; and all the actors in this
+fearful tragedy appeared to be exhausted, some by grief, and others by
+the efforts they had made to compass their wicked ends, and by the joy
+which they felt now at having at last succeeded in bringing about the
+death of him whom they had so long envied. With mixed feelings of fear
+and compassion I cast my eyes upon Jesus,--Jesus my Redeemer,--the Redeemer
+of the world. I beheld him motionless, and almost lifeless. I felt as
+if I myself must expire; my heart was overwhelmed between grief, love,
+and horror; my mind was half wandering, my hands and feet burning with
+a feverish heat; each vein, nerve, and limb was racked with
+inexpressible pain; I saw nothing distinctly, excepting my beloved
+Spouse hanging on the cross. I contemplated his disfigured countenance,
+his head encircled with that terrible crown of thorns, which prevented
+his raising it even for a moment without the most intense suffering,
+his mouth parched and half open from exhaustion, and his hair and beard
+clotted with blood. His chest was torn with stripes and wounds, and his
+elbows, wrists, and shoulders so violently distended as to be almost
+dislocated; blood constantly trickled down from the gaping wounds in
+his hands, and the flesh was so torn from his ribs that you might
+almost count them. His legs and thighs, as also his arms, were
+stretched out almost to dislocation, the flesh and muscles so
+completely laid bare that every bone was visible, and his whole body
+covered with black, green, and reeking wounds. The blood which flowed
+from his wounds was at first red, but it became by degrees light and
+watery, and the whole appearance of his body was that of a corpse ready
+for interment. And yet, notwithstanding the horrible wounds with which
+he was covered, notwithstanding the state of ignominy to which he was
+reduced, there still remained that inexpressible look of dignity and
+goodness which had ever filled all beholders with awe.
+
+The complexion of our Lord was fair, like that of Mary, and slightly
+tinted with red; but his exposure to the weather during the last three
+years had tanned him considerably. His chest was wide, but not hairy
+like that of St. John Baptist; his shoulders broad, and his arms and
+thighs sinewy; his knees were strong and hardened, as is usually the
+case with those who have either walked or knelt much, and his legs
+long, with very strong muscles; his feet were well formed, and his
+hands beautiful, the fingers being long and tapering, and although not
+delicate like those of a woman, still not resembling those of a man who
+had laboured hard. His neck was rather long, with a well-set and finely
+proportioned head; his forehead large and high; his face oval; his
+hair, which was far from thick, was of a golden brown colour, parted in
+the middle and falling over his shoulders; his beard was not any great
+length, but pointed and divided under the chin. When I contemplated him
+on the cross, his hair was almost all torn off, and what remained was
+matted and clotted with blood; his body was one wound, and every limb
+seemed as if dislocated.
+
+The crosses of the two thieves were placed, the one to the right and
+the other to the left of Jesus; there was sufficient space left for a
+horseman to ride between them. Nothing can be imagined more distressing
+than the appearance of the thieves on their crosses; they suffered
+terribly, and the one on the left-hand side never ceased cursing and
+swearing. The cords with which they were tied were very tight, and
+caused great pain; their countenances were livid, and their eyes
+enflamed and ready to start from the sockets. The height of the crosses
+of the two thieves was much less than that of our Lord.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+First Word of Jesus on the Cross.
+
+
+
+As soon as the executioners had crucified the two thieves and
+divided the garment of Jesus between them, they gathered up their
+tools, addressed a few more insulting words to our Lord, and went away.
+The Pharisees, likewise, rode up to Jesus, looked at him scornfully,
+made use of some opprobrious expression, and then left the place. The
+Roman soldiers, of whom a hundred had been posted round Calvary, were
+marched away, and their places filled by fifty others, the command of
+whom was given to Abenadar, an Arab by birth, who afterwards took the
+name of Ctesiphon in baptism; and the second in command was Cassius,
+who, when he became a Christian, was known by the name of Longinus:
+Pilate frequently made use of him as a messenger. Twelve Pharisees,
+twelve Sadducees, as many scribes, and a few ancients, accompanied by
+those Jews who had been endeavouring to persuade Pilate to change the
+inscription on the Cross of Jesus, then came up: they were furious, as
+the Roman governor had given them a direct refusal. They rode round the
+platform, and drove away the Blessed Virgin, whom St. John led to the
+holy women. When they passed the Cross of Jesus, they shook their heads
+disdainfully at him, exclaiming at the same time, 'Vah! thou that
+destroyest the temple of God, and in three days buildest it up again,
+save thyself, coming down from the Cross. Let Christ, the King of
+Israel, come down now from the Cross, that we may see and believe.' The
+soldiers, likewise, made use of deriding language.
+
+The countenance and whole body of Jesus became even more colourless:
+he appeared to be on the point of fainting, and Gesmas (the wicked
+thief) exclaimed, 'The demon by whom he is possessed is about to leave
+him.' A soldier then took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, put it on a
+reed, and presented it to Jesus, who appeared to drink. 'If thou art the
+King of the Jews,' said the soldier, 'save thyself, coming down from the
+Cross.' These things took place during the time that the first band of
+soldiers was being relieved by that of Abenadar. Jesus raised his head
+a little, and said, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'
+And Gesmas cried out, 'If thou art the Christ, save thyself and us.' Dismas
+(the good thief) was silent, but he was deeply moved at the prayer of
+Jesus for his enemies. When Mary heard the voice of her Son, unable to
+restrain herself, she rushed forward, followed by John, Salome, and
+Mary of Cleophas, and approached the Cross, which the kind-hearted
+centurion did not prevent. The prayers of Jesus obtained for the good
+thief a moist powerful grace; he suddenly remembered that it was Jesus
+and Mary who had cured him of leprosy in his childhood, and he
+exclaimed in a loud and clear voice, 'How can you insult him when he
+prays for you? He has been silent, and suffered all your outrages with
+patience; he is truly a Prophet--he is our King--he is the Son of God.' This
+unexpected reproof from the lips of a miserable malefactor who was
+dying on a cross caused a tremendous commotion among the spectators;
+they gathered up stones, and wished to throw them at him; but the
+centurion Abenadar would not allow it.
+
+The Blessed Virgin was much comforted and strengthened by the prayer
+of Jesus, and Dismas said to Gesmas, who was still blaspheming Jesus,
+'Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art under the same condemnation.
+And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but
+this man hath done no evil. Remember thou art now at the point of
+death, and repent.' He was enlightened and touched: he confessed his sins
+to Jesus, and said: 'Lord, if thou condemnest me it will be with justice.'
+And Jesus replied, 'Thou shalt experience my mercy.' Dismas, filled with
+the most perfect contrition, began instantly to thank God for the great
+graces he had received, and to reflect over the manifold sins of his
+past life. All these events took place between twelve and the half-hour
+shortly after the crucifixion; but such a surprising change had taken
+place in the appearance of nature during that time as to astonish the
+beholders and fill their minds with awe and terror.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+Eclipse of the Sun.
+
+Second and Third Word of Jesus on the Cross.
+
+
+
+A little hail had fallen at about ten o'clock,--when Pilate was passing
+sentence,--and after that the weather cleared up, until towards twelve,
+when the thick red-looking fog began to obscure the sun. Towards the
+sixth hour, according to the manner of counting of the Jews, the sun
+was suddenly darkened. I was shown the exact cause of this wonderful
+phenomenon; but I have unfortunately partly forgotten it, and what I
+have not forgotten I cannot find words to express; but I was lifted up
+from the earth, and beheld the stars and the planets moving about out
+of their proper spheres. I saw the moon like an immense ball of fire
+rolling along as if flying from the earth. I was then suddenly taken
+back to Jerusalem, and I beheld the moon reappear behind the Mountain
+of Olives, looking pale and full, and advancing rapidly towards the
+sun, which was dim and over-shrouded by a fog. I saw to the east of the
+sun a large dark body which had the appearance of a mountain, and which
+soon entirely hid the sun. The centre of this body was dark yellow, and
+a red circle like a ring of fire was round it. The sky grew darker and
+the stars appeared to cast a red and lurid light. Both men and beasts
+were struck with terror; the enemies of Jesus ceased reviling him,
+while the Pharisees endeavoured to give philosophical reasons for what
+was taking place, but they failed in their attempt, and were reduced to
+silence. Many were seized with remorse, struck their breasts, and cried
+out, 'May his blood fall upon his murderers!' Numbers of others, whether
+near the Cross or at a distance, fell on their knees and entreated
+forgiveness of Jesus, who turned his eyes compassionately upon them in
+the midst of his sufferings. However, the darkness continued to
+increase, and everyone excepting Mary and the most faithful among the
+friends of Jesus left the Cross. Dismas then raised his head, and in a
+tone of humility and hope said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when thou
+shalt come into thy kingdom.' And Jesus made answer, 'Amen, I say to thee,
+This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.' Magdalen, Mary of Cleophas,
+and John stood near the Cross of our Lord and looked at him, while the
+Blessed Virgin, filled with intense feelings of motherly love,
+entreated her Son to permit her to die with him; but he, casting a look
+of ineffable tenderness upon her, turned to John and said, 'Woman, behold
+thy son;' then he said to John, 'Behold thy mother.' John looked at his dying
+Redeemer, and saluted this beloved mother (whom he henceforth
+considered as his own) in the most respectful manner. The Blessed
+Virgin was so overcome by grief at these words of Jesus that she almost
+fainted, and was carried to a short distance from the Cross by the holy
+women.
+
+I do not know whether Jesus really pronounced these words, but I
+felt interiorly that he gave Mary to John as a mother, and John to Mary
+as a son. In similar visions a person is often conscious of things
+which are not written, and words can only express a portion of them,
+although to the individual to whom they are shown they are so clear as
+not to require explanation. For this reason it did not appear to me in
+the least surprising that Jesus should call the Blessed Virgin 'Woman,'
+instead of 'Mother.' I felt that he intended to demonstrate that she was
+that woman spoken of in Scripture who was to crush the head of the
+serpent, and that then was the moment in which that promise was
+accomplished in the death of her Son. I knew that Jesus, by giving her
+as a mother to John, gave her also as a mother to all who believe in
+him, who become children of God, and are not born of flesh and blood,
+or of the will of man, but of God. Neither did it appear to me
+surprising that the most pure, the most humble, and the most obedient
+among women, who, when saluted by the angel as 'full of grace,' immediately
+replied, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to
+thy word,' and in whose sacred womb the Word was instantly made flesh,--that
+she, when informed by her dying Son that she was to become the
+spiritual mother of another son, should repeat the same words with
+humble obedience, and immediately adopt as her children all the
+children of God, the brothers of Jesus Christ. These things are much
+easier to feel by the grace of God than to be expressed in words. I
+remember my celestial Spouse once saying to me, 'Everything is imprinted
+in the hearts of those children of the Church who believe, hope, and
+love.'
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+The Fear felt by the Inhabitants of Jerusalem.
+
+Fourth Word of Jesus on the Cross.
+
+
+
+It was about half-past one o'clock when I was taken into Jerusalem to
+see what was going on there. The inhabitants were perfectly overcome
+with terror and anxiety; the streets dark and gloomy, and some persons
+were feeling their way about, while others, seated on the ground with
+their heads veiled, struck their breasts, or went up to the roofs of
+their houses, looked at the sky, and burst forth in bitter
+lamentations. Even the animals uttered mournful cries, and hid
+themselves; the birds flew low, and fell to the ground. I saw Pilate
+conferring with Herod on the alarming state of things: they were both
+extremely agitated, and contemplated the appearance of the sky from
+that terrace upon which Herod was standing when he delivered up Jesus
+to be insulted by the infuriated rabble. 'These events are not in the
+common course of nature,' they both exclaimed: 'they must be caused by the
+anger of the gods, who are displeased at the cruelty which has been
+exercised towards Jesus of Nazareth.' Pilate and Herod, surrounded by
+guards, then directed their hasty trembling steps through the forum to
+Herod's palace. Pilate turned away his head when he passed Gabbatha, from
+whence he had condemned Jesus to be crucified. The square was almost
+empty; a few persons might be seen re-entering their houses as quickly
+as possible, and a few others running about and weeping, while two or
+three small groups might be distinguished in the distance. Pilate sent
+for some of the ancients and asked them what they thought the
+astounding darkness could possible portend, and said that he himself
+considered it a terrific proof of the anger of their God at the
+crucifixion of the Galilean, who was most certainly their prophet and
+their king: he added that he had nothing to reproach himself with on
+that head, for he had washed his hands of the whole affair, and was,
+therefore, quite innocent. The ancients were as hardened as ever, and
+replied, in a sullen tone, that there was nothing unnatural in the
+course of events, that they might be easily accounted for by
+philosophers, and that they did not repent of anything they had done.
+However, many persons were converted, and among others those soldiers
+who fell to the ground at the words of our Lord when they were sent to
+arrest him in the Garden of Olives.
+
+The rabble assembled before Pilate's house, and instead of the cry of
+'Crucify him, crucify him!' which had resounded in the morning, you might
+have heard vociferations of 'Down with the iniquitous judge!' 'May the blood
+of the just man fall upon his murderers!' Pilate was much alarmed; he
+sent for additional guards, and endeavoured to cast all the blame upon
+the Jews. He again declared that the crime was not his; that he was no
+subject of this Jesus, whom they had put to death unjustly, and who was
+their king, their prophet, their Holy One; that they alone were guilty,
+as it must be evident to all that he condemned Jesus solely from
+compulsion.
+
+The Temple was thronged with Jews, who were intent on the immolation
+of the Paschal lamb; but when the darkness increased to such a degree
+that it was impossible to distinguish the countenance of one from that
+of the other, they were seized with fear, horror, and dread, which they
+expressed by mournful cries and lamentations. The High Priests
+endeavoured to maintain order and quiet. All the lamps were lighted;
+but the confusion became greater every moment, and Annas appeared
+perfectly paralysed with terror. I saw him endeavouring to hide first
+in one place, and then in another. When I left the Temple, and walked
+through the streets, I remarked that, although not a breath of wind was
+stirring, yet both the doors and windows of the houses were shaking as
+if in a storm, and the darkness was becoming every moment more dense.
+
+The consternation produced by the sudden darkness at Mount Calvary
+was indescribable. When it first commenced, the confusion of the noise
+of the hammers, the vociferations of the rabble, the cries of the two
+thieves on being fastened to their crosses, the insulting speeches of
+the Pharisees, the evolutions of the soldiers, and the drunken shouts
+of the executioners, had so completely engrossed the attention of
+everyone, that the change which was gradually coming over the face of
+nature was not remarked; but as the darkness increased, every sound
+ceased, each voice was hushed, and remorse and terror took possession
+of every heart, while the bystanders retired one by one to a distance
+from the Cross. Then it was that Jesus gave his Mother to St. John, and
+that she, overcome by grief, was carried away to a short distance. As
+the darkness continued to grow more and more dense, the silence became
+perfectly astounding; everyone appeared terror struck; some looked at
+the sky, while others, filled with remorse, turned towards the Cross,
+smote their breasts, and were converted. Although the Pharisees were in
+reality quite as much alarmed as other persons, yet they endeavoured at
+first to put a bold face on the matter, and declared that they could
+see nothing unaccountable in these events; but at last even they lost
+assurance, and were reduced to silence. The disc of the sun was of a
+dark-yellow tint, rather resembling a mountain when viewed by
+moonlight, and it was surrounded by a bright fiery ring; the stars
+appeared, but the light they cast was red and lurid; the birds were so
+terrified as to drop to the ground; the beasts trembled and moaned; the
+horses and the asses of the Pharisees crept as close as possible to one
+another, and put their heads between their legs. The thick fog
+penetrated everything.
+
+Stillness reigned around the Cross. Jesus hung upon it alone;
+forsaken by all,--disciples, followers, friends, his Mother even was
+removed from his side; not one person of the thousands upon whom he had
+lavished benefits was near to offer him the slightest alleviation in
+his bitter agony,--his soul was overspread with an indescribable feeling
+of bitterness and grief,--all within him was dark, gloomy, and wretched.
+The darkness which reigned around was but symbolical of that which
+overspread his interior; he turned, nevertheless, to his Heavenly
+Father, he prayed for his enemies, he offered the chalice of his
+sufferings for their redemption, he continued to pray as he had done
+during the whole of his Passion, and repeated portions of those Psalms
+the prophecies of which were then receiving their accomplishment in
+him. I saw angels standing around. Again I looked at Jesus--my beloved
+Spouse--on his Cross, agonising and dying, yet still in dreary solitude.
+He at that moment endured anguish which no mortal pen can describe,--he
+felt that suffering which would overwhelm a poor weak mortal if
+deprived at once of all consolation, both divine and human, and then
+compelled, without refreshment, assistance, or light, to traverse the
+stormy desert of tribulation upheld by faith, hope, and charity alone.
+
+His sufferings were inexpressible; but it was by them that he
+merited for us the grace necessary to resist those temptations to
+despair which will assail us at the hour of death,--that tremendous hour
+when we shall feel that we are about to leave all that is dear to us
+here below. When our minds, weakened by disease, have lost the power of
+reasoning, and even our hopes of mercy and forgiveness are become, as
+it were, enveloped in mist and uncertainty,--then it is that we must fly
+to Jesus, unite our feelings of desolation with that indescribable
+dereliction which he endured upon the Cross, and be certain of
+obtaining a glorious victory over our infernal enemies. Jesus then
+offered to his Eternal Father his poverty, his dereliction, his
+labours, and, above all, the bitter sufferings which our ingratitude
+had caused him to endure in expiation for our sins and weakness; no
+one, therefore, who is united to Jesus in the bosom of his Church must
+despair at the awful moment preceding his exit from this life, even if
+he be deprived of all sensible light and comfort; for he must then
+remember that the Christian is no longer obliged to enter this dark
+desert alone and unprotected, as Jesus has cast his own interior and
+exterior dereliction on the Cross into this gulf of desolation,
+consequently he will not be left to cope alone with death, or be
+suffered to leave this world in desolation of spirit, deprived of
+heavenly consolation. All fear of loneliness and despair in death must
+therefore be cast away; for Jesus, who is our true light, the Way, the
+Truth, and the Life, has preceded us on that dreary road, has
+overspread it with blessings, and raised his Cross upon it, one glance
+at which will calm our every fear. Jesus then (if we may so express
+ourselves) made his last testament in the presence of his Father, and
+bequeathed the merits of his Death and Passion to the Church and to
+sinners. Not one erring soul was forgotten; he thought of each and
+everyone; praying, likewise, even for those heretics who have
+endeavoured to prove that, being God, he did not suffer as a man would
+have suffered in his place. The cry which he allowed to pass his lips
+in the height of his agony was intended not only to show the excess of
+the sufferings he was then enduring, but likewise to encourage all
+afflicted souls who acknowledge God as their Father to lay their
+sorrows with filial confidence at his feet. It was towards three o'clock
+when he cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani?' 'My God,
+my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' These words of our Lord interrupted
+the dead silence which had continued so long; the Pharisees turned
+towards him, and one of them said, 'Behold, he calleth Elias;' and another,
+'Let us see whether Elias will come to deliver him.' When Mary heard the
+voice of her divine Son, she was unable to restrain herself any longer,
+but rushed forwards, and returned to the foot of the Cross, followed by
+John, Mary the daughter of Cleophas, Mary Magdalen, and Salome. A troop
+of about thirty horsemen from Judea and the environs of Joppa, who were
+on their way to Jerusalem for the festival, passed by just at the time
+when all was silent round the Cross, both assistants and spectators
+being transfixed with terror and apprehensions. When they beheld Jesus
+hanging on the Cross, saw the cruelty with which he had been treated,
+and remarked the extraordinary signs of God's wrath which overspread the
+face of nature, they were filled with horror, and exclaimed, 'If the
+Temple of God were not in Jerusalem, the city should be burned to the
+ground for having taken upon itself so fearful a crime.' These words from
+the lips of strangers--strangers too who bore the appearance of persons of
+rank--made a great impression on the bystanders, and loud murmurs and
+exclamations of grief were heard on all sides; some individuals
+gathered together in groups, more freely to indulge their sorrow,
+although a certain portion of the crowd continued to blaspheme and
+revile all around them. The Pharisees were compelled to assume a more
+humble tone, for they feared great existing excitement among the
+inhabitants of Jerusalem. They therefore held a consultation with
+Abenadar, the centurion, and agreed with him that the gate of the city,
+which was in the vicinity, should be closed, in order to prevent
+farther communication, and that they should send to Pilate and Herod
+for 500 men to guard against the chance of an insurrection, the
+centurion, in the mean time, doing all in his power to maintain order,
+and preventing the Pharisees from insulting Jesus, lest it should
+exasperate the people still more.
+
+Shortly after three o'clock the light reappeared in a degree, the moon
+began to pass away from the disc of the sun, while the sun again shone
+forth, although its appearance was dim, being surrounded by a species
+of red mist; by degrees it became more bright, and the stars vanished,
+but the sky was still gloomy. The enemies of Jesus soon recovered their
+arrogant spirit when they saw the light returning; and it was then that
+they exclaimed, 'Behold, he calleth Elias.'
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Words of Jesus on the Cross.
+
+His Death.
+
+
+
+The light continued to return by degrees, and the livid exhausted
+countenance of our Lord again became visible. His body was become much
+more white from the quantity of blood he had lost; and I heard him
+exclaim, 'I am pressed as the grape, which is trodden in the winepress.
+My blood shall be poured out until water cometh, but wine shall here be
+made no more.' I cannot be sure whether he really pronounced these words,
+so as to be heard by others, or whether they were only an answer given
+to my interior prayer. I afterwards had a vision relating to these
+words, and in it I saw Japhet making wine in this place.
+
+Jesus was almost fainting; his tongue was parched, and he said: 'I
+thirst.' The disciples who were standing round the Cross looked at him
+with the deepest expression of sorrow, and he added, 'Could you not have
+given me a little water?' By these words he gave them to understand that
+no one would have prevented them from doing so during the darkness.
+John was filled with remorse, and replied: 'We did not think of doing so,
+O Lord.' Jesus pronounced a few more words, the import of which was: 'My
+friends and my neighbours were also to forget me, and not give me to
+drink, that so what was written concerning me might be fulfilled.' This
+omission had afflicted him very much. The disciples then offered money
+to the soldiers to obtain permission to give him a little water: they
+refused to give it, but dipped a sponge in vinegar and gall, and were
+about to offer it to Jesus, when the centurion Abenadar, whose heart
+was touched with compassion, took it from them, squeezed out the gal,
+poured some fresh vinegar upon it, and fastening it to a reed, put the
+reed at the end of a lance, and presented it for Jesus to drink. I
+heard our Lord say several other things, but I only remember these
+words: 'When my voice shall be silent, the mouths of the dead shall be
+opened.' Some of the bystanders cried out: 'He blasphemeth again.' But
+Abenadar compelled them to be silent.
+
+The hour of our Lord was at last come; his death-struggle had
+commenced; a cold sweat overspread every limb. John stood at the foot
+of the Cross, and wiped the feet of Jesus with his scapular. Magdalen
+was crouched to the ground in a perfect frenzy of grief behind the
+Cross. The Blessed Virgin stood between Jesus and the good thief,
+supported by Salome and Mary of Cleophas, with her eyes rivetted on the
+countenance of her dying Son. Jesus then said: 'It is consummated;' and,
+raising his head, cried out in a loud voice, 'Father, into thy hands I
+commend my spirit.' These words, which he uttered in a clear and
+thrilling tone, resounded through heaven and earth; and a moment after,
+he bowed down his head and gave up the ghost. I saw his soul, under the
+appearance of a bright meteor, penetrate the earth at the foot of the
+Cross. John and the holy women fell prostrate on the ground. The
+centurion Abenadar had kept his eyes steadfastly fixed on the
+disfigured countenance of our Lord, and was perfectly overwhelmed by
+all that had taken place. When our Lord pronounced his last words,
+before expiring, in a loud tone, the earth trembled, and the rock of
+Calvary burst asunder, forming a deep chasm between the Cross of our
+Lord and that of Gesmas. The voice of God--that solemn and terrible
+voice--had re-echoed through the whole universe; it had broken the solemn
+silence which then pervaded all nature. All was accomplished. The soul
+of our Lord had left his body: his last cry had filled every breast
+with terror. The convulsed earth had paid homage to its Creator: the
+sword of grief had pierced the hearts of those who loved him. This
+moment was the moment of grace for Abenadar: his horse trembled under
+him; his heart was touched; it was rent like the hard rock; he threw
+his lance to a distance, struck his breast, and cried out: 'Blessed be
+the Most High God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; indeed
+this Man was the Son of God!' His words convinced many among the
+soldiers, who followed his example, and were likewise converted.
+
+Abenadar became from this moment a new man; he adored the true God,
+and would no longer serve his enemies. He gave both his horse and his
+lance to a subaltern of the name of Longinus, who, having addressed a
+few words to the soldiers, mounted his horse, and took the command upon
+himself. Abenadar then left Calvary, and went through the Valley of
+Gihon to the caves in the Valley of Hinnom, where the disciples were
+hidden, announced the death of our Lord to them, and then went to the
+town, in order to see Pilate. No sooner had Abenadar rendered public
+testimony of his belief in the divinity of Jesus, than a large number
+of soldiers followed his example, as did also some of the bystanders,
+and even a few Pharisees. Many struck their breasts, wept, and returned
+home, while others rent their garments, and cast dust on their heads,
+and all were filled with horror and fear. John arose; and some of the
+holy women who were at a short distance came up to the Blessed Virgin,
+and led her away from the foot of the Cross.
+
+When Jesus, the Lord of life and death, gave up his soul into the
+hands of his Father, and allowed death to take possession of his body,
+this sacred body trembled and turned lividly white; the countless
+wounds which were covered with congealed blood appeared like dark
+marks; his cheeks became more sunken, his nose more pointed, and his
+eyes, which were obscured with blood, remained but half open. He raised
+his weary head, which was still crowned with thorns, for a moment, and
+then dropped it again in agony of pain; while his parched and torn
+lips, only partially closed, showed his bloody and swollen tongue. At
+the moment of death his hands, which were at one time contracted round
+the nails, opened and returned to their natural size, as did also his
+arms; his body became stiff, and the whole weight was thrown upon the
+feet, his knees bent, and his feet twisted a little on one side.
+
+What words can, alas, express the deep grief of the Blessed Virgin?
+Her eyes closed, a death-like tint overspread her countenance; unable
+to stand, she fell to the ground, but was soon lifted up, and supported
+by John, Magdalen, and the others. She looked once more upon her
+beloved Son--that Son whom she had conceived by the Holy Ghost, the flesh
+of her flesh, the bone of her bone, the heart of her heart--hanging on a
+cross between two thieves; crucified, dishonoured, contemned by those
+whom he came on earth to save; and well might she at this moment be
+termed 'the queen of martyrs.'
+
+The sun still looked dim and suffused with mist; and during the time
+of the earthquake the air was close and oppressive, but by degrees it
+became more clear and fresh.
+
+It was about three o'clock when Jesus expired. The Pharisees were at
+first much alarmed at the earthquake; but when the first shock was over
+they recovered themselves, began to throw stones into the chasm, and
+tried to measure its depth with ropes. Finding, however, that they
+could not fathom its bottom, they became thoughtful, listened anxiously
+to the groans of the penitents, who were lamenting and striking their
+breasts, and then left Calvary. Many among the spectators were really
+converted, and the greatest part returned to Jerusalem perfectly
+overcome with fear. Roman soldiers were placed at the gates, and in
+other principal parts of the city, to prevent the possibility of an
+insurrection. Cassius remained on Calvary with about fifty soldiers.
+The friends of Jesus stood round the Cross, contemplated our Lord, and
+wept; many among the holy women had returned to their homes, and all
+were silent and overcome with grief.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+The Earthquake.
+
+Apparitions of the Dead in Jerusalem.
+
+
+
+I saw the soul of Jesus, at the moment he expired, appear under the
+form of a bright orb, and accompanied by angels, among whom I
+distinguished the angel Gabriel penetrate the earth at the foot of the
+Cross. I likewise saw these angels cast a number of evil spirits into
+the great abyss, and I heard Jesus order several of the souls in Limbo
+to re-enter the bodies in which they once dwelt, in order that the
+sight might fill sinners with a salutary terror, and that these souls
+might render a solemn testimony to his divinity.
+
+The earthquake which produced the deep chasm at Calvary did much
+damage in different parts of Palestine, but ifs effects were even more
+fatal in Jerusalem. Its inhabitants were just beginning to be a little
+reassured by the return of light, when their terror was reawakened with
+double force by the shocks of the earthquake, and the terrible noise
+and confusion caused by the downfall of houses and walls on all sides,
+which panic was still farther increased by the sudden appearance of
+dead persons, confronting the trembling miscreants who were flying to
+hide themselves, and addressing them in the most severe and reproachful
+language.
+
+The High Priests had recommenced the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb
+(which had been stopped by the unexpected darkness), and they were
+triumphing at the return of light, when suddenly the ground beneath
+them trembled, the neighbouring buildings fell down, and the veil of
+the Temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom. Excess of terror
+at first rendered those on the outside speechless, but after a time
+they burst forth into cries and lamentations. The confusion in the
+interior of the Temple was not, however, as great as would naturally
+have been expected, because the strictest order and decorum were always
+enforced there, particularly with regard to the regulation to be
+followed by those who entered to make their sacrifice, and those who
+left after having offered it. The crowd was great, but the ceremonies
+were so solemnly carried out by the priests, that they totally
+engrossed the minds of the assistants. First came the immolation of the
+lamb, then the sprinkling of its blood, accompanied by the chanting of
+canticles and the sounding of trumpets. The priests were endeavouring
+to continue the sacrifices, when suddenly an unexpected and most
+appalling pause ensued; terror and astonishment were depicted on each
+countenance; all was thrown into confusion; not a sound was heard; the
+sacrifices ceased; there was a general rush to the gates of the Temple;
+everyone endeavoured to fly as quickly as possible. And well might they
+fly, well might they fear and tremble; for in the midst of the
+multitude there suddenly appeared persons who had been dead and buried
+for many years! These persons looked at them sternly, and reproved them
+most severely for the crime they had committed that day, in bringing
+about the death of 'the just man,' and calling down his blood upon their
+heads. Even in the midst of this confusion, some attempts were,
+however, made by the priests to preserve order; they prevented those
+who were in the inner part of the Temple from rushing forward, pushing
+their way through the crowds who were in advance of them, and
+descending the steps which led out of the Temple: they even continued
+the sacrifices in some parts, and endeavoured to calm the fears of the
+people.
+
+The appearance of the Temple at this moment can only be described by
+comparing it to an ant-hill on which persons have thrown stones, or
+which has been disturbed by a sick being driven into its centre. The
+ants in those parts on which the stones have fallen, or which the stick
+had disturbed, are filled with confusion and terror; they run to and
+fro and do nothing; while the ants in those parts which have not been
+disturbed continue to labour quietly, and even begin to repair the
+damaged parts.
+
+The High Priest Caiphas and his retinue did not lose their presence
+of mind, and by the outward tranquillity which their diabolical
+hardness of heart enabled them to preserve, they calmed the confusion
+in a great degree, and then did their utmost to prevent the people from
+looking upon these stupendous events as testimonies of the innocence of
+Jesus. The Roman garrison belonging to the fortress of Antonia likewise
+made great efforts to maintain order; consequently, the disturbance of
+the festival was not followed by an insurrection, although every heart
+was fixed with fear and anxiety, which anxiety the Pharisees
+endeavoured (and in some instances with success) to calm.
+
+I remember a few other striking incidents: in the first place, the
+two columns which were placed at the entrance of their Holy of Holies,
+and to which a magnificent curtain was appended, were shaken to the
+very foundations; the column on the left side fell down in a southerly,
+and that on the right side in a northerly direction, thus rending the
+veil in two from the top to the bottom with a fearful sound, and
+exposing the Holy of Holies uncovered to the public gaze. A large stone
+was loosened and fell from the wall at the entrance of the sanctuary,
+near where the aged Simeon used to kneel, and the arch was broken. The
+ground was heaved up, and many other columns were thrown down in other
+parts of the Temple.
+
+An apparition of the High Priest Zacharias, who was slain between
+the porch and the altar, was seen in the sanctuary. He uttered fearful
+menaces, spoke of the death of the second Zacharias, and of that of St.
+John Baptist, as also of the violent deaths of the other prophets.12
+The two sons of the High Priest Simon, surnamed the Just (ancestors of
+the aged Simeon who prophesied when Jesus was presented in the Temple),
+made their appearance in the part usually occupied by the doctors of
+the law; they also spoke in terrific terms of the deaths of the
+prophets, of the sacrifice of the old law which was now about to cease,
+and they exhorted all present to be converted, and to embrace the
+doctrines which had been preached by him whom they had crucified. The
+prophet Jeremiah likewise appeared; he stood near the altar, and
+proclaimed, in a menacing tone, that the ancient sacrifice was at an
+end, and that a new one had commenced. As these apparitions took place
+in parts where none but priests were allowed to enter, Caiphas and a
+few others were alone cognisant of them, and they endeavoured, as far
+as possible, either to deny their reality, or to conceal them. These
+prodigies were followed by others still more extraordinary. The doors
+of the sanctuary flew open of themselves, and a voice was heard to
+utter these words: 'Let us leave this place;' and I saw all the angels of
+the Lord instantly leave the Temple. The thirty-two Pharisees who went
+to Calvary a short time before our Lord expired were almost all
+converted at the foot of the Cross. They returned to the Temple in the
+midst of the confusion, and were perfectly thunderstruck at all which
+had taken place there. They spoke most sternly, both to Annas and to
+Caiphas, and left the Temple. Annas had always been the most bitter of
+the enemies of Jesus, and had headed every proceeding against him; but
+the supernatural events which had taken place had completely unnerved
+him that he knew not where to hide himself. Caiphas was, in realty
+excessively alarmed, and filled with anxiety, but his pride was so
+great that he concealed his feelings as far as possible, and
+endeavoured to reassure Annas. He succeeded for a time; but the sudden
+appearance of a person who had been dead many years marred the effect
+of his words, and Annas became again a prey to the most fearful terror
+and remorse.
+
+Whilst these things were going on in the Temple, the confusion and
+panic were not less in Jerusalem. Dead persons were walking about, and
+many walls and buildings had been shaken by the earthquake, and parts
+of them fallen down. The superstition of Pilate rendered him even more
+accessible to fear; he was perfectly paralysed and speechless with
+terror; his palace was shaken to the very foundation, and the earth
+quaked beneath his feet. He ran wildly from room to room, and the dead
+constantly stood before him, reproaching him with the unjust sentence
+he had passed upon Jesus. He thought that they were the gods of the
+Galilean, and took refuge in an inner room, where he offered incense,
+and made vows to his idols to invoke their assistance in his distress.
+Herod was usually alarmed; but he shut himself up in his palace, out of
+the sight of everyone.
+
+More than a hundred persons who had died at different epochs
+re-entered the bodies they had occupied when on earth, made their
+appearance in different parts of Jerusalem, and filled the inhabitants
+with inexpressible consternation. Those souls which had been released
+by Jesus from Limbo uncovered their faces and wandered to and fro in
+the streets, and although their bodies were the same as those which
+they had animated when on earth, yet these bodies did not appear to
+touch the ground as they walked. They entered the houses of their
+descendants, proclaimed the innocence of Jesus, and reproved those who
+had taken part in his death most severely. I saw them passing through
+the principal streets; they were generally in couples, and appeared to
+me to glide through the airs without moving their feet. The
+countenances of some were pale; others of a yellow tint; their beards
+were long, and their voices sounded strange and sepulchral. Their
+grave-clothes were such as it was customary to use at the period of
+their decease. When they reached the place where sentence of death was
+proclaimed on Jesus before the procession started for Calvary, they
+paused for a moment, and exclaimed in a loud voice: 'Glory be to Jesus
+for ever and ever, and destruction to his enemies!' Towards four o'clock
+all the dead returned to their graves. The sacrifices in the Temple had
+been so interrupted, and the confusion caused by the different
+prodigies was so great, that very few persons ate the Paschal lamb on
+that evening.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+The Request of Joseph of Arimathea to be allowed to have the Body of
+Jesus.
+
+
+
+Scarcely had the commotion which the town had been thrown into begun
+to subside in a degree, when the Jews belonging to the Council sent to
+Pilate to request that the legs of the criminals might be broken, in
+order to put an end to their lives before the Sabbath-day dawned.
+Pilate immediately dispatched executioners to Calvary to carry out
+their wishes.
+
+Joseph of Arimathea then demanded an audience; he had heard of the
+death of Jesus, and he and Nicodemus had determined to bury him in a
+new sepulchre which he had made at the end of his garden, not far from
+Calvary. Pilate was still filled with anxiety and solicitude, and was
+much astonished at seeing a person holding a high position like Joseph
+so anxious for leave to give honourable burial to a criminal whom he
+had sentenced to be ignominiously crucified. He sent for the centurion
+Abenadar, who returned to Jerusalem after he had conferred with the
+disciples who were hidden in the caverns, and asked him whether the
+King of the Jews was really dead. Abenadar gave Pilate a full account
+of the death of our Lord, of his last words, and of the loud cry he
+uttered immediately before death, and of the earthquake which had rent
+the great chasm in the rock. The only thing at which Pilate expressed
+surprise was that the death of Jesus should have taken place so
+quickly, as those who were crucified usually lived much longer; but
+although he said so little, every word uttered by Joseph increased his
+dismay and remorse. He instantly gave Joseph an order, by which he was
+authorised to take down the body of the King of the Jews from the
+Cross, and to perform the rites of sepulture at once. Pilate appeared
+to endeavour, by his readiness in granting this request, to wish to
+make up, in a degree, for his previous cruel and unjust conduct, and he
+was likewise very glad to do what he was certain would annoy the
+priests extremely, as he knew their wish was to have Jesus buried
+ignominiously between the two thieves. He dispatched a messenger to
+Calvary to see his orders executed. I believe the messenger was
+Abenadar, for I saw him assisting in taking Jesus down from the Cross.
+
+When Joseph of Arimathea left Pilate's palace, he instantly rejoined
+Nicodemus, who was waiting for him at the house of a pious woman, which
+stood opposite to a large street, and was not far from that alley where
+Jesus was so shamefully ill-treated when he first commenced carrying
+his Cross. The woman was a vendor of aromatic herbs, and Nicodemus had
+purchased many perfumes which were necessary for embalming the body of
+Jesus from her. She procured the more precious kinds from other places,
+and Joseph went away to procure a fine winding-sheet. His servants then
+fetched ladders, hammers, pegs, jars of water, and sponges, from a
+neighbouring shed, and placed them in a hand-barrow similar to that on
+which the disciples of John the Baptist put his body when they carried
+it off from the castle of Macherus.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+The Opening of the Side of Jesus.
+
+Death of the two thieves.
+
+
+
+Whilst these events were taking place in Jerusalem, silence reigned
+around Calvary. The crowd which had been for a time so noisy and
+tumultuous, was dispersed; all were panicstricken; in some that panic
+had produced sincere repentance, but on others it had had no beneficial
+effects. Mary, John, Magdalen, Mary of Cleophas, and Salome had
+remained, either standing or sitting before the Cross, closely veiled
+and weeping silently. A few soldiers were leaning over the terrace
+which enclosed the platform; Cassius rode up and down; the sky was
+lowering, and all nature wore a garb of mourning. Six archers soon
+after made their appearance, bringing with them ladders, spades, ropes,
+and large iron staves for the purpose of breaking the legs of the
+criminals, in order to hasten their deaths. When they approached our
+Lord's Cross, his friends retired a few paces back, and the Blessed
+Virgin was seized with fear lest they should indulge their hatred of
+Jesus by insulting even his dead body. Her fears were not quite
+unfounded, for when they first placed their ladders against the Cross
+they declared that he was only pretending to be dead; in a few moments,
+however, seeing that he was cold and stiff, they left him, and removed
+their ladders to the crosses on which the two thieves were still
+hanging alive. They took up their iron staves and broke the arms of the
+thieves above and below the elbow; while another archer at the same
+moment broke their legs, both above and below the knee. Gesmas uttered
+frightful cries, therefore the executioner finished him off by three
+heavy blows of a cudgel on his chest. Dismas gave a deep groan, and
+expired: he was the first among mortals who had the happiness of
+rejoining his Redeemer. The cords were then loosened, the two bodies
+fell to the ground, and the executioners dragged them to a deep morass,
+which was between Calvary and the walls of the town, and buried them
+there.
+
+The archers still appeared doubtful whether Jesus was really dead,
+and the brutality they had shown in breaking the legs of the thieves
+made the holy women tremble as to what outrage they might next
+perpetrate on the body of our Lord. But Cassius, the subaltern officer,
+a young man of about five-and-twenty, whose weak squinting eyes and
+nervous manner had often excited the derision of his companions, was
+suddenly illuminated by grace, and being quite overcome at the sight of
+the cruel conduct of the soldiers, and the deep sorrow of the holy
+women, determined to relieve their anxiety by proving beyond dispute
+that Jesus was really dead. The kindness of his heart prompted him, but
+unconsciously to himself he fulfilled a prophecy. He seized his lance
+and rode quickly up to the mound on which the Cross was planted,
+stopped just between the cross of the good thief and that of our Lord,
+and taking his lance in both hands, thrust it so completely into the
+right side of Jesus that the point went through the heart, and appeared
+on the left side. When Cassius drew his lance out of the wound a
+quantity of blood and water rushed from it, and flowed over his face
+and body. This species of washing produced effects somewhat similar to
+the vivifying waters of Baptism: grace and salvation at once entered
+his soul. He leaped from his horse, threw himself upon his knees,
+struck his breast, and confessed loudly before all his firm belief in
+the divinity of Jesus.
+
+The Blessed Virgin and her companions were still standing near, with
+their eyes fixed upon the Cross, but when Cassius thrust his lance into
+the side of Jesus they were much startled, and rushed with one accord
+up to it. Mary looked as if the lance had transfixed her heart instead
+of that of her Divine Son, and could scarcely support herself. Cassius
+meantime remained kneeling and thanking God, not only for the grace he
+had received but likewise for the cure of the complaint in his eyes,
+which had caused the weakness and the squint. This cure had been
+effected at the same moment that the darkness with which his soul was
+previously filled was removed. Every heart was overcome at the sight of
+the blood of our Lord, which ran into a hollow in the rock at the foot
+of the Cross. Mary, John, the holy women, and Cassius, gathered up the
+blood and water in flasks, and wiped up the remainder with pieces of
+linen.13
+
+Cassius, whose sight was perfectly restored at the same moment that
+the eyes of his soul were opened, was deeply moved, and continued his
+humble prayer of thanksgiving. The soldiers were truck with
+astonishment at the miracle which had taken place, and cast themselves
+on their knees by his side, at the same time striking their breasts and
+confessing Jesus. The water and blood continued to flow from the large
+wound in the side of our Lord; it ran into the hollow in the rock, and
+the holy women put it in vases, while Mary and Magdalen mingled their
+tears. The archers, who had received a message from Pilate, ordering
+them not to touch the body of Jesus, did not return at all.
+
+All these events took place near the Cross, at a little before four
+o'clock, during the time that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were
+gathering together the articles necessary for the burial of Jesus. But
+the servants of Joseph having been sent to clean out the tomb, informed
+the friends of our Lord that their master intended to take the body of
+Jesus and place it in his new sepulchre. John immediately returned to
+the town with the holy women; in the first place, that Mary might
+recruit her strength a little, and in the second, to purchase a few
+things which would be required for the burial. The Blessed Virgin had a
+small lodging among the buildings near the Cenaculum. They did not
+re-enter the town through the gate which was the nearest to Calvary,
+because it was closed, and guarded by soldiers placed there by the
+Pharisees; but they went through that gate which leads to Bethlehem.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+A Description of some Parts of ancient Jerusalem.
+
+
+
+This chapter will contain some descriptions of places given by
+Sister Emmerich on various occasions. They will be followed by a
+description of the tomb and garden of Joseph of Arimathea, that so we
+may have no need to interrupt the account of the burial of our Lord.
+
+The first gate which stood on the eastern side of Jerusalem, to the
+south of the south-east angle of the Temple, was the one leading to the
+suburb of Ophel. The gate of the sheep was to the north of the
+north-east angle of the Temple. Between these two gates there was a
+third, leading to some streets situated to the east of the Temple, and
+inhabited for the most part by stonemasons and other workmen. The
+houses in these streets were supported by the foundations of the
+Temple; and almost all belonged to Nicodemus, who had caused them to be
+built, and who employed nearly all the workmen living there. Nicodemus
+had not long before built a beautiful gate as an entrance to these
+streets, called the Gate of Moriah. It was but just finished, and
+through it Jesus had entered the town on Palm Sunday. Thus he entered
+by the new gate of Nicodemus, through which no one had yet passed, and
+was buried in the new monument of Joseph of Arimathea, in which no one
+had yet been laid. This gate was afterwards walled up, and there was a
+tradition that the Christians were once again to enter the town through
+it. Even in the present day, a walled-up gate, called by the Turks the
+Golden Gate, stands on this spot.
+
+The road leading to the west from the gate of the sheep passed
+almost exactly between the north-western side of Mount Sion and
+Calvary. From this gate to Golgotha the distance was about two miles
+and a quarter; and from Pilate's palace to Golgotha about two miles. The
+fortress Antonia was situated to the north-west of the mountain of the
+Temple, on a detached rock. A person going towards the west, on leaving
+Pilate's palace, would have had this fortress to his left. On one of its
+walls there was a platform commanding the forum, and from which Pilate
+was accustomed to make proclamations to the people: he did this, for
+instance, when he promulgated new laws. When our Divine Lord was
+carrying his Cross, in the interior of the town, Mount Calvary was
+frequently on his right hand. This road, which partly ran in a
+south-westerly direction, led to a gate made in an inner wall of the
+town, towards Sion. Beyond this wall, to the left, there was a sort of
+suburb, containing more gardens than houses; and towards the outer wall
+of the city stood some magnificent sepulchres with stone entrances. On
+this side was a house belonging to Lazarus, with beautiful gardens,
+extending towards that part where the outer western wall of Jerusalem
+turned to the south. I believe that a little private door, made in the
+city wall, and through which Jesus and his disciples often passed by
+permission of Lazarus, led to these gardens. The gate standing at the
+north-western angle of the town led to Bethsur, which was situated more
+towards the north than Emmaus and Joppa. The western part of Jerusalem
+was lower than any other: the land on which it was built first sloped
+in the direction of the surrounding wall, and then rose again when
+close to it; and on this declivity there stood gardens and vineyards,
+behind which wound a wide road, with paths leading to the walls and
+towers. On the other side, without the wall, the land descended towards
+the valley, so that the walls surrounding the lower part of the town
+looked as if built on a raised terrace. There are gardens and vineyards
+even in the present day on the outer hill. When Jesus arrived at the
+end of the Way of the Cross, he had on his left hand that part of the
+town where there were so many gardens; and it was from thence that
+Simon of Cyrene was coming when he met the procession. The gate by
+which Jesus left the town was not entirely facing the west, but rather
+the south-west. The city wall on the left-hand side, after passing
+through the gate, ran somewhat in a southerly direction, then turned
+towards the west, and then again to the south, round Mount Sion. On
+this side there stood a large tower, like a fortress. The gate by which
+Jesus left the town was at no great distance from another gate more
+towards the south, leading down to the valley, and where a road,
+turning to the left in the direction of Bethlehem, commenced. The road
+turned to the north towards Mount Calvary shortly after that gate by
+which Jesus left Jerusalem when bearing his Cross. Mount Calvary was
+very steep on its eastern side, facing the town, and a gradual descent
+on the western; and on this side, from which the road to Emmaus was to
+be seen, there was a field, in which I saw Luke gather several plants
+when he and Cleophas were going to Emmaus, and met Jesus on the way.
+Near the walls, to the east and south of Calvary, there were also
+gardens, sepulchres, and vineyards. The Cross was buried on the
+north-east side, at the foot of Mount Calvary.
+
+The garden of Joseph of Arimathea was situated near the gate of
+Bethlehem, at about a seven minutes' walk from Calvary: it was a very
+fine garden, with tall trees, banks, and thickets in it, which gave
+much shade, and was situated on a rising ground extending to the walls
+of the city.14 A person coming from the northern side of the valley,
+and entering the garden, had on his left hand a slight ascent extending
+as far as the city wall; and on his right, at the end of the garden, a
+detached rock, where the cave of the sepulchre was situated. The grotto
+in which it was made looked to the east; and on the south-western and
+north-western sides of the same rock were two other smaller sepulchres,
+which were also new, and with depressed fronts. A pathway, beginning on
+the western side of this rock, ran all round it. The ground in front of
+the sepulchre was higher than that of the entrance, and a person
+wishing to enter the cavern had to descend several steps. The cave was
+sufficiently large for four men to be able to stand close up to the
+wall on either side without impeding the movements of the bearers of
+the body. Opposite the door was a cavity in the rock, in which the tomb
+was made; it was about two feet above the level of the ground, and
+fastened to the rock by one side only, like an altar: two persons could
+stand, one at the head and one at the foot; and there was a place also
+for a third in front, even if the door of the cavity was closed. This
+door was made of some metal, perhaps of brass, and had two folding
+doors. These doors could be closed by a stone being rolled against
+them; and the stone used for this purpose was kept outside the cavern.
+Immediately after our Lord was placed in the sepulchre it was rolled in
+front of the door. It was very large, and could not be removed without
+the united effort of several men. Opposite the entrance of the cavern
+there stood a stone bench, and by mounting on this a person could climb
+on to the rock, which was covered with grass, and from whence the city
+walls, the highest parts of Mount Sion, and some towers could be seen,
+as well as the gate of Bethlehem and the fountain of Gihon. The rock
+inside was of a white colour, intersected with red and blue veins.
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+The Descent from the Cross.
+
+
+
+At the time when everyone had left the neighbourhood of the Cross,
+and a few guards alone stood around it, I saw five persons, who I think
+were disciples, and who had come by the valley from Bethania, draw nigh
+to Calvary, gaze for a few moments upon the Cross, and then steal away.
+Three times I met in the vicinity two men who were making examinations
+and anxiously consulting together. These men were Joseph of Arimathea
+and Nicodemus. The first time was during the Crucifixion (perhaps when
+they caused the clothes of Jesus to be brought back from the soldiers),
+and they were then at no great distance from Calvary. The second was
+when, after standing to look whether the crowd was dispersing, they
+went to the town to make some preparations. The third was on their
+return from the tomb to the Cross, when they were looking around in
+every direction, as if waiting for a favourable moment, and then
+concerted together as to the manner in which they should take the body
+of our Lord down from the Cross, after which they returned to the town.
+
+Their next care was to make arrangements for carrying with them the
+necessary articles for embalming the body, and their servants took some
+tools with which to detach it from the Cross, as well as two ladders
+which they found in a barn close to Nicodemus's house. Each of these
+ladders consisted of a single pole, crossed at regular intervals by
+pieces of wood, which formed the steps. There were hooks which could be
+fastened on any part of the pole, and by means of which the ladder
+could be steadied, or on which, perhaps, anything required for the work
+could also be hung.
+
+The woman from whom they had bought their spices had packed the
+whole neatly together. Nicodemus had bought a hundred pounds' weight of
+roots, which quantity is equal to about thirty-seven pounds of our
+measure, as has been explained to me. They carried these spices in
+little barrels make of bark, which were hung round their necks, and
+rested on their breasts. One of these barrels contained some sort of
+powder. They had also some bundles of herbs in bags made of parchment
+or leather, and Joseph carried a box of ointment; but I do not know
+what this box was made of. The servants were to carry vases, leathern
+bottles, sponges, and tools, on a species of litter, and they likewise
+took fire with them in a closed lantern. They left the town before
+their master, and by a different gate (perhaps that of Bethania), and
+then turned their steps towards Mount Calvary. As they walked through
+the town they passed by the house where the Blessed Virgin; St. John,
+and the holy women had gone to seek different things required for
+embalming the body of Jesus, and John and the holy women followed the
+servants at a certain distance. The women were about five in number,
+and some of them carried large bundles of linen under their mantles. It
+was the custom for women, when they went out in the evening, or if
+intending to perform some work of piety secretly, to wrap their persons
+carefully in a long sheet at least a yard wide. They began by one arm,
+and then wound the linen so closely round their body that they could
+not walk without difficulty. I have seen them wrapped up in this
+manner, and the sheet not only extended to both arms, but likewise
+veiled the head. On the present occasion, the appearance of this dress
+was most striking in my eyes, for it was a real mourning garment.
+Joseph and Nicodemus were also in mourning attire, and wore black
+sleeves and wide sashes. Their cloaks, which they had drawn over their
+heads, were both wide and long, of a common grey colour, and served to
+conceal everything that they were carrying. They turned their steps in
+the direction of the gate leading to Mount Calvary. The streets were
+deserted and quiet, for terror kept everyone at home. The greatest
+number were beginning to repent, and but few were keeping the festival.
+When Joseph and Nicodemus reached the gate they found it closed, and
+the road, streets, and every corner lined with soldiers. These were the
+soldiers whom the Pharisees had asked for at about two o'clock, and whom
+they had kept under arms and on guard, as they still feared a tumult
+among the people. Joseph showed an order, signed by Pilate, to let them
+pass freely, and the soldiers were most willing that they should do so,
+but explained to him that they had endeavoured several times to open
+the gate, without being able to move it; that apparently the gate had
+received a shock, and been strained in some part; and that on this
+account the archers sent to break the legs of the thieves had been
+obliged to return to the city by another gate. But when Joseph and
+Nicodemus seized hold of the bolt, the gate opened as if of itself, to
+the great astonishment of all the bystanders.
+
+It was still dark and the sky cloudy when they reached Mount
+Calvary, where they found the servants who had been sent on already
+arrived, and the holy women sitting weeping in front of the Cross.
+Cassius and several soldiers who were converted remained at a certain
+distance, and their demeanour was respectful and reserved. Joseph and
+Nicodemus described to the Blessed Virgin and John all they had done to
+save Jesus from an ignominious death, and learned from them how they
+had succeeded in preventing the bones of our Lord from being broken,
+and how the prophecy had been fulfilled. They spoke also of the wound
+which Cassius had made with his lance. No sooner was the centurion
+Abenadar arrived than they began, with the deepest recollection of
+spirit, their mournful and sacred labour of taking down from the Cross
+and embalming the adorable body of our Lord.
+
+The Blessed Virgin and Magdalen were seated at the foot of the
+Cross; while, on the right-hand side, between the cross of Dismas and
+that of Jesus, the other women were engaged in preparing the linen,
+spices, water, sponges, and vases. Cassius also came forward, and
+related to Abenadar the miraculous cure of his eyes. All were deeply
+affected, and their hearts overflowing with sorrow and love; but, at
+the same time, they preserved a solemn silence, and their every
+movement was full of gravity and reverence. Nothing broke the stillness
+save an occasional smothered word of lamentation, or a stifled groan,
+which escaped from one or other of these holy personages, in spite of
+their earnest eagerness and deep attention to their pious labour.
+Magdalen gave way unrestrainedly to her sorrow, and neither the
+presence of so many different persons, nor any other consideration,
+appeared to distract her from it.
+
+Nicodemus and Joseph placed the ladders behind the Cross, and
+mounted them, holding in their hands a large sheet, to which three long
+straps were fastened. They tied the body of Jesus, below the arms and
+knees, to the tree of the Cross, and secured the arms by pieces of
+linen placed underneath the hands. Then they drew out the nails, by
+pushing them from behind with strong pins pressed upon the points. The
+sacred hands of Jesus were thus not much shaken, and the nails fell
+easily out of the wounds; for the latter had been made wider by the
+weight of the body, which, being now supported by the cloths, no longer
+hung on the nails. The lower part of the body, which since our Lord's
+death had sunk down on the knees, now rested in a natural position,
+supported by a sheet fastened above to the arms of the Cross. Whilst
+Joseph was taking out the nail from the left hand, and then allowing
+the left arm, supported by its cloth, to fall gently down upon the
+body, Nicodemus was fastening the right arm of Jesus to that of the
+Cross, as also the sacred crowned head, which had sunk on the right
+shoulder. Then he took out the right nail, and having surrounded the
+arm with its supporting sheet, let it fall gently on to the body. At
+the same time, the centurion Abenadar, with great difficulty, drew out
+the large nail which transfixed the feet. Cassius devoutly received the
+nails, and laid them at the feet of the Blessed Virgin.
+
+Then Joseph and Nicodemus, having placed ladders against the front
+of the Cross, in a very upright position, and close to the body, untied
+the upper strap, and fastened it to one of the hooks on the ladder;
+they did the same with the two other straps, and passing them all on
+from hook to hook, caused the sacred body to descend gently towards the
+centurion, who having mounted upon a stool received it in his arms,
+holding it below the knees; while Joseph and Nicodemus, supporting the
+upper part of the body, came gently down the ladder, stopping at every
+step, and taking every imaginable precaution, as would be done by men
+bearing the body of some beloved friend who had been grievously
+wounded. Thus did the bruised body of our Divine Saviour reach the
+ground.
+
+It was a most touching sight. They all took the same precautions,
+the same care, as if they had feared to cause Jesus some suffering.
+They seemed to have concentrated on the sacred body all the love and
+veneration which they had felt for their Saviour during his life. The
+eyes of each were fixed upon the adorable body, and followed all its
+movements; and they were continually uplifting their hands towards
+Heaven, shedding tears, and expressing in every possible way the excess
+of their grief and anguish. Yet they all remained perfectly calm, and
+even those who were so busily occupied about the sacred body broke
+silence but seldom, and, when obliged to make some necessary remark,
+did so in a low voice. During the time that the nails were being
+forcible removed by blows of the hammer, the Blessed Virgin, Magdalen;
+and all those who had been present at the Crucifixion, felt each blow
+transfix their hearts. The sound recalled to their minds all the
+sufferings of Jesus, and they could not control their trembling fear,
+lest they should again hear his piercing cry of suffering; although, at
+the same time they grieved at the silence of his blessed lips, which
+proved, alas too surely, that he was really dead. When the body was
+taken down it was wrapped in linen from the knees to the waist, and
+then placed in the arms of the Blessed Virgin, who, overwhelmed with
+sorrow and love, stretched them forth to receive their precious burden.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+The Embalming of the Body of Jesus.
+
+
+
+The Blessed Virgin seated herself upon a large cloth spread on the
+ground, with her right knee, which was slightly raised, and her back
+resting against some mantles, rolled together so as to from a species
+of cushion. No precaution had been neglected which could in any way
+facilitate to her--the Mother of Sorrows--in her deep affliction of soul, the
+mournful but most sacred duty which she was about to fulfil in regard
+to the body of her beloved Son. The adorable head of Jesus rested upon
+Mary's knee, and his body was stretched upon a sheet. The Blessed Virgin
+was overwhelmed with sorrow and love. Once more, and for the last time,
+did she hold in her arms the body of her most beloved Son, to whom she
+had been unable to give any testimony of love during the long hours of
+his martyrdom. And she gazed upon his wounds and fondly embraced his
+blood-stained cheeks, while Magdalen pressed her face upon his feet.
+
+The men withdrew into a little cave, situated on the south-west side
+of Calvary, there to prepare the different things needful for the
+embalming; but Cassius, with a few other soldiers who had been
+converted, remained at a respectful distance. All ill-disposed persons
+were gone back to the city, and the soldiers who were present served
+merely to form a guard to prevent any interruption in the last honours
+which were being rendered to the body of Jesus. Some of these soldiers
+even gave assistance when desired. The holy women held the vases,
+sponges, linen, unction, and spices, according as required; but when
+not thus employed, they remained at a respectful distance, attentively
+gazing upon the Blessed Virgin as she proceeded in her mournful task.
+Magdalen did not leave the body of Jesus; but John gave continual
+assistance to the Blessed Virgin, and went to and fro from the men to
+the women, lending aid to both parties. The women had with them some
+large leathern bottles and a vase filled with water standing upon a
+coal fire. They gave the Blessed Virgin and Magdalen, according as they
+required, vases filled with clear water, and sponges, which they
+afterwards squeezed in the leathern bottles.
+
+The courage and firmness of Mary remained unshaken even in the midst
+of her inexpressible anguish.15 It was absolutely impossible for her to
+leave the body of her Son in the awful state to which it had been
+reduced by his sufferings, and therefore she began with indefatigable
+earnestness to wash and purify it from the traces of the outrages to
+which it had been exposed. With the utmost care she drew off the crown
+of thorns, opening it behind, and then cutting off one by one the
+thorns which had sunk deep into the head of Jesus, in order that she
+might not widen the wounds. The crown was placed by the side of the
+nails, and then Mary drew out the thorns which had remained in the skin
+with a species of rounded pincers, and sorrowfully showed them to her
+friends.16 These thorns were placed with the crown, but still some of
+them must have been preserved separately.
+
+The divine face of our Saviour was scarcely recognisable, so
+disfigured was it by the wounds with which it was covered. The beard
+and hair were matted together with blood. Mary washed the head and
+face, and passed damp sponges over the hair to remove the congealed
+blood. As she proceeded in her pious office, the extent of the awful
+cruelty which had been exercised upon Jesus became more and more
+apparent, and caused in her soul emotions of compassion and tenderness
+which increased as she passed from one wound to another. She washed the
+wounds of the head, the eyes filled with blood, the nostrils, and the
+ears, with a sponge and a small piece of linen spread over the fingers
+of her right hand; and then she purified, in the same manner, the
+half-opened mouth, the tongue, the teeth, and the lips. She divided
+what remained of our Lord's hair into three parts, a part falling over
+each temple, and the third over the back of his head; and when she had
+disentangled the front hair and smoothed it, she passed it behind his
+ears.17
+
+When the head was thoroughly cleansed and purified, the Blessed
+Virgin covered it with a veil, after having kissed the sacred cheeks of
+her dear Son. She then turned her attention to the neck, shoulders,
+chest, back, arms, and pierced hands. All the bones of the breast and
+the joints were dislocated, and could not be bent. There was a
+frightful wound on the shoulders which had borne the weight of the
+Cross, and all the upper part of the body was covered with bruises and
+deeply marked with blows of the scourges. On the left breast there was
+a small wound where the point of Cassius's lance had come out, and on the
+right side was the large wound made by the same lance, and which had
+pierced the heart through and through. Mary washed all these wounds,
+and Magdalen, on her knees, helped her from time to time; but without
+leaving the sacred feet of Jesus, which she bathed with tears and wiped
+with her hair.
+
+The head, bosom, and feet of our Lord were now washed, and the
+sacred body, which was covered with brown stains and red marks in those
+places where the skin had been torn off, and of a bluish-white colour,
+like flesh that has been drained of blood, was resting on the knees of
+Mary, who covered the parts which she had washed with a veil, and then
+proceeded to embalm all the wounds. The holy women knelt by her side,
+and in turn presented to her a box, out of which she took some precious
+ointment, and with it filled and covered the wounds. She also anointed
+the hair, and then, taking the sacred hands of Jesus in her left hand,
+respectfully kissed them, and filled the large wounds made by the nails
+with this ointment or sweet spice. She likewise filled the ears,
+nostrils, and wound in the side with the same precious mixture.
+Meanwhile Magdalen wiped and embalmed our Lord's feet, and then again
+washed them with her tears, and often pressed her face upon them.
+
+The water which had been used was not thrown away, but poured into
+the leathern bottles in which the sponges had been squeezed. I saw
+Cassius or some other soldier go several times to fetch fresh water
+from the fountain of Gihon, which was at no great distance off. When
+the Blessed Virgin had filled all the wounds with ointment, she wrapped
+the head up in linen cloths, but she did not as yet cover the face. She
+closed the half-open eyes of Jesus, and kept her hand upon them for
+some time. She also closed the mouth, and then embraced the sacred body
+of her beloved Son, pressing her face fondly and reverently upon his.
+Joseph and Nicodemus had been waiting for some time, when John drew
+near to the Blessed Virgin, and besought her to permit the body of her
+Son to be taken from her, that the embalming might be completed,
+because the Sabbath was close at hand. Once more did Mary embrace the
+sacred body of Jesus, and utter her farewells in the most touching
+language, and then the men lifted it from her arms on the sheet, and
+carried it to some distance. The deep sorrow of Mary had been for the
+time assuaged by the feelings of love and reverence with which she had
+accomplished her sacred task; but now it once more overwhelmed her, and
+she fell, her head covered with her veil, into the arms of the holy
+women. Magdalen felt almost as though her Beloved were being forcibly
+carried away from her, and hastily ran forward a few steps, with her
+arms stretched forth; but then, after a moment, returned to the Blessed
+Virgin.
+
+The sacred body was carried to a spot beneath the level of the top
+of Golgotha, where the smooth surface of a rock afforded a convenient
+platform on which to embalm the body. I first saw a piece of
+open-worked linen, looking very much like lace, and which made me think
+of the large embroidered curtain hung between the choir and nave during
+Lent.18 It was probably worked in that open stitch for the water to run
+through. I also saw another large sheet unfolded. The body of our
+Saviour was placed on the open-worked piece of linen, and some of the
+other men held the other sheet spread above it. Nicodemus and Joseph
+then knelt down, and underneath this covering took off the linen which
+they had fastened round the loins of our Saviour, when they took his
+body down from the Cross. They then passed sponges under this sheet,
+and washed the lower parts of the body; after which they lifted it up
+by the help of pieces of linen crossed beneath the loins and knees, and
+washed the back without turning it over. They continued washing until
+nothing but clear water came from the sponges when pressed. Next they
+poured water of myrrh over the whole body, and then, handling it with
+respect, stretched it out full length, for it was still in the position
+in which our Divine Lord had died--the loins and knees bent. They then
+placed beneath his hips a sheet which was a yard in width and three in
+length, laid upon his lap bundles of sweet-scented herbs, and shook
+over the whole body a powder which Nicodemus had brought. Next they
+wrapped up the lower part of the body, and fastened the cloth which
+they had placed underneath round it strongly. After this they anointed
+the wounds of the thighs, placed bundles of herbs between the legs,
+which were stretched out to their full length, and wrapped them up
+entirely in these sweet spices.
+
+Then John conducted the Blessed Virgin and the other holy women once
+more to the side of the body. Mary knelt down by the head of Jesus, and
+placed beneath it a piece of very fine linen which had been given her
+by Pilate's wife, and which she had worn round her neck under her cloak;
+next, assisted by the holy women, she placed from the shoulders to the
+cheeks bundles of herbs, spices, and sweet-scented powder, and then
+strongly bound this piece of linen round the head and shoulders.
+Magdalen poured besides a small bottle of balm into the wound of the
+side, and the holy women placed some more herbs into those of the hands
+and feet. Then the men put sweet spices around all the remainder of the
+body, crossed the sacred stiffened arms on the chest, and bound the
+large white sheet round the body as high as the chest, in the same
+manner as if they had been swaddling a child. Then, having fastened the
+end of a large band beneath the armpits, they rolled it round the head
+and the whole body. Finally, they placed our Divine Lord on the large
+sheet, six yards in length, which Joseph of Arimathea had bought, and
+wrapped him in it. He was lying diagonally upon it, and one corner of
+the sheet was raised from the feet to the chest, the other drawn over
+the head and shoulders, while the remaining two ends were doubled round
+the body.
+
+The Blessed Virgin, the holy women, the men--all were kneeling round
+the body of Jesus to take their farewell of it, when a most touching
+miracle took place before them. The sacred body of Jesus, with all its
+wounds, appeared imprinted upon the cloth which covered it, as though
+he had been pleased to reward their care and their love, and leave them
+a portrait of himself through all the veils with which he was
+enwrapped. With tears they embraced the adorable body, and then
+reverently kissed the wonderful impression which it had left. Their
+astonishment increased when, on lifting up the sheet, they saw that all
+the bands which surrounded the body had remained white as before, and
+that the upper cloth alone had been marked in this wonderful manner. It
+was not a mark made by the bleeding wounds, since the whole body was
+wrapped up and covered with sweet spices, but it was a supernatural
+portrait, bearing testimony to the divine creative power ever abiding
+in the body of Jesus. I have seen many things relative to the
+subsequent history of this piece of linen, but I could not describe
+them coherently. After the resurrection it remained in the possession
+of the friends of Jesus, but fell twice into the hands of the Jews, and
+later was honoured in several different places. I have seen it in a
+city of Asia, in the possession of some Christians, who were not
+Catholics. I have forgotten the name of the town, which is situated in
+a province near the country of the Three Kings.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+The Body of our Lord placed in the Sepulchre.
+
+
+
+The men placed the sacred body on a species of leathern hand-barrow,
+which they covered wit a brown-coloured cloth, and to which they
+fastened two long stakes. This forcibly reminded me of the Ark of the
+Covenant. Nicodemus and Joseph bore on their shoulders the front
+shafts, while Abenadar and John supported those behind. After them came
+the Blessed Virgin, Mary of Heli, her eldest sister, Magdalen and Mary
+of Cleophas, and then the group of women who had been sitting at some
+distance--Veronica, Johanna Chusa, Mary Salome, Salome of Jerusalem,
+Susanna, and Anne the niece of St. Joseph. Cassius and the soldiers
+closed the procession. The other women, such as Marone of Naim, Dina the
+Samaritaness, and Mara the Suphanitess, were at Bethania, with Martha
+and Lazarus. Two soldiers, bearing torches in their hands, walked on
+first, that there might be some light in the grotto of the sepulchre;
+and the procession continued to advance in this order for about seven
+minutes, the holy men and women singing psalms in sweet but melancholy
+tones. I saw James the Greater, the brother of John, standing upon a
+hill the other side of the valley, to look at them as they passed, and
+he returned immediately afterwards, to tell the other disciples what he
+had seen.
+
+The procession stopped at the entrance of Joseph's garden, which was
+opened by the removal of some stakes, afterwards used as levers to roll
+the stone to the door of the sepulchre. When opposite the rock, they
+placed the Sacred Body on a long board covered with a sheet. The
+grotto, which had been newly excavated, had been latterly cleaned by
+the servants of Nicodemus, so that the interior was neat and pleasing
+to the eye. The holy women sat down in front of the grotto, while the
+four men carried in the body of our Lord, partially filled the hollow
+couch destined for its reception with aromatic spices, and spread over
+them a cloth, upon which they reverently deposited the sacred body.
+After having once more given expression to their love by tears and fond
+embraces, they left the grotto. Then the Blessed Virgin entered, seated
+herself close to the head of her dear Son, and bent over his body with
+many tears. When she left the grotto, Magdalen hastily and eagerly came
+forward, and flung on the body some flowers and branches which she had
+gathered in the garden. Then she clasped her hands together, and with
+sobs kissed the feet of Jesus; but the men having informed her that
+they must close the sepulchre, she returned to the other women. They
+covered the sacred body with the extremities of the sheet on which it
+was lying, placed on the top of all the brown coverlet, and closed the
+folding-doors, which were made of a bronze-coloured metal, and had on
+their front two sticks, one straight down and the other across, so as
+to form a perfect cross.
+
+The large stone with which they intended to close the sepulchre, and
+which was still lying in front of the grotto, was in shape very like a
+chest or tomb;19 its length was such that a man might have laid himself
+down upon it, and it was so heavy that it was only by means of levers
+that the men could roll it before the door of the sepulchre. The
+entrance of the grotto was closed by a gate made of branches twined
+together. Everything that was done within the grotto had to be
+accomplished by torchlight, for daylight never penetrated there.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+The Return from the Sepulchre.
+
+Joseph of Arimathea is put in Prison.
+
+
+
+The Sabbath was close at hand, and Nicodemus and Joseph returned to
+Jerusalem by a small door not far from the garden, and which Joseph had
+been allowed by special favour to have made in the city wall. They told
+the Blessed Virgin, Magdalen, John, and some of the women, who were
+returning to Calvary to pray there, that this door, as well as that of
+the super-room, would be opened to them whenever they knocked. The
+elder sister of the Blessed Virgin, Mary of Heli, returned to the town
+with Mary the mother of Mark, and some other women. The servants of
+Nicodemus and Joseph went to Calvary to fetch several things which had
+been left there.
+
+The soldiers joined those who were guarding the city gate near
+Calvary; and Cassius went to Pilate with the lance, related all that he
+had seen, and promised to give him an exact account of everything that
+should happen, if he would put under his command the guards whom the
+Jews would not fail to ask to have put round the tomb. Pilate listened
+to his words with secret terror, but only told him in reply that his
+superstition amounted to madness.
+
+Joseph and Nicodemus met Peter and the two Jameses in the town. They
+all shed many tears, but Peter was perfectly overwhelmed by the
+violence of this grief. He embraced them, reproached himself for not
+having been present at the death of our Saviour, and thanked them for
+having bestowed the rites of sepulture upon his sacred body. It was
+agreed that the door of the supper-room should be opened to them
+whenever they knocked, and then they went away to seek some other
+disciples who were dispersed in various directions. Later I saw the
+Blessed Virgin and her companions enter the upper-room; Abenadar next
+came and was admitted; and by degrees the greatest part of the Apostles
+and disciples assembled there. The holy women retired to that part of
+the building where the Blessed Virgin was living. They took some food,
+and spent a few minutes more in tears, and in relating to one another
+what each had seen. Then men changed their dresses, and I saw them
+standing under the lamp, and keeping the Sabbath. They ate some lambs
+in the supper-room, but without observing any ceremony, for they had
+eaten the Paschal lamb the evening before. They were all perturbed in
+spirit, and filled with grief. The holy women also passed their time in
+praying with the Blessed Virgin under the lamp. Later, when night had
+quite fallen, Lazarus, the widow of Naim, Dina the Samaritan woman, and
+Mara of Suphan, came from Bethania, and then, once more, descriptions
+were given of all that had taken place, and many tears shed.
+
+
+
+ [According to the visions of Sister Emmerich, the three women named
+in the text had been living for some time at Bethania, in a sort of
+community established by Martha for the purpose of providing for the
+maintenance of the disciples when our Lord was moving about, and for
+the division and distribution of the alms which were collected. The
+widow of Naim, whose son Martial was raised from the dead by Jesus,
+according to Sister Emmerich, on the 28th Marcheswan (the 18th of
+November), was named Maroni. She was the daughter of an uncle, on the
+father's side, of St. Peter. Her first husband was the son of a sister of
+Elizabeth, who herself was the daughter of a sister of the mother of
+St. Anne. Maroni's first husband having died without children, she had
+married Elind, a relation of St. Anne, and had left Chasaluth, near
+Tabor, to take up her abode at Naim, which was not far off, and where she
+soon lost her second husband.
+
+ Dina, the Samaritan woman, was the same who conversed with Jesus by
+Jacob's well. She was born near Damascus, of parents who were half Jewish
+and half Pagan. They died while she was yet very young, and she being
+brought up by a woman of bad character, the seeds of the most evil
+passions were early sown in her heart. She had had several husbands,
+who supplanted one another in turn, and the last lived at Sichar,
+whither she had followed him and changed her name from Dina to Salome.
+She had three grown-up daughters and two sons, who afterwards joined
+the disciples. Sister Emmerich used to say that the life of this
+Samaritan woman was prophetic--that Jesus had spoken to the entire sect of
+Samaritans in her person, and that they were attached to their errors
+by as many ties as she had committed adulteries.
+
+ Mara of Suphan was a Moabitess, came from the neighbourhood of
+Suphan, and was a descendant of Orpha, the widow of Chelion, Noemi's son.
+Orpha had married again in Moab. By Orpha, the sister-in-law of Ruth,
+Mara was connected with the family of David, from whom our Lord was
+descended. Sister Emmerich saw Jesus deliver Mara from four devils and
+grant her forgiveness of her sins on the 17th Elud (9th September) of
+the second year of his public life. She was living at Ainon, having
+been repudiated by her husband, a rich Jew, who had kept the children
+he had had by her with him. She had with her tree others, the offspring
+of her adulteries.
+
+ 'I saw,' Sister Emmerich would say,--'I saw how the stray branch of the
+stock of David was purified within her by the grace of Jesus, and
+admitted into the bosom of the Church. I cannot express how many of
+these roots and offshoots I see become entwined with each other, lost
+to view, and then once more brought to light.']
+
+
+
+Joseph of Arimathea returned home late from the supper-room, and he
+was sorrowfully walking along the streets of Sion, accompanied by a few
+disciples and women, when all on a sudden a band of armed men, who were
+lying in ambuscade in the neighbourhood of Caiphas's tribunal, fell upon
+them, and laid hands upon Joseph, whereupon his companions fled,
+uttering loud cries of terror. He was confined in a tower contiguous to
+the city wall, not far from the tribunal. These soldiers were pagans,
+and had not to keep the Sabbath, therefore Caiphas had been able to
+secure their services on this occasion. The intention was to let Joseph
+die of hunger, and keep his disappearance a secret.
+
+Here conclude the descriptions of all that occurred on the day of
+the Passion of our Lord; but we will add some supplementary matter
+concerning Holy Saturday, the Descent into Hell, and the Resurrection.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+On the Name of Calvary.
+
+
+
+Whilst meditating on the name of Golgotha, Calvary, the place of
+skulls, borne by the rock upon which Jesus was crucified, I became
+deeply absorbed in contemplation, and beheld in spirit all ages from
+the time of Adam to that of Christ, and in this vision the origin of
+the name was made known to me. I here give all that I remember on this
+subject.
+
+I saw Adam, after his expulsion from Paradise, weeping in the grotto
+where Jesus sweated blood and water, on Mount Olivet. I saw how Seth
+was promised to Eve in the grotto of the manger at Bethlehem, and how
+she brought him forth in that same grotto. I also saw Eve living in
+some caverns near Hebron, where the Essenian Monastery of Maspha was
+afterwards established.
+
+I then beheld the country where Jerusalem was built, as it appeared
+after the Deluge, and the land was all unsettled, black, stony, and
+very different from what it had been before. At an immense dept below
+the rock which constitutes Mount Calvary (which was formed in this spot
+by the rolling of the waters), I saw the tomb of Adam and Eve. The head
+and one rib were wanting to one of the skeletons, and the remaining
+head was placed within the same skeleton, to which it did not belong.
+The bones of Adam and Eve had not all been left in this grave, for Noah
+had some of them with him in the ark, and they were transmitted from
+generation to generation by the Patriarchs. Noah, and also Abraham,
+were in the habit, when offering sacrifice, of always laying some of
+Adam's bones upon the altar, to remind the Almighty of his promise. When
+Jacob gave Joseph his variegated robe, he at the same time gave him
+some bones of Adam, to be kept as relics. Joseph always wore them on
+his bosom, and they were placed with his own bones in the first
+reliquary which the children of Israel brought out of Egypt. I have
+seen similar things, but some I have forgotten, and the others time
+fails me to describe.
+
+As regards the origin of the name of Calvary, I here give all I
+know. I beheld the mountain which bears this name as it was in the time
+of the Prophet Eliseus. It was not the same then as at the time of our
+Lord's Crucifixion, but was a hill, with many walls and caverns,
+resembling tombs, upon it. I saw the Prophet Eliseus descend into these
+caverns, I cannot say whether in reality or only in a vision, and I saw
+him take out a skull from a stone sepulchre in which bones were
+resting. Someone who was by his side--I think an angel--said to him, 'This is
+the skull of Adam.' The prophet was desirous to take it away, but his
+companion forbade him. I saw upon the skull some few hairs of a fair
+colour.
+
+I learned also that the prophet having related what had happened to
+him, the spot received the name of Calvary. Finally, I saw that the
+Cross of Jesus was placed vertically over the skull of Adam. I was
+informed that this spot was the exact centre of the earth; and at the
+same time I was shown the numbers and measures proper to every country,
+but I have forgotten them, individually as well as in general. Yet I
+have seen this centre from above, and as it were from a bird's-eye view.
+In that way a person sees far more clearly than on a map all the
+different countries, mountains, deserts, seas, rivers, towns, and even
+the smallest places, whether distant or near at hand.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+The Cross and the Winepress.
+
+
+
+As I was meditating upon these words or thoughts of Jesus when
+hanging on the Cross: 'I am pressed like wine placed here under the press
+for the first time; my blood must continue to flow until water comes,
+but wine shall no more be made here,' an explanation was given me by
+means of another vision relating to Calvary.
+
+I saw this rocky country at a period anterior to the Deluge; it was
+then less wild and less barren than it afterwards became, and was laid
+out in vineyards and fields. I saw there the Patriarch Japhet, a
+majestic dark-complexioned old man, surrounded by immense flocks and
+herds and a numerous posterity: his children as well as himself had
+dwellings excavated in the ground, and covered with turf roofs, on
+which herbs and flowers were growing. There were vines all around, and
+a new method of making wine was being tried on Calvary, in the presence
+of Japhet. I saw also the ancient method of preparing wine, but I can
+give only the following description of it. At first men were satisfied
+with only eating the grapes; then they pressed them with pestles in
+hollow stones, and finally in large wooden trenches. Upon this occasion
+a new wine-press, resembling the holy Cross in shape, had been devised;
+it consisted of the hollow trunk of a tree placed upright, with a bag
+of grapes suspended over it. Upon this bag there was fastened a pestle,
+surmounted by a weight; and on both sides of the trunk were arms joined
+to the bag, through openings made for the purpose, and which, when put
+in motion by lowering the ends, crushed the grapes. The juice flowed
+out of the tree by five openings, and fell into a stone vat, from
+whence it flowed through a channel made of bark and coated with resin,
+into the species of cistern excavated in the rock where Jesus was
+confined before his Crucifixion. At the foot of the winepress, in the
+stone vat, there was a sort of sieve to stop the skins, which were put
+on one side. When they had made their winepress, they filled the bag
+with grapes, nailed it to the top of the trunk, placed the pestle, and
+put in motion the side arms, in order to make the wine flow. All this
+very strongly reminded me of the Crucifixion, on account of the
+resemblance between the winepress and the Cross. They had a long reed,
+at the end of which there were points, so that it looked like an
+enormous thistle, and they ran this through the channel and trunk of
+the tree when there was any obstruction. I was reminded of the lance
+and sponge. There were also some leathern bottles, and vases made of
+bark and plastered with resin. I saw several young men, with nothing
+but a cloth wrapped round their loins like Jesus, working at this
+winepress. Japhet was very old; he wore a long beard, and a dress made
+of the skins of beasts; and he looked at the new winepress with evident
+satisfaction. It was a festival day, and they sacrificed on a stone
+altar some animals which were running loose in the vineyard, young
+asses, goats, and sheep. It was not in this place that Abraham came to
+sacrifice Isaac; perhaps it was on Mount Moriah. I have forgotten many
+of the instructions regarding the wine, vinegar, and skins, and the
+different ways in which everything was to be distributed to the right
+and to the left; and I regret it, because the veriest trifles in these
+matters have a profound symbolical meaning. If it should be the will of
+God for me to make them known, he will show them to me again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+Apparitions on Occasion of the Death of Jesus.
+
+
+
+Among the dead who rose from their graves, and who were certainly a
+hundred in number, at Jerusalem, there were no relations of Jesus. I
+saw in various parts of the Holy Land others of the dead appear and
+bear testimony to the divinity of Jesus. Thus I saw Sadoch, a most
+pious man, who had given all his property to the poor and to the
+Temple, appear to many persons in the neighbourhood of Hebron. This
+Sadoch had lived a century before Jesus, and was the founder of a
+community of Essenians: he had ardently sighed for the coming of the
+Messias, and had had several revelations upon the subject. I saw some
+others of the dead appear to the hidden disciples of our Lord, and give
+them different warnings.
+
+Terror and desolation reigned even in the most distant parts of
+Palestine, and it was not in Jerusalem only that frightful prodigies
+took place. At Thirza, the towers of the prison in which the captives
+delivered by Jesus had been confined fell down. In Galilee, where Jesus
+had travelled so much, I saw many buildings, and in particular the
+houses of those Pharisees who had been the foremost in persecuting our
+Saviour, and who were then all at the festival, shaken to the ground,
+crushing their wives and children. Numerous accidents happened in the
+neighbourhood of the Lake of Genazareth. Many buildings fell down at
+Capharnaum; and the wall of rocks which was in front of the beautiful
+garden of the centurion Zorobabel cracked across. The lake overflowed
+into the valley, and its waters descended as far as Capharnaum, which
+was a mile and a half distant. Peter's house, and the dwelling of the
+Blessed Virgin in front of the town, remained standing. The lake was
+strongly convulsed; its shores crumbled in several places, and its
+shape was very much altered, and became more like what it is at the
+present day. Great changes took place, particularly at the
+south-eastern extremity, near Tarichea, because in this part there was
+a long causeway made of stones, between the lake and a sort of marsh,
+which gave a constant direction to the course of the Jordan when it
+left the lake. The whole of this causeway was destroyed by the
+earthquake. Many accidents happened on the eastern side of the lake, on
+the spot where the swine belonging to the inhabitants of Gergesa cast
+themselves in, and also at Gergesa, Gerasa, and in the entire district
+of Chorazin. The mountain where the second multiplication of the loaves
+took place was shaken, and the stone upon which the miracle had been
+worked split in two. In Decapolis, whole towns crumbled to the earth;
+and in Asia, in several localities, the earthquake was severely felt,
+particularly to the east and north-east of Paneas. In Upper Galilee,
+many Pharisees found their houses in ruins when they returned from
+keeping the feast. A number of them, while yet at Jerusalem, received
+the news of what had happened, and it was on that account that the
+enemies of Jesus made such very slight efforts against the Christian
+community at Pentecost.
+
+A part of the Temple of Garizim crumbled down. An idol stood there
+above a fountain, in a small temple, the roof of which fell into the
+fountain with the idol. Half of the synagogue of Nazareth, out of which
+Jesus had been drive, fell down, as well as that part of the mountain
+from which his enemies had endeavoured to precipitate him. The bed of
+the Jordan was much changed by all these shocks, and its course altered
+in many places. At Macherus, and at the other towns belonging to Herod,
+everything remained quiet, for that country was out of the sphere of
+repentance and of threats, like those men who did not fall to the
+ground in the Garden of Olives, and, consequently, did not rise again.
+
+In many other parts where there were evil spirits, I saw the latter
+disappear in large bodies amid the falling mountains and buildings. The
+earthquakes reminded me of the convulsions of the possessed, when the
+enemy feels that he must take to flight. At Gergesa, a part of the
+mountain from which the devils had cast themselves with the swine into
+a marsh, fell into this same marsh; and I then saw a band of evil
+spirits cast themselves into the abyss, like a dark cloud.
+
+It was at Nice, unless I am mistaken, that I saw a singular
+occurrence, of which I have only an imperfect remembrance. There was a
+port there with many vessels in it; and near this port stood a house
+with a high tower, in which I saw a pagan whose office was to watch
+these vessels. He had often to ascend this tower, and see what was
+going on at sea. Having heard a great noise over the vessels in the
+port, he hurriedly ascended the tower to discover what was taking
+place, and he saw several dark figures hovering over the port, and who
+exclaimed to him in plaintive accents: 'If thou desirest to preserve the
+vessels, cause them to be sailed out of this port, for we must return
+to the abyss: the great Pan is dead.' They told him several other things;
+laid injunctions upon him to make known what they were then telling him
+upon his return from a certain voyage which he was soon to make, and to
+give a good reception to the messengers who would come to announce the
+doctrine of him who had just died. The evil spirits were forced in this
+manner by the power of God to inform this good man of their defeat, and
+announce it to the world. He had the vessels put in safety, and then an
+awful storm arose: the devils cast themselves howling into the sea, and
+half the city fell down. His house remained standing. Soon afterwards
+he went on a great journey, and announced the death of the great Pan,
+if that is the name by which our Saviour had been called. Later he came
+to Rome, where much amazement was caused by what he related. His name
+was something like Thamus or Thramus.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVII.
+
+Guards are placed around the Tomb of Jesus.
+
+
+
+Late on Friday night, I saw Caiphas and some of the chief men among
+the Jews holding a consultation concerning the best course to pursue
+with regard to the prodigies which had taken place, and the effect they
+had had upon the people. They continued their deliberations quite into
+the morning, and then hurried to Pilate's house, to tell him that, as
+that seducer said, while he was yet alive, 'After three days I will rise
+again,' it would be right to command the sepulchre to be guarded until
+the third day, as otherwise his disciples might come and steal him
+away, and say to the people, 'He is risen from the dead,' and the last
+error would be worse that the first. Pilate was determined to have
+nothing more to do with the business, and he only answered: 'You have a
+guard; go, guard it as you know.' However, he appointed Cassius to keep a
+watch over all that took place, and give him an exact account of every
+circumstance. I saw these men, twelve in number, leave the town before
+sunrise, accompanied by some soldiers who did not wear the Roman
+uniform, being attached to the Temple. They carried lanterns fastened
+to the end of long poles, in order that they might be able to see every
+surrounding object, in spite of the darkness of the night, and also
+that they might have some light in the dark cave of the sepulchre.
+
+No sooner had they reached the sepulchre than, having first seen
+with their own eyes that the body of Jesus was really there, they
+fastened one rope across the door of the tomb, and a second across the
+great stone which was placed in front, sealing the whole with a seal of
+half-circular shape. They then returned to the city, and the guards
+stationed themselves opposite the outer door. They were five or six in
+number, and watched three and three alternately. Cassius never left his
+post, and usually remained sitting or standing in front of the entrance
+to the cave, so as to see that side of the tomb where the feet of our
+Lord rested. He had received many interior graces, and been given to
+understand many mysteries. Being wholly unaccustomed to this state of
+spiritual enlightenment, he was perfectly transported out of himself,
+and remained nearly all the time unconscious of the presence of
+exterior things. He was entirely changed, had become a new man, and
+spent the whole day in penance, in making fervent acts of gratitude,
+and in humbly adoring God.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+A Glance at the Disciples of Jesus on Holy Saturday.
+
+
+
+The faithful disciples of our Lord assembled together in the
+Cenaculum, to keep the eve of the Sabbath. They were about twenty in
+number, clothed in long white dresses, and with their waists girded.
+The room was lighted up by a lamp; and after their repast they
+separated, and for the most part returned home. They again assembled on
+the following morning, and sat together reading and praying by turns;
+and if a friend entered the room, they arose and saluted him cordially.
+
+In that part of the house inhabited by the Blessed Virgin there was
+a large room, divided into small compartments like cells, which were
+used by the holy women for sleeping in at night. When they returned
+from the sepulchre, one of their number lighted a lamp which was
+hanging in the middle of the room, and they all assembled around the
+Blessed Virgin, and commenced praying in a mournful but recollected
+manner. A short time afterwards, Martha, Maroni, Dina, and Mara, who
+were just come with Lazarus from Bethania, where they had passed the
+Sabbath, entered the room. The Blessed Virgin and her companions gave
+them a detailed account of the death and burial of our Lord,
+accompanying each relation with many tears. The evening was advancing,
+and Joseph of Arimathea came in with a few other disciples, to ask
+whether any of the women wished to return to their homes, as they were
+ready to escort them. A few accepted the proposition, and set off
+immediately; but before they reached the tribunal of Caiphas, some
+armed men stopped Joseph of Arimathea, arrested, and shut him up in an
+old deserted turret.
+
+Those among the holy women who did not leave the Cenaculum retired
+to take their rest in the cell-like compartments spoken of above: they
+fastened long veils over their heads, seated themselves sorrowfully on
+the floor, and leaned upon the couches which were placed against the
+wall. After a time they stood up, spread out the bedclothes which were
+rolled up on the couches, took off their sandals, girdles, and a part
+of their clothing, and reclined for a time in order to endeavour to get
+a little sleep. At midnight, they arose, clothed themselves, put up
+their beds, and reassembled around the lamp to continue their prayer
+with the Blessed Virgin.
+
+When the Mother of Jesus and her pious companions had finished their
+nocturnal prayer (that holy duty which has been practised by all
+faithful children of God and holy souls, who have either felt
+themselves called to it by a special grace, or who follow a rule given
+by God and his Church), they heard a knock at the door, which was
+instantly opened, and John and some of the disciples who had promised
+to conduct them to the Temple, entered, upon which the women wrapped
+their cloaks about them, and started instantly. It was then about three
+in the morning, and they went straight to the Temple, it being
+customary among many Jews to get there before day dawned, on the day
+after they had eaten the Paschal lamb; and for this reason the Temple
+was open from midnight, as the sacrifices commenced very early. They
+started at about the same hour as that at which the priests had put
+their seal upon the sepulchre. The aspect of things in the Temple was,
+however, very different from what was usually the case at such times,
+for the sacrifices were stopped, and the place was empty and desolate,
+as everyone had left on account of the events on the previous day which
+had rendered it impure. The Blessed Virgin appeared to me to visit it
+for the sole purpose of taking leave of the place where she had passed
+her youth.
+
+The Temple was, however, open; the lamps lighted, and the people at
+liberty to enter the vestibule of the priests, which was the customary
+privilege of this day, as well as of that which followed the Paschal
+supper. The Temple was, as I said before, quite empty, with the
+exception of a chance priest or server who might be seen wandering
+about; and every part bore the marks of the confusion into which all
+was thrown on the previous day by the extraordinary and frightful
+events that had taken place; besides which it had been defiled by the
+presence of the dead, and I reflected and wondered in my own mind
+whether it would be possible ever to purify if again.
+
+The sons of Simeon, and the nephew of Joseph of Arimathea, were much
+grieved when they heard of the arrest of their uncle, but they welcomed
+the Blessed Virgin and her companions, and conducted them all over the
+Temple, which they did without difficulty, as they held the offices of
+inspectors of the Temple. The holy women stood in silence and
+contemplated all the terrible and visible marks of the anger of God
+with feelings of deep awe, and then listened with interest to the many
+stupendous details recounted by their guides. The effects of the
+earthquake were still visible, as little had been done towards
+repairing the numerous rents and cracks in the floor, and in the walls.
+In that part of the Temple where the vestibule joined the sanctuary,
+the wall was so tremendously shaken by the shock of the earthquake, as
+to produce a fissure wide enough for a person to walk through, and the
+rest of the wall looked unsteady, as if it might fall down at any
+moment. The curtain which hung in the sanctuary was rent in two and
+hung in shreds at the sides; nothing was to be seen around but crumbled
+walls, crushed flagstones, and columns either partly or quite shaken
+down.
+
+The Blessed Virgin visited all those parts which Jesus had rendered
+sacred in her eyes; she prostrated, kissed them, and with tears in her
+eyes explained to the others her reasons for venerating each particular
+spot, whereupon they instantly followed her example. The greatest
+veneration was always shown by the Jews for all places which had been
+rendered sacred by manifestations of the Divine power, and it was
+customary to place the hands reverently on such places, to kiss them,
+and to prostrate to the very earth before them. I do not think there
+was anything in the least surprising in such a custom, for they both
+knew, saw, end felt that the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
+was a living God, and that his dwelling among his people was in the
+Temple at Jerusalem; consequently it would have been infinitely more
+astonishing if they had not venerated those holy parts where his power
+had been particularly demonstrated, for the Temple and the holy places
+were to them what the Blessed Sacrament is to Christians.
+
+Deeply penetrated with these feelings of respect, the Blessed Virgin
+walked trough the Temple with her companions, and pointed out to them
+the spot where she was presented when still a child, the parts where
+she passed her childhood, the place where she was affianced to St.
+Joseph, and the spot where she stood when she presented Jesus and heard
+the prophecy of Simeon: the remembrance of his words made her weep
+bitterly, for the prophecy was indeed fulfilled, and the sword of grief
+had indeed transfixed her heart; she again stopped her companions when
+she reached the part of the Temple where she found Jesus teaching when
+she lost him at the age of twelve, and she respectfully kissed the
+ground on which he then stood. When the holy women had looked at every
+place sanctified by the presence of Jesus, when they had wept and
+prayed over them, they returned to Sion.
+
+The Blessed Virgin did not leave the Temple without shedding many
+tears, as she contemplated the state of desolation to which it was
+reduced, an aspect of desolation which was rendered still more
+depressing by the marked contrast it bore to the usual state of the
+Temple on the festival day. Instead of songs and hymns of jubilee, a
+mournful silence reigned throughout the vast edifice, and in place of
+groups of joyful and devout worshippers, the eye wandered over a vast
+and dreary solitude. Too truly, alas, did this change betoken the
+fearful crime which had been perpetrated by the people of God, and she
+remembered how Jesus had wept over the Temple, and said, 'Destroy the
+Temple and in three days I will build it up again.' She thought over the
+destruction of the Temple of the Body of Jesus which had been brought
+about by his enemies, and she sighed with a longing desire for the
+dawning of that third day when the words of eternal truth were to be
+accomplished.
+
+It was about daybreak when Mary and her companions reached the
+Cenaculum, and they retired into the building which stood on its
+right-hand side, while John and some of the disciples re-entered the
+Cenaculum, where about twenty men, assembled around a lamp, were
+occupied in prayer. Every now and then new-comers drew nigh to the
+door, came in timidity, approached the group round the lamp, and
+addressed them in a few mournful words, which they accompanied with
+tears. Everyone appeared to regard John with feelings of respect;
+because he had remained with Jesus until he expired; but with these
+sentiments of respect was mingled a deep feeling of shame and
+confusion, when they reflected on their own cowardly conduct in
+abandoning their Lord and Master in the hour of need. John spoke to
+everyone with the greatest charity and kindness; his manner was modest
+and unassuming as that of a child, and he seemed to fear receiving
+praise. I saw the assembled group take one meal during that day, but
+its members were, for the most part, silent; not a sound was to be
+heard throughout the house, and the doors were tightly closed,
+although, in fact, there was no likelihood of anyone disturbing them,
+as the house belonged to Nicodemus, and he had let it to them for the
+time of the festival.
+
+The holy women remained in this room until nightfall; it was lighted
+up by a single lamp; the doors were closed, and curtains drawn over the
+windows. Sometimes they gathered round the Blessed Virgin and prayed
+under the lamp; at other times they retired to the side of the room,
+covered their heads with black veils, and either sat on ashes (the sign
+of mourning), or prayed with their faces turned towards the wall; those
+whose health was delicate took a little food, but the others fasted.
+
+I looked at them again and again, and I saw them ever occupied in
+the same manner, that is to say, either in prayer or in mourning over
+the sufferings of their beloved Master. When my thoughts wandered from
+the contemplation of the Blessed Virgin to that of her Divine Son, I
+beheld the holy sepulchre with six or seven sentinels at the
+entrance--Cassius standing against the door of the cave, apparently in
+deep meditation, the exterior door closed, and the stone rolled close
+to it. Notwithstanding the thick door which intervened between the body
+of our Saviour and myself I could see it plainly; it was quite
+transparent with a divine light, and two angels were adoring at the
+side. But my thoughts then turned to the contemplation of the blessed
+soul of my Redeemer, and such an extensive and complicated picture of
+his descent into hell was shown to me, that I can only remember a small
+portion of it, which I will describe to the best of my power.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIX.
+
+A Detached Account of the Descent into Hell.
+
+
+
+When Jesus, after uttering a loud cry, expired, I saw his heavenly
+soul under the form of a bright meteor pierce the earth at the foot of
+the Cross, accompanied by the angel Gabriel and many other angels. His
+Divine nature continued united to his soul as well as to his body,
+which still remained hanging upon the Cross, but I cannot explain how
+this was, although I saw it plainly in my own mind. The place into
+which the soul of Jesus entered was divided into three parts, which
+appeared to me like three worlds; and I felt that they were round, and
+that each division was separated from the other by a hemisphere.
+
+I beheld a bright and beautiful space opposite to Limbo; it was
+enamelled with flowers, delicious breezes wafted through it; and many
+souls were placed there before being admitted into Heaven after their
+deliverance from Purgatory. Limbo, the place where the souls were
+waiting for the Redemption, was divided into different compartments,
+and encompassed by a thick foggy atmosphere. Our Lord appeared radiant
+with light and surrounded by angels, who conducted him triumphantly
+between two of these compartments; the one on the left containing the
+patriarchs who lived before the time of Abraham, and that on the right
+those who lived between the days of Abraham and St. John the Baptist.
+These souls did not at first recognise Jesus, but were filled
+nevertheless with sensations of joy and hope. There was not a spot in
+those narrow confines which did not, as it were, dilate with feelings
+of happiness. The passage of Jesus might be compared to the wafting of
+a breath of air, to a sudden flash of light, or to a shower of
+vivifying dew, but it was swift as a whirlwind. After passing through
+the two compartments, he reached a dark spot in which Adam and Eve were
+standing; he spoke to them, they prostrated and adored him in a perfect
+ecstasy of joy, and they immediately joined the band of angels, and
+accompanied our Lord to the compartment on the left, which contained
+the patriarchs who lived before Abraham. This compartment was a species
+of Purgatory, and a few evil spirits were wandering about among the
+souls and endeavouring to fill them with anxiety and alarm. The
+entrance through a species of door was closed, but the angels rapped,
+and I thought I heard them say, 'Open these doors.' When Jesus entered in
+triumph the demons dispersed, crying out at the same time, 'What is there
+between thee and us? What art thou come to do here? Wilt thou crucify
+us likewise?' The angels hunted them away, having first chained them. The
+poor souls confined in this place had only a slight presentiment and
+vague idea of the presence of Jesus; but the moment he told them that
+it was he himself, they burst out into acclamations of joy, and
+welcomed him with hymns of rapture and delight. The soul of our Lord
+then wended its way to the right, towards that part which really
+constituted Limbo; and there he met the soul of the good thief which
+angels were carrying to Abraham's bosom, as also that of the bad thief
+being dragged by demons into Hell. Our Lord addressed a few words to
+both, and then entered Abraham's bosom, accompanied by numerous angels
+and holy souls, and also by those demons who had been chained and
+expelled from the compartment.
+
+This locality appeared to me more elevated than the surrounding
+parts; and I can only describe my sensations on entering it, by
+comparing them to those of a person coming suddenly into the interior
+of a church, after having been for some time in the burial vaults. The
+demons, who were strongly chained, were extremely loth to enter, and
+resisted to the utmost of their power, but the angels compelled them to
+go forwards. All the just who had lived before the time of Christ were
+assembled there; the patriarchs, Moses, the judges, and the kings on
+the left-hand side; and on the right side, the prophets, and the
+ancestors of our Lord, as also his near relations, such as Joachim,
+Anna, Joseph, Zacharias, Elizabeth, and John. There were no demons in
+this place, and the only discomfort that had been felt by those placed
+there was a longing desire for the accomplishment of the promise; and
+when our Lord entered they saluted him with joyful hymns of gratitude
+and thanksgiving for its fulfilment, they prostrated and adored him,
+and the evil spirits who had been dragged into Abraham's bosom when our
+Lord entered were compelled to confess with shame that they were
+vanquished. Many of these holy souls were ordered by our Lord to return
+to the earth, re-enter their own bodies, and thus render a solemn and
+impressive testimony to the truth. It was at this moment that so many
+dead persons left their tombs in Jerusalem; I regarded them less in the
+light of dead persons risen again than as corpses put in motion by a
+divine power, and which, after having fulfilled the mission entrusted
+to them, were laid aside in the same manner as the insignia of office
+are taken off by a clerk when he has executed the orders of his
+superiors.
+
+I next saw our Lord, with his triumphant procession, enter into a
+species of Purgatory which was filled with those good pagans who,
+having had a faint glimmering of the truth, had longed for its
+fulfilment: this Purgatory was very deep, and contained a few demons
+compelled to confess the deception they had practised with regard to
+these idols, and the souls of the poor pagans cast themselves at the
+feet of Jesus, and adored him with inexpressible joy: here, likewise,
+the demons were bound with chains and dragged away. I saw our Saviour
+perform many other actions; but I suffered so intensely at the same
+time, that I cannot recount them as I should have wished.
+
+Finally, I beheld him approach to the centre of the great abyss,
+that is to say, to Hell itself; and the expression of his countenance
+was most severe.
+
+The exterior of Hell was appalling and frightful; it was an immense,
+heavy-looking building, and the granite of which it was formed,
+although black, was of metallic brightness; and the dark and ponderous
+doors were secured with such terrible bolts that no one could behold
+them without trembling. Deep groans and cries of despair might be
+plainly distinguished even while the doors were tightly closed; but, O,
+who can describe the dreadful yells and shrieks which burst upon the
+ear when the bolts were unfastened and the doors flung open; and, O,
+who can depict the melancholy appearance of the inhabitants of this
+wretched place!
+
+The form under which the Heavenly Jerusalem is generally represented
+in my visions is that of a beautiful and well-regulated city, and the
+different degrees of glory to which the elect are raised are
+demonstrated by the magnificence of their palaces, or the wonderful
+fruit and flowers with which the gardens are embellished. Hell is shown
+to me under the same form, but all within it is, on the contrary,
+close, confused, and crowded; every object tends to fill the mind with
+sensations of pain and grief; the marks of the wreath and vengeance of
+God are visible everywhere; despair, like a vulture, gnaws every heart,
+and discord and misery reign around. In the Heavenly Jerusalem all is
+peace and eternal harmony, the beginning, fulfilment, and end of
+everything being pure and perfect happiness; the city is filled with
+splendid buildings, decorated in such a manner as to charm every eye
+and enrapture every sense; the inhabitants of this delightful abode are
+overflowing with rapture and exultation, the gardens gay with lovely
+flowers, and the trees covered with delicious fruits which give eternal
+life. In the city of Hell nothing is to be seen but dismal dungeons,
+dark caverns, frightful deserts, fetid swamps filled with every
+imaginable species of poisonous and disgusting reptile. In Heaven you
+behold the happiness and peaceful union of the saints; in Hell,
+perpetual scenes of wretched discord, and every species of sin and
+corruption, either under the most horrible forms imaginable, or
+represented by different kinds of dreadful torments. All in this dreary
+abode tends to fill the mind with horror; not a word of comfort is
+heard or a consoling idea admitted; the one tremendous thought, that
+the justice of an all-powerful God inflicts on the damned nothing but
+what they have fully deserved is the absorbing tremendous conviction
+which weighs down each heart. Vice appears in its own grim disgusting
+colours, being stripped of the mask under which it is hidden in this
+world, and the infernal viper is seen devouring those who have
+cherished or fostered it here below. In a word, Hell is the temple of
+anguish and despair, while the kingdom of God is the temple of peace
+and happiness. This is easy to understand when seen; but it is almost
+impossible to describe clearly.
+
+The tremendous explosion of oaths, curses, cries of despair, and
+frightful exclamations which, like a clap of thunder, burst forth when
+the gates of Hell were thrown open by the angels, would be difficult
+even to imagine; our Lord spoke first to the soul of Judas, and the
+angels then compelled all the demons to acknowledge and adore Jesus.
+They would have infinitely preferred the most frightful torments to
+such a humiliation; but all were obliged to submit. Many were chained
+down in a circle which was placed round other circles. In the centre of
+Hell I saw a dark and horrible-looking abyss, and into this Lucifer was
+cast, after being first strongly secured with chains; thick clouds of
+sulphureous black smoke arose from its fearful depths, and enveloped
+his frightful form in the dismal folds, thus effectually concealing him
+from every beholder. God himself had decreed this; and I was likewise
+told, if I remember right, that he will be unchained for a time fifty
+or sixty years before the year of Christ 2000. The dates of many other
+events were pointed out to me which I do not now remember; but a
+certain number of demons are to be let loose much earlier than Lucifer,
+in order to tempt men, and to serve as instruments of the divine
+vengeance. I should think that some must be loosened even in the
+present day, and others will be set free in a short time.
+
+It would be utterly impossible for me to describe all the things
+which were shown to me; their number was so great that I could not
+reduce them sufficiently to order to define and render them
+intelligible. Besides which my sufferings are very great, and when I
+speak on the subject of my visions I behold them in my mind's eye
+portrayed in such vivid colours, that the sight is almost sufficient to
+cause a weak mortal like myself to expire.
+
+I next saw innumerable bands of redeemed souls liberated from
+Purgatory and from Limbo, who followed our Lord to a delightful spot
+situated above the celestial Jerusalem, in which place I, a very short
+time ago, saw the soul of a person who was very dear to me. The soul of
+the good thief was likewise taken there, and the promise of our Lord,
+'This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise,' was fulfilled.
+
+It is not in my power to explain the exact time that each of these
+events occurred, nor can I relate one-half of the things which I saw
+and heard; for some were incomprehensible even to myself, and others
+would be misunderstood if I attempted to relate them. I have seen our
+Lord in many different places. Even in the sea he appeared to me to
+sanctify and deliver everything in the creation. Evil spirits fled at
+his approach, and cast themselves into the dark abyss. I likewise
+beheld his soul in different parts of the earth, first inside the tomb
+of Adam, under Golgotha; and when he was there the souls of Adam and
+Eve came up to him, and he spoke to them for some time. He then visited
+the tombs of the prophets, who were buried at an immense depth below
+the surface; but he passed through the soil in the twinkling of an eye.
+Their souls immediately re-entered their bodies, and he spoke to them,
+and explained the most wonderful mysteries. Next I saw him, accompanied
+by a chosen band of prophets, among whom I particularly remarked David,
+visit those parts of the earth which had been sanctified by his
+miracles and by his sufferings. He pointed out to them, with the
+greatest love and goodness, the different symbols in the old law
+expressive of the future; and he showed them how he himself had
+fulfilled every prophecy. The sight of the soul of our Lord, surrounded
+by these happy souls, and radiant with light, was inexpressibly grand
+as he glided triumphantly through the air, sometimes passing, with the
+velocity of lightning, over rivers, then penetrating though the hardest
+rocks to the very centre of the earth, or moving noiselessly over its
+surface.
+
+I can remember nothing beyond the facts which I have just related
+concerning the descent of Jesus into Limbo, where he went in order to
+present to the souls there detained the grace of the Redemption which
+he had merited for them by his death and by his sufferings; and I saw
+all these things in a very short space of time; in fact, time passed so
+quickly that it seemed to me but a moment. Our Lord, however, displayed
+before me, at the same time, another picture, in which I beheld the
+immense mercies which he bestows in the present day on the poor souls
+in Purgatory; for on every anniversary of this great day, when his
+Church is celebrating the glorious mystery of his death, he casts a
+look of compassion on the souls in Purgatory, and frees some of those
+who sinned against him before his crucifixion. I this day saw Jesus
+deliver many souls; some I was acquainted with, and others were
+strangers to me, but I cannot name any of them.
+
+Our Lord, by descending into Hell, planted (if I may thus express
+myself), in the spiritual garden of the Church, a mysterious tree, the
+fruits of which--namely, his merits--are destined for the constant relief of
+the poor souls in Purgatory. The Church militant must cultivate the
+tree, and gather its fruit, in order to present them to that suffering
+portion of the Church which can do nothing for itself. Thus it is with
+all the merits of Christ; we must labour with him if we wish to obtain
+our share of them; we must gain our bread by the sweat of our brow.
+Everything which our Lord has done for us in time must produce fruit
+for eternity; but we must gather these fruits in time, without which we
+cannot possess them in eternity. The Church is the most prudent and
+thoughtful of mothers; the ecclesiastical year is an immense and
+magnificent garden, in which all those fruits for eternity are gathered
+together, that we may make use of them in time. Each year contains
+sufficient to supply the wants of all; but woe be to that careless or
+dishonest gardener who allows any of the fruit committed to his care to
+perish; if he fails to turn to a proper account those graces which
+would restore health to the sick; strength to the weak, or furnish food
+to the hungry! When the Day of Judgment arrives, the Master of the
+garden will demand a strict account, not only of every tree, but also
+of all the fruit produced in the garden.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LX.
+
+The Eve of the Resurrection.
+
+
+
+Towards the close of the Sabbath-day, John came to see the holy
+women. He endeavoured to give some consolation, but could not restrain
+his own tears, and only remained a short time with them. They had
+likewise a short visit from Peter and James the Greater, after which
+they retired to their cells, and gave free vent to grief, sitting upon
+ashes, and veiling themselves even more closely.
+
+The prayer of the Blessed Virgin was unceasing. She ever kept her
+eyes fixed interiorly on Jesus, and was perfectly consumed by her
+ardent desire of once more beholding him whom she loved with such
+inexpressible love. Suddenly an angel stood by her side, and bade her
+arise and go to the door of the dwelling of Nicodemus, for that the
+Lord was very near. The heart of the Blessed Virgin leaped for joy. She
+hastily wrapped her cloak about her, and left the holy women, without
+informing them where she was going. I saw her walk quickly to a small
+entrance which was cut in the town wall, the identical one through
+which she had entered when returning with her companions from the
+sepulchre.
+
+It was about nine o'clock at night, and the Blessed Virgin had almost
+reached the entrance, when I saw her stop suddenly in a very solitary
+spot, and look upwards in an ecstasy of delight, for on the top of the
+town wall she beheld the soul of our Lord, resplendent with light,
+without the appearance of a wound, and surrounded by patriarchs. He
+descended towards her, turned to his companions, and presenting her to
+them, said, 'Behold Mary, behold my Mother.' He appeared to me to salute
+her with a kiss, and he then disappeared. The Blessed Virgin knelt
+down, and most reverently kissed the ground on which he had stood, and
+the impression of her hands and knees remained imprinted upon the
+stones. The sight filled her with inexpressible joy, and she
+immediately rejoined the holy women, who were busily employed in
+preparing the perfumes and spices. She did not tell them what she had
+seen, but her firmness and strength of mind was restored. She was
+perfectly renovated, and therefore comforted all the rest, and
+endeavoured to strengthen their faith.
+
+All the holy women were sitting by a long table, the cover of which
+hung down to the floor, when Mary returned; bundles of herbs were
+heaped around them, and these they mixed together and arranged; small
+flasks, containing sweet unctions and water of spikenard, were standing
+near, as also bunches of natural flowers, among which I remarked one in
+particular, which was like a streaked iris or a lily. Magdalen, Mary
+the daughter of Cleophas, Salome, Johanna, and Mary Salome, had bought
+all these things in the town during the absence of Mary. Their
+intention was to go to the sepulchre before sunrise on the following
+day, in order to strew these flowers and perfumes over the body of
+their beloved Master.
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+Joseph of Arimathea miraculously set at large.
+
+
+
+A short time after the return of the Blessed Virgin to the holy
+women, I was shown the interior of the prison in which the enemies of
+Joseph of Arimathea had confined him. He was praying fervently, when
+suddenly a brilliant light illuminated the whole place, and I heard a
+voice calling him by name, while at the same moment the roof opened,
+and a bright form appeared, holding out a sheet resembling that in
+which he had wrapped the body of Jesus. Joseph grasped it with both
+hands, and was drawn up to the opening, which closed again as soon as
+he had passed through; and the apparition disappeared the instant he
+was in safety at the tope of the tower. I know not whether it was our
+Lord himself or an angel who thus set Joseph free.
+
+He walked on the summit of the wall until he reached the
+neighbourhood of the Cenaculum, which was near to the south wall of
+Sion, and then climbed down and knocked at the door of that edifice, as
+the doors were fastened. The disciples assembled there had been much
+grieved when they first missed Joseph, who they thought had been thrown
+into a sink, a report to that effect having become current. Great,
+therefore, was their joy when they opened the door and found that it
+was he himself; indeed, they were almost as much delighted as when
+Peter was miraculously delivered from prison some years after. When
+Joseph had related what had taken place, they were filled with
+astonishment and delight; and after thanking God fervently gave him
+some refreshment, which he greatly needed. He left Jerusalem that same
+night, and fled to Arimathea, his native place, where he remained until
+he thought he could return safely to Jerusalem.
+
+I likewise saw Caiphas towards the close of the Sabbath-day, at the
+house of Nicodemus. He was conversing with him and asking many
+questions with pretended kindness. Nicodemus answered firmly, and
+continued to affirm the innocence of Jesus. They did not remain long
+together.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXII.
+
+The Night of Resurrection.
+
+
+
+I soon after beheld the tomb of our Lord. All was calm and silent
+around it. There were six soldiers on guard, who were either seated or
+standing before the door, and Cassius was among them. His appearance
+was that of a person immersed in meditation and in the expectation of
+some great event. The sacred body of our Blessed Redeemer was wrapped
+in the winding-sheet, and surrounded with light, while two angels sat
+in an attitude of adoration, the one at the head, and the other at the
+feet. I had seen them in the same posture ever since he was first put
+into the tomb. These angels were clothed as priests. Their position,
+and the manner in which they crossed their arms over their breasts,
+reminded me of the cherubim who surrounded the Ark of the covenant,
+only they were without wings; at least I did not see any. The whole of
+the sepulchre reminded me of the Ark of the Covenant at different
+periods of its history. It is possible that Cassius was sensible of the
+presence of the angels, and of the bright light which filled the
+sepulchre, for his attitude was like that of a person in deep
+contemplation before the Blessed Sacrament.
+
+I next saw the soul of our Lord accompanied by those among the
+patriarchs whom he had liberated enter into the tomb through the rock.
+He showed them the wounds with which his sacred body was covered; and
+it seemed to me that the winding-sheet which previously enveloped it
+was removed, and that Jesus wished to show the souls the excess of
+suffering he had endured to redeem them. The body appeared to me to be
+quite transparent, so that the whole depth of the wounds could be seen;
+and this sight filled the holy souls with admiration, although deep
+feelings of compassion likewise drew tears from their eyes.
+
+My next vision was so mysterious that I cannot explain or even
+relate it in a clear manner. It appeared to me that the soul and body
+of Jesus were taken together out of the sepulchre, without, however,
+the former being completely reunited to the latter, which still
+remained inanimate. I thought I saw two angels who were kneeling and
+adoring at the head and feet of the sacred body, raise it--keeping it in
+the exact position in which it was lying in the tomb--and carry it
+uncovered and disfigured with wounds across the rock, which trembled as
+they passed. It then appeared to me that Jesus presented his body,
+marked with the stigmas of the Passion, to his Heavenly Father, who,
+seated on a throne, was surrounded by innumerable choirs of angels,
+blissfully occupied in pouring forth hymns of adoration and jubilee.
+The case was probably the same when at the death of our Lord, so many
+holy souls re-entered their bodies, and appeared in the Temple and in
+different parts of Jerusalem; for it is not likely that the bodies
+which they animated were really alive, as in that case they would have
+been obliged to die a second time, whereas they returned to their
+original state without apparent difficulty; but it is to be supposed
+that their appearance in human form was similar to that of our Lord,
+when he (if we may thus express it) accompanied his body to the throne
+of his Heavenly Father.
+
+At this moment the rock was so violently shaken, from the very
+summit to the base, that three of the guards fell down and became
+almost insensible. The other four were away at the time, being gone to
+the town to fetch something. The guards who were thus thrown prostrate
+attributed the sudden shock to an earthquake; but Cassius, who,
+although uncertain as to what all this might portend, yet felt an
+inward presentiment that it was the prelude to some stupendous event,
+stood transfixed in anxious expectation, waiting to see what would
+follow next. The soldiers who were gone to Jerusalem soon returned.
+
+I again beheld the holy women: they had finished preparing the
+spices, and were resting in their private cells; not stretched out on
+the couches, but leaning against the bedclothes, which were rolled up.
+They wished to go to the sepulchre before the break of day, because
+they feared meeting the enemies of Jesus; but the Blessed Virgin, who
+was perfectly renovated and filled with fresh courage since she had
+seen her Son, consoled and recommended them to sleep for a time, and
+then go fearlessly to the tomb, as no harm would come to them;
+whereupon they immediately followed her advice, and endeavoured to
+sleep.
+
+It was towards eleven o'clock at night when the Blessed Virgin,
+incited by irrepressible feelings of love, arose, wrapped a grey cloak
+around her, and left the house quite alone. When I saw her do this, I
+could not help feeling anxious, and saying to myself, 'How is it possible
+for this holy Mother, who is so exhausted from anguish and terror, to
+venture to walk all alone through the streets at such an hour?' I saw her
+go first to the house of Caiphas, and then to the palace of Pilate,
+which was at a great distance off; I watched her through the whole of
+her solitary journey along that part which had been trodden by her Son,
+loaded with his heavy Cross; she stopped at every place where our
+Saviour had suffered particularly, or had received any fresh outrage
+from his barbarous enemies. Her appearance, as she walked slowly along,
+was that of a person seeking something; she often bent down to the
+ground, touched the stones with her hands, and then inundated them with
+kisses, if the precious blood of her beloved Son was upon them. God
+granted her at this time particular lights and graces, and she was able
+without the slightest degree of difficulty to distinguish every place
+sanctified by his sufferings. I accompanied her through the whole of
+her pious pilgrimage, and I endeavoured to imitate her to the best of
+my power, as far as my weakness would permit.
+
+Mary then went to Calvary; but when she had almost reached it, she
+stopped suddenly, and I saw the sacred body and soul of our Saviour
+standing before her. An angel walked in front; the two angels whom I
+had seen in the tomb were by his side, and the souls whom he had
+redeemed followed him by hundreds. The body of Jesus was brilliant and
+beautiful, but its appearance was not that of a living body, although a
+voice issued from it; and I heard him describe to the Blessed Virgin
+all he had done in Limbo, and then assure her that he should rise again
+with his glorified body; that he would then show himself to her, and
+that she must wait near the rock of Mount Calvary, and that part where
+she saw him fall down, until he appeared. Our Saviour then went towards
+Jerusalem, and the Blessed Virgin, having again wrapped her veil about
+her, prostrated on the spot which he had pointed out. It was then, I
+think, past midnight, for the pilgrimage of Mary over the Way of the
+Cross had taken up at least an hour; and I next saw the holy souls who
+had been redeemed by our Saviour traverse in their turn the sorrowful
+Way of the Cross, and contemplate the different places where he had
+endured such fearful sufferings for their sakes. The angels who
+accompanied them gathered sacred flesh which had been torn off by the
+frequent blows he received, as also the blood with which the ground was
+sprinkled on those spots where he had fallen.
+
+I once more saw the sacred body of our Lord stretched out as I first
+beheld it in the sepulchre; the angels were occupied in replacing the
+garments they had gathered up of his flesh, and they received
+supernatural assistance in doing this. When next I contemplated him it
+was in his winding-sheet, surrounded with a bright light and with two
+adoring angels by his side. I cannot explain how all these things came
+to pass, for they are far beyond our human comprehension; and even if I
+understand them perfectly myself when I see them, they appear dark and
+mysterious when I endeavour to explain them to others.
+
+As soon as a faint glimmering of dawn appeared in the east, I saw
+Magdalen, Mary the daughter of Cleophas, Johanna Chusa, and Salome,
+leave the Cenaculum, closely wrapped up in their mantles. They carried
+bundles of spices; and one of their number had a lighted candle in her
+hand, which she endeavoured to conceal under her cloak. I saw them
+direct their trembling steps towards the small door at the house of
+Nicodemus.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXIII.
+
+The Resurrection of our Lord.
+
+
+
+I beheld the soul of our Lord between two angels, who were in the
+attire of warriors: it was bright, luminous, and resplendent as the sun
+at mid-day; it penetrated the rock, touched the sacred body, passed
+into it, and the two were instantaneously united, and became as one. I
+then saw the limbs move, and the body of our Lord, being reunited to
+his soul and to his divinity, rise and shake off the winding-sheet: the
+whole of the cave was illuminated and lightsome.
+
+At the same moment I saw a frightful monster burst from the earth
+underneath the sepulchre. It had the tail of a serpent, and it raised
+its dragon head proudly as if desirous of attacking Jesus; and had
+likewise, if I remember correctly, a human head. But our Lord held in
+his hand a white staff, to which was appended a large banner; and he
+placed his foot on the head of the dragon, and struck its tail three
+times with his staff, after which the monster disappeared. I had had
+this same vision many times before the Resurrection, and I saw just
+such a monster, appearing to endeavour to hide itself, at the time of
+the conception of our Lord: it greatly resembled the serpent which
+tempted our first parents in Paradise, only it was more horrible. I
+thought that this vision had reference to the prophetic words, that 'by
+the seed of the woman the head of the serpent should be crushed,' and
+that the whole was intended to demonstrate the victory of our Lord over
+death, for at the same moment that I saw him crush the head of the
+monster, the tomb likewise vanished from my sight.
+
+I then saw the glorified body of our Lord rise up, and it passed
+through the hard rock as easily as if the latter had been formed of
+some ductile substance. The earth shook, and an angel in the garb of a
+warrior descended from Heaven with the speed of lightning, entered the
+tomb, lifted the stone, placed it on the right side, and seated himself
+upon it. At this tremendous sight the soldiers fell to the ground, and
+remained there apparently lifeless. When Cassius saw the bright light
+which illuminated the tomb, he approached the place where the sacred
+body had been placed, looked at and touched the linen clothes in which
+it had been wrapped, and left the sepulchre, intending to go and inform
+Pilate of all that had happened. However, he tarried a short time to
+watch the progress of events; for although he had felt the earthquake,
+seen the angel move the stone, and looked at the empty tomb, yet he had
+not seen Jesus.
+
+At the very moment in which the angel entered the sepulchre and the
+earth quaked, I saw our Lord appear to his holy Mother on Calvary. His
+body was beautiful and lightsome, and its beauty was that of a
+celestial being. He was clothed in a large mantle, which at one moment
+looked dazzlingly white, as it floated through the air, waving to and
+fro with every breath of wind, and the next reflected a thousand
+brilliant colours as the sunbeams passed over it. His large open wounds
+shone brightly, and could be seen from a great distance: the wounds in
+his hands were so large that a finger might be put into them without
+difficulty; and rays of light proceeded from them, diverging in the
+direction of his fingers. The souls of the patriarchs bowed down before
+the Mother of our Saviour, and Jesus spoke to her concerning his
+Resurrection, telling her many things which I have forgotten. He showed
+her his wounds; and Mary prostrated to kiss his sacred feet; but he
+took her hand, raised her, and disappeared.
+
+When I was at some distance from the sepulchre I saw fresh lights
+burning there, and I likewise beheld a large luminous spot in the sky
+immediately over Jerusalem.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXIV.
+
+The holy Women at the Sepulchre.
+
+
+
+The holy women were very near the door of Nicodemus's house at the
+moment of our Lord's Resurrection; but they did not see anything of the
+prodigies which were taking place at the sepulchre. They were not aware
+that guards had been placed around the tomb, for they had not visited
+it on the previous day, on account of its being the Sabbath. They
+questioned one another anxiously concerning what would have to be done
+about the large stone at the door, as to who would be the best person
+to ask about removing it, for they had been so engrossed by grief that
+they had not thought about it before. Their intention was to pour
+precious ointments upon the body of Jesus, and then to strew over it
+flowers of the most rare and aromatic kinds, thus rendering all the
+honour possible to their Divine Master in his sepulchre. Salome, who
+had brought more things than anyone else, was a rich lady, who lived in
+Jerusalem, a relation of St. Joseph, but not the mother of John. The
+holy women came to the determination of putting down their spices on
+the stone which closed the door of the monument, and waiting until
+someone came to roll it back.
+
+The guards were still lying on the ground, and the strong
+convulsions which even then shook them clearly demonstrated how great
+had been their terror, and the large stone was cast on one side, so
+that the door could be opened without difficulty. I could see the linen
+cloth in which the body of Jesus had been wrapped scattered about in
+the tomb, and the large winding-sheet lying in the same place as when
+they left it, but doubled together in such a manner that you saw at
+once that it no longer contained anything but the spices which had been
+placed round the body, and the bandages were on the outside of the
+tomb. The linen cloth in which Mary had enveloped the sacred head of
+her Son was still there.
+
+I saw the holy women coming into the garden; but when they perceived
+the light given by the lamps of the sentinels, and the prostrate forms
+of the soldiers round the tomb, they for the most part became much
+alarmed, and retreated towards Golgotha. Mary Magdalen was, however,
+more courageous, and, followed by Salome, entered the garden while the
+other women remained timidly on the outside.
+
+Magdalen started, and appeared for a moment terrified when she drew
+near the sentinels. She retreated a few steps and rejoined Salome, but
+both quickly recovered their presence of mind, and walked on together
+through the midst of the prostrate guards, and entered into the cave
+which contained the sepulchre. They immediately perceived that the
+stone was removed, but the doors were closed, which had been done in
+all probability by Cassius. Magdalen opened them quickly, looked
+anxiously into the sepulchre, and was much surprised at seeing that the
+cloths in which they had enveloped our Lord were lying on one side, and
+that the place where they had deposited the sacred remains was empty. A
+celestial light filled the cave, and an angel was seated on the right
+side. Magdalen became almost beside herself from disappointment and
+alarm. I do not know whether she heard the words which the angel
+addressed to her, but she left the garden as quickly as possible, and
+ran to the town to inform the Apostles who were assembled there of what
+had taken place. I do not know whether the angel spoke to Mary Salome,
+as she did not enter the sepulchre; but I saw her leaving the garden
+directly after Magdalen, in order to relate all that had happened to
+the rest of the holy women, who were both frightened and delighted at
+the news, but could not make up their minds as to whether they would go
+to the garden or not.
+
+In the mean time Cassius had remained near the sepulchre in hopes of
+seeing Jesus, as he thought he would be certain to appear to the holy
+women; but seeing nothing, he directed his steps towards Pilate's palace
+to relate to him all that had happened, stopping, however, first at the
+place where the rest of the holy women were assembled, to tell them
+what he had seen, and to exhort them to go immediately to the garden.
+They followed his advice, and went there at once. No sooner had they
+reached the door of the sepulchre than they beheld two angels clothed
+in sacerdotal vestments of the most dazzling white. The women were very
+much alarmed, covered their faces with their hands, and prostrated
+almost to the ground; but one of the angels addressed them, bade them
+not fear, and told them that they must not seek for their crucified
+Lord there, for that he was alive, had risen, and was no longer an
+inhabitant of the tomb. He pointed out to them at the same moment the
+empty sepulchre, and ordered them to go and relate to the disciples all
+that they had seen and heard. He likewise told them that Jesus would go
+before them into Galilee, and recalled to their minds the words which
+our Saviour had addressed to them on a former occasion: 'The Son of Man
+will be delivered into the hands of sinners, he will be crucified, and
+the third day rise again.' The angels then disappeared, and left the holy
+women filled with joy, although of course greatly agitated; they wept,
+looked at the empty tomb and linen clothes, and immediately started to
+return to the town. But they were so much overcome by the many
+astounding events which had taken place, that they walked very slowly,
+and stopped and looked back often, in hopes of seeing our Lord, or at
+least Magdalen.
+
+In the mean time Magdalen reached the Cenaculum. She was so excited
+as to appear like a person beside herself, and knocked hastily at the
+door. Some of the disciples were still sleeping, and those who were
+risen were conversing together. Peter and John opened the door, but she
+only exclaimed, without entering the house, 'They have taken away the
+body of my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him,' and
+immediately returned to the garden. Peter and John went back into the
+house, and after saying a few words to the other disciples followed her
+as speedily as possible, but John far outstripped Peter. I then saw
+Magdalen reenter the garden, and direct her steps towards the
+sepulchre; she appeared greatly agitated partly from grief, and partly
+from having walked so fast. Her garments were quite moist with dew, and
+her veil hanging on one side, while the luxuriant hair in which she had
+formerly taken so much pride fell in dishevelled masses over her
+shoulders, forming a species of mantle. Being alone, she was afraid of
+entering the cave, but stopped for a moment on the outside, and knelt
+down in order to see better into the tomb. She was endeavouring to push
+back her long hair, which fell over her face and obscured her vision,
+when she perceived the two angels who were seated in the tomb, and I
+heard one of them address her thus: 'Woman, why weepest thou?' She replied,
+in a voice choked with tears (for she was perfectly overwhelmed with
+grief at finding that the body of Jesus was really gone), 'Because they
+have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.' She
+said no more, but seeing the empty winding-sheet, went out of the
+sepulchre and began to look about in other parts. She felt a secret
+presentiment that not only should she find Jesus, but that he was even
+then near to her; and the presence of the angels seemed not to disturb
+her in the least; she did not appear even to be aware that they were
+angels, every faculty was engrossed with the one thought, 'Jesus is not
+here! Where is Jesus?' I watched her wandering about like an insane
+person, with her hair floating loosely in the wind: her hair appeared
+to annoy her much, for she again endeavoured to push it from off her
+face, and having divided it into two parts, threw it over her shoulders.
+
+She then raised her head, looked around, and perceived a tall
+figure, clothed in white, standing at about ten paces from the
+sepulchre on the east side of the garden, where there was a slight rise
+in the direction of the town; the figure was partly hidden from her
+sight by a palm-tree, but she was somewhat startled when it addressed
+her in these words: 'Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?' She
+thought it was the gardener; and, in fact, he had a spade in his hand,
+and a large hat (apparently made of the bark of trees) on his head. His
+dress was similar to that worn by the gardener described in the parable
+which Jesus had related to the holy women at Bethania a short time
+before his Passion. His body was not luminous, his hole appearance was
+rather that of a man dressed in white and seen by twilight. At the
+words, 'Whom seekest thou?' she looked at him, and answered quickly, 'Sir, if
+thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him; and I will
+take him away.' And she looked anxiously around. Jesus said to her, 'Mary.'
+She then instantly recognised his beloved voice, and turning quickly,
+replied, 'Rabboni (Master)!' She threw herself on her knees before him, and
+stretched out her hands to touch his feet; but he motioned her to be
+still, and said, 'Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my
+Father; but go to my brethren and say to them: I ascend to my Father
+and to your Father, to my God and your God.' He then disappeared.
+
+The reason of the words of Jesus, 'Do not touch me,' was afterwards
+explained to me, but I have only an indistinct remembrance of that
+explanation. I think he made use of those words because of the
+impetuosity of Magdalen's feelings, which made her in a certain degree
+forget the stupendous mystery which had been accomplished, and feel as
+if what she then beheld was still mortal instead of a glorified body.
+As for the words of Jesus, 'I am not yet ascended to my Father,' I was told
+that their meaning was that he had not presented himself to his Father
+since his Resurrection, to return him thanks for his victory over
+death, and for the work of the redemption which he had accomplished. He
+wished her to infer from these words, that the first-fruits of joy
+belong to God, and that she ought to reflect and return thanks to him
+for the accomplishment of the glorious mystery of the redemption, and
+for the victory which he had gained over death; and if she had kissed
+his feet as she used before the Passion, she would have thought of
+nothing but her Divine Master, and in her raptures of love have totally
+forgotten the wonderful events which were causing such astonishment and
+joy in Heaven. I saw Magdalen arise quickly, as soon as our Lord
+disappeared, and run to look again in the sepulchre, as if she believed
+herself under the influence of a dream. She saw the two angels still
+seated there, and they spoke to her concerning the resurrection of our
+Lord in the same words as they had addressed the two other women. She
+likewise saw the empty winding-sheet, and then, feeling certain that
+she was not in a state of delusion, but that the apparition of our Lord
+was real, she walked quickly back towards Golgotha to seek her
+companions, who were wandering about to and fro, anxiously looking out
+for her return, and indulging a kind of vague hope that they should see
+or hear something of Jesus.
+
+The whole of this scene occupied a little more than two or three
+minutes. It was about half-past three when our Lord appeared to
+Magdalen, and John and Peter entered the garden just as she was leaving
+it. John, who was a little in advance of Peter, stopped at the entrance
+of the cave and looked in. He saw the linen clothes lying on one side,
+and waited until Peter came up, when they entered the sepulchre
+together, and saw the winding-sheet empty as has been before described.
+John instantly believed in the Resurrection, and they both understood
+clearly the words addressed to them by Jesus before his Passion, as
+well as the different passages in Scripture relating to that event,
+which had until then been incomprehensible to them. Peter put the linen
+clothes under his cloak, and they returned hastily into the town
+through the small entrance belonging to Nicodemus.
+
+The appearance of the holy sepulchre was the same when the two
+Apostles entered as when Magdalen first saw it. The two adoring angels
+were seated, one at the head, and the other at the extremity of the
+tomb, in precisely the same attitude as when his adorable body was
+lying there. I do not think Peter was conscious of their presence. I
+afterwards heard John tell the disciples of Emmaus, that when he looked
+into the sepulchre he saw an angel. Perhaps he was startled by this
+sight, and therefore drew back and let Peter enter the sepulchre first;
+but it is likewise very possible that the reason of his not mentioning
+the circumstance in his gospel was because humility made him anxious to
+conceal the fact of his having been more highly favoured than Peter.
+
+The guards at this moment began to revive, and rising, gathered up
+their lances, and took down the lamps, which were on the door, from
+whence they cast a glimmering weak light on surrounding objects. I then
+saw them walk hastily out of the garden in evident fear and
+trepidation, in the direction of the town.
+
+In the mean time Magdalen had rejoined the holy women, and given
+them the account of her seeing the Lord in the garden, and of the words
+of the angels afterwards, whereupon they immediately related what had
+been seen by themselves, and Magdalen wended her way quickly to
+Jerusalem, while the women returned to that side of the garden where
+they expected to find the two Apostles. Just before they reached it,
+Jesus appeared to them. He was clothed in a long white robe, which
+concealed even his hands, and said to them, 'All hail.' They started with
+astonishment, and cast themselves at his feet; he spoke a few words,
+held forth his hand as if to point out something to them, and
+disappeared. The holy women went instantly to the Cenaculum, and told
+the disciples who were assembled there that they had seen the Lord; the
+disciples were incredulous, and would not give credence either to their
+account or to that of Magdalen. They treated both the one and the other
+as the effects of their excited imaginations; but when Peter and John
+entered the room and related what they likewise had seen, they knew not
+what to answer, and were filled with astonishment.
+
+Peter and John soon left the Cenaculum, as the wonderful events
+which had taken place rendered them extremely silent and thoughtful,
+and before long they met James the Less and Thaddeus, who had wished to
+accompany them to the sepulchre. Both James and Thaddeus were greatly
+overcome, for the Lord had appeared to them a short time before they
+met Peter and John. I also saw Jesus pass quite close to Peter and
+John. I think the former recognised him, for the started suddenly, but
+I do not think the latter saw him.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXV.
+
+The Relation which was given by the Sentinels who were placed around
+the Sepulchre.
+
+
+
+Cassius hastened to the house of Pilate about an hour after the
+Resurrection, in order to give him an account of the stupendous events
+which had taken place. He was not yet risen, but Cassius was allowed to
+enter his bedroom. He related all that had happened, and expressed his
+feelings in the most forcible language. He described how the rock had
+been rent, and how an angel had descended from Heaven and pushed aside
+the stone; he also spoke of the empty winding-sheet, and added that
+most certainly Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that he was
+truly risen. Pilate listened to this account; he trembled and quivered
+with terror, but concealed his agitation to the best of his power, and
+answered Cassius in these words: 'Thou art exceedingly superstitious; it
+was very foolish to go to the Galilean's tomb; his gods took advantage of
+thy weakness, and displayed all these ridiculous visions to alarm thee.
+I recommend thee to keep silence, and not recount such silly tales to
+the priests, for thou wouldst get the worst of it from them.' He
+pretended to believe that the body of Jesus had been carried away by
+his disciples, and that the sentinels, who had been bribed, and had
+fallen asleep, or perhaps been deceived by witchcraft, had fabricated
+these accounts in order to justify their conduct. When Pilate had said
+all he could on the subject, Cassius left him, and he went to offer
+sacrifice to his gods.
+
+The four soldiers who had guarded the tomb arrived shortly after at
+Pilate's palace, and began to tell him all that he had already heard from
+Cassius; but he would listen to nothing more, and sent them to Caiphas.
+The rest of the guards were assembled in a large court near the Temple
+which was filled with aged Jews, who, after some previous consultation,
+took the soldiers on one side, and by dint of bribes and threats
+endeavoured to persuade them to say that they fell asleep, and that
+while they were asleep the disciples came and carried away the body of
+our Lord. The soldiers, however, demurred, because the statement which
+their comrades were gone to make to Pilate would contradict any account
+which they could now fabricate, but the Pharisees promised to arrange
+everything with the governor. Whilst they were still disputing, the
+four guards returned from their interview with Pilate, and the
+Pharisees endeavoured to persuade them to conceal the truth; but this
+they refused to do, and declared firmly that they would not vary their
+first statement in the smallest degree. The miraculous deliverance of
+Joseph of Arimathea from prison was become public, and when the
+Pharisees accused the soldiers of having allowed the Apostles to carry
+off the body of Jesus, and threatened them with the infliction of the
+most severe punishment if they did not produce the body, they replied,
+that it would be as utterly impossible for them to produce the body of
+Jesus, as it was for the soldiers who had charge of Joseph of Arimathea
+to bring him back into his prison again. They spoke with the greatest
+firmness and courage; promises and menaces were equally ineffectual.
+They declared that they would speak the truth and nothing but the
+truth; that the sentence of death which had been passed upon Jesus was
+both unjust and iniquitous; and that the crime which was perpetrated in
+putting him to death was the sole cause of the interruption in the
+Paschal solemnity. The Pharisees, being perfectly furious, caused the
+four soldiers to be arrested and thrown into prison, and the others,
+who had accepted the bribes they offered, then affirmed that the body
+of Jesus had been carried off by the disciples while they slept; and
+the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians endeavoured to disseminate this
+lie to the utmost of their power, not only in the synagogue but also
+among the people; and they accompanied this false statement by the most
+slanderous lies concerning Jesus.
+
+All these precautions, however, availed but little, for, after the
+Resurrection, many persons who had been long dead arose from their
+graves, and appeared to those among their descendants who were not
+sufficiently hardened to be impervious to grace, and exhorted them to
+be converted. These dead persons were likewise seen by many of the
+disciples, who, overcome with terror, and shaken in faith, had fled
+into the country. They both exhorted and encouraged them to return, and
+restored their drooping courage. The resurrection of these dead persons
+did not in the slightest degree resemble the Resurrection of Jesus. He
+arose with a glorified body, which was no longer susceptible of either
+corruption or death, and ascended into heaven with this glorified body
+in the sight of all his disciples; but the dead bodies of which we
+spoke above were motionless corpses, and the souls which once inhabited
+them were only allowed to enter and reanimate them for a time, and
+after performing the mission given them, the souls again quitted these
+bodies, which returned to their original state in the bowels of the
+earth, where they will remain until the resurrection at the day of
+judgment. Neither could their return to life be compared to the raising
+of Lazarus from the dead; for he really returned to a new life, and
+died a second time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LXVI.
+
+The End of the Lenten Meditations.
+
+
+
+On the following Sunday, if I remember right, I saw the Jews washing
+and purifying the Temple.20 They offered up expiatory sacrifices,
+cleared away the rubbish, and endeavoured to conceal the effects of the
+earthquake by placing planks and carpets over the chasms and fissures
+made by it in the walls and on the pavement; and they recommenced the
+Paschal solemnities, which had been interrupted in the midst, declared
+that the disturbance had been caused by the presence of impure persons,
+and endeavoured to explain away the apparition of the dead. They
+referred to a vision of Ezechiel, but how I can no longer remember.
+They threatened all who dared to say a syllable concerning the events
+which had taken place, or who presumed to murmur, with excommunication
+and other severe punishments. They succeeded in silencing some few
+hardened persons who, conscious of their own guilt, wished to banish
+the subject from their minds, but they made no impression on those
+whose hearts still retained some remains of virtue; they remained
+silent for a time, concealing their inward belief, but later, regaining
+courage, proclaimed their faith in Jesus loudly to the world. The High
+Priests were much disconcerted, when they perceived how rapidly the
+doctrines of Christ spread over the country. When Stephen was deacon,
+the whole of Ophel and the eastern side of Sion was too small to
+contain the numerous Christian communities, and a portion were obliged
+to take up their residence in the country between Jerusalem and
+Bethania.
+
+I saw Annas in such a state of frenzy as to act like one possessed;
+he was at last obliged to be confined, and never again to make his
+appearance in public. Caiphas was outwardly less demonstrative, but he
+was inwardly devoured with such rage and extreme jealousy that his
+reason was affected.
+
+I saw Pilate on Easter Thursday; he was instituting a search for his
+wife in every part of the city, but his efforts for her recovery were
+fruitless; she was concealed in the house of Lazarus, in Jerusalem. No
+one thought of looking there, as the house contained no other female;
+but Stephen carried food to her there, and let her know all that was
+going on in the city. Stephen was first-cousin to St. Paul. They were
+the sons of two brothers. On the day after the Sabbath, Simon of Cyrene
+went to the Apostles and begged to be instructed and to receive baptism.
+
+The visions of Sister Emmerich, which had continued from the 18th of
+February to the 6th of April 1823, here came to a conclusion.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+Detached Account of Longinus.
+
+
+
+On the 15th of March 1821, Sister Emmerich gave the following
+detached account of parts of a vision which she had had the previous
+night concerning St. Longinus, whose festival happened to fall upon
+that very day, although she did not know it.
+
+Longinus, who had, I think, another name, held on office, partly
+civil and partly military, in the household of Pilate, who entrusted
+him with the duty of superintending all that passed, and making a
+report of it to him. He was trustworthy and ready to do a service, but
+previous to his conversion was greatly wanting in firmness and strength
+of character. He was excessively impetuous in all that he did, and
+anxious to be thought a person of great importance, and as he squinted
+and had weak eyes, he was often jeered at and made the laughing-stock
+of his companions. I have seen him frequently during the course of this
+night, and in connection with him I have at the same time seen all the
+Passion, I do not know in what manner; I only remember that it was in
+connection with him.
+
+Longinus was only in a subordinate position, and had to give an
+account to Pilate of all that he saw. On the night that Jesus was led
+before the tribunal of Caiphas he was in the outer court among the
+soldiers, and unceasingly going backwards and forwards. When Peter was
+alarmed at the words of the maid-servant standing near the fire, it was
+he who said once: 'Art thou not also one of this man's disciples?'
+
+When Jesus was being led to Calvary, Longinus, by Pilate's orders,
+followed him closely, and our Divine Lord gave him a look which touched
+his heart. Afterwards I saw him on Golgotha with the soldiers. He was
+on horseback, and carried a lance; I saw him at Pilate's house, after the
+death of our Lord, saying that the legs of Jesus ought not to be
+broken. He returned at once to Calvary. His lance was made of several
+pieces which fitted one into the other, so that by drawing them out,
+the lance could be made three times its original length. He had just
+done this when he came to the sudden determination of piercing the side
+of our Saviour. He was converted upon Mount Calvary, and a short time
+afterwards expressed to Pilate his conviction that Jesus was the Son of
+God. Nicodemus prevailed upon Pilate to let him have Longinus's lance,
+and I have seen many things concerning the subsequent history of this
+lance. Longinus, after his conversion, left the army, and joined the
+disciples. He and two other soldiers, who were converted at the foot of
+the cross, were among the first baptised after Pentecost.
+
+I saw Longinus and these two men, clothed in long white garments,
+return to their native land. They lived there in the country, in a
+barren and marshy locality. Here it was that the forty martyrs died.
+Longinus was not a priest, but a deacon, and travelled here and there
+in that capacity, preaching the name of Christ, and giving, as an
+eye-witness, a history of his Passion and Resurrection. He converted a
+large number of persons, and cured many of the sick, by allowing them
+to touch a piece of the sacred lance which he carried with him. The
+Jews were much enraged at him and his two companions because they made
+known in all parts the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus, and the
+cruelty and deceits of his enemies. At their instigation, some Roman
+soldiers were dispatched to Longinus's country to take and judge him on
+the plea of his having left the army without leave, and being a
+disturber of public peace. He was engaged in cultivating his field when
+they arrived, and he took them to his house, and offered them
+hospitality. They did not know him, and when they had acquainted him
+with the object of their journey, he quietly called his two companions
+who were living in a sort of hermitage at no great distance off, and
+told the soldiers that they and himself were the men for whom they were
+seeking. The same thing happened to the holy gardener, Phocas. The
+soldiers were really distressed, for they had conceived a great
+friendship for him. I saw him led with his two companions to a small
+neighbouring town, where they were questioned. They were not put in
+prison, but permitted to go whither they pleased, as prisoners on their
+word, and only made to wear a distinctive park on the shoulder. Later,
+they were all three beheaded on a hill, situated between the little
+town and Longinus's house, and there buried. The soldiers put the head of
+Longinus at the end of a spear, and carried it to Jerusalem, as a proof
+that they had fulfilled their commission. I think I remember that this
+took place a very few years after the death of our Lord.
+
+Afterwards I had a vision of things happening at a later period. A
+blind countrywoman of St. Longinus went with her son on a pilgrimage to
+Jerusalem, in hopes of recovering her sight in the holy city where the
+eyes of Longinus had been cured. She was guided by her child, but he
+died, and she was left alone and disconsolate. Then St. Longinus
+appeared to her, and told her that she would recover her sight when she
+had drawn his head out of a sink into which the Jews had thrown it.
+This sink was a deep well, with the sides bricked, and all the filth
+and refuse of the town flowed into it through several drains. I saw
+some persons lead the poor woman to the spot; she descended into the
+well up to her neck, and drew out the sacred head, whereupon she
+recovered her sight. She returned to her native land, and her
+companions preserved the head. I remember no more upon this subject.
+
+
+
+Detached Account of Abenadar.
+
+
+
+On the 1st of April 1823, Sister Emmerich said that that day was the
+feast of St. Ctesiphon, the centurion who had assisted at the
+Crucifixion, and that she had seen during the night various particulars
+concerning his life. But she had also suffered greatly, which, combined
+with exterior distractions, had caused her to forget the greatest part
+of what she had seen. She related what follows:
+
+Abenadar, afterwards called Ctesiphon, was born in a country
+situated between Babylon and Egypt in Arabia Felix, to the right of the
+spot where Job dwelt during the latter half of his life. A certain
+number of square houses, with flat roofs, were built there on a slight
+ascent. There were many small trees growing on this spot, and incense
+and balm were gathered there. I have been in Abenadar's house, which was
+large and spacious, as might be expected of a rich man's house, but it
+was also very low. All these houses were built in this manner, perhaps
+on account of the wind, because they were much exposed. Abenadar had
+joined the garrison of the fortress Antonia, at Jerusalem, as a
+volunteer. He had entered the Roman service for the purpose of enjoying
+more facilities in his study of the fine arts, for he was a learned
+man. His character was firm, his figure short and thick-set, and his
+complexion dark.
+
+Abenadar was early convinced, by the doctrine which he heard Jesus
+preach, and by a miracle which he saw him work; that salvation was to
+be found among the Jews, and he had submitted to the law of Moses.
+Although not yet a disciple of our Lord, he bore him no illwill, and
+held his person in secret veneration. He was naturally grave and
+composed, and when he came to Golgotha to relieve guard, he kept order
+on all sides, and forced everybody to behave at least with common
+decency, down to the moment when truth triumphed over him, and he
+rendered public testimony to the Divinity of Jesus. Being a rich man,
+and a volunteer, he had no difficulty in resigning his post at once. He
+assisted at the descent from the Cross and the burial of our Lord,
+which put him into familiar connection with the friends of Jesus, and
+after the day of Pentecost he was one of the first to receive baptism
+in the Pool of Bethsaida, where he took the name of Ctesiphon. He had a
+brother living in Arabia, to whom he related the miracles he had
+beheld, and who was thus called to the path of salvation, came to
+Jerusalem, was baptised by the name of Cecilius, and was charged,
+together with Ctesiphon, to assist the deacons in the newly-formed
+Christian community.
+
+Ctesiphon accompanied the Apostle St. James the Greater into Spain,
+and also returned with him. After a time, he was again sent into Spain
+by the Apostles, and carried there the body of St. James, who had been
+martyred at Jerusalem. He was made a bishop, and resided chiefly in a
+sort of island or peninsula at no great distance from France, which he
+also visited, and where he made some disciples. The name of the place
+where he lived was rather like Vergui, and it was afterwards laid waste
+by an inundation. I do not remember that Ctesiphon was ever martyred.
+He wrote several books containing details concerning the Passion of
+Christ; but there have been some books falsely attributed to him, and
+others, which were really from his pen, ascribed to different writers.
+Rome has since rejected these books, the greatest part of which were
+apocryphal, but which nevertheless did contain some few things really
+from his pen. One of the guards of our Lord's sepulchre, who would not
+let himself be bribed by the Jews, was his fellow countryman and
+friend. His name was something like Sulei or Suleii. After being
+detained some time in prison, he retired into a cavern of Mount Sinai,
+where he lived seven years. God bestowed many special graces upon this
+man, and he wrote some very learned books in the style of Denis the
+Areopagite. Another writer made use of his works, and in this manner
+some extracts from them have come down to us. Everything concerning
+these facts was made known to me, as well as the name of the book, but
+I have forgotten it. This countryman of Ctesiphon, afterwards followed
+him into Spain. Among the companions of Ctesiphon in that country were
+this brother Cecilius, and some other men, whose name were Intalecius,
+Hesicius, and Euphrasius. Another Arab, called Sulima, was converted in
+the very early days of the Church, and a fellow countryman of
+Ctesiphon, with a name like Sulensis, became a Christian later, in the
+time of the deacons.
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+   1 Anne Catherine's visions clearly fall in the category of private
+revelation. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are infallible;
+private revelation is fallible. However, her visions are neither mere
+human meditations nor pious fiction. Her account of events in the lives
+of Jesus and Mary were revealed to her by God. Although God cannot err
+in anything He does, errors can be introduced into private revelation
+by a misunderstanding on the part of the person who receives the
+revelation, or by an error made by the person who writes down or
+transmits the revelation. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are
+immune from these types of error; private revelation is not. Anne
+Catherine's visions come from God, but they are fallible because they
+come to us through fallible human persons.
+
+
+   2 Her name in German, her native language, is Anna Katharina
+Emmerick. With the decree of April 24, 2001, the servant of God Anna
+Katharina Emmerick has been awarded the degree of heroic virtue
+(Decretum super virtutibus), with which she has been awarded by Church
+practice the title "Venerable."
+
+3  In more modern times, holy persons who also had the stigmata
+include: Audrey Marie Santo (Worcester, Massachusetts), Venerable Padre
+Pio of Pietrelcina, Venerable Anna Maria Taigi, Theresa Neumann, and many
+others.
+
+   4 In her book, The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations,
+Anne Catherine Emmerich details the events of the 31/2-year Ministry of
+Jesus Christ. Although she explicitly states that Christ's Ministry
+lasted 31/2 years (Vol. 1, p. 496), the astute reader of that work will
+notice a gap of about one year.
+
+
+   5 She here again explained the manner in which the families
+assembled together, and in what numbers. But the writer has forgotten
+her words.
+
+
+   6 She was not certain that the Blessed Sacrament was administered
+in that order, for on another occasion she had seen John the last to
+receive.
+
+7 It was not without surprise that the editor, some years after these
+things had been related by Sister Emmerich, read, in the Latin edition
+of the Roman Catechism (Mayence, Muller), in reference to the Sacrament
+of Confirmation, that, according to the tradition of the holy pope
+Fabian, Jesus taught his Apostles in what manner they were to prepare
+the Holy Chrism, after the institution of the Blessed Sacrament. The
+Pope says expressly, in the 54th paragraph of his Second Epistle to the
+Bishops of the East: 'Our predecessors received from the Apostles and
+delivered to us that our Saviour Jesus Christ, after having made the
+Last Supper with his Apostles and washed their feet, taught them how to
+prepare the Holy Chrism.'
+
+   8 On the 11th of December 1812, in her visions of the public life
+of Jesus, she saw our Lord permit the devils whom he had expelled from
+the men of Gergesa to enter into a herd of swine, she also saw, on this
+particular occasion that the possessed men first overturned a large vat
+filled with some fermented liquid.
+
+
+   9 Dulmen is a small town in Westphalia, where Sister Emmerich
+lived at this time.
+
+
+   10 Mary of Heli is often spoken of in this relation. According to
+Sister Emmerich, she was the daughter of St. Joachim and St. Anne, and
+was born nearly twenty years before the Blessed Virgin. She was not the
+child of promise, and is called Mary of Heli, by which she is
+distinguished from the other of the same name, because she was the
+daughter of Joachim, or Heliachim. Her husband bore the name of
+Cleophas, and her daughter that of Mary of Cleophas. This daughter was,
+however, older than her aunt, the Blessed Virgin, and had been married
+first to Alpheus, by whom she had three sons, afterwards the Apostles
+Simon, James the Less and Thaddeus. She had one son by her second
+husband, Sabat, and another called Simon, by her third husband, Jonas.
+Simon was afterwards Bishop of Jerusalem.
+
+
+   11 These meditations on the sufferings of Jesus filled Sister
+Emmerich with such feelings of compassion that she begged of God to
+allow her to suffer as he had done. She instantly became feverish and
+parched with thirst, and, by morning, was speechless from the
+contraction of her tongue and of her lips. She was in this state when
+her friend came to her in the morning, and she looked like a victim
+which had just been sacrificed. Those around succeeded, with some
+difficulty, in moistening her mouth with a little water, but it was
+long before she could give any further details concerning her
+meditations on the Passion.
+
+
+   12 The Zacharias here referred to was the father of John the
+Baptist, who was tortured and afterwards put to death by Herod, because
+he would not betray John into the hands of the tyrant. He was buried by
+his friends within the precincts of the Temple.
+
+
+   13 Sister Emmerich added: 'Cassius was baptised by the name of
+Longinus; and was ordained deacon, and preached the faith. He always
+kept some of the blood of Christ,--it dried up, but was found in his
+coffin in Italy. He was buried in a town at no great distance from the
+locality where St. Clare passed her life. There is a lake with an
+island upon it near this town, and the body of Longinus must have been
+taken there.' Sister Emmerich appears to designate Mantua by this
+description, and there is a tradition preserved in that town to the
+effect. I do not know which St. Clare lived in the neighbourhood.
+
+14 We must here remark that, in the four years during which Sister
+Emmerich had her visions, she described everything that had happened to
+the holy places from the earliest times down to our own. More than once
+she beheld them profaned and laid waste, but always venerated, either
+publicly or privately. She saw many stones and pieces of rock, which
+had been silent witnesses of the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord,
+placed by St. Helena in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre upon occasion
+of the foundation of that sacred building. When Sister Emmerich visited
+it in spirit she was accustomed to venerate the spots where the Cross
+had stood and the Holy Sepulchre been situated. It must be observed,
+however, that she used sometimes to see a greater distance between the
+actual position of the Tomb and the spot where the Cross stood than
+there is between the chapels which bear their names in the church at
+Jerusalem.
+
+   15 On Good Friday, March 30th, 1820, as Sister Emmerich was
+contemplating the descent from the Cross she suddenly fainted, in the
+presence of the writer of these lines, and appeared to be really dead.
+But after a time she recovered her senses and gave the following
+explanation, although still in a state of great suffering: 'As I was
+contemplating the body of Jesus lying on the knees of the Blessed
+Virgin I said to myself: "How great is her strength! She has not fainted
+even once!" My guide reproached me for this thought--in which there was
+more astonishment than compassion--and said to me, "Suffer then what she
+has suffered!" And at the same moment a sensation of the sharpest anguish
+transfixed me like a sword, so that I believed I must have died from it.'
+She had had an illness which reduced her almost to the brink of the
+grave.
+
+
+   16 Sister Emmerich said that the shape of these pincers reminded
+her of the scissors with which Samson's hair was cut off. In her visions
+of the third year of the public life of Jesus she had seen our Lord
+keep the Sabbathday at Misael--a town belonging to the Levites, of the
+tribe of Aser--and as a portion of the Book of Judges was read in the
+synagogue, Sister Emmerich beheld upon that occasion the life of Samson.
+
+   17 Sister Emmerich was accustomed, when speaking of persons of
+historical importance, to explain how they divided their hair. 'Eve,' she
+said, 'divided her hair in two parts, but Mary into three.' And she
+appeared to attach importance to these words. No opportunity presented
+itself for her to give any explanation upon the subject, which probably
+would have shown what was done with the hair in sacrifices, funerals,
+consecrations, or vows, etc. She once said of Samson: 'His fair hair,
+which was long and thick, was gathered up on his head in seven tresses,
+like a helmet, and the ends of these tresses were fastened upon his
+forehead and temples. His hair was not in itself the source of his
+strength, but only as the witness to the vow which he had made to let
+it grow in God's honour. The powers which depended upon these seven
+tresses were the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. He must have already
+broken his vows and lost many graces, when he allowed this sign of
+being a Nazarene to be cut off. I did not see Dalila cut off all his
+hair, and I think one lock remained on his forehead. He retained the
+grace to do penance and of that repentance by which he recovered
+strength sufficient to destroy his enemies. The life of Samson is
+figurative and prophetic.'
+
+   18 This refers to a custom of the Diocese of Munster. During Lent
+there was hung up in the churches a curtain, embroidered in open work,
+representing the Five Wounds, the instruments of the Passion, etc.
+
+
+   19 Apparently Sister Emmerich here spoke of the ancient cases in
+which her poor countrymen keep their clothes. The lower part of these
+cases is smaller than the upper, and this gives them some likeness to a
+tomb. She had one of these cases, which she called her chest. She often
+described the stone by this comparison, but her descriptions have not,
+nevertheless, given us a very clear idea of its shape.
+
+
+   20 The above relation was given later, and it is impossible to
+say whether it relates to the day of the Resurrection or to the
+following Sunday.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10866 ***