to angels to pronounce, in My Name and in My Person, the almighty word of consecration, and I am at once subject to it; thou, man of one mind, who hast walked with Me in the house of God, hast stood at the altar carrying Me in thy hands, as My Holy Mother carried Me in Bethlehem; thou who hast been at My table with Me, to eat the sweet meats with Me; thou who hast been permitted to have as thy food My wounded Body, on which the angels desire to look, thou My Priest, My Vicar, My Proxy, My second Self, if thou turn against Me how can I hide Myself from thee?

"Whither shall I go? If I ascend into Heaven, thy word can find Me there, and bring Me down upon the altar. If I descend into Hell to hide Myself, there thy power is present. If thou call, I must come. If I take My wings early in the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even so thy word shall reach Me, and bring Me back to the altar and the tabernacle. The Priest of the Most High God has spoken the word, This is My Body, this is My Blood, and the sacred mystery is accomplished. spoke and they were made, He commanded and they were created (Psalm xxxii.).

He

"Oh, let the heathen soldiers strike Me, and mock Me, and spit upon Me, but let not My enemies exult over Me and say, Thy own Priests and Thy own people have betrayed Thee, and abandoned Thee, and outraged Thee, What hast Thou done?"

"Ever-Blessed Mother, pray for us sinners; with all the power of thy omnipotent intercession plead for us, and say, O my Son, may Thy Priests be clothed with justice.”

"To be spit upon by Jews and heathens is indeed a great ignominy; but after I have boasted in the presence of the wicked spirits that if lifted from the earth, I will draw all to Myself, when I am left solitary in My Eucharistic prison, and neglected and loathed by My own, it is then that My Heart looks imploringly for some consolation and reparation from those who love Me."

L. They platted a crown of thorns, and put it on His Head, and stripping Him, they put a scarlet cloak about Him.

Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see your King in the diadem wherewith His Mother crowned Him in the

day of her espousals, etc. For this coronation is truly the work of the Synagogue-that is, of the ancient Jewish Church, which is His Mother. For He and Holy Mary have through life been most devout children of the Old Church. He is come on earth not to destroy it, but to perfect it. Most truly can He say from His Heart, and His Blessed Mother's Heart re-echoes every word: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let My right hand be forgotten. Let My tongue cleave to My jaws if I do not remember thee, if I make not Jerusalem the beginning of My joy (Psalm cxxxvi.). He is come not to set aside or destroy the old Priesthood, not to reject the Priests of the Old Church, but if they permit Him, to perfect their Priesthood. In Him all ancient types have their fulfilment, and the old shadows are changed into reality.

Of Aaron and the ancient Priesthood it is written: In the priestly robe which he wore was the whole world, and Thy majesty, O God, was written in the diadem on his head. And to them the destroyer gave place (Wisdom xviii.). Till to-day those words had only a very slight and partial fulfilment. It is on this scarlet mantle which Jesus wears to-day that the whole world, and the sins of the whole world, are inscribed. It is on His crown of thorns that Thy majesty, O God, and all Thy love, and all Thy wisdom, and all Thy infinite goodness, are engraven and represented. It is before His diadem and His sceptre that the destroyer gives place.

"We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, because by Thy holy Crown and by Thy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world."

SCENE III.

ARCH OF THE ECCE HOMO.

The prophecy has now been fulfilled abundantly: He shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon (St. Luke xviii.). The Gentiles have surpassed the Jews in cruel and skilful mockery. Indeed, we may suppose that one reason why the Jewish Rulers handed Jesus over to the Gentiles was that they knew that Gentiles could be severe and cruel in a way which Jewish law did not permit.

Our Saviour has now suffered as Son of God, as Prophet, as King, and at the Pillar as a Man accused of crime but declared innocent; that is to say, as a man who has to pay a debt not his own. Then did I pay what I took not away (Psalm lxviii.).

The soldiers are content; and by this time the Priests and Ancients outside are growing very impatient and restless. Moreover, Jesus Himself has given a command that all be done quickly. Therefore Pilate sends orders that the prisoner be brought to him.

STATION I.

Jesus therefore came forth bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment (St. John xix. 5).

Commentators take for granted that He also carried His mock sceptre.

We may, then, contemplate our Blessed Saviour led. from the inner court, the barrack-yard, back into the great court in front of the Prætorium-the Lithostrotos; and thence up the sacred steps, the Scala Santa, to the hall or chamber where Pilate awaits Him.

"Help us, Blessed Mother, to see what you see, to hear what you hear, and to share your compassion."

The chains and ropes and fetters are all readjusted; for the Priests and Ancients are as importunate as ever: Lead Him carefully; and the soldiers have to earn their bribes.

"Attendite et videte." Watch our Blessed Lord as He is forced by the pitiless guards to mount the long flight of steps, sanctified ever since by His painful journeys up and down.

Hear Him panting for breath. Mark how His limbs, exhausted by loss of blood and extreme agony, fail Him ; how often He stumbles, and needs to be dragged upwards by the guards.

His Sacred Heart, meanwhile, is ever soaring above His own pain and crying out: "Our Father, hallowed be Thy name". He is praying in union with us. Our Father, Father of these fallen Priests. So must we pray with Him. Our Father, Father of Thy Son Jesus and of us.

Eia Mater fons amoris,
Me sentire vim doloris

Fac, ut tecum iugeam.

Mother, fount of charity,

Share with me thy agony;
Give me tears to weep with thee.

STATION II.

PILATE'S CHAMBER.

Jesus therefore came forth bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment (v. 5).

His idea

Pilate, when he sees Him enter, is content. has been carried out, and beyond his expectations. He wished for a spectacle that ought to soften the hardest hearts and satisfy the vengeance of the most envious. He has his ideal: and more than he hoped for. What wonder! For in reality our Lord Himself is, we may say, the author and planner of all that has been done: He was offered because He willed it. He has been scourged because He willed it, and as He willed it; and crowned because He willed it, and as He willed it. And the thought ever upon His Heart is, What is there that I ought to do more to My vineyard, and have not done it? (Isaias v.). So that His loving desire for wounds and bruises and swelling sores has gone beyond the cruel wishes of His enemies.

The restless and terrified soul of the Governor is satisfied. He can breathe more freely. His policy will win the day. Jesus may now certainly go free; and he and Herod can sup together pleasantly and end this trouble

some day with a laugh. His oppressed spirit is much. relieved. His step is lighter, as he walks towards the balcony to present Jesus to the people.

STATION III.

Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them: Behold I bring Him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in Him (v. 4).

There is, we are told, in the large paved court in front of the Prætorium, called the Lithostrotos, a tribunal, a raised seat, or throne, where the Governor often sits in judgment. But it is not from this chair that Pilate now addresses the people. The crowd has gradually grown larger and larger, and is now so great as to represent the whole people. The Lithostrotos is probably not large enough to contain them all. They are gathered in the large Forum, or public square, which lies immediately to the west of Fort Antonia and the Prætorium, and is separated from the Lithostrotos by a large gateway. According to some arcnaologists (though others dissent from this view) the arch still standing in Jerusalem, known as the Arch of the Ecce Homo, formed a part of this gateway. And over the gateway, there was a balcony or loggia from which Pilate addressed the people.

Again, some diligent students of ancient topography, such as Adrichomius, tell us that there was a colonnade connecting the Fortress Antonia with the Governor's house, that on the top of this colonnade there was a terrace, or balcony-that this colonnade was called the Xystus; and that from the terrace, the Governor usually addressed the people. By other writers, however, we find the Xystus placed more to the south. According to them it was a bridge or viaduct thrown across the Tyropœon gorge, and connecting the Asmonean Palace with Mount Sion.

In either of these suppositions, then, whether he speaks from the gateway or the Xystus, Pilate does not now descend by the Scala Santa into the Lithostrotos, but walks along a terrace to the balcony. He is attended by his own body-guard; and the other soldiers follow, leading Jesus bound and chained. Pilate, therefore, arrives before our Lord, and full of confidence that he has now at last hit upon the right expedient, comes forward to speak blandly and cheerily to the crowd. He is very anxious to secure a favourable plébiscite, to back him against the implacable malice of the Priests and Ancients.

A. Behold, I bring Him forth, that you may know that I find no cause in Him.

First, then, we see how here again the Divine decree