CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST MORNING WATCH.

From 6 to 9 A.M.

SCENE 1.

FROM THE PRESBYTERY TO THE PRÆTORIUM.

STATION I.

And straightway in the morning, the Chief Priests holding a consultation with the Ancients, and the Scribes, and the whole Council, binding Jesus, led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate (St. Mark xv.).

And the whole multitude of them rising up led Him to Pilate (St. Luke xxiii.).

And they brought Him bound, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate, the Governor (St. Matt. xxvii.).

Then they led Jesus from Caiphas to the Governor's hall. And it was morning (St. John xviii.).

A. The whole multitude of them.

Eager as they are to see Jesus crucified, yet some of them doubtless cannot help pausing to ask each other: "What shall we say to the Roman? We have not one single witness with us! What will he think of us?"

Annas, their despotic master, and others of more hardened conscience, answer at once: Away with these doubts! Look at our numbers. All the ruling men are here. No one is absent. We shall let Pilate see that we are resolved. He will not dare to withstand us! When there are such multitudes gathered in Jerusalem, he will think twice before he provokes a sedition by resisting us. It would be an outrage against the nation. Be quite sure

that we shall have Jesus crucified before the rabble in Ophel know what is going on. Take care that the Cross be ready. We shall have our Pasch in peace."

They judge rightly. They prevail nothing against Christ Jesus. Neither shall they prevail against His servants when He shall have strengthened them. But their numbers will overcome and overwhelm the weak, timeserving worldling.

Therefore the whole multitude of them set out on the

march.

Number not thyself among the multitude of the disorderly. Remember wrath; for it will not tarry long. Humble thy spirit very much (Ecclus. vii.).

B. Binding Jesus, they led Him away. They brought Him bound.

We hear once more the warning word given by Judas, earnestly repeated: Lead Him carefully. "Now that the day is come, the people will be astir; there is more danger of a rescue." Every cord, then, and every rope is tightened. The strong chains are put into the hands of strong men. They humbled His feet in fetters, the iron pierced His Soul (Psalm civ.). When, heretofore, our Blessed Saviour by the lake set free the man possessed, who when the fit came on him was bound in chains and kept in fetters (St. Luke viii.), well He knew that to set the sinner free, He must Himself put on the sinner's chains and fetters.

"Compassionate Mother of God, watching His chains. and fetters, and by compassion wearing them and feeling them, pray for us poor sinners, that every morning of our lives we may become more strictly bound by His Commandments and His sacred wishes."

C. The whole multitude of them.

All was to be done secretly and quickly, before the people should be awake from their sleep; and yet from one end of the city to the other they will march as a noisy rabble, as if designedly to wake up the people.

There is no wisdom, no counsel, no prudence, against the Lord (Prov. xxi.).

They led Jesus from Caiphas to the Governor's hall.

The Palace of the Priests, as has been said, stands in the south-west corner of the city, on Mount Sion. The Fortress or Castle of Antonia, where the Prætorium is, stands just above the Temple area in the north-eastern corner of the city.

The tumultuous procession may therefore go down through the gate from Mount Sion into the lower city, and crossing the narrow valley or ravine, the Tyropoon, turn northward and go up by the street that skirts the Temple enclosure, or else, as some students of ancient topography assume, they may cross the bridge over the Tyropoon, which joins Mount Sion with the Temple, and then go northward through the Temple grounds. This route is shorter; we may assume then that the Rulers, in their eagerness to see the end quickly, choose this shorter road.

D. From Caiphas to the Governor's hall. This route also suits their views in another way. They are the men who like to pray in the corners of the streets. As they pass the Temple, it is the hour of the morning sacrifice: This is what thou shalt sacrifice upon the altar: Two lambs of a year old, every day continually. One lamb in the morning, and another in the evening (Exodus xxix.).

Some writers, learned in the Books of the Rabbis, tell us that the Pharisaical Priests loved to be present at this sacrifice, there to say aloud, with show and notoriety, what were called the Phylactery prayers, perhaps because the broad Phylacteries were pompously displayed on the occasion.

Therefore as the solemn days of the Pasch are begun, it suits the capricious consciences of these men, for whom our Saviour has no better name than Ye hypocrites, to show themselves this morning in the Temple, that all may know that they are godly men rendering a great service to God by handing over Jesus of Nazareth to Pilate for crucifixion. E. They brought Him bound.

Meanwhile, as we are told, the Blessed Mother has been watching in the Cenacle, watching every hour, and

listening. When the day dawns her tears are on her cheeks; for in the night weeping she hath wept (Lament. i.). John has come to her. It has been assumed in the past contemplations, that he entered with Peter into the Palace of the Priests, and stayed in the judgment-hall till Jesus was condemned. When he saw the doors of the dungeon closed upon his Master, he left the building and went quickly to the Cenacle close by, to find the Ever-Blessed Mother, and at her feet he pours out his grief for having fled away from her Divine Son. Heartbroken as she is, she can comfort him; and now bids him stay near to her till all is over. He is now to accompany her and the three devout women who are with her; for it is her wish to go forth and see her Son Jesus. "Deus, Deus meus, ad te de luce vigilo"-My God, my Son, to Thee do I watch at break of day. My soul panteth after Thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God: when shall I come and appear before the face of God? (Psalm xli.). John's contrite heart is melted within him by her goodness in giving him this charge. With the greatest care and solicitude he conducts her through the crowd of loiterers that is gathering, and through the servants running to and fro, that she may be as near as possible to her Son Jesus.

Then is fulfilled the prophecy of Holy Simeon, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. Some see her and recognise her, and are moved to great compassion. Others, on the contrary, reproach her: "She had not known how to train her Son: otherwise He would not be in such a plight to-day ". The mouth of the wicked is opened against me. Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me: but I gave myself to prayer (Psalm cviii.).

Besides the careful protection of John, she has the blessed angels guarding their Queen; for her Son has given them a charge over her to take care, that while she fixes her eyes on Him, she strikes not her foot against a stone. With all our hearts let us join in spirit with the blessed angels, and humbly greet her.

"Ave! Hail, full of grace: thy Son Jesus, thy Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, because thou art the Mother of this Blessed Son, and allowed to drink of His chalice with Him."

F. They brought Jesus bound.

With her eyes she watches, and with her ears she listens, and with her heart she loves and suffers.

She sees Him now dragged violently backwards by one rope, then as violently forward by another. Nothing escapes her watchfulness; every detail goes into her heart and is there laid up. Each time that His bleeding feet stumble she sees and notes it. She hears the heavy fall; marks how His unprotected face strikes against the hard stones; and how severely He is chastised with sticks and ropes for troubling the march and delaying their haste by falling. And her compassionate heart shares all His torture as they drag Him again from the ground by His dishevelled hair: The places in which before He was accustomed to rejoice, He filled with His torn hair.

Virgo Virginum præclara,
Mihi jam non sis amara,
Fac me tecum plangere.

Virgin mid all virgins bright,
Do not bid me from thy sight,
Make me mourn and weep with thee.

G. And we must remember also what we have learned from the revelations recorded by holy contemplatives, that His blessed angels have not only a charge to protect the Mother of God, but also to obey the behests of their Queen.

For she follows the march, not only as a Mother sharing every sorrow, but also as the Valiant Woman watching with her fearless eye every movement, every attempt of Lucifer, to rebuke him if need be; and the secret prayer of her heart is: Give me constancy, my God, in my mind that I may despise him; and fortitude that I may overthrow him. For this will be a glorious monument to Thy name when he shall fall by the hand of a woman (Judith ix.). We may also bear in mind what we are told, that to strengthen her for the work