revealed to St. Bridget something of her feelings for her Son. "He was to me as my own heart. So that when He was born from my womb I felt as if half my heart was born and had gone out of me. When He suffered, it was as if my heart was suffering. For if it were possible that there should exist a being, half in, and half out; if the part outside were hurt, the part inside would feel the hurt as much as the part outside. So when He was scourged and wounded, my heart was scourged and wounded."

She is, then, full of anxiety now, for her inspired heart tells her truly that enough has been done, that there is no reason for fresh outrage.

To add to her trouble, the Centurion, who has been kind to her, is absent. He has been summoned by the Governor.

SCENE V.

THE PRÆTORIUM.

STATION I.

And when evening was now come (because it was the Parasceve, that is, the day before the Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a noble counsellor, a good and a just man, who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews), came and went in boldly to Pilate, and begged the Body of Jesus. He should be already dead. turion, he asked him if He when he had understood it by the Centurion, he gave the Body to Joseph (St. Matt. xxvii.; St. Mark xv.; St. Luke xxiii.; St. John xix.).

But Pilate wondered that And sending for the Cenwere already dead. And

A. Pilate wondered that He should be already dead.

Delight in the Lord, the Psalmist writes, and He will give thee the requests of thy heart. Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in Him, and He will do it (Psalm xxxvi.).

Our Blessed Lady has been pouring forth her heart in prayer that the Sacred Body may not be any more

outraged, and after the cry of her heart, she commits her way entirely to the Lord. And the Lord, true to His word, is taking care that the Blessed Mother, who delights in Him, shall have the request of her heart.

Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

B. He was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews.

We must mark how the Death of our Lord brings grace to so many. Many more are moved by His Death than by His preaching and His miracles during life.

Joseph is no longer paralysed by fear. The Priests and Ancients have only just retired from the presence of the Governor, when Joseph goes boldly in to beg for the Sacred Body.

66

By Thy Cross and Passion," dear Lord, "deliver us from weakness and cowardice."

It is while we look at the brazen serpent that we shall be cured. While we contemplate Jesus dead upon the Cross, virtue will come out to us.

"In the Cross, salvation," we read in the Imitation; "in the Cross, life; in the Cross, protection from our enemies." C. He begged the Body of Jesus.

"Attendite." Oh, stay a little while, to contemplate the sacred poverty of Jesus.

His Body is the property of the Roman Governor.

Man, holy Job asks, when he is dead and stripped and consumed, I pray you, where is he? (c. xiv.). He is on Calvary, He is on the Cross. Jesus is dead, and stripped, and consumed. His executioners possess His clothes, His Body is the possession of the Roman Governor. He is not indeed consumed, or to be consumed in the grave. will not give (His) Holy One to see corruption (Psalm xv.). Under Thee, Lord Jesus, the moth shall not be strewed, nor shall worms be Thy covering.

God

Still He is consumed. For the fire came down and consumed the holocaust. Never was whole burnt-offering more

thoroughly consumed.

Poor Jesus Christ! the poorest of all the blessed poor. So needy, yet enriching many; having nothing, yet possessing all things.

"Mother of God, pray for us sinners, that we may also say, Blessed are the poor, and may love the rich poverty of thy Son."

D. Pilate wondered that He should be already dead.

1. For he has witnessed so many strange and wonderful things to-day, that it often occurs to him that Jesus will not die; the fears of the Jews are well grounded, He may escape.

2. Moreover, they have just been to tell him that as yet His whole life is in Jesus, that He is crying out like a giant in full strength. Can He then have died so suddenly? He forgets the scourging, he forgets the crown of thorns, he forgets how often He was dragged up and down the Scala Santa, and through the streets. He did not witness His extreme feebleness as He carried His Cross along the Way of Sorrows. If Pilate knew all, and considered in (his) heart, his wonder would be that Jesus had lived so long.

But the great wonder of all is, that He loved me and delivered Himself up for me.

E. Sending for the Centurion, he asked him.

Learn a lesson, when we can, from the children of this world, and from their prudence. The Roman Prætor is a soldier accustomed to discipline. He sends for the officer on duty, who will give him correct official information. Go thou and do likewise.

Men would all arrive at the truth if they would seek it from the mouth of Christ's appointed delegate. And we should be spared much sin and much misery if we would imitate the wariness of Pilate, and not believe every hearsay about our neighbour till we have sure evidence.

F. And when he had understood it by the Centurion, he gave the Body to Joseph.

Nothing knows he of the priceless value of the Sacred Body. He gives it away as worthless.

What wonder?

When His own disciple gave Him away, and delivered Him up to death for thirty pieces of silver, how can Pilate know better? Thy own nation and the Chief Priests have delivered Thee up to me. What hast Thou done?

To us our Lord says, You are the light of the world. It is from our practice that unbelievers are to get their light, and come to the faith.

Alas! shall we prove a scandal to them instead?

G. Joseph went in boldly to Pilate, and begged the Body of Jesus.

St. Anselm writes, that our Lady revealed to him, that among the reasons which Joseph urged, one was that the Mother of Jesus, a good and holy woman, will die of grief if the Body of her Son be cast into the pit of the criminals.

If Pilate had compassion on the Blessed Mother, it is no wonder that some early Fathers had hopes of his salvation, and believed in his conversion.

One other ground of hope is, that he was disgraced before he died. He did not sin, and prosper to the end. When God takes away the husks of swine from a sinner, there is more hope that He will draw him back to his Father's home.

H. Joseph went in boldly.

The Death of Christ is bringing courage to Joseph, courage to Nicodemus, grace to the Centurion, contrition to so many who are striking their breasts. Jesus lifted up on His Cross is drawing all things to Himself. Shall I alone remain unmoved? What is the cause of my hardness and blindness? "Wo to those," St. Bonaventure writes, "in whose souls the Death of Christ works no effect. Wo again to those whose hearts cannot be moved to gratitude.” But he adds: " Acknowledge that on account of your crimes you are unworthy of such a grace. Perchance if you humble yourself, He that looked on the humility of His handmaid will give you a new heart."

St. Bernard adds: "Pride is found in me. Hence that lack of devotion from which I suffer."

St. Augustine says: "Dear Christ, good Jesus, give me Thy holy love, to fill my heart, and possess it entirely Have mercy on me, and do not despise my soul for which Thou hast died."

I. Joseph went in boldly.

Metaphrastes, in the Life of Holy Mary, writes: "The Virgin Mary came to Joseph, and said to him, 'Ask for His Body, that it may be taken down and buried '".

What wonder if our Blessed Saviour wished him to have this grace through His Blessed Mother? "All things He wishes us to have through Mary."

Eternal Father gives us His own Son, gives all other graces through her.

J. Joseph went in boldly.

Through her the

and with Him He

Joseph, we read, was a rich man. An early Father writes: "This is a bold and noble venture. He does not stop to think, I am rich, and may forfeit all my riches."

St. Chrysostom adds: "Greatly to be admired is his courage, for through love for Jesus, he faced the danger of death, and exposed himself to the hatred of all the Rulers".

His desire was to do honour to the Sacred Body. Do I owe nothing to it?

"See it," St. Bernard writes, "hanging naked, all torn by the scourges, and remember the copious stream of blood that flowed from His wounds."

SCENE VI.

CALVARY. THE BREAKING OF THE LEGS.

STATION I.

The soldiers therefore came, and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with Him (St. John xix. 32).

A. Obeying the often repeated command, Do it quickly, the soldiers march up rapidly to Golgotha. They bring,