HOLY ICON OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER AT JASNA GORAMeditation 64
MARY IN THE PASSION
1. At the Scourging.
After having spent the night in prayer, comforted and strengthened by it but still with Her eyes tearful and Her face sorrow-stricken, Our Blessed Lady emerges at the break of day in search of Her Son. Her heart is not content merely to follow His sufferings only from afar. She must go wherever He goes. We know no details of this episode nor do we know where and when She found him. Was it at the house of Pilate? Was it, perhaps, when going to, or returning from, the palace of Herod? Was it, perhaps, when the people were already preferring Barabbas to Him? Be it as it may, Her meeting with Her Son must have been a terrible shock to Her heart. She could hardly recognize Him. How terribly changed! And all in a few hours! How grievously disfigured! His face swollen from the blows received in the house of Annas. The blows dealt by the soldiers on the previous night had caused that divine beauty to fade away from the most beautiful of the sons of men. And yet all this was but the beginning. The horrible and barbarous torturers started at the scourging. The private revelations of St. Bridget have it that Our Blessed Lady was present at this torment. Pause to consider what this terrible passage of the Gospel has to tell to your heart. First of all, ask yourself what would Our Lady feel when She saw the preparations being made? What were Her thoughts when She heard the wild cries of the torturers inciting one another, challenging one another as to who would deal the heaviest blow! Stand by the side of Our Lady, watch Her grow intensely pale, hear the panting of Her heart which due to the violence of its beating seems to jump from Her breast. See Her close Her eyes not to see the awful sight; then open them again, unable, despite Herself to keep them closed.
She sees Jesus roughly handled by the executioners. They imprudently tear His garments from Him. You cannot understand what happened then in the heart of Mary. If you should realize what modesty meant for Her, only then could you fathom what She must have felt on seeing Her Son exposed to that multitude, the target not only of blows and scourging, but of mocking, jeering and laughter, of vulgar sarcastic jokes.
Jesus is already tied to the pillar. The torturers are on either side and then, at a signal, they with all their might unleash vigorous blows. Jesus shudders, and in order not to break out into cries of pain He clenches hard His teeth. He lifts His eyes to Heaven with an indescribable look of suffering. Mary sees this all.
From private revelations we are told that She fainted and at the first blows fell unconscious. Go close to Her, take Her in your arms, but do not take your eyes from Jesus and be astonished that you also do not faint or die of sorrow at this scene. The two torturers have been relieved. Two more come, then another two. They are wearied after the effort of scourging Jesus and His body is one horrible wound. The flesh has been torn away from the bones. Contemplate that body so broken and think: "And all this for what and for whom?" Remember all the sins of impurity in the world and ask yourself who deserves this punishment. Who should have borne these cruel whips?
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
MARY IN THE PASSION
1. At the Scourging.
After having spent the night in prayer, comforted and strengthened by it but still with Her eyes tearful and Her face sorrow-stricken, Our Blessed Lady emerges at the break of day in search of Her Son. Her heart is not content merely to follow His sufferings only from afar. She must go wherever He goes. We know no details of this episode nor do we know where and when She found him. Was it at the house of Pilate? Was it, perhaps, when going to, or returning from, the palace of Herod? Was it, perhaps, when the people were already preferring Barabbas to Him? Be it as it may, Her meeting with Her Son must have been a terrible shock to Her heart. She could hardly recognize Him. How terribly changed! And all in a few hours! How grievously disfigured! His face swollen from the blows received in the house of Annas. The blows dealt by the soldiers on the previous night had caused that divine beauty to fade away from the most beautiful of the sons of men. And yet all this was but the beginning. The horrible and barbarous torturers started at the scourging. The private revelations of St. Bridget have it that Our Blessed Lady was present at this torment. Pause to consider what this terrible passage of the Gospel has to tell to your heart. First of all, ask yourself what would Our Lady feel when She saw the preparations being made? What were Her thoughts when She heard the wild cries of the torturers inciting one another, challenging one another as to who would deal the heaviest blow! Stand by the side of Our Lady, watch Her grow intensely pale, hear the panting of Her heart which due to the violence of its beating seems to jump from Her breast. See Her close Her eyes not to see the awful sight; then open them again, unable, despite Herself to keep them closed.
She sees Jesus roughly handled by the executioners. They imprudently tear His garments from Him. You cannot understand what happened then in the heart of Mary. If you should realize what modesty meant for Her, only then could you fathom what She must have felt on seeing Her Son exposed to that multitude, the target not only of blows and scourging, but of mocking, jeering and laughter, of vulgar sarcastic jokes.
Jesus is already tied to the pillar. The torturers are on either side and then, at a signal, they with all their might unleash vigorous blows. Jesus shudders, and in order not to break out into cries of pain He clenches hard His teeth. He lifts His eyes to Heaven with an indescribable look of suffering. Mary sees this all.
From private revelations we are told that She fainted and at the first blows fell unconscious. Go close to Her, take Her in your arms, but do not take your eyes from Jesus and be astonished that you also do not faint or die of sorrow at this scene. The two torturers have been relieved. Two more come, then another two. They are wearied after the effort of scourging Jesus and His body is one horrible wound. The flesh has been torn away from the bones. Contemplate that body so broken and think: "And all this for what and for whom?" Remember all the sins of impurity in the world and ask yourself who deserves this punishment. Who should have borne these cruel whips?
[Excerpted from 'MARIAN MEDITATIONS' Book by Rev. Dr. Ildefonso R. Villar, Salesian Philippine Province, Nihil Obstat; Imprimatur]
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.