Meditations for the Novena for Christmas
MEDITATION IV.
December 19.
The Passion of Jesus lasted during His Whole Life.
Dolor meus in conspectu meo semper.
"My sorrow is continually before ." (Ps. xxvii. 18)
Consider that in the first moment that the soul of Jesus Christ was created and united to His little body in the womb of Mary, the Eternal Father intimated to His Son His will that He should die for the redemption of the world; and in this same moment He presented to His view the entire dreadful scene of the sufferings He would have to endure, even unto death, in order to redeem mankind. He brought before Him in that moment all the labors, contempt, and poverty that He would have to suffer during His whole life, as well as in Bethlehem as in Egypt and in Nazareth; and, then all the sufferings and ignominy of His Passion, the scourges, the thorns, the nails, and the Cross; all the weariness, the sadness, the agonies, and the abandonment in which He was to end His life upon Calvary.
When Abraham was leading his son to death, he would not afflict him by giving him notice of it beforehand, even during the short time that was necessary for them to arrive at the mount. But the Eternal Father chose that His Incarnate Son, whom He had destined to be the victim of His justice in atonement for our sins, should suffer then all the pains to which He was to be subject during His life and at His death. Wherefore, from the first moment that He was in His Mother's womb, Jesus suffered continually that sorrow which He endured in the garden, and which was sufficient to have taken away His life (as He said, "My soul is sorrowful unto death" [Matt. xxvi. 38] ). So that from that time forth He felt most vividly, and endured the united weight of all the sorrows and contumely that awaited Him.
The whole life, then, of our blessed Redeemer, and all the years that He spent, were a life and years of pains and tears: My life is wasted with grief, and My years in sighs. (Ps. xxx. II). His divine Heart never passed one moment free from suffering. Whether He watched or slept, whether He labored or rested, whether He prayed or spoke, He had continually before His eyes that bitter representation which tormented His holy soul more than all their sufferings tormented the holy martyrs. The martyrs have suffered; but, assisted by grace, they suffered with joy and fervor. Jesus Christ suffered; but He suffered with a Heart full of weariness and sorrow; and He accepted all for the love of us.
[St. Alphonsus de Liguori]
MEDITATION IV.
December 19.
The Passion of Jesus lasted during His Whole Life.
Dolor meus in conspectu meo semper.
"My sorrow is continually before ." (Ps. xxvii. 18)
Consider that in the first moment that the soul of Jesus Christ was created and united to His little body in the womb of Mary, the Eternal Father intimated to His Son His will that He should die for the redemption of the world; and in this same moment He presented to His view the entire dreadful scene of the sufferings He would have to endure, even unto death, in order to redeem mankind. He brought before Him in that moment all the labors, contempt, and poverty that He would have to suffer during His whole life, as well as in Bethlehem as in Egypt and in Nazareth; and, then all the sufferings and ignominy of His Passion, the scourges, the thorns, the nails, and the Cross; all the weariness, the sadness, the agonies, and the abandonment in which He was to end His life upon Calvary.
When Abraham was leading his son to death, he would not afflict him by giving him notice of it beforehand, even during the short time that was necessary for them to arrive at the mount. But the Eternal Father chose that His Incarnate Son, whom He had destined to be the victim of His justice in atonement for our sins, should suffer then all the pains to which He was to be subject during His life and at His death. Wherefore, from the first moment that He was in His Mother's womb, Jesus suffered continually that sorrow which He endured in the garden, and which was sufficient to have taken away His life (as He said, "My soul is sorrowful unto death" [Matt. xxvi. 38] ). So that from that time forth He felt most vividly, and endured the united weight of all the sorrows and contumely that awaited Him.
The whole life, then, of our blessed Redeemer, and all the years that He spent, were a life and years of pains and tears: My life is wasted with grief, and My years in sighs. (Ps. xxx. II). His divine Heart never passed one moment free from suffering. Whether He watched or slept, whether He labored or rested, whether He prayed or spoke, He had continually before His eyes that bitter representation which tormented His holy soul more than all their sufferings tormented the holy martyrs. The martyrs have suffered; but, assisted by grace, they suffered with joy and fervor. Jesus Christ suffered; but He suffered with a Heart full of weariness and sorrow; and He accepted all for the love of us.
[St. Alphonsus de Liguori]
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