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gotten as one that dead fore his shearer is dumb, I from the heart.' Learn thou opened not my mouth; and from my example not to make flesh thy arm, and not to trust in princes, nor in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.2

I was reckoned also with the wicked and with robbers; and yet I humbled myself, and became obedient even to the death of the Cross; and wilt thou refuse to be humbled, or to obey in the easiest matter, when I, in a matter so difficult, was so obedient?

I hung naked upon the Cross, and what Blood was left in me, I poured it all out profusely for thy salvation; and wilt thou set thy heart upon riches? or will it pain thee to dole out to me, in a poor man, so much as a draught of water or a trifling coin?

Look at my virgin Flesh, all cruelly torn with so many stripes and wounds, and thou wilt blush to pamper thy own with luxuries and pleasures.

I, when I was scourged, crowned with thorns, pierced with nails, fastened to the Cross, overwhelmed with insults, and condemned to a most shameful death, nevertheless forgot all my pains amid all my distresses, nor once opened my mouth to utter a word of complaint or excuse, or threatening, or malediction, against my tormentors; but was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb be1 Ps. xxx. 13. 2 Ps. cxlv. 3.

how frequently are you driven, with little or no occasion, to be so violently agitated by anger and impatience!

See, too, what it was they gave me to drink in my thirst, and understand how unworthy it is for thee to pamper thy flesh with luxuries, feast sumptuously, drink the best of wines, and be enslaved to thy appetite and to pleasure.

And now against this hatred and envy stands my measureless charity, with which I prayed even for my enemies, and refused not to die for the very authors of my death.

MAN. Oh, how bountiful art thou to forgive! Oh, how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord!! Oh, how far are thy thoughts above our thoughts! Oh, how is thy mercy confirmed, even upon the wicked! Wonderful event! they cry, Crucify; thou criest, Forgive. Oh, never was heard such a word of benediction as this!

CHRIST. Nor was I so overcome by weariness or faintness as to cease from accomplishing all things in my love and zeal for thy salvation; remember, then, too, to fight the good fight; finish thy course, and persevere to the end, if thou wouldst be saved, and obtain the crown of justice that is laid up for thee. 1 Ps. xxx. 20.

Look, then, my son, at the pattern which has been shewn thee on the mount, and act accordingly. Behold here the mystical Serpent lifted up on high, for so wilt thou be easily cured from the bites of the old serpent, and be healed of all thy infirmities.

MAN. I acknowledge that the highest and most profitable knowledge is to know Jesus, and him crucified. Far be it from me, therefore, to boast, except in the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. For, as the word of the Cross, to them that perish, is a stumbling-block and foolishness, so, to them that are saved, it is the power and the wisdom of God. Oh, that by thee, O Jesus, the world may be crucified to me, and I to the world! Oh, that I may be ignorant of all things rather than of thee, in whom are all the treasures of the knowledge and wisdom of God! Blessed is the man whom thou instructest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law. Teach me, not only to know, but also to do thy will.

CHRIST. Then wilt thou be indeed my disciple and my friend, if thou dost what I command thee, not by my words only, but also, and much more, by my examples. But few, alas, are they who love and imitate me truly! Nor is this wonderful, for very many find it irksome to inquire into and meditate on what I did or

what I taught, and how, then, can it please them to imitate me? I am forgotten by them; there is not one of them that thinks of me in his heart; but how can one love what he knows nothing of? Love cannot possibly be drawn towards what is unknown.

Therefore assure thyself that there is nothing more productive of the love of me, nothing more profitable to man's salvation, than is constant meditation on my Life and Passion. The heart must be hard as iron which so great a love has no power to soften. Who will dare to sin, if he seriously reflects what horrors I suffered, that I might deliver men from the yoke of sin and death? But all this thou losest, and tramplest my Blood under foot, as soon as thou knowingly consentest to sin. What, shall thy soul be of no value to thee, for which I laboured in this world thirty-three years? Wilt thou sell that for nought, which I bought for so great a price as my own Blood, and which I held dearer to me than my own life?

Look, my son, what thou dost; on either side of thee thou hast the greatest rewards and the greatest punishments: these have I prepared, amid much toil and sorrow, for them that love me; those await the degenerate and the despisers.

If thou wilt be happy, fol

low me.

Of what art thou afraid? My ways are beautiful ways; and when thou hast entered there, thy steps shall not be straitened: I have made the crooked straight, and the rough ways plain. My yoke is easy, and my burden light. I, who am thy guide, will also be thy helper, and at the last thy exceeding great reward.

§ 12. Conclusion and thanks giving for the Life and Passion of Christ.

From St. Bernard. Let every tongue, O Father, give thee thanks for the superabundance of thy love, because thou sparedst not the only Son of thy heart, but deliveredst him to death for us all, that we might have him as a faithful Advocate in thy presence in heaven.

For behold, he stands for us before thee, crowned with glory and honour at the right hand of thy Majesty, for he is our flesh and our brother. Look, O Lord, upon the face of thy Christ, who became obedient to thee even to the death of the Cross; nor let the scars of his wounds depart from thy eyes for ever, that thou mayest remember how great is the satisfaction which thou hast received from him.

And what thanks shall a

1 Prov. iii. 17.
2 Ib. iv. 12.

3 Luke iii. 5.

man like me, a poor creature of dust, render thee, O Lord Jesus, most Mighty and Jealous?! For what shouldst thou have done for my salvation that thou hast not done? From the sole of thy foot to the crown of thy head, thou hast sunk thy whole self in the waters of suffering, that thou mightst draw me entirely out of them; and they have entered even into thy soul, for thou hast given even thy own soul to death, that thou mightst restore to me mine which I had lost.

Behold, then, thou hast laid me under a twofold obligation. For I am thy debtor, both for thy own life, which thou hast given for me, and also for my own which thou hast given to me, once in creation, and once in redemption. I have nothing but it that can give thee more justly in return.

But for thy precious soul, that was so afflicted, I know not what sufficient requital can be made by a man. For though I should give thee for it the heaven and the earth, with all the furniture of them, assuredly I could not even so reach the measure of my debt. But it is of thy bounty, O Lord, that I give thee myself, which I both owe and can give.

I must love thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, my whole soul, and my whole

1 Exod. xx. 5.

strength; and follow thy steps, because thou hast vouchsafed to die for me. And how can I do this, except by thy aid? Let my soul adhere to thee, for it depends upon thee for all its strength. And now, O Lord my Redeemer, I adore thee as the true God; I trust in thee, I hope in thee, and, with what longings I am able, I sigh for thee; oh, help my imperfection! I bow myself wholly down before the glorious Symbols of thy Passion, with which thou hast wrought my salvation. In thy Name, Ŏ Christ, I adore the royal standard of thy victorious Cross. On my knees, I adore and glorify, O Christ, thy Diadem of Thorns, the Nails that were red with thy Blood, the Lance that was plunged in thy sacred Side, thy Wounds, thy Blood, thy Sepulchre, thy glorious and triumphant Resurrection and Glorification.

For by all of them is exhaled to me the odour of life. By their life-giving odour raise my spirit, O Lord, again from the death of sin. Preserve me by their power from the artifices of Satan, and

strengthen me, that the yoke of thy commandments may become sweet to me, and the burden of the Cross, which thou biddest me bear after thee, may be light to the shoulders of my soul.

For what is my strength, that, according to thy precept, I should endure with unsubdued spirit all the manifold afflictions of the world? Are my feet like hart's feet, that I should be able to follow thee in thy swift course through the thorns and rugged paths of thy sufferings?

But hear my voice, and lower upon thy servant that sweet Cross, which to them that lay hold of it is the Tree of Life. I hope that I shall run cheerfully, and carry after thee unweariedly that cross which proceeds from my enemies.

Place, I say, upon my shoulders that most divine Cross, whose breadth is Charity, whose length is Eternity, whose height is Omnipotence, and whose depth is unsearchable Wisdom. Fasten to it my hands and my feet, and make thy servant all-conformable to thy Passion, O Lord!

CHAPTER II.

THE LORD'S PRAYER,

VARIOUSLY ADAPTED TO CHRIST AND HIS PASSION.

First Method of reciting

THE LORD'S PRAYER,

By commemorating each of the principal Titles of Christ.

Our Father, who art. O most dear Father, Jesus Christ! who, by thy Blood hast regenerated us, by the defect of our first birth, children of wrath and perdition, to be children of God, and heirs of eternal life: whence thy prophet justly calls thee the Father of the world to come. We truly, indeed, confess, worship, and adore thee as the Father and author of the new creature,2 or our regeneration, the Father of a new love unheard of hitherto. And behold, how good a Father thou art, and how ready to assist thy children, thou amply shewest in this very thing, that thou suppliest us with a form of prayer, with the very words by which we may easily and effectually obtain whatever we ask of thee, or of the Father in thy Name.

O Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look upon the face of Christ, thy Son, as often

1 Isa. ix. 6.
2 2 Cor. v. 17.

as we make our supplication to thee, as by his instruction we are taught.

And thou, too, Jesus our

Father, hear us as often as in thy own words we humbly address thee, saying:

Hallowed be thy name.

O Jesus, the great Priest, who in thy days didst please God, and wast found just, and in the time of wrath wast made a reconciliation;' who, not by the blood of others, but by thy own, hast entered once into the Holies! For it was fitting that we should have such a High Priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, who needed not, as the other priests, to offer sacrifices, first, for his own sins, and then for the people's.

Behold, thou art holy, and holy is thy Name; for such art thou declared to be by the Angels, at and even before thy birth; and thy eternal

1 Ecclus. xliv. 17.
2 Heb. vii. 26.

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