Divine reflection on the holy sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ

Every truly believing son of the Church must remember the death of Christ, which He endured in the flesh for our sake innocently: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). May you, God-loving soul, be grateful to the One who suffered and died for you! Remember everything, starting with the flightless birth of the Son of God. Meditate only by faith alone, how He was unexplored, ineffable and incomprehensible before the ages was born from the Father and how the Word of God, born before the ages from the Father, the priceless treasure of the heart of the Father, from the womb before the morning was born of the Father - how this Word of God, the most beloved Son of God the Father, by the favor of the Father and the assistance of the Most Holy Spirit, deigned, for the sake of our salvation, to assume human nature and in him arrange our salvation. Remember how He was born from the Immaculate Virgin Mary in time and received humanity from Her most pure blood, how He created the verbal soul of this humanity, so that He appeared as a perfect Man, and how in that humanity He came to perfect age. When the long-awaited time of our redemption came, then Christ, our Savior and our God, at the Last Supper, taught His disciples and apostles, and through them, a wondrous and terrible Mystery to us all, for, having taken bread into His most holy and Divine hands and blessed it, He broke it and gave it to His disciples to His apostles, saying: “Come, eat: this is My Body” (Matt. 26, 26). Giving thanks for this good deed, everyone should say the Lord’s Prayer “Our Father” with the following ending: “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory with Thy Beginning Father and with Thy Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen" (bow). At the same Last Supper, Christ, the Son of God, having taken the Cup into His most divine and most holy hands, having given praise, gave it to His disciples, saying: “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28). Give thanks for this good deed, for Christ, our Savior, has vouchsafed us such terrible Mysteries not because of any merit of ours, but because of His extreme and ineffable mercy and love for the human race. He favored our decayed nature, renewed what had fallen for the better, recreated it, reconciled us with Himself and made us of the same blood and one body. Thank you for this, say the prayer “Our Father” (bow). Having finished the Last Supper, Christ, the Son of God, out of His deepest humility and ineffable love, stood up, laid down His vestments, took a towel, and girded Himself. Then, pouring water into the basin, he began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel with which he was girded (see John 13:4–5). Marveling at His deep humility and strange action, let everyone try to read the prayer “Our Father” (bow) with heartfelt tenderness. Then Christ, the Son of God, went with His disciples, according to custom, to the Mount of Olives and, bending His knees there, prayed to God the Father, saying: “Father! Oh, if only You would deign to carry this cup past Me! However, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:39–44). With great feat, He prayed diligently and three times about this, and His sweat looked like drops of blood falling to the ground. Remembering His diligent prayer, let us also try with special diligence to pray to Him and say: “Our Father” (bow). With the same thought of God, we should remember here how the traitor Judas came and made a sign that he gave to the soldiers sent with him: “Whomever I kiss, he is the same” (Luke 22:47). Our Savior and Redeemer, seeing His main enemy and traitor coming up to kiss Him hypocritically, said: “Judas! Do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48). Then the soldiers, having tied Him up, dragged Him away as a villain, and brought Him first to Annas, for He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, and here He was interrogated about the teaching and the disciples. Jesus answered: “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where Jews always gather, and I did not say anything secretly. Why are you asking Me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; behold, they know that I have spoken. As He said this, one of the servants standing close struck Jesus on the cheek, saying, “Is this the answer you give to the high priest?” (John 18, 13, 18–22). Our Christ fell from such a strong and inhuman blow, unable to resist. Fell! Oh miracle! Our Creator has fallen! Our Hope fell from such a strong blow, suffering such fierce pain for us out of His endless love for us. Much Blood flowed from His holy lips, nose and ears from such an inhuman and cruel blow, and that blow was heard throughout the bishop’s house. But to the one who struck Him, He meekly spoke these words: “If I said something bad, show me what is bad; What if it’s good that you beat Me?” (John 18:23). By this he said, as it were, the following: why do you, man, so fiercely offend Me, your Creator, damage My health, take away My life, put death before my eyes, place Me in a grave? After such a strong blow it would have been impossible to live any longer if humanity had not been strengthened by the Divine. Reflecting on all this, you, a God-loving and Christ-loving soul, must, with bitter tears and with tenderness of heart, offer up the prayer “Our Father” (bow) to Him. Holy thought! Follow Jesus again, and you will see how He was tied to a pillar, how He was beaten and bloodied, how He was all wounded, naked and mocked, how Blood flowed from His most holy wounded Body like a river. Jesus was silent. He endured all this with great shame and illness for your sake, O man! The Prophet Isaiah, seeing Him from afar, so suffering, says: “And we saw Him, and there was no form or beauty in Him” (Is. 53:2), and one of the teachers, interpreting these words, said: “Behold a Man!” (cf. John 19:5). Likewise, Pilate said: “Look, obstinate Jewish people, at their King, who does not even have the appearance of a human, all tormented, bloody, all in wounds; Look: from head to toe there is no wholeness in Him, come to your senses and stop your fury. Shouldn’t we let Him go to you, already quite exhausted?” But they shouted: “If you let Him go, you are no friend of Caesar. Take, take, crucify Him!” (John 19, 12, 15). Thinking about this, bow down, O God-loving man, to the ground, saying this prayer to the Son of God who so fiercely suffers for you: “Our Father” (bow). Holy thought! Now look a little further from the pillar. With your mental eyes, look at your Creator Christ, Savior and God, how He, naked, suffering the above-mentioned fierce torments, shakes both from terrible suffering and from the cold (for it was winter then), putting His clothes on Himself. Thoughts: what great shame and dishonor was the innocently suffering Savior, the Son of God, filled with, how he was naked and wounded before everyone!? O heaven! O earth! O senseless creature! Look and listen to how sensual and rational creatures cause such a great and unbearable offense to their Creator! Do not hesitate any longer, take up your weapon! Heaven, kill them with lightning and thunder! Sea, flood them with a terrible flood! Sun, moon and stars and other fiery nature, perform your action, burn into ashes those who are ungrateful and filled with malice towards their Benefactor! And you, earth, open your bowels, bring down to the underworld the bodies and souls of not only those who kill, but also those who are ungrateful for this suffering. And you, fiery nature, burn endlessly with hellish fire, do not give joy for one hour, but always multiply and spread fierce torment! And all this would have happened if God, who suffers in the flesh, had not restrained this with His omnipotent power, enduring cruel suffering out of love for the human race, for He desires salvation for everyone, and not destruction. So, if anyone is a lover of Christ, let him, reflecting on this, say to Him the prayer “Our Father” (bow). Holy thought and God-loving soul! I pray you, do not retreat to worldly vanity, which does not bring you any benefit, but, thinking about all those sufferings, stop and delve into them at least a little. Look with your mental eyes at the face of your Christ, and you will see that it was not enough for angry people to see Him all wounded, but, in addition, they also touched His face, already covered in spit, and, covering it, beat. Some church teachers, reflecting on why they covered His holy face, reason like this: “Since the face of Christ, our Savior and God, was filled with indescribable beauty, according to the words of the Psalmist: “You are more beautiful than the sons of men” (Ps. 44:3), and was filled with tenderness, therefore they did not just beat him, but covered him, until the face itself was made ugly, for from cruel blows it was all turned blue and bloody." Come and stand here, all sensual creatures, and look at your King: can you recognize who this is? He is all cruelly wounded, covered in blood, does not even have “look and beauty” (Is. 53:2), and yet He endures all this because of your intemperance, for your sins have so greatly wounded the King of glory. Therefore, from now on, stop annoying Him, reconcile yourself through Holy Repentance and do not offend your beloved Redeemer any more, for He suffered everything for your sins, according to what was written about Him in the prophecy: “He took upon Himself our sins and bore our illnesses; and we thought that He was smitten, punished and humiliated by God. But He was wounded for our sins” (Is. 53:4-5). Reflecting on this, say the prayer “Our Father” (bow). And do not yet deviate from the thought of God, Christ-loving soul! Listen to Christ the Savior speaking through the prophet: “All who pass along the path! Take a look and see if there is such a disease as has befallen Me?” (Lamentations 1:12). Such torment was not yet enough for the evil Jews. Although His entire Body was, as it were, one wound, yet His holy head was also crowned with a crown, made not of a precious stone, but with thorns, crowned by the evil stepmother, the Jewish host, and with thorny thorny needles they so wounded and pricked His most holy head that the thorns went right to the very brain, causing indescribable suffering to the gentle Lamb Christ, the Savior and Our Redeemer. Thinking about all this with your mind, God-loving soul, be horrified and, falling to the ground with trepidation, say the prayer “Our Father” (bow) with tears. Holy thought! Let us still follow Christ along His path, for, having taken Jesus, the evil tormentors led Him, He went, carrying the Cross on which He was to be crucified. That cross was very heavy, for, as some church teachers say, it was fifty feet long, that is, fifty steps. And such a burden was carried on His shoulders by the Son of God, already extremely exhausted. Think about what His suffering must have been like when the wounds inflicted on Him were tormented again, erased by such a weight of the tree of the cross. But to this they added blows and shocks, and finally they tormented Him so much that He fell along the way, no longer able to carry the Cross. Then they forced Simon of Cyrene to carry His Cross to Golgotha, to which they were heading. You, faithful soul, following your Teacher, join His weeping and weeping Mother, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, who is following Jesus with the other wives. You also cry and sob. Dissolve your hardened and petrified heart, so that the Son of God, who is going into free passion, can comfort you, so that he can say to you, as well as to those who followed Him: “Daughters of Jerusalem! Do not weep for Me, but weep for yourself and for your children” (Luke 23:28). O our most beloved consolation, Christ our Savior! Make us worthy to see You joyfully when You come with Your glory to judge the living and the dead. Then accept us, who remember Your holy sufferings, into Your kingdom and grant us the joy of joyfully enjoying the sight of You forever. So speaking or thinking, say the prayer “Our Father” (bow). Also, holy thought of God, remember also how He, our Savior, with extreme cruelty was nailed to the Cross with His most pure hands and feet with iron, sharp and long nails, what suffering he endured then and how much Blood was drained. I think that then He poured it out for us to the last drop. So they lifted Him to the Cross... Then it was possible to count all His bones, just as the prophet David says on His behalf: “They have counted all My bones” (Ps. 21:18). Some church teachers see three grave illnesses of Christ. The first is when they stretched Him on the Cross so fiercely that all His members parted and they could be counted. The second is that, during such terrible suffering, He saw many ungrateful for such His good deed and unbelievers. Because of this, He was severely tormented in His heart and prayed to God, His Father, as the apostle said: “He, in the days of His flesh, with a strong cry and with tears, offered prayers and supplications to Him who was able to save Him from death; and was heard for His reverence” (Heb. 5:7). The third illness was that our Savior was extremely contrite in His heart when He saw His Mother standing at the Cross, struck in the heart, as if by a weapon, with terrible grief and sadness, according to what Simeon told Her: “And a weapon will pierce your own soul” (Luke 2:35). Our Savior, seeing Her as if dead from sorrow, crying, suffering and crying out to Him with tears: “Oh, My Son, how do You endure a cruel and shameful death?! I can’t stand seeing You suffering so much!” Hearing this and seeing Her, fiercely suffering with a Mother’s heart and consumed by sadness, He was extremely sick in His heart. Some teachers argue about this in such a way that if we were to collect together the sufferings of all the martyrs who suffered for Christ, no matter how many there were, to combine them and compare them with the suffering of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, then it would turn out that She suffered more than anyone else and, if not in body, then in soul, was terribly tormented and sick for Her innocently suffering Son and God. Reading about this or thinking about it, say to the Mother of God: “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice” (bow).