SEVENTH DAY
THE PIERCING OF THE
SIDE OF JESUS, AND HIS DESCENT FROM THE CROSS
Mary's Sixth Sorrow: The
Taking Down of Jesus' Body from the Cross
Meditation
Who
can describe the sorrow and anguish of Mary's heart when the body of Jesus was
taken from the cross, when her tearful eyes fell upon His disfigured features!
The pure and holy and beauteous form of her Son was a mass of clotted blood and
unsightly wounds; and yet, disfigured as it was, there shone in His countenance
a clear, calm expression of divine majesty. Now Mary views the wounds of that
sacred body; she looks at the gap made in His side by the cruel spear, and can
almost see the Sacred Heart of Jesus, all bruised and broken for love of man.
Before her vision passes in detail His life and her own. Memory presents to her
mind every day and hour of their quiet, happy life at Nazareth. Is it to be
wondered, then, that at this bitter moment her sorrow was so great that, as St.
Anselm observes, she should have died had she not been sustained by a miracle
of divine omnipotence?
Reflection
Oh, all ye that pass by the way attend, and
see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow. Devout souls, listen to what the
sorrowful Mary says to you today: My beloved children, I do not wish you to
console me; no, for my heart can never again be consoled on this earth after
the death of my dear Jesus. If you wish to please me, this I ask of you, turn
to me and see if there has ever been in the world a grief like mine, when I saw
him who was all my love torn from me so cruelly. But, oh Lady, since thou dost
not wish to be consoled, and hast such a thirst for suffering, I must say to
thee that thy sorrows have not ended with the death of thy Son. Today thou wilt
be pierced by another sword of sorrow, when thou shalt see a cruel lance piercing
the side of this thy Son, already dead, and shalt receive him in thy arms after
he is taken from the cross. And now we
are to consider today the sixth dolor which afflicted this sorrowful mother.
Attend and weep.
Let us consider what anguish it would cause
any mother to receive the lifeless body of a son! it was revealed to St.
Bridget, that to take down the body of Jesus, three ladders were placed against
the cross. Those holy disciples first drew out the nails from the hands and
feet, and according to Metaphrastes, gave them in charge to Mary. Then one
supported the upper part of the body of Jesus, the other the lower, and thus
took it down from the cross. Bernardino de Bustis describes the afflicted
mother as raising herself, and extending her arms to meet her dear Son; she
embraces him, and then sits down at the foot of the cross. She sees his mouth
open, his eye shut, she examines the lacerated flesh, and those exposed bones;
she takes off the crown, and sees the cruel injury made by those thorns, in
that sacred head; she looks upon those pierced hands and feet, and says: Ah, my
Son, to what has the love thou didst bear to men reduced thee! But what evil
have thou done to them, that they have treated thee so cruelly? Thou wast my
Father, Bernardino de Bustis imagines her to say, my brother, my spouse, my
delight, my glory, my all. Oh, my Son, behold how I am afflicted, look upon me
and console me; but thou dost look upon me no more. Speak, speak to me but one
word, and console me; but thou dost speak no more, for thou art dead. Then
turning to those barbarous instruments, she said: Oh cruel thorns, oh nails, oh
merciless spear, how could you thus torture your Creator? But what thorns, what
nails? Alas! sinners, she exclaimed, it is you who have thus cruelly treated my
Son.
Novena Prayer
Ever
glorious Blessed Virgin Mary, queen of martyrs, mother of mercy, hope, and
comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through the sorrows that pierced thy
tender heart I beseech thee take pity on my poverty and necessities, have
compassion on my anxieties and miseries. I ask it through the mercy of thy
divine Son; I ask it through His immaculate life, bitter passion, and
ignominious death on the cross. As I am persuaded that He honors thee as His
beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, let me experience the efficacy of
thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal
affection, now and at the hour of my death. Amen.
Hail Mary
Hail
Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and
blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us
sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Prayer
Grant,
we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that the most blessed Virgin Mary, Thy
Mother, may intercede for us before the throne of Thy mercy, now and at the
hour of our death, through whose most holy soul, in the hour of Thine own
passion, the sword of sorrow passed. Through Thee, Jesus Christ, Saviour of the
world, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, for ever and
ever. Amen.
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