enemies. All rights are violated in Thee only, Who hast observed all the law, and fulfilled all righteousness. These judges follow no other law than the malice and hatred of the Pharisees; they choose a cruel scourging to deliver Thee from death, and to condescend thereby to the will of those who falsely accuse Thee. For ever praised be Thy holy Name, O my Saviour! let heaven and earth, angels and saints, and all Thy creatures bless Thee eternally for Thy exceeding love.

But this does not occur by chance, O my GOD! Thou didst ordain it Thyself, Thou didst desire to shed Thy Blood, and to be covered with shame. Is it possible, O Divine Love, that Thou hast so little power over me? I love Thee, Saviour, and my greatest desire is to love Thee above all. Grant that I may

and not resist the

love Thee with my whole heart, sweet influences of Thy Grace. O JESU, the Life of my soul, and the Sovereign Remedy for all my wounds, why wert Thou so regardless of Thyself, and yet art so merciful to me? Was it not I, who should have been scourged, since I have sinned, and have subjected all my members and senses to the world, the flesh and the devil? Thou knowest how deep and shameful are my wounds, nevertheless Thou seekest me. Thou re

ceivest and bearest with me, Thou nourishest me with Thy blessing, O Eternal Love, which never languishest ; change my life, my body and soul, and transform me into Thy Divine Image.

See also Williams' beautiful Meditation on this subject, page 224.

Prayer.

All praise, honour, and glory be to Thee, O JEsus, the Eternal Son of GOD, Who didst suffer Thy Sacred Body to be stripped and bound to a pillar, and Thy pure Flesh to be torn with the cruel stripes of the scourge, that we might be healed by Thy stripes. O most blessed JESU, grant me grace to confess my sins; strip my heart, I beseech Thee, of every unbecoming desire, that I may put off the old man with his affections and lusts, and put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. Give me grace patiently to bear the scourges of Thy Fatherly correction, that being made a partaker of Thy sufferings, I may, after this life, be made meet to rejoice with Thee, and to praise and glorify Thee for ever and Amen.

ever.

XIII. OUR BLESSED LORD CROWNED WITH THORNS, CLOTHED IN A PURPLE ROBE, AND MOCKED.

Gospel Harmony.

S. Matt. xxvii. 27-30; S. Mark xv. 15—19; S. John xix. 1-3.

Then the soldiers of the Governor took JESUS into the common hall, and gathered unto Him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped Him. And the soldiers platted

a crown of thorns, and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, and said,

Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote Him with their hands. And they spit upon Him, and bowing their knees,

worshipped Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head.

Reflections.

From the crown of thorns we should learn to bear our sins in mind, since CHRIST carries the thorns of our sins upon His Head. In the crown of thorns, He is seen undertaking our sins, the thorns of which He removes by those He wears. He receives these thorns as a crown of victory. Our sins are the arms with which the devil is armed against us, and which the LORD bears away in His Passion; for He is the Lamb of GOD, which taketh away the sins of the world.

O who can conceive the dreadful suffering which the Eternal Son of GOD bare for us, when they mercilessly pressed the crown of thorns upon His sacred Head? Let us mourn in the depths of our hearts, since we were the cause of these cruel sufferings; let us weep tears of deep and holy contrition, for those execrable sins, which so crowned our gracious and loving Redeemer; let us amend our lives, and submit to the commands of our benignant King, resisting pride and luxury; for it is a reproach to the Members of His Mystical Body to live in ease and luxury, when their Head was thus crowned with thorns for them.

Meditations.

O King of Ages, Who hast crowned man with glory and honour, and hast given him dominion over the

works of Thy Hands; how wilt Thou be crowned, by the hands of cruel men, with the shameful crown of thorns? O the ingratitude, the inconceivable hardness of men towards their LORD! O the charity, the infinite mercy of the Saviour towards men! For the crown of glory which the LORD offers to men, man offers to the Saviour a crown of ignominy and shame. GOD crowns man with mercy and loving-kindness, and man crowns the SON of GOD only with cruel thorns. Ought not the contemplation of this to make tears flow from my eyes and head, since the King of Glory was thus crowned to gain for me an eternal crown?

I adore Thee, O Divine JESUS, as my true King! I acknowledge Thee as my Sovereign LORD, by all the Wounds which Thou hast received to heal mine. I adore Thee, for the reproaches with which Thou wast covered, in order to clothe me with glory.

Thou wouldst be crowned with thorns; and Thy Face, all marred as it was, Thy Head pierced with thorns was more glorious and striking to hearts touched with Thy love, than if it had been crowned with precious stones. Riches and the crowns of earth can only give earthly advantages, but Thy Griefs, and Thy thorns fill the soul with celestial delights, overwhelm it with spiritual riches, and bind it to Thee with the ties of a love, above all other love. Men seek in the earth for metals and precious stones wherewith to make the crowns of kings, but Thou, O King of Glory, hast chosen only thorns for Thyself, because Thou wouldst enrich us, and render precious, by the touch of Thy sacred Head, those same thorns which had served for the punishment of the first man. (Gen.

iii. 18.) The thorns, which are a mark of barrenness, become fruitful upon Thy Head, O my Saviour! and produce in us inestimable fruits of grace and glory. Thou hast taken upon Thee my miseries, to soften them for me, and Thou crownest Thyself with them to render me glorious. Ought I then to complain when I am afflicted? For ever blessed be Thou, O Divine Love! Who hast so disposed things for our good, that a true Christian can never be poor when he has great afflictions; and that he who is greatly afflicted, and endures it for love of Thee, is always overwhelmed with riches.

Although I am so poor and miserable, it suffices not to make me love the Cross, the injuries, the reproaches, and all that renders me like to Thee, O GOD of my salvation! I am afraid of sufferings when they come, I am cast down when they continue, I rejoice when they are at an end, and esteem myself happy when I am altogether free from them. Destroy for ever, O my GOD, this weakness of my flesh, by the power of Thy love.

I confess my misery before Thee, O my Saviour. I resolve every day to imitate Thee; I desire to see in myself that which I adore in Thee; I say that I give myself, without reserve, into Thy hands, nevertheless, as soon as an occasion arises to be faithful, I fail in courage, I go back, and leave Thy Example to follow my own desires. O JESUS, my only Hope, Who knowest the unruliness and vanity of my heart, grant that I may renounce my self-will, and love Thee.

Destroy in me all that is contrary to Thy will, in spite of the resistance of my Flesh. Drag me, if I