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There is not, among all these people, any who have compassion for Thee, my Saviour! What creature, not deprived of reason, could see a man in the state Thou wert, without being seized with indignation, horror, and pity? It appears as if human hearts were hardened only towards Thee. They fear not to smite Thy adorable Face, and to treat Thee as devoid of reason, and as a mock King; to give Thee a reed for Thy sceptre, and scarlet cloak for a royal mantle; to bend the knee and adore Thee in mockery, to insult Thee by outrageous actions and words, and then, snatching the reed from Thine Hand, to strike Thy adorable Head crowned with thorns. They excite each other to insult Thee, O my God! and Thou keepest silence as if Thou wert a worm of the earth, and neither resistest nor complainest. And Thou burnest with desire to suffer still more for me, O Saviour of my soul! O Life of my life, when shall I cease to outrage Thee ?

Prayer.

I adore Thee, I bless and worship Thee, O King of heaven and earth, Who for me didst not refuse to be struck with the reed, to be smitten on the cheek, defiled with spitting, and treated with all kinds of mockery and insult. I beseech Thee, by Thy Wounds, by Thy precious Blood, by Thy reproaches, and by all Thy sorrows, that Thou wouldst graciously possess, and wholly rule me, and all that I have, and turn it to Thy eternal praise. Give me grace to deny myself, and cheerfully to receive from Thy Hands joy and

sadness, prosperity and adversity, with a tranquil mind, that being dead to the world, I may live to Thee and Thy glory. Amen.

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JESUS came forth wearing the thorny crown and the purple robe; a lamentable spectacle, filled with contempt, and bearing it humbly, to deliver thee from everlasting confusion, and heal the plague of pride, and teach thee to bear all reproaches for His Name's sake, and in all to be humbled.

Pilate said true, "I find in Him no fault at all." He did no sin, neither was guile found in His Mouth. O Righteous JESUS! what hadst Thou to do with death? We have sinned, and Thou makest atonement for it: we owed, and Thou payest.

1 See also Williams, p. 238.

Meditations.

O Son of Man! True GOD and Man, was it not sufficient humiliation for Thee to take upon Thee our human nature? Was it necessary to abase Thyself to become as a worm, and the very scorn and reproach of the people? It was my pride which caused this abasement. O may O may I esteem myself happy to be like Thee, and take pleasure in being lightly regarded. O more than man! the Glory of mankind! I adore and bless Thee as Man and GOD Eternal, O receive me among Thy servants.

O my God, and my King, Thou didst put Thyself in this condition. They expose Thee thus to Thy friends and enemies, with Thy hands bound, clothed in a garment of ignominy, crowned with thorns, tortured with the scourge; Thy face disfigured, and a reed in Thy Hand. And Pilate, yielding to those who mocked Thee, said "BEHOLD THE MAN;" behold the power of Him thou callest a King.

What, then, was Thy confusion, O my Saviour, at being made in this condition, a spectacle to those who a few days before admired Thy works, and Thy doctrine. Impress this ignominious spectacle on my heart; soften its hardness, by Thy Presence, and grant that I may feel the bitterness of Thy Suffering and shame.

Stay, O my soul, and remember that Pilate comprehends not the meaning of the words he utters. The Eternal FATHER speaks, as it were, by his mouth, and says, "BEHOLD THE MAN, Who is not less your

Friend than He is My SON. As thy Friend He is like unto thee, and as My SON, He is a partaker of My Divinity, and hence He loves thee with an Infinite love. He is My Well-Beloved SON; and I give Him to thee. What askest thou more? What more can I do for thee? Receive Him, listen to Him, love Him and imitate Him. In Him I give thee all the blessings I possess. I give thee a remedy for all thy evils, a Help in all thy necessities, a Succour in all thy pains, a Consolation in all thy griefs, the Payment for all thy debts, the Mediator for all thy petitions; and because thou canst find in Him all that I have, and all that is necessary for you. See, O miserable man! how much I love thee, since for thy salvation I spared not even My own SoN. But see, also, what thou owest Me. All that I demand of thee is, that thou serve, love, and imitate Him."

What shall I render to Thee, O Eternal FATHER, for this infinite love? I know that for all these blessings Thou askest only myself. What am I then, LORD, to merit Thy regards, and to oblige Thee to overwhelm me with Thy benefits, after such great ingratitude as I have shown!

O my Saviour, although Thou art silent, I hear, as it were, the voice of Thy Precious Blood, saying, BEHOLD THE MAN! Yes, Saviour! it seems to me as if Thou sayest to my soul, "O soul bought with My Blood, complain not with the paralytic of having no man to put thee into the cleansing pool; for behold Me, I am the Man thou seekest, My Blood will cleanse thee from thy sins; thou hast neither merited nor asked it, nevertheless I have prepared it for thee.

Whither fliest thou when thou goest from Me? What seekest thou when thou seekest not Me? What lovest thou when thou lovest not Me? Where canst thou find friends like Me? What father or brother would do for thee what I have done? Remember that I have regarded thy happiness and salvation more than My honour or My life. Come to Me, I will soothe thee, I will love thee, and overwhelm thee with all the delights of My love, and all the riches of My Glory."

Is it possible, O my Saviour, and my GOD! that I have not always loved Thee, that I have offended Thee, that I am far from Thee, O true Friend of my soul? Behold this unhappy man, who has despised Thee, and repulsed Thee; who has neither hoped in Thee, nor loved Thee; who has run after vanity, and loved that which Thou hatest.

But all my miseries cannot take from me the hope and confidence I have in Thy mercies.

Prayer.

I adore Thee, I worship and bow down before Thee, O SON of the living GOD, Redeemer of the world! Who, for our sakes, didst submit to the vile spittings, and stripes of Thy furious enemies; and wast led forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, to be a laughing-stock to the infuriated mob. Give me grace to trample under foot all ambition, all love of the display of the pomps and vanities of this world, and lightly to esteem all the honours of this

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