Near the Cross stood Mary, the most
holy Mother of Jesus, with Mary Cleophas and Mary Magdalen. adoring her dead
Jesus and his divinity inseparably united to his sacred body.
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| Jesus expires on the cross waiting to be pierced |
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| Blessed Mary St. John and other Mary by the cross |
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| Adoring Her Son who died on the cross |
But now She was
especially solicitous for the burial of the sacred body of her divine Son and
how to procure someone to take it down from the Cross. Full of this sorrowful
anxiety, keeping her heavenly eyes riveted upon it, She turned to her holy
angels around Her and spoke to them: “Ministers of the Most High, my friends
in tribulation, you know that there is no sorrow like unto my sorrow; tell me
then, how shall I take down from the Cross, whom my soul loves; how and where
shall I give Him honourable burial, since this duty pertains to me as his
Mother? Tell me what to do, and assist me on this occasion by your diligence.”
The holy angels answered: “Our
Queen and Mistress, let thy afflicted heart be dilated for what is still to be
borne, because He(Christ) wishes to justify his cause to the end and to shed
the rest of the blood still in Him for the benefit of mankind and in order that
He may bind them still more firmly to make a return for his copious and redeeming
love” (Ps. 79, 7” This answer
of the angels increased the sorrow of the afflicted Mother; for it had not been
as yet revealed to Her, that her divine Son should be wounded by the lance, and
the fear of what should happen to the sacred body renewed her tribulation and
anxiety.
She soon saw an armed band approaching
Calvary; and in her dread of some new outrage against the deceased Saviour, She
spoke to saint John and the pious women : “Alas,
now shall my affliction reach its utmost and transfix my heart! Is it possible,
that the executioners and the Jews are not yet satisfied with having put to
death my Son and Lord? Shall they now heap more injury upon his dead body?” It
was the evening of the great Sabbath of the Jews, and in order to celebrate it
with unburdened minds, they had asked Pilate for permission to shatter the
limbs of the three men sentenced, so that, their death being hastened, they
might be taken from the crosses and not left on them for the following day.
With this intent the company of soldiers, which Mary now saw, had come to mount
Calvary. As they perceived the two thieves still alive, they broke their limbs
and so hastened their end (John 19, 31). But when they examined Jesus they
found Him already dead, and therefore did not break his bones, thus fulfilling
the mysterious prophecy in Exodus (Ex. 12, 46), commanding that no bones be
broken in the figurative lamb to be eaten for the Pasch. But a soldier, by the
name of Longinus, approaching the Cross of Christ, thrust his lance through the
side of the Savior. Immediately water and blood flowed from the wound, as Saint
John, who saw it and who gives testimony of the truth, assures us (John 19,
34).
watch how He was pierced for our sake
The cross with which the Saviour was crucified was erected over the place
where the bones of Adam were buried and which is the centre of the world. So
the cross of Christ over the bones of Adam was a foreshadowing of the Holy Mass
over the relics of saints under the altar stone. The side where Eve was taken
from Adam was the same place where Christ side was pierced with a lance.
