themselves insulted by this; and probably with some reason, according to their construction of the matter. It was offering an insult to the nation to style him king of the Jews, whom the chief men of the nation, followed by the majority of the people, had just delivered over to the extreme penalty. They (a) "said, therefore, to Pilate: Write not, The king of the Jews; but that he said, I am the king of the Jews. Pilate answered: "What I have written, I have written," and dismissed them with this curt reply.

It might have been that the governor then thought only of getting rid of their importunities, which he must have found extremely tiresome; perhaps, also, that after his previous cowardice, he wished at last to make a show of firmness: the pleasure also of being revenged for the violence which the Jews had just offered to him, may also have had its share in producing this effect. Whatever his motive may have been-and it is not very easy to ascertain-he executed, without knowing it, the orders of the Most High. It was God who had dictated what the judge had written, and restrained his hand so that the inscription was not effaced. It was by means of the rood that the Man-God was to reign; and by affixing him to it they had placed him, if we may use the expression, upon the throne of his royalty. It was also necessary to proclaim him king, and Pilate-a Gentile-did this officially, notwithstanding the opposition and the indignation of the Jewish people. This was a sensible figure of what soon after occurred, when these murderers obstinately refusing to have Jesus reign over them, the Gentile people willingly recognized him not only for their king, but for their God and Saviour. In vain did the Jews do their utmost to prevent this recognition, and they were made the unwilling witnesses of the Saviour's triumph, unwittingly adding to the lustre of his glory by their impotent rage and deadly animosity.

Nothing is of trifling importance in so great an event; and, if it were only for this reason, we ought not be surprised that the sacred writers should have reported the fact which the reader is about to see. But there is another reason which renders it worthy of notice, viz. the literal fulfilment of the prophecies in a circumstance so slight and so accidental, that the mind-which has foreseen and (a) St. John, xix. 21, 22.

predicted it can alone be that infinite intelligence, to whom all ages are present, and who, in all events, perceives even the most imperceptible and most arbitrary details. Here is the fact which has occasioned these reflections: (a) "The soldiers, therefore, when they had crucified him, took his garments [and they made four parts, to every soldier (5) a part] and also his coat (6). Now the coat was without seam, woyen from the top throughout. They said then one to another: Let us not cut it; but let us cast lots (7) for it, whose it shall be; that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, saying: They have parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they have cast lots. The soldiers indeed did these things. [After which] they sat and watched him."

(a) St. John, xix. 23, 24; St. Matthew, xxvii. 35, 36.

(5) Four soldiers were therefore engaged at the execution, which gives greater probability to the opinion of those who think that Jesus Christ was fastened to the cross by four nails.

(6) This coat or tunic had been woven, it is said, by the Blessed Virgin, when Jesus was still a child. It therefore grew with his growth, and was not worn away. We have no positive proof of this fact; but the tradition thereof is very ancient; it has never been contradicted, and there is nothing here in miracles which should surprise us. It is not at all unreasonable, and it is always more pious to respect such traditions than to despise them.

The coat or tunic of the Saviour, was a figure of his spouse the church, which is one and indivisible, because it always maintains itself in one and the same faith, and in one and the same charity.

It is said of those who create schism in the church, that they rend the garment of Jesus Christ; that is to say, that they try to do so, though they never can succeed. We may regard them as rags, badly assorted and worse stitched, which, when they detach themselves from it take away nothing of its integrity, and are themselves no longer good for any thing but to be cast into the fire.

(7) It is commonly held that the garments were also scarcely possible that the parts could be perfectly equal.

divided by lot, because it was This may lead us to conclude

that the Saviour's apparel, without being rich, had still some value, and--as many think -that it was suitable and becoming.

CHAPTER LXVIII.

BLASPHEMIES AND INSULTS.THE GOOD THIEF.-THE WORDS OF JESUS TO HIS MOTHER. DARKNESS.-JESUS DIES.-PRODIGIES.—THE SAVIOUR'S SIDE PIERCED.

-BURIAL.-DESCENT INTO HELL.

JESUS, a prey to the most excruciating pain, was also exposed to the most harrowing insults. (a) "They that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying: Bah, thou that destroyest the temple of God, and in three days dost rebuild it, save thy own self; if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. The people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided him (1)," for they were not ashamed to join the multitude; and-forgetting what they owed to themselves-they gave vent to their joy with the same coarseness and the same effrontery. Thus they were not ashamed to do that which would have disgraced the very lowest rabble. (b)" In like manner also, the chief priests, with the Scribes and ancients, mocking, said: He saved others (2); himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in.God: let him now deliver him if he will have him; for he said: I am the Son of God."

(c) David had them in view when he put these words into the

(a) St. Matthew, xxvii. 39, 40; St.

Luke, xxiii. 35.

(b) St. Matthew, xxvii. 41.
(c) Psalm xxi. 9.

Passion alone continues to Whilst they thus outraged

(1) A fresh proof of his innocence. Justice has no longer any other sentiment than compassion for the criminal whom it is obliged to punish. insult the innocent victim whom it immolates to its fury. the Just by excellence, they said nothing to the two robbers, or if they thought of them at all it was apparently but to pity them. There is a measure of suffering which satisfies justice, but there is none that can glut envy and hatred.

(2) He saved others, that is to say, he has wrought miracles for others, and he cannot work them for himself. This was tacitly acknowledging the truth of his miracles, and taking occasion therefrom to insult him the more. It is not for want of miracles, nor is it often for want of believing in miracles that the wicked are wicked; it is solely because they wish to be so.

mouth of the impious oppressors of the just; and, without wishing or knowing it, they were instrumental in accomplishing this prophecy. They were also heard to say: (a) "Let him also save himself, if he be Christ the elect of God; let Christ the king of Israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe (3). The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar; and saying: If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself." And to put the finishing stroke to these outrages, "the self-same thing the thieves also that were crucified with him reproached him with."

He whom they treated so unworthily was only anxious to save them, and his grace effected at this moment one of its most illustrious conquests. (6) Whilst "one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us; the other," suddenly enlightened, and changed into another man, "answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God! seeing thou art under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil."

The work of conversion is far advanced, when the sinner confesses
his iniquity and the justice of the chastisement which he receives for
it. The knowledge of God's goodness, and a loving confidence in
his mercies, finish and perfect the change. Penetrated with this
second sentiment, which, in this fortunate man, was the consequence
and perhaps the reward of the first," He said to Jesus: Lord, re-
member me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom."
By this
prayer he confessed that Jesus is the king of the world to come;
and the sense of the mysterious answer given by the Saviour to Pi-
late was fully revealed to him. All faith is comprised in this con-
fession, but what renders it most surprising is the occasion whereon he
rendered to Jesus so glorious a testimony. His salvation was the

(a) St. Luke, xxiii, 35–37; St. Mark, xv. 32; St. Matthew, xxvii. 44.
(b) St. Luke, xxiii. 39-43.

(3) No, it is not true that they would have believed in him if he had come down from the cross; for, as we shall soon see, they were convinced of the truth of his resurrection, and yet were only the more hardened. All those who ask for miracles do not speak sincerely.

reward which it obtained for him, and he received at the moment an assurance thereof. "Jesus said to him: Amen, I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise (4).”

An object still more interesting to Jesus soon attracted his attention, and gave him the opportunity of fulfilling one of the first duties prescribed by nature, in order to teach us that he is not come to destroy, but to perfect the natural law. "His mother," whom the most excruciating anguish ever felt by mortal could not deter from following him to the fatal spot; (a) "his mother and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen, stood by the cross of Jesus. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that he saith to his disciple: Behold thy mother (5). And from that hour that disciple took her to his own (6)."

(a) St. John, xix. 25–27.

(4) It may be asked what this paradise was, which could neither be heaven, for it was not open to men until ascension-day, nor the terrestrial paradise, which no longer existed, at least since the deluge. It appears to be the bosom of Abraham, which, for the just, entirely purified, was a place of repose, and might be regarded as that of imperfect felicity. Might we not say that it is no longer permissible to doubt, after this expression of Jesus Christ: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise; for it is a matter of faith that upon that day Jesus Christ descended into Limbo, and he declares formally, that he and the robber shall be reunited on that very day in the same place.

(5) We have already said that it was very probable that St. Joseph had died before the preaching of Jesus Christ: this proves at least that he was dead at the time of the Passion; for if he had then been alive, there would have been no need of the Saviour's recommending his mother to another.

The virgin mother was given in charge to the virgin disciple. The holy Fathers assign also as a cause for this favor the tender and generous attachment of the disciple, which made him follow his master to the place of execution. He fled at first, like the other disciples, but he was the only one who returned. With God, there is always an opportunity for returning.

(6) A difficulty is here raised on the ground that the apostles, who had quitted all, had no longer any residence to call their own. St. John had still his mother Salome, with whom he doubtless lodged, and to her house he would naturally conduct the Blessed Virgin, to whom the society of this holy woman could not be otherwise than agreeable. Interpreters say that St. John here represented all the faithful, and that in adopting him Mary adopted us all. It is from this that Mary's panegyrists have taken occasion to say that the Eternal Father, having chosen her to be the mother of his only Son, wished that she should be also the mother of all those who, by the character of divine