THE FIRST WORD
NOW, O my soul, and all ye who have been redeemed by the
precious blood of Christ, come, and let us go with inward compassion and fervent
devotion to the blessed palm-tree of the Cross, which is laden with the fairest
fruit. Let us pass like the bee from flower to flower, for all are full of
honey. Let us consider and ponder with the greatest care the sacred words of
Christ, which He spoke upon the Cross; for everything that comes From this
blessed Tree is wholesome and good. In the Cross of our Lord and Saviour are
centred all our salvation, all our health, all our life, all our glory; and, "if
we suffer with Him," saith the Apostle, "we shall also reign with Him." That we
may not be found ungrateful for these inestimable benefits, let us call upon
heaven and earth, and all that in them is, to join us in praising and blessing
and giving thanks to God. Let us invite them to come and look upon this wondrous
sight, and say: "Magnify the Lord with me, for He hath done marvellous things. O
praise and bless the Lord with me, for great is His mercy toward us." Come up
with me, I pray you, ye angelic spirits, to Mount Calvary, and see your King
Solomon on His throne, wearing the diadem wherewith His mother has crowned Him.
Let us weep in the presence of the Lord who made us, the Lord our God. O all
mankind, and all ye who are members of Christ, behold your Redeemer as He hangs
on high; behold and weep. See if any sorrow is like unto His sorrow. Acknowledge
the heinousness of your sins, which needed such satisfaction. Go to every part
of His body; you will find only wounds and blood. Cry to Him with lamentations
and say, "O Jesus, our redemption, our love, our desire, what mercy has overcome
Thee, that Thou shouldest bear our sins, and endure a cruel death, to rescue us
from everlasting death?" And Thou, O God, the almighty Father of heaven, look
down from Thy sanctuary upon Thine innocent Son Joseph, sold and given over
unjustly to the hands of bloody men, to suffer a shameful death. See whether
this be Thy Son's coat or not. Of a truth an evil beast hath devoured Him. The
blood of our sins is sprinkled over His garments, and all the coverings of His
good name are defiled by it. See how Thy holy Child has been condemned with the
wicked, how Thy royal Son has been crowned with thorns. Behold His innocent
hands, which have known no sin, dripping with blood; behold His sacred feet,
which have never turned aside from the path of justice, pierced through by a
cruel nail; behold His defenceless side smitten with a sharp spear; behold His
fair face, which the angels desire to look upon, marred and shorn of all its
beauty; behold His blessed heart, which no impure thought ever stained, weighed
down with inward sorrow. Behold, O loving Father, Thy sweet Son, stretched out
upon the harp of the Cross, and harping blessings on Thee with all His members.
Wherefore, O my God, I pray Thee to forgive me, for the sake of Thy Son's
Passion, all the sins that I have committed in my members. O merciful Father,
look on Thy only-begotten Son, that Thou mayst have compassion on Thy servant.
Whenever that red blood of Thy Son speaks in Thy sight, do Thou wash me from
every stain of sin. Whenever Thou beholdest the wounds of this Thy Son, open to
me the bosom of Thy fatherly compassion. Behold, O tender Father, how Thy
obedient Son does not cry, "Bind my hands and my feet, that I may not rebel
against Thee," but how of His own will He extends His hands and feet, and gladly
allows them to be pierced with nails. Look down, I pray Thee, not on the brazen
serpent hanging on a pole for the salvation of Israel, but on Thine only Son
hanging on the Cross for the salvation of all men. It is not Moses who now
stretches out his hand to heaven, that the thunder and lightning and the other
plagues may cease, but it is Thy beloved Son, who lovingly stretches out His
bleeding arms to Thee, that Thy wrath may depart from the human race. Aaron and
Hur are not now holding up the hands of Moses that he may pray more unweariedly
for Israel; but hard and cruel nails have fastened the hands of Thy only Son to
the Cross, that He may wait with long-suffering for our repentance, and receive
us back into His grace, and that He may not turn away in wrath from our prayers.
This is that faithful David, who now strings tight the harp-strings of His body,
and makes sweet melody before Thee, singing to Thee the sweetest song that has
been ever sung to Thee: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
This is that High Priest, who by His own blood has entered into the Holy of
Holies, to offer Himself as a peace-offering for the sins of the whole world.
This is that innocent Lamb, who has washed us in His own precious blood, who,
Himself without spot of sin, has taken away the sins of the world. Therefore
from the storehouse of His Passion I borrow the price of my debt, and I count
out before Thee all its merits, to pay what I owe Thee. For He has done all in
my nature, and for my sake. O merciful Father, if Thou weighest all my sins on
one side of the balance, and in the other scale the Passion of Thy Son, the last
will outweigh the first. For what sin can be so great, that the innocent blood
of Thy Son has not washed it out? What pride, or disobedience, or lust, is so
unchecked or so rebellious, that such lowliness, obedience, and poverty cannot
abolish it? O merciful Father, accept the deeds of Thy beloved Son, and forgive
the errors of Thy wicked servant. For the innocent blood of our brother Abel
crieth to Thee from the Cross, not for vengeance, but for grace and mercy,
saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
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