Meditation on the Passion

Various | 3/19/06 | Knitting a Conundrum

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Meditation on Christ's Passion



When you prayed in the garden, Lord,
and the heaviness pressed all around you
as the full moon's light peaked through the olive trees,
and your apostles snored in the shadows,
and you sweated blood in the depths of your grief,
how heavy did today weigh on your shoulders,
with a war-torn world,
mad with bloodlust,
despising your peace,
hot with hatred and selfish fulfilment
sometimes done in the name of God,
or done in the name of self,
careless with all you have taught?



When they tied you to the pillar, Lord,
and scourged you in the Roman way,
a beating so severe that it alone could take a life,
as the weights at the ends of the whips,
and the heavy slap of the leather tore your flesh,
did you see the babies ripped for profit,
the innocents blown up to make a political statement,
the slaughtered millions killed
because they belonged to the wrong class,
or bloodline,
or culture
or faith
or country?
Which gave you the most pain,
the cruel leather,
or the knowlege how we would reject you?


When you walked that long walk
with the heavy crossbeam tied to your hands
as they paraded you and the others
to the Place of the Skull
amid a phalanx of proud and hard Roman soldiers
who hated the noise and the crowd and the foreignness
of it all,
and took out their spite by tugging your bonds
and watching you fall with arms extended,
and when you saw your Mother there,
and the aching pain passed between you,
did you see all the other mothers
aching in their pain for what evildoers would do
to their sons and daughters in the days to come,
mothers of the disapeared,
mothers of political prisoners,
mothers of those slain by bombers,
mothers of the beaten and kidnapped,
mothers looking for children buried in mass graves,
mothers who watch their children starve for others'
gain?


When they nailed you to the cross,
and hung you up to die the slow death
reserved for slaves and foreign traitors,
gradual suffocation
in hot, aching, painful breaths,
did our evil make the pain that much harder?
Did our lack of mercy and love
echo down the centuries like a pressing weight
making your sacrifice all the more painful?

And yet, still you managed to love us,
and gave us all you had left,
your mother,
your compassion,
your heart's blood.

Dear Lord,
Forgive us!

[Kitty Mittens]

...my hand, my arm swinging the leather, my sin adding to the agony of that blow...

*Soul Tears.*

[Knitting A Conundrum]

[Knitting A Conundrum]

let me remember that sad Friday morning so long ago,
when Pilate presented you to the gathered mob,
bloody,
battered,
beaten,
a mockery of a king
crowned with thorns
meant to look small,
crushed,
contained.

Yet no mortal man could contain
the love that looked out over the crowd,
the love that heard the cries of hate,
and still forgave,
the love that waited patiently
as the executioners gathered
and sentence was passed,
the love that chose
this very path
to bring us life.

May I never forget
the gift you gave us
that sad Friday so long ago.

KAC

[Knitting A Conundrum]

0 Jesus! True liberty of angels, Paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Saviour, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.

My sweet Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Jesus, son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified to save mankind, reigning now in Heaven, have mercy on us.

+ Brigid

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Passion of Christ, Strengthen Me

Passion of Christ, strengthen me! Strengthen me under the pressure of temptation. Strengthen me when principle is at stake. Strengthen me to do Your Will, My God. Strengthen me in moments of suffering, in times of loneliness, in periods of depression. Strengthen me that I may never swerve from You, dear Christ, nor weaken through human respect, through a desire to be popular, through hope of social distinction. Strengthen me to accept my cross and carry it generously to the end. On the battlefield of life, stand by me that I may never prove a traitor in the ranks. Stand by me that I may not be dazzled by the glitter and glow of the enemy camp. Amen.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Thoughts on the Passion

Whenever anyone sighs toward Me with love in meditation on My passion, it is as though he gently touched My wounds with a fresh-budding rose, and I wound his heart in return with the arrows of My love. Moreover, if he shed tears of devotion over My passion, I will accept them as though he had suffered for Me. - Our Lord to St. Mechtilde


Dear Jesus,
Bring to mind often
that sad, holy, day,
when you carried that horrendous burden
sin of the world
on your sinless, torn and battered back,
the unrighteousness of others
on you, the Son of righteousness,
the hatred and evilness of selfish lack of love
on you who were all love,
all that darkness
on the shoulders of you who are always the Light.

O Lord,
let me think of the crowd,
and know it was my sins
that set them screaming for your blood.
let me think of the whip
that my sin drove to cut your skin,
let me know that my hand
hammered the nails
through all the times I have chosen
to do wrong, not counting the cost.

Lord,
Let me never take for granted
the pain, the grief, the sorrow
of what you did.
Instead let me offer you
the tears of my remorse,
the sighs of my heart,
and know how much I am loved,
now and forever.

Amen.

KAC

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for making this a separate meditation! Glory to God in the Highest.

[anonymoussierra]

thank you all today is this........
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"How does it feel when you have a major fight with your spouse or someone you love? Or when things are so tense with a co-worker or your boss that you dread each encounter?

How does it you feel when you have done something very wrong, and are consumed by guilt?

If you are anything like me – your stomach is in a knot and you feel crummy.

It is with those questions in your minds that I say to you this morning:
Peace be with you.

Jesus says this three times in the passage we read this morning from John’s Gospel:
Peace be with you. Shalom.

No doubt the disciples are feeling traumatized. Their friend and teacher had just been horribly tortured and killed. And the Gospels don’t record any saying of "good-byes."Today we would say that the disciples had had "no closure."

And to add to their trauma, I imagine a couple of them were feeling huge guilt about falling asleep in the Garden. And Peter was probably feeling huge guilt about denying Jesus three times.

Now – Jesus could have come into that room and said, "Yup, it’s me again – and Boy, am I steamed about last week, you guys.""All I asked of you was that you stay awake with me in the Garden. And Peter? –I TOLD you you’d deny me three times. See? I knew you would."

But there were no accusations. No "I told you so’s." Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." And the disciples began to rejoice. Their grief ended. Then, the text tells us, Jesus breathed His Holy Spirit on them,and gave them the power to forgive.

In saying SHALOM, Jesus was echoing he had said to them during the Last Supper:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you ... Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
When Jesus stood among them and said, "Peace be with you," everything changed. Grief was replaced by joy.

Mary, too, had seen Jesus in the Garden after His Resurrection, and even though he didn’t look like Jesus, she recognized Him as soon as He said her name.

"Mary." "Rabboni," she replied with relief and giddy exultation.

Mary, too, received PEACE from an encounter with the risen Lord.

But Thomas was not with them in the Upper Room that first night.

Probably too mired in his own grief, he had separated himself from the community.

And when I looked at this passage, I noticed a difference between Thomas and the others. When the disciples excitedly told Thomas that Christ was alive, Thomas had doubts.

His friends were jubilant: "We have seen the Lord!"

But Thomas, still mired in the events of the last week, lacked the PEACE that comes from an encounter with the Risen Lord.

Thomas, you could say, hadn’t moved from Good Friday to Easter yet.

So then – Jesus appears in the Upper Room a second time.

This time he focuses his attention directly on Thomas. Thomas, it is I.

"Put your finger here and see my hands.

Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe."

Despite the famous painting by Caravaggio, the text does NOT tell us that Thomas actually put his fingers in Jesus’ side. Thomas, faced with a direct encounter with the Risen Lord, merely says, "My Lord and my God!"

Thomas spoke – finally – with the conviction of a man relieved. A man at peace.

Back to those difficult situations that occur in our lives.

Those big blow-ups that occur in families, those folks we try to avoid, those uncomfortable relationships. When we are consumed by guilt.

What are we lacking? The peace which passes all our understanding.

The peace that is only to be found through confessing, as Thomas did,

Jesus as "My Lord and my God."

When Jesus said, "Peace be with you" it was a deliberate exhortation to those he loved.

When our lives are in a swirl, we often forget to tap into that, but it is there for the taking.

"Let not your hearts be troubled….neither let them be afraid," says the Lord.

"If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven."

When we say, "Peace be with you," Jesus calls us to forgive and make peace with our selves and those around us. To his disciples it was as if he was saying, Quit feeling any guilt or remorse about Friday, you guys. I am sending you out to do the Father’s work and you need to get past all your guilt and shame and trauma if you are to be any good at it at all.

The question bears asking --- what have you not made peace with?

What is getting in the way of that peace that passes all our understanding?

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The people who endured that dark time in our history cannot change what happened to them. But those who survived, and thrived, made conscious choices to forgive and move on. I remember when I met my high school roommate’s aunt. She had us to dinner and during dinner, I noticed a number tattooed on the front of her forearm. When she saw me looking at it, she explained that she had been in a concentration camp in Warsaw during World War II and that her captors had tattooed her. But then she said something that has stayed with me ever since. She said she knew when she came to America that she had two choices. She could live in the past and become an embittered victim, or she could move forward into a new life, never forgetting her past – it happened, she said – but changing how she reacted to it.

"I will never forget," she said, "but I will not let my past consume me.

You forgive, and you move on."

We say we are Easter people……….

But being Easter People means not living in the Good Fridays of our lives.

Never forgetting, but always keeping our eyes on the Risen Lord.

Because freedom in Jesus Christ requires that we make peace – and move on.

This is the great message of Thomas. Not his doubts.

With peace, Thomas was able to confess boldly,

"My Lord and My God."

As we enter the great 50 Days of Easter, let us be people of the Peace.

Never denying the Good Fridays, but always keeping our eyes focused on the risen Lord.

It is only then that we too, can drop to our knees and proclaim:

"My Lord and my God!"`

The Peace of the Lord be with you.

Amen."

http://users.anet.com/~stcharles/sermon041804.htm
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Life is life. BE STRONG GOOD PERSONS!!!! thank you

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Prayer in the Steps of the Passion

Most dear Jesus, filled with sorrow during the agony in the garden, covered with a sweat of blood while praying, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, delivered into the hands of the wicked by a kiss, bound like a robber, and abandoned by Your disciples, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, condemned to death by an unjust Council, taken as an evildoer before Pilate, and ridiculed by the wicked Herod, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, publicly shorn of Your garments, and most cruelly scourged at the pillar, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, crowned with thorns, beaten and blindfolded, clothed in rich purple and mocked, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, likened to the infamous Barabbas, rejected by Your people, and unjustly sentenced to death, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, burdened with the weight of the Cross and led to the place of execution like a lamb to the slaughter, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, reckoned with the wicked, blasphemed, and derided, and given gall to drink to mitigate Your pain, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, dying on the Cross in the presence of Mary, pierced with a lance that drew blood and water from Your side, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, taken down and placed in the arms of Your Sorrowful Mother, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, horribly bruised and marked with five wounds, annointed for burial and placed in a tomb, have mercy on us, O Lord.

My Jesus, I thank You for dying on the Cross for my sins. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Amen.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Waiting

The smell of blood was in the air, the smell of fear, the smell of death
as the slow process of the execution continued,
long after those who came to taunt got bored
and wandered off back into the city, the day's excitement over.
It takes time to die from pain and exposure and the need to breathe,
a tedious process.

The soldiers made themselves as comfortable as possible,
looking up at their charges from time to time, settling down for the long wait.
Dice passed the time, some, and the same stale jokes,
and daydreams about what to do once they left this crazed country,

Some onlookers stayed behind, women mostly.
The soldiers glanced their way from time to time,
occasionally exchanging a comment about this one or that.
These were not the type of women that looked at soldiers, though,
but instead, their eyes and hearts stayed focused on the man from Gallilee.

They held each other close, this knot of women
Chaperoned by a young man, almost a boy, sad and determined,
all bound by love and fear and shock and grief,
the need to pray, the need to mourn, the need to witness.

Swatting a fly, the centurion looked away from the women,
and thought about his mother, and his father's farm,
and wondered, not for the first time, why he became a soldier.

KAC

[Knitting A Conundrum]

[Knitting A Conundrum]

The Litany of the Passion

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us.

Jesus, the Eternal Wisdom, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, sold for thirty pieces of silver, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, prostrate on the ground in prayer, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, strengthened by an Angel, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, in Thine agony bathed in a bloody sweat, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, betrayed by Judas with a kiss, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, bound by the soldiers, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, forsaken by Thy disciples, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, brought before Annas and Caiphas. Have mercy on us.
Jesus, struck in the face by a servant, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, accused by false witnesses, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, declared guilty of death, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, spat upon, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, blindfolded, Have mercy on us. Jesus, smitten on the cheek, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, thrice denied by Peter, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, delivered up to Pilate, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, despised and mocked by Herod, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, clothed in a white garment, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, rejected for Barabbas, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, torn with scourges, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, bruised for our sin, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, esteemed a leper, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, covered with a purple robe, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, crowned with thorns, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, struck with a reed upon the head, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, demanded for crucifixion by the Jews, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, condemned to an ignominious death, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, given up to the will of Thine enemies, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, loaded with the heavy weight of the Cross, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, led like a sheep to the slaughter, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, stripped of Thy garments, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, fastened with nails to the cross, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, reviled by the malefactors, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, promising paradise to the penitent thief, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, commending St. John to Thy Mother as her son, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, declaring Thyself forsaken by Thy Father, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, in Thy thirst given gall and vinegar to drink, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, testifying that all things written concerning Thee were accomplished, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, commending Thy Spirit into the hand of Thy Father, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, obedient even to the death of the Cross, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, pierced with a lace, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, made a propitiation for us, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, taken down from the Cross, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, laid in the sepulcher, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, rising gloriously from the dead, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, ascending into Heaven, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, our advocate with the Father, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, sending down on Thy disciples the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, Who shalt come to judge the living and the dead, Have mercy on us.

Be merciful, Spare us, O Lord. Be merciful, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
From all evil, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
From all sin, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
From anger, hatred, and every evil will, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
From war, famine, and pestilence, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
From all dangers of mind and body, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
From everlasting death, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy most pure Conception, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy miraculous Nativity, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy humble Circumcision, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy Baptism and holy fasting, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy labors and watchings, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy cruel scourging and crowning, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy thirst, and tears, and nakedness, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy precious death and Cross, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
Through Thy sending forth the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
In the day of judgment, Lord Jesus, deliver us.

We sinners beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would spare us, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would pardon us, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to bring us to true penance, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe mercifully to pour into our hearts the grace of the Holy Spirit, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to defend and propagate Thy holy Church, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to preserve and increase all societies assembled in Thy Holy Name, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to bestow upon us true peace, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to give us perseverance in grace and in Thy holy service, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to deliver us from unclean thoughts, the temptations of the devil, and everlasting damnation,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe to unite us to the company of Thy Saints, We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou would vouchsafe graciously to hear us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Christ, hear us; Christ, graciously hear us.

V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and praise Thee:
R . Because by Your Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

Let Us Pray: Almighty and eternal God, Who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son the Savior of the world, and hast willed to be appeased with His blood, grant that we may so venerate this price of our salvation, and by its might be so defended upon earth from the evils of this present life, that in heaven we may rejoice in its everlasting fruit. Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

0 Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy Loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged Thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulled Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy Limbs.

I beg of Thee, 0 Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.

My sweet Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Jesus, son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified to save mankind, reigning now in Heaven, have mercy on us.

+ Brigid

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Ninth Station of the Cross: Jesus Falls the Third Time

How hard that final rise was,
Step by step up the hill,
how hard you had to cling to life,
how hard you had to cling to consciousness,
hard hard each breath,
each jarring step.
Even with Simeon carrying your cross,
the ground came swoop up,
and you tasted the dust,
felt the pavement one last time,
falling one last time
to panic the centurion
into thinking you would die
before they could kill you..

Only your burning love
burning like an eternal flame
echoing down the ages
stood you up that last time,
pushing away
the effects of shock,
and dehydration
and beating,
to crest the hill
for your final glorification.

KAC

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Heavenly Father, in the Holy Name of Your Son Jesus, crucified for my sins, and in the love of the Holy Spirit, I come very humbly before You, with sorrow for my sins. I acknowledge that You suffered so much for me and for all, and that we are indebted to You forever.

Lord, I appreciate very much Your sufferings for me and for the rest of humanity. I thank You for saving me through Your crushing pain, through Your many wounds, through Your tiredness and agony and through Your Precious Blood shed with so much pain and love for us; through Your difficulty to breath, through Your sweat and tears, through Your merciful patience, through every effort that You made and through Your total offering for my sins and for the sins of the whole world.

Lord, I complain sometimes when I have a little misfortune, a wound or when I am sick or tired, rejected, despised or prosecuted. But You were covered through Your entire Body with painful wounds; You were pierced with pain by the crown of thorns, You were stripped of Your Flesh by the scourging, You were insulted with terrible blasphemies, You were spat upon, You were humiliated, You were inflicted new wounds upon Your wounded shoulder by the crushing weight of the cross, You were inflicted more wounds upon Your wounds by the brutal stripping of Your garments, You were pierced painfully by the nails on the cross, You were hanged upon the cross to bleed painfully to death, You suffered asphyxiation as You found it very painful to breathe, and yet Your physical agony was only part of Your suffering compared to Your spiritual agony because You are God, and Your Holy Soul was sorrowful unto death as You surrendered Your life in exchange for our eternal life.

You saw the ingratitude of men for Your great sacrifice, and You suffered for the pride of our sins, for the aggressiveness of those whom You created with so much love, for the hatred of men who always receive all Your love if only they come to You. My Lord Jesus, I come humbly before You, everlasting fountain of healing and life, Powerful Source of our Resurrection, food for our souls, eternal refuge of Divine Light, gate to the Majesty and Glory of the Father and our only hope and salvation.

Divine Merciful Lord, I pray and beseech on behalf of all humanity for Your Mercy and compassion, for Your healing and blessings and for Your Salvation.

O Precious Treasure from Heaven, You who are hidden to the proud, fill my heart with humility and purity that I may be worthy to receive the promises of everlasting life in Your Glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Lord into Your Sacred Heart I place my heart united to all my needs and desires, I present humbly my petitions, please listen to my plea, embrace me with Your love, respond to my soul, look at me Your child who comes attracted by Your love.

Lord, in Your crucified Body I reverently place my sinfulness, my sicknesses and those of the people that I pray for; since You bore our diseases and infirmities, since You endured our sufferings and paid for our sins. Please dissolve them in Your mercy; grant me these petitions in Your Holy Name. Amen.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Sic Deus Dilexit Mundum - For God so loved the World.

For God so loved the world,
the Son emptied himself and became man.
For God so loved the world.
he became poor and humble.
For God so loved the world,
he preached and healed and loved and prayed
even as people misunderstood him and often turned away.
For God so loved the world,
he let himself suffer agony in the garden,
knowing full well the sinfulness of man.
For God so loved the world,
he let himself be betrayed and denied and deserted
by those closest to him.
For God so loved the world,
he allowed himself to be abused and mocked
by those who should have given justice.
For God so loved the world,
he allowed himself to be scourged dreadfully,
for our sakes.
For God so loved the world,
he accepted the crown of thorns.
For God so loved the world,
he bore his cross willingly.
For God so loved the world,
he was nailed to the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.
For God so loved the world
he suffered and died in agony that we might live.
For God so loved the world
He arose on the third day, breaking the chains of death,
for our salvation.

Alleluia!

KAC

[Knitting A Conundrum]

O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.

My sweet Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Jesus, son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified to save mankind, reigning now in Heaven, have mercy on us.

St. Briget

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Ecce Homo: A meditation

You stand there Lord,
before the haughty Roman judge,
bloody,
beaten,
abandoned.

Behold, says Pilate.

So frail you seem,
as you lift your bloodied head
and look upon this gathered crowd,
hungry as jackals.

Bruised and battered, the face
that looks out over the assembly
gazes not with hot hatred
or numb resignation of the broken,
nor self-pity,
but with love
and grief
and an unfathomable caring
that yearns to heal each of us.

Lord, I am not worthy to meet your gaze.
Have I not, like Peter,
denied you?
Or like Judas, betrayed you;
Time after time, have I not
added to your stripes,
pierced your head
with the hard thorns of an unloving heart?

And yet here you stand,
pouring yourself out like a drink offering,
letting the cup be drained
until nothing is left.

Lord, you said the word to heal me -
let me never forget the price you paid.

KAC