‘THE PASSION AND CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE SEVEN LAST WORDS FROM THE CROSS’ By St. ALPHONSUS de LIGUORI – IV. The Crucifixion; pp. 5-6
[Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori – XVII – XVIII Century AD: Marianella, Kingdom of Naples/Pagani, Kingdom of Naples; (aged 90); spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian, Founder, Bishop, Doctor of the Church]“IV. The Crucifixion
It was revealed to St. Bridget that when the Savior saw himself laid upon the cross, he stretched out his right hand to the place where it was to be nailed. They then immediately nailed the other hand, and then his sacred feet; and Jesus Christ was left to die upon this bed of anguish. St. Augustine says that the punishment of the cross was a most bitter torment, because, upon [264] the cross, death itself was prolonged, lest the pain should be speedily ended.
O God! what horror must then have struck heaven, at the sight of the Son of the Eternal Father crucified between two thieves! Such, in truth, was the prophecy of Isaiah: He was reputed with the wicked. Therefore St. John Chrysostom, contemplating Jesus upon the cross, cried out, full of amazement and love, "I see him in the midst, in the holy Trinity; I see him in the midst, between Moses and Elijah; I see him in the midst, between two thieves." As though he had said, "I see my Savior first in heaven between the Father and the Holy Spirit; I see him upon the Mount Tabor, between two saints, Moses and Elijah; how, then, can I see him crucified upon Calvary between two thieves?" How could this come to pass, but through the divine decree, that thus he must die, to satisfy by his death for the sins of men, and to save from death, as Isaiah had foretold: He was reputed with the wicked, and He has borne the sins of many.
The same prophet also asks, Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra; this beautiful one in His robe, walking in the greatness of His strength? (Edom signifying a red color, though somewhat dark, as is explained in Gen. 25.30); and the gives the [265] answer, I that speak justice, and am a defender to save. The person who thus replies is, according to the interpreters, Jesus Christ, who says, I am the promised Messiah, who have come to save men, by triumphing over their enemies.
Then, further, he is again asked, Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like theirs that tread in the winepress? And he answers, I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with Me. Tertullian, St. Cyprian, and St. Augustine explain the winepress to mean the Passion of Jesus Christ, in which his garments – that is, his most holy flesh - was covered with blood and wounds, according to what St. John wrote : He was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood; and His name is called the Word of God. St. Gregory, explaining the expression I have trodden the wine-press alone, says, "He trod the wine-press, and was himself trodden." He trod it, because Jesus Christ, by his Passion, overcame the devil; he was trodden, because, in his Passion, his body was bruised and broken, as the grapes are broken in the wine-press, and, as Isaiah expresses it in another text, The Lord was pleased to bruise Him in infirmity.
And now behold this Lord, who was fairest among men, appears on Calvary with his form so disfigured by torments, that it struck horror into all who saw it. Yet this deformity makes him seem more beautiful in the eyes [266] of souls that love him, because these wounds, these marks of the scourging, this lacerated flesh, are all tokens and proofs of the love he bears them; upon which the poet Petrucci beautifully sings, "O Lord, if You suffer scourgings for us, to the souls that are bound to You, the more deformed You are, the more fair do You appear."
St. Augustine adds, "He hung in deformity upon the cross, but his deformity is our beauty." And truly so, because this deformity of Jesus crucified was the cause of the beauty of our souls, which, when they were deformed, were washed with his divine blood, and became fair and lovely, according to what St. John wrote, Who are these that are clothed in white garments? These are they who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their garments, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. All the saints, as being children of Adam (with the exception of the Blessed Virgin), were at one time covered with a foul garment, and soiled with Adam's sin and with their own; but being washed with the blood of the Lamb, they became white and agreeable in the sight of God.
Well, then, did You say, O my Jesus, that, when You should be lifted up upon the cross, You would draw everything to You; "and this he said, signifying by what death he should die." Truly You have left undone nothing to draw all hearts to You. Many are the happy souls who, in seeing You crucified and dying for love of them, have abandoned everything - [267] possessions, dignities, country, and kindred, even to the embracing of torments and death - in order to give themselves entirely to You. Unhappy they who resist Your graces, which You have gained for them with Your great labors and sorrows. O my God, this will be their great torment in hell, to think that they have lost a God who, to draw them to love him, gave his life upon a cross, that of their own choice they have perished, and that there will be no remedy for their ruin through all eternity. O my Redeemer, I have already deserved to fall into this ruin, through the sins I have committed against You. Alas, how often have I resisted Your grace, which sought to draw me to You, and, in order to cleave to my own inclinations, have despised Your love, and turned my back upon You! Oh that I had died before I had offended You! Oh that I had ever loved You! I thank You, O my love, that You have borne with me with so much patience, and that, instead of abandoning me, as I deserved, You have repeated Your calls, and increased Your lights and Your loving impulses upon me. I will sing the mercies of God forever. Oh, cease not, my Savior and my hope, to continue to draw me, and to multiply Your graces upon me, that I may love You in heaven with more fervor, remembering the many mercies that You have shown me, after all the offences that I have committed against You. I hope for all, through that precious blood which You have shed for me, and that bitter death which You have endured for me.
O holy Virgin Mary, protect me; pray to Jesus for me.”
Image: Fra_(c1387_1455)_Angelico_-_Lamentation_on_the_death_of_Christ_detail_of_the_Virgin_Mary_(Painting_on_wood)
Music: VOCES8 performs Palestrina's setting of the 'Stabat Mater' at the VOCES8 Centre in London. 2025 marks the 500th anniversary of Palestrina's birth.
'Stabat Mater' = ‘'Mother Stood Still'
>>> youtube.com/watch?v=sLkLhZXCmmo