THE MYSTERY OF THE PASSION AND CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS
The devout person finally resolves to live the kind of life which Jesus, the Spouse, willingly chose to live throughout his passion and sufferings when he willed to let go of life to give it to those who will choose to live by it.
After your prayer,
I can only marvel
at your divine patience
during your arre
and during the extreme torments
inflicted upon you
along the streets of Jerusalem
and in the houses of the high priest,
of Pilate
and of Herod.
You endured a thousand blows
without complaining,
a thousand calumnies
without defending yourself,
a thousand insults and mockeries
without showing
the slightest resentment.
You were like a lamb being led
to slaughter,
silently
and without complaint;
and you sought nothing
but to be crushed
and overcome with shame
and suffering.
Good Jesus,
when will I be able to endure
sorrow and pain
without complaint,
willingly endure
lies and scorn
without defending myself?
I am incapable of this
by myself.
But if you help me
with your grace,
and if you deign to live in me,
it will become natural
since we can do everything
in him who strengthens us,
that is, in you.
But it is not we who have
this power
and strength;
it is your grace
and the grace of God your Father
with us.
Finally, O good Jesus,
engrave in our minds and hearts
the sacred mysteries
of your scourging,
your crowning with thorns,
your carrying of the cross,
your crucifixion
and your sorrowful death.
Grant that I may treat
my sinful flesh
with some severity,
since you willed
that yours,
totally pure and innocent,
should be torn
by such cruel
and numerous lashes.
Grant that I may endure in my head
pain
proportionate to the unworthiness
of my thoughts
and unbridled imaginings.
It was to expiate these
that your head
was pierced with thorns.
Punish my pride
by humiliation
and scorn
since you willed to be treated
with derision
accompanied by
a thousand lashes
as if you were
a mock king,
or rather,
the king of criminals.
May I carry my own cross.
However heavy it may be,
it will always be
much lighter
than yours.
Let me be nailed with you
on your holy cross
so that I may live and die there
in poverty,
scorn,
sorrow,
abandonment by creatures
and even
by your Father.
Deprived of any sensible consolation,
I shall be,
with you,
a "man of sorrows".
Above all, good Jesus,
grant that throughout my life
and especially
at the time of my death,
I may fulfill
in every instance
the last will of your Father,
and with such exactitude
that with my last breath
I may be able to say:
"Consummatum est."
"It is finished."
I have fulfilled the designs
of divine Providence
concerning my life and my death.
I have spent myself in the service
of my Creator
and in the gratitude that I owe
to the boundless love
of my Saviour Jesus.
This the only desire of my soul.
This is the cherished expectation
of my poor heart,
which, after contemplating
your life and death,
has no other affection
but to live and die
for him
who lived and died
for me,
that is yourself,
my good Jesus.
To you
be glory
and honour
forever.
AMEN
(Writings of J.P. Médaille SJ, pp 123-125)