Fourth Week of Lent: Monday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

FOURTH WEEK OF LENT: MONDAY
Motives for Penance inspired by the Thought of Death

1st Prelude. Imagine you see a religious on his deathbed.

2nd Prelude. Ask for grace to live the life of a penitent, that so you may die the death of a saint.


POINT I. Penance will strengthen the dying religious.

CONSIDERATION. Our truest consolation at the hour of death will be our having passed a life of penance. If we were to say to a dying religious, "Your last moment, my brother, is drawing near; all is ending for you in this world; but take comfort -- you have borne an important part; you have held, one after another, the highest posts in your order; you have won a great name among learned men and among orators; your works and your writings will keep your name alive": -- do you think it would give him much comfort? No, indeed; he would answer you, "What will all this avail me in eternity?" "I have been," said a celebrated religious when dying -- "I have been superior in the largest houses of my order; I have been a popular and applauded preacher; and all of it is nothing to me now. I have faithfully kept my rule, and that is something; it is the only thing that consoles me in this awful moment".

APPLICATION. The greatest comfort, then, we shall have on our deathbeds is the knowledge that we have been true religious; that we have been crucified with Jesus to the world and to ourselves by continual mortification. "Yes", says the author of the Imitation, "he shall be full of comfort and hope in his death, who in his life lived under the yoke of religious discipline and self-abnegation." If I were to die now, should I find comfort in looking back on the past?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT II. Penance will encourage the dying religious.

CONSIDERATION. When a good man is dying, he is not in fear and sorrow at the thought of leaving the fair things of this world, but only on account of his past sins, and of those words of the Holy Ghost: "Be not without fear about sin forgiven"; and again, "Man knoweth not whether he is worthy of love or hatred." But what reassurance and what peace we can find in those other words of the Holy Spirit: "Thou overlookest the sins of men for the sake of repentance"! The memory of having expiated by mortification the insult which sin is to God, of having paid off many debts owing to Divine Justice by means of penance, will also comfort us. St. Hilarion was thus preserved from the fear of death. "What, my soul," said he, "thou hast carried the cross for seventy years, and now dost thou fear to leave the world to appear before God?"

APPLICATION. If we desire, when death is drawing near, to share the calm trust felt by the saints, even those whose lives had not always been spotless, we should imitate their penance, and especially during this precious time of Lent, of which more than half has already passed. Let us be in earnest about it, and defer it not to the hour of sickness or the time of old age. "While you are in health," says Thomas a Kempis, "you can perform many works of satisfaction; but you know not what you will be able to do when sickness overtakes you."


AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. Penance will be the joy of the dying religious.

CONSIDERATION. When the labourer joyfully gathers in a rich harvest, all his past labour seems as nothing; the joy and satisfaction of the result far outweighs his former trouble and privation.

APPLICATION. This is an emblem of the joy and happiness which the penitent and mortified religious will feel when he is about to reap the fruits of all the austerities of the religious life, when he is on the point of receiving the reward promised by our Lord to those who renounce all worldly pleasures to bear the cross after Him. And what will be his bliss when he shall have entered into the joy of his reward? What memory of the past will then be a joy to him? St. Peter of Alcantara gave us some idea of it when he appeared in glory to St. Theresa, and said, "O blissful penance, which has purchased for me so great a reward!" In thoughts like these we shall find courage and strength to live and persevere unto the end in the practice of holy penance.

COLLOQUY with our Blessed Lord.

Fourth Week of Lent: Sunday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

FOURTH WEEK OF LENT: SUNDAY
The Scourging of Jesus Christ

1st Prelude. Behold our Lord Jesus Christ bound to the pillar.

2nd Prelude. Let us beg for the grace of making our meditations on our Lord's sufferings as fruitful as those of so many holy souls.


POINT I. The preparation for the scourging.

CONSIDERATION. "Pilate took Jesus, and scourged Him." Our innocent Lord heard Himself sentenced to the humiliation and suffering of scourging. He was dragged to the place of punishment. He saw the preparations for it; and He felt all its horror by anticipation. How terrible must this fear and horror have been to His sensitive nature! But He never wavered in His purpose of bearing all for us, and He went resolutely forward.

APPLICATION. How differently do we act! How often do we not only waver, but actually shrink back from carrying out our resolutions! And only because we are terrified by the anticipation (which generally exaggerates matters) of the trouble or suffering they would cost us; for instance, rising at the proper time in all seasons, doing such or such an act of penance or mortification, keeping to a certain position in prayer, or faithfully fulfilling a particular duty. Is not this true?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT II. The suffering of the scourging.

CONSIDERATION. The horror of this punishment is beyond the power of words to describe; but in order to realise it as far as possible, imagine yourself undergoing it; imagine your clothes torn off, yourself covered with blood and bound to the pillar, while strong men, armed some with whips, some with straps, some with cords and iron spikes, scourge you till their arms drop with fatigue, until your body is but one sore, your flesh torn, and the ground covered with your blood. Then, perhaps, you may form some idea of the suffering of that scourging which your Divine Saviour endured for you.

APPLICATION. In all your troubles, whether of mind or body, fix your eyes on Jesus your King bound to the pillar; the sight of Him will make all your sufferings seem light, and you will bear them with courage and with love.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. The motives for the scourging.

CONSIDERATION. It was a cruel and cowardly expedient on Pilate's part to appease the people and to save Jesus from death. Our Lord bore it from His heroic love for us. He gave up His body into the hands of the executioners, that He might expiate, in His innocent flesh, the shameful and countless sins with which men of all ages and conditions have degraded, and do daily degrade, their bodies; sins by which they dishonour and trample under their feet the image of God, in whose likeness they were created.

APPLICATION. Had I but once grievously offended against holy purity, I ought to say to myself, Here is my work! It is I who, by the hands of the executioners, have torn the Body of Jesus, who have covered it with blood and wounds; and besides this, the memory of my frequent acts of self-indulgence ought to be sufficient to produce in me a deep compunction, a contempt of myself, and an ardent desire to labour and suffer much for the love of Him to whom I caused such bitter sufferings.

COLLOQUY with Jesus bound to the pillar.

Third Week of Lent: Saturday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT: SATURDAY
Pilate tries to save Jesus from the Fury of the Jews

1st Prelude. Imagine you see Pilate pleading with the crowd on behalf of Jesus.

2nd Prelude. Beg the grace to persevere till the end in our holy vocation.

POINT I. "Pilate saith to them, What shall I do, then, with Jesus, that is called Christ? They say all, Let Him be crucified."

CONSIDERATION. The efforts that Pilate made to rescue Jesus from His enemies only incensed them the more against Him, because they thought He would escape from them. Of the three classes who were concerned in bringing about His death, Pilate, the people, and the priests, the priests had the greater guilt. Yielding to a base jealousy, they invented and sustained the accusations, they excited and seduced the people, they overpowered the judge by the cries of rage and fury which they put into the mouth of the crowd: their sin was very terrible; for the sanctity of their office, and the greater light and grace they had received, ought to have made them models to their people instead of a scandal.

APPLICATION. Here is another melancholy proof of the truth of the old saying, Optimi pessima corruptio -- The best when corrupted become the worst; and this we unhappily see too often in our own days, when priests or religious become infidels or apostates; they seem as if they wanted to deaden their own consciences, or entirely to efface the seal of their sacerdotal consecration or religious profession.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT II. "The governor said to them, Why, what evil hath He done?"

CONSIDERATION. This question ought to have opened the eyes of the Jewish people. It reminded them of the public life of Jesus, every step of which had brought down blessings on them. Even among this very multitude there might have been found many whom He had miraculously cured -- to whom He had given sight, hearing, or the use of their limbs -- and a still greater number whom He had delivered from the possession or temptations of the devil.

APPLICATION. During the whole of our lives, and especially since we entered religion, we can remember nothing but wonderful graces and blessings; they constantly flash across our minds, and the memory of them ought to increase our love and devotion to Jesus, our Divine Lord. How is it, then, that we correspond so little with these graces, that we are so lukewarm in His service? Let us search into the causes of this, fight against it, and overcome it if possible.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. "And he said to them the third time, I find no cause of death in Him. I will chastise Him, therefore, and let Him go."

CONSIDERATION. Pilate was guilty of the grossest injustice. Three times he had declared that the prisoner brought before him was innocent, and yet he condemned Him to a cruel and shameful punishment. His aim was to save Him at least from death, by exciting compassion for His sufferings, under the punishment to which he was sentenced. He did not see that he was actually clearing the way for the death by crucifixion, which the Jews were aiming at, for it was often the custom to precede crucifixion by scourging.

APPLICATION. How often have our passions made us act like fools! Have we not, from pride or sensuality, tried to escape the humiliations and mortifications which we ought to seek after, especially in religious life? Or have we not sought for pleasures and distinctions which we knew would do us harm? Are we, then, on our guard against our passions, and do we fight manfully against them?

COLLOQUY with our Divine Master.

Third Week of Lent: Friday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT: FRIDAY
Barabbas compared with and preferred to Jesus

1st Prelude. Behold our Divine Lord before all the people compared with an infamous robber.

2nd Prelude. Beg for grace never to hesitate between the Creator and the creature.


POINT I. "They therefore being gathered together, Pilate said, You have a custom that I should release one unto you at the Pasch. Whom will you that I release unto you: Barabbas, or Jesus, that is called Christ?"

CONSIDERATION. Pilate knew and had acknowledged the innocence of our Lord; it was against his conscience to condemn Him; but his self-interest bade him gratify the Jews, or he would lose favour in the eyes of Caesar. Conscience being on the one hand, and interest on the other, he tried to get out of the difficulty. He sent Him to Herod, not being able to find out what He was guilty of; then he offered the people their choice between an odious criminal and the Saviour, whom till lately they had reverenced so much. But his plans proved futile, and after some further attempts which were all useless, always shrinking back from doing his duty, he completed his evil work by condemning the innocent, and thus lost his own soul.

APPLICATION. How true are those words of our Lord's, "No man can serve two masters"! It is impossible to steer a middle course between God and the world; we cannot hover between virtue and vice, though the transgression may be a slight one. A friendship which is inordinate, though it may be based on motives of zeal, may cause us perplexity and trouble of conscience. Our own good sense and our confessor tell us to decide at once to give it entirely up. But we answer, No, you expect too much; but I will be more careful for the future. My case is an especial one. This is a delusion of self-love which leads to nothing. What does our experience tell us on this head?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT II. "But the chief priests and ancients persuaded the people that they should ask Barabbas, and make Jesus away. The whole multitude cried out together, Away with this Man! and release unto us Barabbas."

CONSIDERATION. Let us try to understand as far as we can the extent to which the insults of Jesus were carried. He is placed on a level, or, as we say, weighed in the balance with Barabbas, the greatest criminal which the prisons then held, by the chief magistrate, before all the people; and to the astonishment even of Pilate, Barabbas was preferred to Jesus by unanimous consent. All, says holy writ, with one voice cried, "Not this Man, but Barabbas."

APPLICATION. Who among us, then, can dare to complain that he is not treated as he deserves; that others are preferred before him; that he is put last of all? If we remember how often in past life we have imitated the Jews by allowing sin to reign in our hearts, rather than God our Saviour, we shall count ourselves unworthy of a place in God's house, and still more unworthy of the meanest office therein.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. "And as he was sitting in the place of judgement, his wife sent to him, saying: Have thou nothing to do with that Just Man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of Him."

CONSIDERATION. Most interpreters believe that the uneasiness of Pilate's wife was caused by an inspiration of grace, and that it obtained her salvation. The Greeks even honour her as a saint, under the name of Claudia Procula. Be this as it may, the warning thus sent to Pilate was an extraordinary grace vouchsafed to him at the critical moment, when he was hesitating between doing a great act of justice, which would have won his salvation, and an atrocious crime, which brought fearful misery on him both in this world and the next; for we know that he fell into disgrace and was banished, and finally destroyed himself.

APPLICATION. How many times and in how many ways have our guardian angels and our directors warned us and tried to strengthen us, when our passions had obtained such a mastery over us that our judgement was darkened, and we were hesitating between good and evil! All these warnings were extraordinary graces. How have we corresponded with them? How have we profited by them?

COLLOQUY with our Blessed Lord.

Third Week of Lent: Thursday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT: THURSDAY
Jesus insulted at the Court of Herod

1st Prelude. Let us picture to ourselves Jesus reviled and insulted, and treated as a fool at Herod's court.

2nd Prelude. Beg for grace to understand the indignities which Jesus bore for love of us.

POINT I. "And when he understood that He was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him away to Herod, who was also himself at Jerusalem; and Herod, seeing Jesus, was very glad for he hoped to see some miracle wrought by Him."

CONSIDERATION. Herod was a vain and degraded man; he had put St. John Baptist to death; and he wanted the Saviour of the world, of whom he had heard so much, to work a miracle before him, not that he might be touched and converted, but simply to gratify his vanity and curiosity. But God does not grant extraordinary graces to such men as these. He reserves them for the humble, who deem themselves unworthy of them. He delights to pour them on those who are emptied of self, dead to self-love, seeking only His greater glory. These souls ask for extraordinary graces or miracles only that they may serve Him better, or gain others to His service.

APPLICATION. The reason why we receive so few extraordinary graces is, that we either lack these dispositions altogether, or have made little progress in them; and after having perhaps passed many years in our holy vocation, we are very unlike those who, powerful in word and work, had the same vocation, and of whom wonderful things are recorded.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS

POINT II. "And he questioned Him in many words; but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood by, earnestly accusing Him."

CONSIDERATION. Wonderful indeed was the silence and passiveness of our Divine Lord before the tribunal of Herod, to which His cause was referred. He was accused of greater crimes still, but His accusers so outwitted themselves, that He could in a few words have confounded them, and turned the tide in His favour. Yet He held his peace. He went there to receive a sentence for life or death, and if He had chosen to work a miracle at Herod's desire, He would have found protection; but He would work none. It is in reality a greater miracle to triumph thus completely over every human feeling than to raise the dead; but the world cannot understand this. The calm silence of our Lord was looked upon by Herod and his court as helplessness and stupidity, and they treated it as such.

APPLICATION. Our Lord kept silence to punish Herod's pride and to teach us to mortify ours. Our pride is our greatest trial; in spite of ourselves it makes us desire esteem, notice, praise, and applause from men, especially from the great ones of the Earth. Have we fought steadfastly and victoriously against this unruly passion of pride?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT III. "And Herod with his army set Him at naught, and mocked Him, putting on Him a white garment, and sent Him back to Pilate."

CONSIDERATION. Let us contemplate Jesus, the King of glory, the eternal Wisdom, standing before Herod, insulted by the coarse and stupid mob; let us follow Him in spirit, wearing the fool's robe, through the streets of Jerusalem, amidst the jeerings of the populace and the immense crowd of strangers which the Paschal feast had brought into the city, and we shall see that the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled to the very letter: "I am made a derision to all My people."

APPLICATION. This meditation ought to produce great fruit in us. When we contemplate Jesus Christ as the true way, which leads us unto life, as the living model of perfection, it should kindle in our hearts an ardent desire to become like unto Him, to serve Him willingly, to be ready, in imitation of Him and for His love, to be despised, insulted, reviled, and even looked upon as a fool, although we have done nothing to deserve this treatment: this is the foolishness of the Cross. Many of God's servants have travelled by this road; why should not we follow in their footsteps?

COLLOQUY with our Blessed Lady.

Third Week of Lent: Wednesday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT: WEDNESDAY
The wonderful Silence of Jesus before Pilate's Judgement Seat

1st Prelude. Behold Jesus standing calm and silent in the midst of the clamour and accusations of the people who were stirred up against Him.

2nd Prelude. Beg for grace faithfully to imitate the great example our Lord then gave us.


POINT I. "And when He was accused by the chief priests and ancients, He answered nothing."


CONSIDERATION. The first accusations which the Jews brought were so vague and untruthful that Pilate rejected them, and declared our Lord's innocence. It was beneath our Lord's dignity to reply to some of the points; and besides, the sanctity of His life answered for Him, confounding His calumniators, but proving His divinity. He did indeed try to hide it under His humanity, but it was revealed by His answers to the judge.

APPLICATION. Happy is the man whose conduct is an unanswerable defence against the false accusations of the wicked and envious! Happier still if his conscience bears witness to his constant endeavour to be spotless before God. Are we amongst this happy number?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT II. "And Pilate again asked Him, saying, Answerest Thou nothing? Behold in how many things they accuse Thee. But He answerest him never a word; so that the governor wondered exceedingly."

CONSIDERATION. The astonishment of Pilate was not surprising. What would seem more natural for an accused man standing before a tribunal from which there was no appeal, and whose death was eagerly sought after, than to defend himself, and exert every effort to declare his innocence, especially when called upon to do so by a judge favourable to his cause? But Jesus was silent. He who often by a single word had confounded His enemies and turned the anger of the people against them, now would not utter one. Pilate could not understand the calm dignity of our Lord's silence, seeing clearly that it did not proceed from pride or resentment.

APPLICATION. We are better off than Pilate, for we know why our Blessed Lord kept that heroic silence. He was determined to die for us; and having manifested the truth, He would not say a single word to save His own life. And also, He chose by this painful silence to expiate our sins of the tongue, and to teach us to control our desire of answering our superiors haughtily when they reprove us, or our wish to give a sharp and angry retort to those who wound our feelings, or injure us in any ways.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. "But they were the more earnest, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place."

CONSIDERATION. When Pilate had seen and acknowledged that the accused was innocent, his duty was to silence the accusers, and dismiss them with the contempt they deserved. But this he dared not do. The Jews, perceiving his weakness, tried to take advantage of it. They began to clamour and importune him to grant the request which was against his conscience; and they succeeded only too well.

APPLICATION. Our great enemy the devil acts in the same way towards us; as soon as he sees us hesitating between God and creatures, or conscience and our passions, he takes advantage of our weakness, and grows bolder than ever. He pours his arguments into our ears, terrifies us with the slight of imaginary difficulties, and lets us have no peace until we consent to sin. Let us, then, taught by Pilate's example, be on our guard against our own weakness, and without indulging any unreasonable fear of the tempter, never give in an inch to him; let us firmly resist his first suggestion, arming ourselves, as the Apostle says, with the shield of faith and prayer.

COLLOQUY with Jesus Christ.

The Annunciation

Third Week of Lent: Tuesday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT: TUESDAY
Interrogation of Jesus at Pilate's Judgement Seat

1st Prelude. Behold Jesus Christ, firm yet submissive, before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.

2nd Prelude. Beg for grace to make this meditation well.


POINT I. "Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus, and said to Him, Art Thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered thus to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from hence."

CONSIDERATION. Jesus Christ was not King of the Jews, nor of this world, in the ordinary sense of the word; this was not His will. His kingdom is the Church, the assembly of all those who willingly follow His teaching and observe His laws. The Church is in the world, but not of it. She came down from Heaven, and Earth is but the place of Her pilgrimage and of Her trials. She will return to Heaven, and there the glorious and everlasting kingdom of Jesus and His disciples shall last for ever. This was the kingdom He meant when He said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world"; and again, when He says to His disciples, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God."

APPLICATION. How great is our happiness in being made, by holy Baptism, children of the Church and subjects of Jesus Christ, and, by professing the Christian Faith, to be among the number of the elect! If we choose, the kingdom of Heaven is ours. What assurance of this do we need? That we should be full of the spirit of our Holy Mother the Church; and though in the world, we be not of the world; that our life should be more celestial than terrestrial; that we should live in spirit in Heaven, as the Apostle says, "Our conversation is in Heaven."

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT II. "Pilate therefore said to Him, Art Thou a king, then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice."

CONSIDERATION. Pilate's conduct gives us a striking example of human instability. He was really desirous to know the truth concerning the wonderful Being whom the world thought of in such different ways, and who was now before him; and this desire increased after he had heard Him say, "For this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth." Naturally he asked, "What is truth?" and apparently he eagerly awaited the reply. Yet, when it was given, it had no effect on him; he took no further heed, and went out quickly from the judgement hall.

APPLICATION. We fully condemn the weakness and vacillation of Pilate; but let us examine if there be not some similarity with him in our conduct. Before beginning some of our actions, or deciding in difficult circumstances, we are accustomed to invoke the Holy Ghost: "Come, Holy Ghost," thus entreating to know His will; but do we not often decide hastily without recollecting ourselves sufficiently to hear His reply? and do we not often hear the voice of God in our souls, and pay no attention to it? Do we not thus imitate the vacillation of the Roman judge?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT III. "He went out again to the Jews, and saith to them, I find no cause in Him."

CONSIDERATION. Pilate, a wise and experienced man, at the first sight of the case felt sure the crimes alleged could not be proved. However, in his position as judge, he questioned the accused upon the nature of the kingdom that He claimed. The answers of Jesus showed him clearly that His kingdom was not in opposition to the rulers of this world; and he therefore pronounced Him to be innocent, saying, "I find no cause in Him."

APPLICATION. Pilate, though vacillating, was just, and a lover of truth. If he had been as firm as he was just, he would never have condemned Jesus to death. But he feared to get into trouble, and he grew weak and timid. The Jews craftily worked upon his fears, and extorted the unjust sentence from him. This is the devil's way with us: he studies our weak points, and takes advantage of them; and if we are off our guard, he entraps us with subtle snares.

COLLOQUY with Jesus our Master.

Third Week of Lent: Monday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT: MONDAY
Motives for Penance derived from the Thought of the loss which the Sinner incurs

1st Prelude. Imagine you see St. John the Evangelist writing to the Church of Laodicea: "Be zealous therefore, and do penance."

2nd Prelude. Beg grace to enable you to make reparation for the past by abundant penance.


POINT I. Loss of God's friendship

CONSIDERATION. By mortal sin we lose God's friendship, sanctifying grace, the inheritance of the Beatific Vision, and all the privileges given to us in holy Baptism. In a state of mortal sin we are God's enemies, children and slaves of the devil; and we are under a curse. Perhaps we have spent days in this miserable state; perhaps even a great part of our lives. The thought of this is a bitter one, and caused such deep grief to St. Augustine, that his only consolation was to immolate himself daily, by constant penance, on the altar of the love of God.

APPLICATION. During these days of universal penance, let us imitate the saint; and if God's mercy has preserved us from frequent mortal sin, let us think of those countless venial sins which give us sufficient cause for penance; for if venial sin does not deprive us of God's friendship, it certainly diminishes it. Every venial sin deprives us of a measure of God's love, and of a corresponding degree of glory in Heaven. If we try to number our venial sins, we shall see how large a measure of grace we have lost, and what a loss it has been. Let us hasten, as far as lies in our power, to make reparation for it by fervent penance.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT II. Loss of supernatural life.

CONSIDERATION. Mortal sin, in the second place, deprives our soul of supernatural life. That life consists in our union with God by the bonds of love. Mortal sin breaks this tie, interrupts this union; and, while separated from God, the soul is like a dead body -- incapable of a meritorious action. Our best works are dead; every day, every month, passed in this state, is lost for all eternity.

APPLICATION. Would that our eyes were enlightened by the bright beams of faith, so that we could really understand and calculate the amount we have already lost! For we should then most earnestly try by penance to regain at least a portion of it. Venial sin does not destroy this supernatural life, but it weakens it; the soul is less fruitful in good works; and these works are less pleasing to God, less meritorious. Moreover, our human imperfection is so great that our best works are always marred by it, and lose somewhat of their merit. The saints tried to compensate for all this by great penance, and by constant mortification. Ought we not to imitate them, we who have sinned so much, and repented so little?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. Loss of sanctity

CONSIDERATION. Mortal sin, in the third place, robs the soul of its beauty, and renders it odious in the eyes of God and his holy angels; as says the Scriptures, "They are become abominable." One mortal sin changed an angel into a demon, and cast him down from Heaven to Hell. How, then, must a soul, defiled by numerous mortal sins, appear in the eyes of God? What will be its destiny in eternity, when the punishment will be in proportion to the sins committed?

APPLICATION. Perhaps you have incurred this penalty; and if so, you have a strong motive to induce you to embrace hardship and penance, and persevere therein unto the end. For, after all, although it may be certain that you have sinned grievously, yet it is not at all equally certain that your penance has been sufficient. The Church also tells us that the slightest venial fault leaves a stain upon the soul; and that "nothing defiled can enter Heaven" are the words of the Holy Ghost. We have daily stained our souls, and made few efforts to cleanse them; therefore our purgatory and our exclusion from Heaven will last much longer. Ponder deeply upon this; if we could but understand what it is to endure the pain of purgatory for one moment, what it is for one moment to be deprived of the Beatific Vision, the utmost rigour of penance would seem light to us.

COLLOQUY with our Blessed Lady.

Third Week of Lent: Sunday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

THIRD WEEK OF LENT: SUNDAY
Jesus accused by His People before Pilate

1st Prelude. Behold the crowd of people assembled before Pilate's palace, vociferating against Jesus.

2nd Prelude. Ask for grace to enable you to support false imputations in a Christian spirit.

POINT I. "Pilate therefore went out to them, and said, What accusation bring you against this man? They answered and said to him, If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to you."

CONSIDERATION. We cannot but feel great indignation when we see the rulers of the Jews instigating the crowd to accuse Jesus, their Messiah, of a crime, and to hate Him; He who had never harmed anyone, but who had shed blessings around Him at every step. They were indeed filling up the measure of their ingratitude and unbelief.

APPLICATION. This frightful picture is daily reproduced before our eyes. Our Lord and His holy Faith are still hated, still calumniated, and often by those upon whom His best gifts have been poured; those whose rank and talents have raised them above their fellow creatures, but who only use their superiority to mislead their inferiors, and stir them up against our Lord, and against His Church. We should not, however, have bitter feelings towards them, but rather pity them; for the longer their punishment is delayed, the greater it will be.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT II. "Pilate therefore said to them, Take you Him, and judge Him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death."

CONSIDERATION. The Scribes and Pharisees were the accusers of our Lord, but they would not pass sentence on Him, even when Pilate authorized them. They wanted to make Him appear more guilty in the eyes of the people by receiving His condemnation from the chief magistrate; they wanted to avert the odium of His death from themselves, and they wanted Him to be crucified, the most shameful and most cruel mode of death, and commonly used by the Romans, but seldom by the Jews, not being decreed by any of their laws, and so, under a pretense of justice, they hypocritically hid their wickedness. Without knowing or intending it, they were fulfilling prophecy, and bringing the designs of our merciful Lord to pass. He had foretold the manner of His death, and for love of us was willing to drink the cup of suffering and humiliation to the very dregs. Thus by their crimes the intentions of God were carried out.

APPLICATION. Such are and always will be the dealings of Divine Providence. Let us never give way to distrust or waver in our faith when we see the wicked obtain a momentary triumph, and succeed in their evil designs. God, who in his infinite wisdom orders the whole course of circumstances, will turn all things to His own glory and the good of His Church.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. "And they began to accuse Him, saying, We have found this Man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ the King."

CONSIDERATION. Three special accusations were brought against Jesus; they accused Him of perverting the people, of refusing to pay tribute, and of assuming the name of Christ the King. The first two were notoriously false, for He had preached and practiced the exact contrary; the third was false also in the sense in which they meant it -- in the sense of an earthly kingdom, in opposition to that of Caesar. It was the height of shameless insolence to utter such calumnies against the innocent in the presence of the chief judge, and before the whole nation.

APPLICATION. If our Lord was willing to become the victim of wicked calumny without defending Himself, or even being disturbed by it, should we not make little account of men's judgment, when our own conscience tells us we have acted rightly? Have we profited by the lessons of our Divine Master? In what particular should we correct ourselves?

COLLOQUY with our Blessed Lady.

Second Week of Lent: Saturday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT: SATURDAY
The Despair and Death of Judas

1st Prelude. Look at Judas throwing down the thirty shekels of silver before the chief priests.

2nd Prelude. Beg the grace of never giving way to temptations of despair or despondency.


POINT I. "Then Judas, who had betrayed Him, seeing that He was condemned, repenting himself, brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and ancients."

CONSIDERATION. When Judas agreed to betray his Divine Master for thirty pieces of silver, he expected that, being God as well as Man, He would deliver Himself from the hands of His enemies, as he had often done before; but finding that his avaricious plan was defeated, and that Jesus gave Himself up and was about to suffer death, he was overwhelmed with horror at the thought of his crime, and of the eternal shame that would rest on him. The much-coveted money pressed on his conscience with a crushing weight; and cursing it from his heart, he took it back to the chief priests who had given it to him.

APPLICATION. Such is the ordinary result of sin. Before we commit it, we only see the pleasant side, and we are blind to its consequences; but as soon as the harm is done, there come remorse and shame; then we are horrified at our folly, and instead of enjoyment, we find it has brought us nothing but misery and regret. And this is equally true of lesser sins. What does our past experience teach us on this point?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT II. "Saying, I have sinned in betraying innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us? Look thou to that."

CONSIDERATION. When Judas went to confess his sin to the chief priests, a sin to which they themselves had tempted him, he hoped they would be able to comfort him, or at least interest themselves in the matter; but he received no other reply than the scornful words, "What is that to us? Look thou to that"; and when he heard it, the measure of his despair was filled up.

APPLICATION. Never let us reckon on assistance or sympathy, or even esteem, from those whom we have served against our own conscience and the law of God. Outwardly, perhaps, they will praise or flatter us, but in their secret hearts they will condemn us for our weak and cowardly consent to what we know to be wrong.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. "And casting down the pieces of silver in the Temple, he departed, and went and hanged himself."

CONSIDERATION. The terrible despair of Judas was the greatest of all his sins. His conviction that his crime was unpardonable was a virtual disbelief in God, who is infinite in all His attributes. The laws of men, which must be finite, cannot exceed the infinite goodness of God. If he, like St. Peter, had thrown himself, humbled and contrite, at the feet of Jesus, he would also have been pardoned.

APPLICATION. We are all human, all liable to fall, and to fall very low. But if we unhappily commit sin, let us at once drive away all thoughts of despair, and imitate the humble repentance of St. Peter, trusting, as he did, in the omnipotent mercy of God. then we shall share the glories of Heaven with the penitents who have become saints; and, to strengthen our resolution, let us often say, with holy King David: "In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded." And in times of temptation, let us remember those beautiful words of St. Augustine: "If you feel afraid of God, throw yourself into His bosom."

COLLOQUY with our Father in Heaven.

Second Week of Lent: Friday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT: FRIDAY
Jesus delivered by His People to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor

1st Prelude. Look at our Divine Lord passing along with His hands bound, amidst the hooting multitude, towards the palace of the Roman governor.

2nd Prelude. Beg for a more fervent love of your Blessed Saviour.


POINT I. "And when morning was come, all the chief priests and ancients of the people took counsel against Jesus, that they might put Him to death."

CONSIDERATION. Hastily and eagerly, before the day broke, the unjust judges roused themselves from sleep, and assembled together. Their only motive was to satisfy their hatred against their innocent Victim, and to carry out their plan for putting Him to death. How diligent they were to accomplish their terrible crime!

APPLICATION. We ought to blush with shame when we see how much more earnest these wicked men were in doing evil than we often are in doing good. They were much more ready to rise early that they might take counsel how to put Jesus to death than we are that we may give Him glory by our prayer and by our visits to the Sacrament of His love.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS

POINT II. "And they brought him bound, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate, the governor."

CONSIDERATION. It was His own people who rejected our Lord, and delivered Him to the Gentiles; those very people on whom He had poured so many blessings, and who had cried out in wonder at His gracious miracles, "He hath done all things well: He hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak." Great indeed was their treachery and ingratitude; and what an additional humiliation and grief this must have been to our Divine Lord!

APPLICATION. There is not a heart that does not swell with indignation at the remembrance of the treacherous ingratitude of the Jews; but are not many Christians equally as wicked when, by sacrilegious Communions, they deliver Jesus to the company of the evil one, who reigns over their hearts; and when, by their sins, they daily return evil for good to that loving Saviour from whom they have received a thousand times more graces and favours than did the Jews?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT III. "They went not into the hall, that they might not be defiled."

CONSIDERATION. How astonishing were the false consciences and blindness of these men! They were well instructed in their religion, yet they demurred about contracting a legal stain by entering the house of a heathen, and were not afraid to indulge their envy and hatred by conspiring against the life of an innocent Man.

APPLICATION. Are there not many people, and those even in religious life, who scrupulously observe indifferent matters, and who either neglect, or seldom attend to, essential ones; who are faithful to certain self-chosen pious practices, but who do not mind omitting their obligations? Are there not others also who pique themselves on their regularity in exteriors, whilst they neglect interior matters? Are not all these people misled by a false conscience? Have we nothing to reproach ourselves with on these heads? Let us make a detailed and careful examination of conscience.

COLLOQUY with Jesus.

Second Week of Lent: Thursday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT: THURSDAY
Repentance and Conversion of St. Peter

1st Prelude. Look at the Apostle St. Peter weeping over his sin.

2nd Prelude. Beg for the grace of true contrition.


POINT I. "And the Lord, turning, looked on Peter."

CONSIDERATION. How inexpressibly great was the goodness of our Blessed Lord! He was in the midst of His sufferings; horrible insults and blasphemies were being poured upon Him; but He forgot Himself, and thought only of His faithless disciple. That grievous fall of St. Peter's had wounded Him more than all His other injuries. "The Lord turned," says the Gospel, "and looked upon Peter." It was a glance of mingled reproach and mercy, which instantly wrought his conversion.

APPLICATION. And day by day this same goodness of our Lord is manifested towards numbers of poor sinners. He prevents them by His grace. He looks mercifully on them, dealing with them as He did with the penitent King David when he cried out, "Look Thou upon me, and have mercy on me." Terror had so completely taken possession of St. Peter in the hall of Caiphas that it had blinded him to the extent of his sin. Our Lord came to his assistance, and opened his eyes; and from that day forward his gratitude to his loving Saviour was fervent and continual. If we think over our past sins, we shall recollect how often grace has prevented us, and roused us from the sleep of death. Deep, then, ought to be our gratitude.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT II. "Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him: Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt thrice deny Me."

CONSIDERATION. Sudden and wonderful was the change which one look from Jesus wrought in the heart of the faithless disciple. In an instant the darkness which encompassed his soul disappeared; he saw clearly the greatness of his sin; he remembered all his Master's forewarnings at the Last Supper and in the Garden of Olives. And his heart was filled, not with despair, but with the deepest contrition. He was transformed into the model of a true penitent.

APPLICATION. Wonderful, indeed, is the work of grace! Silently it penetrates into the soul, enlightening and strengthening it, showing it the instability of creatures, the guilt and horror of sin, filling it with a deep and salutary contrition. It makes the sinner shed tears of mingled grief, love, and joy; it purifies the soul from all unruly affections; disengages it from the world, and draws it upwards to God.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS



POINT III. "And going forth, he wept bitterly."

CONSIDERATION. The fall of St. Peter had been a grievous and a public one, and his repentance was generous and fervent. Without a moment's delay, he fled from the place and the company which had occasioned his fall; and when alone he began to shed those bitter tears which may be said never to have ceased till his death. He mourned over the humiliation of his fall, the thought of his ingratitude, the grief and pain he had given to his Divine Master at the very moment when He was manifesting His love for him. Not only did our Blessed Lord pardon His penitent disciple, but He gave him back all the privileges which had been granted to him before his fall.

APPLICATION. If we, like the Apostle, have been unfaithful, let us also imitate him in his repentance. The remembrance of our past ingratitude, and of God's goodness to us, should inspire us with deeper humility, more steadfast trust, and an unbounded generosity in works of charity; and thus, with the help of God's grace, we shall be enabled to bring good out of evil.

COLLOQUY with our good Lord.

St. Joseph: Spouse of the Blessed Virgin, Patron of the Universal Church

Second Week of Lent: Wednesday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT: WEDNESDAY
St. Peter's threefold Denial

1st Prelude. Behold the Apostle in the hall of Caiphas, standing near the fire, in company with the soldiers and servants of the high priest.

2nd Prelude. Ask the grace of knowledge, and distrust of self.


POINT I. "Now when Peter was in the court below, there cometh one of the maid-servants of the high priest, and when she had seen Peter warming himself, looking on him she said, Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied before them all, saying, Woman, I know Him not."
CONSIDERATION. Peter, having recovered from his terror in the garden, followed Jesus afar off to the hall of Caiphas, and there, in answer to a woman's voice, the Prince of the Apostles denied his Lord. A short time before, he, more than all the other Apostles, had been boasting of his unchangeable fidelity. Great indeed was his weakness, grievous indeed was his fall.

APPLICATION. The fall of St. Peter shows us how weak is human nature, and makes us tremble for ourselves. But every effect has a cause, therefore let us look into what caused the Apostle's fall. The Fathers give four reasons for it. He was presumptuous of his own strength, he had neglected prayer and vigil with his Master, he was rash in exposing himself to temptation, and he indulged tepidity and idle curiosity. "Peter followed Him afar off, and sat with the servants to see the end." When we think over our falls, and the false steps we have taken in life, we may easily trace them to one or other of these causes.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT II. "And again he denied with an oath: I know not the man."

CONSIDERATION. As the danger increased, St. Peter's fear grew stronger, and he fell lower still. His first denial had been a cowardly falsehood; but his second was a perjury. His sins followed fast upon each other, and became more and more deadly.

APPLICATION. If once we give way to our passions, once yield to human respect, gluttony, curiosity, anger, sensuality, or any other sin, we shall soon be carried farther. Never let us venture to say, I will do what I wish for this once, and then I shall be at rest; or, I will go thus far in what is wrong, but no farther. This is a fatal delusion, and springs from a want of self-knowledge. The passions are like fire, which never says, "It is enough." So said St. Augustine, speaking from experience. And can we not confirm it?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. "And after the space as it were of one hour, one of the servants of the high priest saith to him, Did I not see thee in the garden with Him? Surely thou art one of them? But he began to curse and swear, saying, I know not this Man of whom you speak."

CONSIDERATION. Rapid and fearful was the Apostle's downward course. In less than two hours he thrice denied his Lord, twice he perjured himself; and finally confirmed his false-swearing by a fearful imprecation on himself. What shame and grief he then gave to the Heart of his Master, who at that very moment was standing only a little way off, enduring cruel insults for love of him!

APPLICATION. Why did our Lord permit him, who was to become the head of the Church, to fall so low? And why was it published to the whole world in the Gospel? The Fathers give the reasons for it. They say, in the first place, it was that St. Peter and his successors, the chief pastors of the Church, should excel in humility, and have a deep sympathy for the weakness of their people. Secondly, that the world, perceiving on what a weak foundation in itself the Catholic Church is built, should recognise that it is indeed the work of God, not of men, and that its existence is a wonder and a marvel. Thirdly, as a warning to men, that, no matter to what height of sanctity they have attained, they are still very weak, and stand in continual need of divine grace. We will therefore bless and exalt the wisdom of Divine Providence.

COLLOQUY with our Lord.

Second Week of Lent: Tuesday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT: TUESDAY
Jesus made the Sport of the Soldiers and the Servants of Caiphas

1st Prelude. Behold Jesus in the midst of vile soldiers and insolent servants, who pour on Him insults and outrages.

2nd Prelude. Beg the grace of knowing the value of humiliations, and of loving them, after the example of Jesus Christ, your king and your model.


POINT I. "And the men who held Him mocked Him."

CONSIDERATION. When Caiphas, triumphant at having condemned Jesus, went to take his night's rest, he left his captive in the hands of the guard, or, rather, gave Him up to the insolence of his servants and of the soldiery of the praetorium. They immediately dragged Him into a subterranean prison for criminals. What a humiliation for our Blessed Lord! There was no rest for Him there. The hatred that they knew their masters had for Jesus stirred them up, and, gathering around Him, they made brutal sport of Him, and tried which could excel the other in showing ridicule, scorn, blasphemy, and curses on Him; and this scene of horror lasted throughout the rest of the night. Try to form a vivid idea of the suffering and humiliation of our Lord, made the sport of vile and insolent men during the whole night, without a moment's rest; and then nights of suffering will appear more endurable to you, and the days which perhaps you have to spend among children, or others who are vulgar, ungrateful, and petulant, will seem less wearisome, less unbearable.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT II. "Then did they spit in his face."

CONSIDERATION. They spat in His face! If this were not recorded in the Gospel, we could not have believed that the brutality and cruelty of men could go so far, or that God made man could have allowed and borne such an insult, the greatest and the most keenly felt which could be given to the lowest of men. But our Lord allowed it, and bore it again and again, without a movement, without a word, as it had been foretold by the Prophet Isaias. "I have not turned away My face from them that spat upon Me."

APPLICATION. And yet men often complain, become indignant, and long to be revenged, if they are injured, or even if they are not sufficiently considered or treated as they think they deserve. Ought they not rather to fall at the feet of Jesus, and cry out with St. Bernard, "What, shall my Master and my King be insulted and spat upon by His vilest subjects, and shall I be honoured, who have deserved for my sins to be cast with the refuse of the human race to the bottom of Hell? No, never! Let me rather be forgotten and despised by all men in this world, that I may obtain mercy in eternity."

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT III. "And they blindfolded Him, and smote His face. And they asked Him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that struck Thee?

CONSIDERATION. In grief and silence we will contemplate the King of Glory covered with reproach, and drinking to the very dregs that cup of humiliation which He accepted in the Garden of Olives. He is seated on a block of wood, His hands are bound, His eyes blind-folded, He is surrounded by coarse, half-intoxicated men, who, one after the other, strike Him on the face and buffet Him, and cry out, "Prophesy, who is it that struck Thee"? And then they pour a flood of insults and blasphemies on Him. Who is suffering these insults? Why does he thus humble Himself?

APPLICATION. When we meditate on the three degrees of humility, we often resolve that we will rather be despised and thought nothing of by the world, be condemned and looked down upon with our Master, than be esteemed and highly exalted before men. What progress have we made in the practice of these resolutions?

COLLOQUY with our Blessed Lord.

St Patrick's Breastplate

Second Week of Lent: Monday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT: MONDAY
Motives for penance derived from the Thought of the Evil which Sin has wrought

1st Prelude. Imagine you see St. Peter saying to the people of Jerusalem, "Be penitent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out."

2nd Prelude. Beg for a strong impulse of the will to comply with the Apostle's precept.


POINT I. Multitude of our sins

CONSIDERATION. Go over the past years of your life in spirit -- before and after your First Communion, before and after your entrance into religion, the places where you have lived, the sins you have committed; run rapidly over the Commandments of God and the Church, the obligations attached to your vows, the offices and employments that have been confided to you; and you will be surprised and terrified at the sight of your innumerable sins. What would it be if you saw them as God sees them!

APPLICATION. For a single mortal sin, Adam and his posterity were condemned to death and eternal torments; for a single venial sin, those great friends of God, Moses, David and Ezechias, were severely punished -- a feeble shadow only, however, of the punishment in the next world for the smallest sin. What ought I, then, to expect, who have committed so many sins? I have nearly forgotten them, but God forgets nothing. He will leave nothing unpunished, not even the slight fault of an idle word. Our Lord, Himself, has told us so. We have many motives, then, to induce us to do real and continued penance; and in this holy time we shall receive special graces, which will make the practice of it easier. "Behold, now is the acceptable time,"

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT II. The injury that sin is to God.

CONSIDERATION. Each mortal sin is a threefold injury to God, and its malice is infinite because His Majesty is infinite. We injure Him by insubordination and rebellion: God commands, and we do not obey. We injure Him by contempt: we prefer a transitory and vile enjoyment, sometimes a disgraceful one, to God and His laws. We injure him by ingratitude: we make use of His very gifts to offend and insult Him. Each venial sin is also a threefold injury; it is certainly of a slighter kind, but still its malice is so great that if by a single venial sin we could change all the lost souls into saints who should praise God eternally in Heaven, we might not commit it, because the praises of all the human race could not compensate to God for the injury done to Him by one venial sin. And the sins which you have committed against the Lord your God have contained malice such as this, and both faith and reason teach us that this malice increases in proportion to the light and grace we have received. What ought we, then, to think about our venial sins? Who can count them? What an additional motive for penance during these chosen days, of which the Divine Office says, "The days of penance are come, to reclaim us from our sins"!

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. The injury done to our Lord by sin.

CONSIDERATION. Our sins have been an injury to our Lord Jesus Christ. The prophet Isaias speaks of our Lord as the Man of Sorrows above all other men; and it was our sins that made Him so; the sins of the whole world were laid on Him; and God beheld Him as the guilty one, on whom the weight of Divine Justice was to fall. "He was bruised for our sins," says the Holy Ghost. Attritus est propter scelera nostra. They were our sins which scourged Him, which crowned Him with thorns, which struck Him, spat upon Him, nailed Him to the cross, and made Him die upon it.

APPLICATION. This thought ought to overwhelm us with shame: there were times in my life when, in union with the cruel Jews, I cried out, "Let Him be crucified," and, "Not this man, but Barabbas -- not this man, but my passion." There have been times when, in union with the murderers, I ran the nails into my Saviour's hands and feet. I have done this, as far as I could, every time I committed a mortal sin. And every time I have committed a venial sin I have added fresh suffering to the open wounds of Jesus. Thoughts like these armed the holy penitents of the desert against themselves. Imitate them during these holy days of universal penance and expiation.

COLLOQUY with our Divine Saviour.

Second Week of Lent: Sunday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

SECOND WEEK OF LENT: SUNDAY
Jesus condemned as a Blasphemer

1st Prelude. Behold Jesus, gentle and humble, in the midst of bloodthirsty men, who cry out, "He is guilty of death."

2nd Prelude. Beg grace to know and love Jesus Christ ever more and more.


POINT I. "Then the high priest rent his garments, saying, He hath blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses?"

CONSIDERATION. How detestable was the hypocrisy of Caiphas and his party! Under an appearance of piety and zeal, they hid the mortal hatred they bore our Lord, and their long-conceived plan of putting him to death. Not wishing to enrage the people against them, they sought a specious excuse for their conduct; and Caiphas made sure he could find one by adjuring Jesus to say if He were really the Son of God; for if He said no, he should be able to condemn Him as an impostor, because the people had believed Him to be God; if He said yes, he would sentence Him as a blasphemer; and then he would use some of the expressive signs customary to the Jews, to make people believe he was overwhelmed with horror at the sin. The wicked are indeed very ingenious.

APPLICATION. Have I never dissimulated? Have I never imposed on men, on my brethren, or my superiors? Have I never concealed a wrong intention under a fair exterior, or tried to justify in my own eyes some forbidden pleasures in which I take delight? But it is God who will judge me; therefore what use is there in all of this? What will be the end of it?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT II. "Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy, what think you? But they, answering, said, He is guilty of death."

CONSIDERATION. The judges who pronounced this sentence upon the All-holy were men inflamed with hatred and blinded by passion. They hated Him because He had confessed the truth, and done righteously.

APPLICATION. In this world the innocent are often calumniated and oppressed by the crafty, and it is permitted by God, for wise and merciful reasons. And so, in this instance, Caiphas was the instrument by which God, made man, should complete the sacrifice of His life in reparation to His Father for the sins of mankind. That wicked sentence of death opened to us all the gates of eternal life.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.


POINT III. "But they, answering, said, He is guilty of death."

CONSIDERATION. If we look on Jesus according to the expression of the Apostle, as the new Adam, who is to expiate the sin of the first Adam and the innumerable sins of his whole posterity in His own Person, then indeed "He is guilty of death." Reus est mortis. It was in this sense that the Eternal Father ratified the sentence pronounced against His Son, and He Himself accepted it in loving silence.

APPLICATION. O my soul, thou hast sinned in Adam, thou hast sinned thyself, thou didst cause the death of Jesus. The sentence, "He is guilty of death," has been pronounced by Divine Justice against thee; but the Son of God made man became thy substitute, accepted in thy stead, and gave back to thee eternal life.

COLLOQUY with our Blessed Lord.

First Week of Lent: Saturday - Traditional Lenten Meditation

Practical Meditations For Every Day in the Year on the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ composed chiefly for the Use of Religious by a Father of the Society of Jesus. First translated from the French, 1868. Though primarily intended for Religious, the devout layman will find the Practical Meditations a most serviceable and bracing form of Spiritual Exercise amounting in fact to something like the daily practice of a Retreat.

FIRST WEEK OF LENT: SATURDAY
Jesus accused and examined at the Tribunal of Caiphas

1st Prelude. Imagine that you see Jesus standing with His hands bound, before iniquitous judges.

2nd Prelude. Ask to obtain solid virtue, and especially the grace of knowing when to be silent and when to speak.


POINT I. "And the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put Him to death, and they found none."

CONSIDERATION. So holy was Our Lord's life that His sworn enemies, even though they brought a great many witnesses -- and those false ones -- against Him, could find nothing of which to accuse Him, nothing that was even the shadow of sin, or a single imperfection.

APPLICATION. The life of a religious ought to be so perfect that the wicked who watch him closely should not be able to find fault with him in word or deed, either in public or private life. Can this be truly said of you? What do others think and say of you, or are they too much afraid of wounding your pride and self-love to speak the truth? And, supposing that men have nothing with which to reproach you, are you innocent in the eyes of Him who sees our hearts, our motives, and intentions?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT II. "And the high priest, rising up, said to Him, answerest Thou nothing to the things which these witness against Thee? But Jesus held His peace."

CONSIDERATION. Wonderful indeed was this silence of Our Lord. His honour, reputation, and life were in peril, and it seemed as if He could so easily justify and defend Himself, and obtain a triumph. But He left His defence in the hands of His Father, and was silent.

APPLICATION. What a contrast there is between us and our Master! He is silent under false accusation, and we, who glory in being His disciples, cannot hear a reproof that we know we deserve, or a kind observation, without beginning to defend and excuse ourselves; sometimes even at the expense of truth. Have I not often had self-reproach on this head?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS


POINT III. "And the high priest said to Him, I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us if Thou be Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said to Him, Thou hast said it."

CONSIDERATION. We learn a valuable lesson from this: as long as our Lord's own Person was concerned, He kept silence; but when it was a question of His Father's glory, or the salvation of souls, or a point of faith, He spoke, and confessed the truth; and He confessed it freely and unreservedly, though He knew it would cost Him His life.

APPLICATION. It is a matter of great difficulty to know when to speak and when to be silent; it requires thought, calmness of mind, and great firmness of character. We shall find that our indiscreet words have arisen from our deficiency in one or other of these qualities. Have we not sometimes also sacrificed truth by keeping silence, or being guilty of dissimulation, or keeping back the truth without a rightful cause?

COLLOQUY with our loving Saviour.