Above: Crucifixion by Andrea Mantegna (1457-1460).
From the book School of Jesus Crucified.
THREE DEVOUT MEDITATIONS INTENDED TO AWAKEN FEELINGS OF COMPASSION IN THE HEART OF A CHRISTIAN FOR MARY, THE QUEEN OF DOLOURS
DAY II – Mary on Mount Calvary at the time of the death of Jesus
Meditation
1. Her grief at beholding her Son dying on the Cross
It was always considered the very height of barbarity, and the severest of punishments, for children to be obliged to be spectators of the sufferings and death of their parents. Understand, then, if it be possible, what excessive suffering, what mortal anguish, must have been endured by the most holy Virgin, who was the tenderest of Mothers, and the most ardent lover of Jesus, on beholding with her own eyes her beloved Lord, her God, and her all, covered with wounds, satiated with tortures, and yielding up His blessed Soul upon an infamous gibbet after three hours’ painful agony! Was ever martyrdom so cruel as that endured by Mary for love of us? But was there ever ingratitude, hardness of heart, and want of love, to be compared to yours in regard of this most afflicted Mother, whose sufferings you contemplate without the slightest emotion of tenderness or compassion? Such was the price at which Mary purchased the title of our Mother, and at which she acquired a right to the name of Queen of Martyrs, the price of the most bitter anguish. Others have been martyrs, because they have died for Christ; Mary has been more, by dying with Christ, without, however, ceasing to live. In other martyrs the great love they had for God tempered the pain of their torments; in Mary, the great love she bore to Jesus increased the pangs of her martyrdom. The sword of grief which pierced her heart during the time of the Passion and death of her Son, without giving her the consolation of dying, served her as the most dreadful martyrdom. O heart of Mary, transformed into a sea of bitterness, an abyss of suffering, I compassionate and love thee.
When Jesus expires, Mary, with the utmost generosity of heart, makes a full and entire sacrifice of her dear Son to God. She offers this adorable Victim to the justice of the Eternal Father in satisfaction for our sins, and for the salvation of each individual, and to this offering she unites that of her own unspeakable sorrow. Thus does Mary merit the title of Co-operatrix in our redemption. Behold how much your sins and your salvation have cost Mary; understand what obligations you are under to this most afflicted Mother, and never be wanting in love, gratitude, and compassion for her.
2. Her sufferings on account of the Wound given to her Son with the spear
Jesus having expired, a cruel soldier opens His side with a spear, and pierces His Heart. This is the last Wound received by our Redeemer, and which, as it were, puts the seal to His dolorous Passion. It manifests the cruelty of the Jews, the tender charity of our Lord, and the deep anguish of Mary, in a clearer light. Jesus feels not the wound inflicted by the lance, because He is dead, but when the lance passes through His sacred side, it cruelly wounds the heart of Mary, whose whole soul is thereby rent with anguish.
A long and painful martyrdom has Mary endured in the Crucifixion and death of her beloved Son, since she was closely united to Him by love, and through love and compassion feels all His sufferings in her heart. But now, when she beholds human cruelty becoming more and more heartless, and unsatiated yet with the innocent Blood of her Crucified Jesus, her anguish reaches its height. Now is fulfilled that prophecy which announced that the heart of Mary should be pierced with a sword of grief, and the cruel spear, in lacerating the side, and transfixing the Heart of Jesus, at the same time rends and pierces the heart of the most sorrowful of Mothers, and inflicts a wound deep enough to have caused her death from sorrow alone. Compassionate this Queen of Martyrs, and reflect that each time you have sinned you have inflicted anew these two deep wounds upon the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Deep was the affliction of Mary at seeing with her own eyes the cruel spear-thrust aimed at her Crucified Jesus, but equally deep was it when she beheld with the eyes of her soul how frequently you would by sin re-open the wound of that side to which you owe your existence, and wound that Heart which has so loved you. This was the sword that transfixed and inflicted the sharpest pain upon her tender heart. Bewail your cruelty, and detest sin, for which Jesus suffered and Mary wept so much. As a means of showing you the enormity of sin, the sight of Mary at the foot of the Cross is second to nothing but that of Jesus Crucified. Often cast the eyes of tender, loving compassion upon this most afflicted Mother, and such a spectacle will soften the hardness of your heart, and draw copious streams of tears from your eyes.
3. Her grief on receiving in her arms the dead Body of her Son
It did not suffice for the accomplishment of the designs of the Eternal Father upon Mary that she should consent to the painful sacrifice of her Son, or that she should be a spectator at the foot of the Cross of the agony and death of the world’s Redeemer; but in order that she might be the most sorrowful of Mothers, and the Queen of Martyrs, she was to reach the height of suffering, and endure the most bitter of all desolations. After she had seen her beloved Son suffer the most cruel tortures, and expire by an ignominious death, His mangled Body was taken down and placed in her arms, as she sat at the foot of the ignominious tree. Oh, that we could obtain an insight but for a moment into the heart of this Mother, and thus acquire some idea of the excess of her anguish at the moment of receiving that lifeless Body within her arms! But it is incomprehensible, and, in point of fact, we never could come to a due appreciation of it. Then it was that, as she gazed upon those sacred limbs become one single wound, that head pierced with so many thorns, that pale, bleeding face, that open side, her grief no longer knew any bounds, and, as a torrent, overwhelmed her suffering soul. Then it was that to the bitterness of her anguish was added the sorrow of not being able to die of grief, and being thus deprived of the sole consolation of sacrificing her life together with Jesus. We may compassionate the sufferings of Mary, but never describe them. Pause for a moment, and with heart and mind contemplate that most afflicted Mother, with the dead Body of her Son in her arms, impressing a thousand kisses on His precious wounds, to satisfy her love and overwhelming grief. Behold how she presses Him to her heart. “O my beloved Son,” she exclaims, “with what indescribable barbarity have men treated Thee! to what a deplorable condition have the sins of the world reduced Thee! what a Mother of Sorrows have sinners made me!” Contemplate this Saviour of mankind lying dead in her arms, and say, if you can, that you are not the author of His death! Is there a wound in that sacred Body which is not the work of your hands and the effect of your malice? Then it is you who have pierced the heart of Mary with a sword of grief, it is you who have overwhelmed her soul with anguish and bitterness. What an ungrateful, cruel son have you been to so loving a Mother! Now at least bewail your perfidy, and resolve, from this day forward, entirely to renounce sin, and to consecrate yourself anew to the love and compassion of Jesus Crucified, and of Mary the Queen of Sorrows.
The Fruit
Hard-hearted, or intolerably ungrateful, must that Christian be who either never reflects upon, or is never touched by all that the most holy Virgin has suffered for our sakes. How many die without having even thought of it! Repair such irreligious forgetfulness by a determination to devote a few minutes daily to the remembrance of the dolours of Mary. Never omit your practices of piety in honour of this Mother of Sorrows. The best of these, and the one most pleasing to Mary, is that of loving her adorable Son, frequently meditating on His Passion, and avoiding sin, which cost Jesus and Mary so dear. Make it a rule constantly thus to gratify her heart, and ask of our Lord grace for this purpose through the bitter sufferings of Mary.
Example
Mary rewards those who are devout to her sorrows with singular favours. Blessed Antonio Patrizi of Siena, of the Order of the Servants of Mary, was accustomed to recite, every day until his death, five hundred Hail Marys, in order thus, as he said, to soothe with the angelical salutation his dear Mother’s sorrows, to which he was most especially devout. He frequently meditated upon her sorrows with tears of devotion, and was accustomed to say that all our prayers ought to be accompanied by some few tears of compassion for the most holy Virgin Queen of Dolours. The sole occupation of his life was to promote devotion to the Queen of Martyrs by preaching and example, and she, on her part, repaid the tender love of this her devoted servant by innumerable favours. He being on one occasion suddenly seized with a fainting-fit, Mary appeared, and refreshed him with a nosegay of beautiful roses. She herself informed him of his approaching passage to eternity a few days before his death, and comforted and consoled him with her special assistance at the moment of his departure hence. Finally, his good Mother, to reward him for the many Hail Marys with which he had honoured her sorrows, caused a beautiful lily, in the leaves of which were written in golden characters the words, Ave Maria to issue from the mouth of his uncorrupted body forty years after his death. (See Bollandists, May 13th.)