The Crucifixion

Preparatory Prayer [46]: I will beg God our Lord for grace that all my intentions, actions, and operations may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty.

Preludes[]:

We know the history of the Passion well. How Christ was taken from the Garden; tried before Pilate and rejected by the Jewish leaders & people; made to carry his cross to the place of crucifixion.

Mental Representation: I can picture in the imagination a scene on Mt Calvary, focusing on a specific scene – when He was fixed to the Cross; when they raise Him up; another scene of your choice

Grace:  I will ask God for what I desire: Here it will be to ask for sorrow, compassion, and shame because the Lord is going to His suffering for my sins.

Points [297]:

1. He spoke seven words upon the cross:
   1. He prayed for those who crucified Him
   2. He pardoned the thief
   3. He recommended St. John to His Mother
   4. He said with a loud voice, “I thirst” and they have Him vinegar to drink
   5. He said that He was forsaken
   6. He said, “It is consummated”
   7. He said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
2. The sun was darkened, the rocks rent, the graves opened, and the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
3. They blasphemed Him saying, “Though who wouldst overthrow the temple…come down from the cross.” His garments were divided, His side was pierced with a lance, and blood and water came forth.

Colloquy.  Close with a colloquy to Christ our Lord, and at the end, say the Our Father, talk over motives and present petitions according to circumstances.

Feel free do any other type of colloquy, if you feel moved to do so.  

Additional Point for Consideration:

Jesus wanted to suffer, although he naturally abhorred the pain:  

Saint Thomas Aquinas:

Christ had the power to hold his enemies in check or to preserve his body from suffering injury. He had said: “No one takes my life from me”…which means, nobody forced Him to die. (III,q47a1)

It was out of charity that Jesus remained obedient to the Father’s will. The offenses against God were not to be ignored, but paid for by Christ. These were acts of charity because Christ wanted to do the Father’s will. (III, q47a2)

God the Father inspired Christ to give himself up. Motivated by love, Christ went to the Cross. Compare this way of living to the ways of Judas, Pilate, or the others:  Christ desired death and suffering; they desired His death and suffering. One was in order to heal and give life, freedom. The others were motivated by sinful desires — greed, envy, worldly love. (III, q47a3)