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| Stations of the Cross
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| The
Tenth Station |
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Jesus
is Stripped of His Raiment |
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V.
We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee:
(genuflect)
R.
Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.
THE
READING: (Hebrews 10:10, 19-23)
They
gave Jesus vinegar to drink mingled with gall; and when he had tasted
thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and parted
his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture
did they cast lots.
V.
I did give thee to drink the water of life from the
rock: and thou hast given me to drink but gall and vinegar.
R.
Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.
Let us
pray:
O
Lord God, whose blessed Son our Saviour gave his back to the smitters
and hid not his face from shame; Grant us grace to take joyfully the
sufferings of the present time, in full assurance of the glory that
shall be revealed; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord
(who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever
one God, world without end). Amen.
V.
O Savior of the world, who by thy Cross and Precious Blood hast redeemed
us:
R.
Save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.
| Reflection:
At
length He has arrived at the place of sacrifice, and they begin to
prepare Him for the Cross. His garments are torn from His bleeding
body, and He, the Holy of Holiest, stands exposed to the gaze of the
coarse and scoffing multitude.
O
Thou who in Thy Passion wast stripped of all Thy clothes, and held
up to the curiosity and mockery of the rabble, strip me of myself
here and now, that in the Last Day I come not to shame before men
and Angels. Thou didst endure the shame on Calvary, that I might be
spared the shame of the Judgment. Thou hadst nothing to be ashamed
of personally, and the shame which Thou didst feel was because Thou
hadst taken on Thee man's nature. When they took from Thee Thy
garments, those innocent limbs of Thine were but objects of humble
and loving adoration to the highest Seraphim. They stood around in
speechless awe, wondering at Thy beauty, and they trembled at Thy
infinite self-abasement. But I, O Lord, how shall I appear if thou
shalt hold me up hereafter to be gazed upon, stripped of that robe
of grace which is Thine, and seen in my own personal life and
nature? O how hideous I am in myself, even in my best estate. Even
when I am cleansed from my mortal sins, what disease and corruption
is seen even in my venial sins. How shall I be fit for the society
of Angels, how for Thy presence, until Thou burnest this foul
leprosy away in the fire of Purgatory? |
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