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The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.Anne Catherine EmmerichAnnas and Caiphas at last left off disputing with Pilate, and angrily retired, taking with them thesheets of parchment on which the sentence was written; they went away in haste, fearing that theyshould get to the Temple too late for the Paschal sacrifice. Thus did the High Priests, unknowinglyto themselves, leave the true Paschal Lamb. They went to a temple made of stone, to immolate andto sacrifice that lamb which was but a symbol, and they left the true Paschal Lamb, who was beingled to the Altar of the Cross by the cruel executioners; they were most careful not to contract exteriordefilement, while their souls were completely defiled by anger, hatred, and envy. They had said,‘His blood be upon us and upon our children!’ And by these words they had performed the ceremony,and had placed the hand of the sacrificer upon the head of the Victim. Thus were the two pathsformed—the one leading to the altar belonging to the Jewish law, the other leading to the Altar ofGrace: Pilate, that proud and irresolute pagan, that slave of the world, who trembled in the presenceof the true God, and yet adored his false gods, took a middle path, and returned to his palace.233The iniquitous sentence was given at about ten in the morning.CHAPTER XXX.The Carriage of the Cross.234WHEN Pilate left the tribunal a portion of the soldiers followed him, and were drawn. up in filesbefore the palace; a few accompanying the criminals. Eight-and- twenty armed Pharisees came tothe forum on horseback, in order to accompany Jesus to the place of execution, and among thesewere the six enemies of Jesus, who had assisted in arresting him in the Garden of Olives. Thearchers led Jesus into the middle of the court, the slaves threw down the cross at his feet, and thetwo arras were forthwith tied on to the centre piece. Jesus knelt down by its side, encircled it withhis sacred arms, and kissed it three times, addressing, at the same time, a most touching prayer ofthanksgiving to his Heavenly Father for that work of redemption which he had begun. It was thecustom among pagans for the priest to embrace a new altar, and Jesus in like manner embraced hiscross, that august altar on which the bloody and expiatory sacrifice was about to be offered. Thearchers soon made him rise, and then kneel down again, and almost without any assistance, placethe heavy cross on his right shoulder, supporting its great weight with his right hand. I saw angelscome to his assistance, otherwise he would have been unable even to raise it from the ground.Whilst he was on his knees, and still praying, the executioners put the arms of the crosses, whichwere a little curved and not as yet fastened to the centre pieces, on the backs of the two thieves,and tied their hands tightly to them. The middle parts of the crosses were carried by slaves, as thetransverse pieces wore not to be fastened to them until just before the time of execution. The trumpetsounded to announce the departure of Pilate’s horsemen, and one of the Pharisees belonging to theescort came up to Jesus, who was still kneeling, and said, ‘Rise, we have had a sufficiency of thyfine speeches; rise and set off.’ They pulled him roughly up, for he was totally unable to rise withoutassistance, and he then fell upon his shoulders the weight of that cross which we must carry after134
The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.Anne Catherine Emmerichhim, according to his true and holy command to follow him. Thus began that triumphant march ofthe King of King, a march so ignominious on earth, and so glorious in heaven.235By means of ropes, which the executioners had fastened to the foot of the cross, two archerssupported it to prevent its getting entangled in anything, and four other soldiers took hold of theropes, which they had fastened to Jesus underneath his clothes. The sight of our dear Lord tremblingbeneath his burden, reminded me forcibly of Isaac, when he carried the wood destined for his ownsacrifice up the mountain. The trumpet of Pilate was sounded as the signal for departure, for hehimself intended to go to Calvary at the head of a detachment of soldiers, to prevent the possibilityof an insurrection. He was on horseback, in armour, surrounded by officers and a body of cavalry,and followed by about three hundred of the infantry, who came from the frontiers of Italy andSwitzerland. The procession was headed by a trumpeter, who sounded his trumpet at every cornerand proclaimed the sentence. A number of women and children walked behind the procession withropes, nails, wedges, and baskets filled with different articles, in their hands; others, who werestronger, carried poles, ladders, and the centre pieces of the crosses of the two thieves, and someof the Pharisees followed on horseback. A boy who had charge of the inscription which Pilate hadwritten for the cross, likewise carried the crown of thorns (which had been taken off the head ofJesus) at the end of a long stick, but he did not appear to be wicked and hard-hearted like the rest.Next I beheld our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer—his bare feet swollen and bleeding—his backbent as though he were about to sink under the heavy weight of the cross, and his whole bodycovered with wounds and blood. He appeared to be half fainting from exhaustion (having hadneither refreshment or sleep since the supper of the previous night), weak from loss of blood, andparched with thirst produced by fever and pain. He supported the cross on his right shoulder withhis right hand, the left hung almost powerless at his side, but he endeavoured now and then to holdup his long garment to prevent his bleeding feet from getting entangled in it. The four archers whoheld the cords which were fastened round his waist, walked at some distance from him, the two infront pulled him on, and the two behind dragged him back, so that he could not get on at all withoutthe greatest difficulty. His hands were cut by the cords with which they had been bound; his facebloody and disfigured; his hair and beard saturated with blood; the weight of the cross and of hischains combined to press and make the woollen dress cleave to his wounds, and reopen them:derisive and heartless words alone were addressed to him, but he continued to pray for hispersecutors, and his countenance bore an expression of combined love and resignation. Manysoldiers under arms walked by the side of the procession, and after Jesus came the two thieves,who were likewise led, the arms of their crosses, separate from the middle, being placed upon theirbacks, and their hands tied tightly to the two ends. They were clothed in large aprons, with a sortof sleeveless scapular which covered the upper part of their bodies, and they had straw caps upontheir heads. The good thief was calm, but the other was, on the contrary, furious, and never ceasedcursing and swearing. The rear of the procession was brought up by the remainder of the Phariseeson horseback, who rode to and fro to keep order. Pilate and his courtiers were at a certain distancebehind; he was in the midst of his officers clad in armour, preceded by a squadron of cavalry, andfollowed by three hundred foot soldiers; he crossed the forum, and then entered one of the principalstreets, for he was marching through the town in order to prevent any insurrection among the people.135
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