Chapter 50: Of the suffering of the Lord with His Mother's grief and His commendation the one to the other of Blessed Mary and St. John

I BLESS You, and give thanks to You, O Lord Jesus Christ, Comforter of all that mourn, for the sorrowful glance which, in Your mercy, You did cast upon Your dearly-loved Mother as she stood beneath Your Cross, worn out with the intensity of her grief. How intense that grief was. You alone best knew, from Whom the most secret motions of her heart were not hid; for, upon earth, there was nothing more dear to You than Your Virgin Mother; and she loved nothing so much as You, her God and her Son, Whom, although You were the Fruit of her womb, she knew, without doubt, to be her Maker and the Lord of all things. When, therefore, she saw You, Whom she loved above all else, hanging upon the Cross, her heart was in You, rather than in herself; and being lifted, as it were, outside herself, she will, in spirit, have hung with You upon the Cross, even when, in the body, she was standing weeping at its foot.

I praise and glorify You for the exceeding great compassion with which, as a Son, You did condole with Your most sorrowful Mother, to whom all Your anguish was as if it had been her own; who wept over each wound of Yours, as if it had been inflicted upon herself; and whose heart was racked with fresh pain as often as, with a mother's eye, she saw blood flowing from Your Body, or heard Your voice as You spoke to her from the Cross.

I laud and magnify You for those most gracious words, few in number though they were, which You did at length speak to Your disconsolate Mother, when You did commend her to Your well-beloved disciple John, as to a most faithful steward, and did bring together in an indissoluble bond of love the Virgin and him who was vowed to chastity, saying to her: " Woman, behold your son, " and then to Your disciple: "Behold your mother."

O happy union, and pleasing commendation, shared and consecrated by virgin purity ! For in these words You did on the one hand show forth Your loving care for Your Mother's honour, by giving her the protection of Your chaste disciple, and on the other hand You did, as it were, supply Your place to her, by assigning to her another son, who, by the chastity of his life was suited to give her a home, and who might be depended on to provide her with the necessaries of life. What You did was what Your feeling as a son prompted You to do, that so the spotless Virgin, who was Your holy Mother, might always have a faithful attendant; and when deprived of Your most sweet presence, might never feel as if she were left alone in the world, and as a stranger among the Jews.

May this sacred arrangement, this most fitting commendation by your Son, be pleasing to you, O loving Mother of God: welcome thankfully the disciple whom your Son Jesus has assigned to you. This is John, the Apostle, chosen as one of unstained life, more beloved than the other apostles, gentle in his manners, kind in his speech, bashful in his looks, modest in his carriage, temperate in his food, homely in his dress, dutiful and obedient: this is the disciple whom your Son loved who is related to you by blood, well spoken of by all, pure in mind, chaste in body, pleasing to God, beloved of all men, fitted in every way to be your companion, O Mother of God. I know indeed full well, that your will was, and is, in accordance with your Son's will, and that it must always have been your supreme wish to do what was ordained by Him, Who in all that He did sought not His Own Will, but His Father's glory; and so I cannot doubt that when, as the hour of His departure was at hand. He left John to supply His place to you, what He did was pleasing to you.

Take to yourself, then, holy John, the precious treasure thus made over to you. Take to yourself the holy Virgin, the Mother of Jesus, worthy of all reverence, the Queen of Heaven, the Mistress of the World, your own beloved aunt, your mother's sister. Till now the Blessed Virgin Mary has been called your aunt by right of blood; henceforth, by special grace entrusted to your care, she shall be called your mother, by a more sacred title, that is by right Divine: and you too, who have hitherto been known as the son of Zebedee, according to the flesh, as the brother of James the Greater, as the kinsman of your Lord and Saviour, and afterwards as his disciple, shall now receive the new name of Mary's adopted son; and shall minister to her with the love of a son, over and above that love of a nephew which you always had for her. Do then as Christ bids you; fulfil the holy commendatory injunction, and you shall be well-pleasing to all men, and honoured throughout the world.

Most blessed John did as Jesus had bidden him from the Cross. From that hour the disciple took her to his home, watched over her, carefully ministered to her, most faithfully submitted himself to her, and loved her with his whole heart, as if she had been his own mother.

Be glad and rejoice, O blessed Saint John, in the trust committed to you: for what in all the world Christ held most dear, that He made over to your care. He gave you great wealth, when He bequeathed to you Mary, whom even the Holy Angels cannot worthily praise. To Saint Peter Christ gave charge of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, but He made you His Own Mother's chamberlain. Formerly Mary was betrothed to holy Joseph, but now she is entrusted to you as to her second guardian. To holy Joseph an Angel had said: "Fear not to take unto you Mary, your wife," now it is the Lord of Angels Himself Who says to you: " Behold your Mother," in order that, as Joseph was not wanting in his duty to the Virgin at the birth of her Son, so neither should you fail in your duty to her, whether at the hour of Christ's Passion, or in the long years that will follow after His Ascension into Heaven. Had indeed most blessed John the Baptist been alive, I should have thought that he, by right of near kinship, and on account of his chaste life, would have been a fitting person to act as guardian, and as the Bridegroom's friend: but since Joseph is no more,[3] it is for you so supply the place of all those dear ones, and to be to her as a son instead of Christ, Who has been taken from her side. I trust in the Lord Jesus, that your brother James and the rest of the Apostles will hail with joy this arrangement; that not one of your friends will be envious of you, and that every faithful soul will contentedly rejoice with you.

O blessed Saint John, this high reward was won for you by your many virtues, to wit, by your perfect contempt of the world, your love for Jesus, the gentleness of your manners, your virginal chastity, your even-mindedness, your frankness, the purity of your conscience, and the probity of your life. Take, then, the Mother of Christ into your care, and so doing you shall win abundant grace; much profit shall you have through her, and high shall you rise; for by her words you shall be instructed, by her example you shall be edified, by her prayers you shall be helped, by her admonitions you shall be inspirited; you shall be inflamed with love; you shall rise higher in devotion; you shall be lifted up in meditation; you shall be filled with joy; you shall abound in consolation; you shall enjoy the things of heaven: from her lips you shall hear Divine mysteries: you shall be taught things hidden from the world; you shall understand what others can only wonder at; you shall comprehend things unspeakable. By dwelling with her, you shall become more chaste than before; you shall remain altogether pure; you shall increase in holiness; you shall become more and more devout. Her every glance is modesty itself, her every word prudence, her every act justice, her scripture-reading Jesus, her meditation Christ, her contemplation God. The beauty of her countenance bursts forth as light; her looks, though awe-inspiring, keep no one from approaching her; her refinement brings purity to all who behold her; her words drive away every evil thing. Such, and so great, is the high rank of Mary, that she surpasses all other Saints in purity and grace; and to her shall you be as a guardian[4] assigned to her by the Most High King of Heaven Himself. Be, then, diligent in your attendance on her; pay to her the honour which is her due; watch over her to the best of your ability. Stand at the foot of the cross; watch by the Virgin's side; when she is worn out support her in yours arms; embrace Mary; when she is fainting, raise her up; when she is bathed in tears, comfort her; weep with her when she weeps; sigh with her when she sighs; go with her when she was; stand with her when she stands; sit with her when she sits. Leave her not in her grief; do that work of mercy; and then get ready for the burial of Jesus, Who is about to die. Take the Mother with you to the Sepulchre, bring her back to the city, take her to your house; comfort her who is the comforter of all who are forlorn. You are in this case permitted to be the consoler of one of higher rank than yourself; be then to her as a ministering angel. In His Agony Christ was strengthened by an angel; although He needed it not, yet He willed to be attended by one beneath Him, and He refused not the angelic consolation. Behold, O John, who are so very dear to me, ta what holy duties you are called; of what high estate that Virgin is who has been commended to you, and Whose Mother she is who has been entrusted to your care!

Now, therefore, I humbly beseech you to pray earnestly for me, a sinner, that I too may be on fire with love for Christ, and may be more devout than ever in praising the Blessed Virgin, and more and more full of compassion for her grief.