St. Robert Bellarmine: The Seven Words on the Cross

[Stone]

CHAPTER X: The second fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the third Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.

We may draw another fruit from the consideration of the third word spoken by Christ on the Cross from this circumstance, that there were three women who stood near the Cross of our Lord Mary Magdalene is the representative of the penitent sinner, or of one who is making a first attempt to advance in the way of perfection. Mary the wife of Cleophas is the representative of those who have already made some advance towards perfection; and Mary the Virgin Mother of Christ is the representative of those who are perfect We may couple St. John with our Lady, who was shortly to be, if he were not already, confirmed in grace These were the only persons who were found near the Cross, for abandoned sinners who never think of penance are far removed from the ladder of salvation, the Cross Moreover, it was not without a purpose that these chosen souls were near the Cross, since even they were in need of the assistance of Him Who was nailed thereon. Penitents, or beginners in virtue, in order to carry on the war against their vices and concupiscences require help from Christ, their Leader, and this help to fight with the old serpent they receive in the encouragement which His example gives them, for He would not descend from the Cross until He had gained a complete victory over the devil, which is what we are taught by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians: ” Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”[1] Mary the wife of Cleophas, and the mother of children who were called the brothers of our Lord, is the representative of those who have already made some progress on the path of perfection These also want assistance from the Cross, lest the cares and anxieties of this world, with which they are necessarily mixed up, choke in them the good seed, and a night of labour will result in the capture of nothing Therefore souls in this stage of perfection must still work and cast many a glance on Christ nailed to His Cross, Who was not satisfied by the great and manifold good deeds He performed during His life, but wished by means of His death to advance to the most heroic degree of virtue, for until the enemy of mankind had been thoroughly vanquished and put to flight, He would not come down from His Cross. To grow weary in the pursuit of virtue, and to cease from performing acts of virtue, are the greatest impediments to our spiritual advancement, for as St. Bernard truly notes in his Epistle to Garinus, “not to advance in virtue is to go back;” and in this same epistle he refers to the ladder of Jacob, whereon all the angels were either ascending or descending, but none were standing still. Moreover, even in the perfect who live a life of celibacy and are virgins, as were our Blessed Lady and St. John, who for this reason was the chosen Apostle of Christ, even these, I say, greatly need the assistance of Him that was crucified, since their very virtue exposes them to the danger of falling through spiritual pride, unless they are well grounded in humility During the course of His public ministry, Christ gave us many lessons in humility, as when He said “Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of Heart.”[2] And again “Sit ye down in the lowest place;”[3] and “Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”[4] Still all His exhortations on the necessity of this virtue are not so persuasive as the example He set us on the Cross For what greater example of humility can we conceive than that the Omnipotent should allow Himself to be bound with ropes and nailed to a Cross ? And that He “in Whom are hid all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God”[5] should permit Herod and his army to treat Him as a fool and clothe Him with a white robe, and that “He Who sitteth on the cherubim”[6] should suffer Himself to be crucified between two thieves? Well might we say after this, that the man who should kneel before a crucifix, and should look into the interior of his own soul, and should come to the conclusion that he was not deficient in the virtue of humility, would be incapable of learning any lesson.


ENDNOTES

1. Coloss. ii. 14-15.
2. St. Matt. xi. 29.
3. St. Luke xiv. 10.
4. St. Luke xviii. 14.
5. Coloss. ii. 3.
6. Psalm xcviii. 1.