Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/161

 esteemed as  so  many  impostures. And to  crown  all,  He is  totally  abandoned  by  His  friends.

II. How much  He  suffered  in  His  body! His eyes were defiled  with  spittle,  and  filled  with  the  blood  which flowed from  His  sacred  head,  and  tormented  with  the scornful gestures  which  they  were  obliged  to  behold. His ears  were  wounded  with  repeated  blasphemies against God,  and  most  unjust  accusations  brought against Himself. His taste  was  tormented  with  the most violent  thirst,  and  then  with  vinegar  and  gall. Lastly, His  sense  of  feeling  was  tortured,  in  every  part of His  sacred  body,  by  thorns,  stripes,  and  nails. So that it might  be  said  of  Him  with  truth,  "From  the  sole  of the  foot  unto  the  top  of  the  head,  there  is  no  soundness therein." (Is. i.  6.)

III. Christ suffered,  also,  most  severely  in  His  mind. His agony  in  the  garden  and  His  dereliction  on  the cross were  perhaps  the  severest  of  all  His  pains:  add  to those  His  foreknowledge  of  the  ingratitude  of  mankind, and their  abuse  of  His  redemption. Be ashamed  at your  cowardice  in  suffering  and  your  impatience  under the pressure  of  crosses. Form a  resolution  of  suffering something for  Him  who  has  suffered  so  much  for  you.

I. He  suffers  from  every  kind  and  character  of  men; from the  highest  to  the  lowest,  from  the  sacred  and  the profane. He is  dragged  about  the  streets  by  the  dregs of the  people;  He  is  forsaken  by  His  friends,  He  is accused  by  the  priests,  laughed  at  by  the  soldiery,  con-