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 Nor are these lies enough for them; they go on to add still worse, seeking at any cost to force the Judge to put to death Him Who is very God. "We have a law," they say, " and according to the law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.'" When the Governor hears these words, he fears the more, and asks: — " Whence art Thou?" And then he asks, " What is truth?" But there is no answer; for the Jews are instant in demanding sentence of death. At length, anxious for the favour of princes, and led astray from the path of justice by the impious wickedness of the Jews, the Governor yields to their iniquitous demand.

What a sad and wicked a thing it was that the words of execration, " Crucify Him! Crucify Him! spoken of the Blessed Jesus, should have resounded through the streets of Jerusalem. Who of those who love Him would not have mourned and wept, had he heard those accursed crucifixion cries repeated against his most loving Lord Jesus. What, then, must the most tenderly-loving Virgin Mother have felt, when those dreadful shouts, those death-dealing words fell upon her ears; when that cruel doom, that tumultuous demand from the lips of all the people for the death of her Son upon the cross filled the air!

Weep with her, O faithful servant of Jesus, no matter of how little account thou mayest be, weep with her, and draw forth from the recesses of thy heart moans of sorrow and compassion. Try to think with what anguish the heart of the Mother of God must have been torn, when she heard her blessed Son claimed for the shameful death of the cross. He in Whose Ears ever resounds the Angelic Song, "Holy! Holy!" ringing