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162 relates to that manner of praying which consists in seeking something from God. I am going now to refer to it, in order to show how we may in this way excite divers affections.

I will imagine, then, that you have chosen the Crucifixion for your meditation. In this Mystery you may dwell on the following points among others:—

First, consider how the furious people on Mount Calvary passionately stripped our Lord; and how His Flesh, through the Scourging He endured, stuck to His clothes, and was torn off in pieces.

Secondly, how the crown of thorns was taken off His Head, and again pressed upon It, so that the thorns were driven in again.

Thirdly, how with the blows of the hammer and with nails, He was cruelly fastened to the Cross.

Fourthly, how, when His sacred Limbs would not reach the places where the holes were made to receive the nails, those savage dogs stretched his Arms and Legs so violently that His disjointed Bones might be numbered.

Fifthly, how, as the Lord hung on the hard wood of the Cross, the weight of His Body in that position increased the size of His most Sacred Wounds, and aggravated inexpressibly the pain.