Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/330

disciples, one sells him, another denies him, and the rest forsake him. He can neither obtain water to moisten his lips, nor bread to satisfy his hunger, nor a stone whereon to rest his weary head. Never did anguish equal his in the garden, where in agony the blood issued at every pore. His face was disfigured with blows, his body derisively clothed in purple, and a crown of thorns was placed upon his brow. He carried his own cross, repeatedly falling beneath its weight, and ascended Calvary, followed by an infuriated multitude, who filled the air with their frightful vociferations. When he was raised on the infamous cross, his dereliction became so bitter that even his Father would not look upon him, and the angels who served him, overcome with grief and terror, veiled their faces with their wings, in order not to see him. In this extremity of suffering, his humanity seemed to be forsaken by the superior part of his soul, which remained unshaken and serene; and the crowd tauntingly cried out to him, "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross."

How can we, without the special grace of God, believe in the divinity of this object of scorn, of this man of sorrow? How can we believe his words to be aught but a scandal and foolishness? And, nevertheless, this man, who is thus utterly forsaken and who endures this mortal anguish, subjects the world to his law, taking it as by storm, by the efforts of some poor fishermen, who were, like himself, wanderers, miserable and destitute. For his sake these men changed their lives and left their homes, and through love of him accepted his cross, abandoned the cities, and inhabited the deserts. They rejected all pleasures, and, confessing the sanctifying efficacy of grief, they led pure and spiritual lives, and