Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin have condemned Jesus to death. But Palestine is a tributary country of Rome and the procurator’s permission is needed to carry out the sentence… For fear of the Jews whom he despises, for fear of losing his position and of incurring the disgrace of Caesar, Pilate allows Jesus to be subjected to the torture reserved for slaves, the torture of the cross. “For love of you, I came down from Heaven and became a man; you delivered Me to death after scourging Me. I taught you the way to Heaven, and you led Me to Pilate’s Praetorium. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

According to custom, those condemned to the cross had to carry the instrument of their torture: two pieces of wood, roughly squared and arranged in a T- shape. Isaiah had written: “He was put in the ranks of evildoers”, and like the criminals, the disturbers of public order, the rebellious slaves, Christ, the Son of God made man, walks the streets of Jerusalem, carrying His cross. “Is it because I have given you all the gifts of Heaven that you have prepared a cross for your Saviour? – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take the body of Jesus and wrap it in the shroud, with aromatic spices as was the custom of burial among the Jews. Now in the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in that garden a new tomb, where no one had yet been laid. Because this tomb was near, they laid Jesus there before nightfall. “Do you not know,” says the Apostle, “that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? For we were buried with Him in baptism by dying to sin, that as Christ afterwards rose from the grave by the glory of the Father, so we also should henceforth walk in a new life.” “O My children, in order to obtain the eternal life which I have acquired for you at such a high price, will you not accept to die to the things of the world and to yourselves in order to live only for Me? Will your heart always remain hard as stone? Will you finally give it to your God who loves you infinitely? – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

On the day of the presentation in the Temple, the elder Simeon had predicted to the Virgin Mary, “A sword of sorrow shall pierce Your heart.” To the very word, this prophecy was fulfilled from the flight into Egypt to that moment so painful, even to that so near and so terrible of the crucifixion… O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, we have contributed by our sins to the suffering of Your divine Son, help us to regret them, uniting ourselves wholeheartedly to the torments that You endured during the passion of Jesus. “From the Cross, I gave you My Mother as the most precious treasure of My Heart. Why do you continue to sin and cause My tender Mother to shed torrents of tears? – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

“And they compelled a certain Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross…” This is how the Gospel presents us with Simon, father of Alexander and Rufus. It is not out of pity that the executioners proceed in this way towards the divine Condemned. They see His growing weakness and fear that He will die before reaching Calvary. O Jesus, You have redeemed us freely, but You ask for our cooperation. We will help You to carry Your heavy cross, accepting all the little crosses that Your Providence reserves for us; they will serve for our sanctification and the expiation of our faults. “I have told you that whatever you do to the least of My children, you do unto Me. Why are you sometimes so mean, so harsh to your neighbor. When you inflict pain on others, you imitate My executioners, you hurt Me cruelly. Help your brother to carry his cross and you will relieve Me. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

Veronica, a woman who faithfully followed Jesus, crosses the ranks of this cruel crowd and comes forward with a veil to wipe the face of the Saviour, that face covered with sweat, blood, spit, filth, tears. In spite of the mocking, the sarcasm and the smiles, Veronica carries out her gesture of compassion… Thus, some faithful friends are not afraid to assert themselves at a time when the cause of Christ seems lost. How did we behave on such occasions? Have we had the courage to assert ourselves, always, as faithful disciples of Christ? Forgive us, O Jesus, for our cowardice, for our denials. “O My children! Your blasphemies, your revolts are as much filth thrown in My face. You who love Me, what will you do to console Me for the outrages with which the sinful world afflicts Me at every moment. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

Despite the help of the Cyrenean, Jesus is so weak that He falls to the ground for the second time. It takes a superhuman will to maintain a breath of life in this body tortured by the scourging and the crowning with thorns, where it has lost much blood, and which is now crushed by the weight of the cross. But here again, with a divine energy, the Saviour gets up. After our faults were regretted and forgiven, we have had to deplore relapses. Like You, O Jesus, we want in spite of everything, courageously, to continue on the road to Calvary, the only road to salvation. “I have multiplied My forgiveness and mercy towards you. Why do you always fall back into the same faults? O My child, do you despise My love, because I lavish My grace on you so readily? – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

Jesus was followed by a great crowd of people and women who were striking their chests and lamenting over Him. But Jesus said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children…” Thus, in spite of intolerable sufferings, Jesus thinks first of the evils that will come upon the deicidal people. Like Yours, O Jesus, form in us a generous soul, knowing how to forget its sorrows, its difficulties, its troubles in order to see and foresee the sorrows of others, to understand them, and to come to the aid of souls who need it. “O souls whom I love so much! Weep, yes, weep over your sins which are the cause of My sufferings. And above all, do not render useless the infinite sorrows of My Passion and My death, by rushing to eternal perdition. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

The convoy approaches the summit of Calvary; the Saviour’s weakness becomes more severe and He falls for the third time. What must have been the fear and anger of the executioners? Would they only have a corpse to fix on the cross? Let them be reassured; even lying on the ground, Christ remains the strong God, the Master of the world, who will deliver His life when He chooses. Sometimes the effort that is asked of us seems painful. It may be that during our walk towards good, we have stopped, stepped back, fallen and relapsed. We may not have believed in the relevance and continuity of our efforts. From now on, like You, O Jesus, and by Your grace, we shall rise again and again, and we shall always go forward courageously. “To sustain your courage and give you strength to walk the narrow path of Heaven, I have given you mighty helps: I have given you My own Body in the Eucharist. I gave you the sacrament of Penance to purify you. How many times, alas! you have neglected to take advantage of such many graces. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

The soldiers took His blood-soaked garments and made four parts, one for each soldier. They also took His tunic and said among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots for it.” Thus was fulfilled that word of Scripture, “They divided My garments among themselves and cast lots for My tunic.” You accept both this extra pain and this humiliation, O Jesus… The wounds on Your shoulders and chest are being torn open again… it is for You like a second scourging. Under the insulting stare of the crowd, You want to expiate all our faults of sensuality… Jesus, who loves purity, have mercy on us. “O My dear children, you no longer know how to respect your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your indecencies, your search for satisfaction, cause so many sins. How much you make Me suffer! Many souls are going to hell for the sins of impurity, as My Mother said tearfully in Fatima. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

At the top of Calvary, the executioners crucified Jesus between two criminals condemned to die with Him. With a precision that they are used to, the executioners drive the nails into the wrists and feet of our sweet Saviour. The purpose of this crucifixion torture is not to make the condemned man perish immediately, but to accumulate the maximum suffering and to bring about death slowly. “O My people, I have raised you from your misery and I am preparing a place for you in My heavenly Kingdom. And you have tied Me to the gallows of the cross. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

While the chief priests sneer and blaspheme, while darkness gathers around Golgotha and over Jerusalem, from noon to three o’clock, seven times, the Saviour raises His voice again. He prays for His executioners, He promises paradise to the good thief, He makes His Mother our Mother, He calls upon Heaven for assistance, He moans about a terrible thirst, and after announcing that all is consummated, freely, He breathes His last, saying with a loud cry, “My Father, into Thy hands I commit My soul.” “Let us know,” says Saint Paul, “that our old man has been crucified with Jesus, so that henceforth we may no longer be slaves to sin… For inasmuch as Christ died for sin, He died once for all…. You also, therefore, look upon yourselves as dead to sin, and as living now only for God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “O My people, I came down to earth to give you eternal life. And you, you make Me die of the most cruel and ignominious death. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

At the foot of the cross of Jesus stood His Mother, His Mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene… Painters, sculptors and statuaries have reproduced this scene from the Pieta: Mary receiving on Her knees the bloodless and disfigured body of Her divine Son. But no one has been able to translate the pain of our Mother, co-redemptrix with Jesus. “O Mother, source of love,” says the Stabat Mater, “make me feel the violence of Your pains, so that I may weep with You. “Make my heart blaze with love for Christ, my God, that I may please Him. “O holy Mother, fix the wounds of the Crucified One strongly in my heart.” Engrave in my heart the love and sorrows of Your Son. His love, so that for His sake I may sacrifice all that distracts me from Him; His sorrows, so that for His sake I may accept every suffering with Christian courage. “O My children, have mercy on My Mother and yours, who weeps torrents of tears and suffers for Her people who refuse to be converted. Do not allow Her tears to be shed in vain. Work with all your strength with Her, through prayer and penance, for the salvation of the souls of your brothers. – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”

It is a little more than half a kilometer from Pilate’s Praetorium to Golgotha, and the way is hardly passable… Jesus advances in the middle of a hostile crowd whose hatred is stirred up by the Pharisees and the Saviour’s enemies… Exhausted by the sufferings endured since the day before, He falls to the ground… You whom Peter, James and John saw in the glory of Tabor, You who multiplied the miracles during Your earthly mission, You the strong God, You fall. But You stand up courageously. Give us the strength to do the same in all the hard and painful circumstances of our lives. “I wanted to raise you up from the abyss of sin where you were languishing; is that why you throw Me down, hurling insults and blasphemies at Me, striking Me cruelly? – O My people, what have I done to you? answer Me.”