History of the Passion

When that book was opened, men were able to read the writing. It was written, as we are told, within and without. The writing inside was the Word of God, which was written on the humanity of Christ by the operation of the Holy Ghost. The outside writing recorded the injuries, the wounds, the shedding of the precious blood, and the ignominy of the cross, which His cruel persecutors had written in so many dark letters. It is chiefly the outside writing of this book which forms the subject of this work-the narrative of the wounds, ignominies and sufferings endured by our divine Saviour in His bitter Passion. These are considered not so much in the mystical and internal sense, as in their literal and historical meaning, and in my treatment of them the following method has been observed. At the beginning of each chapter, I give in English the text of the Gospel narrative, according to the harmony of the four Evangelists. The comments and notes' are then given to explain the meaning of the text, and the various circumstances in connection with the events of the Passion. The first three chapters are devoted to the immediate antecedents of the Passion, namely, Christ foretelling His sufferings; the Last Supper, and the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament. The subsequent chapters treat of the various events of the Passion in the order in which they happened! A special chapter is given on the Last Seven Words; another, on the Resurrection of Christ; together with a concluding chapter on the Seven Dolours of our Blessed Lady, in which each of her dolours is separately considered. An Appendix is added, containing instructions on the erection and the manner of visiting the Stations, or the Via Crucis-that chief devotional exercise in honour of our Saviour's Passion and death. The pious reflections and affections contained in 50 many useful books on the Passion already published, are not introduced into this work, but are left enyirely to the disposition and devotion of the reader; my object being to bring before the mind as clearly and accurately as possible the subject matter for these reflections and affections, as supplied by the details of the history of the Passion. The numerous works already published on the Passion are, for the most part, confined to the domain of piety, and on that account are most valuable and useful to devout souls; but I believe it will be equally useful, for the purpose of pioty and devotion, to study the Passion from a historical and exegetical point of view: Inasmuch as to meditate does not mean to think of nothing, the mind has to be supplied with knowledge derived from history and Scriptural exegesis, that it may be able to profit by the time spent in prayer, and this knowledge is the foundation on which the whole meditation rests. It is, therefore, my earnest hope that this work may serve as a help to devout souls who are accustomed to the practice of daily meditation; that to the faithful in general it may be the means of making the sufferings of our divine Redeemer more known and better understood; and that, in the words of Mgr. Isoard, Bishop of Annecy, a complete history of our Saviour's Passion, well studied and explained, may prove a signal advantage and a great blessing in every Christian parish into which it may be introduced.