Tenebræ factæ sunt,
dum crucifixissent Iesum iudæi:
et circa horam nonam exclamavit Iesus voce magna:
"Deus meus, ut quid me dereliquisti?"
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| Alejo de Vahía Cristo Crucificado (c. 1500) Church of Saint Francis, Palencia |
by Fr. A.-Joseph Chauvin S.S.S.
They crucified Him…Jesus has reached Calvary. The cross is driven into the ground, the hammers, the nails are prepared; the ladders are straightened, the ropes stretched… The executioners are at the point of beginning the death sentence… The soldiers brutally seize Jesus, loosen the chains, tear off His garments and leave almost naked Him, “Who clothed the sky with stars and the earth with flowers.” They tie the Saviour to the ropes which are thrown over the two arms of the Cross and raise Him up. They then stretch the arms and tie them to the horizontal crossbar, then each of them taking a nail and a hammer, the barbarians nail His hands and feet to the wood of the Cross. The meek Lamb offers Himself to the executioners of this unjust sentence, without putting up any resistance!
