who wast His mother and sawest it all with thine eyes? If to many
friends of God and to many who love Him, thy Son's Passion is as
grievous as if they suffered it themselves, if by inward pity they
are crucified with thy Son, how terribly, even unto death, must thou
have been crucified inwardly, when thou didst not only ponder and
search into the outward and inward pains of thy Son in thy devout
heart, but sawest them with thy bodily eyes? For never did any
mother love her child as thou lovedst thy Son. And if St Paul, who
loved so much, could say, out of his ardent love and deep pity for
thy Son, "I am crucified with Christ; and I bear in my body the
marks of the Lord Jesus," how much more wert thou crucified with
Him, and didst inwardly receive all His wounds, being made, in a
manner, an image and likeness of thy crucified Son?

THE FOURTH WORD

ABOUT the ninth hour our Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice, "My
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He cried with a loud voice,
that He might be easily heard by all, and also that by this wondrous
word He might shake off from our souls the sleep of sloth, and cause
them to wonder and marvel at the immeasurable goodness of God to us.
Therefore He saith, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" For
the sake of vile sinners, for evil and thankless servants, for
sinful and disobedient deceivers, Thou hast forsaken Thy beloved Son
and most obedient Child. That Thy enemies, who are vessels of wrath,
might be changed into children of adoption, Thou hast slain Thine
own Son, and given Him over to death like one guilty. "O my God,
why, I pray Thee, hast Thou forsaken me?" For the very cause why men
ought to praise and give thanks to Thee, and love Thee with an
everlasting love; because Thou hast delivered Thy dear Son to death