Mar 08 2009
On The Way Of The Cross: The Third Station
Why, O Lord, are they that afflict me multiplied? Many are those who rise against me. Many say to soul: ‘there is no salvation for him in God.’ But Thou, O Lord, are my protector, my glory, the One who lifts up my head…I have cried to the Lord with my voice: and he has heard me from his holy hill…I will not fear thousands of people surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God. (See Psalm 3)
Have mercy on me, O Lord: see my humiliation which I suffer from my enemies. Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion (Psalm 9:14-15).
Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence: and I have put my trust in the Lord, and shall not be weakened. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart. For thy mercy is before my eyes; and I am well pleased with thy truth. I have not sat with the council of vanity: neither will I go in with the doers of unjust things. I have hated the assembly of the malignant; and with the wicked I will not sit…Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked: nor my life with bloody men: In whose hands are iniquities: their right hand is filled with gifts. But as for me, I have walked in my innocence: redeem me, and have mercy on me. My foot hath stood in the direct way: in the churches I will bless thee, O Lord (See Psalm 26).
There is no actual mention of the falls of our Lord under the cross, except the implication of the words used by St Mark. He tells us that the soldiers forced Simon to take up the cross, as if it were on the ground. There is a tradition that finds its echo in the devotion of the Stations of the Cross that our Lord fell three times on the way to Calvary. The first time was just before His Mother met Him on the rough road. After this fall the soldiers compelled Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross behind our Lord. There is a peculiar grace in the falls of our Lord as He carries the cross. He supported His body already weakened by the scourgin and the abuse of the soldiers by His divine power, but three times he withdrew that support, and at once He fell under the cross. In like manner He is willing to support those who come after Him as long as they trust in His power, but as soon as they begin to stand by themselves He allows them to fall. Their fall is pride; His is reparation. In this first fall at the beginning of His journey we may see that even He will not attempt to bear the cross His Father has given Him apart from the support of His Father.
The devil tries to persuade the soul by an attraction for suffering, as not a few who enter religion think they have, to keep up practices which they were able to bear in times of fervor, and he argues that what has been borne can be borne again, not know in the strength that comes from God, but in the strength of self-discipline. Thus, many who suffer, because they are able to bear suffering, rather than because God puts suffering upon them, fall, not as our Lord did in His weakness, but as the devil did in self strength and pride. For these our Lord fell under the weight of the cross, and fell in the sight of His Mother, the Queen of Sorrows, the Queen of humble suffering.
This humility which our Lord teaches me in this first fall is of great importance to me in my religious life. The world is ever urging me to self-reliance, but the only reliance that can be urged in the spiritual life is reliance on God. When the soul is so united to God that there is no desire and no love in the soul except the desire and the love of God it may be trusted to rely on self.
From such a fall save Thy servant, O my God! If Thou allowest me to fall under the weight of the cross let that fall be in utter trust in Thee, and in Thy mercy allow me to rise again and struggle forward. Let no fall leave me weaker in my trust in Thee, but let me bear my cross to the end, as Thou didst.
The fall of our Lord under the cross brought Him new courage, as the mistakes I make through following inadvertently my own will and my own way may bring new courage to me. Indeed, the only way in which I can use a mistake is to acknowledge it an tis cause in myself, and putting my trust in God, and humbling myself before Him again take up the cross. In none of His falls does our Lord sink hopelessly, and in none need I sink without hope. Some of the crosses our Lord gives me try my physical powers, some my powers of character, and some my power of mind. In all these there is one way of using the weakness, that is, to cast myself upon the hidde strength of God. The weakness of body, weariness in work, sickness or physical incapacity have not been a hindrance to God’s work in the lives of the saints, and will not be in mine, if I, falling with our Lord, will rise in renewed trust in Him. So, too, weakness of character can be used by God, for He can support the weakness. It is easy to criticise the weakness of the saints who, though they failed in the eyes of the world, yet secured the completion of God’s work committed to them. In like manner, weakness of mind can be used by God. A fall is God’s warning not to trust myself.
Thou knowet all my weakness, dear Lord; do Thou in Thy great kindness allow me to make use of it as Thou wishest. Thou hast made me weak, that Thou mayest have pity on me. Thou wouldst have me trust only in Thee. Thou art ready to help the work of Thy hands. My weakness is not an excuse for me if I fail to do Thy work; it is only an opportunity for Thy greater assistance. Do not fail me, dear Lord, my Creator. With Thee and in Thy strength even my weakness will be no hindrance to Thy work. In Thy mercy let me not succeed if success is indeed a danger. I wil welcome failure and mistakes if Thou wilt not abandon me. I can fall with Thee, Lord, if Thou wilt help me to bear this failure, to put right the mistakes, and to persevere in spite of weakness. Amen.-Joseph Oswald Smith, O.S.B., Abbot of Ampleforth
