Thirty-fifth Day.
“I thirst.” The greatest affliction Our Lord had to endure on the cross was the thirst. The fever after loss of blood and the severe and cruel [pg 164] sufferings, the torments of a whole night, had dried up the moisture of His body. “My strength is dried up like a potsherd,” was said of Him by the Prophet: “and My tongue hath cleaved to My jaws.”—Ps. xxi. 16. We honor this holy thirst by abstaining during Lent from all intoxicating drink, and many souls have received great blessings from God for this veneration. It is the intention that ennobles the act, and the smallest offering accompanied by a good will pleases God. Our Lord suffered this thirst to atone for our sins, that we might not go to hell, where we would thirst for all eternity. Remember Dives in the Gospel, who begged for one drop of water to be placed on his tongue. Our Lord, dying with thirst, yearned for the salvation of your soul. This was the thirst symbolized by His bodily thirst.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.
Thirty-sixth Day.
At last the hour has come, in which Jesus considers that He has made reparation to His heavenly Father for all the sins of mankind. The chalice has been drained—all possible humiliation had been heaped upon Him. Jesus cried, “It is consummated.” All the work of salvation is now at an end. All the sufferings that the Father has ordained in His eternal providence have been undergone. “The work which Thou gavest me, I have performed.” The work of grace is accomplished. About the ninth hour, Our Lord cried out, with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” [pg 165] The Father had demanded the death of the Son. He must be exterminated with the most cruel torments; nothing less than death will satisfy the Father. He turns to the Father for one look of kindness, but He receives none, until that hated human flesh has been punished.
Prayer.
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, etc., etc.