O most tender Mother, it was I that covered thy divine Son with wounds, and put Him to death! It was I that pierced thy heart with the most bitter sword of grief! Oh, by those wounds and by that blood, by thy sorrows and by thy tears, I conjure thee, O Mary, to be my protectress and my advocate. Pray for me, and for all sinners like me, that so many precious sufferings may not become useless to us. Amen.
Thirteenth Day. The Taking Down from the Cross.
The sorrowful day is over. All have gradually dispersed, and now only Mary and the other holy women, with the disciples, remain at the cross. The bruised and mangled body is lifted down, and laid on the Mother's knee. When Our Lord dies we are tempted to think that Our Lady's dolors ought to have ended there; but no, there is still more to be endured. Mary embraces the lifeless body, washes the gaping wounds, smoothes the tangled hair, and bathes away the clotted blood that dims its glory. She wraps Him tenderly in a white linen cloth, and gives Him into the reverential arms of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Both of these were disciples of our blessed Lord. Joseph was a good and just man, and Nicodemus was a man learned in the Scriptures, who had come to Jesus by night, for fear of the Jews, and had learned the doctrine of regeneration. Joseph had gone to Pilate and had begged the body of Jesus, which had been granted to him. Now he takes Him in his arms, and with the help of Nicodemus places Him in his own tomb. Well has our blessed Lord said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." Mary found nothing strange even in the tremendous sorrows that almost crushed the life out of her. She looks only to God's will. No matter how uncommon, how exacting, or how apparently unreasonable, she was always found prepared, always found with these words on her lips, "O God, Thy will be done." Let us look at our lives, and see if we, like Mary, are ever ready to do God's will; ever looking at Our Lord crucified, and willing to bear all the disappointments, trials, and sorrows that He may send us. Let us look at our immaculate Mother, standing patient and resigned at the foot of the cross, looking on the sufferings of her dearly beloved Son, and we will never murmur--no matter how heavy the cross which our good God in His divine providence may place upon our shoulders.