Maria's vision takes us to the moment, as Jesus was dying, that the hosts of hell finally realized who Christ was: the Word made flesh, the Redeemer of the world. Despite their maniacal rage at having been outwitted and defeated, they were powerless to resist divine judgment. God's justice snatched them out of this world and cast them into an eternal torment of their own making. At long last, the human race could be free.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, [Christ] Himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death He might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the Devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. - Hebrews 2:14-15

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)

Jesus' last words on the cross are a shout of triumphant faith. The earlier cry of abandonment has now given way to a declaration of supreme confidence in God. In Matthew's account especially, we find evidence that these last words were less the last gasp of a Victim than the trumpet of a victorious Warrior King preparing to return home from battle. Anne Catherine's vision focuses on this militant aspect of Our Lord's death. The earth trembles beneath her Lord's advance, the saints of old are released from prison, and the ancient Enemy is at last utterly overthrown.

Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!" And having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, and said, "Certainly this man was innocent!" And all the multitudes who assembled to see the sight, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. - Luke 23:46-48

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)

Before Jesus gave up His spirit to the Father, He cried out: "I thirst" and "It is finished." St. John hints at their inner unity. Only when Our Lord knew "that all was now finished," the evangelist writes, was He able to declare "I thirst," receive the vinegar, and pronounce the consummation of His life's work. Maria explored this mysterious connection. Christ's most profound thirst, she said, was His passionate longing for the salvation of the human race. He did indeed drink it, and at last He was satisfied. In "I thirst," we hear the groan of divine desire; in "It is finished," a cry of desire fulfilled.

After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished!" - John 19:28-30

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)

Jesus' cry from the cross that God had forsaken Him is perplexing. How is it possible that God the Father could have abandoned God the Son? Some have speculated that, since Christ bore our sins in that moment, a perfectly holy God turned His face away as part of the punishment Jesus suffered in our place. Anne Catherine envisions: Christ, she said, was speaking on behalf of all those who in their hour of death are tempted to despair. He has walked the way before them, borne their desperate hopelessness, and earned for them a sure and certain hope.

About three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" - Matthew 27:46

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)

We may find it startling to hear Jesus address Mary, not as "Mother," but as "Woman," in His last words to her before He died. Commenting on this situation, Maria insisted that in calling the Virgin "Woman," Our Lord was alluding to her perfect womanhood, her status as the exemplar for all women. Anne Catherine perceives yet another layer of meaning in the word, seeing in it a reference to the woman who would crush the serpent's head through her seed (Genesis 3:15). The Woman became on that day the mother of the Church.

When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. – John 19:25-27

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)

On the day Jesus was crucified, when the midday sun hid its face in shame and darkened the landscape, it was indeed a sign. Anne Catherine elaborated on that sign. She saw the whole cosmos, from the little sparrows to the immense galaxies, injured and crippled by this assault on its Creator and Sustainer. Even in that hour Our Lord prayed for God's will to be done, so that even in the catastrophic darkness, the heavens might "proclaim His handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. - Luke 23:44-45

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)

The two thieves crucified with Christ hang before us like a microcosm of Judgment Day. Enthroned on His Cross between them is the Judge, with the "sheep" at His right hand and the "goat" at His left-one on his way to eternal life, and the other to everlasting punishment. Dismas' example gives to even the worst of us a reason for hope, and a motive for humility. St. Augustine summed it up: "Do not despair; one of the thieves was saved; do not presume; one of the thieves was damned."

When they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. ... One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And He said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." - Luke 23:33; 39-43

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)

Consider Simon of Cyrene, the Everyman of the passion story. Like most of us, he was not prepared to be inconvenienced. In the Simon of Anne Catherine's vision, he resented helping a total stranger, especially when he had no choice. Yet with one look into Jesus' eyes, everything changed for Simon. His heart began to melt, and before long, he was carrying that Cross to a new eternal destiny. So it is with us: God honors even the most reluctant acts of charity with abundant grace.

When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe, and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. As they were marching out, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry His cross. - Matthew 27:31-32

With excerpts from:

• The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (https://bit.ly/3kaeP6l)
• The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda (https://bit.ly/3IhySaO)

GET THE BOOK - The Passion: Reflections on the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ by Paul Thigpen (https://bit.ly/3IiSNpM)