The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross

Image courtesy of St Raphael's Parish, Surrey. www.straphael.org.uk

Upon the cross He hangs now, the most abject and despised of all men, the butt for vile jests, a common mark for all to hurl their jibes at. There He hangs, in agony no human lips can tell, no mind conceive, an impostor, a vile hypocrite, a failure. “He came to make Himself a King! See, we have crowned His brow with a royal, sparkling diadem. He sought a kingdom! From that elevated throne let Him look upon the land which will never be His now. He threatened our Scribes with woes and punishments, let Him look to His own fate and if He has that power which some say was His, let Him come down now from the cross and we too shall believe in His word.”

COMMENT: I had not intended to make any comments during this presentation of Fr Doyle’s writings on the Stations of the Cross. However, today is the feast of St Gemma Galgani, a saint very much dedicated to the Passion who was a mystic and stigmatist. Fr Doyle had something of a devotion to her. I am not aware that he ever wrote about her, but O’Rahilly’s biography describes how Fr Doyle would pick a page at random from St Gemma’s life in order to find inspiration for his prayer. Like Fr Doyle, St Gemma was greatly attracted to the notion of reparation and offered herself as a victim for the sins of others.

For those who desire more information about St Gemma, there is an excellent website dedicated to St Gemma here: http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/

St Gemma Galgani