The Second Sorrowful Mystery is the Scourging at the Pillar.
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen pointed out that Pilate inflicted the punishment of scourging in the hope of moving the crowd to pity. “Pilate had made three attempts thus far to free Our Lord; one by declaring Him innocent, another by releasing a prisoner at the Passover, and the final one by scourging,” he wrote.
“But Pilate was wrong in thinking that the drawing of blood would calm their passions and melt them to pity. Such compromises in the face of justice rarely achieve their ends…. Our Lord looked forward to giving His life as a ransom for sin; He had described Himself as having a baptism wherewith He was to be baptized. John gave Him the baptism of water, but the Roman soldiers now gave Him His baptism of blood.”
A mystic, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, wrote, “Several times during the scourging I saw weeping angels around Jesus and, during the whole of that bitter, ignominious punishment that fell upon Him like a shower of hail, I heard Him offering His prayer to His Father for the sins of mankind.”
In 1935, St. Faustina had a mystical experience concerning the Mystery of the Scourging. She wrote, “When I came for adoration, an inner recollection took hold of me immediately, and I saw the Lord Jesus tied to a pillar, stripped of His clothes, and the scourging began immediately. I saw four men who took turns at striking the Lord with scourges. My heart almost stopped at the sight of these tortures. The Lord said to me, I suffer even greater pain than that which you see. And Jesus gave me to know for what sins He subjected Himself to the scourging: these are sins of impurity. Oh, how dreadful was Jesus’ moral suffering during the scourging! Then Jesus said to me, Look and see the human race in its present condition. In an instant, I saw horrible things: the executioners left Jesus, and other people started scourging Him; they seized the scourges and struck the Lord mercilessly. These were priests, religious men and women, and high dignitaries of the Church, which surprised me greatly. There were lay people of all ages and walks of life. All vented their malice on the innocent Jesus. Seeing this, my heart fell as if into a mortal agony. And while the executioners had been scourging Him, Jesus had been silent and looking into the distance; but when those other souls I mentioned scourged Him, Jesus closed His eyes, and a soft but most painful moan escaped from His Heart. And Jesus gave me to know in detail the gravity of the malice of these ungrateful souls: ‘You see, this is a torture greater than My death.’”
Jacinta of Fatima said, “More souls go to hell because of the sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”
Sins of the flesh are too common in our society today. A priest who wrote a booklet on overcoming sins of the flesh some years ago proposed five important steps:
- There must be a strong, persevering desire to overcome the sin. This desire can be fostered by meditating on the seriousness of one mortal sin and on the eternity of heaven and hell.
- All unnecessary occasions of sin (e.g., deliberate daydreams, obscene books, or websites) must be given up.
- Wrong attitudes toward life (e.g., self-pity, habits of sloth) and toward others (e.g., envy, feelings of social inferiority) must be carefully analyzed and corrected.
- A positive program of spiritual activities must be undertaken. Frequent confession, frequent reception of Holy Communion, and personal devotion to Our Lady are powerful means to foster chastity.
- Use natural means (e.g., physical exercises, mental or artistic hobbies, reasonable social activity) as auxiliaries to the indispensable spiritual means.
I highly recommend the website: www.purityispossible.com.
St. Josemaria Escrivá wrote, “You and I are unable to speak. Words are not needed. Look at Him, look at Him... slowly. After this... can you ever fear penance?”
基督為不潔的罪惡作補贖
痛苦五端的第二端是耶穌受鞭打苦刑
可敬Fulton J. Sheen指出彼拉多判予鞭打之刑，希望使群眾憐憫。他寫：『彼拉多嘗試三次去釋放我主；首先宣認祂無罪，其次在巴斯卦節釋放一個犯人，最後是鞭打…但彼拉多錯了，他以為流血會平息他們的情緒，讓他們憐憫。這妥協在公義的層面上並未能達到所求…吾主期盼犧牲祂的生命去補贖世人的罪；他形容祂的洗禮其中祂接受洗禮。若翰用水給祂施洗，但羅馬士兵現在給祂，祂血的洗禮。』
真福Anne Catherine Emmerich寫道：『好幾次在鞭打的時候我見到流淚的天使圍繞著耶穌，祂整個痛苦的，恥辱的懲罰中象是一場冰雹淋到祂上，我聽到祂向祂父親為世人罪過作奉獻的祈禱。』
在1935年，聖傅天娜有個奧秘的經驗有關於這鞭打的奧秘。她寫：『我到來朝拜聖體，立刻便心凝神歛，我看見主耶穌綁在柱上，衣服脫光，鞭笞即時開始。我看見四名男子輪流鞭打主耶穌，我看見這刑罰，一顆心幾乎停止了跳動。主耶穌對我說：我所受的痛楚比你看見的更痛。耶穌讓我知道，是甚麼罪過令祂甘願受鞭打：是不潔所引起的罪過。耶穌受鞭打時，祂的道德觀在承受多慘痛的苦楚啊！耶穌接著對我說：看哪，看人類現時的狀況。剎那間，我看見很可怕的事情：行刑的人丟下耶穌走了，別的人開始鞭打祂；他們奪過鞭子，無情地鞭打主耶穌。他們都是神父、修道的男女，和教會內身居要職的人，令我極之震驚；還有不同年齡、不同身份階層的平信徒，全都向無辜的耶穌發洩他們的怨恨。看見這情景，我的心痛得好像快要死了。當行刑的人鞭打耶穌時，祂默不作聲，眼望遠方；但當我所提及的那些人鞭打祂時，祂閉上眼睛，心底裏暗洩出一聲很輕但卻沉痛之極的呻吟。耶穌讓我詳細瞭解，這些忘恩負義的靈魂所懷的敵意極其嚴重：你看，這折磨比我的死亡更慘痛。』
- 花地瑪的真福雅仙達說：「下地獄的靈魂，最多是那些犯了情慾罪的人。」無疑，我們現今社會，犯情慾的罪甚是普遍。多年前，有一位神父製作了本小冊子，建議克服情慾罪的五個步驟：一、要有個堅強的，持久的渴望去戰勝罪惡。這個渴望可以由默想一個大罪的嚴重性和永恆天堂，地獄所培植。二、躲避和遠離犯罪的機會，包括蓄意發白日夢、看淫穢的書本或瀏覽猥褻網站等。三、對生命取態的錯誤（例如，自憐，懶散的習慣）和對他人錯誤的取態（例如，忌妒，社交上自卑的感覺）都要小心分析和改正。四、實行一系列的神修活動；勤辦告解、領聖體，特別敬禮聖母，都能有效地培育潔德。五、使用自然的方法（例如，體育鍛煉，智力或藝術的嗜好，合情理的社區活動）都可以為不能或缺的靈修方法的輔助方法。
我誠意鼓勵參閱 www.purityispossible.com
聖施禮華寫道：『你和我都不能說。—字句並不需要。—看著祂，看著祂…慢慢地。隨後…你可曾害怕補贖？』