The Fourth Decade

"Crucify Him!"

Quem confossum vulneribus:
milites subsannarunt:
ac crucifige vocibus:
Iudaei conclamarunt. Ave Maria.

Whom soldiers galled with wounds, deride
     With ribald jests and noises;
And Jews all "Crucify Him," cried,
     With loud and savage voices. Hail Mary.

Pilate pronounces judgment from the Gabbatha

Ut reum quem sceleris:
Pilatus condemnavit:
crucis lignum humeris:
propriis baiulavit. Ave Maria.


Whom Pilate, byhis stern decree,
     Guilty of death declareth:
Lo! on His shoulders, He, the Tree,
     The Cross, for sinners beareth. Hail Mary.

The Way of the Cross: Jesus meets His mother

Jesus stripped of His raiment

Calvariae quem vestibus:
loco exuerunt:
et manibus cum pedibus:
cruci affixerunt. Ave Maria.


Him of His garments they denude;
     To Calvary they hale Him;
And there, unto the Holy Rood,
By hands and feet they nail him. Hail Mary.

The first nail

Jesus prays for His enemies

Pro suis tortoribus:
attente hic precatur:
dum crucis doloribus:
extensus tenebatur. Ave Maria.


Where for His torturers He prayed,
     So vile, with kind compassion;
E'en when in agony He laid
     Thereon in saddest fashion.

The Penitent Thief

Qui latroni omnia
crimina dimisit:
ac paradisi gaudia
ilico promisit. Ave Maria.

Who put all his offence away
     From that good thief believing,
Him unto Paradise that day
To promised rest receiving. Hail Mary.

"Son, behold thy Mother"

Qui Ioanne discipulo
te matrem commendavit:
quem tibi in patibulo
in filium donavit. Ave Maria.


Who unto John the Apostle, thee
     Commended for a mother;
And Him for thine own son to be
     Appointed as a brother. Hail Mary.

What Our Saviour saw from the Cross

Qui se relictum ovibus
dum patri querebatur:
inimicorum vocibus
turpiter blasphematur. Ave Maria.


Who when in agony He prayed,
     And all His friends were failing,
His enemies with taunts upbraid,
     Blaspheme and wound with railing. Hail Mary.

I thirst

Qui dum exhaustis viribus
<<sitio>> clamavit:
fel et acetum faucibus
miles propinavit. Ave Maria.

Then as full mournfully He cried,
     "I thirst," with vigour wasted,
Unto His lips by guards applied,
     Vinegar and gall He tasted. Hail Mary.

Mater Dolorosa

Qui prophetarum edita
consummans passione:
primi parentis debita
persolvit ratione. Ave Maria.


So by His Passion and His Cross,
     The prophecies fulfilling;
And, for our first forefather's loss
     To pay the ransom willing. Hail Mary.

"It is finished"

In manus patris tradidit
spiritum pretiosum:
alta voce dum edidit
canticum dulcorosum. Ave Maria.

 Now to His Father's hands on high
     His spirit He restoreth;
And "Eli," His last doleful cry,
     With mournful voice outpoureth.