Jesus enters Jerusalem

Consummatum est. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Our Lenten meditations continue with posts taken from a Simple Exposition of the Circumstances of the Passion of Jesus Christ (1761) by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori.

I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the end of the relevant paragraph.

Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Tecum tutus semper sum.  
Ad Jesum per Mariam.

This grace I ask of thee to-day: obtain for me a continual remembrance of the passion of Jesus, and of thine also, and a tender devotion to them.

Jesus enters Jerusalem

Hosanna filio David! JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Behold thy king cometh to thee, meek and sitting on an ass, and a colt the foal of her that is used to the yoke.[1] Our Redeemer, at the approach of the time of his Passion, sets out from Bethania for Jerusalem. Let us here consider the humility of Jesus Christ, who is the king of heaven, in condescending to enter that city sitting on an ass.

O Jerusalem, behold thy king comes to thee in humility and meekness. Be not afraid that he comes to rule over thee and to take possession of thy riches; for he comes all love and mercy to save thee, and to purchase life for thee by his own death. The people, who for some time entertained a veneration for him on account of his miracles, and particularly of the last which he wrought, in raising Lazarus from the dead, go out to meet him.

[1] [5] Tell ye the daughter of Sion: Behold thy king cometh to thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of her that is used to the yoke.
Dicite filiae Sion : Ecce rex tuus venit tibi mansuetus, sedens super asinam, et pullum filium subjugalis.[Matt 21]

Benedictus qui venit...  JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Some strewed their garments on the way before him, others spread out branches of trees to do him honor. Oh! who would have ever imagined that that Lord, who was received with so many honours, should have to appear in a few days with a cross on his shoulders, as a criminal condemned to death?

Didst Thou then, my dear Jesus, wish to make this glorious entry, that the greater the honour with which Thou wast received, the more ignominious might be Thy Passion and death? The praises which this ungrateful city now gives Thee will be changed into insults and maledictions.

They now say, Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.[2] Glory to Thee, O Son of David: be forever blessed, since Thou comest for our welfare in the name of the Lord. And afterwards they will raise their voice and exclaim, Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him, crucify Him.[3] Pilate (they will say), take away this miscreant from before our eyes; crucify him, and do not leave him any longer in our sight. Now they spread their garments before Thee, and they will afterwards strip Thee of Thy clothes in order to scourge and crucify Thee. They now take branches of palm to spread them under Thy feet, and afterwards they will take branches of thorns to pierce Thy head. Now they pour so many benedictions upon Thee, and afterwards they will load Thee with contumely and blasphemies. Go then, my soul, and say to him with love and gratitude: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.[2] [4] My beloved Redeemer, be forever blessed, since Thou art come to save us; if Thou hadst not come, we should be all lost

[2] [9] And the multitudes that went before and that followed, cried, saying: Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
turbae autem, quae praecedebant, et quae sequebantur, clamabant, dicentes : Hosanna filio David : benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini : hosanna in altissimis. [Matt 21]
[3] [15] But they cried out: Away with him; away with him; crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar.
Illi autem clamabant : Tolle, tolle, crucifige eum. Dicit eis Pilatus : Regem vestrum crucifigam? Responderunt pontifices : Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem. [John 19]
[4] [26] Blessed be he that cometh in the name Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini : benediximus vobis de domo Domini. [Ps 117]

And when he drew near the city, he wept over it.[5] When Jesus approached the unhappy city of Jerusalem, he looked at it, and wept over its ingratitude and destruction. Ah, my Lord, in weeping over the ingratitude of Jerusalem, Thou didst also weep over my ingratitude and the destruction of my soul. My beloved Redeemer, Thou didst weep at the sight of the injury that I have done myself in banishing Thee from my soul, and in constraining Thee to condemn me to hell after Thou hadst died for my salvation. Ah, leave weeping to me, for I alone should weep at the thought of the injury that I have offered to Thee, in offending Thee and separating myself from Thee after Thou hadst loved me so tenderly.

[5] [41] And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:
Et ut appropinquavit, videns civitatem flevit super illam, dicens :
[42] If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes.
Quia si cognovisses et tu, et quidem in hac die tua, quae ad pacem tibi : nunc autem abscondita sunt ab oculis tuis.
[43] For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side,
Quia venient dies in te : et circumdabunt te inimici tui vallo, et circumdabunt te : et coangustabunt te undique :
[44] And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.
et ad terram prosternent te, et filios tuos, qui in te sunt, et non relinquent in te lapidem super lapidem : eo quod non cognoveris tempus visitationis tuae. [Luke 19]

Eternal Father, for the sake of the tears which Thy Son then shed over me, give me sorrow for my sins. And Thou, O loving and tender heart of my Jesus, have mercy on me, for I detest above all things the offences that I have given Thee, and I resolve to love nothing but Thee.

After his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus laboured the entire day in preaching and curing the sick; but in the evening there was no one to invite him to sleep in his house; and therefore he was obliged to return to Bethania. My sweet Lord, if others banish Thee, I will not banish Thee. There was once an unhappy time when I ungratefully banished Thee from my soul; but now I set a greater value on being united with Thee than on the possession of all the kingdoms of the earth. Ah, my God, who shall be able ever again to separate me from Thy love?