Words that Jesus spoke from the Cross

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.

Words that Jesus spoke from the Cross

Father, forgive them... JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

But what does Jesus do? What does he say at the sight of all the outrages which he received? He prays for them that maltreat him: Father, he says, forgive them, for they know not what they do. [1] Jesus also prayed from the cross for us sinners. Let us then turn to the Eternal Father, and say to him with confidence: O Father, hear the voice of this beloved Son, who implores Thee to pardon us. To grant us pardon is an act of mercy in our regard, because we do not deserve mercy; but it is an act of justice to Jesus Christ, who has superabundantly atoned for our sins. Thou hast obliged Thyself to pardon us through his merits, and to receive into favour all who repent of the offences that they have offered Thee. My Father, I repent with my whole heart of having offended Thee; and in the name of this Son, I ask Thy pardon. Pardon me, and receive me into Thy favour.

[1] [34] And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But they, dividing his garments, cast lots.
Jesus autem dicebat : Pater, dimitte illis : non enim sciunt quid faciunt. Dividentes vero vestimenta ejus, miserunt sortes.[Lukie 23]

The penitent thief. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy kingdom. [2] Thus the good thief prayed to Jesus dying on the cross, and Jesus answered: Amen, I say to thee, This day thou shalt be with me in paradise. [3] Here was verified what the Lord said long before by the prophet Ezechiel, that when sinners repent of their transgressions, God pardons them, and forgets the insults that they have offered to him: But if the wicked do penance . . . I will not remember all his iniquities. [4] 

O immense mercy, O infinite goodness of my God! who will not love Thee? O my Jesus! forget the injuries I have done Thee, and remember the painful death Thou hast suffered for my salvation, and for the sake of that death bring me to Thy kingdom in the life to come, and grant that during this life Thy holy love may reign in me. May Thy love rule in my heart, and may it be my only lord, my only desire, my only love. Happy thief, who didst merit by thy patience to partake of the fruits of the death of Jesus. And happy me, O my Jesus! if I shall have the happiness to die loving Thee, and uniting my death to Thy holy death.





[2] [42] And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom.
Et dicebat ad Jesum : Domine, memento mei cum veneris in regnum tuum. [Lukie 23]
[3] [43] And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Et dixit illi Jesus : Amen dico tibi : Hodie mecum eris in paradiso. [Luke 23]
[4] [21] But if the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die.
Si autem impius egerit poenitentiam ab omnibus peccatis suis, quae operatus est, et custodierit omnia praecepta mea, et fecerit judicium et justitiam, vita viet, et non morietur : [Ezech 18]

Mary, His mother. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother. [5] Behold, O my soul, Mary at the foot of the cross, transfixed with sorrow, and with her eyes fixed on her beloved and innocent Son, contemplating the external and internal pains in the midst of which he dies. She is perfectly resigned, and in peace offers to the Eternal Father the death of her Son for our salvation; but her compassion and love are to her a source of great affliction.

O God! who would not pity a mother standing beside the gibbet on which a son dies before her eyes? But here we should consider who this mother and this Son are. Mary’s love for her Son immensely surpassed the love of all mothers for their children. She loved Jesus, who was at the same time her Son and her God: a Son infinitely amiable, all beauty and sanctity; a Son who had been always respectful and obedient to her; a Son who had loved her so tenderly, and had, from eternity, chosen her for his mother. This was the mother who had to behold such a Son dying before her eyes on an infamous gibbet, without being able to afford him any comfort; who saw that even the agony which she suffered at the foot of the cross, through love to him, added to his sorrows.





O Mary, through the pain which thou didst suffer at the death of Jesus, have pity on me, and recommend me to thy Son. Listen to him on the cross, recommending me to thee, in the person of St. John: Woman, behold thy Son. [6]

[5] [25] Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen.
Stabant autem juxta crucem Jesu mater ejus, et soror matris ejus, Maria Cleophae, et Maria Magdalene. [John 19]
[6] [26] When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son.
Cum vidisset ergo Jesus matrem, et discipulum stantem, quem diligebat, dicit matri suae : Mulier, ecce filius tuus.  [John 19]

Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? [7] Jesus, agonizing on the cross, afflicted with pain of body and sadness of soul (for the sadness which assailed him in the garden, when he said, My soul is sorrowful unto death, [8] did not leave him until his last breath), seeks for some one to console him, but finds none. I looked for one who would grieve together with Me, but there was none; and for one that would comfort Me, and I found none. [9]

He looks at his mother, and, as has been said, her presence gives him no consolation; the sight of her sorrows adds to his affliction. He looks about, and sees enemies on every side; hence, finding himself bereft of every comfort, he turns to his Eternal Father, to seek consolation.




[7] [46] And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Et circa horam nonam clamavit Jesus voce magna, dicens : Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? hoc est : Deus meus, Deus meus, ut quid dereliquisti me? [Matt 27]
[8] [38] Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me.
Tunc ait illis : Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem : sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum.  [Matt 26]
[9] [21] In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none.
in conspectu tuo sunt omnes qui tribulant me. Improperium exspectavit cor meum et miseriam; et sustinui qui simul contristaretur, et non fuit; et qui consolaretur, et non inveni. [Ps 68]

But the Father, seeing him charged with the sins of all men, for which he was then atoning to the divine justice on the cross, abandons him to a death of pure unmixed pain. Then it was that Jesus cried out with a loud voice, to show the intensity of his sufferings, and said, My God, why hast Thou also forsaken me? Hence the death of Jesus Christ was more painful than the death of all the martyrs, because it was full of desolation and bereft of all comfort.

But, my Jesus, why dost Thou complain after having voluntarily offered Thyself to so cruel a death? Ah! I understand Thee; Thou dost complain in order make us comprehend the intense pain with which Thou dost expire, and at the same time to encourage us to have confidence, and to practise resignation when we find ourselves in desolation and deprived of the sensible aid of the divine grace. My sweet Redeemer, Thy abandonment makes me hope that God, although I have betrayed him, will not abandon me. O my Jesus, how have I been able to live so long forgetful of Thee? I thank Thee for not having forgotten forgotten me. Ah! I entreat Thee to remind me always of the desolation to which Thou hast submitted for my sake, that I may never more forget Thee and the love Thou hast borne me.

Sitio. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

Knowing that his sacrifice was consummated, the Saviour said that he was thirsty, and the soldiers applied to his mouth a sponge full of vinegar. Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. . . . And they putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to his mouth. [10] The Scripture, which was to be fulfilled, is the text of David: And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. [11] But, O Lord, Thou art silent about the intense pains which hasten Thy death, and dost Thou complain of thirst? Ah! the thirst of Jesus was very different from that which we imagine it to be. His thirst is the desire of being loved by the souls for whom he dies. Thus, my Jesus, Thou dost thirst after me, a miserable worm, and shall I not thirst after Thee, who art an infinite good? Ah, I long for Thee, I love Thee, I desire to please Thee in all things.




Assist me, O Lord, to banish from my heart all earthly desires, and grant that nothing may reign in me but the desire to please Thee and to do Thy will. O holy will of God, blessed fountain that dost fill enamoured souls! fill me also, and be the object of all my thoughts and affections.

[10] [28] Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst.
Postea sciens Jesus quia omnia consummata sunt, ut consummaretur Scriptura, dixit : Sitio.
[29] Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar and hyssop, put it to his mouth.
Vas ergo erat positum aceto plenum. Illi autem spongiam plenam aceto, hyssopo circumponentes, obtulerunt ori ejus. [John 19]
[11] [22] And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Et dederunt in escam meam fel, et in siti mea potaverunt me aceto. [Ps 68]