Meditation for February 26, The Pillar of the Scourging

Having tried in vain to save Jesus from the vengeance of the Jews, Pilate ordered Him to be scourged. I find no cause in this man. I will chastise him therefore and let him go. Pilate hopes this punishment will appease the enemies of Our Lord. When they see Him cruelly lacerated, they will declare themselves satisfied; and Jesus will thus escape death.

A poor guess! Pilate had reckoned without hatred. Despite the terrible scourging, the Jews, goaded on by the ringleaders, cried out for Christ's death.

The column used for the flagellation is now venerated in two cities. Half of it was brought to the church of St. Praxedes in Rome from the Holy Land in 1223 by John Cardinal Colonna; the other half was given to the church at Jerusalem.

Jesus was bound to this infamous pillar which measured about six feet in height; it was provided with two rings, one at the top and one about half way down, and was studded here and there with hooks. The condemned was forced to embrace the column; his hands were raised in the air and hung on the upper rings; the body was stretched so that, according to private revelations, the feet of the suffering Savior scarcely touched the ground. It can be easily understood that in this position the drawn skin would break and bleed profusely.

"O my Jesus! What terrible suffering You have endured! Could I but expiate all in Your place! Oh I let me kiss the ground on which the drops of Your blood fell. What must be the nature of sin to require so appalling an atonement!"

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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)