Meditation on the Passion of Our Lord.

When we recite the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary, the first, is the "Agony and sweat of blood the Garden. The second half, the sweat of blood," is frequently not mentioned, yet it has tremendous bearing on the remainder of the Passion.

In a situation of extreme fear or apprehension, the blood vessels of the skin undergo excessive dilation, and rupture into the sweat glands, causing a mixture of blood and sweat to exude. On contact with the air the blood clots and is washed down like droplets. This condition, haematidrosis, is very rare and causes the whole surface of the body to be bruised and tender.

Jesus, after several hours of abuse before the high priests and his appearance before Pontius Pilate, was stripped of his garments and scourged with a flagrum. This consisted of two leather thongs with sheep bones (tali) or pieces of metal in the ends. Have you ever been struck again on a recent bruise? Jesus' body was one big bruise and it is impossible to count the number of lashes on the "Shroud of Turin." These lashes would break the skin and even tear pieces off.

The crown of thorns was fashioned out of thorn branches used to keep a fire burning. They would be "Camel Thorn." The spikes on this bush are one and a half to two inches long and they were jammed into his scalp. Any wound of the scalp bleeds profusely and the crown of thorns would have caused blood to run down into his eyes and face and into his beard.

Next, the fourth sorrowful mystery. Jesus' clothes were put on him again and he was given his cross to carry. This was probably just the patibulum or cross piece. But even then, can you imagine carrying a piece of lumber as substantial as 4" x 6", seven or eight feet long, on a sore and bleeding shoulder and back? Add to his discomfort the flies in that climate, seeking his blood and he not able to swat them.

The three falls! He scraped his knees and when he put out his hands to break his fall, the beam of timber rolls down his bruised and bleeding back. Meanwhile the heat of the day--it was now getting on to noon--dried his clothes, and they stuck to his wounds.

On to the crucifixion. His clothes, now stuck to his wounded flesh, were stripped off, not gently I'm sure, taking pieces of skin with them. His arms were stretched out on thepatibulum and a (square cross-section) Roman nail was hammered through each wrist and into the wood. The executioners would know that a nail through the palm would simply tear out when the weight of the body was put on it; so as the shroud shows, they hammered between the small bones of the wrist, damaging or cutting the median nerve to the hand. This is the most sensitive nerve in the body and the agony must have been exquisite. Thepatibulum would then be lifted onto a post (the stipes) already set in the ground. The body would sag down and the final nail would have been hammered through both feet and into the wood of the stipes.

The agony then carried on for three or more hours. The knees were bent and the weight of the body caused the shoulder muscles to pull the chest into a position of hyperinflation, as with a person with emphysema who can't get his breath. The only way for the crucified to breathe was to straighten the legs and push the body up, thus relaxing the shoulder muscles on the chest. The working of the wrist and the median nerves against the nails would have caused excruciating pain and the weight of the body on the nail through the feet would add to it. The body would then sag again, but as carbon dioxide built up, it demanded the process be repeated maybe four to six times a minute, for three hours, each time rubbing the median nerves against the nails. But at last when Jesus could no longer raise himself up, his death put an end to the agony.

Sometimes the crucified had their legs broken, so that they could no longer lift themselves up and their pain would be terminated. But we know "not a bone of his body was broken."

The severe trauma Jesus suffered caused fluid to gather around his heart, so that when the soldier pierced the right side of his chest with a lance, blood and water flowed out. This blow to the "latus aperture" was a standard military stroke to the "open side." In this case it was a legal requirement before the body could be handed over to the family or friends for burial.

In his final words Jesus opened heaven to the good thief and all of humanity; he gave his mother to St. John and to us; and gave himself to his Father in heaven.

Largely summarized from The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Dr. Pierre Barbet.

A. J. Cunningham, M.D.