Woman of Faith: The Scourging at the Pillar
Fr. J. Patrick Gaffney, SMM
The sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary hold a special place of honor for the Montfort Family. The Cross – the sufferings of Jesus throughout His life up to the ignominious crucifixion on Calvary – is an essential element of Montfortian Spirituality.
Woman of Faith
So central is the mystery of the Cross, in Montfortian Spirituality, that all who live the teachings of Saint Louis de Montfort experience an extraordinary depth of union with the Crucified Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom.
For Montfort, “Wisdom is the Cross and the Cross is Wisdom”. We can go so far as to say that to possess Jesus, the Incarnate Wisdom of the Father, is equivalent to “carrying our Cross after Him all the days of our life.”
The second sorrowful mystery appears to be a special source of contemplation for Montfort. Not only has he written an entire hymn on “The Scourging of Jesus“ (as he has for all the sorrowful mysteries); but he speaks of this subject with a vivid realism and horror. Father de Montfort has, in his own life, intensely identified with this mystery. He repeated this mystery of Jesus in his own life through the “scourgings” of sickness, betrayal, misunderstandings, failure – and most especially through the constant sacrifices entailed in his vocation as a homeless vagabond missionary. With the permission of his spiritual directors, he also undertook voluntary penances to be united even more closely to the sorrowful mysteries of Jesus.
The Scourging at the Pillar . . .
Yet by no means did this oneness with Christ crucified make him glum or curtail his zeal! He will, in fact, call these “crosses” the great gift which Mary gives to those who love her; and speaks of Mary “coating the crosses with honey” so that we will not flinch from carrying the cross right up to Calvary and there be crucified with her Beloved Son. It is through suffering that we share in the victor of the Risen Lord, as Saint Paul himself boldly teaches; “that I may share His sufferings, becoming like him in his death; so that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead”. (Phil 3:10-11).
The second sorrowful mystery, the Scourging at the Pillar, is the summary of these meditations of the Rosary.
It is the consequence of the ultimate rejection of Jesus by his own and of the condemnation of Jesus by the Roman authorities; moreover, it is for Jesus’ executioners, the beginning of the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory. To gaze at Jesus being scourged by the Roman soldiers is to contemplate, as in resume, the horrendous sufferings of Christ.
. . . is the Beginning of the Crucifixion
Mark, the first Gospel, chronologically tells us succinctly, “So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified”. (Mk 15:15). The scourging then, came after the incredible decision of the mob to have Jesus crucified and Barabbas released.
Who was this Barabbas? The Scriptures only tell us that he was “a rebel who had committed murder in the insurrection”. The contrast is between a murderer, a rebel, and the Prince of Peace. However, the comparison is even more striking; Barabbas, in Aramaic, means “Son of the father”. Some ancient manuscripts calls him Jesus Barabbas. This is not too surprising since Jesus or its equivalent, Joshua, was not an uncommon name in New Testament times.
We All Have A Decision to Make
The choice is then between Jesus the son of the father and Jesus the Son of God the Father. The mob intercedes for Barabbas but refuses to do so for the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus. How often sin poses under the guise of good! The Gospel is telling us that we have a decision to make, a decision which is constantly before us; to accept or reject Jesus the Lord. Saint Louis de Montfort reminds us that we are the ones who choose Barabbas over Christ by our sins. Our sins are the reason for his sufferings, for he came to expiate our wrongdoing and restore harmony to the universe, He has borne our sins and carried our sorrows.
Madonna and Child: painter Elisabetta Sirani: 1663
Elisabetta took over the studio of her father Giovanni Sirani in 1654-1655. This painting resides in the National Museum of Woman Arts in Washington, DC.
The second sorrowful mystery appears to be a special source of contemplation for Montfort.
Jesus, our God in a fully human way, is beaten, scourged, spit upon. It is only when we gaze at Jesus close to dying by the scourging at the pillar, that we begin to understand the enormity of sin. For as Saint Louis de Montfort constantly reminds us; we are the ones who bear the responsibility for this second sorrowful mystery; for he dies for us and for our salvation.
This is the eighth of a series of articles on the Mysteries of the Rosary.
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The condemnation of Jesus to the horrible execution by crucifixion is done by order of Pilate. Pilate, whom the Romans themselves considered an inflexible, merciless and obstinate man. He continually was given to corruption, violence and cruelty of every kind. The King of Glory, the Judge of the living and the dead, stands before Caesar’s puppet. He is condemned to die a criminal’s execution. The creature condemns the Creator; the sinner crucifies the Holy One; the folly of this world executes the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom. Never has this creation witnessed such a distortion, the climactic point of the sin of the world.
The crucifixion begins with the scourging at the pillar. Through the writings of Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century, it is clear that this most terrible punishment was the normal prelude to crucifixion. The criminal, often stripped and bound to a pillar, was beaten repeatedly with knotted leather whips. The whips are loaded with bone or metal so that the body could literally be torn apart.
Meditating on this Mystery Allows Us to Understand the Enormity of Sin
Scourging as a preliminary to crucifixion would continue until the flesh itself was exposed, lacerated, bleeding. However, care would be taken, it seems, so that the prisoner would not be killed by the whippings; in order that he might undergo the sufferings of being nailed to a cross.
Jesus, our God in a fully human way, is beaten, scourged, spit upon. It is only when we gaze at Jesus close to dying by the scourging at the pillar, that we begin to understand the enormity of sin. For as Saint Louis de Montfort constantly reminds us; we are the ones who bear the responsibility for this second sorrowful mystery; for he dies for us and for our salvation.
As we contemplate Jesus literally torn from head to foot, we see fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah:
- “He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
- He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
- The Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all”. (Is. #53).
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