The 6th sorrow of Mary is Jesus is pierced with the lance and taken down from the Cross. John 19:31-38 says, ”When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished." And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he know that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may (come to) believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: "Not a bone of it will be broken." And again another passage says: "They will look upon him whom they have pierced." After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body.”
Scientists, historians, anthropologists and theologians have studied the phenomena of blood and water flowing from Christ’s side and they have discovered, that because of the nature of the crucifixion, this IS possible, so it is very probable that this really did happen.
The Church sees the blood and water flowing from Christ’s side as a symbol of Baptism and the Eucharist. These two sacraments initiate us into the Christian life and it is fitting that it is in these two sacraments we receive the Salvation which Christ won for us on that Cross, the Salvation that Mary also actively participated in. In Baptism, we are plunged under the water so that we may “die with Christ” in order that we may also rise with Him. This image of Christ being pierced should also conjur up for us the image of Divine Mercy. From Christ’s death comes so much mercy.
At the Last Supper, scripture says, ”Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed, and broke it, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them saying, “Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you; for this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” If we rewind back to the Jewish customs and traditions,any time the Jewish community was guilty of sin, there was a ritual that the Jewish priests had to perform in order to attain forgiveness of sins. This is all laid out in Leviticus chapter 4. The priest must take a bull, sacrifice it, sprinkle its blood on the altar, then “pour out” the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar. Leviticus 4:18 “...and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.” Then, forgiveness of sins was attained.
I wanted to make this point that CHRIST’S blood (and water) is being “poured out” here at the Cross, for the forgiveness of OUR sins! Christ is the paschal lamb who sacrifices himself in order to win our salvation and forgiveness of sins. And Mary was there, witnessing this all.
We have wondered, Mary, did you know? Did she know that it would be HER Son’s own blood and water that would mark every Christian throughout the centuries? The lance “poured out” the precious blood and tears of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Was Mary herself the lance, going straight into Christ’s heart, offering salvation for the whole world? Was this lance the physical blow, the physical representation of what her heart had been going through the past 24 hours? The blow was to Jesus’ body, but it was felt by Mary.
And if we think about it, really, this act of the soldier piercing the heart of Christ to issue forth blood and water, can we see ourselves here? It is our infirmities which break His heart, and it is His most precious heart that we seek to be in union with. Oh Lord, that WE would be the lance, rushing straight to the Sacred Heart to receive His love and mercy, to be bathed and covered with His Most Precious Blood, to wash away our sins! And in uniting ourselves with the Sacred Heart, we must remember Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart as well.
Then, Jesus is brought down from the Cross. He is handed to Mary. She is finally able to hold him, to caress him, to console him, to speak to Him. We have imagined the suffering and separation she must have felt while watching her Son’s Passion and Death; we have ached with her as she so desperately wished she could end all the suffering or at least to console him.
If Mary held back any display of her emotions up to this point in hopes to be that support and consolation for her son, then I can only imagine the scene of her holding her dead Son. A quiet, but deep cry. A sob. In that moment, as the mockery, the violence was over, did Mary sense the mockery her Son would CONTINUE to endure throughout the upcoming centuries? He would continue to be cursed, ignored, spat upon, stomped on, blatantly despised and rejected. She wept for her son.
As Jesus, laying on the Cross, cried out, “My god, My god, why have you forsaken me?”, I wonder if this moment, when Mary finally gets to hold her son’s lifeless body, if she felt that same distance from the Father. If she felt the darkness and ugliness of sin in her own body now, as she holds the heavy, blood soaked body of her son. She continues to weep.
And she wept for us. WE are the ones who ignore Jesus, who forget him. Our sins pierce His most innocent, pure, loving heart. In this moment, she is holding the death, the bloody physical death which sin causes, and she weeps for us. She knows that we will not stop to see her Son. We will not care. We will be broken apart from her son; WE WILL BE LOST. And she weeps.
Lamentations 1:12 says, “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted…”
Again, does Mary remember some of Jesus’ last words, “I thirst”? She knows. He thirsts for love; He thirsts for OUR LOVE. He thirsts to be united with His children. Does she vow to “quench” His thirst? To bring His beloved children back to the Father? Does she vow to work aimlessly to bring souls to Him? Her son’s death will not be in vain. She will quench His thirst.
Let’s go back to the Gospel of John: “Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by.”
Now it is time to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. It is time to wrap his body with white linen, and with spices and oils. I wonder, where is Mary? Is she watching, is she helping? Is she reminded of the white linen which she “swaddled” her pure innocent newborn son with? Does she recall the gifts the wise men brought to Him as she smells the fragrance of myrrh?
I myself have never had to bury my own son. But I saw my Grandmother do so. My uncle passed away in his early 40s, my grandmother in her early 70s. My Grandma is a very faithful Catholic woman. She is a rock; THE ROCK of our family. I remember, whether I thought it, or my Grandma spoke it, or my mom told me that Grandma said it, but I know that my Grandmother wished SHE did not outlive her own son. What parent wants to do that? And, as an adult, I now know, that along with burying her own son, she suffered the torment of not having buried him as she saw fit. He was born and raised Catholic and she wished that he would have a Catholic funeral Mass and burial. But it did not happen. Her son’s death pierced her heart, and the sword was dug deeper when his burial was not according to her customs and beliefs.
I imagine that is somewhat similar to what Mary is experiencing here. This burial was rushed and hushed because of the Pharisees. It was technically now the Sabbath, and according to Jewish laws, NOTHING could happen on the Sabbath, no work, no miracles performed, no burials. Even in His burial, Jesus was sought after. Mary knew this. Her broken heart did not have much time to say good bye to Jesus. Did she know? Did she know she would see him again?
As Mary and the others buried Jesus, did Mary continue to feel sorrow for the many times that we would bury Jesus in our own hearts? When we would rush through Mass? When we would keep Jesus a secret?
As the stone was rolled away, did she turn to the others, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene, to comfort them? Does she turn to us, as we mourn our own sins, our own wretchedness, to comfort us? Yes, I believe so. I believe Mary, in her sorrow, gives us her attention. She comforts us as we realize our need for Salvation; as we lose hope sometimes in the face of death, she comforts us.
Jesus’ tomb was in a garden, the gospel of John tells us. It all started in a garden, it is finishing in a garden. Jesus, who took on sin, is dead, laying in a garden. Mary remembers his words, “Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it cannot produce new life”. “In the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had been laid”. No one has died a death like Jesus’. No one has taken on sin and punishment and the wrath of God itself in order to purchase salvation.
Did Mary know that he would rise on the third day? We know she “pondered” everything in her heart. Jesus had hinted about His Resurrection many times in his public ministry. She knew that he spoke about destroying the temple and rebuilding it in 3 days; this story that he told upset the Pharisees very much. She knew he would rise, but in this moment, after burying her Son? She didn’t think about it. Her heart was still sorrowful. I can only imagine that when the crying stopped, she was just empty. She was an empty, pure vessel. Empty of her own will; empty of self love. Empty without Jesus. Only to be filled up again, her “cup overflowing” on the 3rd day.
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