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OW there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, "Woman, behold thy son!" (John 19:25)
This is a thirteenth century hymn composed by Jacopone di Benedetti of Umbria, Italy. It pays homage to the mother of Jesus who suffered the piercing of her heart in the crucifixion of her son, our Lord Jesus Christ. There are two tunes given in the 1940 hymnal, - Mainz and Stabat Mater. I prefer the latter. The writer spent many of his last years in prison for revealing the errors of Rome under Pope Boniface VIII.
At the Cross, Her Station Keeping
At the cross, her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
where he hung, the dying Lord;
for her soul, of joy bereaved,
bowed with sorrow, deeply grieved,
felt the sharp and piercing sword.
O how sad and sore distressed
Now was she that Mother blessed
Of the sole begotten one.
Deep the woe of her affliction
When she saw the crucifixion
Of her ever-glorious Son.
Who, on Christ's dear Mother gazing,
pierced by anguish so amazing,
born of woman, would not weep?
Who, on Christ's dear Mother thinking,
such a cup of sorrow drinking,
would not share her sorrows deep?
For his people's sins chastised
she beheld her Son despised
scourged, and crowned with thorns entwined;
saw him then from judgment taken,
and in death by all forsaken,
till his spirit he resigned.
Jesus, may her deep devotion
stir in me the same emotion,
fount of love, Redeemer kind,
that my heart, fresh ardor gaining,
and a purer love attaining,
may with thee acceptance find. Amen.
1 At the cross, her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, where he hung, the dying Lord; for her soul, of joy bereaved, bowed with sorrow, deeply grieved, felt the sharp and piercing sword. The Bible does not tell us that Mary often sat under the teaching of Jesus. Though she had been given the wonderful news of His Person by Gabriel while she was yet a virgin, love often eclipses unpleasant memories. As He began His ministry, He was constantly under threat of death by the Jewish rulers. Mary could not understand why He constantly placed Himself in the way of grave danger. Now the truth came before her eyes in full force. Perhaps the memory of the words of the Prophet Simeon at His circumcision came to her tortured mind at the foot of the cross that terrible day: “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35) The piercing sword was of far greater pain than to Jesus since He was already passed into the sleep of death.
2 O how sad and sore distressed Now was she that Mother blessed Of the sole begotten one. Deep the woe of her affliction. When she saw the crucifixion Of her ever-glorious Son. The image that the cross presented to Mary is well beyond my imagination to fathom. What intense pain did Mary experience at the sight – it was, as well, a pain experienced by His Father in Heaven who had given the costliest gift to the world that time and eternity could not measure. Our Lord Jesus Christ was Begotten of the Father from before the Foundation of the World – He was Begotten and not made!. Jesus had enjoyed the fellowship and love of the Father from Eternity Past. How painful for the Father to witness that horrible scene of the crucifixion!
3 Who, on Christ's dear Mother gazing, pierced by anguish so amazing, born of woman, would not weep? Who, on Christ's dear Mother thinking, such a cup of sorrow drinking, would not share her sorrows deep? There are sorrows so dark and heavy that they cannot be watered by tears. The greatest sorrows of all are tearless. The soul is too weakened by the sorrow to generate a single tear. Mary watched her Son suffer and expire on the cross without a single recorded word. The event was too shocking to her motherly sensibilities to utter anything. She watched as her Son dragged Himself up Golgotha, was stripped of His attire, laid on a crude cross, and nailed thereto by nine-inch nails. She saw the droplets of blood flowing from His crown of thorns, His flesh opened and bleeding from the Roman cat-o-nine tails. Now, upon commending His Spirit to the Father, Mary remained silent, overcome by misery. Why., was the question perhaps foremost in her mind. She simply could not comprehend the great prophecy of the Angel Gabriel ending in the horrendous manner.
4 For his people's sins chastised she beheld her Son despised scourged, and crowned with thorns entwined; saw him then from judgment taken, and in death by all forsaken, till his spirit he resigned. Christ died a lonely death – one which no other could suffer for our redemption. And He died between Heaven and Earth on that cross. His pain was far greater than Mary could have supposed. He was the most righteous of any other could be, yet, His modesty was offended by being exposed naked for all to see. But that, and the nails, were not His greatest pain! His greatest pain was in One who was sinless bearing the sins of the whole world on His Person on the cross. Sin is a matter that God cannot even brood, but His Son bore them all for us! His weary vision, clouded by the streams of blood from His forehead, behold the Temple just beyond the wall of the city. He saw those who ridiculed and scoffed at the foot of the cross, and, at the last minute, He saw the Heavens opened to receive Him as the Temple veil was torn from top to bottom because salvation begins on High.
5 Jesus, may her deep devotion stir in me the same emotion, fount of love, Redeemer kind, that my heart, fresh ardor gaining, and a purer love attaining, may with thee acceptance find. Amen. There is no mention in Scripture of Mary, Mother of Jesus, attending the Garden Tomb on Resurrection morning. It is my opinion she was too mortally afflicted at the scene three days before. But following the Resurrection, it is certain all came to make sense to the joyful heart of Mary. Mary was one of the women who hazarded the presence at the cross, exposing to Rome and the rude Jewish rulers that Christ belonged to them. Only one disciple is mentioned as being there – the beloved disciple, John. The others had deserted and were hiding in the bushes. If we look very closely at the crucifixion at Calvary, our spiritual eyes may behold millions more about the cross; and an even closer look will reveal our own faces. WE WERE THERE!
