Let us Pray:
“We adore you O Lord and we bless you, because of your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”
7 …Every crucifixion had to take place under the supervision of a Centurion, starting from the Flagellation, to the carrying of the ‘patibulum’ up to the place of crucifixion. He has to supervise everything till the death of the crucified. It is his responsibility to see that the family or relatives of the crucified do not try to bring the person down from the cross whilst still alive. After ascertaining that the victim is dead, and distributes the victim’s clothes amongst the soldiers on duty, THE Centurion’s duty would be over.
The corpses would be left to be disposed of by the attacking vultures and other big birds, besides dogs, wolves and other wild animals. We find this information in the record kept by Petronius and Seneca. Burt if the relatives asked for the corpse, they would be granted permission to bring it down and be given a decent burial.
The rest, or what was left of them, used to be burnt up and the ashes were distributed amongst the relatives of those crucified. Have we ever stopped to think how ‘macabre’ such a situation was ? What a dreadful experience for those poor people.
At times permission for burial would be refused, especially in the case of certain enemies of war. There were instances when the corpse was brought down and thrown into the sewage, according to the Roman historian Suetonius. This was done on the order of Emperor Vespasianus.
Do we ever stop, and realise in what atmosphere Jesus used to preach and teach ? He must have worked against all currents; against the culture, the customs and the laws, against their personal interpretations of their religion. No wonder that all the Apostles and many of the Disciples ended up being martyred.
The new Tree of Life, planted by Jesus, the CHURCH, was watered with the blood of thousands of martyrs. The first blood was that of Christ Himself. With His precious Blood, Jesus signed the NEW PACT. That is why in every single Mass God will be renewing the New Pact and reminding us that we are His children, whilst we, on our side will declare that we are His children, and promise to remain faithful to this New Pact.
Let us meditate, and think…I should have been the one to be crucified, because it is I who have committed so many sins, not Jesus. Jesus took my place. Do I ever stop to THANK the Lord Jesus for taking my place … whilst I keep on sinning.
Thank you, Jesus, help me to appreciate, not by paying lip service, BUT by stopping from sinning and offending YOU.
“We adore you O Lord and we bless you, because of your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”
… /8
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