Mel Gibson is obviously very sincere.  Our prayer should be that God reveals His truth to Mel and also to the many who will be viewing the film.  

4.  True meaning of the Cross as revealed in God’s Written Word.  “Scripture makes clear that the meaning of Christ’s crucifixion lay not in His physical suffering, but in His propitiation of the wrath of God. God’s wrath was utterly placed on Christ Jesus, who suffered the full extent of its unabated curse for the sins for His people. The fullness of divine wrath that Christ suffered was like that fire from heaven, recorded in the Old Testament, which consumed the sacrifices. The wrath that should have fallen upon the sinner, had God not been appeased, fell upon Him. He uttered the loud cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The representative relationship of Christ to His people is a real and necessary one. The All Holy God deemed it just to punish Christ for the sins of His people, and to credit them with His righteousness, and thus completely satisfy all the demands of His law upon them. Why was Christ’s perfect life followed by the most terrible punishment? Strict substitution demanded it so that real imputation of His righteousness to His own people could follow. Rather than the physical torture He suffered, the absolute horror that Christ endured was separation from His Father. In His Spirit, He felt the full wrath of God. The Apostle Paul explained it precisely, “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ Jesus was “made sin” for His people. The wrath of God’s holiness flamed against Him. He was the sin offering, the sacrifice for sin. “It pleased the Lord to bruise him; He hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.” He was personally All Holy; yet as the substitute for His own, He rendered Himself legally responsible before the judgment of God. The consequence of Christ’s faithfulness in all that He did culminated in His death on the cross and in His resurrection that followed. His righteousness is credited to the believer, “even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” It was God who legally constituted Christ to be “sin for us.” He was “made sin” because the sins of His people were transferred to Him, and in like manner, the believer is made “the righteousness of God in Him” by God’s reckoning to the believer Christ’s faithfulness to the precepts of the law. Quite clearly therefore, justification, the Gospel message, is the gracious act of God whereby a believing sinner has forgiveness of sin and legal right standing in Christ. As Christ, who knew no sin of His own, was made sin for believers, so they, who have no righteousness of their own, are made the righteousness of God in Him. It is of extreme importance that this entire biblical Gospel message is missing from the movie, and that in its place is given the traditional Catholic faith of Mel Gibson, and Jim Caviezel, who stars as Christ.“ (See www.bereanbeacon.org)

A friend of the ministry, Barbara Wilhelm, put the following report together. 

IS CATHOLICISM BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY?

For 36 years no one had ever lovingly shared the truth with me that Catholics are not Biblical Christians saved through grace by faith alone through the once for all, finished sacrifice of Jesus – not on a daily altar- but on the cross 2000 years ago. It is important to realize that most of the clergy and lay people that teach Roman Catholic doctrine are not deceiving people with malicious intent. They are simply passing on what has been passed on to them, sincerely believing they have the truth. They are heartfelt in their sincerity… yet they are sincerely wrong, as I was for 36 years. Catholics must believe all dogmas of their church or be anathema (eternally cursed). Prayer, love, compassion and understanding are needed along with the power of the Word of God to penetrate their hearts. Patience is needed to untangle Roman Catholics from the dogmatic web in which they are held captive (Col 2:8) (Taken in part from Mike Gendron’s Roman Catholicism: Scripture vs. Tradition.)

The purpose of this report is to encourage the reader to “search the Scriptures daily to see if the things presented (as Biblical truth) are really so.” (Acts 17:11) “I find I must write …urging you to stoutly defend the truth which God gave, once for all, to his people to keep without change.”(Jude 3)   To these ends we must learn something of Catholic doctrine to see if it matches ours.

GLOSSARY  The following glossary will familiarize the reader with some key Catholic doctrines and terms that will help in understanding the Catholic religion and Mel Gibson’s The Passion. References used are from the official Catechism of the Catholic Church as recorded in The Gospel According to Rome by James G. McCarthy.

Mary Not only did Mary offer her Son to God, but she remained at the cross to suffer with Christ [964]: According to the Church, Mary’s sufferings were so intense that they brought her to the very threshold of death. She, says the Church, “participated with Jesus in the very painful act of redemption”: [300]

“Mary suffered and, as it were, nearly died with her suffering Son; for the salvation of mankind she renounced her mother’s rights and, as far as it depended on her, offered her Son to placate divine justice; so we may well say that she with Christ redeemed mankind. “ Inter Sodalicia [301]

Thus Mary, in a subordinate role to Christ, had a “part with him in the redemption of the human race.”[302] She is therefore called by the Church the “co-operatrix in man’s redemption,” [303] “our co-redemptor,” [304]. For at the cross Mary triumphed “utterly over the ancient serpent.” [305] In addition, she is the “Mother of the Church” [500]

Crucifix, Mass, Eucharist and Transubstantiation  The reason why the crucifix depicts Jesus still on the cross is because Catholic doctrines deny that Christ’s work of redemption is finished and that His atonement is sufficient. “ The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice…the same Christ who offered Himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner” during the Mass. [1367] “Every time this mystery is celebrated the work of our redemption is carried on” [1405]

The Mass  (full name: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass) is the continuation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Calvary[1367] which carries on the work of redemption [1405], appeases the wrath of God and atones for the sins of the living and the dead [1371,1414]

The Eucharist is a wafer also called the host, which comes from the word “hostia” meaning “victim.” It claims to contain the actual body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ [1374] that is to be worshipped, consumed and sacrificed [1378]. Thus when James Caviezel says that he “needed the sacrament in me”, he was speaking of literally ingesting and consuming the actual body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. The bread and wine at Catholic Communion, through the process called transubstantiation, become “God and man,” [136] for the Eucharist is believed to be the incarnate Christ, “…the true body of Christ the Lord, the same that was born of the Virgin…[1106, 1374].

Thus, at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus, the eternal victim, is being offered  perpetually.

Relics: any pieces of the body or clothing of dead saints and also used in reference to pieces of the cross; considered as sacred signs. (Mel Gibson carries a relic of Anne Emmerich’s nun’s habit with him daily).

Stigmata: the presence on a person of the actual bleeding wounds of Jesus at His crucifixion. This phenomenon is considered to be a mark of special favor and holiness. (It was often apparent on the body of Anne Emmerich, whose book of visions Mel Gibson himself admits was the inspiration for the movie).

All of these Catholic doctrines figure in the dynamics involved in Mel Gibson’s The Passion.

‘THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST”  The following comment by Eugene E. Lemcio, Ph.D.  professor of New Testament, Seattle Pacific University  appeared in the Seattle Times and sums up many of the points in this report:

Because I have not yet seen the "Passion of the Christ," I will not comment on it. However, I am disturbed by some of the reported comments by those who have — those that go along these lines: "There was not a dry eye in the house," and "People sobbed throughout."

Is this what makes a film successful and important — that we can all have a good cry?

My hope is that viewers will (re)read the Gospels to discover how RESTRAINED they are in depicting Jesus' suffering and death. They do not exploit these obviously emotional events. There is nothing of the clinical analysis of the "doctor looks at Jesus' execution" genre, where lurid accounts are given of how under exposure this organ failed and how that system broke down during the trauma.

Unless we ask what the suffering and death were about, unless there is an attempt to see how the end of Jesus' life is related to the beginning and middle (and how physical suffering solves a spiritual problem), we will have denied him (and ourselves) justice. A large part of this report is taken from the article by Pastor Andrew J. Webb entitled: Five Reasons Not To Go See The Passion which is found on the Internet.

On February 25, 2004 Icon films, will be releasing Mel Gibson's much anticipated film The Passion of the Christ. The date of the release was deliberately chosen to coincide with the Roman Catholic holy day of Ash Wednesday, and is indicative of the fact that for Gibson, his film was a work of devotion. In an interview on the Roman Catholic Television Network EWTN, Gibson candidly stated why this movie is so different from all his others, "It reflects my beliefs-I've never done that before." He is also quite open about his desire to see his movie used for worldwide evangelism. Undoubtedly knowing little of Catholic doctrine, many noted Evangelicals including James Dobson, Billy Graham and Rick Warren have also come forward to endorse The Passion of Christ and recommend its use as a teaching tool. Expressing a widely held view amongst the film's supporters, Lisa Wheeler, associate editor of Catholic Exchange, a Web portal dedicated to Catholic evangelism, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution "It's the best Catholic evangelization opportunity we've had since the actual death of Jesus."

But should Evangelicals be supporting The Passion of Christ and endorsing its use as an Evangelism tool? Is this really the best evangelization opportunity we've had since the actual death of Jesus? After careful consideration my conclusion is an unequivocal "No." Here then are the reasons why I believe Evangelicals should not see or recommend the Passion of Christ.

1.Its Origins: Even though Evangelicals are promoting The Passion of Christ, it is not an Evangelical movie. As Mel Gibson, a devout Roman Catholic put it so well; "It reflects my beliefs." These beliefs include the fact that, as Mel Gibson states himself, “There is no salvation for those outside the Roman Catholic Church .”The Passion of Christ is a Roman Catholic movie, made by a Roman Catholic director, with Roman Catholic theological advisers. The Passion of Christ has already proven its effectiveness as an evangelism tool in producing Catholic conversions and encouraging Catholic devotion:

In his first nationally broadcast interview about his starring role in Mel Gibson's much-anticipated film "The Passion of Christ," James Caviezel – Mel Gibson's Jesus - detailed  the ordeal of filming the Crucifixion scenes, noting that the overall experience prompted many in the crew to convert to Catholicism.

"Noting "the amount of conversions on the movie," he said the experience of filming Christ's story "really changed people's lives." Caviezel recalled telling Gibson, "I think it's very important that we have mass every day - at least I need that to play this guy." "I felt if I was going to play him I needed the sacrament [of the Eucharist] in me. So [Gibson] provided that."

Also, consider some comments about the movie by actor Jim Caviezel  and his wife Kerri in an interview with Fr. Mario Knezovic  for Radio "Mir" Medjugorje:[site of Marian apparitions]

 Jim Caviezel: "I first heard about Medjugorje in 5th - 6th grade.  They said that it was like the apparitions of Fatima, Guadeloupe, Lourdes... During an apparition, I felt a physical presence.”

 Jim Caviezel: "The catharsis for me to play this role was through  Medjugorje…. In preparation, I used all that  Medjugorje taught me.

 Kerri Caviezel: "I pray that we are open to where ever Mary is leading us that in all the places where we go and to the  people that we meet around the world, we may bring these  messages."

Jim Caviezel: “THIS FILM IS SOMETHING I BELIEVE WAS MADE BY MARY FOR HER  SON.”

Jim Caviezel: I kept this [piece of the true cross] on me all the time. They made a special pocket in my clothes for it. I also had relics of Padre Pio, St. Anthony of Padoua, Ste Maria Goretti, and saint Denisius, the Patron saint of Actors. I read many of the [Medjugorje] messages continuously. Every day everyone could see me with the rosary in my hands.

2) Its Script: Although it is widely thought that the script for the movie is based entirely on the Biblical gospels, this is not the case. The script for The Passion of Christ contains much extrabiblical material, and is based in part on a mystical Roman Catholic devotional work by an 18th century German Nun, Sister Anne Emmerich, entitled The Dolorous Passion of Christ. Anne Emmerich was a mystic who saw repeated visions of Mary and Jesus and bore the stigmata on her body. Gibson stated on EWTN that reading Emmerich's book was his primary inspiration for making the movie. By introducing extrabiblical elements, not only does The Passion of Christ change some of the theological emphases of the Biblical account of Christ's crucifixion, but it will also create a false impression amongst the very "seekers" that Evangelicals are trying to reach, that things were said and done at the crucifixion that did not actually happen. For Evangelicals, who would feel very uncomfortable with a version of the Bible that put words into the mouth of Christ that he never spoke, to endorse a movie that does the very same thing seems hopelessly inconsistent. Protestants traditionally rejected the Apocrypha precisely because these books were fabricated and contained inauthentic material, despite the fact that these books might have been useful for evangelism

The script for The Passion of Christ was translated into Aramaic and Latin by Father William Fulco, an old friend of Mel Gibson's. This was not done for reasons of making it more authentic. The language decisions in the Passion of Christ were made for theological reasons, as Fr. Fulco states:

"It is crucial to realize that the images and language at the heart of "The Passion of the Christ" flow directly out of Gibson's personal dedication to Catholicism in one of its most traditional and mysterious forms - the 16th-century Latin Mass.

"I don't go to any other services," Mel Gibson told the Eternal Word Television Network. "I go to the old Tridentine Rite. That's the way that I first saw it when I was a kid. So I think that that informs one's understanding of how to transcend language…

“The goal of the movie is to shake modern audiences by brashly juxtaposing the “Sacrifice of the Cross with the Sacrifice of the Altar – which is the same thing,” said Gibson. This ancient union of symbols and sounds has never lost its hold on him. There is, he stressed, "a lot of power in these dead languages."

Thus, the seemingly bizarre choice of Latin and Aramaic was actually part of the message."

…

The script of The Passion of Christ was specifically intended to link the crucifixion of Christ with what Roman Catholics believe is the re-sacrificing of Christ that occurs in the Mass. Gibson's intent is to show us that the sacrifice of the cross and the sacrifice of the altar (the Mass) are the same thing. Protestant Evangelicals have historically rejected the idea that Christ can be sacrificed again and again and declared it "abominable” as it directly contradicts Hebrews 10:10-18.  Speaking of the concept that the Crucifixion and the Mass is the same thing, the Protestant Westminster Confession declares:

"In this sacrament (Catholic Mass), Christ is not offered up to his Father; nor any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sins of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of himself, by himself, upon the cross, once for all: so that the popish sacrifice of the Mass (as they call it) is most abominably injurious to Christ's one, only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of his elect."

3) Its Theology: Gibson's comment about the sacrifice of the altar and the sacrifice of the cross shows the indispensable link in this movie between the Catholic view of Christ's sacrifice and the portrayal of the Crucifixion in The Passion of Christ. In Roman Catholic theology the intense physical suffering of Christ's Crucifixion is the focus along with the emphasis on physical sacrifice. This is one of the reasons why in Roman Catholic iconography we have so much imagery related to Christ's physical pain and why crucifixes show him still suffering on the cross. The sacrifice of the Mass means that Christ's declaration that his once for all sacrifice is completed - "it is finished" (John 19:30) - never actually comes, and that his suffering has to be constantly repeated. The theology of the bible however points out to us that the grand importance of Christ's crucifixion lay not in his physical suffering, but in his once for all propitiation of God's wrath (1 John 4:10). Lest we forget, the greatest torment that Christ experienced on the cross was not caused by the nails driven into his flesh, but in his being made "sin for us" and vicariously suffering the righteous punishment of the Father in our place. Satisfying the justice of the Romans on a cross was comparatively easy, thousands of condemned men and women and several of the Apostles did that, but only Christ could satisfy the justice of God.

The sacrifice of Christ was a glorious event in which, in accordance with God's plan, full satisfaction for sin was procured by Christ on behalf of His people (Acts 2:43). Gibson’s The Passion of Christ leaves us with a vision of the sacrifice of Christ that is only dolorous (Dolorous: Full of grief; sad; sorrowful) and which puts into sharp relief the Roman Catholic notion not only of the importance of Christ's agony, but that of Mary in "offering her Son."

In an interview with Zenit, the Roman Catholic News Service, Father Thomas Rosica, the priest who oversaw World Youth Day 2002 and its Way of the Cross through the streets of Toronto, illustrated how The Passion of Christ, in keeping with Roman Catholic theology, uses extrabiblical content to massively exaggerate the role of Mary:

"One scene, in particular, was very moving. As Jesus falls on the Way of the Cross, there is a flashback to his falling on a Jerusalem street as a child, and his mother running out of the house to pick him up. The interplay of Mary and Jesus in this film is moving, and reaches its apex in the scene of the Pietà.

The Mother of the Lord is inviting each of us to share her grief and behold her Son."

4) Its Insufficiency to Reach the Lost: A common objection is that we must use tools like The Passion of Christ in order to reach the lost and that if we don't we are "missing a great opportunity." But are we really missing an opportunity if we use a Roman Catholic movie to try to bring people to a saving knowledge of the Biblical Jesus?

Also, are we really certain that this will be as effective as we think in saving souls? J. Marcellus Kik in his Pictures of Christ addressed that very question and gave us some wise advice, which I think all Christians would do well to heed:

"But can it not help in the saving of souls, it is asked. But how? Looking at a picture of Christ hanging upon the cross tells me nothing. It does not tell me that He hung there for sin. It does not tell me that He hung there for my sin. It does not tell me that He is the Son of God. Only the Word of God does that. And it is the Word of God that has been given us to tell the story of salvation through the blood of Christ. It is not through the foolishness of pictures that sinners are converted but through the foolishness of preaching. God has ordained the foolishness of preaching to evangelize the world. He has promised to attend the preaching of the Word with the power of the Holy Spirit.”   We must preach God's Word regardless of how unpopular it is because we are commanded to do so:

"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

“…to us being saved (the gospel) is the power of God unto salvation.” (1Cor 1:18)

WEB LINKS:  Site for Pastor Webb lead article:

1. christianunplugged.com and click link

2. Biography of Anne Emmerich: spiritdaily.com/emmerichlife

3. Medjugorje interview with James Caviezel:     medjugorje.hr/int%20Caviezel20ENG.htm

4. “Why I Will Not See the Passion” by John LeGare: informedchristians.com

5.  Two articles from Understand the Times: understandthetimes.org(articles are: “The Passion Visionary” and “Catholic Evangelism?”

6.  Passion of old words and symbols: tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/2004/01/21

7.  Former Catholic Priest:  www.bereanbeacon.org (used in the quotes in this article)

************************************

Subject: Dolorous Passion excerpts that coincide with Gibson movie (excerpts included are either instances depicted in the movie that coincide with Emmerich book but are not found in the Bible or they are examples of Catholic doctrine)

From The Dolorous Passion by Anne Catherine Emmerich

CHAPTER I: Jesus in the Garden of Olives.  But Satan, who was enthroned amid all these horrors, and even filled with diabolical joy at the sight of them, let loose his fury against Jesus, and displayed before the eyes of his soul increasingly awful visions, at the same time addressing his adorable humanity in words such as these: ‘Takest thou even this sin upon thyself? Art thou willing to bear its penalty? Art thou prepared to satisfy for all these sins?’(personal aside: quotes are word for word in movie)   

(I saw) the horror of death and terror which he felt as man at the sight of the expiatory sufferings about to come upon him, surrounded and assailed his Divine Person under the forms of hideous spectres… (After asking the disciples why they slept), He then returned to the grotto, his mental sufferings being still on the increase, while his disciples, on their part, stretched forth their hands towards him, wept, and embraced each other, asking, ‘What can it be? What is happening to him? He appears to be in a state of complete desolation.’ (Jesus then went back to pray and in his anguish of spirit, raised his voice, and gave utterance to several cries of pain. The three Apostles awoke, listened, and were desirous of approaching him, but Peter detained James and John, saying: ‘Stay you here; I will join him.’ Then I saw Peter hastily run forward and enter the grotto. ‘Master,’ he exclaimed, ‘what has befallen thee?’ But at the sight of Jesus, thus bathed in his own blood, and sinking to the ground beneath the weight of mortal fear and anguish, he drew back, and paused for a moment, overcome with terror.

During this agony of Jesus, I saw the Blessed Virgin also overwhelmed with sorrow and anguish of soul, in the house of Mary, the mother of Mark. She was with Magdalen and Mary… for she beheld in spirit Jesus bathed in a bloody sweat. I saw the interior movements of her soul towards Jesus, who thought of her, and turned his eyes in her direction, as if to seek her assistance. I beheld the spiritual communication which they had with each other, under the form of rays passing to and fro between them.   He saw also and felt the sufferings endured at that moment by his Mother, whose interior union with his agony was so entire that she had fainted in the arms of her two friends.

CHAPTER II: Judas and his Band (130) They tied his hands as tightly as possible with hard new cords, fastening the right-hand wrist under the left elbow, and the left-hand wrist under the right elbow. They then fastened four ropes to different parts of the belt, and by means of these ropes dragged our Blessed Lord from side to side in the most cruel manner. They led him along the roughest road they could select, over the sharpest stones, and through the thickest mire; they pulled the cords as tightly as possible…

I saw our Lord fall twice before he reached the bridge, and these falls were caused entirely by the barbarous manner in which the soldiers dragged him; but when they were half over the bridge they gave full vent to their brutal inclinations, and struck Jesus with such violence that they threw him off the bridge …They pulled him up again in the most cruel manner, struck him with cords, and fastened the ends of his garment to the belt…

 (personal aside): If thou knowest not how to meditate on high and heavenly things, rest on the Passion of Christ, and willingly dwell in his sacred wounds. For, if thou fly devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmas of Jesus, thou shalt feel great comfort in tribulation'. (Imitation   of Christ, book ii. chap. i.) (almost word for word how Mel Gibson was quoted as describing how he was healed of his own wounds).

CHAPTER XI: Mary in the House of Caiphas.  The Blessed Virgin was ever united to her Divine Son by interior spiritual communications; she was, therefore, fully aware of all that happened to him—she suffered with him…

Mary drew close to (Peter), and said in a voice trembling with emotion: ‘Simon, son of John, why dost thou not answer me?’—'Mother!’ exclaimed Peter, in a dejected tone, ‘0, Mother, speak not to me—thy Son is suffering more than words can express: speak not to me! They have condemned him to death, and I have denied him three times.’(personal aside: In Bible Peter never called Mary Mother. Yet the Catholic Church calls Mary the Mother of All)… Mary was with Jesus in spirit, and Jesus was with her…she listened and heard not only his moans, but also the abusive language of those around him…(yet) the Blessed Virgin, by a special grace from Almighty God, maintained a calm and dignified exterior in the midst of her sufferings.

CHAPTER XVIII: The Origin of the Way of the Cross.   During the whole of the scene which we have just described, the Mother of Jesus, with Magdalen and John, had stood in a recess in the forum: they were overwhelmed with the most bitter sorrow, which was but increased by all they heard and saw. When Jesus was taken before Herod, John led the Blessed Virgin and Magdalen over the parts which had been sanctified by his footsteps. The Blessed Virgin knelt down frequently and kissed the ground where her Son had fallen, while Magdalen wrung her hands in bitter grief, and John, although he could not restrain his own tears, endeavoured to console his companions, supported, and led them on. Thus was the holy devotion of the ‘Way of the Cross’ first practised; thus were the Mysteries of the Passion of Jesus first honoured, even before that Passion was accomplished, and the Blessed Virgin, that model of spotless purity, was the first to show forth the deep veneration felt by the Church for our dear Lord.

She who had once borne the Saviour of the world in her chaste womb, and suckled him for so long,—she who had truly conceived him who was the Word of God, in God from all eternity, and truly God,—she beneath whose heart, full of grace, he had deigned to dwell nine months, who had felt him living within her before he appeared among men to impart the blessing of salvation and teach them his heavenly doctrines; she suffered with Jesus, sharing with him not only the sufferings of his bitter Passion, but likewise that ardent desire of redeeming fallen man by an ignominious death, which consumed him.  In this touching manner did the most pure and holy Virgin lay the foundation of the devotion called the Way of the Cross; thus at each station, marked by the sufferings of her Son, did she lay up in her heart the inexhaustible merits of his Passion, and gather them up as precious stones or sweet-scented flowers to be presented as a choice offering to the Eternal Father in behalf of all true believers.

CHAPTER XXII: The Scourging of Jesus … The heart of John was filled with love, and he suffered intensely, but he uttered not a word. He supported the Mother of his beloved Master in this her first pilgrimage through the stations of the Way of the Cross, and assisted her in giving the example of that devotion which has since been practised with so much fervour by the members of the Christian Church…Jesus trembled and shuddered as he stood before the pillar…he turned his face once towards his Mother, who was standing overcome with grief; this look quite unnerved her… Our loving Lord, the Son of God, true God and true Man, writhed as a worm under the blows of these barbarians; his mild but deep groans might be heard from afar; they resounded through the air, fording a kind of touching accompaniment to the hissing of the instruments of torture. The cruelty of these barbarians was nevertheless not yet satiated; they untied Jesus, and again fastened him up with his back turned towards the pillar…and they recommenced scourging him with even greater fury than before (personal aside: this was totally against their law of being able to deliver no more than 39 lashes to the back of a person).

CHAPTER XXIII: Mary during the Flagellation of our Lord.  I saw the Blessed Virgin in a continual ecstasy during the time of the scourging of her Divine Son; she saw and suffered with inexpressible love and grief all the torments he was enduring. When Jesus fell down at the foot of the pillar, after the flagellation, I saw Claudia Procles, the wife of Pilate, send some large pieces of linen to the Mother of God…At the termination of the scourging, Mary came to herself for a time, and saw her Divine Son all torn and mangled, being led away by the archers after the scourging: he wiped his eyes, which were filled with blood, that he might look at his Mother, and she stretched out her hands towards him, and continued to look at the bloody traces of his footsteps. I soon after saw Mary and Magdalen approach the pillar where Jesus had been scourged; the mob were at a distance, and they were partly concealed by the other holy women, and by a few kind-hearted persons who had joined them; they knelt down on the ground near the pillar, and wiped up the sacred blood with the linen which Claudia Procles had sent (personal aside: there is no mention of this in the Bible)

CHAPTER XXXI: The First Fall of Jesus.  When Jesus reached this spot, his strength was perfectly exhausted; he was quite unable to move; and as the archers dragged and pushed him without showing the slightest compassion, he fell quite down against this stone, and the cross fell by his side. The cruel executioners were obliged to stop, they abused and struck him unmercifully, but the whole procession came to a standstill, which caused a degree of confusion. Vainly did he hold out his hand for some one to assist him to rise: ‘Ah!’ he exclaimed, ‘all will soon be over;’ and he prayed for his enemies. ‘Lift him up,’ said the Pharisees, ‘otherwise he will die in our hands.’…

CHAPTER XXXII: The Second Fall of Jesus.  Then came her (Mary’s) beloved Son. He was almost sinking under the heavy weight of his cross, and his head, still crowned with thorns, was drooping in agony on his shoulder. He cast a look of compassion and sorrow upon his Mother, staggered, and fell for the second time upon his hands and knees. Mary was perfectly agonised at this sight; she forgot all else; she saw neither soldiers nor executioners; she saw nothing but her dearly-loved Son; and, springing from the doorway into the midst of the group who were insulting and abusing him, she threw herself on her knees by his side and embraced him.

CHAPTER XXIV: The Veil of Veronica.  Those who were marching at the head of the procession tried to push her back; but she made her way through the mob, the soldiers, and the archers, reached Jesus, fell on her knees before him, and presented the veil, saying at the same time, ‘Permit me to wipe the face of my Lord.’ Jesus took the veil in his left hand, wiped his bleeding face, and returned it with thanks. Seraphia kissed it, and put it under her cloak. The girl then timidly offered the wine, but the brutal soldiers would not allow Jesus to drink it. The suddenness of this courageous act of Seraphia had surprised the guards, and caused a momentary although unintentional halt, of which she had taken advantage to present the veil to her Divine Master…(Later in her house) A friend who entered the room a short time after, found her thus kneeling, with the child weeping by her side, and saw, to his astonishment, the bloody countenance of our Lord imprinted upon the veil, a perfect likeness, although heartrending and painful to look upon.

 CHAPTER XXXVIII: The Nailing of Jesus to the Cross.  When the executioners had nailed the right hand of our Lord, they perceived that his left hand did not reach the hole they had bored to receive the nail, therefore they tied ropes to his left arm, and having steadied their feet against the cross, pulled the left hand violently until it reached the place prepared for it.

CHAPTER XLIII: Eclipse of the Sun.—Second and Third Word of Jesus on the Cross.  Magdalen, Mary of Cleophas, and John stood near the Cross of our Lord and looked at him, while the Blessed Virgin, filled with intense feelings of motherly love, entreated her Son to permit her to die with him, (personal aside: this is Catholic doctrine of Mary being Co-Redeemer) but he, casting a look of ineffable tenderness upon her, turned to John and said, ‘Woman, behold thy son;’ then he said to John, ‘Behold thy mother’ John looked at his dying Redeemer, and saluted this beloved mother (whom he henceforth considered as his own) in the most respectful manner...I knew that Jesus, by giving her as a mother to John, gave her also as a mother to all who believe in him, who become children of God, and are not born of flesh and blood, or of the will of man, but of God.

CHAPTER XLV: Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Words of Jesus on the Cross.—His Death .What words can, alas, express the deep grief of the Blessed Virgin? Her eyes closed, a death-like tint overspread her countenance; unable to stand, she fell to the ground, but was soon lifted up, and supported by John, Magdalen, and the others. She looked once more upon her beloved Son—that Son whom she had conceived by the Holy Ghost, the flesh of her flesh, (personal aside: these were words Mary spoke in movie as she addressed Jesus. They are not found in that context in the Bible) the bone of her bone, the heart of her heart—well might she at this moment be termed ‘the queen of martyrs.’