Fr. James Groenings - The Passion of Jesus and Its Hidden Meaning: A Scriptural commentary on the Passion

The Passion of Jesus

And its Hidden Meaning

Fr. James Groenings, S.J.

Nihil Obstat: F. G. Holweck
Censor Theologicus
St. Louis, Missouri
January 17, 1908

Imprimatur: John J. Glennon
Archbishop of St. Louis
January 22, 1908

Copyright 1900 by Joseph Gummersbach.

Originally published by B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, Missouri approximately 1908 under the title The History of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ: Explained and Applied to the Christian Life. Photographically reproduced from the Sixth Revised Edition of B. Herder Book Co., of 1928 and published by TAN Books in 1987 under the title The Passion of Jesus and Its Hidden Meaning: Explained and Applied to the Christian Life. Cover redesigned and subtitle changed to: A Scriptural Commentary in 2008.

Cover illustrations:
Jesus sculpture in public cemetery of Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina:
Copyright Ernesto Rolandelli; iStockphoto.
Parchment paper background: Copyright Peter Zelei; iStockphoto.

Cover design by Milo Persic.

Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 82-50592

ISBN: 978-0-89555-189-4

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.TANBooks.com

2012

PREFACE.

(From the foreword of the first German edition.)

"This book is not, strictly speaking, a series of sermons or meditations on the sufferings of our Redeemer, but it is rather an explanation of the history of the Passion. It consists of a description of the most important and most interesting trial which has ever come before a court of justice, on whose final decision depends the weal or woe of the whole human race. The book is also a commentary on the greatest drama which has ever been enacted. Even considered from a purely natural point of view, the Passion of our Lord is a drama with which none other can be compared as regards the character of the actors, the magnitude of the action, the importance of the intrigue and the complexity of the plot. The unities of time and place have even been preserved.

In preparing this explanation and practical application of the history of the Passion, the author has spared no pains in gathering and using with discretion the best which Catholic learning and research has to offer on the subject. In pursuance of his object he has consulted by preference the great Catholic theologians of the past and from these treasure-houses of sacred knowledge has chosen the granite blocks from which to rear his edifice. The author has thought it wise not to draw from private revelations, no matter how venerable the names connected with them may be. Since it is difficult to distinguish between what is in reality revealed in these revelations and what is merely the result of pious meditation, the author judged it more in accordance with his very calling as teacher and interpreter of the Gospel to rely solely on the Gospel narratives and the interpretation put upon them by the Fathers and by men scientifically trained for that purpose. The various personal revelations may, with due respect, be left to private devotion, pious reading and meditation.

How and to what extent exegetical matter should be incorporated in the work was determined by the double purpose in view, namely, to impart useful and interesting knowledge and to offer religious edification. The author does not pretend that he has always taken the correct stand on disputed points, but, on the other hand, he does not believe that he has made any assertion without good reason and without being able to quote, in support, authorities who command respect.

For the guidance of the reader, the passages from the four Gospels which provide the subject-matter for each chapter have been indicated. The historical sequence of the different events, as far as it was possible to determine it, has been strictly observed, except that the mysteries of Mount Olivet have been arranged from an objective viewpoint and that the wonderful phenomena observed before and at the time of the death of our Lord have been condensed in one chapter. However, care has been taken to avoid confusing the order of events. Partly with a view to furnishing an authoritative foundation for interpretations and partly for the instruction and encouragement of those who have not access to a large number of scientific works, notes on various difficult points have been added at the end of the book. They were placed there in order to avoid interrupting the text in a disagreeable manner by lengthy remarks which do not have the same interest for every one. As far as circumstances permitted, the passages quoted from the Fathers, taken over, with few exceptions, from Cornelius Lapide and Salmeron, have been covered with exact references and have been compared with the original texts. Unfortunately it was not possible to verify all the references to the Fathers.

Although, as has been stated, the work is not a book of meditations, in the strict sense of the term, it, nevertheless, affords abundant material for meditation and may even be considered as a preparatory school for meditation, because its purpose is to introduce us to a thorough knowledge of the history of the Passion of our Lord, to reveal to us His inner life and to inspire us to apply the truths here taught to our lives. But those who propose using the book for meditation will do well to remember the advice given by St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises, viz., to take thoroughly to heart, in considering the persons, the words and the actions in the history of the Passion, what our Lord suffered in His sacred humanity, especially in His Divine Heart; how His divinity withdraws into the background, as it were, in order to abandon His sacred humanity to suffering, and how, finally, Christ suffers all these thing's for each one of us individually in accordance with the words of St. Paul. (Gal. ii., 20.) It was not feasible to repeat these important and wholesome thoughts in every chapter, nor is it the intention of St. Ignatius that they themselves form the object of our meditations; they are rather to be considered, to use a comparison, as the glasses through which we are to behold the objects of our attention, i. e., the various events in the history of the Passion. It is sufficient to here remind the reader to keep these three points constantly before his mind.

As it was not practicable to indicate on every page the sources from which the various explanations were taken, we name here the chief works consulted in writing this book.

A. Salmeron, S. J., Comment. in Evangel. Historiam; Fr. Toletus, S. J., Comment. in Joannis Evangelium; Joh. Maldonat, S. J., Comment. in quatuor Evangelistas; Seb. Barradas, S. J., Comment. in Concordiam et Historiam quatuor Evangelist.; Cornelius Lapide, S. J., Comment. in quatuor Evangelia; P. A. Scherer, Bibliothek fr Prediger; Fr. Xav. Massl, Erklrung der heiligen Schriften des Neuen Testamentes: Dr. P. Schegg, Kommentare zu Matthus und Johannes; Dr. P. Schanz, Kommentare zu den vier Evangelisten; Dr. Joh. Nep. Sepp, Das Leben Jesu Christi (second edition); Dr. P. Schegg, Das Leben Jesu; L. de Ponte, S. J., Meditationes; L. de la Palma, S. J., Geschichte der heiligen Passion; W. Stanihurstus, S. J., Dei immortalis in corpore mortali patientis historia; R. Bellarmin, S. J., Die sieben Worte Christi am Kreuze; Ad. Fr. Lennig, Betrachtungen ber das bittere Leiden Jesu Christi; Ant. Etzinger, Betrachtungen ber das Leiden und Sterben Jesu Christi; Dr. M. Breiteneicher, Die Passion des Gottmenschen; Dr. N. Gihr, Das heilige Messopfer.

May by God's grace, the reading of this book help to inflame in our hearts the love of the Crucified."

The second English edition has been prepared from the fourth German edition with the addition of those improvements which are to be incorporated in a fifth German edition, should such be called for.