Simon of Cyrene

Simon_of_Cyrene2

The executioners led Him down the center of the road, where there were bumps and stuck stones, while they themselves walked along the side. Holding the ends of the ropes tied to the Lord Jesus, they mercilessly tensioned them and wrenched Him. I saw the Lord Jesus, weakened by hunger and the flow of blood, fall under the cross, and the Jews wrenched, kicked, beat Him and forced Him to swiftly stand. During one such fall He broke His collarbone bone on the left side of the neck, during another He tore open His forehead above the eye against a protruding stone on the road. The wound was two inches wide, deep to the bone, and the Jews, especially adolescent boys, laughed and threw mud at our fallen Savior.

During the next fall already the Lord Jesus could no longer stand up … a torturer violently forced him to rise. Ah! I will never forget the way our Lord Jesus looked upon the crowd surrounding Him … in this look I saw an indescribable ache and protest of a pained heart: “O people! Have you already frozen all human feelings? Have your hearts turned into hard and cold stones?” But in the eyes I also read love to all around him … you abuse me, lead me to death, and I have compassion on your blindness; in My Passion I want to take you out of the bondage from Satan, to wash away your sins and to open Heaven with the Cross, which weighs heavily on me.

The executioners did not understand the gaze of Jesus, but because the approaching Sabbath and before the Sabbath they had to execute a death sentence, they were looking for man who would raise the Lord Jesus and for some part of the road carry his cross. They stumbled across Simon of Cyrene, a pagan, going to the city in search of a garden to lease – they stopped him and forced him to raise Jesus. Jesus looked upon him – and this look was understood by Simon, he came to know immediately the mystery of the Cross and fall in love with the Lord Jesus and became his admirer. I saw him sweetly pick up our Lord from the ground, shake the mud off Him, and then gladly take the cross on his own shoulders and walk beside Christ, suffering from Him intensely …

I heard him say to the Lord Jesus: “I’m sorry Jesus, that at the first request from the Jews I did not rush to help You, until they forced me to come, for I did not know You. Now, meeting You in such a terrible state, and among people of the same nation, to whom so many good deeds you have done, and they have such hatred for you, that they forced Pilate to sign a death sentence, to which they condemn their lowest order of slaves, and before performing the judgment in such a pitiless way they torment you, I have come to believe that you are God hidden in a human body… My belief was confirmed by your look, penetrating to the depths of my whole being. It appeared to me that your Cross, which on me was placed, would be too heavy, and yet it is easy to carry, because you, my Lord, are walking beside me. You have not departed me, and to the end of my life I will bear it with joy…

Hearing this confession by Simon, I said: “So Many avoid the Lord Jesus, because they don’t know him, but if they came under the cross and looked into the eyes of the Crucified Savior, they would recognize him and all the crosses, distress, disease and failure and would carry them with joy if they walked beside the Lord Jesus and saw in Him God in the human body suffering for them… Oh! do not complain in distress, not blaspheme, but as the Cyrene, let us say: “Do not departed from me Lord, be my companion in this difficult pilgrimage of my life, and with joy I will bear this cross’”…

The Cyrene would have willingly carried the cross of the Lord Jesus to the very place of crucifixion, but the Jews would not allow him. Before Pilate signed the death sentence, the Jews wanted to Jesus die from scourging, but when Pilate consented, they did not want Him to die on the road, because they wanted to see him nailed to the cross on the spot where they executed the greatest criminals. That’s why they gave him a helper for a brief moment, to have Him gain strength, and then again force him to carry the cross, an instrument of deadly pain, so that His life would end upon it. The Cyrene, on the orders of the Jews returned the Cross of the Lord Jesus, but remained His follower; following the example of their father went two sons, Alexander and Rufus. All three became Christians and martyrs for Christ.

“When my dearest Jesus lay on the ground, and the Jews were looking for a helper, with heart and soul I moved towards him and with the deepest humility knelt before him, kissed his hands and feet and with tears asked: ‘I beg of you, my dear Savior, tell me for what sins are you suffering these terrible insult?’ ‘My child,’ said the Lord Jesus, ‘I know that it is not curiosity that pushed you to ask that question, but heartfelt compassion for me and the firm will to avoid sins, which are the cause of these false accusations and release of this unjust sentence. The reason for this, and the whole of My Passion, are all sins, but the sins of the judiciary in particular. I came into the world to inculcate among the people the love of God and neighbor; to uproot hatred, jealousy and all pagan malice, I came to introduce justice. And did the world accepted my teachings? Has an end come to bickering, hatred, revenge and lawsuits?”

“Where is the justice in the courts, where is the integrity of the prosecutors, witnesses and defendants? Bribery and falsehoods manage to affect every step. The applicant writes complaints that are exaggerated and often false. The defendants deny everything. Both of them put up bribed witnesses and often bear witness to that which they have not seen and only heard from someone, and worst of all, that this oath is confirmed by kissing the My Cross with lying lips. Defenders take to defend even the greatest criminals, as long as they get paid. Judges often, against their own conviction, give sentences. Cases stall indefinitely, one wants to completely destroy the other, forgetting about My admonition: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive our debtors.” The screams I heard in the courtyard of Pilate, are heard in the courts, meanwhile the inns are filled with drunkards, how many curses and blasphemies there are committed?!”

“For this I suffer false accusations, witnesses bribed by the Pharisees, for this I received an unjust sentence. I have taken all sins upon myself, and for them the punishment will bear.”

“Tell the parish priest, to try to often explain to people the eighth commandment of God and as much as possible to prevent lawsuits and injustice in the parish and in families. You shall help him in this work with your prayers, and for will thus alleviate my suffering.” pp. 81-84

Vision during Lent 1872

 

Wanda Malczewska,

Visions, Prophecies, Admonitions