Title of the work in Latin
MEDULLA S. THOMAE AQUITATIS PER OMNES ANNI LITURGICI DIES DISTRBUITA, SEU MEDITATIONES EX OPERIBUS S. THOMAE DEPROMPTAE
Compilation and arrangement by
FR. Z. MÉZARD O. P.
NOTE
All titles with an asterisk contain material that is no longer attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas.
7. Tuesday after the First Sunday of Lent: In what way did Christ suffer all sufferings
Tuesday after the First Sunday of Lent
Human sufferings can be considered in two lights. First, with respect to their kind. And then, Christ was not supposed to suffer all kinds of sufferings; for many types of sufferings are contrary to one another, such as being burned by fire and being submerged in water. But now we are discussing sufferings of extrinsic origin; for sufferings arising from external causes, such as bodily illnesses, he was not supposed to suffer, as we have said. However, with respect to the genus, he suffered all human sufferings. This is susceptible to a threefold consideration:
1. First, with respect to the people who caused him sufferings. Certain sufferings were inflicted on him by both Gentiles and Jews; by men and women, as shown by the accusing maidens against Peter. He also suffered at the hands of princes and their ministers, and from the common people, as Scripture says (Ps 2:1): "Why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed." He also suffered from his disciples and acquaintances, such as Judas, who betrayed him, and Peter, who denied him.
2. Second, the same can be concluded regarding what a man can suffer. Thus, he suffered from his friends, who abandoned him; in his reputation, from the blasphemies spoken against him; in his honor and glory, from the ridicule and contempt hurled at him; in his possessions, when he was stripped of his own clothes; in his soul, from sadness, weariness, and fear; in his body, from injuries and scourging.
3. Third, we can consider him in relation to the members of the body. Thus, Christ suffered, on his head, the crown of sharp thorns; on his hands and feet, the piercing of the nails; on his face, slaps and spit; and throughout his body, scourging. He also suffered in all the senses of the body: in touch, when he was scourged and nailed; in taste, when they gave him gall and vinegar to drink; in smell, when suspended on the gallows, in a place foul from the corpses of the executed, called Calvary; in hearing, wounded by the cries of those who blasphemed and mocked him; in sight, when he saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved weeping.
As for sufficiency, a minimal suffering from Christ would have been enough to redeem the human race from all sins. But, with respect to appropriateness, it was fitting that he should suffer all kinds of sufferings.
III, q. XLVI, a. 5.
(P. D. Mézard, O. P., Meditationes ex Operibus S. Thomae.)
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