the foot of the
pillar, bathed in his own blood, and two or three bold-looking girls
came up to gratify their curiosity away in disgust, but at the moment
the pain of the wounds of Jesus was so intense that he raised his
bleeding head and looked at them. They retired quickly, and the
soldiers and guards laughed and made game of them.

During the time of the scourging of our Lord, I saw weeping angels
approach him many times; I likewise heard the prayers he constantly
addressed to his Father for the pardon of our sins--prayers which never
ceased during the whole time of the infliction of this cruel
punishment. Whilst he lay bathed in his blood I saw an angel present to
him a vase containing a bright-looking beverage which appeared to
reinvigorate him in a certain degree. The archers soon returned, and
after giving him some blows with their sticks, bade him rise and follow
them. He raised himself with the greatest difficulty, as his trembling
limbs could scarcely support the weight of this body; they did not give
him sufficient time to put on his clothes, but threw his upper garment
over his naked shoulders and led him from the pillar to the guardhouse,
where he wiped the blood which trickled down his face with a corner of
his garment. When he passed before the benches on which the High
Priests were seated, they cried out, 'Put him to death! Crucify him!
Crucify him!' and then turned away disdainfully. The executioners led him
into the interior of the guardhouse, which was filled with slaves,
archers, hodmen, and the very dregs of the people, but there were no
soldiers.

The great excitement among the populace alarmed Pilate so much, that
he sent to the fortress of Antonia for a reinforcement of Roman
soldiers, and posed these well-disciplined troops round the
guard-house; they were permitted to talk and to deride Jesus in every
possible way, but were forbidden to quit their ranks. These soldiers,
whom Pilate had sent for to intimidate the mob, numbered about a
thousand.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Mary during the Scourging 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. She
groaned feebly, and her eyes were red with weeping. A large veil
covered her person, and she leant upon Mary of Heli, her eldest sister,
who was old and extremely like their mother, Anne.10 Mary