e, saw the deplorable
condition to which our Lord was reduced, they uttered loud cries, wept,
and, according to the Jewish custom, presented him cloths to wipe his
face. Jesus turned towards them and said: 'Daughters of Jerusalem, weep
not over me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold
the days shall come wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren, and
the wombs that have not borne, and the papas that have not given suck.
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us, and to the
hills: Cover us. For if in the green wood they do these things, what
shall be done in the dry?' He then addressed a few words of consolation
to hem, which I do not exactly remember.

The procession made a momentary halt. The executioners, who set of
first, had reached Calvary with the instruments for the execution, and
were followed by a hundred of the Roman soldiers who had started with
Pilate; he only accompanied the procession as far as the gateway, and
returned to the town.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Jesus on Mount Golgotha.

Sixth and Seventh Falls of Jesus.

The procession again moved on; the road was very steep and rough
between the walls of the town and Calvary, and Jesus had the greatest
difficulty in walking with his heavy burden on his shoulders; but his
cruel enemies, far from feeling the slightest compassion, or giving the
least assistance, continued to urge him on by the infliction of hard
blows, and the utterance of dreadful curses. At last they reached a
spot where the pathway turned suddenly to the south; here he stumbled
and fell for the sixth time. The fall was a dreadful one, but the
guards only struck him the harder to force him to get up, and no sooner
did he reach Calvary that he sank down again for the seventh time.

Simon of Cyrene was filled with indignation and pity;
notwithstanding his fatigue, he wished to remain that he might assist
Jesus, but the archers first reviled, and then drove him away, and he
soon after joined the body of disciples. The executioners then ordered
the workmen and the boys who had carried the instruments of the
execution to depart, and the Pharisees soon arrived, for they were on
horseback, and had taken the smooth and easy road which ran to the east
of Calvary. There was a fine view of the whole town of Jerusalem from
the top of Calvary. This top was circular, and about the size of an
ordinary ridingschool, surrounded by a low wall, and with five sepa