Meditation VIII: On His Washing the Disciples' Feet

"Jesus, knowing that His hour was come, that He should pass out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end."

Upon this point, which is the introduction which the glorious apostle S. John makes, to the mysteries which immediately follow, are to be considered, the properties of the love of Christ our Lord towards His disciples, and to all those who then lived, or who shall hereafter live in the whole world.

1. Here is to be presupposed, that that Lord had three families or households of creatures belonging to Him: —one of angels in Heaven;—another of holy souls in Limbo; and a third of His disciples in the world. And although these last were intermixed with many other evil persons, who were none of His because they were evil, and even had as yet certain faults and imperfections, nevertheless He loved them with a tender and fatherly affection, because they were His; that is to say, His sons, His friends, and His faithful servants.

2. Hence follow the properties of this love:

i. That He loved them as His own peculiar and proper good, and consequently even as Himself, after some sort, even more than Himself, since approaching to death, as forgetful of Himself and of His labours, He wholly bestowed Himself to relieve them, losing His life to save theirs, taking upon Him the sins and miseries of His elect as His own, and discharging their debts by His death.

Colloquy.—O beloved of my soul, if Thou lovest me as Thine, I say to Thee, that I love Thee as mine, for as I am Thine, so Thou art mine. I am Thy creature, Thy slave, and Thy son; but Thou art my Creator, and my Redeemer, my Lord, and my Father. I therefore will love Thee not as myself, but above myself, and above all things created, and to be created, for that Thou art worthy to be beloved more than all things whatsoever.

ii. He loved them with a most steadfast and constant love even to the end; for He loved them whilst He lived in this life, and even unto the end of His life; and likewise loved them even to the end also of their lives, and ever will love all His, even to the consummation of the world.

Colloquy.—O constant love of Jesus Christ, whose fire neither the waters of immense tribulations, nor the floods of innumerable torments, could extinguish! Oh how often have I with my sins, as much as lay in me, gone about to quench this fire! But He always prevailed, ever doing good to him who served Him evilly, casting "hot coals upon his head," who daily multiplied more offences. Cease not, O my Saviour, to love me to the end, that so I may love Thee also without end. Amen.

iii. He loved them with an excessive love, and without limit, and to that highest degree that love can arrive, doing and suffering for them all that He could, and was convenient to do and suffer, and desired to do much more without end, had it been necessary for their remedy.

Colloquy.—O my beloved, I also desire to love Thee, as the precept of love commands, that is, with my "whole heart," with my "whole soul," and with my "whole strength," without any kind of bound or limit, aspiring if I may to that perfection, to which the love of a creature towards his Creator may aspire. I desire to love Thee more than the angels and the Seraphim love Thee, and if it were possible for me to have an infinite love, with it would I love Thee without being ever weary, didst Thou but assist me to increase in Thy love, until by love I attained to the end prescribed by Thee, because Thou art worthy to be beloved without end.

iv. He loved them for an end;—that is to say, for that end for which they were ordained, which is, to love and serve Him in this mortal life, and to enjoy Him in the life eternal. He loved them not to the end to give them riches, honours, or temporal commodities;—for this was not His end,—but that He might give them all the means of His grace, whereby they might obtain the end of glory. He also loved them for Himself, who is both the beginning and the ending of all things, to unite them with Himself by the union of love, that in Him they might finally rest as in their end.

Colloquy.—O my beloved, would to God that I might love Thee for the end for which Thou lovedst me! I love Thee not, O my Lord, that Thou mayest enrich me with temporal goods, but I love Thee because Thou lovest me, that Thou mayest impart to me spiritual goods, with which I may increase in Thy holy love, and unite myself to Thee without end, who art my last end, and supreme blessedness. Amen.

POINT II.

"When supper was done, (the Devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,) knowing that the Father had given Him all things into His hands, and that He came from God, and goeth to God, He riseth from supper, and layeth aside His garment, and having taken a towel, girded Himself. And after that, He putteth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded."

Upon this passage is to be considered:—1. the excellency of the Person that does this work:—2. the manner in which He does it, as that He does it only by Himself:—3. and the mystery of the Incarnation and Passion which He represented to us.

1. First, therefore, make a pause upon that which St. John dwells on in this place,—the excellency of the Person that humbled Himself to so base a work, as was that of washing the feet of His disciples: for the greater He is who humbles Himself, so much the more is His humility to be admired; and the humility is so much the more heroic, as the person is more excellent by whom it is exercised.

To this purpose I will behold in Christ our Lord what He is in Himself as He is God,—and what He does here as He is man.—As He is God, He is in heaven environed round about with innumerable angels, who, lying prostrate before His feet, adore Him;—as He is man, he is present here in a poor chamber, and in the midst of poor fishermen, Himself prostrate at their feet, to wash them —As He is God, "He is clothed with beauty; the Lord is clothed with strength," and with His hands hath created all things;—as He is man, He puts off His garments,— girds Himself with a towel,—and with His hands washes the feet of His own creatures.

But in particular, our Lord, who here humbles Himself, is infinitely wise, from whom nothing is concealed, neither His own excellency, nor His disciple's iniquity who sold Him, nor the basenesses and timorousness of those others who were before Him.—He is likewise infinitely mighty, because His eternal Father has put all things into His hand and power, communicating to Him, as He is God, His omnipotency in virtue of His divine generation;— and as He is man, for the hypostatical union with the Word eternal—He also is the natural Son of Almighty God, of whom He was begotten from all eternity, and came into the world to redeem it, and after death, to return to God, to sit on His throne upon the right hand of the Father. Knowing all which most perfectly He would notwithstanding humble Himself to this work; so that He did not humble Himself, as though He were ignorant who He was, nor constrained to it by any other, nor that He Himself was basely descended, or had a base intention, or proposed to Himself any abject end,—but only because He would Himself, and for the love of us, take on Himself the form of a servant, perfectly accomplishing the counsel of the Wise man, who says,—"The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things."

Colloquy.—O infinite humility, which so greatly shinest in a person of such infinite dignity, to confound the pride of my infinite baseness! If Jesus, infinitely wise and powerful, became so humble, how shall I, being so notoriously ignorant and feeble, become so proud? If the Son of God, who came from God, and who returns again to God, abased Himself, "taking the form of a servant," how shall I, that am the son of wrath and slave of the Devil, who am made of dust, and shall return to the same dust, presume to raise up myself, and to seek to be served like a lord? O humble Jesus, deliver me from the spirit of pride, and ground my heart in profound humility, who for so many respects am bound to humble myself.

2. The humility of our high Lord was loving and diligent, doing all this work by Himself alone, without the help of any other, in sign and token of His love. For He Himself put off "His garment," "girded Himself," "put water into the basin," bore it to the place where the disciples sat, prostrated Himself, and "washed," not their hands, but their dirty feet: and so Himself lovingly "wiped them with the towel wherewith He was girded," pleasing and contenting Himself to do all these things in His own person;—teaching me this to exercise the works of humility and charity in my own person, rejoicing more to do them myself, than to command them to be done by others, and performing every humble work without any mixture of boasting.

Colloquy.—O most loving master, who, without speaking, criest out aloud:—"Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart;" grant me this Thy meekness and loving gentleness, that I may find grace before Thee, whom the prayer of the humble and meek have always pleased. Amen.

3. But if the humility of this outward work be so great, much greater is the humility and the care which it represents, and which He exercised towards us all; for being the Son of Almighty God, for our sakes He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant," despoiled Himself of the garments of the greatness of His glories, and girded Himself with mortal and passible flesh, and was subject to many penalties; and upon the mount of Calvary consented to be stripped of His garments with great ignominy,—and there shed forth, instead of water, all the most precious blood within His veins, pouring it into the sacraments which He ordained, by it to wash us from our sins; and that we might remain clean, He willed that the most pure towel of His sacred Humanity, with which He was girded, should remain, in exterior show, foul, bespotted, and defiled.

Colloquy.—O eternal God, what shall I render Thee, for the favours which Thou hast done me? I desire to despoil myself of all temporal greatness, and to gird myself with the rigour of penance, and to shed my blood for the love of Thee, undergoing those pains which Thou dost undergo for my offences: and after I have done all this, I will still, notwithstanding, say, that I am an unprofitable servant, for not having done the least part of that which my blessed Lord has done for me.

POINT III.

The third point shall be, to consider what passed between Christ our Lord, and St. Peter, when He came to wash his feet, and the mutual words and speeches that passed between them.

1. Peter, standing astonished at the humility of His master, said,—"Domine tu mihi lavas pedes?"—"Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?" In which words he discovered a lively faith of the excellency of Christ our Lord, and of his own baseness, and of the baseness of that work, to which Christ his master humbled Himself. And from the interior consideration of all this, with great admiration and astonishment of affection, burst forth into these words: "Lord, dost thou wash my feet?"—"Thou who art infinite God, Creator of heaven and earth, Lord of Angels, and of Seraphim, stoopest to me, Thy servant, Thy slave, a vile sinner; and with those hands which give sight to the blind, health to the sick, and life to the dead, wilt wash, not my head, or my hands, but my loathsome and abominable feet. I, Lord, ought to serve Thee, and to wash Thy feet; nor do I esteem myself worthy to do this work, and wilt Thou wash my feet?' Hence I will learn to think highly of Jesus Christ, and very basely of myself, and making comparison of that which a God so high does to a man so low, I will draw acts of admiration, of thanksgiving, and of imitation.

2. To these words of St. Peter, which proceed from great fervour, Christ our Lord made answer with words, instructing him in that which was most fit, saying: "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." As if He had said, "That which I now do contains a mystery which thou understandest not, but afterwards I will disclose it to thee; for the present suffer thyself to be governed by me." Peter answered, "Thou shalt never wash my feet." Christ replied: "If I wash thee not, thou shalt not have part with me." How greatly any disobedience and rebellion offends Christ, or any little insinuation of our own judgment, notwithstanding it be hidden under the cloak of humility and reverence; since this vice alone sufficed to cause Christ to use to Peter that fearful threatening, saying:—"Thou shalt have no part with me." That is to say: "Thou shalt no more be my disciple, nor will I suffer thee any more in my school and company, nor admit thee to the inheritance of my Kingdom!" Whence I will learn never to resist the will of God, nor of my superiors, under any pretext of apparent virtue, but to surrender my judgment upon the first admonition, and upon the first correction of love, before the second of threats and chastisements fall upon me. For although I were as intimate with Christ as was St. Peter, and as highly favoured of the eternal Father as he was, the favour endures no longer than the obedience endures, and failing in it by my pertinacity, the favour also presently fails.

Colloquy.—O good Jesus, mirror of all perfection and obedience, suffer me not to be deceived by my own judgment, preferring it before Thine, nor under any pretext of humility, to follow my own, leaving Thine, lest so terrible a threatening fall upon me, that I shall "have no part with" Thee. Amen.

3. How necessary it is for me that Christ our Lord wash me, and cleanse me of my sins, because, unless He wash me, I shall "have no part with" Him. And for this cause Christ said not: "if I wash not thy feet," but, "if I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me."

Colloquy.—O Saviour of the world, I confess that I am foul and defiled with innumerable sins, of which I cannot "wash" myself, for to sin is mine, but to pardon them is Thine; wherefore "wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin;" and after Thou hast once washed me, wash me yet once more, that I may have a greater part with Thee, with more security never to lose it.

POINT IV.

Consider, fourthly, the effect which this threatening of Christ's wrought in the heart of St Peter, and the answer which Christ returned him.

1. For, first, to this threatening St. Peter answered:— "Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." In which words he discovered the great love which he bore to Christ our Lord, and the great account which he made to be always with Him, and the grief which he conceived at being separated from Him. And therefore he said:—"Lord, if to have part with Thee, it be needful that Thou wash me, wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head."

Hence I will learn to submit myself to Almighty God, and my superiors, for fear lest I separate myself from Him: for this fear is not servile, as that of slaves, but a filial fear, and the fear of such as are very just; for this is to give myself to God, and not to want God. And for this cause Christ our Lord said not to St. Peter: "If I wash thee not, I will cast thee into hell;" but, "if I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me," as he that desired to be obeyed with a chaste, not with a base or servile fear.

2. To this reply of St. Peter, Christ our Lord answered, saying:—"He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly; and you are clean, but not all. For He knew who he was that would betray Him." In which words He would teach us, that he who is washed by baptism and penance from deadly sins, although he be supposed to be wholly "clean," because he has that cleanness which is necessary for him to be in the grace and friendship of Almighty God, nevertheless needs to wash his feet from earthly affections and from lighter faults, which stick to them, by conversing and dealing in earthly affairs. This is also necessary to have part with Christ, in this sense, that we shall not enter into heaven till we be cleansed also from these offences, of which Christ Himself must also cleanse us.

Hence I will gather how great an evil one venial sin is, as St. Bernard weighs, and how much it ought to be ahhorred for two reasons.—i. Because it is not pardoned, but at the expense of the blood of Christ, in virtue of which we are warned from these spots.—ii. Because it is impossible to have "part with" Christ in heaven, until we are washed, either in this life, or in the other, with the fire of purgatory. And because the bath of purgatory is most bitter, as we have said in the last meditation of the first part, it will be great wisdom, since every day I defile myself with these venial sins, to wash myself often in the sweet baths which Christ hath left in His holy Church.

3. Lastly, I will consider the cause why Christ our Lord said:—"You are clean, but not all;" wishing by these words to admonish Judas secretly that he was unclean, and that he stood in need of being washed, under pain never more to have part with Him. And by the way He also admonishes me that I look diligently if I be clean from grievous sins, for amongst many clean there are some unclean, and perhaps I am one of them, and although it be no more than one, yet can it not be hid from Christ, who sees and discerns marvellously well who are clean and who are not.

POINT V.

Christ our Lord, prosecuting this work of humility and charity, would likewise perform the same to Judas himself, and coming with the basin to the place where he was, prostrating Himself at his feet, He washed them and wiped them with the towel, as He had done the others, and even with greater signs of charity and love, in order to mollify him. And it is to be believed that He spoke to his heart, saying:—"Oh, Judas, my disciple and apostle, what have I done to thee, that so thou dost abhor me and determine to sell me? If thou hast any quarrel against me, behold thou hast me here at thy feet, do with me what thou wilt, so that thou neither commit any sin, nor cast away thyself for ever. He who washes the feet of thy body desires to wash the spots off thy soul; refuse not that I wash thee, for otherwise thou shalt never 'have part with' me, and if thou have not part with me, thy part shall be with hypocrites and dissemblers, in that miserable lake where shall be perpetual 'weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" It is also to be believed that He shed tears forth of His eyes for the hardness and misery of that wretched soul, and mingled them with the water in the basin, so to wash his feet also with them, but nothing availed, because his heart was hardened and possessed of Satan. Yet this example ought to teach me to profit thereby to love my enemies, doing them all the good that I am able, to reduce them to the true frienship, first of God, and then of myself, for the love of God.

From the hardness, also, of Judas, I should learn to take example by other men's harms, remembering what the Wise man says:—"The wicked man, when he is come into the depths of sin, He contemneth," and that "no man can correct him whom" God "hath despised," because he first has despised God.

Colloquy.—O my soul, contemplate with attention the two examples which thou hast before thee; one of the greatest charity, another of the greatest hardness that ever was in the whole world; for, could any charity ascend higher than to abase God Himself to wash the feet of a traitor who conspired to sell Him? And whither could the malice and hardness of a traitor's heart extend farther than not to be mollified with the immense charity of Him who laid Himself prostrate at his feet? O God of my soul, turn my heart of stone into "a heart of flesh," that so I may feel Thy divine inspirations, and also embrace Thy loving examples. Amen.

POINT VI.

Having finished washing their feet, Christ our Lord put off the towel with which He was girded, considering in them the spots of others' sins, which were to be the cause that His most holy humanity was to be dyed with His own blood, which was to be shed to deliver us. "Then, after He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, being sat down again He said to them: Know you what I have done to you? You call me master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If, then, I, being your Lord and master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet, for I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also....If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them. I speak not of you all, I know whom I have chosen."

1. Here is to be considered, first, what that demand of Christ our Lord meant:—"Know you what I have done to you?" that is to say, understand you the mystery contained in this, and the end for which I do it? Here He gives us to understand, that all those who see His exterior works do not understand the secret and spirit of them.

Colloquy.—O celestial master, illuminate my eyes with Thy supernatural light, that I may with a lively faith believe, understand, and penetrate the things which Thou hast done for us, that I may draw fruit from all of them, to Thy honour and glory. Amen.

2. I will consider the force of that argument which Christ used:—"If I, being your Lord and master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet;" that is to say, that you exercise one to another the works of humility and charity, since I have employed my whole life in giving you example of this virtue, that after my example you also may exercise yourselves in them.

3. Finally, I will ponder those last words:—"If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them;" where He teaches us, that it is not enough to know the examples of the virtues which He gave us, unless we also put them into execution, nor that he is blessed, or elected for heaven, who knows them, only to know them, unless he also imitate them, for Judas, who was there present, knew them well, but did not imitate them, and, therefore, became one of the reprobate.

Colloquy.—O my blessedness, since Thou hast done me so great a favour, as to let me know what Thou hast done for me, let it please Thee that I execute all that which Thou commandest me. I confess, O Lord, that I do not that which I do know, nor act according to what I understand, for which cause I deserve to be "beaten with many stripes," like the servant who knew the will of his lord, and did not according to it. Pardon me, dear Lord, my past errors, and move me to the amendment of them, that so I may be of the number of Thine elect, and may come to be blessed, enjoying Thee for ever. Amen.