797 discourse v: the light burden may our eyes perish, if they will not cry at seeing such a tragic carrying of a cross! It is testified to in the Sacred Scriptures most clearly, that the Hebrews stirred up and spilled their own tears seated upon those banks of the rivers of Babylon, as they remembered their most beloved Zion. The unhappy exiles speak of these tears in the Psalms with great eloquence: “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion” (Ps 137:1). The remembrance of the fatherland elicited weeping from the captives. Does it not elicit our [weeping] at the sight of the heavenly homeland of the Father, of our Savior, of our Redeemer? Christ carried His Cross built out of our sins, so that He could be transfixed on it for us; He does not have the appearance or beauty of men, for He is the one who was so dreadfully scourged, so shamefully exhausted, and so enormously disfigured. But in fact, you say, one may object to weeping over His situation, for He Himself thus spoke to some of the women who were affectionately grieving in sorrow, when He passed them by: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for [M]e, but weep for yourselves and for your children” (Lk 23:28). I am not opposing the truth. But, together with St. Leo, I do not consider as proper the reason for tears in the present situation. This very holy and most eloquent Bishop says: “For the weaker sex is accustomed to cry over the death of those who are guilty and sympathize with their fate because of our common nature. The Lord Jesus did not wish this lament of theirs to be directed toward Him, because grief was not proper for a victory parade, nor mourning for a triumph. Therefore He says: Do not weep for Me. I suffer the cross willingly, and I accept death, which I am about to destroy. Do not weep for the One dying to bring about redemption, [the One] whom you shall see judging in the majesty of the Father.”52 These weak women were without a doubt weeping aloud, not over Christ burdened with their sins, but over one beneficent and innocent man inflicted with the penalty of death. 52 Leo Magnus, Tractatus de Passione (4 aprilis 445): CChrL 138A, 371-372 (Tract. LXI, n. 3).
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