Author: Essy Dias

4. The reason for my tears (from the Blue Book)

“(…) Yes, you have truly consoled Me: you have changed my tears into a smile, my sorrow into joy. I have smiled on you, I have blessed you.

The reason for my tears, for a Mother’s tears, is my children who, in great numbers, live unmindful of God, immersed in the pleasures of the flesh, and are hastening irreparably to their perdition. For many of these my tears have fallen in the midst of indifference and have fallen in vain.

Above all the cause of my weeping is the Priests: those beloved sons, the apple of my eye, these consecrated sons of mine.

Do you see how they no longer love Me? How they no longer want Me? Do you see how they no longer listen to the words of my Son? How they frequently betray Him? How Jesus present in the Eucharist is ignored by many, left alone in the tabernacle; often sacrilegiously offended by them, with wanton negligence?

You have offered Me the Marian Movement of Priests: I receive it on my Heart and I bless it. These will all be my Priests: consecrated to Me, and they will do whatever I command them.

The time is near when I will make my voice heard by them, and when I will place myself at the head of this, my cohort, prepared for battle. For the present they must be formed in great humility and at my directions: loving and being totally united with the Pope and the Church, living and preaching only the Gospel. This is so necessary today!

I love them, I bless them one by one.”

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Two participations in the one priesthood of Christ 1546 Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church “a kingdom, priests for his God and Father.”20 The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly. The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are “consecrated to be . . . a holy priesthood.”21

1547 The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests, and the common priesthood of all the faithful participate, “each in its own proper way, in the one priesthood of Christ.” While being “ordered one to another,” they differ essentially.

22 In what sense? While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace –a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit–, the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood. It is directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church. For this reason it is transmitted by its own sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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In the Old Testament, priests were set up to offer sacrifice between God and Man. In the New Testament, Jesus has fulfilled that. However, we are all called to participate in that One Sacrifice through the Eucharist and then by living a sacrificial life ourselves…when we truly become what we eat…we must become Eucharist for others. Broken and distributed.

THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist. 

1323 “At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'”¹³⁵

From The Blue Book

3. Your mission is taking shape

July 9, 1973

“Today I am really happy with you: you have remained close to my Heart.

You see now how all the things of this world appear remote and hazy to you; how everything wearies and bores you* everything else that is not I, your Mother, who wants you whole and entire at every moment with Her.

Learn to let yourself be possessed by Me, so that in everything you do, it will be I who am doing it through you. It is so necessary now that it be the Mother who acts: and I want to act through you…

You will have to suffer more: but, courage! I will always be with you: and you will delight as no one else in the sweetness of my Mother’s Heart.“

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Yesterday

I spent the day yesterday close to Mary. This may seem a very strange endeavor for those who are non-Catholic or just lapsed Catholics who never learned about Our Mother’s Love and her proper role in our salvation.

As Jesus’ Mother she is the Mother of the Church ,which is His Body, and our Mother. She truly and totally united to Him already in the way that we are still working towards. He has entrusted us to her care. It’s not we either have her or Him…no…when we have her, we have Him more fully.

Imagine in a marriage where a young woman is very close to her mother in law and is under her wing to teach her the ways of her son. Maybe not so acceptable in today’s world where we all want independence and to be free of each other, but in the heavenly dimension, Divine Union is the goal.

I will share my days with you, because I believe that this is part of what we were created for… to share with each other and thereby grow in holiness together. I’m lacking an in person community at the moment and I pray that I will belong to one again someday soon, but for now, He’s asking this of me. My notes that I will share, and what I feel the Lord asking of me is deeply personal. I never want to suggest that this is what you should pray for. Instead, be attentive to your own needs and your own relationship. I will also be posting links (check the underlined words) to things I’ve found helpful. I am not getting paid for this. The only products that I get a commission on if you buy directly from me are Amazon and Young Living.

My most notable moment yesterday, was when I consecrated my health to Mary. I had to postpone a couple of doctor appointments for various reasons and it came to me to have her guide me until then. My prayer went something like this “I’m totally dependent on you Mary for my health, be my mother, my nurse, my teacher, show me how a life of sacrifice can be life giving, help me guide my family.’

She immediately started showing me the special ways I needed to learn, more specifically on taking better charge of my household duties and better care of our health.

• Get back to cooking more at home… Home-cooked Portuguese food is highly influenced by Mediterranean style which can be very healthy too.
• Just consume a little less of the “white stuff”…flour, rice, sugar, potatoes.
• Stop eating before becoming full…have a little appetite remain as a ‘sacrifice’.
• Use the app ‘Recipe Keeper‘ to keep track fo all of our favorite foods.
• To do my duties of the day before pursuing ‘leisure’.
• To embrace the small crosses that come to me regularly, and small ones that I can pursue by being more attentive and not always wanting things just so.
• Keep thermostat at 65, wear warm clothes.
• Drink Thieves Tea +1 TB honey, +2 drops Thieves,+ 3 drops lemon (on honey),+ add to hot water and enjoy.

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969 “This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . . . . Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”512

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Steps for the Day

• Liturgy of the Hours morning prayer
• The Holy Rosary
• Praise and Worship
• Ask for the necessary graces to do what is being requested
• Smile and be joyful!

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From The Blue Book (inner locutions received by Fr. Gobbi from Our Blessed Mother)

2. The Movement is now born

July 8, 1973

“Look at neither the newspapers nor television; remain ever close to my Heart in prayer.

Nothing else should be of interest or importance to you save living with Me, and for Me.

The Marian Movement of Priests is now born, but it is so frail and small that, in order to grow, it has need of much prayer. You must live only for this: you will find relish and consolation in nothing else.”

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Steps for the day:

• Turn off the different media sources for the day.
• Remain in contemplation as much as possible, be attentive to receive Heaven’s messages today. Keep a journal. The Heart of Mary is one of reflection and contemplation. Of service and sacrifice. This can be accomplished within our already established duties.
• Smile and rejoice!!! Sing His praises! Put on praise and worship, or chant music, or whatever unites your heart to His the most!
• Meditate on the Gospel

Today’s Gospel

LK 21:1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people
putting their offerings into the treasury
and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.
He said, “I tell you truly,
this poor widow put in more than all the rest;
for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”

1. I will always be near you
July 7, 1973
“Renew your consecration to my Immaculate Heart: you are mine; you belong to Me.
At every moment you must be just as I would have you be; at every moment you must do just what I would have you do.
Do not be afraid. I will always be near you! I am now preparing you for great
things, but little by little as a mother does with her child…”

from The Blue Book

Yesterday I re did my consecration to Jesus through Mary. I accepted her as my Queen Mother. The one who so perfectly loved Jesus and can teach me to do the same. Now I step into living out my consecration. Just like the Feast of Christ the King is something to be lived out in our daily lives and not merely contained in one day, so it is with our consecration. I now consecrate this blog to this purpose of daily stepping into my consecration. I’m not trying to hold myself up as the perfect example of holiness, because I’m not. But we desperately need to see the striving for holiness earnestly lived out in this darkened world, the good, the bad and even the ugly… this path contains it all, but with Jesus, goodness prevails… and for that I can certainly do my part. If you have done your consecration, I’d love to hear from you on how you live it out. Do you have a blog? Please comment below so that I can visit you.

Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. This is a continuation of that formal declaration that He is and always will be my “King”… not just my Savior but the Lord of my life. I give Him reign of every single aspect of it and withhold nothing from Him. I know that in my human weakness, I will fail Him often, but I know that He will never fail me and will take me back every single time that I come running to Him.

The following encyclical from Pope Pius XI at the initiation of this Feast in 1925 is quite eye opening and as relevant today as it was then. You can click on the title to read it in its entirety.

ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI
ON THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

QUAS PRIMAS

“31. When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power. The State is bound to extend similar freedom to the orders and communities of religious of either sex, who give most valuable help to the Bishops of the Church by laboring for the extension and the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. By their sacred vows they fight against the threefold concupiscence of the world; by making profession of a more perfect life they render the holiness which her divine Founder willed should be a mark and characteristic of his Church more striking and more conspicuous in the eyes of all. 

32. Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the last judgment, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education. 

33. The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If all these truths are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection. It is Our fervent desire, Venerable Brethren, that those who are without the fold may seek after and accept the sweet yoke of Christ, and that we, who by the mercy of God are of the household of the faith, may bear that yoke, not as a burden but with joy, with love, with devotion; that having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of God’s kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.”

Marian Consecration

It was the Father’s plan that Jesus come to us through Mary (at the incarnation) and it is His plan that we go to Him through her. The perfect marriage of Heaven and Earth. Jesus was not part of a single parent ‘household’….He has a Divine Father and a human mother. This is meaningful. God could have planned it otherwise. He is God…He can do anything. But He wanted to elevate our humanity through Jesus, and the first to be elevated was His Blessed Mother.

Gabriel’s greeting to Mary: “Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with Thee.” Although Luke’s Greek is usually translated as “full of grace,” it would be more accurately translated as “highly favored one.” It is better to retain the translation “full of grace” because of its venerable use and its ancestry in St. Jerome’s fourth and fifth century translation from Greek into the Latin, “Ave, gratia plena!” “The Lord is with you,” in various forms was a greeting indicating a special mission for the one so addressed by a heavenly being. See Genesis 28:15 (Jacob); Exodus 3:12 (Moses); Joshua 1:5, (Joshua); Judges 6:12 (Gideon). Thus Mary is included in the ranks of earlier Israelite heroes.  Mary is startled and confused. This is a standard biblical form in narrating a vision. See Daniel 8:17; 10:11 — Daniel’s reaction to the Angel Gabriel; Job 4:14-15; Ezekiel 1:28; Revelation 1:17.

The Messenger

If you have been doing the daily reflections with me, you are now ready to do the final consecration if you are willing. You will find the prayer here —> Consecration Prayer

1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity – this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed – is called “heaven.” Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.

1025 To live in heaven is “to be with Christ.” The elect live “in Christ,”⁶⁰⁰ but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name.⁶⁰¹For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.⁶⁰²

1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has “opened” heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.

1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.”⁶⁰³

1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory “the beatific vision”: How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends.⁶⁰⁴

1029 In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God’s will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him “they shall reign for ever and ever.”⁶⁰⁵

The chapters in this little book come from several of Mother Angelica’s episodes on her show. It is beautifully put together, using her own words. It makes us desire heaven all the more. I think every Christian should read it.

670 Since the Ascension God’s plan has entered into its fulfillment. We are already at “the last hour”.⁵⁵⁴ “Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect.”⁵⁵⁵ Christ’s kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the Church.⁵⁵⁶

. . .until all things are subjected to him

671 Though already present in his Church, Christ’s reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled “with power and great glory” by the King’s return to earth.⁵⁵⁷This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ’s Passover.⁵⁵⁷ Until everything is subject to him, “until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God.”⁵⁵⁹ That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ’s return by saying to him:⁵⁶⁰ Marana tha! “Our Lord, come!”⁵⁶¹

II. “THY KINGDOM COME”

2816 In the New Testament, the word basileia can be translated by “kingship” (abstract noun), “kingdom” (concrete noun) or “reign” (action noun). The Kingdom of God lies ahead of us. It is brought near in the Word incarnate, it is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and it has come in Christ’s death and Resurrection. The Kingdom of God has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst. The kingdom will come in glory when Christ hands it over to his Father: It may even be . . . that the Kingdom of God means Christ himself, whom we daily desire to come, and whose coming we wish to be manifested quickly to us. For as he is our resurrection, since in him we rise, so he can also be understood as the Kingdom of God, for in him we shall reign.⁸⁶

2817 This petition is “Marana tha,” the cry of the Spirit and the Bride: “Come, Lord Jesus.” Even if it had not been prescribed to pray for the coming of the kingdom, we would willingly have brought forth this speech, eager to embrace our hope. In indignation the souls of the martyrs under the altar cry out to the Lord: “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?” For their retribution is ordained for the end of the world. Indeed as soon as possible, Lord, may your kingdom come!⁸⁷

2818 In the Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come” refers primarily to the final coming of the reign of God through Christ’s return.⁸⁸ But, far from distracting the Church from her mission in this present world, this desire commits her to it all the more strongly. Since Pentecost, the coming of that Reign is the work of the Spirit of the Lord who “complete[s] his work on earth and brings us the fullness of grace.”⁸⁹

2819 “The kingdom of God [is] righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”⁹⁰ The end-time in which we live is the age of the outpouring of the Spirit. Ever since Pentecost, a decisive battle has been joined between “the flesh” and the Spirit.⁹¹Only a pure soul can boldly say: “Thy kingdom come.” One who has heard Paul say, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies,” and has purified himself in action, thought and word will say to God: “Thy kingdom come!”⁹²

—Catechism of the Catholic Church

2100 Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. . . . “
17 The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor.18 Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”19 The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father’s love and for our salvation.

20 By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.
Catechism of the Catholic Church

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a ‘broken’ or contrite spirit. It is when we are finally able to unite our will to His. This is not done in one fell swoop, but by faithfully carrying dozens of little crosses every day. “More of Him, and Less of Me’ then becomes our motto.

We are never too far gone to approach Him for this type of union, the moment that we truly desire it and can see clearly what has kept us from it, and confess it…He makes a leap towards us. This is His mercy! We deserve nothing, but He gives us His all.

May we desire to live lives of sacrifice, daily dying to self so that we can hear His voice. We are not to be lead by our self will, or by the world at large. Only by Him alone, our steps will be different, will seem meaningless and even foolish to those who don’t follow Him. Many good people will come our way telling us that they know what is best for us. Sometimes they do, and by discerning His voice we’ll know whose they are.

◄ John 10:27 ►

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

The Church is the Bride of Christ 796 The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist.234 The Lord referred to himself as the “bridegroom.”235 The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride “betrothed” to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him.236 The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb.237 “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her.”238 He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring for her as for his own body:239

This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . . . whether the head or members speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head (ex persona capitis) and in his role as body (ex persona corporis). What does this mean? “The two will become one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the Church.”240 And the Lord himself says in the Gospel: “So they are no longer two, but one flesh.”241 They are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union, . . . as head, he calls himself the bridegroom, as body, he calls himself “bride.”242
Catechism of the Catholic Church

2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.68 Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:

He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows.69
–Catechism of the Catholic Church

There are two competing lifestyles today, one is the ‘party’ lifestyle which encompasses getting all that we want, when we want it and claims that ‘happiness’ is the highest goal. The other is the ‘sacrificial’ life style, which states that sometimes we must go against our own will in order to achieve a greater good that goes beyond temporary happiness.

We are all constantly bombarded with temptations to follow the first, and we are told that the latter is not really worth it…or that our ‘reward’ will be in heaven…as in, after we die. We are not often told that our reward is indeed from heaven, but that heaven has its beginnings in the here and now and that the graces that flow from it, are truly worth it all.

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. – Matthew 13:45-46

What are we ‘selling’? What do we possess that is worth trading for this great pearl, which is the Kingdom of God itself? It is our free will. It is our capacity to renounce ourselves to become one with God. Luckily it is not as harsh as it sounds because we were created for this. Going against it is what is harsh and truly painful.

In Uniformity with God’s Will , Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri says “The essence of perfection is to embrace the will of God in all things, prosperous or adverse. In prosperity, even sinners find it easy to unite themselves to the divine will; but it takes saints to unite themselves to God’s will when things go wrong and are painful to self-love.” This ‘pain to self-love’ is what true sacrifice is, we don’t need to go our searching for it. When we live our lives fully and well, they are filled with such perfecting opportunities.

 

The Church – instituted by Christ Jesus

(Catechism of the Catholic Church)

763 It was the Son’s task to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent.¹⁶⁰ “The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures.”¹⁶¹ To fulfill the Father’s will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The Church “is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery.”¹⁶²

764 “This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ.”¹⁶³ To welcome Jesus’ word is to welcome “the Kingdom itself.”¹⁶⁴ The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the “little flock” of those whom Jesus came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is.¹⁶⁵ They form Jesus’ true family.¹⁶⁶ To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new “way of acting” and a prayer of their own.¹⁶⁷

765 The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head.¹⁶⁸ Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem.¹⁶⁹ The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ’s mission and his power, but also in his lot.¹⁷⁰ By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.

766 The Church is born primarily of Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. “The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus.”¹⁷¹ “For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the ‘wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'”¹⁷² As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross.¹⁷³