Rogier van der Weyden, Crucifixion Diptych; 1460

“JESUS on the cross! O stupendous sight for heaven and earth of mercy and of love! To see the Son of God dying through pain upon a cross of infamy, condemned as a malefactor to so bitter and shameful a death, in order to save sinful men from the penalty that was due to them! This sight has ever been, and will always be, the subject of the contemplation of the saints, and has led them willingly to renounce all the goods of the earth, and to embrace with great courage sufferings and death, that they might make themselves more pleasing to a God who died for love of them. The sight of Jesus despised between two thieves has made them love contempt far more than worldings have loved the honors of the world. Beholding Jesus covered with wounds upon the cross, they hold in abhorrence the pleasures of sense, and have endeavored to afflict their flesh in order to unite their sufferings to the sufferings of the Crucified. Beholding the patience of our Savior in his death, they have joyfully accepted the most painful sicknesses, and even the most cruel torments that tyrants can inflict. Lastly, from beholding the love of Jesus Christ in being willing to sacrifice his life for us in a sea of sorrows, they have sought to sacrifice to him all that they had, possessions, children, and even life itself.”

— St. Alphonsus De Liguori, On the Passion of Jesus Christ

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