FIRE Committee Newsletter The Prayer of St. Ephrem The

FIRE Committee Newsletter
Lenten Series - 2015
The Prayer of St. Ephrem
O Lord and Master of my life, dispel from me the spirit of
slothfulness, indifference, ambition and vain talking.
(prostration to ground).
Grant instead to me, your servant, the spirit of purity, humility,
patience and charity.
(prostration to ground)
Yes, my Lord and my King, bestow upon me the grace of being
aware of my own sins and of not judging others. For you are
Blessed for ever and ever. Amen.
(prostration to ground)
Table of Contents
The Prayer of St. Ephrem
The Scourging of God
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FIRE COMMITTEE
Chair: Kathleen M. Raviele, MD
Chair: Kevin Murrell, MD
The Scourging of God
Don D. Bouchard, DO
Donna C. Dobrowolsky, MD
Sr. Mary Diana Dreger, OP, MD
Rev. Matthew J. Gutowski, STL
Two notorious military leaders, Attila the Hun and Ghengis
Khan, as well as the medieval Black Death due to plague
(bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic) were popularly (or rather
unpopularly) known as The Scourge of God in their times. However, on Good Friday morning, April 3, 33 A.D., God
himself was scourged in the flesh of Jesus Christ. Early in the morning, Jesus was brought, after a brutally
painful, sleepless night, about one mile, west-northwest, over
hilly terrain from the dungeon of Caiaphas to Herod’s palace.
There, Pontius Pilate stayed1 when he travelled from the
Mediterranean to Jerusalem to help keep the peace as the
population swelled duration Jewish feasts.
Sr. Edith M. Hart, RSM, DO
Cynthia B. Hunt, MD
Thomas W. McGovern, MD
Anthony S. Oliva, MD
This location is not where pilgrims begin the Way of the Cross
near the Church of the Flagellation but is located on the west
side of the Old City of Jerusalem near the Jaffa Gate and the
‘Tower of David’ about 400m from Calvary2. The Bible tells us precious little about the scourging;
presumably, the readers of the Gospels were familiar enough
with the punishment. Mark (15:15) and Matthew (27:26) use
the term fraghellosas meaning ‘scourged’, John (19:1) uses emastigosen which can also mean ‘scourged’, ‘whipped’ or
‘chastised’, and Luke (23:22) merely says that Jesus was
‘chastised’ (paideuo) as a criminal being taught a lesson. In
fact, only from Luke , the ever careful physician, do we learn
that Pilate meant the scourging as Jesus’ entire punishment (“A
third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have
found in him no crime deserving death; I will therefore chastise
him and release him.").
Unlike crucifixion, there are reliable ancient sources that
describe scourging as early as the Etruscan era (8th-3rd
century B.C.) and the time of Plato and Xenophon (4th century
B.C.).3 Most commonly slaves and foreigners were scourged. For lesser crimes, one might be ‘mildly’ chastised. In other
circumstances, it was used to ‘encourage’ prisoners to
confess. But in other situations, it was a preliminary part of a
sentence of death.
Multiple types of scourging implements were used depending
on the degree of harm intended. The virga was a small rod of
elm or birch carried by lictors (bodyguards for magistrates in
Roman Empire) as a sign of their judicial authority. When used
to their full extent, a virga in the hand of a lictor could kill a
man. The scorpio was a virga with nubby ends and quills that
could inflict deep wounds. A Spanish Cord had a handle with
several leather straps attached. Each of the above implements
were types of flagella, or smaller scourging implements.
The large scourging weapon was the flagrum. This instrument
consisted of a wood or metal handle, leather or metal straps,
and metal balls or pieces of ankle bone (astragals) attached. Flagra from the Etruscan period and Herculaneum (buried
under the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.) were once
displayed in museums, but they have been lost. However, f
lagra from the catacombs (Christian martyrdom ended in early
4th century A.D.) are currently present, though not displayed, in
the Vatican Museums. These bronze Vatican flagra possess
triangular and rounded ends that could have caused
considerable damage to a man.
The object Vatican Museum number 60567 is made of four bronze chains starting
from three rings and ending with triangle-shaped small objects, joined to the chains
with a small ring64. This specimen is represented in the dictionary of Cabrol e Leclercq
(fig. 4475).
Close-up of ends of above Vatican Museum flagrum found in Catacombs.
Close-up of end of flagrum and a blood mark on the Shroud of Turin.
Jesus was likely scourged outside Herod’s Palace in a public
place, for Roman punishment was meant to be seen by as
many as possible to deter further crime. His clothing was
removed, and he was tied to a pole or column, although some
victims were simply thrown on the ground and scourged in that
position. While the Gospels do not tell us Jesus’ position
during scourging, the Church has an ancient tradition of a pillar
used in the Crucifixion, and the base of it sits in the Chapel of
the Apparition in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem. The Church of St. Praxedes in Rome claims to
have the actual pillar of scourging, and some scholars believe
that the pillar in Jerusalem was the one used in the dungeon of
Caiaphas where Jesus was ‘flayed‘ hours before.
Author in the Chapel of the Apparition in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of
Jerusalem. This is thought to be the base of the Scourging Pillar, but may also
be the base of a pillar used in the dungeon of Caiaphas during the darkness
preceding daylight on Good Friday.
Jesus’ hands were likely tied together and raised above him. If
the Shroud of Turin represents him, the scourge or scourges
(sometimes a lictor was employed on either side of the victim)
never struck his upper extremities. There is evidence on the
Shroud that the Man of the Shroud was struck not only with a flagrum but also with various types of flagella such as two
types of virgae with narrow and splayed ends4. What would be
the effect of virgae and a flagrum on the back of a naked
victim, particularly one who had been weakened by prior
beating only hours before?
There was no legal limit to the amount the lictors could scourge
a victim. Since we know Pilate meant this initially as Jesus’
entire punishment, he would have been sure to inform the
lictors not to kill Jesus. If Jesus was ‘flayed’ only hours before,
the dried clots on his back were rapidly removed from his back
and fresh blood would quickly flow. The skin of Jesus’ back,
sides, buttocks, thighs, and legs were then damaged so that
wheals, purpura, abrasions, and lacerations formed. The
muscles then tore and bled profusely. His back, posterior
thighs, and posterior legs became bleeding and clotting
masses of formless and quivering flesh. Then he was turned
around, and the same thing was done to his chest, abdomen,
thighs, and legs. Indescribable pain flooded Jesus’
consciousness and possibly brought him to unconsciousness. As he was almost certainly dehydrated from agony-induced
sweating and bleeding (so-called hematidrosis), prior beatings,
and lack of fluids to drink, he suffered a swollen tongue sticking
to the roof of his mouth, extreme headache, dizziness,
confusion, palpitations, muscle cramps and an inability to
sweat. Yet this was the state in which Jesus spoke to Pilate
and told him that he would have no power over Jesus unless it
was given to him from above! Although this would seem like
extreme hubris to us, Pilate sought to release this severely
beaten man immediately! (John 19:11-12). Try to imagine how
such nobility could come through a brutally beaten man that
could barely stand or speak properly to impress Pontius Pilate
that much!
By one count, the man of the Shroud of Turin has 159
dumbbell-shaped marks on his anterior surface (shoulders,
chest, abdomen, and thighs) and another 213 on his back,
buttocks, thighs, and legs4. Imagine. God was scourged - for
you.
1. Josephus, Jewish War 5:11:4.
2. Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome. “The Geography of Faith.” Bible Review 12.6 (Dec
1996): 32-41, 52-53.
http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBR&
Volume=12&Issue=6&ArticleID=15 (accessed 1/25/2015)
3. Manservigi F, Morini E.The Hypothesis about the Roman Flagrum: Some
clarifications. St. Louis Shroud Conference: The Controversial Intersection of Faith
and Science. October 9-12, 2014. St. Louis, MO. (accessed 1/25/2015 from academia.edu - This paper is heavily sourced with ancient authors).
4. Faccini B, Fanti G. Proceedings of the International workshop on the Science of
the Acheiropoietos Images, ENEA Frascati, Italy. 4-6 May 2010. Downloaded from www.dim.unipd.it/fanti on 1/26/2015.