Good Friday According to Anne Catherine Emmerich

"The sky looked dark, gloomy, and threatening - the moon was red, and covered with livid spots; it appeared as if dreading to reach its full, because its Creator was then to die."

"Thousands of evil spirits were busying themselves in all parts, tempting men first to one sin and then to another. It appeared as if the gates of hell were flung open, and Satan madly striving and exerting his whole energies to increase the heavy load of iniquities which the Lamb without spot had taken upon Himself. The angels wavered between joy and grief; they desired ardently to fall prostrate before the throne of God, and to obtain permission to assist Jesus; but at the same time they were filled with astonishment, and could only adore that miracle of Divine justice and mercy which had existed in Heaven for all eternity, and was now about to be accomplished."

"We must fly to Jesus, unite our feelings of desolation with that indescribable dereliction which He endured upon the Cross."

"However, many persons were converted, and among others those soldiers who fell to the ground at the words of Our Lord when they were sent to arrest Him in the Garden of Olives."

"I saw the heart of the soldier who had caused Jesus to be unbound, as also that of the one who brought Him water, suddenly illuminated by grace; they were both converted before the death of Jesus, and immediately joined His disciples."

"When I contemplated Him on the Cross, His hair was almost torn off, and what remained was matted and clotted with blood; His body was one wound, and every limb seemed as if dislocated."

"During the whole time of the crucifixion Our Lord never ceased praying, and repeating those passages in the Psalms which He was then accompanying, although from time to time a feeble moan caused by excess of suffering might be heard. In this manner He had prayed when carrying His Cross, and thus He continued to pray until His death. I heard Him repeat all these prophecies; I repeated them after Him, and I have often since noted the different passages when reading the Psalms."

"It is quite impossible to describe teh cruel outrages which were thought of an perpetrated by these monsters under human form. The sufferings of Jesus from thirst, caused by the fever which His wounds and sufferings had brought on, were intense. He trembled all over, His flesh was torn piecemeal, His tongue contracted, and the only refreshment He received was the blood which trickled from His head onto His parched lips."