Subtitled: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ As Described by a Surgeon.
"Then therefore Pilate took Jesus and scourged him." (Jn. 19:1)
What the Gospels merely mention, Barbet describes in detail, based on hard evidence.
Written in this book are the results of a renowned surgeon's unprecedented research into the physical sufferings of Our Lord, about which the Gospels reveal only the barest essentials. Collecting his findings in this mind-opening book, Dr. Pierre Barbet relied heavily on his close analysis of the Holy Shroud of Turin to recreate every stage of the Passion with heart-rending precision and detail. The result: a minor classic of spirituality by a modern layman. For Lenten meditation, this volume is unsurpassed. For example:
An excerpt: "There are two executioners, one on each side of Him, of unequal height (all this may be deduced from the direction of the marks on the shroud). They alternate their strokes, with great zest. At first, the strokes leave long livid marks, long blue bruises beneath the skin. Remember that the skin has already been affected; that it is sore owing to the millions of little intro-dermic hemorrhages brought about by the sweat of blood. Further marks are made by the balls of lead. Then the skin, into which the blood has crept, becomes tender and breaks under fresh blows. The blood pours out; shreds of skin become detached and hang down. The whole of the back is now no more than a red surface, on which great furrows stand out like marble; and, here and there, everywhere, there are deeper wounds caused by the balls of lead. These wounds, shaped like a halter (the two balls and the thong between them), will make their marks on the shroud.
"At each stroke, the body gives a painful shudder. But He has not opened His mouth, and His silence redoubles the Satanic rage of His executioners. It is no longer a cold-blooded, judicial execution; it is the unchaining of demons. The blood flows from His shoulders down to the earth (the large paving-stones are covered with it), and is scattered like rain by the lifted whips as far as the red cloaks of the onlookers. But the strength of the Victim soon begins to fail; sweat breaks out on His forehead; His head whirls with giddiness and nausea; shivers run down His spine; His legs give way under Him, and if He was not tied up by His wrists, He would slip down into the pool of blood."
Editor's Note: "This book has probably had more effect on my own spiritual life than any other book I have ever read in my life. There is much that I remembered some 35 years after first reading it because of the profound impact it had on me at that time. Although the language is sometimes stilted (having been translated in 1953 from the original French) and graphic, the bottom line is that it has significantly increased my own awareness of what our Lord must have endured during his passion. I know of no other book which has brought me to a fuller understanding of the words "he became one like us, suffered and died so that we might have eternal life". It is indispensable reading for Lent and especially for Holy Week and you owe it to your congregations to be aware of Barbet's findings. If you read no other book this year, read this one. I have never said it before for any other book on my site, and probably will not say it again, but this is MUST reading. Your own opinions are welcome." - Deacon Sil Galvan
I received this comment from one purchaser:
"By the way I just finished A Doctor at Calvary. I looked at the Passion totally different this year. The last chapter, The Corporal Passion of Jesus, brought everything to life just as if I were there. I am now on a quest for a Tau Cross." - Paul Lauer (at phprdnw@aol.com)
Persons who purchased this book also purchased:
Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Anne Catherine Emmerich;
Tortures and Torments of the Christian Martyrs by Rev. Antonio Gallonio;
A Guide to the Passion of the Christ by Matthew Pinto; and,
The Bible, the Jews and the Death of Jesus from US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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