If we have time, I'd like to highlight an aspect of More's meditation on the Agony in the Garden: he creates speeches by Jesus to explain what His actions in Gethsemane should mean to us.
For example, when More interprets Jesus's Agony in the Garden as an example for those in the Church who may be weak and fearful, advising them to persevere in spite of that weakness, he writes:
To such a person as this Christ wanted His own deed to speak out (as it were) with His own living voice: "O faint of heart, take courage and do not despair. You are afraid, you are sad . . . Trust me. I have conquered the world, and yet I suffered immeasurably more from fear, I was sadder, more afflicted . . . follow my leadership; if you do not trust yourself, place your trust in me . . ."
This is a remarkable device for More to use as he enters "(as it were)" the mind of Christ and to speak in Our Savior's "own living voice"! More weaves phrases and images from Scripture into these speeches: "I have conquered the world" (John 16:33); "have me alone as your shepherd" (Matthew 26:31), etc. More even incorporates passages from St. Paul's letters into this speech: "I will give you together with the temptation a way out that you may be able to endure it" (1 Cor 10:13) . . . "this light and momentary burden of tribulation will prepare for you a weight of glory which is beyond all measure." (2 Cor 4:17)
St. Thomas More is certainly taking seriously St. Paul's statement to the Corinthians that "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16) in this passage and others that occur throughout the text.
If you want to read more than we can discuss in these brief segments,The Sadness of Christ, with an excellent introduction by Gerard Wegemer, is readily available from Scepter Publishers.
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