Jesus accepte le souffrance

In Messiaen’s sequence of nine organ pieces on La Nativite du Seigneur , the piece entitled “Jesus accepte le Souffrance” is the seventh, between “Les Anges” and “Les Mages.” It seems to refer to the slaughter of innocents in Bethlehem, but Messiaen has apparently turned it into a moment of vicarious suffering for Jesus Himself. Though He escapes, He begins already as an infant to bear our sorrows.