The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery- The Carrying of the Cross

In this mystery we travel with Jesus along the Via Dolorosa - the Way of the Cross. We see Jesus fall and get back up again. We see him trying to comfort his Mother and warn the women of Jerusalem. We see Veronica, attempting to comfort the Savior in some small way by wiping the sweat and blood off his face.  All through this mystery we continue to watch Jesus persevere, knowing that at the end of this trial is gift of the resurrection and the opening of Heaven to all of us.

As we meditate on the fourth mystery, we need to ask ourselves, do we persevere through our trials in life with the same grace and dignity of our Lord- with the same faith; gladly carry our crosses, knowing that as lonely and painful as they may be, at the end of them is salvation? We should always view the crosses God sends us as gifts of His love with which to sanctify ourselves and ready our souls for Heaven, not as punishments

"Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell and bring all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy"

The Third Sorrowful Mystery- The Crowning with Thorns

Ecce Homo  - Behold the Man!  Pilates declaration to the crowd as he presents the scourged Savior. Jesus, the King of the Universe, mocked by the Roman soldiers, given a crown of thorns and taunted. Your heart aches for Him, our gentle Lamb of God, yet Jesus suffers all willingly. He had the ability to display his true Kingship, yet he suffers their humilations and cruel taunting with patience and dignity- a lesson for all of us to learn on how to handle ourselves when we face the cruelity of others or of life. 

Courage and fortitude are the virtues I believe this mystery is trying to teach us. Courge when we face difficulties in life. Fortitude to continue to go forward with our beliefs and our faith when we face ridicule or prejudice. The crown of thorns is meant for each of us to wear at some time in our lives, perhaps we will wear this crown more than once in our lifetime. We need to wear our crown of thorns as Jesus did, with dignity, peace, courage and fortitude.

Ecce Homo- Behold the Man, Agnus Dei- Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

The Second Sorrowful Mystery

The second Sorrowful Mystery is the Scourging at the Pillar.

I am sure that all of us have seen various movies on the life of Christ and have witnessed in these movies the terrible scourging that Jesus suffered for us. The Roman Army was very skilled in their scourging and this scene in The Passion of the Christ movie I think is the only one which truly depicts just how brutual a punishment this really was. Christ suffered unspeakable pain and loss of blood at the hands of the soldiers and did this all willingly so that our sins would be forgiven.

In this mystery the prophecy of Isaiah comes to pass. Isaiah Chapter 53 is one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament.

Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him.

He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole; by his stripes we were healed.

We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers; he was silent and opened not his mouth.

Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people,

A grave was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood.

(But the LORD was pleased to crush him in infirmity.) If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.

Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.

As we pray this second of the Sorrowful Mysteries let us always remember how much Jesus suffered to "deliver us from evil"

The Sorrowful Mysteries

I thought I would begin my little series on the Rosary by starting with the Sorrowful Mysteries.  I must admit that these are my favorite. I love to mediate on the suffering, crucified Christ. In meditating on the suffering Savior I am constantly reminded how much Jesus loves us and to what lengths He went to in order to ransom us from sin and inspires me to try harder not to sin and cause Him more pain.

My earliest impressions of the suffering Christ was a beautiful picture that was in my parent's family bible. This beautiful bible, one of the large family editions, had the most wonderful color plates and I used to spend hours looking at the pictures and thinking about God, Jesus and Mary. My favorite was a picture of Jesus suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane.

This picture, titled Agony in the Garden, was done by artist Carl Bloch. This picture touchs my heart like no other religious picture. The loneliness of our Savior in his darkest moments, alone, with no human support is being beautifully supported and comforted by an angel. The angel knew and loved Jesus as the Creator and his/her King. He/she is the loyal subject from a "kingdom not of this world". I love the way the angel is softly holding Jesus's head against his/her chest, you can almost imagine the angel stroking his hair as he/she comforts him. I also really like the way Bloch has depicted the angel to look feminine yet masculine, since angels have no gender I like his take on these beautiful spiritual beings.

All in all this picture truly reflects the moment of Jesus's agony in the garden and is a wonderful picture to reflect upon as we pray this 1st mystery of the Sorrowful Mysteries. Let us always remember, when we enter into our own Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus knows how it feels to be betrayed, abandoned and left alone and we can turn to Him to comfort us the way the angel in this picture comforted Him.

The Rosary

I thought it would be nice to begin doing small pieces on the Rosary. I have always loved the rosary although I am not always the best "rosary sayer", distractions are a huge obstacle for me while reciting the rosary. I am much better in a group setting such as when we have the rosary devotions during the months of May and October in my parish. I also enjoy books that help me to concentrate on the particular mystery that I am praying.

One book that I really enjoy is Father Peyton's Rosary Prayer Book. I picked up this little book a couple of years ago when I journeyed to visit his resting place at the Holy Cross cemetery on the grounds of Stonehill College in Easton Massachusetts.

Just before the College is a beautiful center built in honor of the Holy Cross Fathers and houses a replica of Fr. Peyton's office in California, all decorated with his original belongings and set up the way he had them in the original space. There is also a wonderful gift shop, adoration chapel and several meeting rooms.

It was during my perusal of the gift shop that I found this wonderful little book written by Fr. Peyton. It is a book of Father's own reflections on each of the mysteries and is a wonderful aid to those trying to gain more insight and spiritual benefits from reciting the rosary I would highly recommend it to anyone. I am including a link to their gift shop http://www.hcfmstore.com/main/peyton_products.php?viewAll=1

Father Peyton was known as the 'Rosary Priest' and it was he who coined the phrase "The family that prays together, stays together". He is currently a "Servant of God" and his cause for beatification is ongoing.

I would encourage all to visit this site either on the web or if possible travel to beautiful Easton Mass and visit with Fr. Peyton personally. It is a nice little pilgrimage for those of us who live in New England. The grave site is very peaceful, he is buried with other Holy Cross priests and it is a custom to leave a rosary on his headstone and take one that is already there.

One of Our Holy Mother's main messages is to pray the rosary every day for peace, conversion of sinners and for the good of our own souls. Fr. Peyton echoed and lived that message every day of his life, shouldn't we?

More to follow on the rosary so please check back!

Deo Gratias