Tuesday of Holy Week, March 31, 2015


J.M.J. 


“Mary The Disciple”:
Meditations on
The Sorrowful Mysteries of
The Most Holy Rosary of
The Blessed Virgin Mary


Miss Emily Hoffmann, the Coordinatress of Parish Discipleship and Events in the Diocese of Sioux Falls, asked me to prepare these very brief Meditations for the inaugural diocesan “Discipleship Day” that was held on Saturday, March 28, 2015 in the Holiday Inn Sioux Falls—City Centre in Sioux Falls.


The First Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is in Agony in the Garden


We honor Our Lady with many titles: Mother, Queen, Virgin, Daughter, Spouse, Patroness, Model, Pattern. We also venerate her as “Disciple”—the Disciple of the Crucified and Risen Lord.

Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote that Mary first conceived Jesus in her Heart before she conceived Him in her Virginal Womb.

As the Disciple, Our Lady, in her Immaculate Heart, was united to her Son, Jesus, the Suffering Servant, in His Passion. His Agony in the Garden was hers, too.
  

The Second Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is Scourged at the Pillar


Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant, offered His Precious Body for us as He was scourged. Our Lady knew that despite the unspeakable pain, He would never abandon His Beloved Father even unto His Death.

Mary, as the Disciple of Christ, was grateful for all that her Son did for her—and for us!

  
The Third Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is Crowned with Thorns


O Sacred Head, surrounded!

The Sacred Head of Jesus was ravaged by the piercing, brutal nails that punctured without mercy. Our Lady mystically and mysteriously knew that her Divine Son was suffering intensely and secretly during those hours from after the Suffering Servant was arrested in the Garden until He was led away to Calvary.

Mary the Disciple was not scandalized by the Cross but saw it as the proof of Christ’s love for her and for her sons and daughters.


 The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus Carries the Cross


The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery is closely connected with the Fourth Station of the Cross: The Suffering Servant encounters Mary the Disciple on the Via Dolorosa—the Way of Sorrows.

Many spiritual writers have concluded that while few—if any—words were exchanged by the Son and the Mother as They met, the glance of love and compassion between Them required no words.

Our Lady was with Our Lord all the way. She refused Him nothing before, and she would refuse Him nothing now!
  

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is Crucified and
Dies on the Cross


Mary the Disciple stood at the foot of the Cross of Jesus the Suffering Servant! Although she was in the abyss of sorrows—she who is Our Lady of Sorrows—she still had her wits about her.

As Christ was hanging in torment, Our Lady cooperated in our reconciliation to our Father by lovingly consenting to the Death of Jesus.

The Offering of Jesus and Mary was more than sufficient to open the Gates of Heaven. Now, you and I can enter Paradise!

There are no better "Spiritual Multipliers" than Jesus and Mary!

No comments:

Post a Comment