My Personal Reflections on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary

Reflections for Lent

Lent is a time for reflection and change of heart.

As we strive to grow deeper in faith, reflecting on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary could help us know more about the depths of God’s Love for all of us.

Following are some of my personal reflections on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary:

First Sorrowful Mystery

The Agony in the Garden

When was the last time you felt such a deep sorrow you felt your heart would almost break into pieces? When was the last time you felt you could hardly contain your tears?

What makes our sadness even worse is the feeling that we are alone. Just like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, you may have asked some people to watch with you, to just stay where you are. But maybe none of them came, none were able to bear the deepest griefs welling up from within your heart.

As we meditate upon the suffering of Jesus in the Garden, let us remember that He understands where we’re coming from.

He knows what it’s like to feel real pain. He knows what it’s like to be left alone by the people you have counted upon most.

Would you decide to stay with Jesus even for a while? Could you spend a moment today in prayer, joining your heart to the One who knows your pain?

Second Sorrowful Mystery

The Scourging at the Pillar

Few of us today could relate to the pain of being physically scourged. But we can all try to imagine just how painful it must have been for Jesus. Tied to a pillar, He was scourged mercilessly and repeatedly. We have no idea how many wounds He had as His flesh suffered from being whipped. We have no idea how much blood He lost even before carrying His cross.

Emotionally and psychologically, have we not felt being scourged also by other people around us?

Maybe there were times when we received negative comments and our reputation is damaged, all the while suffering without having anyone to help us. Maybe we were blamed for something we never did. Maybe we were punished for crimes we did not commit.

As we meditate on this mystery today, may we remember that no matter how weak we may feel, we can still overcome our struggles with God’s help.

Third Sorrowful Mystery

The Crowning with Thorns

To be crowned with thorns is not only to feel the physical pain of thorns piercing one’s head. It is to suffer humiliation. It is to be mocked and belittled by those who do not even know who you are or what you’re going through.

Haven’t we felt like that many times in life? As Christians, how many times have you felt that you have already been judged even before you say a single word? How many times have you been considered an outcast by those who are in power?

People like to feel that they are in control, that they have power over others. To do that, they may try to put others down and hurt anyone whoever gets in their way.

In God’s eyes, however, it is not the proud who will be honored. It is the humble man who can please the Lord.

Remember that we are not here to please people. We must do what we think is right and leave all else to God who is merciful and just.

“If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends.” – Helen Burns (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë )

Fourth Sorrowful Mystery

The Carrying of the Cross

How many times have you felt like the weight of your cross is too heavy for you to bear? How many times have you fallen and felt as though you could never get up again?

It’s not easy to carry our cross. Many times, we feel tired. Sometimes, we don’t even know how long we can still go on.

We see others succeed as though they don’t have any burden to bear. People praise them and look up to them. And no one seems to care about the crosses we bear. Worse, we often feel that we are being unjustly punished in life. That we don’t deserve our many troubles.

As we meditate upon this mystery today, let us remember how Jesus carried His cross. Of all people, Jesus never deserved to be punished. For what evil has He done? All He did was help people. He fed the hungry, He gave sight to the blind, He cured the sick, He even made the dead to rise again.

But He willingly took up His cross for our sake, for the sake of Love.

Friends, however heavy your cross may be right now, know that you are never alone. God carries your cross with you. He carried our burdens long before we were even born because He knew what we could never carry on our own.

Don’t give up no matter how many times you fall. Remember how Jesus also fell three times, but He rose again and again to give us hope, and to pave the way for our salvation.

Fifth Sorrowful Mystery

The Crucifixion

Have you ever felt that things were so bad you could never see how they could still turn out right in the end? Have you ever felt that you’ve already given your everything but even that was never enough to accomplish what you wanted to do?

How could the end be so sad when you thought you were just doing the right thing? How could God be silent to your prayers?

Friends, let us remember Jesus when He died on the cross. Who could believe then that things could still turn out fine?

But through His death, Jesus obtained for us our salvation. Through His crucifixion, death has been overcome!

And yet even before this final triumph, Jesus gave everything and surrendered Himself entirely to the Father. He loved to the full and He loved us to the very end.

“Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat. Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity. But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the Cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory.” ― Fulton J. Sheen, Life of Christ

“For the little I have understood during these years, I can tell you only that Love is the center of our life. Because we are born from an act of love, we live in order to love and in order to be loved, and we die in order to know the true love of God. The goal of our life is to love and to be always ready to learn how to love others as only God is able to teach you. Love consumes you, but it is beautiful to die consumed precisely as a candle that goes out only after it reaches its goal. Whatever you do will have sense only if you see it in terms of eternal life.” – Chiara Corbella Petrillo, A Witness to Joy

“It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

“If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins 'you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.' Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practise black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if-- and mark well what I say-- if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.” - St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Pray the Rosary…

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“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” - Psalm 147:3-4