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THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES - CARMELITE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY

  • Writer: Non O’Hanlon, Theresa McCafferty, Philippa Clarke
    Non O’Hanlon, Theresa McCafferty, Philippa Clarke
  • Oct 6
  • 3 min read

Updated: Oct 7


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1.      The Agony in the Garden

The trials of Jesus, what a mystery! Yes, He had some, and He is often all alone to press the grapes for wine. He searched for people to console Him but can find none. …Many are there to serve Jesus when they need Him for their consolation, but few agree to keep Jesus company, sleeping on the wave or suffering in the garden of agony. Who will serve Jesus for Himself. Ah, that will be us.

(St. Therese of the Child Jesus, General Correspondence, Letter 165)


2.      The Scourging at the Pillar

If you are experiencing trials or are sad, behold Him … what great affliction He bore in His soul, for having become suffering itself … Behold Him bound to the column, filled with pain, with all His flesh torn in pieces for the great love He bears you; so much suffering, persecuted by some, spit on by other, denied by His friends, abandoned by them, with no one to defend Him, frozen from the cold, left so alone that you can console each other … He will look at you with those eyes so beautiful and compassionate, filled with tears; He will forget His sorrows so as to console you in yours, merely because you yourselves go to Him to be consoled and you turn your head to look at Him.

(St Teresa of Jesus, The Way of Perfection Ch 26, p.5)


3.      The Crowning with Thorns

O Jesus, Who in Thy bitter passion, did become the most abject of me, a Man of Sorrows. I venerate Thy Sacred Face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead, but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a leper.

(The Story of a Soul)

 

4.      The Carrying of the Cross

The Saviour is not alone in the way of the cross. Not only are there adversaries around Him who oppress Him, but also people who succour Him. The archetype of followers of the cross for all time is the Mother of God. Typical of those who submit to the suffering inflected on them and experience His blessing by bearing it is Simon of Cyrene. Representative of those who love Him and year to serve the Lord in Veronica. Everyone, who, in the course of time has borne an onerous destiny in remembrance of the suffering Saviour, or who has freely taken up works of expiation, has, by doing so, cancelled some of the mighty load of human sin and has helped the Lord carry His burden.

(St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Essay, At the Foot of the Cross)


5.      The Crucifixion

The cry of the Lord on the Cross, “I am Thirsty”, sounded continually in my heart… I wanted to give my Beloved a drink, and felt myself devoured by the thirst of all souls… It was not the souls of priest that attracted me, but those of sinners. I burned with the desire to pull them from the eternal flames. When I saw the blood running from the wounds of Jesus, the thirst of all souls entered my heart. Oh, each day since this special blessing (Pranzini), my desire to save these souls grew. I felt I heard Jesus tell me “Give me something to drink.”

(Story of a Soul, Man A v45, 46)



Researched and compiled by Non O’Hanlon Theresa McCafferty Philippa Clarke





 

 
 
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