The Sorrowful Mysteries - Meditations of St. Padre Pio
The Agony in the Garden
Jesus gazes pleadingly upward, stretches out His arms, and prays. He knows that He is the sacrificial victim for the entire human race, exposed to the wrath of an offended God. He knows that He alone can satisfy infinite justice and reconcile the Creator with creation. O my Jesus, how many noble souls, moved by Your complaints, remain by Your side in the Olive Garden, sharing Your bitterness and mortal torment! How many hearts through the centuries have generously responded to Your call! May they comfort You, and by sharing Your sufferings, may they cooperate in the work of salvation! May I also belong to them and relieve You even just a little, O my Jesus!
The Scourging at the Pillar
I seem to hear the Savior's complaints: ”If only man, for whom I suffer, wished to benefit from the graces that I obtain for him through My suffering. If only he would recognize the true value of the price I pay to redeem him and give him the life of a child of God! Ah, this love tears My heart more cruelly than the executioners who will soon tear My body.”
The Crowning with Thorns
They place a crown of thorns upon Jesus, mock Him, and bow down before Him as if before a false king. Jesus sees all the wickedness, all the filth, all the blasphemies defiling hearts and lips created to sing God's glory. He sees the sacrileges that dishonor priests and the faithful. He sees the monstrous abuse of the sacraments, which He instituted for our salvation, but which can become the cause of our damnation. When Jesus wants me to understand that He loves me, He lets me taste His passion, wounds, thorns, and torments.
The Carrying of the Cross
Jesus must take upon Himself all this foul mud of human corruption. Thus arrayed, He must stand before the holiness of His Father. He must redeem each sin individually and restore to the Father all His trampled glory. He, the Holy of Holies, bending under the weight of sins, having taken everything upon Himself without exception, falls under the monstrous burden and groans under the weight of Divine justice, in the presence of the Father, who allowed Him, His Son, to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and to become as if accursed.
The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus
Stripped of His garments, stretched out upon the cross, mercilessly nailed, lifted up between heaven and earth. He hangs helplessly fastened by nails, suffering unspeakably. My God! How long this three-hour agony is, amid the shouts of a rabble drunk with rage! He sees Longinus approaching with a spear, who will pierce His heart. And behold, the deepest humiliation of body and soul is accomplished as they separate. If only I could help You even a little, relieve You somewhat. But unable to do anything else, I only weep beside You.