The first Sorrowful Mystery is the Agony in the Garden.

“Do you want to accompany Jesus closely, very closely?” asked St. Josemaría Escrivá. “Open the Holy Gospel and read the Passion of our Lord. But don’t just read it: live it. There is a big difference. To read is to recall something that happened in the past; to live is to find oneself present at an event that is happening here and now, to be someone taking part in those scenes. Then, allow your heart to open wide; let it place itself next to our Lord. And when you notice it trying to slip away—when you see that you are a coward, like the others—ask forgiveness for your cowardice and mine.”

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen wrote, “What Our Blessed Lord contemplated in this agony was not just the buffeting of soldiers, and the pinioning of His hands and feet to a bar of contradiction, but rather the awful burden of the world’s sin, and the fact that the world was about to spurn His Father by rejecting Him, His Divine Son.”

Christ prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42).

Sheen wrote that Jesus’ divine and human natures were both involved in this prayer. “He and the Father were One; it was not ‘Our Father,’ but ‘My Father.’ Unbroken was the consciousness of His Father’s love. But on the other hand, his human nature recoiled from death as a penalty for sin. The natural shrinking of the human soul from the punishment which sin deserves was overborne by divine submission to the Father’s will. The ‘no’ to the cup of the Passion was human; the ‘yes’ to the divine will was the overcoming of human reluctance to suffering for the sake of redemption.”

St. John Damascene described it this way: “While he had naturally the power of willing both as God and as man, the human will followed after and was subordinated to his will, not being motivated by its own opinion, but willing what his divine will willed. Thus, it was with the permission of the divine will that he suffered what was naturally proper to him. And when he begged to be spared death, he did so naturally, with his divine will willing and permitting, and he was in agony and afraid. Then, when his divine will willed that his human will choose death, the passion was freely accepted by it, because it was not as God alone that he freely delivered himself over to death, but as man, also. Whence, he also gave us the grace of courage in the face of death.”

The prayer of Christ in the Garden is a perfect example of abandonment into and union with the will of God.

St. Escrivá described it as a “powerful and manly” thing to do. He wrote: “Are things going against you? Are you going through a rough time? Say very slowly, as if relishing it, this powerful and manly prayer: ‘May the most just and most lovable will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and eternally exalted above all things. Amen, Amen.’ I assure you that you will find peace.”

St. Ephrem drew a connection between Jesus’ sweat becoming like drops of blood and the sin of Adam.

“He sweated to heal Adam who was sick. ‘It is by the sweat of your brow,’ said God, ‘that you will eat your bread.’ He remained in prayer in this garden to bring Adam back into his own garden again.”

Jesus told St. Faustina Kowalska the following regarding people who are lukewarm: “These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: ‘Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.’ For them, the last hope of salvation is to flee to My mercy.”

Let us “watch and pray” so to overcome spiritual sloth and avoid being lukewarm in our faith.


基督接納天主聖意

痛苦五端的第一端是耶穌山園祈禱(路22:39-46)。聖施禮華寫:『你要緊密地,十分緊密地伴隨耶穌嗎?…打開福音。並閱讀我主的苦難。不但只是閱讀,要活出。有一個很大的分別: 去閱讀是去回想過去發生的一些事故;要活出是讓自己身處於此時此地正在發生的事情,好讓自己參與在現場中。然後廣開心胸,讓它靠近我主。當你發現它欲溜走的時候—當你發現你跟他人一般,是名懦夫時—請為你我的懦弱求寬恕。』

可敬Fulton J.Sheen寫道:『我們的至聖主人在祂憂苦中所預視的不單是兵士們的打擊,手腳被捆綁,卻是世界罪惡可怕的承擔,世界將會因為要拒絕祂、天父的聖子,而藐視祂的天父。』

基督祈禱說;『父啊!你如果願意,請給我免去這杯吧! 但不要隨我的意願,惟照你的意願成就吧!』(路22:42)。Fulton J. Sheen寫:『祂的兩本性,天主性的和人性的,都在祂的祈禱中。祂和聖父是一體的;不是「我們的天父」,而是「我的天父」。祂對天父的愛的意識並未有破碎。但另一方面,祂的人性讓祂因定罪死亡退避。祂的人性對死亡的罪罰有所畏縮。人性對罪罰自然的畏縮被神聖的順從天父旨意所戰勝。對苦難說「不」是人性;對神性的旨意說「是」是為救贖而克服了人性的勉強。』

聖若望、達瑪森寫:『因此,當祂自然地能有天主和人的意願,人的意志會跟隨和從屬於祂的意志:不是由人性意志的意見所推動,但願意祂天主性意志的旨意。所以,由天主聖意的容許下,祂忍受了那適於本性的苦難。當祂懇求免於死亡時,是出自自然,按祂天主性的意願和容許,在祂的痛苦和恐懼中。然後,當祂天主性的意志願意祂的人性要選擇死亡,這苦難便自願地接納了,因為祂不僅以天主但也是以人的身分將自己交於死亡。從那裡,祂也給了我們面對死亡勇氣的恩典。』

基督山園祈禱是一個完美的榜樣作捨棄好能與天主聖意給合。聖施禮華寫:『一切事物都與你作對嗎?你經歷了一段困難的時間嗎? 請祈禱,十分緩慢的祈禱,好像在玩味似的,這有力和氣概祈禱:「讓最公義的、最可愛的天主聖意承行,完滿,被讚美和顯赫在萬有之上,亞孟,亞孟」我保證你會找到平安。』

 

聖厄弗冷寫:『「祂的汗變成發血珠」福音作者說。祂的汗珠治療病的亞當。「你必須汗流滿面,」天主說「才能得到吃食。」祂留在山園中祈禱,把亞當再次帶回到他自己的樂園。』

耶穌告訴聖傅天娜以下有關微暖的人:『這些靈瑰最傷我心的至痛。在橄欖園中我的靈魂為這些冷淡的靈瑰受了最厭惡的苦。因為他們的緣故,我喊叫:「父啊!你如果願意,請給我免去這杯吧!」為他們,最後的希望是投奔到我的慈悲。』

讓我們『警醒和祈禱』好能克服靈性上的懶惰和冷淡。