He suffered for Our sake, let us have sorrow

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for us, because of us and our sins, but He suffered out of love for us. The sorrowful mysteries are the moments of Christ's life right after He was betrayed by His Apostle Judas Iscariot, He willingly went unto His Passion to lay down His life to God the Father as the all-sufficient sacrifice to redeem man from damnation and to open the gates to heaven once more. 

Christ's love is the redemptive love that God has for us. It is the same redemptive love that promised a Messiah to Adam and Eve after being banished from Eden. It is the same redemptive love that redeemed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and it is the same love that He made clear in the sacrifice of Himself for us, so that we can come closer to Him as we can see in John the Evangelists first Epistle. "This is the love: not our love for God, but God's love for us when He sent His Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away" (1 John 4:10).

As Christ said, "a man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). But in the fullness of His teachings, He not only laid down His life for His friends, but for His enemies too, because He loved all of them, and desired the ultimate good for all of them, namely He desired that they all come to know and love God above all other things. This points to the Charity of Jesus Christ. Not the common definition of charity, such as giving to a food bank, but is the highest of theological virtues, coming from the Greek Αγάπη and the Latin Caritatem. Both of which are the highest forms of love.

So, while Christ did all of this out of love for us, we should feel compunction for the states of our lives, as we are not worthy of such love. He had shown such love to save us from ourselves, and in return we thank Him for His sacrifice, but to prevent the empty repentance I mentioned here we change ourselves, and better ourselves so we can grow closer to Christ in all things. 

The Sorrowful mysteries are:

1. The Agony in the Garden (Luke 22:44):
1. Here in this mystery, we see Christ praying in the Garden, knowing fully what is about to occur, and asks of the Father that if it be His will to let this pass from His cup, and yet stayed true to the Will of the Father. This is so important to realize, the agony that Christ felt, but nonetheless trusted in His Father, to the point of death on the cross. The agony that He experienced is partly from knowing the tortures that He is to endure. However, the agony was not just about the pain to come. Pain without reason is unbearable, but the pain Christ bore had a purpose; a divine purpose. His agony was about the reason for His existence on earth, His mission to redeem us all. This agony actually caused Jesus Christ to sweat droplets of blood. This condition is now called hematohidrosis and can be caused by extreme levels of stress.
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Mark 15:15):
1. This is the first act done by Pontius Pilate after his other attempts to persuade for the release of Jesus, had failed. After Christ was arrested in the garden and brought before a Jewish court in the middle of the night, they played hot potato between Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate to see who will execute Jesus for the Jewish leaders. Ultimately the decision rested on Pontius Pilate the provincial governor for that region in the Roman Empire. After trying to offer up Jesus and a known murderer, and some accounts a rapist, Barabbas for the crowd to set free they chose Barabbas over Jesus. Afterwards, he wanted to prevent a riot and had Him scourged at the pillar.
3. Crowning with Thorns (Mark 15:17-19):
1. After the scourging at the pillar Jesus was then crowned with a plaited (woven/braided) crown of thorns. The crown could have been made from a plant called jujube, a common plant in the area, but flexible and covered with thorns. Once the crown was woven, it was placed on His head, and beaten into His head with a reed. The Romans then dressed Him in a scarlet cloak and knelt in adoration and homage calling Jesus "King of the Jews" mockingly. This was the crime with which He was charged, the crime with which the Jews demanded that He be crucified.
4. Carrying the Cross (John 19:16-20):
1. Once given the death sentence of crucifixion, Jesus carried His cross. He was mocked and blasphemed against and fell three times in the procession from Pilates court to Golgotha (Calvary) to be crucified. There is another popular devotion called the Stations of the Cross, which is done every Friday during the season of Lent. This devotional predominantly covers the various points during His passion after the condemnation to the crucifixion. 
5. Crucifixion (John 19:30-37):
1. This is the point where Christ is on the cross, is constantly being mocked and is being charged with falsely claiming to be the messiah by the Jewish priests. He is told to come down from the cross if you truly are the messiah, and he does not do so. This shows a few things that I will go over on the appropriate page later, but suffice it to say, Jesus is the Messiah, just not the kind that the pharisees wanted (i.e., a military leader). 

These are the Sorrowful mysteries. (Read in the tone of a pharmaceutical commercial): Contemplating on them has been known to cause repentance, sorrow for sins, teary-eyed conditions, growing love for Jesus, and a desire for God's will, mortification, courage, patience, and salvation. If you experience any of these conditions, first say a prayer giving thanks to God, and second go talk to a Priest about becoming Catholic.