The Agony in the Garden.

 

The story of the Agony in the Garden is the Gospel passage for the Wednesday of Holy week (according to the 1962 Roman Missal) and in the Liturgy for the Passion for the three liturgical years in the current missal. 

Everything about Christ has been foretold in prophecy. He had a mission to complete in this life. From the moment of His Incarnation, His Birth, Presentation at the Temple, and public ministry had all been a part of His divine mission. All had been prophesized. Being born perfect, He had a perfect desire to complete His mission out of love for us. 

St. Catherine of Sienna, a Dominican tertiary, and one of the four female Doctors of the Church, wrote many things on the life of prayer and suffering with Christ, and she was blessed with the stigmata. She, and her confessor/spiritual director had written many things on her life. She wrote the Dialogues (a series of visions and conversations she had with Christ), a series of nearly 400 letters, and a series of prayers. Within her moments with Christ, she spoke with Him about His Agony in the Garden. His prayers in the garden, as revealed to St. Catherine, were not in fear of what was to come, but the fruition of His mission. 

He knew of the pains to come. He knew of the eternal rewards to come, for those who followed and obeyed Him. This mission to redeem us out of love for us by laying down His life has come to its fruition. "This desire, while unfulfilled, led to an immense suffering. When he prayed in Gethsemane, “Let this cup pass from me” (Matt. 26:39), he was not asking for a reprieve from death, but rather, that the agony of his incomplete mission might be removed soon, by his final passion. But, in obedience, he accepted whatever timing the Father might choose, adding “But not what I will, but what you will” (Matt. 26:39). In St. Catherine’s view, Jesus’ pain stemmed not from a fear of death, but from the very opposite, from his having something more to suffer." (Br. La Grange, O.P.).

He suffered for us, not just in His sacrificial offering, but He also suffered while in this world with us. He suffered our sinful natures, and our ignorance and arrogance (Matt. 17:16). He suffered our unfaithfulness when God Himself stood before us and told us what to do, how to live, and yet many failed to see that. So, when He prayed in the Garden, it wasn't to ask for a reprieve from the coming death, but to allow His mission to conclude, and so He can sacrifice himself as a sin-offering according to the Levitical Law for the forgiveness of all mankind. And yet, if it were the will of the Father, He would continue to suffer us.

The spiritual fruit for the Agony of the Garden mystery is Conformity to God's Will. That is seem when He completes His prayer with "But not what I will, but what you will" (Matt. 26:39). Meditating on this mystery will help us to always look to the Father in our sufferings, and still be willing to continue in our sufferings if He wishes us to for some divine purpose. 

The Scriptural Rosary is:

1. First Sorrowful Mystery: Agony in the Garden
1. Pater Noster …
2. Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani; and he said to his disciples: Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray. He began to grow sorrowful and to be sad. (Matt. 26:36-37)
1. Ave Maria ... 
3. Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me. (Matt. 26:38)
1. Ave Maria … 
4. And he was withdrawn away from them a stone's cast; and kneeling down, he prayed, (Luke 22:41)
1. Ave Maria … 
5. Saying: Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done. (Luke 22:42)
1. Ave Maria … 
6. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. (Luke 22:43a)
1. Ave Maria … 
7. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. (Luke 22:43b)
1. Ave Maria … 
8. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground. (Luke 22:44)
1. Ave Maria … 
9. And he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me? (Matt. 26:40)
1. Ave Maria … 
10. Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. (Matt. 26:41)
1. Ave Maria … 
11. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak. (Matt. 26:41)
1. Ave Maria … 
12. O My Jesus …
13. Gloria Patri …