5th Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion

By Ivonne Hernandez

St Peter Julian Eymard's Words:

​"The Eucharist, in fact, is the fruit of the death of Jesus. The Eucharist is a testament, a legacy, which becomes valid only at the death of the testator. To give His testament legal force, Jesus had then to die. Every time we come into the presence of the Eucharist we may therefore say: "This precious testament cost Jesus Christ His life; He thereby shows us His boundless love, for He Himself said there is no greater proof of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." [1]


​MEDITATION:

The mystery of the Crucifixion speaks to us of the virtue of fortitude. The Catechism tells us that “the virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions.” (CCC, 1808) When we look at the sacrifice on the Cross from the point of view of the Eucharist, we see the end before our eyes. We can then look at the Cross with hope and not despair.

We go to the Eucharist, the living proof of His love, and we ask Him to show us the Way to Himself. He shows us the Cross. He shows us His glorified wounds, the fount of mercy by which our wounds are healed; we see them and remember the price He paid for them. We see how much He suffered for love of us. We touch His wounds and exclaim with St Thomas, my Lord and my God! We see Christ’s death as the price paid for the gift of Himself in the Eucharist, and our hearts are moved to gratitude. Gratitude moves us to want to give Him something in return, but what can we give Him? We only have our brokenness. We show him our own wounds and pain. This is what He was waiting for. He touches our wounds and hides them within His, transforming them with His love and driving away all fear. We are united through the pain, in a deep embrace of love. We find sweetness on the cross, the sweetness of being one with Him. Our pain is still there, but we are not alone, and we are not afraid.

With fear now gone, we can see our suffering in the light of the Eucharist. We see that it is by uniting our wounds to His wounds that we find the pathway by which mercy will flow from Him to us, and from us to others. It is in the Eucharist, His last will and testament to us, that we find the strength we need to die to our own will and accept the sufferings that come our way.

SEND:

​As you meditate on the mystery of the Crucifixion, see Jesus' love for you in the Blessed Sacrament and show Him your wounds. Ask Our Lady for the grace to let His wounds touch yours, to not be afraid.


​NEXT:

​We will pause the Rosary meditations in observance of the Holy Triduum, and continue with the 1st Glorious mystery on Easter Monday.

Laura Worhacz will be posting some meditations for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. May you all have a blessed Holy Triduum.

[1] Eymard, The Real Presence, p.73