Living Holy Saturday with Our Lady: grieving while hoping for redemption

If we truly trust in God, that He will make all things work together for the good of those who love Him, is there room for grieving, for sorrow, for anguish in the face of profound suffering and loss?

While some Christians proclaim faith and hope as the reason to never be miserable or in anguish when suffering, the Crucified Christ invites us to meditate on the great mystery of suffering and let the deep questions of our hearts rise to the surface. It is the Christ who cries out "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"; the God who became one of His own and experienced such agony on the eve of His Passion that He sweat blood; this is the One who invites us to ask what is means to suffer in true faith, hope, and love.

Yet another image of the mystery of suffering is displayed in Our Sorrowful Mother. Traditionally, Holy Saturday is known as a day of walking with Our Lady and mourning the Passion and Death of her Son with her. No disciple or lover of Christ had such pure faith, hope, or love and no disciple or lover Christ suffered so intimately and acutely as she.

There is no easy or black and white answer to the mystery of suffering, loss, and pain when walking with Christ. We do know that in this life we can't escape suffering, and we also know that when we walk intimately with Christ He not only redeems all suffering by His own Passion, Death, and Resurrection, but He makes carrying the crosses of our lives somehow sweet when united to Him. Buried in the Heart of Christ, sorrow and joy somehow can coexist when love is the greatest of all.

So on this day, we are invited to walk with Mary in the mystery of her sorrowful heart, in the remembrance of Jesus' Passion and Death. We unite the places of our hearts that are filled with sorrow and pain to hers, and we let her draw us into that mystery of suffering in faith, hope, and love. One way to do this concretely so this doesn't remain a pious, abstract thought that goes nowhere, is to pray through the sorrowful mysteries with Mary.

Below I have written out some simple meditations you can pray through while praying the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary on this day. Feel free to print this page out, so you don't have to be staring at a screen or easily distracted while trying to pray through these.

I encourage you to take a moment to pause in silence before beginning, to quiet your heart, recollect yourself in Christ's presence, and invite the Holy Spirit and Our Lady to guide you through these mysteries.

The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, with Our Sorrowful Mother:

I. The Agony in the Garden

Come, Holy Spirit.

Mary, please draw me into the mystery of Jesus' agony in the garden.

Reveal to my heart the mysteries of Jesus' Heart in His suffering, asking His Father to take this cup from Him, and yet willingly giving Himself to whatever the Will of His Father was. His trust and love in His Father was stronger than His desire for His suffering to end. Mary, give me the grace to trust and love my Heavenly Father more than my own preferences or will.

(Stabat Mater verses 1-4)

At the cross her station keeping,

Stood the mournful Mother weeping,

Close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,

All His bitter anguish bearing,

Now at length the sword had passed.

Oh, how sad and sore distressed

Was that Mother highly blessed

Of the sole-begotten One!

Christ above in torment hangs;

She beneath beholds the pangs

Of her dying glorious Son.

II. The Scourging at the Pillar

Come, Holy Spirit.

Mary, please draw me into the mystery of Jesus' scourging at the pillar.

Purify my heart of my attachments and vanities and give me the grace of mortification from my flesh. Jesus willingly let himself be stripped and scourged, His blood shed for our redemption. Unite my heart to Him, giving me the grace to willfully let go of what the Lord is stripping me of or inviting me to let go of, knowing it is for my good and salvation.

(Stabat Mater verses 5-8)

Is there one who would not weep,

Whelmed in miseries so deep,

Christ's dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain

From partaking in her pain,

In that Mother's pain untold?

Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,

She beheld her tender Child

All with bloody scourges rent.

For the sins of His own nation,

Saw Him hang in desolation,

Till His spirit forth He sent.

III. The Crowning of Thorns

Come, Holy Spirit.

Mary, please draw me into the mystery of Jesus' crowning with thorns.

Jesus was mocked, spat on, slapped, and His Holy Head pierced with a torturous crown of thorns. Mother, help me place Jesus as the true King of my heart, honoring Him, loving Him, and defending His honor. I offer this in reparation for my own sins, and those of the whole world, of blasphemy, mockery, and dishonoring Jesus as true Lord and King.

(Stabat Mater verses 9-12)

O sweet Mother! font of love! Touch my spirit from above;

Make my heart with yours accord.

Make me feel as you have felt;

Make my soul to glow and melt

With the love of Christ our Lord.

Holy Mother, pierce me through;

In my heart each wound renew

Of my Savior crucified.

Let me share with you His pain,

Who for all my sins was slain,

Who for me in torments died.

IV. Jesus Carries His Cross to Calvary

Come, Holy Spirit.

Mary, please draw me into the mystery of Jesus carrying His cross to Calvary.

Taking up His cross freely and carrying it along the way did not mean He would find relief. He carried His cross to a place of even greater agony; it was suffering into more suffering to the point of death. Mother, I ask for the grace to willingly pick up and carry my own small and heavy crosses, not seeking relief but rather to do the will of my Father in trust that He will redeem every pain and suffering through Christ.

(Stabat Mater verses 13-16)

Let me mingle tears with thee,

Mourning Him who mourned for me,

All the days that I may live.

By the cross with you to stay,

There with you to weep and pray,

Is all I ask of you to give.

Virgin of all virgins blest!

Listen to my fond request

Let me share your grief divine.

Let me to my latest breath,

In my body bear the death

Of that dying Son of yours.

V. Jesus Dies on the Cross

Come, Holy Spirit.

Mary, please draw me into the mystery of Jesus dying on the cross, handing over His spirit.

"Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to consuming itself to witness its love" (Jesus to Saint Faustina). Mother, draw me into this pierced Heart of Jesus, poured out, exhausted, consumed in its love for me, May Jesus' love and death pierce me through and may I know and live out of this love every day of my life to my own death with Him.

(Stabat Mater verses 17-20)

Wounded with His every wound,

Steep my soul till it has swooned

In His very blood away.

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,

Lest in flames I burn and die,

In His awful Judgment day.

Christ, when you shall call me hence,

Be your Mother my defense,

Be your cross my victory.

While my body here decays,

May my soul your goodness praise,

Safe in heaven eternally.