As Jesus prayed in the Garden, He experienced three great spiritual sufferings. Read this stirring excerpt from St. Alphonsus Liguori.
Jesus’s Three Sufferings in the Garden
Jesus, knowing that the hour of His passion had now come, after having washed the feet of His disciples and instituted the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar—wherein He left us His whole self—goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, whither He already knew that His enemies would come to take Him. He there betakes Himself to prayer, and lo! He finds Himself assailed by a great dread, by a great repugnance, and by a great sadness: He began to be afraid, to be weary, and sorrowful.
A Great Dread
There came upon Him, first, a great dread of the bitter death which He would have to suffer on Calvary, and of all the anguish and desolations by which it would be accompanied. During the actual course of His passion, the scourges, the thorns, the nails, and the rest of His tortures came upon Him but one at a time; whereas, in the garden, they all came upon Him together at once, crowding into His memory in order to torment Him.
For His love of us He embraced them all, but in embracing them, He trembles and is in agony: Being in an agony, He prayed the longer.
A Great Repugnance
There comes upon Him, moreover, a great repugnance to that which He has to suffer so that He prays His Father to deliver Him from it: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass away from Me.
He prayed thus to teach us that in our tribulations we may indeed beg of God to deliver us from them, but we ought at the same time to refer ourselves to His will and to say, as Jesus then said, Not, however, as I will, but as You will. Yes, my Jesus, Your will, not mine, be done. I embrace all the crosses that You will send me. You, innocent as You are, have suffered so much for love of me; it is but just that I, who am a sinner, and deserving of hell, should suffer for love of You that which You ordain.
A Great Sadness
There came upon Him, likewise, a sadness so great that it would have been enough to cause Him to die, had He not, of Himself, kept death away, in order to die for us after having suffered more: My soul is sorrowful even unto death.
This great sadness was occasioned by the sight of the future ungratefulness of men, who, instead of corresponding to so great a love on His part, would offend Him by so many sins, the sight of which caused Him to sweat in streams of blood: And His sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground.
The Source of Christ’s Sufferings
So, then, O my Jesus, it is not the executioners, the scourges, the thorns, or the cross that have been so cruel, the cruelty lies in my sins, which afflicted You so much in the garden. Give me, then, a share of that sorrow and abhorrence which You experienced in the garden that so, even to my death, I may bitterly weep for the offenses that I have given You.
I love You, O my Jesus; receive with kindness a sinner who wishes to love You. Recommend me, O Mary, to this your Son, who is in affliction and sadness for love of me.
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This article is taken from a chapter in The Road to Calvary by St. Alphonsus Liguori which is available from TAN Books.
