The First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden
Fruit of the Mystery: Sorrow for Sin
The cultivation of sorrow for sin should, of course, be first and foremost about OUR OWN sins. But, what is also included in this Mystery is sorrow for ALL sins, including those committed by others. We can also expand this to include anything that is contrary to the Truth, which is Our Lord Himself – God is Himself Truth – namely errors and mistakes. Error has no rights, a truism of which the vehement denial is a hallmark of modernism (and Americanism, to be perfectly frank), but we can have COMPASSION on people who are in error, while never ceding any sort of ratification or legitimacy to their error.
Our Lord taking upon Himself in the Garden the sins of the world is in no way a ratification or acceptance of those sins qua sin. It was an Atonement and Redemption, an act of infinite compassion which only brought into the most stark relief the need for humankind, redeemed, to REPENT and turn away from sin. There is a reason why the sin of presuming upon God’s mercy is called the “unforgivable sin”. If you go to Confession, and then saunter out to your pew, lean into your neighbor and whisper, “Ha-hah! Off scott-free YET AGAIN! Gotta love the sacraments!”, not only are you probably not forgiven for what you confessed, you are on the bullet train to hell. Only a full-blown psychopath could consciously make fun of Our Blessed Lord’s agony and death for their own sins, and treat the infinite compassion offered in the confessional as a joke with full malice aforethought. The Eighth Station of the Way of the Cross springs to mind – Christ meeting the Women of Jerusalem. “Weep not for Me, but for yourselves, and your children.”
Here is what I do, and now publicly propose to others in light of the Bergoglian Antipapacy, this being the fruit of praying the First Sorrowful Mystery:
Every time you assist at a Mass in which Antipope Bergoglio is erroneously commemorated at the Te Igitur, not only silently correct the error, BUT ASK OUR LORD TO GIVE YOU THE TEMPORAL PUNISHMENT, IF ANY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DUE THE PRIEST WHO HAS MADE THE ERROR.
Try, in all things, to imitate Christ. Go to Christ in the Garden and join in His Agony. Like Simon of Cyrene, help Our Lord carry His Cross. Have compassion – “com” means “with”, and “passion” means “suffer” – on those in error. Love other human beings. And then ACT to educate and correct the error, so that someday all error might be eliminated on earth, as it is in heaven. Then, when we are reunited in heaven with these priests, assuming we all make it, we can have an especially joyful reunion and connection. “Hey, aren’t you glad I was in your parish…?” 🙂
It seems to me that this will be of tremendous help in the future, when the terrible sufferings come, in whatever form, for us to be able to handle suffering without losing our faith. When sufferings come, we can be at peace, knowing that perhaps these sufferings are part of the temporal punishments which we volunteered to take upon ourselves on behalf of others, especially others who might not be able to handle such suffering without being scandalized or losing their faith. Then we will be able to grow even more steadfast in our faith, making ourselves more like Christ by imitating Him, advance in sanctity, and offer up our sufferings in part for those in error regarding the Bergoglian Antipapacy, as well as for our own sins. The fact that this voluntary taking on of temporal punishment is directed primarily toward priests, without whom there could be no Mass, nor absolution in the confessional, is especially important.
Remember Our Lord’s words, “By their fruits you will know them.” Lies, and also ERROR, that is anything NOT congruent with the Truth has as its fruit the REDUCTION AND EVENTUAL LOSS OF FAITH. When people are lied to, it chips away at their ability to trust – first other people, and then eventually God. When people are asked to accept error, the inevitable logical contradictions and detachment from reality that spring from error erode faith. Then things like denying the Petrine Primacy as “childish ultramontanism”, or calling into question the First Vatican Council – which inevitably leads to a questioning of ALL past ecumenical councils – next Trent, then Nicea, then Jerusalem, then calling into question the fidelity of Our Lord to His promises to Peter and his successors, are the inevitable result.
Where you see people losing their faith with regards to Antipope Bergoglio, you find error, namely the error that Bergoglio is now or ever has been the Pope. He is not and has never been. Pope Benedict XVI Ratzinger, whether he likes it or not, is the one and only living Pope, and has been since April of ARSH 2005, due, again, to Pope Benedict’s ERROR in thinking he could “fundamentally transform” the Papacy into a “shared, collegial, synodal ministry.”
The truth edifies, confirms, quickens and strengthens. The Truth, even when hideously ugly (as the Bergoglian Antipapacy is), has an intrinsic beauty in that it is coherent, logical, rock-solid, and if you contemplate it you always find at the root LOVE. Christ’s Passion and Death on the Cross is the most horrible thing that has ever happened, but it is also the most beautiful, because it is the infinite gratuitous manifestation of God’s love.
We should also have compassion on Pope Benedict XVI and his error, and offer up sacrifices and fasts not only in reparation, but also that Pope Benedict XVI REPENT AND CORRECT his error – the biggest error in the almost 2000 year history of the Church since Pentecost – before he dies, not only for the sake of the Church and the Papacy, but for the sake of his own soul as well.
Finally, it should be remembered that satan tempted Christ in the garden to despair, trying to convince Him, satan being not completely sure who Our Lord was, that His suffering and death would not be enough to redeem mankind. Gibson portrayed this explicitly in his movie, sourcing from the writings of Anne Catherine Emmerich, depicting satan as an androgyne, repeating the words, “No. It is too much.” In exactly the same way satan tempts us today to despair, tries to convince us, as he has many, many prelates, including curial prelates, that “there is nothing we can do” about the Bergoglian Antipapacy. “It’s too much.” We must never succumb to this lie, always remembering that God is God, and can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, HOWever He wants. Further, we know the victory is ours, and that the truth WILL OUT. And so we persevere in confidence, proactive, virile and potent, and at the same time abandoned to the Divine Providence.
I hope this helps. Hang in there, folks! And remember St. Catherine’s words, that the Divine Providence, in His infinite perfection, has put US here in this time and place. We were made for these days, as unbelievable as that seems. Believe this, and proceed manfully!
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.
Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, have mercy on us.