The Sorrowful Mysteries and Mental Health
Contemplating Suffering
We all have suffering in life. They come in all different types, intensities and durations. Jesus teaches us how to suffer well when we meditate on His Passion. I have found that praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary is the best way to make sense of our suffering. It is also the best way to alleviate our suffering.
Jesus is one person with two natures, fully divine and fully human. Jesus also suffered and died for our all our sins. If He has a fully human nature and through His sufferings died for our sins, then mysteries of the Rosary encompass the entirety of human suffering.
As Catholics we always hear the phrases: “unite your sufferings to Jesus’s sufferings on the cross,” and “don’t let your suffering go to waste,” and the most vague, annoying, eye rolling phrase “offer it up,” which has plagued the minds of teenagers when said by parents for 2000 years. It was a favorite of my parents and I still remember the frustrating feeling I had when I heard it. I usually thought something along the lines of, “that comment isn’t helping me right now!” But think more teenaged anger and angst.
To be honest, I still fall in this mindset most of the time. It is human nature to want the suffering we experience to end immediately, but it is only through reflection and prayer that we can make sense of it all, and that takes time. To me, the whole process seems like a lot of work. It is way easier just “woe-is-me-it” until my situation changes. The “this is how we do it” song is stuck in my head now…. my gift to you. We all know Montel Jordan was the true MJ of the 90’s.
Sharing in Jesus’s suffering by meditating in His Passion creates for us a stronger bond, like brothers in arms. It also, helps our suffering have more meaning by not letting our shared hardships with Him go to waste, the perspective is on Him and not us. So, let’s look to the sorrowful mysteries and how they can help us to suffer well.
The First Mystery: The Agony in the Garden
Jesus knew how and to what extent he was to suffer. This was to be to the greatest extent anyone has ever suffered combining physical, mental and emotional suffering culminating with His Crucifixion. The Agony in the Garden was, for the most part, mental and emotional suffering. Jesus felt extreme anxiety, fear, worry, despair, depression. So much so that he sweat blood!
If you struggle with any sort of emotional distress, trauma or mental illness, consider yourself in this camp (just don’t fall asleep) with Jesus. This type of suffering is hidden in most of us. It was also hidden with Jesus in the Garden. Take solace in this fact that hidden sufferings like hidden prayers are pleasing to the God. (Matthew 6:6)
Personally, I am in this camp. My whole life I have struggled with mental illness. It runs in my family. Depression on my dad’s side, anxiety and bipolar on my mom’s. There has also been suicide attempts and deaths from suicide in both lines. So yeah, I was dealt a pretty bad hand when it comes to mental health. My cousin sent me this meme, sums the feeling up perfectly haha.
But I try to offer up my mental struggles to God. When I am depressed or anxious, I intercede for others. I pray that my mental distress hopefully helps someone else in the world. I turn to Jesus and give the thoughts and feelings to Him. No time is wasted when you remember/reflect on Jesus’s Passion. Suffering is time well spent when we look to the Cross and not at ourselves.
So please take some time and reflect about your sufferings in the past, present and future. Where do they fit into Jesus’s Passion? Meditate in the difference scene of the Passion Narrative. Do this beside Jesus, as an onlooker, through the eyes of a character or through the eyes of our Lord Himself. Here are some questions to get you started.
The Agony in the Garden:
Have you been heavily tempted?
Are you concerned about your future?
Do you have a mental illness?
Are you under emotional or mental anguish?
Did you experience severe trauma?
Did someone you asked to help you not follow through?
The Scourging at the Pillar:
Violence commented against you?
Excessive punishment doled out to you?
Did someone stand by and not help you in your need?
The Crowing of Thorns:
Were you Bullied?
Were you Mocked?
Were you a victim of scandal?
Jesus Carries the Cross:
Have you suffered Insults?
Have you suffered with something for years (long suffering)?
Were you used in some way?
Have you felt helpless with no end in sight?
Have you grieved for a loved one?
The Crucifixion:
Do you suffer from an Illness?
Are you close to death?
Do you feel abandoned?
Most others things fit in this category
Fall down at the foot of the cross and offer the Lord your suffering and sin. He will hear you. He will not reject you. He will give you comfort, shelter, mercy and forgiveness.
It is tradition that Lazarus didn’t smile for 30 years after being raised from the dead, because four days witnessing the horrors of hell were such a serious matter. The only time he did crack a smile was when he saw someone stealing a pot and said, “the clay steals the clay.”
Did your parents constantly say, “offer it up?” What was your response?
Which sorrowful mystery do you identify with the most?
Any ideas of why Lazarus found the person stealing the pot so funny? I can’t find a definitive answer on the interwebs.