The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 360: The Sorrowful Mysteries

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

We pray the Sorrowful Mysteries and enter deeply into the heart of Christ’s Passion, guided by Fr. Mark-Mary through each decade. In the Agony in the Garden, Fr. Mark-Mary reflects on Jesus’ threefold cry of “My Father,” showing how Jesus faces his suffering in relationship with the Father, inviting us to bring our own agonies to God with the same trust. The Scourging at the Pillar inspires us to meditate on the irony of the crowd choosing Barabbas, the “son of the father” in name only, over the true Son. Despite the mockery of the Crowning with Thorns, Fr. Mark-Mary shows how even here Christ’s kingship is revealed and God is silently at work for our salvation. During the Carrying of the Cross, we’re guided into a moment of imaginative prayer, placing us in the role of Simon of Cyrene. Finally, as we pray with the Crucifixion, Fr. Mark-Mary draws attention to the tearing of the temple veil and Pope Benedict XVI’s insight that symbols give way to reality: God himself has opened the way to his heart through the crucified Christ. Today's focus is the Sorrowful Mysteries, and we’ll be praying the full Rosary. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

I'm Father Mark Mary with the Franciscan friars of Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast. We're through prayer and meditation. The rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 360. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit ascensionpress.com forward slash rosary in a year, or text RII to 3377. 7. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track your

progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There's special features built just for this podcast and also recording to the full rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in the Year prayer guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to compliment this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings for scripture, St. Reflections, and beautiful images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on. Today we will be praying the sorrowful mysteries.

Let us begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to hell. On the third day, he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen. For our Holy Father's health and intentions, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen for an increase in the theological virtues of faith hope and charity hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray

for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen glory be to the father and to the sun and to the holy spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen the first sorrowful mystery is the agony in the garden for me it's one of the most maybe important insights

that I had during our journey here and it's something that's always been before me but through our prayer and through this kind of process I've seen it at least for the first time and it's with Jesus in the garden right in Matthew's Gospel chapter 26 verse 39 it reads and going a little far he fell on his face and he prayed my father if it be possible let this chalice pass for me

nevertheless not as i will but as you will three times jesus makes this petition and three times he starts it with my father my father my father this is how jesus goes through his agony in relationship with his father bringing like sincerely what he needs to his father like not watering it down, being honest if it's possible that this child's pass, but also trusting in his father while remaining, right, secure in his identity, his son. We don't share the same exact agony of Jesus, but we certainly have our agonies, our sufferings, our places in our lives, that where we come and we can make this really sincere, authentic plea to the Lord,

my father if it's possible let this pass but we have to navigate this like jesus does my father my father my father and so let us as we pray this decade let us pray as jesus prayed sincerely honestly but always in right relationship to our heavenly father we pray my father my father my father my father our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed art thou among women And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus holy Mary mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our time

death, amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end, amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. The second sorrowful mystery is the scourging at the pillar. Matthew chapter 27 verse 26 reads Then he released for them Barabbas

And having scourged Jesus delivered him to be crucified And we know there's great irony here As the crowd chooses Barabbas Barabbas whose name literally means son of the father And the crowd chooses like this counterfeit worldly son of the father instead of the right the son of the father

who comes to save us as we pray we look at if there's any ways in our in our own hearts our own lives that we are choosing the worldly remedy a worldly savior the worldly son of the father ways in which we ourselves are shouting like we want barabbas

instead of, like, Jesus, the Lord, like, his sonship, his salvation according to God's ways, which are so different than the ways of the world, particularly, as we see in Jesus and his passion, being so receptive, so docile, not in this worldly aggressive way of, violent way, taking matters into their own hands, but trusting in the Lord and waiting to receive all things from Him. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallow be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass

against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with

thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death amen glory be to the father and to the sun and to the holy spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen oh my jesus forgive us our sins save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of thy mercy the third sarf mystery is the crowning with thorns chapter 27 verse 29 reads

and plating a crown of thorns they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand and kneeling before him they mocked him saying hail king of the Jews now what the Roman soldiers were doing here it was a unique evil it's not a normal part of Roman punishment but even here we see God at work

Jesus is king The condemned one The scourged one The crowned one The one who will be crucified Is indeed the victorious one Even here Even through this evil

Jesus is victorious And God is working For the good Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary Mother of God. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee

Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end, amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. The fourth sorrowful mystery is the carrying of the cross. Matthew 27, verse 32, says, as they were marching out, they came upon a man of siren, Simon by name. This man was compelled

to carry his cross. We're going to do a bit of like an imaginative prayer here, of placing ourselves in the place of Simon. And all of a sudden, you find yourself so close to Jesus. And you know, like, we're going to come from our own perspective. Like, we know where we're going. We know how this story ends. We know who he is. What do you want to say to Jesus as you help him carry the cross on the road to Calvary?

How do you want to console his heart? as we pray I want to speak words of love of gratitude of adoration to Jesus our Lord and our Savior just thank you

Jesus I love you Jesus I adore you our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace

the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is it. is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the

hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. and at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit

of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, amen.

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. sins save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of thy mercy the fifth sorrowful mystery is the crucifixion as we meditate on the crucifixion want to draw our attention to just one small passage luke chapter 23 verse 45 which reads while the sun's light failed and the curtain of the temple was torn into this curtain this veil is the curtain that hangs in the holy of holies and the tearing of this veil means that the era of the old temple and its sacrifices are over Pope Benedict the 16th tells us symbols and rituals are now overtaken by the reality

meaning that God himself has removed the veil and revealed himself in the crucified one as one who loved loves to the point of death. Today let us be moved with gratitude and joy that the curtain, the veil of the temple is torn and the pathway to God is now wide open. Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallow be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this, they are daily bread. and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb jesus holy mary mother of god pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners, now and at the

hour of our death. Amen. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end, amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those, and most need of thy mercy.

Hail holy queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee to we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee to we send up our sighs, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us. And after this our exile,

show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, oh loving, a sweet virgin Mary, pray for us most holy mother of God that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ let us pray who god who's only begotten son by his life death and resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life grant we beseech thee that meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the blessed virgin mary we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise through the same christ our lord amen in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy it. Amen. Thanks everyone for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing

this journey with you again tomorrow. Poca, poca, poca, friends. God bless you.