Day 1, Sept. 7th, 9:00 am – Agony in the Garden
Dear Jesus, it is hard for me to completely imagine the pain You were in when Your body expelled blood in the agony that You felt. I know I could not possibly fully enter into that pain. But Jesus, sometimes my own heart aches with its own pain and agony. Sometimes it feels like too much to go on. Sometimes it feels like it would be easier if I did not exist. I wonder if You could understand the agony in my heart then, O Lord. Can you please help me to unite my agony with yours? Can you please send me consolation in this space of despair even as you received heavenly consolation in your own agony?
I love you and I desire to do your will, but it all just feels too much right now. So I turn to you in your abundant mercy and compassion and I offer you my feeling of despair in union with your suffering, your passion, and your death. I offer you, too, my dear brothers and sisters who this day also experience despair.
I pray for the intercession of St. John the beloved, St. Mary Magdalene, and my dear Heavenly Mother, who accompanied You during your passion. May they also accompany me in their companionship, their example, and their prayers as I unite my suffering with yours.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those in despair.
Pray The Seven Sorrows Rosary
Day 2, Sept. 8th, 4:00 pm – Jesus’s arrest and imprisonment at Caiaphas’s
My dear Jesus, how lonely you must have been in that imprisonment, hurting, rejected and reviled. You must have felt most painfully the rejection and abandonment of your closest friends. Jesus, I know that I cannot fully know the depth of your pain. And yet Jesus, sometimes I do feel so alone. Sometimes I feel misunderstood, abandoned, and rejected particularly by those around me from whom I desire friendship and love. In those moments, I may wonder if my life even matters, if it would even matter if I ceased to exist. Can you please embrace me in this pain of loneliness and allow me to join my aching heart to yours?
I love you and I desire to do your will, but I just feel so completely alone right now. So I turn to you in your abundant mercy and compassion and I offer you my loneliness in union with your suffering, your passion, and your death. I offer you, too, my dear brothers and sisters who this day also experience loneliness.
I pray for the intercession of St. John the beloved, St. Mary Magdalene, and my dear Heavenly Mother, who accompanied You during your passion. May they also accompany me in their companionship, their example, and their prayers as I unite my suffering with yours.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those in despair.
Pray the Seven Sorrows Rosary
Day 3, Sept. 9th, 9:00 am – Jesus is condemned to death
My dear Jesus, what did your heart feel, my love, when in that moment, your death came closer to reality. How do I face you who died for me, when in my own pain, death seems desirable? I can only turn to You with trust, my dear Lord, hoping that You must know my heart and experience compassion for me even in my weakness, especially in my weakness. When my hope seems to be a light that is flickering out in the darkness of my pain, I turn to You.
I love you and I desire to do your will, but I just feel so hopeless right now. So I turn to you in your abundant mercy and compassion and I offer you my feeling of hopelessness in union with your suffering, your passion, and your death. I offer you, too, my dear brothers and sisters who this day also experience pain and suffering.
I pray for the intercession of St. John the beloved, St. Mary Magdalene, and my dear Heavenly Mother, who accompanied You during your passion. May they also accompany me in their companionship, their example, and their prayers as I unite my suffering with yours.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those who are without hope.
Pray The Seven Sorrows Rosary
Day 4, Sept. 10th, 9:00 am – Jesus carries His Cross
My dear Jesus, what heaviness you carried on your way to your crucifixion. You were weighed down not only by the cross you carried but also the weight of my sins. How far that walk must have felt to you, even as you fell multiple times feeling your strength waning. Oh my Jesus, how I feel my weakness in my walk each day in the darkness of depression, sadness, and pain. You know that I have fallen multiple times and have been bloodied, and broken, and bruised. Will you please send me my own “Simons” in my life to help me carry this? Can you help me accept help even when I feel like a burden? Will you walk with me and lend me your strength?
I love you and I desire to do your will, but I just feel so exhausted and worn out. So I turn to you in your abundant mercy and compassion and I offer you my depression, sadness, and grief in union with your suffering, your passion, and your death. I offer you, too, my dear brothers and sisters who this day also experience despair.
I pray for the intercession of St. John the beloved, St. Mary Magdalene, and my dear Heavenly Mother, who accompanied You during your passion. May they also accompany me in their companionship, their example, and their prayers as I unite my suffering with yours.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those who experience mourning, sadness, and depression.
Pray The Seven Sorrows Rosary
Day 5, Sept. 11th, 9:00 am – Jesus is Crucified
There are no words O Lord to express the pain I feel with you. How long, O Lord? With you, I say “Why have you forsaken me?” My dear Jesus, in your moment of great pain as You hung on the cross, humanity moved closer towards restoration and reconciliation with God. You did the unthinkable for me as the angels watched and trembled. Even now, O Lord, I need saving. The pain that I am in brings me to my knees and all I want is to die. Oh my Jesus, please let me unite my moment of great darkness to your moment on the cross. Please embrace me with all You have won for me in your passion and death.
I love you and I desire to do your will, but sometimes I just feel that I no longer want to live. So I turn to you in your abundant mercy and compassion and I offer you my pain in union with your suffering, your passion, and your death. I offer you, too, my dear brothers and sisters who this day also experience emotional pain and suffering.
I pray for the intercession of St. John the beloved, St. Mary Magdalene, and my dear Heavenly Mother, who accompanied You during your passion. May they also accompany me in their companionship, their example, and their prayers as I unite my suffering with yours.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those who experience suicidal thoughts.
Pray The Seven Sorrows Rosary
Day 6, Sept. 12th, 9:00 am – Jesus Dies on the Cross
My Jesus, I cannot imagine that moment when the world is covered in darkness, when the light, the Son of God was sent into the world, but the world put Him to death. What sorrow and emptiness Your followers must’ve felt in that moment. What confusion and darkness to see their savior without life. How could this be? What good can come from this now? Oh my Jesus, there are moments of deep darkness and emptiness in my life where it does not seem possible for there to be any redemption, any purpose, any dawn to the dark night. My dear Jesus, please help me to unite this darkness with Your moment of death on the Cross, the world’s darkest moment, yet the source of the most triumphant victory.
I love you and I desire to do your will. In my darkness and emptiness please help me to see Your light with eyes of faith. It is in You alone that I find comfort and consolation. Oh source of my salvation, lover of my soul, let me unite this day to you and offer to you my dear brothers and sisters who this day also experience darkness.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those who are in darkness this day.
Pray The Seven Sorrows Rosary
Day 7, Sept. 13th, 9:00 am – Jesus is buried in the tomb
There is a period of waiting and silence as the world held its breath when You entered the tomb. How different the weight of that silence experienced with faith which makes possible the birth of hope in the waiting. How much I need this hope, my dear Jesus, in the space of silences in my life, in the places that feel dead and buried. I surrender them to You in this moment, my Jesus, even when I feel no hope. I stand in the conviction of Your victory over death and I surrender to You the dead-like places in my life. May I be buried with You, that I may rise with You.
I love you and I desire to do your will. In my own tomb of broken promises and hurts, please help me to see Your life with eyes of faith. It is in You alone that I find comfort and consolation. Oh source of my salvation, lover of my soul, let me unite this day to you and offer to you my dear brothers and sisters who this day also experience darkness.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those who are wounded and hurting this day.
Pray The Seven Sorrows Rosary
Day 8, Sept. 14th, 9:00 am – Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
Dear Jesus, in the face of brokenness and sin, I sometimes feel the futility of my own efforts and my powerlessness. I can’t make it better, Jesus. I can’t fix this. I don’t know if this is how your apostles felt as they faced the reality of your passion and death. In the aftermath, maybe they wondered, where do I go from here? One apostle sensed the need to draw close to you even though she could do nothing to change the situation. Maybe she learned to surrender and to just stay in your presence despite it all. And what joy she must’ve felt to see you resurrected, victorious. Jesus, I can’t fix my brokenness, my pain, my weakness. So I draw close to you with all of it, and I wait for you. I hope to experience the effects of your resurrection in this life and the next.
Jesus, I love you and I desire to do your will. In my helplessness and defeat I draw near to you. It is in You alone that I find comfort and consolation. Oh source of my salvation, lover of my soul, let me unite this day to you and offer to you my dear brothers and sisters who this day also experience helplessness and defeat.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those who feel defeated this day.
Pray The Seven Sorrows Rosary
Day 9, Sept. 15th, 4:00 pm – Jesus Appears to the Apostles on Divine Mercy Sunday
How consoling it is, Jesus, to know the doubt of Thomas even as You were victorious. How much I need to know that victory in my own life. It is not enough to hear that You have risen. I need to be able to touch and experience with my own senses the transformation just as Thomas touched the wounds that You retained. My dear victorious King, I invite You to touch my own wounds that they too maybe transformed. How merciful You were to Thomas who doubted allowing Him to experience with his hands and heart His Lord resurrected. Be merciful now to me Lord, and allow me to encounter You, my savior, that I may know that in the end all will be well even as I doubt, even as I struggle to surrender.
Jesus, I love you and I desire to do your will. In my poverty and aching need for your mercy I draw near to you. It is in You alone that I find comfort and consolation. Oh source of my salvation, lover of my soul, let me unite this day to you and offer to you my dear brothers and sisters who this day most need Your mercy.
Abba Father, for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on me and on the whole world, especially for those who long for your mercy and love.
Pray The Seven Sorrows Rosary