Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”” Matthew 26:41-42
Focusing on the Passion of Our Lord draws you into Divine Mercy. This meditation is something the Lord desires each of us to do. Jesus told St. Faustina several times to meditate upon His Sorrowful Passion. The Divine Mercy image is about the culmination of this Passion depicting the rays of blood and water that flowed as the lance pierces the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Lent is a great time to begin this practice or start it anew.
“You please Me most when you meditate on My Sorrowful Passion.” Divine Mercy in My Soul # 1512
One of my dearest friends gave me the writings of Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta called “The Twenty-four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” I’ve made this booklet a Lenten journey over the past several years.
The writings focus on the events of Jesus’ Passion including His thoughts and her prayers. She shows us the Passion in a deeply spiritual manner that will break your heart, bring tears to your eyes and lift you up to a deeper love of Jesus and what He did for you. We walk through the Pssion with Mary, our ‘Celestial Mama, seeing the events through Luisa’s deep spiritual eyes and heart. We are led to suffer the pains and sorrows of Jesus in a new way.
The ‘First Hour’ starts with Jesus leaving His Mother to begin His Sorrowful Passion. Each hour takes you deeper into what was occurring.
If you can get a copy of this, I’d highly recommend making it your practice. I do an hour per day.
When the soul meditates on what Jesus did for it, and what the Father sacrificed for love of it, the soul becomes immersed in Divine Mercy.
Another way to bring Lent to a start is by watching ‘The Passion.” This movie changed my life when I first saw it and every time since. Mel Gibson holds nothing back in the depiction of the Passion of Jesus. I can’t watch this without tears flowing. I was blessed and honored to pray the Sorrowful Mysteries through this movie with some great men of God. We viewed the movie together and as each scene would begin that depicted a mystery, we stopped to pray that decade. Very moving.
“Jesus told me that I please Him best by meditating on His sorrowful Passion, and by such meditation much light falls upon my soul.” Divine Mercy in My Soul # 267
“The contemplation of My painful wounds is of great profit to you, and it brings Me great joy.” Divine Mercy in My Soul # 369