Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Rosary Mysteries for Lent: The Carrying of the Cross

This entry will be rather brief as I am not feeling so well (allergies maybe?).  I'm going to drink some homemade Nyquil (warm red wine with honey and lemon juice) and crawl into bed with my Magnificat magazine and my favorite guilty pleasure, In Style

When I mediate on the fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary, I usually find myself thinking of the Stations of the Cross.  The first ten stations describe the Via Dolorosa ("Way of Sorrows") as Jesus carries His cross to Calvary.  (BTW, in case you didn't know Golgotha and Calvary are words to describe the same place-- the hill where Jesus was crucified.  Golgotha is a Greek translation of the Aramaic term for "place of the skull," while Calvary is an Anglicized Latin translation of the same phrase.)

During Lent, most parishes pray the Stations of the Cross on Fridays and often conclude with a meatless soup and bread dinner.  This year, make an effort to participate at least once.  Take your children too!  (You can find simple prayers and meditations for Stations of the Cross for children online to print out beforehand.)  Bring a crockpot of soup or a good loaf of bread from the bakery and meet some of your fellow parishioners.

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