Dr. Wojciech Kosek
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Meditations led by seven people
A, B, D – women; L, P, W, Z – men.
This translation was published here on 21 Nov 2023.
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(Duration of meditations: about 30 min.)
(Duration with songs and the Rosary: about 60 min.)
The First Mystery.
The Lord Jesus prays in Gethsemane.
(Duration of meditations with songs: about 6 min.)
L Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 1-2 stanza (0:56)
L Beloved Savior! Here is a time of great seriousness… a time of discerning the Father’s Will. Abiding in Eucharistic union with You, we kneel beside You on Palestinian soil by the power of received Holy Communion. This land is a silent witness to Your strained invocation of the Father’s word of love for You, the Father’s word pointing to the meaning of this time of suffering that is now opening before You. We also abide in silence… We desire to hear the Father’s voice in the depths of our hearts; we desire to know how to imitate the Immaculate Mary in order to unite ever more fully with You in Your Sacrifice celebrated in every Holy Mass… (1:09)
D Lord Jesus! We desire to become like Mary in love directed towards You. We desire to love You as She loves You with obedience shown to Your word. Following Mary, who read and meditated on the Holy Scriptures, we now will listen to the word of the Book of Proverbs (Prov 15:1–8, 16–18). You address this word to us so that we have the inner power to imitate Mary in becoming similar to You. You address this word to us so that we do not contribute to magnifying Your suffering by our unlikeness to You… (0:50)
Z Reading from the Book of Proverbs: “A mild answer calms wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise pours out knowledge, but the mouth of fools spurts forth folly. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse one crushes the spirit. The fool spurns his father’s admonition, but prudent is he who heeds reproof. In the house of the just there are ample resources, but the earnings of the wicked are in turmoil. The lips of the wise disseminate knowledge, but the heart of fools is perverted. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. … Better a little with fear of the Lord than a great fortune with anxiety. Better a dish of herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it. An ill-tempered man stirs up strife, but a patient man allays discord.” (Prov 15:1–8, 16–18) (1:24)
B Am I gentle like Mary? Do I have the spiritual power to use all my strength to bring gentleness, kindness, and warmth into family and community relationships? Do I have the spiritual power to give way when someone wants to lead our common path differently than I would like? Am I able to be a gentle person, capable of reconciliation, striving for peace with everyone, as long as their solutions do not violate God’s commandments or the Church’s ordinances? Do I have the spiritual power to engage all my energies so that, in a situation of difference of opinion, I have time to meet to calmly and understandingly consider everyone’s proposals? Am I gentle like Mary? (1:14)
The Second Mystery.
The Lord Jesus experiences the scourging.
(Duration of meditations with songs: about 9 min.)
W Song: Jesus, Veiled in the Sacred Host – 1-2 stanza (1:22)
W “So Pilate said to him, ‘Then you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’ When he had said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them, ‘I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?’ They cried out again, ‘Not this one but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a revolutionary. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.” (John 18:37–19:1) (1:11)
A We are with You, O Beloved Jesus, at Pilate’s court. By the power of the Most Holy Communion, we are with You there, in the praetorium, in Your time of life, when Pilate’s soldiers harm You with elaborate tortures. We stand beside You, sympathizing and trying to console You by being with You and deciding on the conversion of our hearts… Our eyes are gradually opened, and we begin to comprehend the goal for which the Father wished to experience You through the necessity of going through this enormous hardship… We are gradually beginning to comprehend that there are times when one defends the truth with the sacrifice of his own life since the word of admonition has not been accepted. We remember, O Beloved, that You admonished while teaching. Now, however, when the hard human hearts have not accepted Your admonition, You are silent during the scourging… (1:25)
P Behold, You, beloved Son of God, You now teach us by Your attitude what we, as true sons and daughters of God, should do in a situation of harm… in a situation of even such dramatic injustice as Your situation in the praetorium. Behold, You maintain extraordinary gentleness, restraining the flame of Your Divine justice wrath. You persevere thus without saying a word and being sure that it is not Your word now spoken but the power of the Father’s word spoken three days later in Your Resurrection that will enable the brothers who are hurting You now to repent and look at their deeds in truth… (1:00)
D What like is my anger? In a conflict situation, can I engage all my energies to address a word of apology and willingness to reconcile with all persons as soon as possible – preferably on the same day? – According to how St. Paul wrote in his Letter to the Ephesians, “So I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance, because of their hardness of heart … Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger … No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear. … All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.” (Eph 4:17–32) (2:00)
L How do we overcome, O beloved Savior, the anger that sometimes erupts in our hearts? How does one achieve gentleness, which we are all thirsty for from our neighbors and which they are thirsty for from us? Where is the hidden source of power from which one draws to become a good, gentle, kind-hearted person? I know, O Dearest Jesus, that You alone are the Divine source of this longed-for goodness, cordiality, gentleness. You are the source, and You desire that we draw from You the Divine sweetness, gentleness, and balm to soothe the wounds of our sisters and brothers. I know there is an absolutely unique one among all the ways of drawing from You as a source. It is the Eucharistic union with You, a union well lived – in focusing our mind and heart on You, physically present under the species of the Holy Host. This union is the most excellent chance of becoming like You, O Beloved! (1:37)
The Third Mystery.
The Lord Jesus experiences the crowning with thorns.
(Duration of meditations with songs: about 5 min.)
B Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 1-2 stanza (1:40)
B “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head.” (Matt 27:27–30) (0:44)
Z We are with You, O Beloved Jesus, at Pilate’s court. By the power of the Most Holy Communion, we are with You there, in the praetorium, in Your time of life, when Pilate’s soldiers with fanciful tortures harm You. We stand beside you, sympathizing and trying to comfort you with our presence… Our eyes are gradually opened, and we begin to comprehend the goal for which the Father wished to experience You through the necessity of going through this enormous hardship…(0:49)
A You endure in silence a great injustice… How differently we react – and in situations of incomparably lesser humiliation… To believe in You – is to believe also in the Divine effectiveness of restraining anger in a situation of humiliation… It is not easy, Savior! When our feelings demand a retaliatory reaction when we have a tongue capable of hurting scoffers – how do we refrain from it?…. How do we do this to follow You indeed, Your perfection of response to the hard-to-endure mockery of people who do not follow the path of love? How do we move from the level of human nature to the level of Divine nature, Your nature, O Incarnate Only-Begotten Son of God the Father? (1:13)
W To believe in the power of offering up to the Father the resignation of what is insistently demanded by our emotions, what is demanded by our tongue capable of hurting – this is the attitude we desire for ourselves and all people; the attitude and power of the heart that You, O Beloved, desire for us. We believe, O Jesus, that now, in this hour of grace, in the hour of Eucharistic union with You – now, under the protection of the Immaculate Mary, we receive new life from You, a new ability to restrain our feelings and tongue, so that to love with gentleness, capable of bringing new life into the hearts of our sisters and brothers. (1:03)
The fourth Mystery.
The Lord Jesus carries the cross to Calvary.
(Duration of meditations with songs: about 5 min.)
D Song: I Know in Whom I Believe – 1-2 stanza (1:36)
D And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him. They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull). (0:37)
P We are with You, O Beloved Jesus, on the way to the place of the Skull. By the power of the Most Holy Communion, we are with You there, in Your time of life, when Simon of Cyrene takes up the burden of salvation. We come close to You, take up this cross at least for a moment, sympathizing and comforting You with our presence… Our eyes are gradually opened, and we begin to comprehend the goal for which the Father wished to experience You through the necessity of going through this enormous hardship… Our eyes gradually begin to perceive this beam and its weight, which is beyond Your human strength… We gradually begin to believe that salvation is also indeed put in our weak hands – the hands such helpful to You in this work… (1:17)
B You are silent, enduring tremendous injustice… but at the same time, with Your whole self, You utter gratitude for the presence of each of us, who are abiding in prayer after receiving You in Holy Communion of reparation on the first Saturday of March 2015. In our hearts, the question resounds: what should we do, O Beloved, to assist You as You desire? What does the Immaculate Mary point to us? What does the Angel of Peace reveal to us? What does the Church tell us, explaining those Fatima apparitions of almost a century ago? (0:57)
L Dearest Savior! Remembering the apparitions of the Angel in 1916 at Fatima, we are aware that the great pain that crushes not only Your shoulders but Your Divine Heart, above all, is the frigidity of the hearts of believers receiving You in Holy Communion without awareness of how they should behave in moments of sacramental union… Through our present attitude, we desire to change what has unfortunately become the norm over the years: believers do not have time to love You through their presence in prayer after the Eucharist. (1:02)
The Fifth Mystery.
The Lord Jesus dies on the cross at Calvary.
(Duration of meditations with songs: about 6 min.)
A Song: I Greet You – 1-2 stanza (1:12)
A “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I thirst.’ There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.” (John 19:25–30) (1:05)
Z We are with You, O Beloved Jesus, at the place of the Skull. We are there with You, standing with Immaculate Mary – how sorrowful Your Mother… By the power of the Most Holy Communion, we are with You there, in Your time of life, when the work of salvation is near to be completed. We come close to You, kissing Your cross and, above all, Your pierced feet, sympathizing with You and comforting You by our presence… Our eyes are gradually opening, and we begin to comprehend the goal for which the Father wished to experience You through the necessity of going through this enormous hardship… Our eyes gradually begin to see how much we need to be able to offer to others in order to truly love them to the measure of Your example and to the measure of the example You give us in Immaculate Mary… (1:20)
D We believe, Most Beloved Jesus, that the heaviest burden You have brought to the Hill of the Skull is the awareness that many believers to the end of their life will not engage their hearts in understanding the mystery of Your loving presence in the Most Holy Eucharist… that many will, to the end of their life, receive You in Holy Communion as if it were merely an inanimate object… that many, to the end of their life, will focus their attention after the Eucharist on other persons and things but not on You who having come to them and are thirsting for their loving attention. (0:58)
P The frigidity of the heart, which has failed to go beyond what the eyes of man can see, is that significant burden to which the Angel of Peace pointed out to the Fatima shepherds. [1] Therefore, now, in this hour of grace, we beg You, O Christ, by the power of Your Divine Blood, by the power of the sacrifice offered for all of us on Golgotha, to heal from the frigidity of heart those of us, believers, who have not yet managed to penetrate beyond the whiteness of the Host. (0:46)
B O Beloved! Let all of us see behind its veil both You and Your expectation of love in response to Your love… Make us respond with more and more love to this great desire for love that truly burns Your Divine Heart. Let us believe that You desire our presence with You after the Eucharist… that Your Divine Heart burns with longing for our physical presence with You, who are physically coming to us in the realities of human nature in Holy Communion. (0:54)