Through Mary’s eyes: The Agony in the Garden

As a Protestant I remember very few times the Blessed Virgin was ever spoken of outside Christmas. It was as if Mary gets a nod of the head and a tip of the hat for giving birth to Jesus but that was about the extent of her acknowledgement. When I look at the events of the Passion of Jesus Christ through his mother’s eyes, on the other hand, my heart is open to an entirely different view of what it took to obtain forgiveness for my sins. Jesus was not the only one to suffer for the sake of our sins. A mother’s heart was broken.

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.’ He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.’ When he returned to his disciples, he found them asleep. He said to Peter, ‘So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?” (Matthew 26:36-40)

We can surmise that it is highly unlikely the Blessed Mother would have been with Jesus and his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. They were likely out ministering to others and had been to Gethsemane several times previously, perhaps for prayer. Jesus tells them to wait on him and he brings three of his closest disciples with him. Before he reaches the place where he would sweat drops of blood in prayer, he tells even those three to wait on him and to pray. Jesus had requested that his three closest friends pray with him and for him while he went to pray alone. When he returns, however, he finds them asleep rather than praying.

 Although Mary was likely not with them during this moment physically, she was certainly with Jesus in spirit and through prayer. Mary, a woman of unconditional surrender to the Lord and to prayer, lived a life of prayer and had continuously prayed for her son during his life. I often wonder, sometimes, if Mary saw the agony in Jesus’ eyes before the garden. Maybe her thoughts wondered to “my Son, I see you are troubled and there is a distress in your eyes. I can only pray God gives you the strength to do what you are here to do and to fulfill that which you have been sent to complete. My Son, it seems at times as if you are far away. You seem….different. You seem as if you have such intense internal struggles and suffering. My Son, I will always love you and I will always hold fast in prayer for you.”

Did the Blessed Mother notice agony or concern in the face of Jesus? She is his mother. She knows Him better than anyone else on earth. She must have known something was different. Jesus was fully God and fully human at the same time. His human side suffered, as we know from his life, and it endured horrific emotional pain in the garden. Jesus tells his disciples that “my soul is sorrowful.” How much more would that have shown in his eyes, his actions, his words, and his face to the mother that bore him?

“O Most Gracious Virgin Mary, mother of God, pray for us and all those who are suffering that we love. Pray for us to have the strength to fulfill God’s call for our life despite what pain and suffering it may bring. Pray for us, O Sweet Virgin Mary, that we may also be people of constant and fervent prayer. Pray for us that our faith may be wide awake and not sleeping. Blessed Virgin, pray that we become people of prayer.”