Meditation for March 4, The Agony of Our Savior

Let us reverently visit the garden where Our Savior suffered His agony. Probably there are still growing in Gethsemane some olive trees which were witnesses of the sufferings of Christ.

About a hundred feet from the Church of the Assumption there is a grotto which, from the first centuries, Christians have ven­erated as the scene of the bloody sweat and the apparition of the angel. It is possible, of course, that Jesus came there after wan­dering for some time in the garden. On that sacred spot they erected a church which was eventually destroyed by the Saracens. The grotto was later transformed into a chapel by the crusaders.

It is a natural rock cave circular in shape, about twelve yards long and eight yards wide; a stone pillar supports the arch. When the grotto served as a press, the olives were thrown into the open­ing at the top.

Since 1802 three altars have been installed. A painting repre­senting the Agony of Christ bears the inscription: "Here, a bloody sweat came upon Him."

What a frightful scene these walls have witnessed: Jesus the Universal Victim is crushed and annihilated under the weight of my sins. An olive press! The press under which the Savior of the world agonized and writhed! Yes, assuredly He could say, "Father, I cannot, this is indeed too much!" Alas, He must drink this bitter cup to the very dregs.

"O Jesus, You said to Your confidant, Margaret Mary: 'I wish that your heart may be My resting place, where I can retire when others persecute Me and reject Me.'

"Let me offer You my poor heart as a garden of retreat. I will hide You there; I will console You there; I will love You there."

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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)