I know we are in the season of the Resurrection, but we should never tire of meditating on Christ’s most precious Wounds which were glorified the day He rose. Without them, we would never see a Resurrection! We Catholics never cease adoring His Wounds. One Novitiate recreation in Carmel, we went around the room and said what our top two favorite mysteries of the Rosary were. It was hard to think about it on the spot, I had some time to think it over before it was my turn. I think Our Lady helped me decide, because the answers just popped up in my mind, spur of the moment.

I chose the Coronation of Mary, because more than anything I love the thought of Mary being crowned Queen and would give anything to see it! The other one that popped in my head was sort of surprising, but when I said it allowed I knew why it was my favorite, The Scourging of Our Lord at the Pillar. Whenever I meditate on that mystery or when I first saw that scene in Mel Gibson’s- The Passion of the Christ, it’s hard NOT to believe God loves the human race. I have seen the most manly of men say “I cannot watch that scene”, so they leave the room. It is indeed a hard mystery to fathom. I chose that mystery because He shed so much Blood, and it is hard not to love Him after knowing that fact.

The part that always gives me profound compassion toward Our Lord from the Scourging scene in the Passion film, is when the camera zooms in on His Hands, and He clenches them in a fist because He is in so much pain. In fact His Hands are shaking almost uncontrollably, because no doubt His Sacred Body is going into shock from the trauma. Sister Maria Carmen of Christ (one of the novices) said she has a strong devotion to the most Precious Blood, because just a drop of His Blood would have been enough to save mankind, but He chose to shed every last drop of Blood to prove His love. I never forgot those words.

I titled one of my posts “If you don’t believe My words, believe My Wounds”, and I realized words of love were never really enough for me, but actions. Our Lord never says “I love you” once in scripture, but we do not need to hear it to know He does. The Blood and Water flowing from His Sacred pierced Heart is more than enough for me. One of the meditations attached to the Scourging, is purity. Our Lord said in an apparition that He allowed Himself to shed so much of His Blood, particularly for the sins against purity. Sins of the flesh, which Our Lady of Fatima said,

Many souls go to hell for sins of the flesh than for any other reason. AND New fashions will be introduced that will be very displeasing to Our Lord and will offend Him very much.

Think about the immodest clothes worn today, pornography and all the sexual sins committed, everyday; at almost every hour. A friend just pointed out that the pornography industry is sky rocketing during this pandemic, because everyone is staying at home and using the internet. Our Lord knew this was going to happen, and that’s why He allowed Himself to be scourged, stripped of His garments and made to look like a leper (worse than a leper). He was unrecognizable. Christ-we can be assured- was the most amiable and beautiful Man to ever walk this earth, and He allowed Himself to literally take on sin:

He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. (Isaiah 53:2)

Sin is not pretty.  I think sins of the flesh have never been more horrific than the world we see, today.

Let us take refuge in Christ’s most Precious Blood, which makes us and keeps us pure in our bodies and to always remember devotion to Mary’s most Pure Heart, which keeps our hearts and minds pure…for it is written,

A holy thought will preserve you. (Rule of Saint Albert)

I have a feeling Our Lady’s favorite mystery is the Scourging at the Pillar and Our Lord’s is Mary’s Crowning. They always humbly point to each other, do they not?