There is a stark beauty in the sorrowful mysteries that lie just beyond the suffering, beauty that overpowers the scourging and the tortures of the cross. It is a beauty only the uniquely innocent can project in opposition to the ugliness expressed in an embrace of evil. So many of the mysteries of the rosary are built on these contrasts and intersections. They are roads we are asked to walk and often, they are difficult roads. “Pick up your cross and follow me” is an expression that goes to the heart of our humanity asking us to pick up that burden, even to the point of our own suffering, that we might endure hardship for the sake of others, that we might learn forgiveness and charity and mercy.
by his wounds we were healed – Isaiah 53:5
First Sorrowful Mystery:
The agony in the garden
“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go yonder and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will”‘ (Mt 26:36-39).
Our Father, 10 Hail Marys (contemplating the mystery), Glory be to the Father.
Second Sorrowful Mystery:
The scourging at the pillar
“Pilate released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified” (Mt 27,26).
Our Father, 10 Hail Marys (contemplating the mystery), Glory be to the Father.
Third Sorrowful Mystery:
The crowning with thorns
“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!”‘ (Mt 27:27-29).
Our Father, 10 Hail Marys (contemplating the mystery), Glory be to the Father.
Fourth Sorrowful Mystery:
The carrying of the cross
“And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull)” (Mk 15:21-22).
Our Father, 10 Hail Marys (contemplating the mystery), Glory be to the Father.
Fifth Sorrowful Mystery:
The crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ
“And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’ …
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Lk 23:33-46).
Our Father, 10 Hail Marys (contemplating the mystery), Glory be to the Father.
Source – The Holy See
https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html