The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary are the second of the three traditional sets of events in the life of Christ upon which Catholics meditate while praying the rosary. (The other two are the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary and the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. A fourth set, the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, was introduced by Pope John Paul II in 2002 as an optional devotion.)
The Sorrowful Mysteries cover the events of Holy Thursday, after the Last Supper, through the Crucifixion of Christ on Good Friday. Each mystery is associated with a particular fruit, or virtue, which is illustrated by the actions of Christ and Mary in the event commemorated by that mystery. While meditating on the mysteries, Catholics also pray for those fruits or virtues.
Catholics meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries while praying the rosary on Tuesday and Friday, as well as on the Sundays of Lent.
Each of the following pages features a brief discussion of one of the Sorrowful Mysteries, the fruit or virtue associated with it, and a short meditation on the mystery. The meditations are simply meant as an aid to contemplation; they do not need to be read while praying the rosary. As you pray the rosary more often, you will develop your own meditations on each mystery.
Each page is illustrated with a stained-glass window of that particular Sorrowful Mystery. The windows are found in Saint Mary's Church of Painesville, Ohio, which was built in 1955.
