Day 181: Grace Amid Thorns
6/30/202614 min
Witnessing Christ crowned with thorns reveals a striking contrast between worldly might and divine strength and humility. Through the lens of Anthony van Dyck’s dramatic painting and the words of scripture and Pope John Paul II, Fr. Mark-Mary’s meditation unveils the redemptive power found in suffering. We are invited to see our own suffering as a means to draw nearer to Christ and receive His transforming grace. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Crowning with Thorns and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary.
All of the Sacred Art we’ll be meditating with can be found in the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, for free linked in the complete prayer plan, or in the Ascension App. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMark-Mary Ames· Host0:00
[gentle music] Hi, I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into a relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day one eighty-one. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit ascensionpress.com/rosaryinayear or text R-I-Y to three three seven seven seven. You'll get an outline of how we're gonna pray each month, and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to this podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast, and also recordings of the full Rosary with myself and other friars. No matter what app you're listening in, remember to tap follow or subscribe for your daily notifications. Today, we will be meditating upon and praying with the third sorrowful mystery, the crowning of thorns, with help from a painting entitled The Crowning with Thorns by the artist Anthony van Dyck. Now, a brief introduction to our artist and artwork. Our artist, Sir Anthony van Dyck, was born in the year fifteen ninety-nine, and he died in the year sixteen forty-one. He was a Flemish Baroque master and the foremost portraitist of the seventeenth century. He was an art prodigy who eventually became a protege of Peter