Rosary Reflections for Pregnant Mothers: Third Sorrowful Mystery

Join us as we pray the Rosary this month for pregnant mothers. Today, Cathi Kennedy ponders the Third Sorrowful Mystery.

The writers of Catholic Mom enthusiastically gathered to share meditations on each Mystery of the Rosary in a special way for pregnant mothers. We invite you to join us throughout the month of May as we pray together each day, and to share these reflections with other moms who will enjoy them.

Today we will pray the Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns.

It was overwhelming when I first held my newborn son in my arms. This human was now wholly dependent for every need. I thanked God for entrusting him to me and promised to love and protect him with every fiber of my being.

And love him, I have. At every moment, through every stage. When they are small, protecting them is easy. We can constrain their environment so they don’t fall down the stairs, touch hot stoves, or fall into the water. We know where they are, who they are with, and what they are doing. We buy them shin guards and helmets, bandage cuts and bruises, and douse them with antibiotic cream so the germs won’t get in. We nurse them through colds and flu. We pray to St. Christopher when they start to drive.

It gets harder to protect our precious children as they grow. They have to fall sometimes and experience pain and loss and the consequences of bad choices while we stand by, arms wide open, loving them through it all. We don’t know what the future holds for our children, but we attempt to “get them ready,” however that looks, to manage the slings and arrows that will come. We point them to God and to prayer and ask for God’s protection over them every day, regardless of their age.

Mary knew what the future held for Jesus. Mary knew that she could not protect Him from the path that was His and only His to walk. She watched Him suffer as the crown of thorns pierced the head she had kissed, held, and loved.

In all the ways I cannot protect my child, for his health and safety, through disappointment and heartache, Jesus comfort him, watch over him, and guard and guide him today and every day. Amen.