Devotions for the loneliness of Christ

[Lucy_1]

Is there a specific chaplet or some devotion which focuses on the loneliness of Christ? I think the stations and the sorrowful mysteries allude to it, but I was wondering if there were any specific devotions. It seems like there are a lot of lonely people like me who could keep Jesus company in his loneliness

 

[Limoncello4021]

I’m sorry that no one had chimed in yet, as I was hoping to see others’ answers. Loneliness is a real suffering for many, as Mother Teresa pointed out. Certainly Jesus and Mary experienced it. Meditating on Jesus’ Agony in the Garden, when He repeatedly had to ask His disciples to watch even one hour with Him in His sorrow, only to later find they all deserted Him, is helpful when we feel alone. Many of the Psalms express deep loneliness. And the chaplet of Our Lady of Sorrows, said on a special type of Rosary, brings us into Our Lady’s solitude. Offering our loneliness to God in union with His Passion is pleasing to Him and, like any suffering, can help others as well as ourselves.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Many Eucharistic Adoration meditation books focus on the loneliness of Jesus and how much he wants people to come visit him at Adoration and spend time. Usually they draw parallels between Christ’s loneliness in his agony and passion, and him being left alone and ignored in the tabernacle. I would suggest you see if your local Adoration chapel has any such books. There are quite a few.

The Sacred Heart devotion also has a theme of consoling Jesus.

St. Francisco Marto, the young boy who was one of the Fatima children, devoted his prayer and penance mostly to consoling the heart of Jesus.

There is a school of devotional thought that says when we are lonely, that means Jesus needs us to help him with his loneliness and we should join our loneliness to his. There is another school of thought that says when we are lonely, it’s Jesus calling us to be closer to him.

I don’t know if you’re into approved private revelations (which as Catholics we don’t have to believe and some people aren’t comfortable with them), but Jesus comes off as so lonely in some approved private revelations that he’s downright whiny

I am often lonely too. Everybody I really cared about in life has died. If I didn’t have Jesus, Mary and Joseph my life would be quite empty even though I have social friends. Social friends are not the same as the people who were very important in my life. They don’t know me very well or understand me and they likely never will. Jesus has been a big help.

 

[Lucy_1]

Thank you. I will look into your suggestions. God bless

 

[KBS]

My first thought was the Agony in the Garden in the Rosary too, but what about the Stations of the Cross?

Admittedly, it has been a very long time since I have experienced that meditation, because it places us in His steps - I can’t imagine a more lonely place than the experience behind those stations, (despite being surrounded by so many people); to me it feels so painful and isolated.

Loneliness is, I think one of the most painful of human conditions - and one that we all must experience in order to have compassion for those who are also lonely.

And then I think about Mary during those terrible moments - the heartbreak and helplessness - she must have felt painfully lonely too - but then gratitude towards those who could (and then did) provide some relief in helping her beloved son along that lonely path.

I think a big part of loneliness is feeling helpless - so then finding a way out of that helplessness, sometimes through an act that we are able to perform … Mary couldn’t help Jesus with the cross, but Simon was able to … so he did … that act must have helped Mary as well as Jesus.

The culmination of that meditation, with Jesus in the tomb, (knowing what we know), that His glorious journey is now beginning, is a faithful path out of that loneliness. (I don’t think the phrase, “misery loves company” is accurate - I think misery needs company.)

(I’m sorry if this is so far off base of what you were looking for. Sometimes I get too immersed in the way things feel and lose perspective. I never stopped to think about this, but I wonder if this is one of the reasons that our churches have the Stations on their walls. I have never done them in the company of others, but I wonder if sharing the experience might make them easier to meditate upon.)

 

[Lucy_1]

I appreciate your thoughts and taking the time to reflect. Thanks