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TheAgony in the Garden of Gethsemane is an episode in the life ofJesus, which occurred after theLast Supper and before hisbetrayal andarrest, all part of thePassion of Jesus leading to hiscrucifixion and death. This episode is described in the threeSynoptic Gospels in theNew Testament.[1][2][3] According to these accounts, Jesus, accompanied byPeter,John andJames, enters the garden ofGethsemane on theMount of Olives where he experiences great anguish and prays to be delivered from his impending suffering, while also accepting God's will.
This episode is a significant event in Christian tradition, especially in Catholic devotional practices. The agony of Jesus in the Garden is the first (or second) station of theScriptural Way of the Cross (modern version of theVia Crucis) and the first "sorrowful mystery" of theDominican Rosary, and it is the inspiration for theHoly Hour devotion in theEucharistic adoration. It has been a frequent theme inChristian artdepicting the life of Jesus.
According to theSynoptic Gospels, immediately after theLast Supper, Jesus retreated to a garden to pray. Each gospel offers a slightly different account regarding narrative details. The gospels ofMatthew andMark identify this place of prayer asGethsemane. Jesus was accompanied by three Apostles:Peter,John andJames, whom he asked to stay awake and pray. He moved "a stone's throw away" from them, where he felt overwhelming sadness and anguish, and said "MyFather, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as You, not I, would have it." Then, a little while later, he said, "If this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, Your will be done!" (Matthew 26:42;[4] inLatinVulgate:fiat voluntas tua)[5] He said this prayer thrice, checking on the three apostles after each prayer and finding them asleep. He commented: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak". An angel came from heaven to strengthen him. During his agony as he prayed, "His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down upon the ground" (Luke 22:44).[6]
At the conclusion of the narrative, Jesus accepts that the hour has come for him to bebetrayed.[7]
InRoman Catholic tradition, the Agony in the Garden is the firstSorrowful Mystery of theRosary[8] and theFirst Station of the ScripturalWay of the Cross (second station in the Philippine version).Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions. TheseActs of Reparation to Jesus Christ do not involve a petition for a living or dead beneficiary, but aim to "repair the sins" against Jesus. Traditionally, prayers honoring the Agony in the Garden are most influential during the Holy Hour. Some such prayers are provided in theRaccolta Catholic prayer book (approved by a Decree of 1854, and published by theHoly See in 1898) which also includes prayers asActs of Reparation to the Virgin Mary.[9][10][11]
In his encyclicalMiserentissimus Redemptor on reparations,Pope Pius XI called Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ a duty for Catholics and referred to them as "some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury" with respect to the sufferings of Jesus.[12]
Catholic tradition holds that Jesus's sweating of blood was literal and not figurative.[13]
In the Catholic tradition, Matthew 26:40[14] is the basis of theHoly Hour devotion forEucharistic adoration.[15] In theGospel of Matthew:
Then He said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful even to death; remain here, and watch with Me.'
— Matthew 26:38[16]
Coming to the disciples, Jesus found them sleeping and, in Matthew 26:40, asked Peter: "So, could you not watch with Me one hour?"[15]
The tradition of the Holy Hour devotion dates back to 1673 when SaintMargaret Mary Alacoque stated that she had avision of Jesus in which she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night to meditate on the suffering of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.[17][18][19]
Martin Pable,OFM Cap suggests that Jesus experienced fear, loneliness, and perhaps a sense of failure.[20]
Justus Knecht gives three possible causes for Christ's sadness and agony:
Roger Baxter in hisMeditations reflects on the angel comforting Christ, writing, "Good God! is it possible that the eternal Son of God should borrow comfort from His creatures? Observe how the Father of lights at last sends comfort to those who persevere in prayer. Imagine what reasons the angel might use in comforting your agonizing Saviour. He probably represented to Him the necessity of His passion for the redemption of mankind, and the glory that would redound to His Father and Himself. All this Christ understood infinitely better than the angel, yet He did not refuse the proffer of consolation, in order to teach you to respect the advice and consolation of your inferiors."[22]
There are a number of different depictions in art of the Agony in the Garden, including:
Some in the medical field have hypothesized that Jesus's great anguish caused him to experiencehematidrosis (a medical term for sweating blood).
In the traditional viewpoint (thatLuke wrote theGospel of Luke), it is believed that only Luke described Jesus as sweating blood because Luke was a physician.[25]
Christ in the Garden., a poem byFelicia Hemans published in The Amulet annual for 1826.
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