Day 142: Truly the Son of God

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)

Episode: Day 142: Truly the Son of God
Date: May 22, 2026
Host: Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Ascension)
Theme: The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery – Carrying of the Cross, reflection with Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Procession to Calvary" and meditation on seeing the Passion anew through the eyes of a Roman guard

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames guides listeners through a meditation on the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary: Jesus Carrying the Cross. Drawing from Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting, "The Procession to Calvary," the episode encourages listeners to place themselves in the scene of Christ’s Passion—not as a disciple, but as a Roman guard, encountering the mystery of Christ for the first time. Fr. Mark Mary ties this reflection to a modern experience: his community's Good Friday Way of the Cross procession through New York City. Ultimately, the episode challenges listeners to approach the familiar Passion story as if hearing it for the very first time, inviting a fresh, honest encounter with Christ.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction to the Artwork and Its Setting

[00:46-02:56]

• The episode begins with a description of Bruegel’s "The Procession to Calvary" (1564).
  • The painting is filled with bustling activity: soldiers, townspeople, animals, and clusters of figures.
  • At the front, the Blessed Mother mourns, supported by St. John, Mary Magdalene, and other women.
  • The landscape and details—such as windmills and soldiers' clothing—set the scene in the painter’s own time (16th-century Europe), not ancient Jerusalem.
• "The clothing, the windmill, the details, the wagon, they all place Jesus carrying the cross in Bruegel's own time." (Friar Francis, 02:59)

2. Drawing a Parallel: The Modern Way of the Cross in New York

[03:57-07:22]

• Fr. Mark-Mary reflects on his religious community’s annual Good Friday procession:
  • Up to 70 friars, 30 sisters, and over a hundred laypeople process from Harlem to the South Bronx, carrying a large cross and escorted by NYPD officers.
• The diverse public reactions mirror those in Bruegel’s painting:
  • “There's a lot of people with great faith and they come out and they just say that they love Jesus and thank you Jesus and they shout it unabashedly.” (Friar Francis, 05:15)
  • Others are indifferent, just taking videos, some ask questions, and a few shout insults or objections.
• Special attention to the police officers:
  • Some are simply doing their jobs, some remain aloof, others begin to pray or even carry rosaries by the end.
  • “They get drawn in even to the point of, towards the end, you see some of them themselves carrying rosaries that we gave them, praying along with us...” (Friar Francis, 07:20)

3. Reflecting on the Passion “Anew” – Through the Eyes of a Roman Guard

[07:35-09:44]

• The narrative shifts to spiritual imagination:
  • Listeners are invited to place themselves in the role of a Roman soldier during the Passion—unfamiliar with Jesus or Jewish prophecy, encountering the event as outsiders.
  • "Imagine yourself in the place of a Roman guard, someone who's maybe only just heard some stories about Jesus, isn't familiar with prophecies about the Messiah, isn't familiar with Jewish devotion, never met this man or anybody in his group, but grew up with a very radically different worldview." (Friar Francis, 08:13)
  • The challenge: to react as if seeing Christ’s Passion for the first time, with its unique sorrow and devotion.
• Prompted self-examination:
  • “Are you sort of hardening your heart in shame? Are you disinterested? Or would you, like the Centurion in Matthew 27:54, be a witness of all that unfolds and be brought to faith, saying, truly, this was the Son of God?” (Friar Francis & Friar Mark Mary, 09:23–09:44)

4. Praying the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross

[09:52-13:05]

• Guided prayer of the Rosary’s Fourth Sorrowful Mystery with multiple Hail Marys, led verse by verse by the friars and participants.
• Tone: Gentle, prayerful, and meditative; inviting both communal and personal engagement with the Passion.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Seeing the Passion in Your Own Time:
  “A key characteristic... is the time period it's set in... all place Jesus carrying the cross in Bruegel’s own time. And I think a second detail... is the sheer quantity of soldiers... the artist’s own time.”
  — Friar Francis, [02:59]

• On Modern Public Devotion:
  “It's always interesting to note the wide variety of responses... people with great faith... shout it unabashedly... Others simply document it... Some ask questions, some offer challenges, and some just shout insults... frustrated because we're holding up traffic.” — Friar Francis, [05:11–05:28]

• On the Unexpected Impact on Outsiders:
  “They get drawn in even to the point of, towards the end, you see some of them themselves carrying rosaries that we gave them, praying along with us.”
  — Friar Francis, [07:20]

• On Spiritual Imagination:
  “Imagine yourself in the place of a Roman guard... If you didn't already know the end of the story, if you'd never heard Jesus preached... What do you experience? What do you think?”
  — Friar Francis, [08:13–09:01]

• The Centurion’s Confession:
  “Would you, like the Centurion in Matthew 27:54, be a witness of all that unfolds and be brought to faith, saying, truly, this was the Son of God?”
  — Friar Francis, [09:32–09:44]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Artwork Introduction and Description — [00:46–02:56]
• Modern-Day Good Friday Procession Reflection — [03:57–07:22]
• Imaginative Prayer: Becoming the Roman Guard — [07:35–09:44]
• Invitation to Reflect: Centurion’s Confession — [09:23–09:44]
• Guided Fourth Sorrowful Mystery Prayer — [09:52–13:05]

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Final Thoughts

This episode masterfully weaves sacred art, communal experience, and prayer to create a powerful meditation on the Passion. By placing listeners not with those closest to Jesus, but among the outsiders—Roman guards and modern-day police—Fr. Mark-Mary invites a fresh encounter with Christ’s suffering and love. The challenge is clear: move beyond familiarity, see the Passion anew, and echo the Centurion’s faith, “Truly, this was the Son of God.”

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Transcript

[Friar Mark Mary]

Foreign.

[Podcast Host]

Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars with Renewal and this is the Rosary in Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source

[Lay Participant]

of grace for the whole world.

[Friar Francis]

The Rosary in a Year is brought

[Podcast Host]

to you by Ascension.

[Friar Francis]

This is day 142. To download the prayer plan for Rosary

[Podcast Host]

in a year, visit ascensionpress.com rosary in a year or text R I Y to 33777.

[Friar Francis]

You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month, and it's

[Podcast Host]

a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast in the Ascension app. There's 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.

[Friar Francis]

Today we will be meditating upon and praying with the fourth sorrowful Mystery, the Carrying of the Cross, with help from a painting by Pieter Bruehl entitled the Procession to Calvary. Now, brief introduction into our artist and our artwork. His name is Peter Bruehl the Elder, born around the year 1525 to 1530. He died in the year 1569 and he lived in Antwerp and Brussels. This painting was done in the year 1564 and its style is the style of the Northern Renaissance, which was a period of cultural and artistic flourishing in Europe from the mid 15th century to the 16th century, and it was a time of renewed interest in classical learning, humanism and individualism. Now a description of our painting, a vista of rocky hills, is densely populated with clusters of people who are all busy. There are groups walking and fighting, and in rap discussion. The scene is filled with soldiers on horseback, children, animals, wagons, thieves, and people waving flags. A group highlighted at the front gathers

[Prayer Leader]

around a mourning woman, the Blessed Mother,

[Friar Francis]

who is leaning over in sorrow as she clasps her hands, wearing what appears

[Friar Mark Mary]

to be a habit and a veil.

[Prayer Leader]

Around her A young man, St. John, reaches out to comfort her, and A

[Friar Francis]

young woman, St. Mary Magdalene, kneels, concerned at her side, and another buries her head in weeping. Black birds dot the sky and an animal skull is perched on the hillside.

[Prayer Leader]

And now onto our reflection, I think

[Friar Francis]

certainly a clear characteristic of Brahl's painting. Bruehl, I believe, is the correct pronunciation. I'm asking YouTube for help with some of these names, trying not to embarrass myself and frustrate art historians out there. So a key characteristic of Brul's painting here that we have the procession to Calvary is the time period it's set in, right? The clothing, the windmill, the details, the wagon, they all place Jesus carrying the cross in BR's own time. And I think a second detail of note to me as I look at this is the sheer quantity of soldiers, right? In reality these are Roman soldiers, but in the painting these are soldiers who are wearing hats and red jackets proper to soldiers of the artist's own time. And what these two details make me think of, like immediately is the way of the cross that my own community does every Good Friday. My own community referring to my religious

[Friar Mark Mary]

order, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.

[Friar Francis]

And every Good Friday. So a large number of friars, there might be 50, 60, 70 friars and a large number of religious sisters, maybe

[Rosary Reader]

20 or 30 of them, and another

[Friar Francis]

hundred or so lay people. We all join together at a friary in Harlem and then we process, led by a large cross, which the friars take turns carrying through the streets of Harlem into the South Bronx to our friary in the South Bronx with the help of a large contingent of NYPD officers. And the officers, they escort us and they guide traffic as we make our about 2 mile sort of modern day way of the cross to commemorate and to pray on Good Friday. And as we process, our group prays the Stations of the Cross and we pray the Rosary and we pray the Divine Mercy chaplet. And as we're going and as we're praying, some members of our group talk to people along the way and they pray with and they hand out religious cards or rosaries to, you know, it really is like the hundreds, maybe even more than that, people that we encounter as we make our way through these busy New York streets. And it is, it's always interesting to

[Prayer Leader]

note the wide variety of responses.

[Friar Francis]

There's a lot of people with great faith and they come out and they just say that they love Jesus and thank you Jesus and they shout it unabashedly. Some of them, like this year, even like coming to tears as this just

[Friar Mark Mary]

evokes their love of Jesus and what

[Friar Francis]

he did for them. Many folks these days, like don't really engage the meaning of what we're doing. They don't really ask any questions of it. They simply document it right as they pull out their phones and take a video. Some do ask questions, some offer challenges, particularly those who are not Catholic. And then some just kind of shout insults for a variety of reasons. Some just frustrated because we're holding up traffic. But the people who we pass, they typically, you know, as they're on the Sidewalk or on the corner, seeing us go, they only encounter our public devotion for maybe a minute or two at the most. But the outsiders who will, those who aren't part of, you know, the friars

[Lay Participant]

and sisters, the lay people here of

[Friar Francis]

devotion who are with us for the entirety of the walk, however, are our police escorts. And we've been doing this for, like, I don't know, 20 years now. And the NYPD officers who are with us, they always have a very wide variety of responses from, you know, like, professionally just doing their jobs to actually

[Friar Mark Mary]

praying with us, right?

[Friar Francis]

Some get it. Some receive the gift being offered, some don't. Some remain distant and aloof, kind of making small talk with one another, sort of pretending like what's happening next to them isn't happening at all, distancing themselves from it. Some don't really show any signs of how it's impacting them, but you can tell, like, they're taking it in, thinking

[Friar Mark Mary]

about what it means, wrestling with the questions it asks.

[Friar Francis]

Again, some particularly hopefully moved by our own kindness towards them and gratitude towards

[Friar Mark Mary]

them and the sincerity of our devotion

[Friar Francis]

and even our obedience to them as need be. They get drawn in even to the

[Friar Mark Mary]

point of, towards the end, you see

[Rosary Reader]

some of them themselves carrying rosaries that

[Friar Francis]

we gave them, like, praying along with us, like some of them do, in fact, like, receive the gift being offered. And this all now brings me back to our painting and what it reminds us about.

[Friar Mark Mary]

The Passion of our Lord.

[Friar Francis]

Throughout his passion, right from his arrest to his trial to his scourging, to

[Lay Participant]

his crowning of thorns, to hear the

[Friar Francis]

carrying of the cross to Calvary and finally his crucifixion. There were Roman guards. There were the Roman guard witnesses. And what I'm going to ask you to do is to imagine yourself in the place of a Roman guard, someone who's maybe only just heard some stories about Jesus, isn't familiar with prophecies about the Messiah, isn't familiar with Jewish devotion,

[Prayer Leader]

never met this man or anybody in

[Friar Francis]

his group, but grew up with a very radically different worldview. We've heard the story of the Passion of Jesus, the crucifixion of Jesus, so many times perhaps we've prayed the stations of the Cross or the fourth Sorrowful Mystery so many times that we just get used to it. And my hope today, like my invitation

[Friar Mark Mary]

today, is that by putting yourself in

[Friar Francis]

the place of the Roman soldiers who journey with Jesus in his passion, like, you can try, with Mary's help, to reflect upon it all and to see

[Friar Mark Mary]

it all as if it's the very first time.

[Friar Francis]

Again, if you didn't already know the end of the story, if you didn't

[Friar Mark Mary]

already know who Jesus was, if you'd never heard Jesus preached.

[Friar Francis]

As you're taking this all in, in some ways a scene that you've seen many times unfold with different people, but here happening in a unique way, in a different way, particularly the response of the condemned man, the devotion of his mother. Like, what do you experience? What do you think?

[Prayer Leader]

Are you sort of hardening your heart in shame?

[Friar Mark Mary]

Are you disinterested?

[Friar Francis]

Or would you like the Centurion in Matthew 27:54, Be a witness of all

[Friar Mark Mary]

that unfolds and be brought to faith,

[Friar Francis]

saying, truly, this was the Son of God. And now with Mary.

[Prayer Leader]

Let us pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and

[Lay Participant]

of the Holy Spirit.

[Friar Francis]

Amen.

[Prayer Leader]

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

[Rosary Reader]

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

[Friar Mark Mary]

on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

[Friar Francis]

And lead us not into temptation, but

[Friar Mark Mary]

deliver us from evil.

[Prayer Leader]

Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

[Friar Mark Mary]

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord

[Friar Mark Mary]

is with the blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

[Rosary Reader]

Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord

[Friar Mark Mary]

is with the Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

[Friar Francis]

Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Friar Mark Mary]

The Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Friar Mark Mary]

The Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

[Rosary Reader]

Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord

[Friar Mark Mary]

is with the Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Friar Francis]

Holy.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord

[Friar Mark Mary]

is with the blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

[Friar Mark Mary]

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the.

[Friar Mark Mary]

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

[Friar Mark Mary]

Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Hail Mary, full of grace.

[Friar Mark Mary]

The Lord is with the. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[Rosary Reader]

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

[Prayer Leader]

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Rosary Reader]

Glory be to the Father and to

[Friar Mark Mary]

the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is

[Rosary Reader]

now and ever shall be, world without end.

[Prayer Leader]

Amen.

[Rosary Reader]

In the name of the Father and

[Friar Mark Mary]

of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[Rosary Reader]

Amen.

[Lay Participant]

Amen.

[Friar Francis]

All right. Thanks so much for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. All right. Poco Poco. Friends, God bless you.