Detail: Caravaggio, The Crowning with Thorns (c. 1602–04)
Sorrowful Mystery 3 of 5.
Scripture
And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’
Matthew 27:27–31
Meditation
The soldiers strip Jesus, put a scarlet cloak on him, press a crown of thorns onto his head, and kneel before him in mockery: ‘Hail, King of the Jews.’ He is, in fact, a king — just not the kind they thought to mock. Every time we choose what is true over what flatters us, this mystery is at work.
Fruit of the mystery
Moral courage