Alone in the garden leaning upon a rock,
his followers asleep
not understanding what was coming,
the shivering in fear
the sweating of blood caused by the depth of anxiety,
the prayer of surrender
“not my will but yours be done”;
the kiss of betrayal done in mockery,
“hail Rabbi”;
the fleeing of the apostles,
alone to be mocked by his captors,
slapping,
spitting and mocking,
the illegal trial held in the dead of night,
the lies,
then the affirmation
“it is you who say I am”,
the denial of Peter before the cock crowed three times,
then a night in prison,
with only the dankness of the cold cell for comfort,
alone,
alone,
alone,
until the Friday dawns,
all night before his eyes what awaits him in the morning.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
