The agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is an episode in the life of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, which occurred after the Last Supper and before his betrayal and

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

, all part of the Passion of Jesus leading to his crucifixion and death. This episode is described in the three

Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. According to these accounts, Jesus, accompanied by Peter, John and

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, enters the garden of

Gethsemane Gethsemane () is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resona ...

on the Mount 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 station of the

Scriptural Way of the Cross The Scriptural Way of the Cross or Scriptural Stations of the Cross is a modern version of the ancient Christian, especially Catholic, devotion called the Stations of the Cross. This version was inaugurated on Good Friday 1991 by Pope John Paul ...

(modern version of the Via Crucis) and the first "sorrowful mystery" of the

Dominican Rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

, and it is the inspiration for the

Holy Hour Holy Hour () is the Roman Catholic devotional tradition of spending an hour in Eucharistic adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. A plenary indulgence is granted for this practice. The practice is also observed in some Lutheran churc ...

devotion in the Eucharistic adoration. It has been a frequent theme in Christian art depicting the life of Jesus.

Gospel narratives

According to the

, immediately after the Last Supper, Jesus retreated to a garden to pray. Each gospel offers a slightly different account regarding narrative details. The gospels of

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

identify this place of prayer as

. Jesus was accompanied by three Apostles: Peter, John and

, 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 "My Father, 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!" (; in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

: ). 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" (). At the conclusion of the narrative, Jesus accepts that the hour has come for him to be betrayed.

Tradition

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

tradition, the Agony in the Garden is the first Sorrowful Mystery of the

Rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

and the First Station of the Scriptural

Way of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The stations grew out of imitati ...

(second station in the Philippine version).

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

tradition includes specific prayers and devotions. These

Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as '' acts of reparation'' for insults and blasphemies against Jesus Christ and the Holy Name of Jesus. These include the sufferings during the Passion of Jesus. Similar prayers as '' Act ...

do not involve a petition for a living or dead beneficiary, but aim to "repair the sins" against Jesus. Some such prayers are provided in the ''

Raccolta The ''Raccolta'' (literally, "collection" in Italian), is a book, published in many editions from 1807 to 1952, that collected the texts of Roman Catholic prayers and briefly described other acts of piety, such as visiting and praying in particula ...

'' Catholic prayer book (approved by a Decree of 1854, and published by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

in 1898) which also includes prayers as

Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary Catholic tradition and Mariology include specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation for perceived insults and blasphemies against Mary, mother of Jesus, often known as the Blessed Virgin Mary to Catholics. Similar prayers as ''Acts o ...

. In his encyclical ''

Miserentissimus Redemptor ''Miserentissimus Redemptor'' is the title of an encyclical by Pope Pius XI, issued on May 8, 1928 on reparation to the Sacred Heart. This encyclical deals with the concepts of Acts of Reparation and atonement. Referencing Pope Leo XIII's ency ...

'' on reparations,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

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. Catholic tradition holds that Jesus's sweating of blood was literal and not figurative.

Holy Hour

In the Catholic tradition, Matthew 26:40 is the basis of the

devotion for Eucharistic adoration. In the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

: Coming to the disciples, He found them sleeping and, in Matthew 26:40, asked Peter: "So, could you not watch with Me one hour?" The tradition of the Holy Hour devotion dates back to 1673 when Saint

Margaret Mary Alacoque Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM (french: Marguerite-Marie Alacoque) (22 July 1647 – 17 October 1690), was a French Catholic Visitation nun and mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form. Summary She worked t ...

stated that she had a vision 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.

Commentary

Martin Pable, OFM Cap suggests that Jesus experienced fear, loneliness, and perhaps a sense of failure. Justus Knecht gives three possible causes for Christ's sadness and agony: # He saw before him the many and inhuman torments which awaited him. He pictured all these terrible sufferings, enduring them in anticipation. # Christ took the sins of men on himself, so as to offer satisfaction to the divine justice in their stead. Now that he was on the point of completing his work of redemption, the horrible mass of evil, abomination and guilt came before his soul and filled it with abhorrence and aversion. # He knew beforehand how many souls would be eternally lost in spite of his bitter Passion and death, because they would not believe in him and would not love him. Roger Baxter in his ''Meditations'' 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."

Artistic depictions

There are a number of different depictions in art of the Agony in the Garden, including: * '' Agony in the Garden'' – an early (1459–1465) painting by the Italian Renaissance master

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father ...

* '' Agony in the Garden'' – a painting by romantic poet and artist

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

, , conserved at the

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

in London * '' Agony in the Garden'' – a painting by the Italian artist Correggio, dating to 1524 and now in Apsley House in London * '' Agony in the Garden'' – a painting by the Italian artist Andrea Mantegna, dating from 1458–1460 and conserved at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

in London * '' Agony in the Garden'' – a painting by Andrea Mantegna, dating from 1457 to 1459 and conserved at the

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours (English: Museum of Fine Arts of Tours) is located in the bishop's former palace, near the Tours Cathedral, cathedral St. Gatien, where it has been since 1910. It displays rich and varied collections, including t ...

* '' Agony in the Garden'' – a 1510s painting by Gerard David formerly attributed to

Adriaen Isenbrandt Adriaen Isenbrandt or Adriaen Ysenbrandt (between 1480 and 1490 – July 1551) was a painter in Bruges, in the final years of Early Netherlandish painting, and the first of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting of the Northern Renaissance. ...

, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg * '' Christ on the Mount of Olives'' – a painting by Baroque painter

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

, *'' Christ on the Mount of Olives'' – a painting by

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

, 1889 * "La Agonía en el Huerto de los Olivos" by Rafael Morante – on display in the Museo de Arte Religioso in the Ex Convento de Santa Mónica in Puebla Mexico. * '' Christ on the Mount of Olives'' – an oratorio by classical composer

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

* "Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" – In the rock opera ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' by

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

and

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

, Jesus sings this song in which he confronts God about his coming fate, ultimately accepting it by the end of the song. An orchestral reprise is heard after the crucifixion in the form of "John Nineteen: Forty-One".

Medical conjectures

Some in the medical field have hypothesized that Jesus's great anguish caused him to experience

hematidrosis Hematidrosis, also called blood sweat, is a very rare condition in which a human sweats blood. The term is from Ancient Greek ''haîma/haímatos'' ( αἷμα/ αἵματος), meaning blood, and ''hīdrṓs'' ( ἱδρώς), meaning sweat. Sig ...

(a medical term for sweating blood). In the traditional viewpoint (that

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

wrote the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...

), it is believed that only Luke described Jesus as sweating blood because Luke was a physician.

References

{{Authority control Angelic apparitions in the Bible Sorrowful Mysteries Gethsemane