Category: rosary

  • The Rosary: Introduction to the Dolorous Mysteries

    The Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world” was also conceived before the foundation of the world, raise by Joseph, potty trained by Mary, educated in the synagogue of Nazareth, raised from the dead, and crowned in glory from before the foundation of the world. Jesus is God’s eternity participating in our time,…

  • The Rosary: The Transfiguration

    In the Mystery of the Transfiguration, God is revealed as he really is: a human man, fully divine, enfleshed, and loving us so dearly. In the Transfiguration, the Son of God is revealed as God the Son. There are some religions that insist the divine has no body. They are wrong. Full stop. They speak…

  • The Rosary: the Preaching of the Kingdom

    The Proclamation of the Kingdom is a special mystery because it involves not only Christ and it is not limited in time or space. Anywhere the preaching of Christ is embodied in the world the Kingdom is taking place. Of course, the Kingdom here is a Mystery, not fully present outside the presence of a…

  • The Rosary: The Wedding At Cana

    It is true that it is from Christ’s presence at Cana that the Church develops a sacramental idea of marriage.  It is also true that for the longest time marriage was seen as a secular issue with which devout Christians could work out their salvation.  First it was a state of life, governed by the…

  • The Rosary: The Baptism of Christ

    In the East this event is commemorated on 6 January, which feast is called the Theophany, or manifestation of God.  In the West, the Baptism of Our Lord is commemorated on 13 January: the Octave Day of Epiphany, which feast commemorates the coming of the Magi and the manifestation of the Messiah to the Gentiles.…

  • The Rosary: Introduction to the Luminous Mysteries

    To the traditional 15 Decades of the Rosary, Pope St John Paul II suggested another 5, the Mysteries of Light or the Luminous Mysteries. He did this in his letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae on 16 October 2002.  Whilst these have been accepted by most Roman Catholics, they are not in very common use by other Christians…

  • The Rosary: The Finding in the Temple

    The Fifth Joyous Mystery contemplates the time when, as a child, Christ lingered in Jerusalem after his parents had departed for home. The Gospel text relates that they were traveling with a party so large they assumed he was someplace out of sight and didn’t discover he was gone until three days into their homeward…

  • The Rosary: The Presentation

    Candlemas is one of my favourite feasts. The following from the Catholic Encyclopedia shares a little bit of the history of the feast: According to the Roman Missal the celebrant after Terce, in stole and cope of purple colour, standing at the epistle side of the altar, blesses the candles (which must be of beeswax).…

  • The Rosary: The Nativity

    By way of introduction to the Third Joyous Mystery of the Rosary, please remember the scripture: Jesus was born in to a family that owned its own business. Jesus was born in a manger not because no inn would house a poor pregnant woman, but rather because the inns were full. Church tradition tells us…

  • The Rosary: The Visitation

    The second of the five Joyous Mysteries is known as the Visitation and commemorates the visit of our Blessed Lady to St Elizabeth, the mother of the Forerunner, John Baptist.  The Visitation is a later-comer to the Calendar and devotional life of the Western Church, having been introduced by St Bonaventure in 1263. The Franciscans,…

  • The Rosary: The Annunciation

    The first decade of the Holy Rosary is in honor of the Annunciation when the Archangel Gabriel came to Blessed Mary, the Ever-Virgin, and, greeting her, offered her the chance to become the mother of her Creator. Her acceptance of this greeting is the beginning of our salvation. One traditional way of meditation on the…

  • The Rosary: Introduction to the Joyful Mysteries

    The Joyful Mysteries are those events at the beginning of the life of Christ: The Annunciation of the Archangel to Mary The Visitation of Our Lady to St Elizabeth The Nativity of Our Lord The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple The Finding of Christ teaching among the Elders in the Temple Each one…

  • Rosary with Byzantine Meditations

    Introduction When I was exploring Orthodoxy (2000-2001) and after I had converted, there was a massive jettisoning of anything Western. Any of my friends or long-time readers of the several incarnations of this blog can confirm this. Bye bye Mr. Francis; bye bye Mass; bye bye Mass Cards, bye bye Advent and Advent Wreaths; bye…

  • 200 Mysteries

    ✙ JMJ Rosary Sunday (Our Lady of Victory) This is a special feast for the Dominicans: it even trumps Sunday. That said, I don’t know the readings for today. The Rosary is a compendium of the entire Gospel. In prayer it unites us with Christ, it unites us with his mother, the first of the…

  • Dolorous Mysteries: Quem enim diligit Dominus, castigat.

    +JMJ+ Friday is the day on which we traditionally meditate on the Dolorous or Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. Although I’ve written elsewhere about these as a discussion of addiction – including sexual addiction – I have been struggling with these in light of the Troubles, as we might call them. They are on-going: the…