The Mysteries of the Rosary
The Joyful Mysteries
1.
The
Annunciation Foreseeing the
fall of man, God had decided to save him and welcome him home. So when in his
estimation the time was ripe, he began a dialogue with a virgin maiden who
lived in Nazareth. She was just a child of 12 when her parents presented her to
God in the great Jerusalem temple to do with her as he pleased. That was when
the dialogue was initiated that lasted three years. The virgin maid’s name was
Mary, a name signifying noble lady, gracious woman – a truly grace-filled girl,
sweet and gentle, yet penetrating and transcendent. I can only imagine what was
going on in the mind, soul and spirit of this gracious maid. God was ever so gentle
too, his inspiration the breath of the Holy Spirit that never forces but
breathes like the evening breeze over a placid lake. The maid was ever so
sweetly drawn by the very breath of God whispering with the utmost delicacy and
deference the final question, “Will you consent to be the mother of my Son?” Never
was such a request made in the evolution of the universe and in the history of
man. Gentle maiden, sweetest virgin, lead me to your offspring!
2.
The
Visitation The Virgin
Mary is now carrying the Son of God in her body physically. Could there be
anything more intimate than this? What joy, what exultation! She is to be the
Mother of God. We therefore celebrate the Divine Motherhood of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the Maid of Nazareth. Does she just sit down in complacent triumph
over other women? Does she dance the nuptial twirl, the light fantastic? No!
She puts a few things together for a long journey, a trip to Ain Karim where
dwells her cousin Elizabeth now in her sixth month of pregnancy with John the
Baptist. Mary, the utterly altruistic woman, has no time to waste in her own
good providence as the chosen one. She puts all her energy into the arduous
journey to Ain Karim to put herself at the loving service of her beloved cousin , Elizabeth, for the final three
months of her pregnancy. She arrives, exchanges
greetings with Elizabeth and chants her “Magnficat” that will be proclaimed by
her children till the end of time and forever. “My soul glorifies the Lord, and
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour”, her Creator and Saviour whom she will
carry for the following nine months and remain forever his Mother.
3.
The
Nativity of the Lord Let us go and
behold the true Bread that has come down from heaven. The Bread in Bethlehem,
the home of bread. The Bread of angels wrapped in swaddling clothes. The interventions
of God come to us in the most familiar ways: the conception of a child in the
womb of a maiden, the visiting of one family to another, the word of greeting
and leaping with joy, the help a woman needs at childbirth, the intimate
rejoicing at the birth of a child. These are instances of God’s intimate
intervention and, in fact, his very presence. So why cannot we have confidence
in him?
4.
The
Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple The
word “infant” is from “infans” – incapable of speaking. The Baby Jesus could
not utter an intelligible word but makes the sounds a baby makes. But the baby
sounds of Jesus were of praise and delight: delight in the Father and in his
creation of which the humanity of the Baby Jesus was a part. God and creation
coming together in a little Child. Could anything be more intimate than that?
We must admire God for the lengths he goes to in order to come close to us. The
parents of Jesus, Mary, his Mother, and his foster father, Joseph, surely
sensed this and so made their contribution to the great project of divine-human
intimacy. And Simeon and Anna rejoiced to see it. The condescension of God, the
song (Mary’s Magnificat”) and dance (John the Baptist leap) of man. You can
imagine the dance and prattling of the baby Jesus in the arms of Simeon, summarizing
the dance of the universe. May we be permitted to join the dance, drink the new
wine and eat the one and only Bread?
5.
The
Finding in the Temple The
Child Jesus lost in the Temple. What do you mean by “lost”? In God’s Temple no
one and nothing is lost. In fact, we want to be lost in him completely, totally
and absolutely, so lost in him as to be indistinguishable from the Three
Persons of the Holy Trinity, sharing in the life of the Trinity in the order of
existence. Ultimately there is only one existence, that of the Holy Trinity.
God is pure existence: “I AM”.
What my uniqueness will be like is none of my business. I only want God.
All my anxieties vanish when I pray for greater and greater confidence in Jesus
Christ, my transcendent Lord.
The Sorrowful
Mysteries
1. Agony of Our Lord in
Gethsemane Jesus Christ, Son of
God, Son of Mary has come to us with unspeakable closeness. In his agony of soul,
mind and body he in a real (not abstract) manner shares our sadness and
distress like any human being who feels the pain of loss, loneliness,
abandonment and terror at the prospect of certain death. Once Christ has
assumed the human condition he will accept the consequences with no desire or
ploy to escape. The pain of being human
is now played out on the stage of divine drama: God meeting man in terms of
excruciating pain. Now his divine love pours out into the crucible of human
torture. This is humanity at its excruciating depths and heroic heights. Why?
Because if God has to know his rational creation he has to become rational
himself. It is precisely in suffering together that we become most intimate,
and the memory of shared suffering makes us more loving. “We went through it
together. We know each other better than ever.”
2. Jesus is scourged: As if mental pain were not
enough our dearest Lord has to undergo physical suffering. Now he is close to
us not only rationally but also physically. “I am with you” was not a flight of
idyllic poetry but turns out to be the nuts and bolts of our relationship. A true
friend is one who tells us, “I know your pain. I went through it myself exactly
as you are doing now. Yet, courage, you will soon overcome it as I did.” Jesus
is in my very pain.
3. Jesus is crowned with
thorns: The Lord of the
universe is acknowledged King with a crown of thorns. He who so ardently
desired to come to his subjects is rewarded for his efforts with a decorative
crown made up of thorns. This was not entirely unexpected since they were about
to make him king after the feeding of the multitudes that evening when he fed
them with bread in the wilderness. But Jesus knowing what was in man refused
the offer of a perishable title.
4. Jesus carries the Cross: and
thereby carries our sin. Could he become more intimate with us? Already at his
baptism he plunged into the Jordan and stood in solidarity with sinners.”He who
knew no sin was made into sin for us,” writes St. Paul in his 2nd.
Letter to the Corinthians. No word could ever express such closeness and
intimacy such as this line from St. Paul. Having assumed human nature, a nature
marked (though not marred) by sin, carrying the Cross through the city streets
and rough paths to Golgotha, Jesus was manifesting in concrete his taking upon
himself the sins of all men and women till the end of history. He has assumed
the hubris and self-centredness of historical man so intimately and completely
that when he dies all the hubris and sin of mankind are destroyed and our
nature rises to new life in his Resurrection.
5. Jesus is crucified and
dies on the Cross: We
are there nailed to the Cross with him. Let our sinful selves die with him, and
for that to happen let each one of us adhere to the Lord in the most intimate
manner.
1.
The Glorious
Mysteries
1. The Resurrection of Our
Lord Jesus Christ: There
never was and never will be a Resurrection like that of Jesus Christ. It is the
greatest triumph the world will ever know. Conquering death, the last enemy of
man, symbolizing the victory of good over evil, the victory over sin and death.
How does it affect me? Definitely. I was a sinner on my way to death that I had
earned by my sins. But then Jesus met me on that dire road, turned me a sharp
angle and put me on the road to life, eternal life. Now I am his more
intimately than ever. Intimacy with Jesus is what matters: total, complete,
irrevocable intimacy. Prayer: How
splendid you look, my Risen Lord in your well earned glory before the Father
and the Holy Spirit, your Blessed Mother Mary and before all men. You have done
us proud, dearest Lord, Conqueror of death and Lord of life. We cannot contain
ourselves. I dance with joy and happiness. O Divine Lord of the universe, who
never had a place to lay your sweet head on earth, you now have the universe
with its trillions of galaxies as your footstool and my heart as your throne.
Conquer me, for you have smitten me by your invincible Resurrection. Rule me,
for you have led captivity captive, and in the process you have liberated my
heart to love you with a love that is utterly free and lightsome. Give me an
everlasting voice to sing your triumph and a body to dance in unison with the
Holy Trinity and the angels. Brothers and sisters let us do the light
fantastic of eternity to the heavenly orchestra of adoration, praise and
thanksgiving to the Eternal Risen Lord Jesus Christ unceasingly and forever.
Amen
2. The Ascension of Our
Lord: “It is
accomplished”, said the Saviour already on the Cross, punctuating the last
moments of his terrible suffering. It was a declaration to the world and to his
Father: “The work you sent me to do I have finished.” The “hour” he mentioned
to his Mother Mary at Cana, that hour he is now closing as he raises his hands
for a final blessing to his disciples and the world. His self-offering on
behalf of men to his Father is now accepted,
having been sanctified and ratified by suffering and death – death that
sweet and swift elder brother of us all. To make that acceptance visible and
assured, the heavens open their arms, symbolised by the manifold clouds of
God’s manifestation, to receive him into heaven. All is ready for the descent of the Holy
Spirit, promised by the Messiah.
3. The Coming of the Holy
Spirit upon Our Blessed Mother Mary and the Apostles: At his Resurrection Jesus had told his disciples not
to feel sad at his departure back to the abode of the Trinity as he would send
them the Holy Spirit. The mutual love of Father and Son is now poured out upon
the world, first upon Mother Mary and the Apostles – the first members of the
new community – and through them upon the rest of humanity and its succeeding
generations till the entire saved world will have assembled in heaven. “For
unless I go I shall not send the Holy Spirit”, said Jesus. Now, what did he
mean by this? So they must wait till Jesus has reached his rightful place of
power and authority in heaven. Expiation now complete, now Father and Son will
send their mutual love in the Person of the Holy Spirit. An act of mutual
partnership, made the more efficacious by the Paschal Mystery of Christ, which
is completed by the descent of the Holy Spirit and now operative in its
fullness. Christ’s Paschal Mystery is now fully accomplished.
4. The Assumption of Our
Blessed Mother Mary to Heaven: What
our hearts through the centuries of Christian history always desired and
craved, and God seemed to agree, has happened. On falling asleep in death, Our
Blessed Mother was assumed, soul and body incorrupt, by the power of God and to
the great rejoicing of the angels and saints, taken up to heaven to be with her
divine Son Jesus Christ forever in transcendent glory and bliss. Our fondest
wish, our deepest desire, has been fulfilled, otherwise we would have lived and
died in utter misery, sadness and pessimism. Our own desire has reverberated
with God’s own right through the centuries of Christian history. We are filled
with gladness and jubilation! This is exactly what we wanted for our dearest
Mother. “Maria assumpta in coelis,” is what we sing and dance with joy as we
can hardly contain our happiness at this great and glorious mystery of your
Assumption. “O dearest, ever dearest Mother, how happy you must be. How happy
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit with an infinite and unending joy. How
blissful the saints. How jubilant your children on earth you love so much and
who love you. All that we desired for you has happened. My mind is full of
thoughts of you and my heart with love. Gracious maiden of Nazareth. Gracious
Virgin. Gracious Queen. Gracious Mother. Mother of God and my Mother. Lead me
to Christ your Son.
5. “Maria Mater Virgo in
coelis coronata”: Our Blessed Virgin
Mother is crowned Queen of heaven and earth. O glorious ending to a life of
obedience and devotion, and much suffering in union with her glorious Son Jesus
Christ. Nothing higher could we desire for our dearest and sweetest Mother
Mary. “Hail Queen of heaven and earth, more beautiful than the rarest of
flowers, more brilliant than the brightest star in the universe. No creature on
earth or in heaven can rival thee, daughter of God the Father, spouse of the
Holy Spirit, and mother of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! More loving than
a million mothers, sweetly compassionate towards your children on earth whom
you have not abandoned and for whom you prepare places in heaven by your side
and at your feet. There’s where I belong – at the feet of Our Blessed Mother.
Dearest Mother Mary, you are the most deservedly crowned Queen of heaven and
earth. You remain forever the loving Mother and gracious Queen of heaven and
earth. We love, trust and honour you.”
The Mysteries of
Light
The Luminous Mysteries
proclaim the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ the Lord. The
Transfiguration is the 4th. Mystery of Light. How well it fits in!
After revealing his solidarity with us sinners at his Baptism in the Jordan (1st.
Mystery), Jesus shows how he shares our human happiness, in fact, enhances it
by his miracle of the water into wine – the 2nd. Mystery, which also
marks the transition of the Old Testament to the New, the elevation of human
happiness to divine joy. The old wine has run out. The new wine is
inexhaustible. He proclaims it by his powerful preaching and by works of
forgiveness and healing – the 3rd. Mystery. The 4th.
Mystery is continuous with the three already in that his joy is that of
divinity: God among men, revealing the truth that the Christian vocation is one
of light and joy. This God of ours is determined to remain with us. So he
institutes the Holy Eucharist. The 5th. Mystery of Light is the
institution of the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament whereby God assures us that
the personal presence of Jesus Christ is a covenantal one by which he is not
only among us sinners, taking personal interest in our human undertakings and
happiness, supplying our need for the light of wisdom, our need for healing;
but he is personally our sustenance in our journey through life with all its
struggles and failures. Thus Jesus Christ not only is present among us but
really ad truly feeds us with his Body and Blood. The Holy Eucharist is the
inexhaustible source and transcendent summit of the covenantal love of the
Father in the Son through the Holy Spirit. In fine, the revelation of God’s self-giving
in the circumstances of our sinfulness (Baptism) and the celebration of our
humanity(Cana) sustained by divinity (Transfiguration) in the very flesh and
blood of Jesus Christ. And the greatest wonder is that God does not stop at
creating and leaving us to our human happiness, but he must immerse us into the
very self, life and bliss of the Trinity. Wonder! Wonder!
Wonder!
How grateful I am to my dearest Lord and
Master Jesus Christ for revealing to me these truths past all telling. Where
shall we find another source of light and truth? It is only Jesus Christ who is the Truth. Thank
you, dear Lord for these elevating insights, pure gift of your affection for
me. I love you and bless you now and forever.
