What is the Rosary?
What is the Rosary? The Rosary is
technically not the necklace. The Rosary is a prayer. The necklace is
just supposed to aid you in your prayer, since the prayer is so long. Because the Rosary
is so long, you risk focusing on where in the prayer you are at,
instead of focusing on the Mysteries. So you finger the beads as you
pray. Once your fingers come to the end of the necklace or to certain
points, you know to change or stop.
The basic structure is this: You start off at the bottom with the crucifix, do the sign of the cross and you recite the apostles creed. Then you have a few hail marys. Then there are a few sets of ten beads, for ten hail marys, also known as a decade. There are four decades for the four types of mysteries. During the hail marys, you ponder the mysteries of christ as Mary pondered them as described in Luke 2:19.
We ought to understand the intimate connection Mary had with Jesus. She gave him his human nature. She was specially put apart for his hypostatic union. In fact, shes closer to him than any other creature for that simple fact. So when we ponder like Mary pondered, we are putting ourselves in the shoes of a very unique person.
There are four types of mysteries: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. Each mystery has a set of five. The five joyful mysteries are the Annunciation (Luke 1:26), the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39), the Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:7, Matthew 1:25), the Presentation of Jesus (Luke 2:21) and the Finding of the Child at the Temple (Luke 2:42). The Joyful Mysteries center upon the Incarnation of Jesus.
The Luminous Mysteries, which focus on the earthly ministry of Jesus, are his Baptism in the Jordan (Matthew 3:13), his First Public Miracle at the Wedding in Cana (John 2:1), the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17), the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Luke 9:28), and the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23).
The Sorrowful Mysteries ponder the redemption of Jesus through his passion and death. These five are the Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26:36), the Scourging at the Pillar (John 19:1), the Crowing of the Thorns (Matthew 27:29), Jesus carrying the Cross (John 19:17), and the Crucifixion (Luke 23:33).
Finally, the Glorious mysteries which focuses on the Eternal Life by the victory of Jesus. These five are: Resurrection (Luke 24:6), Ascension of Jesus into Heaven (Mark 16:19), the Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:2), the Assumption of Mary into Heaven (Psalm 132:8), and the crowning of Mary as the Queen of Heaven (Revelation 12:1).
So what you find then is an amazing summary of the kingdom of Jesus. It starts with the announcement of his coming, all the way to the end of history, with the very first disciple, his mother, being crowned. Every mystery you will find in the Bible. The Our Father you find completely in the Bible. The Hail Mary, you find half of in the Bible (Luke 1:28, 42), the additions being added during the middle ages.
After explaining this, I hope I don’t have to explain what the importance or significance of this amazing prayer is. You meditate basically upon the whole life of Jesus, through the eyes of Mary. You have the Marian prayer in the background as you focus on Jesus. Mary was always there, even there during his death. Some object that Mary is being focused on too much. Think of it like a song. The prayers are like the beat and rhythm (that is how the early church memorized things), and the focusing of the Mysteries are like the rock star you follow all over the stage. If they understood the prayer, they would see it is entirely Christ centered. So why include Mary at all? Because if we are going to be like Jesus, then we have to do what he did. He honored his mother. So must we honor his mother. After all, she was approached to get to him (John 2:1-5) and she was to have the same mission against Satan (Genesis 3:15) poetically called his arc in Psalm 132. So there is nothing really unscriptural about this.
It is an unceasingly praising of Jesus. That includes the last two, which talk about Mary. What she gets, we will also get. We will get to heaven with a new body, and we will get crowns. To get bored of the Rosary is to get bored of the gospel.
Source:An Introduction to Mary by Mark Miravalle
The basic structure is this: You start off at the bottom with the crucifix, do the sign of the cross and you recite the apostles creed. Then you have a few hail marys. Then there are a few sets of ten beads, for ten hail marys, also known as a decade. There are four decades for the four types of mysteries. During the hail marys, you ponder the mysteries of christ as Mary pondered them as described in Luke 2:19.
We ought to understand the intimate connection Mary had with Jesus. She gave him his human nature. She was specially put apart for his hypostatic union. In fact, shes closer to him than any other creature for that simple fact. So when we ponder like Mary pondered, we are putting ourselves in the shoes of a very unique person.
There are four types of mysteries: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. Each mystery has a set of five. The five joyful mysteries are the Annunciation (Luke 1:26), the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39), the Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:7, Matthew 1:25), the Presentation of Jesus (Luke 2:21) and the Finding of the Child at the Temple (Luke 2:42). The Joyful Mysteries center upon the Incarnation of Jesus.
The Luminous Mysteries, which focus on the earthly ministry of Jesus, are his Baptism in the Jordan (Matthew 3:13), his First Public Miracle at the Wedding in Cana (John 2:1), the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17), the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Luke 9:28), and the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23).
The Sorrowful Mysteries ponder the redemption of Jesus through his passion and death. These five are the Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26:36), the Scourging at the Pillar (John 19:1), the Crowing of the Thorns (Matthew 27:29), Jesus carrying the Cross (John 19:17), and the Crucifixion (Luke 23:33).
Finally, the Glorious mysteries which focuses on the Eternal Life by the victory of Jesus. These five are: Resurrection (Luke 24:6), Ascension of Jesus into Heaven (Mark 16:19), the Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:2), the Assumption of Mary into Heaven (Psalm 132:8), and the crowning of Mary as the Queen of Heaven (Revelation 12:1).
So what you find then is an amazing summary of the kingdom of Jesus. It starts with the announcement of his coming, all the way to the end of history, with the very first disciple, his mother, being crowned. Every mystery you will find in the Bible. The Our Father you find completely in the Bible. The Hail Mary, you find half of in the Bible (Luke 1:28, 42), the additions being added during the middle ages.
After explaining this, I hope I don’t have to explain what the importance or significance of this amazing prayer is. You meditate basically upon the whole life of Jesus, through the eyes of Mary. You have the Marian prayer in the background as you focus on Jesus. Mary was always there, even there during his death. Some object that Mary is being focused on too much. Think of it like a song. The prayers are like the beat and rhythm (that is how the early church memorized things), and the focusing of the Mysteries are like the rock star you follow all over the stage. If they understood the prayer, they would see it is entirely Christ centered. So why include Mary at all? Because if we are going to be like Jesus, then we have to do what he did. He honored his mother. So must we honor his mother. After all, she was approached to get to him (John 2:1-5) and she was to have the same mission against Satan (Genesis 3:15) poetically called his arc in Psalm 132. So there is nothing really unscriptural about this.
It is an unceasingly praising of Jesus. That includes the last two, which talk about Mary. What she gets, we will also get. We will get to heaven with a new body, and we will get crowns. To get bored of the Rosary is to get bored of the gospel.
Source:An Introduction to Mary by Mark Miravalle
The whole Mary thing is still weird...
ReplyDeleteThat's okay.
ReplyDeleteDo you seriously believe in the assumption of Mary?
ReplyDeleteAlso read Mark 3:31-35. That doesn't sound much like honoring his mother.
Yeah, I do. The new ark of the covenant is supposed to be taken up into heaven. Mary is that ark because Jesus is the new covenant. Also, we hear of people claiming to have bones of old saints, and their relics, and claims to their resting place. No such claim exists for Mary, suggesting that her body was not left here on Earth.
DeleteI don't see any tension in Mark 3. I don't see how it follows that because he chose to honor others, this is somehow taking away from Mary. How about when Jesus is dying on the cross and he tells John that Mary is now John's mother? That's pretty honoring.