2003: Year of the Rosary
Five New Mysteries
by Bro. Charles Madden, ofm conv
The Luminous Mysteries are so named because they highlight or
illuminate for us certain events in Jesus' public life written
about in the Gospels. What is the prayer of the Rosary? It consists
of two major parts, oral prayers combined with mental prayer
or meditations on twenty important events concerning the life,
death and Resurrection of Christ.
First, let's examine the contents of the oral prayers. There
are four prayers (not counting the Fatima prayer often added
after each decade). The Apostles Creed, the Our Father, the Hail
Mary, and the Glory Be. The notion that by praying the Rosary
one is giving too much attention to Mary, and therefore is slighting
Christ somehow, is dispelled just by examining these four prayers.
The Rosary opens with the Apostles' Creed. Every time we pray
it (or the variant form the Nicene Creed recited during Sunday
Mass) we both profess and remind ourselves of the basic beliefs
of our Faith. The Creed is a mini-catechism in prayer form. Both
the old catechisms used in years past and the new one that was
issued ten years ago, in the first section, consist of all the
articles of the Creed broken down into detailed segments explaining
the basic Christian doctrines we profess.
We refer to the Our Father as the "Lord's Prayer" for
that is exactly what it is! Jesus, as the Gospels tell us, taught
it to his disciples in response to their request to teach them
how to pray. It has always been considered the perfect prayer.
The Church has always used it as a tool to teach Catholics the
rudiments of prayer. Again, as in the old catechisms, part four
of the new one is a detailed catechesis of the Our Father.Consider
next the Hail Mary.
The first half, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with
thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus," is found in chapter 1, verse 28 of
St. Luke's Gospel. Every time we pray those words we are recalling
to mind the most important event in all of human history, namely,
the Incarnation, Christ's coming to earth to begin the process
of our Redemption. The second part of the Hail Mary came into
existence in the wake of the Council of Ephesus when Mary was
formally declared to be the Mother of God. The people of Ephesus
upon hearing this news spontaneously proclaimed, "Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of
our death!" It was not long before these two parts became
one prayer. The title "Mother of God" simply reflects
what occurred in the opening words.
The fourth prayer, the Glory Be, closes each decade of the Rosary
and is a prayer honoring and praising the Holy Trinity. The word
"Trinity" may not actually be used in the Scriptures
but the Three Persons certainly permeate Scripture. Now let's
examine the Luminous mysteries of the Rosary, which provide the
link and fill in the gap between the Joyful and the Sorrowful
mysteries.
The Luminous Mysteries
The beginning of Jesus' public life opens with his Baptism by
John in the Jordan River. Before baptizing him, John acknowledged
Jesus saying, "It is I who need baptism from you and yet
you come to me," St. Matthew tells us. Upon Jesus' baptism
the Spirit of God appearing as a dove, hovered over him and a
voice from heaven says, "This is my Son, the Beloved; my
favor rests on him." The Trinity is manifested to us.
At the Wedding Feast at Cana, in answer to Mary's request, Jesus
performs the first of his many miracles. As St. John tells us,
"He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in
him."Water was turned into wine, and later on Jesus would
turn wine into his own Blood. "My hour has not yet come"
was Jesus' response to Mary's request. Whenever Jesus spoke of
his hour it always in some way referred to his future Passion
and Death. Mary's prompt response directed at the waiters, "Do
whatever he tells you" has been traditionally interpreted
to indicate Mary's acceptance of Jesus' future passion.
The third Luminous mystery, the Proclamation of the Kingdom and
the Call for Conversion, encompasses all of Jesus' preaching
and actions aimed at convincing the Jews that he is the Messiah
and of their (and our) need for conversion of heart and the forgiveness
of their sins (and ours). All the miracles of Jesus' three years
of ministry, his parables and various discourses and his confrontations
with the Scribes and Pharisees give us a plethora of material
for meditation.
The Gospels describe how Jesus was transfigured on the mountain
in the presence of Peter, John and James. There are several elements;
Jesus is made radiant and Moses and Elijah appearing in glory
speak with him. The subject of their conversation is his coming
passion in Jerusalem. The voice of
the Father is once again heard "listen to him," and
the apostles are bound by Jesus to keep silent until after his
Resurrection.
The Luminous mysteries conclude with the Institution of the Eucharist.
Again there are numerous elements; Jesus, in advance of his bloody
sacrifice on the cross, gives the apostles his Body as food and
his Blood as drink just as today we receive his Body and Blood
in the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass. They are told to continue
to "do this in memory of me."The Seder Supper of the
Old Covenant is being supplanted by the Lord's Supper of the
New Covenant, and the next day, as the Passover lamb is being
sacrificed in the Temple, the Lamb of God will be sacrificed
on the cross.
APOSTOLIC
LETTER ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY
AND FAITHFUL ON THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
(c) Copyright 1998-2004 The Militia
of the Immaculata. All rights reserved.
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