MEDITATION WITH THE HELP OF ST. ROSARY

Friday :MYSTERIES OF PAIN or 'sorrowful Mysteries'

Saturday : MYSTERIES OF JOY or 'joyful mysteries' (see Monday)

Sunday: MYSTERIES OF GLORY or 'glorious mysteries'

MEDITATION WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY ROSARY
Lino Bertuzzi - August 2014

If we have read the introduction we know that Christian Meditation is that silent personal prayer with which the person of Faith comes to communicate directly with God. The Holy Rosary is instead a vocal prayer, a powerful weapon against evil that we should use at least once a day to protect ourselves. It is not easy to recite it well and it is also an exercise in humility.

INTRODUCTION: THE ROSARY CROWN

For those who are not accustomed to such practices of prayer, first of all I would like to clarify what is the recitation of the Holy Rosary, remembering that it is not only a meditation itself, but apart from the rest is also a meditation's means.

Here's a robust and usable rosary crown: it is substantially constituted by five sets of 10 beads each, separated by a single bead, wich is used to control the progress of prayer. At first there are the cross and the beads that are used to mark the initial prayers.

There are various ways to pray the Rosary which vary with who and where you are. Anyway the essence of the Rosary are the five decades of 'Hail Mary', but before each decade one begins praying a 'Holy Father' s and recites a short prayer after finishing the decade itsellf.
But still before reciting each ' Our Father ' one of an episode in the life of Jesus Christ, which we call' Mystery must be reminded and shortly meditated.
In other words. the sequence of each of five decades, beginning with the first mystery of the day, is in the following order:

Announcement of the mystery - the Our Father - 10 Hail Marys - Glory to the Father - and the final aspiration (optional).

Who already knows what is the Rosary please will forgive me if I dwell in an explanation addressed to those who are unfamiliar to this spiritual exercise.

The episodes ('mysteries'), all of which are narrated in detail in the four synoptic Gospels (St. Mark, St. Matthew, St. Luke, St. John) are different for each day of the week and are as follows:

Monday: MYSTERIES OF JOY or 'joyful mysteries'

First	The announcement to Mary

Second	Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth

Third	The birth of Jesus Christ in the cave of Bethlehem

Fourth	Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple and the purification of the Virgin

Fifth	Finding of the Child Jesus among the Temple Doctors

Tuesday : MYSTERIES OF PAIN or 'sorrowful Mysteries'

I	The prayer of Jesus in the Garden

II	The scourging of Jesus at the Pillar

III	The Crowning with Thorns

IV	The ascent of Jesus to the Mount Calvary

V	The crucifixion of Jesus

Wednesday :MYSTERIES OF GLORY or 'glorious mysteries'

I	The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead

II	The Ascension of Jesus into heaven

III	The descent of the Holy Spirit on Mary and the apostles gathered in the Upper Room

IV	The Assumption of Mary into heaven

V	The coronation of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth

Thursday : MYSTERIES OF LIGHT or 'luminous mysteries'

I	The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River

II	The Marriage of Canaan

III	The announcement of the Kingdom of Heaven

IV	The transfiguration of Jesus

V	The Institution of the Eucharist

Each decade of the crown begins with the announcement of the mystery for the day that is the position of the ten, then the 'Our Father' , and the ten Hail Marys; at the end of the decade one recites the Gloria. At the end of the whole crown is recited the Salve Regina, or the Regina Coeli at Easter time.
The recitation of the Rosary it seems easy, but it is not at all. It requires a lot of humility and commitment, and especially one must be careful not to let his mind wander elsewhere, in which case the prayer is only a mechanical thing.
The Rosary, when said with faith, attention, and intention, is a powerful weapon against evil, and we need it to raise our prayers to heaven and to propitiate many graces. But the Holy Rosary is both a vocal prayer and meditation itself. There are papers that we find in the Parish, that suggest how to do and what to say to recite well the Holy Rosary

MEDITATION WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY ROSARY

I found it very often useful to start a meditation with the help of the Holy Rosary. After thinking intensely the mystery to meditate, opened a Gospel and read in silence it's concerning passage. After having mentally recited the Our Father and the ten Hail Mary and concluded with Gloria, I started meditation.
This should preferably take place before a tabernacle in a church; but if you can not find a church, it's good as long any quiet and relaxing place, privided the it offers no opportunity for distraction.

The most important thing to do is to connect mentally on the scene as being one of the participants and then to empty the mind of other things. When placing yourself in this situation as one of the many characters who surrounded and attended Jesus, is often possible that there will be reminded to you many things to tell to God, who is always willing to listen.

But if we do not succeed, then let's ask God what he wants from us and let us ask ourselves listening. The important thing is not to give up at the first set, when we dont hear anything, and we think we're doing something useless, wasting time. Then ask the Lord to give us the gift of faith and let's persevere.

My own personal experience and that of many others tells us that if we are faithful, answers will not fail.

Lino Bertuzzi