| Devotion to Our Lady |
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CLICK ON THE ROSARY MYSTERY THAT YOU WANT TO MEDITATE (all links are not yet active)
JOYFUL MYSTERIES | Annunciation | Visitation | Nativity of Jesus | Presentation in the Temple | Finding in the Temple |
SORROWFUL MYSTERIES | Agony in Garden | Scourging at Pillar | Crowning with Thorns | Carrying of Cross | Crucifixion |
GLORIOUS MYSTERIES | Resurrection | Ascension | Descent of Holy Ghost | Assumption of BVM | Coronation of BVM |
CLICK ON THIS LINE TO RETURN TO THE MEDITATION MAIN PAGE
CLICK ON THIS LINE TO RETURN TO ROSARY MAIN PAGE
JOYFUL MYSTERIES | Annunciation | Visitation | Nativity of Jesus | Presentation in the Temple | Finding in the Temple |
SORROWFUL MYSTERIES | Agony in Garden | Scourging at Pillar | Crowning with Thorns | Carrying of Cross | Crucifixion |
GLORIOUS MYSTERIES | Resurrection | Ascension | Descent of Holy Ghost | Assumption of BVM | Coronation of BVM |
CLICK ON THIS LINE TO RETURN TO THE MEDITATION MAIN PAGE
CLICK ON THIS LINE TO RETURN TO ROSARY MAIN PAGE
PRAYING THE ROSARY IS MORE THAN SAYING THE ROSARY
Heaven wants us to PRAY it and not just SAY it!
Heaven wants us to PRAY it and not just SAY it!
The Dignity and Power of Prayer
Prayer is one of the most powerful things that exists earth! If we but knew the power of prayer! St. Augustine says: “What is more excellent than prayer? What is more useful and profitable? What is sweeter and more delicious? What is higher and more exalted in the whole scheme of our Christian religion?”
St. Bernard says that the angels receive our prayers and present them before God - as the angel said to Tobias: “When thou didst pray with tears, I offered thy prayer to God (Tob. 12:12). St. Hilary says the same: “The angels preside over the prayers of the saints and offer them each day to God.”
When we pray, we enter into the presence of the majesty of God. St. John Chrysostom warns us: “Consider the height, dignity and glory to which the Lord has raised you.”
Pope Celestine, in a decree dealing with prayer says: "I know nothing better to say to you than what my predecessor Zozimus said: “What time is there in which we have no need of God?” None. Therefore at all times, and in all cases, in all affairs we need to have recourse to Him by prayer and crave His favor. For it is a great pride for a weak and miserable man to presume anything by himself."
St. Thomas, writing of prayer, says that what God decided from all eternity to grant us by His Divine Providence, He will give it to us by means of prayer, and on this depends the deliverance, salvation, conversion and cure of many souls and the progress and perfection of others. God has ruled that matrimony begets children. Plowing and sowing brings an abundance of crops. Prayer brings gifts and graces to the world.
"Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and the door shall be opened to him that knocked." (Matthew 7:7)
St. Augustine says that prayer is the key of Heaven that fits all the gates of Heaven and all the treasure chests of God. Elsewhere he says that what bread is to the body, prayer is to the soul. Prayer is the foundation of a good life, for without it, we cannot lead a good life, as St. Augustine says: “He knows how to live well, who knows how to pray well.”
The Need to Pray Well
Here is a short extract from St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's book, The Secret of the Rosary, wherein he speaks of the need of PRAYING our Rosaries rather than just saying them hurriedly and distractedly, though not quote in those terms. Listen to his advice:
"Of course, you cannot say your Rosary without having a few involuntary distractions; it is even difficult to say a Hail Mary without your imagination troubling you a little, for it is never still; but you can say it without voluntary distractions, and you must take all sorts of precautions to lessen involuntary distractions and to control your imagination.
"To do this, put yourself in the presence of God and imagine that God and his Blessed Mother are watching you, and that your guardian angel is at your right hand, taking your Hail Marys, if they are well said, and using them like roses to make crowns for Jesus and Mary. But remember that at your left hand is the devil, ready to pounce on every Hail Mary that comes his way and to write it down in his book of death, if they are not said with attention, devotion, and reverence. Above all, do not fail to offer up each decade in honour of one of the mysteries, and try to form a picture in your mind of Jesus and Mary in connection with that mystery.
"We read in the life of Blessed Hermann of the Order of the Premonstratensians, that, at one time, when he used to say the Rosary attentively and devoutly, while meditating on the mysteries, Our Lady used to appear to him resplendent in breathtaking majesty and beauty. But, as time went on, his fervor cooled and he fell into the way of saying his Rosary hurriedly and without giving it his full attention. Then one day Our Lady appeared to him again, but this time she was far from beautiful, and her face was furrowed and drawn with sadness. Blessed Hermann was appalled at the change in her, and Our Lady explained, "This is how I look to you, Hermann, because this is how you are treating me; as a woman to be despised and of no importance. Why do you no longer greet me with respect and attention while meditating on my mysteries and praising my privileges?" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, The Secret of the Rosary, "Forty-Second Rose").
The Devil Wants us to Pray Badly
Yes, badly! Sadly, this is the manner in which too many of us pray—or should we use the verb "say"—our Rosaries. We treat them like a chore, something that has to be done, but our hearts are not really in them. Our Rosaries are routine, mechanical, distracted, hurried, lukewarm and, basically, insulting to Heaven. We bring to mind Our Lord's complaint of how people prayed to God: "This people honoureth Me with their lips: but their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8). The devil knows that if he cannot stop us from praying, then the next best thing is to make us pray badly! In that way, our prayer becomes much less effective and we will even get punished for praying badly—for praying badly is a venial sin!
Our Lady told Lucia that the important part of the Rosary is the meditation. We could say that the prayers of the Rosary (Our Fathers, Hail Marys, etc) are the body or the material side of the Rosary; whereas the meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary is the soul or the spiritual side of the Rosary. We all know what a body is without its soul, don't we? It is no more than a corpse! Not that the Our Fathers and Hail Marys are useless by themselves, but they are given life and power by the meditation of the mysteries. The devil will have us content ourselves with the mere prayers and will have us forget about the mysteries.
Less Means More
If we truly want to profit from our Rosaries, then let us start to meditate them. We do not have to meditate all fifteen in one day! Take a mystery for an entire day and think about it whenever you can, while driving, walking, eating, even working if some kinds of work permit that without having the work suffer. St. Francis de Sales speaks of our meditation being like a bee that lands on a particular flower—the bee will stay on that flower until it gets all the pollen that it can extract, and only then will it move on to another. We should be "busy-bees" in our Rosary mysteries, and not flit superficially from one mystery to another, drawing little or nothing from any. Stay on the same mystery for several days if necessary, or even a week, or even a month! As long as you are drawing fruit from it, that is the important thing! These meditations will be in no way e
Hopefully, these Rosary Meditations will help you do so! We will not post more than one at a time, so that you learn to take your time and delve and dig deep into each mystery. Each mystery is so rich that it is unfathomable—it is just modern man who is lazy and doesn't like to dig very much! These meditations do not pretend to be exhaustive or all-embracing, they are a mere spark that hopefully sets fire to your soul to go ahead and penetrate each mystery more and more fully. Ave Maria!
Prayer is one of the most powerful things that exists earth! If we but knew the power of prayer! St. Augustine says: “What is more excellent than prayer? What is more useful and profitable? What is sweeter and more delicious? What is higher and more exalted in the whole scheme of our Christian religion?”
St. Bernard says that the angels receive our prayers and present them before God - as the angel said to Tobias: “When thou didst pray with tears, I offered thy prayer to God (Tob. 12:12). St. Hilary says the same: “The angels preside over the prayers of the saints and offer them each day to God.”
When we pray, we enter into the presence of the majesty of God. St. John Chrysostom warns us: “Consider the height, dignity and glory to which the Lord has raised you.”
Pope Celestine, in a decree dealing with prayer says: "I know nothing better to say to you than what my predecessor Zozimus said: “What time is there in which we have no need of God?” None. Therefore at all times, and in all cases, in all affairs we need to have recourse to Him by prayer and crave His favor. For it is a great pride for a weak and miserable man to presume anything by himself."
St. Thomas, writing of prayer, says that what God decided from all eternity to grant us by His Divine Providence, He will give it to us by means of prayer, and on this depends the deliverance, salvation, conversion and cure of many souls and the progress and perfection of others. God has ruled that matrimony begets children. Plowing and sowing brings an abundance of crops. Prayer brings gifts and graces to the world.
"Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and the door shall be opened to him that knocked." (Matthew 7:7)
St. Augustine says that prayer is the key of Heaven that fits all the gates of Heaven and all the treasure chests of God. Elsewhere he says that what bread is to the body, prayer is to the soul. Prayer is the foundation of a good life, for without it, we cannot lead a good life, as St. Augustine says: “He knows how to live well, who knows how to pray well.”
The Need to Pray Well
Here is a short extract from St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's book, The Secret of the Rosary, wherein he speaks of the need of PRAYING our Rosaries rather than just saying them hurriedly and distractedly, though not quote in those terms. Listen to his advice:
"Of course, you cannot say your Rosary without having a few involuntary distractions; it is even difficult to say a Hail Mary without your imagination troubling you a little, for it is never still; but you can say it without voluntary distractions, and you must take all sorts of precautions to lessen involuntary distractions and to control your imagination.
"To do this, put yourself in the presence of God and imagine that God and his Blessed Mother are watching you, and that your guardian angel is at your right hand, taking your Hail Marys, if they are well said, and using them like roses to make crowns for Jesus and Mary. But remember that at your left hand is the devil, ready to pounce on every Hail Mary that comes his way and to write it down in his book of death, if they are not said with attention, devotion, and reverence. Above all, do not fail to offer up each decade in honour of one of the mysteries, and try to form a picture in your mind of Jesus and Mary in connection with that mystery.
"We read in the life of Blessed Hermann of the Order of the Premonstratensians, that, at one time, when he used to say the Rosary attentively and devoutly, while meditating on the mysteries, Our Lady used to appear to him resplendent in breathtaking majesty and beauty. But, as time went on, his fervor cooled and he fell into the way of saying his Rosary hurriedly and without giving it his full attention. Then one day Our Lady appeared to him again, but this time she was far from beautiful, and her face was furrowed and drawn with sadness. Blessed Hermann was appalled at the change in her, and Our Lady explained, "This is how I look to you, Hermann, because this is how you are treating me; as a woman to be despised and of no importance. Why do you no longer greet me with respect and attention while meditating on my mysteries and praising my privileges?" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, The Secret of the Rosary, "Forty-Second Rose").
The Devil Wants us to Pray Badly
Yes, badly! Sadly, this is the manner in which too many of us pray—or should we use the verb "say"—our Rosaries. We treat them like a chore, something that has to be done, but our hearts are not really in them. Our Rosaries are routine, mechanical, distracted, hurried, lukewarm and, basically, insulting to Heaven. We bring to mind Our Lord's complaint of how people prayed to God: "This people honoureth Me with their lips: but their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8). The devil knows that if he cannot stop us from praying, then the next best thing is to make us pray badly! In that way, our prayer becomes much less effective and we will even get punished for praying badly—for praying badly is a venial sin!
Our Lady told Lucia that the important part of the Rosary is the meditation. We could say that the prayers of the Rosary (Our Fathers, Hail Marys, etc) are the body or the material side of the Rosary; whereas the meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary is the soul or the spiritual side of the Rosary. We all know what a body is without its soul, don't we? It is no more than a corpse! Not that the Our Fathers and Hail Marys are useless by themselves, but they are given life and power by the meditation of the mysteries. The devil will have us content ourselves with the mere prayers and will have us forget about the mysteries.
Less Means More
If we truly want to profit from our Rosaries, then let us start to meditate them. We do not have to meditate all fifteen in one day! Take a mystery for an entire day and think about it whenever you can, while driving, walking, eating, even working if some kinds of work permit that without having the work suffer. St. Francis de Sales speaks of our meditation being like a bee that lands on a particular flower—the bee will stay on that flower until it gets all the pollen that it can extract, and only then will it move on to another. We should be "busy-bees" in our Rosary mysteries, and not flit superficially from one mystery to another, drawing little or nothing from any. Stay on the same mystery for several days if necessary, or even a week, or even a month! As long as you are drawing fruit from it, that is the important thing! These meditations will be in no way e
Hopefully, these Rosary Meditations will help you do so! We will not post more than one at a time, so that you learn to take your time and delve and dig deep into each mystery. Each mystery is so rich that it is unfathomable—it is just modern man who is lazy and doesn't like to dig very much! These meditations do not pretend to be exhaustive or all-embracing, they are a mere spark that hopefully sets fire to your soul to go ahead and penetrate each mystery more and more fully. Ave Maria!