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25 May 2003

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The Rosary - ‘a treasure to be rediscovered’

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The Rosary - ‘a treasure to be rediscovered’

By Fr John Flader

In his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae encouraging renewed devotion to the Rosary, Pope John Paul II called the Rosary a “treasure to be rediscovered”.

Why is the Rosary a treasure?

In the first place, because it leads to a greater love for the central figure of our faith, Jesus Christ.

In the words of the Pope: “The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium … With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love” (n 1).

With the addition of the Luminous Mysteries, the compendium of the Gospel is enriched by the inclusion of significant events in the public life of Christ. They fill in the gap between the infancy of Christ considered in the Joyful Mysteries, and the end of Christ’s earthly life considered in the Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. As the Pope explains: “This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer’s traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary’s place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory”

(n 19). Each of the new mysteries, in the words of the Pope, is “a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus” (n 21).

The Luminous Mysteries

In the Baptism of Christ the Holy Spirit comes down on Jesus to invest him with the mission which he is to carry out, while the voice of the Father declares Jesus to be his beloved Son. The Baptism reveals in a luminous way the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. While contemplating this mystery we can also consider such truths as the gift of our own Baptism, the descent of the Holy Spirit on us in Confirmation, the reality of the Father calling us too to be his beloved sons and daughters, and we can examine ourselves to see whether God can say of us as he does of Jesus: “In you I am well pleased.”

At the Wedding Feast of Cana, Jesus manifests his divinity by his first miracle. Here it can be helpful to meditate on such truths as the gift of the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, the power of Mary’s intercession in asking Jesus to work the miracle, the level of our faith in Jesus’ power to do miracles today, and our own response to Mary’s command to “do whatever he tells you”.

Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God includes in reality all of his preaching, by word and example, about the Kingdom. The Holy Father singles out especially the call to conversion - “Repent and believe the Gospel.” (Mk 1:15) - and Jesus’ forgiving the sins of all who draw near to him in humble trust (cf Mk 2:3-13), thus inaugurating that ministry of mercy which he continues to exercise until the end of the world, especially through the sacrament of Reconciliation (Jn 20:22-23). Among the many other truths that can be considered while saying this mystery are the call to “Heal the sick” with the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the need to learn the truths of Jesus’ teaching by studying the faith, the need to “become as little children” in order to enter the Kingdom, the fact that all are called to enter the Kingdom, our own role in evangelisation, etc.

The Transfiguration, as the Pope says, is “the mystery of light par excellence”. Here “the glory of the Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished apostles to ‘listen to him’ (cf Lk 9:35) and to prepare to experience with him the agony of the passion, so as to come with him to the joy of the resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit” (n 21). In addition to these truths one can meditate on the joy of being alone with Jesus, the need to find some time each day to contemplate the face of Jesus like the apostles, the hope of one day being transfigured with Jesus in heaven, and the truth of the divinity of Christ, which is made manifest in the transfiguration.

In the Institution of the Eucharist, Christ gives us the Blessed Sacrament of his body and blood and he institutes at the same time the priesthood. In this mystery we can consider such truths as the gift of the Eucharist and the priesthood, our faith in the Real Presence, the importance of the Mass, the spirit of service revealed in Jesus’ washing the feet of his disciples, etc.

The Rosary as contemplation

Another reason why the Rosary is a treasure is that it is a form of contemplative prayer within the reach of all. In Rosarium Virginis Mariae the Pope writes: “But the most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery which I have proposed in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte as a genuine ‘training in holiness’: What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer.”

He goes on to say: “The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praise-worthy traditions of Christian contemplation” (n 5).

Truly, the Rosary is a form of contemplation within the reach of all. It is easy for anyone to contemplate, for the two or three minutes that it takes to recite a mystery of the Rosary, truths such as Our Lady’s docility to the will of God in the Annunciation, her generosity in the Visitation, Our Lord’s love for mankind in the Crucifixion, etc, while calmly reciting the 10 Hail Marys of the mystery. When we do that, moreover, the question of the repetitiveness of the Rosary does not arise.

The Rosary is a treasure, too, because it is a form of meditation on the Scriptures. Some might ask in objecting to the Rosary: “But shouldn’t the faithful be spending their time reading and meditating on the Scriptures rather than praying the Rosary?” In reality that is precisely what they do.

The mysteries of the Rosary are important events in the life of Jesus and Mary taken from and based on the Scriptures.

To meditate on them is to meditate on the Scriptures. This meditation on the life of Christ, the Pope says, presupposes and promotes lectio divina‚ the prayerful meditation on the Word of God. The mysteries contemplated in the Rosary “easily draw the mind to a more expansive reflection on the rest of the Gospel, especially when the Rosary is prayed in a setting of prolonged recollection” (n 29).

The Rosary can be considered a treasure also for the many aspects of the Catholic faith that are somehow contained in the 20 mysteries. Many dogmas of faith related to Mary and Jesus as well as virtues, devotions, and the sacraments are suggested by the mysteries. In this sense, the Rosary is like a compendium of the Catholic faith.

By meditating on these themes while praying the Rosary, the faithful are reminded repeatedly of the essential truths and aspects of their faith contained in the mysteries, and so are enabled to “imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise”.

And how can we not consider the Rosary a treasure for being a form of prayer which unites families and other groups when they pray it together? Any family or group that prays the Rosary will attest to the effect of that prayer in drawing the members closer together, calming tensions and engendering a more charitable and joyful spirit. As the Pope says: “The Holy Rosary, by age-old tradition, has shown itself particularly effective as a prayer which brings the family together. Individual family members, in turning their eyes towards Jesus, also regain the ability to look one another in the eye, to communicate, to show solidarity, to forgive one another and to see their covenant of love renewed in the Spirit of God” (n 41).

One could say the same as regards the benefits experienced by the parish or any other group when they pray the Rosary together.

And, finally, the Rosary is a treasure in that it is a powerful means of praying for various intentions. We all have many intentions that we would like to see realised: the healing of a relationship, the finding of a job, the return to health of a sick person, the return to the sacraments of a person who has been away from the faith, peace in the world ... After the Mass, the Rosary must surely be one of the most powerful ways of beseeching Our Lord, through the intercession of our Lady, for these intentions. The Holy Father mentions particularly the importance of praying the Rosary at the present time for peace and for the family (n 6).

In view of the many benefits which have come through the Rosary down the ages, it is to be hoped that the gift to the Church of the Luminous Mysteries and the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae will bring about a renewed interest in the recitation of this traditional prayer.

As the Pope puts it: “I look to all of you, brothers and sisters of every state of life, to you, Christian families, to you, the sick and elderly, and to you, young people: confidently take up the Rosary once again.

“Rediscover the Rosary in the light of Scripture, in harmony with the Liturgy, and in the context of your daily lives” (n 43).