Easiest and Hardest Misteries of the Rosary

[Augustine]

I don’t know about you, but I think that the easiest misteries to medidate on are the Sorrowful Misteries, particularly because of The Passion.

But perhaps the one that’s most challenging to me is the Transfiguration. I have a hard time even understanding how it relates to the other Luminous Misteries.

How about you?

 

[MBS1]

A friend asked me that if Catholics pray the rosary and meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ, why do we say more Hail Marys than Our Fathers. In other words, why take the time to petition Mary. He does understand that we will petition the Saints and Mary to pray to Jesus for us when we are not able to (since no one can pray 24/7). I meditate on the mysteries (I am partial to the joyful mysteries). I couldn’t answer the question though. If we are meditating about Christ during the Rosary, why not direct all the prayers at that time to Him? I should note that my friend is an ex-catholic who has a hard time with all the “Mary stuff” in the church. Can anyone give me a good answer? I know intrinsically that Mary is a great intercessor to Jesus for us, I just don’t know how to answer this particular question. Thanks and God Bless.

MBS1

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Because all Marian devotion leads to God.
Mary is our Mother, Christ our Brother, God our Father.
The Rosary is a family type of prayer, internally and externally.

The Hail Mary is scriptural. The mysteries are all taken from the gospels (good news).

I guess I don’t understand how we wouldn’t acknowledge our family basis (since we are children of God) in the prayers of the Rosary. The Hail Mary isn’t anti-God, quite the contrary. The heart of the prayer is contained in “blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”. No Jesus, no Mary.

Reciting the Hail Mary isn’t neglecting God, quite the opposite. The more we honor Mary, the more we thereby worship God, who created her (not the other way around). I guess people extrapolate somehow that since Mary is honored, she’s automatically the one worshipped as well. Apparently the non-Catholics cannot seem to grasp the truth that one can honor a person without worshipping him or her. And to think that we Catholics are accused of being closed-minded regarding Mary!

 

[Kaily]

Like you, I find the Sorrowful the easiest to meditate on, and yes partly due to The Passion. The hardest for me, they all seem to be harder for me to meditate on, the sorrowful I meditate on the best. Hopefully it will get deeper sometime though.

God Bless

 

[Tantum_ergo]

I find the Joyful Mysteries easiest, personally, right now. The whole Hail Mary prayer is especially appropos for these mysteries. Sometimes the Sorrowful Mysteries make me so sorrowful that it distracts from my prayers. I love the Glorious Mysteries especially the Assumption and Coronation of Mary; I’m getting more accustomed to the Luminous Ones which I suppose right now are hardest only because they are “newer”, and especially like the Institution of the Eucharist in this Year of the Eucharist too.

 

[springbreeze]

Augustine:

I don’t know about you, but I think that the easiest misteries to medidate on are the Sorrowful Misteries, particularly because of The Passion.

But perhaps the one that’s most challenging to me is the Transfiguration. I have a hard time even understanding how it relates to the other Luminous Misteries.

How about you?

Dearest Augustine

You are very right it is easier to meditate on the mysteries of Christ Jesus Passion. At Mass we focus on this and such empathy and sympathy is in our hearts for Christ Jesus in this respect that we find this easier to picture in our hearts and minds and take fully to ourselves.

Personally I find the whole life of Christ Jesus a mystery, it is afterall, all of God and a constant revelation to us, though the fullness of Christ’s Revelation lies in Sacred Scripture complete and entire. It is our understanding and ‘enlightenment’ of it by the power of the Holy Spirit that is constantly developing and the full deposit of this lies in the Majesterium of the Church and I know this because of my own struggles over time to understand certain aspects of Christ Jesus, the mysteries are never ending and will take all of eternity to understand in fullness.

I see the Transfiguration as a many-fold revelation and it is truly enlightening to Christ Jesus’ nature. A real mystery of light! First I see it as Christ Jesus joining the Old Covenant with the New as He appears glorified by the Father with Moses and Elijah. The significance of their presence is to not only ratify Him as the Messiah, but also to join the Old with the New, not to cast the Old away for the New but to bring the Old to fullness of God’s revelation IN Him. Christ Jesus is also revealed here as God’s Son, as He is when He is baptised. The positioning of them also is revealing, Jesus stands between the two prophets, He is central and higher than they, He is reverred by them and they could only have knowledge of Him if they are in Heaven and truly did God’s will. Therefore the Father allowed their presence with Him at the Transfiguration and the purpose of this is to confirm not only His Sonship but also His Divinity.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[serendipity]

I also find it difficult to meditate on the Luminous mysteries, becuase they are so miraculous that it is difficult to think of how to apply them in my lives. I also have a bit of a difficulty accepting them as relevant as the other mysteries, since they were so recently introduced. It’s funny because these are some of my favorite scrpitural passages to read, but yet I am challenged to find lessons form them personally applicable to my life for a decade.

For the Transfiguration, I ask for guidance in interpreting Scripture with continuity and think about how thenew convenant introduced by Jesus is so much an extension of truths revealed to Moses and Elijah. Sorry, nothing too deep.

I also find the Glorious mysteries a great challenge. Thinking of how to relate the lessons of the Ascension for my life. And the last two are the most difficult for me, since they have the least amount of scripitural basis. I usually think about the role that faith plays and the need for promoting better understanding of Mary’s role to other Christians. Pentecost offer me the most hope.

I hope that doesn’t sound too blasphemous, because I am comforted by the though of so many who have already received the Holy Spirit through baptism; even though they may have strayed from the Church. Just the fact that there are so many baptised on the earth gives me greater confidence that eventually more people will be converted interiorly to return to the Church. Kind of like, the seeds are already out there, all that is needed when talking to such people is gudiance form God as to how best to activate those seeds.

I find the Joyful and Sorrowful mysteries the easiest and most edifying for mediation. It is always easy for me to find lessons from them for my life.

 

[springbreeze]

serendipity:

For the Transfiguration, I ask for guidance in interpreting Scripture with continuity and think about how thenew convenant introduced by Jesus is so much an extension of truths revealed to Moses and Elijah. Sorry, nothing too deep.

Dearest Serendipity

When I consider the Transfiguration I think and ask God to show me as I truly am and in God I can only be known as I truly am and who I am supposed to be. In the Transfiguration we see Christ Jesus as He truly is, God and man, the Messiah. This causes me to then reflect as how I truly am spiritually, am I all God would desire of me? Where should I improve and ask for graces to do that. How can I fulfill whatever vocation I have in life and truly in that vocation contemplate and actively live out what God desires of me? I can only do all of this if I heed to God the Father’s words at the Transfiguration …

’ This is my beloved Son, listen to Him’.

which echo’s Mary’s words at Cana…

‘Whatever He says to you, do it’

God bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[maryprayforme]

The Fifth Joyful Mystery - The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. Don’t know why I get stuck on that one. I have not prayed the Luminous Mysteries yet. My husband and I have talked about praying them before Mass on Sunday - we have a 45 minutess drive to Mass. I know they are designated for Thursday, but for me it is anachronistic to pray these in place of the Joyful. Plus, it may be more helpful to our children to prepare them for Mass and the Eucharist. So now I need to get some Luminous Mysteries pictures together for our 5-year-old to reflect on while we pray.

 

[Augustine]

Tantum ergo:

… I’m getting more accustomed to the Luminous Ones which I suppose right now are hardest only because they are “newer”, and especially like the Institution of the Eucharist in this Year of the Eucharist too.

In my case, I thought that the Luminous Misteries fit the whole Rosary so beautifully that it was a mistery to me why they weren’t added centuries ago! IMO, they fill in an obvious part of the Gospels missing from the traditional Rosary.

Some may take time to get used to them, some may cherish the fact that 150 Hail Mary coincided with 150 Psalms, but in the end, they are 5 more misteries from Our Lord’s time on Earth.

We are blessed for John Paul II. It’s not every time that a pope is a living saint!

 

[Augustine]

MBS1:

A friend asked me that if Catholics pray the rosary and meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ, why do we say more Hail Marys than Our Fathers. In other words, why take the time to petition Mary.

Why not? Jesus Himself gave us His Mother. Why then would anyone who calls himself a Christian ignore Her?

Besides, if Mother Mary does convey our petitions to Jesus, as a good son, He would conceed them immediately and abundantly.

But, no, I don’t have a good answer. At least not one good enough for Protestants to understand, as they shun at Her mediative role.

But the fact remains that Mary always brings Jesus to us, now as 2000 years ago. Even if someone wrongly ends up effectively worshiping her, she’ll correct it by bringing one closer to Jesus.

 

[Augustine]

springbreeze:

I see the Transfiguration as a many-fold revelation and it is truly enlightening to Christ Jesus’ nature. A real mystery of light! First I see it as Christ Jesus joining the Old Covenant with the New as He appears glorified by the Father with Moses and Elijah. The significance of their presence is to not only ratify Him as the Messiah, but also to join the Old with the New, not to cast the Old away for the New but to bring the Old to fullness of God’s revelation IN Him. Christ Jesus is also revealed here as God’s Son, as He is when He is baptised. The positioning of them also is revealing, Jesus stands between the two prophets, He is central and higher than they, He is reverred by them and they could only have knowledge of Him if they are in Heaven and truly did God’s will. Therefore the Father allowed their presence with Him at the Transfiguration and the purpose of this is to confirm not only His Sonship but also His Divinity.

Yet again, thank you for feeding me with solid food for thought, I mean, for meditation.

 

[Augustine]

serendipity:

I also find the Glorious mysteries a great challenge. Thinking of how to relate the lessons of the Ascension for my life. And the last two are the most difficult for me, since they have the least amount of scripitural basis. I usually think about the role that faith plays and the need for promoting better understanding of Mary’s role to other Christians.

Jesus loved His mother so much that it’s logical that He’d want her by His side as He knew Her on Earth: body and soul. She, who was conceived without sin, whose flesh was His own too and which He took to Heaven with Him, had a place reserved for her beside Him.

And as He is King of Heaven and of all Creation, His mother is thus the Queen Mother, deserving of being crowned in His Kingdom, where hopefully we’ll all be subjects.

 

[Mary3]

maryprayforme:

The Fifth Joyful Mystery - The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. Don’t know why I get stuck on that one.

That one is currently my favorite, too. I have had different favorite mysteries at various points in life. Why the finding of Jesus in the Temple?

I have two teenagers. They are very good children, but are going through the normal degree of teenage rebellion. Occasionally, they fail to communicate about where they are going, and it causes me distress.

I am comforted to know that Mary and Joseph experienced some of the same thing with Jesus. At the age of 12, He went off on His own agenda and failed to communicate with his parents. They were frantic for three days. Then when they found Him, it was in the safest possible place, His Father’s temple. My prayer is always that I will find my children in that same place after a period of anxiety about their waywardness.

 

[ffinch]

Augustine:

I don’t know about you, but I think that the easiest misteries to medidate on are the Sorrowful Misteries, particularly because of The Passion.

But perhaps the one that’s most challenging to me is the Transfiguration. I have a hard time even understanding how it relates to the other Luminous Misteries.

How about you?

I too find meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries so much earier for me. I find this to be true because when praying for someone who is in need, it is helpful to place that person and their needs in the Garden with Jesus, or on the way to Golgotha etc.

I am finding the other Mysteries as helpful too. It just seems that
I need to work a little harder on concentration in prayer when meditating on other aspects of the life of Jesus.

 

[Genesis315]

I suggest finding a booklet for a “Scriptural Rosary” which will have little passages from scripture associated with each Mystery. It should give you a good idea of what to be focusing on.

 

[maryprayforme]

Genesis315:

I suggest finding a booklet for a “Scriptural Rosary” which will have little passages from scripture associated with each Mystery. It should give you a good idea of what to be focusing on.

My oldest 2 children find that very valuable. They like this booklet the best. Haven’t seen one with the Luminous Mysteries yet.

 

[maryprayforme]

serendipity:

I also find it difficult to meditate on the Luminous mysteries, becuase they are so miraculous that it is difficult to think of how to apply them in my lives. I also have a bit of a difficulty accepting them as relevant as the other mysteries, since they were so recently introduced. It’s funny because these are some of my favorite scrpitural passages to read, but yet I am challenged to find lessons form them personally applicable to my life for a decade.

For the Transfiguration, I ask for guidance in interpreting Scripture with continuity and think about how thenew convenant introduced by Jesus is so much an extension of truths revealed to Moses and Elijah. Sorry, nothing too deep.

+JMJ+

Serendity,

I understand what you mean about the newness of the Luminous Mysteries. I, too, first looked at them as a novelty. Then, I thikn throught he working of the Holy Spirit, I began to think that just because the other 15 were around for so long doesn’t mean these new ones are less credible. I mean the Pope clearly is being led by the Holy Spirit and I think since so much has been lost in catechesis lately that we need to reflect on these mysteries to bring about a new respect for the Real Presence in the Eucharist, re-evangelization, and understanding that God has a wonderful plan for us and our role in making that plan come to fuitiion.

So we are starting with them on Sunday. We pray the Rosary after dinner everynight anyways. So we will probably still do the Glorious, Joyful, or Soorowful (depending on the season) after dinner on Sunday. But we will start with the Luminous on Sunday before Mass.

 

[Genesis315]

Strangely enough, I like the Luminous the best! There just seems to be a hole missing without them. We had everything but Jesus’ actual adult life!

 

[abraham]

Hardest: The scourging at the pillar. Breaks my heart every time.

Easiest: Annunciation, Nativity. As a father of three small children I can relate easily to both accepting and honoring new life. “Whatever you’ve done to the least of these, you’ve done it unto me”