"From 'mysteries' to the 'Mystery': Mary's way" -- St. JPII

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Would that every Catholic would read or re-read St. John Paul II’s letter “On the Most Holy Rosary”! It seems so often some Catholics seek “political correctness” in not wanting to speak too much about Mary. How sad this is – to miss the very “Model” for the Church God has given to us! Hopefully, those who read St. JPII’s words, appreciate in ever deeper ways, God’s gift of “Mary” to us from His Cross telling us: “Behold Your Mother”. By God’s Grace may we take Mary into our lives. May we learn from her to receive and to give Jesus to others.

From “mysteries” to the “Mystery”: Mary’s way

1. The cycles of meditation proposed by the Holy Rosary are by no means exhaustive, but they do bring to mind what is essential and they awaken in the soul a thirst for a knowledge of Christ continually nourished by the pure source of the Gospel. Every individual event in the life of Christ, as narrated by the Evangelists, is resplendent with the Mystery that surpasses all understanding (cf. Eph 3:19): the Mystery of the Word made flesh, in whom “all the fullness of God dwells bodily” (Col 2:9). For this reason the Catechism of the Catholic Church places great emphasis on the mysteries of Christ, pointing out that “everything in the life of Jesus is a sign of his Mystery”.(30) The “duc in altum” of the Church of the third millennium will be determined by the ability of Christians to enter into the “perfect knowledge of God’s mystery, of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3). The Letter to the Ephesians makes this heartfelt prayer for all the baptized: “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, so that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power… to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (3:17-19).

The Rosary is at the service of this ideal; it offers the “secret” which leads easily to a profound and inward knowledge of Christ. We might call it Mary’s way. It is the way of the example of the Virgin of Nazareth, a woman of faith, of silence, of attentive listening. It is also the way of a Marian devotion inspired by knowledge of the inseparable bond between Christ and his Blessed Mother: the mysteries of Christ are also in some sense the mysteries of his Mother, even when they do not involve her directly, for she lives from him and through him. By making our own the words of the Angel Gabriel and Saint Elizabeth contained in the Hail Mary, we find ourselves constantly drawn to seek out afresh in Mary, in her arms and in her heart, the “blessed fruit of her womb” (cf Lk 1:42).

O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in your servants, in the spirit of holiness, in the fullness of your power, in the perfection of your ways, in the truth of your virtues, in the communion of your mysteries. Rule over every adverse power, in your Spirit, for the glory of the Father. Amen. (Prayer of Fr.Jean Jacques Olier, S.S. (1608-1657)

 

[Greenfields]

Thank you for posting this MariaChristi I’ve been praying the Rosary since I could first talk .God bless.

 

[BT3241]

Will get no argument from me I am with you on this.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks so much for your reply, dear Greenfields.

Can’t say that I began to pray as early as you did, but thanks to the nuns who taught me in the elementary grades and through high school I did begin as a young person.

Pope St. John Paul II saw the decline in Marian devotion and spoke of it to a group of Legion of Mary members in October of 1982. I’ve quoted this many times but never tire of repeating it because I believe it is so important:

Where the Mother is, there too is the Son. When one moves away from the Mother, sooner or later he ends up keeping distant from the Son as well. It is no wonder that today, in various sectors of secularised society, we note a widespread crisis of faith in God, preceded by a drop in devotion to the Virgin Mother

The Apostolic Letter of JPII was written in 2002, and I believe he saw the need to encourage Catholics in particular to return to this powerful prayer and devotion to Jesus through Mary. In adding the Luminous Mysteries, he helped us ponder a fuller realization of Christ’s Public Ministry and wrote in his Letter On the Most Holy Rosary:

…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…

May we continue to pray the Rosary with ever more attention and devotion, entering more and more into the depths of the Heart of Christ, with Mary.

.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks for not arguing So happy to read you are with me (and St. JPII) in this!