The Rosary

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Why, during the rosary, does one say to Mary “my hope, my sweetness, my life” (or something to that effect)?

Shouldn’t God and Jesus be our hope and life?
 
I think you are referring to the Salve Regina:

“Hail holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us. And after this our exile show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.”

You can find more information on Catholic teaching on The Holy Mother here:

198.62.75.12/www1/CDHN/creed3.html#MARY

198.62.75.12/www1/CDHN/church6.html#Mary

This is from The Nazareth Master Catechism website. It is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

You will find more info in the Apologetics section of the forums.

Pax Christi
 
Why, during the rosary, does one say to Mary “my hope, my sweetness, my life” (or something to that effect)?

Shouldn’t God and Jesus be our hope and life?
I would recommend a book by St. Alphonsus: The Glories of Mary <—clicky

He breaks down the Salve Regina and writes about each line. Insightful, to say the least; although, it is very heavy on the Marian devotion, so that might be difficult for you. He does explains a lot of things about Mary from a Catholic perspective. It IS NOT an apologetics work, though.

What St. Alphonsus has to say about that particular line “My hope, my sweetness, and my life” is very encouraging.

St. Alphonsus is a Doctor of the Church. Other works include “Conformity with God’s Will” (an incredible booklet!) and “How to Converse Continually and Familiarly with God”.

The most important thing to remember while studying Mariology is not to place her opposed to God. That is an impossible place for her to occupy. Our Blessed Mother’s will is completely uniform with God’s.
 
I would recommend a book by St. Alphonsus: The Glories of Mary <—clicky

He breaks down the Salve Regina and writes about each line. Insightful, to say the least; although, it is very heavy on the Marian devotion, so that might be difficult for you. He does explains a lot of things about Mary from a Catholic perspective. It IS NOT an apologetics work, though.

What St. Alphonsus has to say about that particular line “My hope, my sweetness, and my life” is very encouraging.
Thanks for that link. I will definitely check it out.
 
Thanks for that link. I will definitely check it out.
You’re welcome!

Just bear in mind that this work is not an apologetics work. It presupposes that you already understand and whole-heartedly agree with Marian Dogma.

It’s a wonderful work, though.
 
The Dominican Fathers have great info in relation to the Rosary to scripture. Its free and informative. The sight may even explain what your looking for.

rosary-center.org/
 
Since this thread is about the Rosary, then I have another question and it is about the Glorious Mysteries.

Many people have said that the purpose of the Rosary is to pray with Mary to Jesus and to ask Mary to pray for us to the Lord. During the meditative section on the mysteries, all of them seem to focus on Jesus except the 4th and 5th Glorious Mysteries, which seem to focus on Mary alone.

Can someone please explain how the Assumption of Mary and the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth helps us focus on Jesus?
 
Since this thread is about the Rosary, then I have another question and it is about the Glorious Mysteries.

Many people have said that the purpose of the Rosary is to pray with Mary to Jesus and to ask Mary to pray for us to the Lord. During the meditative section on the mysteries, all of them seem to focus on Jesus except the 4th and 5th Glorious Mysteries, which seem to focus on Mary alone.

Can someone please explain how the Assumption of Mary and the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth helps us focus on Jesus?
Because both of these mysteries help us to see how much Jesus loves us. When we see the plan that He had for His mother, we realize that He has a plan for every one of us, and all of those plans involve some day being with Him forever in heaven. When we see that Mary made it–she’s there with Jesus, we have hope and joy that someday, we will make it to heaven and be with Him!

We also realize through these mysteries the worth of human beings. We are not just cute animals that God decided to create because He wanted pets. The Lord God Himself died for our salvation so that we might be reconciled to Him–He wanted us that much. And our future in heaven is surely magnificent–a human being, a daughter of man and woman, no god, no divine being–just a human woman–is crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth. It takes our breath away to know that humans, when redeemed, can rule with God. We are NOT just animals.

The Bible says that there are crowns for all Christians in heaven–which crown(s) will we receive from Jesus Christ the Lord?
 
Since this thread is about the Rosary, then I have another question and it is about the Glorious Mysteries.

Many people have said that the purpose of the Rosary is to pray with Mary to Jesus and to ask Mary to pray for us to the Lord. During the meditative section on the mysteries, all of them seem to focus on Jesus except the 4th and 5th Glorious Mysteries, which seem to focus on Mary alone.

Can someone please explain how the Assumption of Mary and the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth helps us focus on Jesus?
The Assumption of Mary puts the new Eve back in Paradise…only through our Saviours Passion and Resurrection…definately a mystery including focus on Jesus

Mary is crowned Queen of the Universe…by Jesus Himself…definately a mystery including focus on Jesus…

God Bless
 
Because both of these mysteries help us to see how much Jesus loves us. When we see the plan that He had for His mother, we realize that He has a plan for every one of us, and all of those plans involve some day being with Him forever in heaven. When we see that Mary made it–she’s there with Jesus, we have hope and joy that someday, we will make it to heaven and be with Him!

We also realize through these mysteries the worth of human beings. We are not just cute animals that God decided to create because He wanted pets. The Lord God Himself died for our salvation so that we might be reconciled to Him–He wanted us that much. And our future in heaven is surely magnificent–a human being, a daughter of man and woman, no god, no divine being–just a human woman–is crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth. It takes our breath away to know that humans, when redeemed, can rule with God. We are NOT just animals.

The Bible says that there are crowns for all Christians in heaven–which crown(s) will we receive from Jesus Christ the Lord?
So, let me restate so that I can make sure I have a proper understanding of it:

Meditating on what happened to Mary (the Assumption and Coronation) isn’t so much about HER as it is a reflection of what is going to happen to US, in the fact of how willingly God will receive us into his kingdom and the value that he has for each and every one of us.
 
Mary is chosen by the Holy Spirit to lead followers to Jesus Christ. She was chosen as the Ark. At this point its a matter of historical fact which Fatima has confirmed and coincides with scripture.

Her victorys for the Lord are quiet, yet they are nonetheless very real. When you consider how many souls follow the confraternity, the blue army, or just the Rosary itself. Its number is millions. Thats a lot of souls Mary brings directly to God. Those are very real victorys for the Lord with saved souls.

Through the Blessed Mothers intercession it can be said, they were able to regain and find God once again, with all the obstacles of the physical world in the way, they regained their sight.

Its not what others have to do because Mary is the Queen of Heaven. Its what Mary does for the Lord because He desires and She wills to, which becomes what is amazing.
 
Since this thread is about the Rosary, then I have another question and it is about the Glorious Mysteries.

Many people have said that the purpose of the Rosary is to pray with Mary to Jesus and to ask Mary to pray for us to the Lord. During the meditative section on the mysteries, all of them seem to focus on Jesus except the 4th and 5th Glorious Mysteries, which seem to focus on Mary alone.

Can someone please explain how the Assumption of Mary and the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth helps us focus on Jesus?
By Tradition, Jesus called his Mother to Heaven in her body, her Assumption. 🙂

What good Jewish boy is not going to honor his Mother the best he can:D

And the coronation was much the same. And remember, there is no envy in heaven. The heavenly host rejoiced at both events:clapping:
 
By Tradition, Jesus called his Mother to Heaven in her body, her Assumption. 🙂

What good Jewish boy is not going to honor his Mother the best he can:D

And the coronation was much the same. And remember, there is no envy in heaven. The heavenly host rejoiced at both events:clapping:
I understand what you are saying, but it just seems weird that for a devotion that is supposed to be focused on Jesus, there are a couple of mysteries that are focused on the glorification of Mary.
 
So, let me restate so that I can make sure I have a proper understanding of it:

Meditating on what happened to Mary (the Assumption and Coronation) isn’t so much about HER as it is a reflection of what is going to happen to US, in the fact of how willingly God will receive us into his kingdom and the value that he has for each and every one of us.
We can also meditate on Who made possible the Assumption and Coronation.

God!

🙂
 
I understand what you are saying, but it just seems weird that for a devotion that is supposed to be focused on Jesus, there are a couple of mysteries that are focused on the glorification of Mary.
But exactly WHY is Mary ‘glorified?’ Because she is the Mother of Jesus, that’s why.

In the Davidic kingdom which prefigured that of Christ, it was not the ‘wife’ of the king who was the queen. . .it was the MOTHER of the King.

Mary is that mother. Therefore because of WHO JESUS IS, Mary is who SHE is. He is the King; because, and only because, of that, she is the Queen. She is crowned in heaven only because HE is crowned. The one follows from the other; the lesser (Mary) reflects the glory of the greater (Christ). Just as the moon reflects the glory of the sun and is able to cast a lesser light because, and only because, of the sun that gives it light, Mary reflects the glory of her Son.
 
Jesus was the chosen one, and Mary was his mother. If you’re going through hard times, remember Christ on the cross, meaning that we all must go through that narrow path to Heaven. Rosary is done not to look like Catholic people, but to know the solution to go to Heaven.
 
What we learned about the Hail Holy Queen is it’s saying Mary is the,
mother of our mercy
mother of our life
mother of our sweetness
mother of our hope. Each name refers to Jesus.

Mary is who she is b/c of her “Yes” to God & b/c of what Jesus did for her. The center of it is who she is relative to Jesus. Similarly, in the Hail Mary prayer, each line defines her by who she is in Christ;

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you,
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now & at the hour of our death.”

She’s about proclaiming what God has done for her and how she serves Him. She says as much; “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord” (the Annunciation/Joyful Mystery/Gospel) “My soul magnifies the Lord” (the Magnificat/Gospel), “Do whatever He tells you to do” (wedding @ Cana/Gospel). She’s a model for Christians showing the way to be.
“All generations will call me blessed.” Jesus honored his own mother, to be sure. …I think I strayed off topic. Anyway, there are other Christians, besides Catholics, who honor the Virgin Mary, but that’s another thread. 🙂
 
If it is easier for you, simply think of the fourth and fifth Glorious decades as an example of God’s unfathomable mercy. The fact that He did not allow His Mother’s body to deteriorate in a grave but brought her body and soul into heaven- this prefigures what will happen to us at the end of the world when our souls will be fused back into our glorified bodies. You can ponder the fact that He made a mere creature the Queen of heaven and earth which prefigures our own salvation and participation in the Heavenly Court.

God considers Mary (behind Jesus, of course) as the supreme example of how He wants us to live. Jesus is God and human, but Mary is all human. By pondering a little on her role, we are also pondering Her Son, because Mary was always in a state of grace and thus always united to God. By studying and imitating her, we start with the first rung on the ladder up to God.

So although it seems like the rosary is a lot of Mary-meditating- especially the Glorious mysteries, the end result will actually always be Jesus, because Mary always brings us back to her Son. She is never the end result.
 
I was wondering, the first time anyone of you prayed the rosary, did you feel anything different spiritually?
 
The only way in which I felt different was in learning that I could untangle beads, balance my “How To Pray The Rosary” book on my lap while looking up the Creed, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the HHQ, etc. and still drink coffee. It took me about a month of daily struggles before I felt somewhat comfortable. The feeling different came later!
 
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