Which are the most difficult of the Mysteries of the Rosary for you to meditate on?

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My most difficult Mysteries of the Rosary are the fourth and fifth of the Glorious Mysteries. While there is a fair bit in the New Testament for the first three, there is not a lot - even in Church Tradition - to go on about the Assumption and the Coronation.

Has anyone got any ideas on improving my meditation on these as I say my rosary?

With thanks,

Rove
 
I think it may be fruitful to go to some of the Old Testament foreshadowings for these particular mysteries.

I like certain passages from chapter 15 of Judith for one thing, and can easily meditate on them as applying to Our Lady -

"You are the glory of Jerusalem, the surpassing joy of Israel; You are the splendid boast of our people.

With your own hand you have done all this; You have done good to Israel, and God is pleased with what you have wrought. May you be blessed by the Lord Almighty forever and ever!" And all the people answered, “Amen!” …

All the women of Israel gathered to see her; and they blessed her and performed a dance in her honor. She took branches in her hands and distributed them to the women around her.

And she and the other women crowned themselves with garlands of olive leaves. At the head of all the people, she led the women in the dance, while the men of Israel followed in their armor, wearing garlands and singing hymns."

There are other parallels you might be able to take from Song of Solomon - ‘who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?’ (Song of Songs 6:10).

Neither of these are really original ideas - there are different scriptural Rosaries you can find online that will give you ideas.
 
Thank you for those beautiful Scriptures. I would not have thought of those. I think the more that we can broaden the boundaries of the Mysteries the more we will grow in our contemplations/meditations as time moves on.

God bless you,

Rove
 
roveau said:
My most difficult Mysteries of the Rosary are the fourth and fifth of the Glorious Mysteries. While there is a fair bit in the New Testament for the first three, there is not a lot - even in Church Tradition - to go on about the Assumption and the Coronation.

Has anyone got any ideas on improving my meditation on these as I say my rosary?

With thanks,

Rove
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I have the exact same difficulty and have had this for many years. I just try to pray through it and wait for inspiration in the future.

I have the same problem with all Christian mysticism, such as apparitions and private revelations. Part of the problem is the annoyance that it seems there is no end to these private revelation. Part of the problem is that these seem to be embellishments, romanticisms (perhaps latently sexual).

Part of my problem is psychological, because I don’t have a good relationship with my own mother (my mother seems to have treated me like a brother rather than a son).

And part of the problem is a logical one. If Mary can pray for us and is our mother, why do I have to pray to her and ask her for that favor?

People seem to say that Mary leads us to Jesus – well she seems to have done her job because I have no problem talking to Him. It seems like a needless distraction to pray to Mary.
 
Crumpy said:
And part of the problem is a logical one. If Mary can pray for us and is our mother, why do I have to pray to her and ask her for that favor?
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And if Jesus can pray for us and is our brother, is it not equally a ‘logical problem’ to pray to Him and ask Him for that favour? For that matter, if the Father knows all that we need and think, why bother pray to Him either?

Fact is communicating and verbalising our needs and thoughts and feelings to Mary, to Jesus, to the Father, is chiefly for our benefit, because it helps us to be aware of our relationship with them. And prayer should also involve us stopping occasionally and LISTENING as well, once our talking is done.
People seem to say that Mary leads us to Jesus – well she seems to have done her job because I have no problem talking to Him. It seems like a needless distraction to pray to Mary.
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‘Honour your father and mother’. If we are to imitate Jesus, and as faithful followers our salvation depends upon us doing so, then it is the very opposite of a ‘needless distraction’ to treat His mother as our own.

On the contrary we must make it an essential point of our faith (which it is) to honour her as He did, to foster a relationship of love and respect such as He had with her. It is a very necessary part of the relationship with Him. ‘Know Mary, know Jesus. No Mary, no Jesus’, as the saying goes.

As someone who dearly loves her mother, I’d be most upset at anyone who ignored her or called her a ‘needless distraction’ when I made it clear that they were to treat her with consideration and respect. And I can’t imagine Our Lord is particularly fond of anyone who disses His momma either.

Jesus gave her to all of us to be our mother from the Cross. Ask Him among all those wonderful prayers of yours to help you see Mary through His loving eyes, and come to know and love her yourself.
 
I find Glorious 4 and 5 the most troublesome (in fact, I just don’t believe them). That’s why I don’t pray the Rosary, nor any other prayer devoted to Mary specifically. My rationale for this is: if I don’t believe the whole of it, why be a hypocrite and pray part of it?

In any case, most of the mysteries are not mysteries at all, at least not in the modern English understanding of the word “mystery”. I mean, as great or significant as they may be, most of them are events in the life of our lord, and clearly stated in the Bible. For example, the finding of the boy Jesus in the temple is hardly the stuff of legend–why this is the subject of a particular “mystery” is just that to me.

The same goes for most of the others, except perhaps Joyful 1 and Glorious 1 to 3, which, to me, are your genuine, rolled-gold mysteries.

It’s just the ones about the Assumption and the Coronation that are likely to cause debate (although, it must be noted, not among dedicated Catholics).
 
hansard said:
I find Glorious 4 and 5 the most troublesome (in fact, I just don’t believe them). That’s why I don’t pray the Rosary, nor any other prayer devoted to Mary specifically. My rationale for this is: if I don’t believe the whole of it, why be a hypocrite and pray part of it?

In any case, most of the mysteries are not mysteries at all, at least not in the modern English understanding of the word “mystery”. I mean, as great or significant as they may be, most of them are events in the life of our lord, and clearly stated in the Bible. For example, the finding of the boy Jesus in the temple is hardly the stuff of legend–why this is the subject of a particular “mystery” is just that to me.

The same goes for most of the others, except perhaps Joyful 1 and Glorious 1 to 3, which, to me, are your genuine, rolled-gold mysteries.

It’s just the ones about the Assumption and the Coronation that are likely to cause debate (although, it must be noted, not among dedicated Catholics).
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I don’t think that they are supposed to be mysteries in the modern sense of the word. The Rosary isn’t exactly modern. The finding of the child Jesus in the temple, is a mystery in the sense that it has many levels of interpretation. You can meditate on how the mystery relates to you and your search for God. Where do you find him working in your heart? Sometimes when we lose him, we think that he isn’t in the right place, when it is us that need to be moving, searching for him.
A lot of the mysteries appear to be simple relation of fact, and in one sense they are. But there is always something deeper. Think about the significance of the story. Why is it being told. What is the deeper truth that is being expressed.

For the Assumption, you could meditation on how Mary must have rejoiced to be in Heaven with her son and how that applies to your own longing to see God. It is also a good meditation on death and what it means if you love God.

The Coronation is a recognition of Mary as Jesus’ mother. She fills the role of Queen Mother in the Old Testament tradition. This mystery is a good meditation on what it means to be humble (to become what God intended and to understand that he is the cause of it). And what it means to have a role or vocation. Mary had a call, the coronation is kind of like the heavenly fulfillment of that role. What is your own vocation? How are you living so as to become what God intended?

Obviously those are just a few of the things that you can meditation on with those mysteries. Sometimes you have to pray and ask that God allow the deeper meaning of the mystery to sink into your heart. Sometimes praying in ways like Lectio Divina help as well.
 
Crumpy said:
…Part of my problem is psychological, because I don’t have a good relationship with my own mother …
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Thank you for expressing this insight. I have been thinking the same thing in the last few days and your point validates my thinking.

In the book the “The God of Jesus Christ: Meditations on the Triune God” Ratzinger has a wonderful insight on how the lack of a strong sense of fatherhood in our culture is affecting our religious beliefs and how we can have difficulties relating to God the Father as his children.

My reaction is that people (myself included) that have difficult relationship with their mothers can have difficulties in relating to Mary as our heavenly mother and in asking for her intercession. In the last several decades motherhood has been constantly attacked and even women that are willing to bear children may have some serious difficulties in understanding what the priorities are.
 
I used to have trouble associating what we are to gain from the mysteries with the real actions of the mysteries so I made lists of ten synonyms for each mystery, a happy example: one of my synonyms for humility is sheepishness. For the 4th Glorious I have words like bliss, euphoria, and jubilation. For the 5th Glorious mystery I have synonyms for the word devotion that I use with some of Mary’s titles from the litany of Loreto. I’ve got something to focus on, even if the events aren’t in Sacred Scripture.
 
The coronation is the most ‘blank’ for me because I can’t imagine Heaven.
But, in my little way I do imagine the love and the wholeness that only Heaven can represent. And that suffices.
 
For the coronation I find it helpful to think of Marian apparitions. I like this particulary mystery because it doesn’t “just” show us the biblical event of the past but reaches into the present. Mary was crowned in heaven and in that role is appearing in many places to guide us today (for example the Madonna of Fatima wears a crown).

The mystery I have most trouble with is the 4th joyful. My favorite is the 4th lumious mystery. 🙂
 
roveau said:
My most difficult Mysteries of the Rosary are the fourth and fifth of the Glorious Mysteries. While there is a fair bit in the New Testament for the first three, there is not a lot - even in Church Tradition - to go on about the Assumption and the Coronation.

Has anyone got any ideas on improving my meditation on these as I say my rosary?

With thanks,

Rove
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They never did teach me how to properly pray the Rosary at a Catholic convent . . . so
 
Wesley7 said:
They never did teach me how to properly pray the Rosary at a Catholic convent . . . so
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Never too late to learn! Always ask the Holy Spirit to pray through you and your guardian angel to pray with you - you might be surprised how that gets things moving … :getholy:
 
roveau said:
My most difficult Mysteries of the Rosary are the fourth and fifth of the Glorious Mysteries. While there is a fair bit in the New Testament for the first three, there is not a lot - even in Church Tradition - to go on about the Assumption and the Coronation.

Has anyone got any ideas on improving my meditation on these as I say my rosary?

With thanks,

Rove
Click to expand...
The most difficult mysteries of the Rosary to me are the Luminous mysteries. I have been used to the traditional 15, it is just hard getting used to the 5 Luminous mysteries
 
Try this also …

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”

This is a beautiful image to meditate on. First, become familiar with some of the great images of the Blessed Virgin in art or in Catholic devotion. (I always carry a few to look at as an inspiration for prayer).

Then – “a great sign appeared in heaven” …

She gave us a glimpse at Fatima – this is a foreshadowing of the return of the Lord. He will be the greatest sign to appear in the heavens.

In our daily grind, with all the focus on the things of the world that people have – suddenly, one day … “a great sign” will appear.

It is a “woman clothed with the sun”.

Now that is a mental image that you can ponder for several Hail Mary’s just by itself.
She is clothed with the brilliant fire of the sun – radiating from her. Again, much like Fatima and the miracle of the sun. But this time, we see the kindness of Our Lady shining with the most brilliant light. Also – God is in control of all nature. There is nothing to fear.

There’s a lot more – the 12 stars are a sign of her glory. That’s her coronation.
 
Crumpy said:
And part of the problem is a logical one. If Mary can pray for us and is our mother, why do I have to pray to her and ask her for that favor?
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Abt prayer - see the main difference is ~ What is the difference between asking for a new car -or- asking to heal a certain disease.

A big difference between asking for “material possessions” and asking for something u need.

~Wesley
 
Wesley7 said:
Abt prayer - see the main difference is ~ What is the difference between asking for a new car -or- asking to heal a certain disease.

A big difference between asking for “material possessions” and asking for something u need.

~Wesley
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Well, we’re partly composed of material bodies, so material possessions are sometimes necessary. We pray in the Our Father for our ‘daily bread’, so God knows sometimes we actually NEED things like that new car. Especially if the old one is a piece of junk that won’t reliably transport you anywhere any more.
 
LilyM said:
Well, we’re partly composed of material bodies, so material possessions are sometimes necessary. We pray in the Our Father for our ‘daily bread’, so God knows sometimes we actually NEED things like that new car. Especially if the old one is a piece of junk that won’t reliably transport you anywhere any more.
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You bring up a good point Lily. I think of this concept like this: Would a father only give his children things they need and nothing else? Do they NEED that stuffed animal? Do they NEED that trampoline? Most of the time the answer will be no but that doesn’t stop the father from getting those things anyway. The father is ultimately invested in the happiness of his children and some material things bring happiness. So does that mean that some material things are in fact NEEDED? I believe so.

I think that some people think it is more pious to only pray for immaterial things to not burden God with such things as daring to want a new mode of transportation. God wants* all* of us not just our spiritual selves but our whole selves.
 
Two of my favorite mysteries are the Assumption and the Coronation…different strokes, I guess. An excellent book for detailed visions about Mary’s life is The Life of Mary as Seen by the Mystics compiled by Raphael Brown. Some have expressed reservations about private revelations, but in my opinion it is worthwhile reading, at the very least, to read the beautiful things that these saints and blesseds have written about the life of the holy family, and Mary in particular. As a side note, my favorite chapter is on the death of St. Joseph, but every chapter is very touching and good material for meditation.
 
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention which one I find the hardest to meditate on…🙂

I guess that’d be the Agony in the Garden because it is soooo hard to imagine the Lord taking on all the sins of man and bearing it. Although Christ endured such a complete mental/spiritual suffering as well as a complete physical suffering, I would tend to believe that His spiritual suffering to be so much more than the physical. I mean, a person can be tortured physically and then murdered but it would seem to me that the mental and spiritual suffering of bearing all the sins of man would be so much more difficult than the physical.
 
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