Meditating on the Mysteries
The 20 mysteries contained in the Rosary are Bible stories that everyone is familiar with from the life of Jesus and Mary and are chronological. With the Rosary, we focus on Him and we meditate on His life in order to apply those life lessons to our own lives; we strive to imitate Him.
The word ‘meditation’ implies emptying your mind with the intent of becoming one with God, but the Rosary does not approach us that way. Praying the Rosary well means that all aspects of our humanity, including our thoughts, our desires and our will become involved. And that makes so much sense because God created humans as ‘thinking’ people. We aren’t meant to ‘empty’ our minds. Our minds are what separates us and makes us different from other creatures. The Rosary is geared to who we are as humans.
The original 15 mysteries are sorted into groups of five under three headings — Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious. The first two are easy enough to understand and relate to in our own lives since we all have happy and sad times. The Glorious portion of the Rosary may be harder to relate to initially though, because it deals with our eternal selves that can’t be seen or experienced now, on this earth, but is believed through faith. Through these meditations, by bringing the Glorious mysteries to our attention, we are assured and reminded us that we are created as eternal beings. The 4th set of mysteries was added in 2002 are called the Luminous mysteries. They deal with the sacraments and the public life of Jesus — those years when He began to reveal Himself as the truth and the way – our light.
Resolutions and Thanks statements
To personalize the Rosary for yourself, review the bible passages with each mystery, put yourself in the scene and craft your own statements starting with “I desire to…” or “I resolve to… ” and “I thank you for…”
Intentions
With each Rosary, decade or prayer, state an intention for yourself, your family, leaders, the innocent and jaded, the souls in purgatory, the world.
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