The Holy Rosary
Roses of Prayer for The Queen of Heaven
by Rev. Daniel A. Lord, S.J
Tamil songs from Jebamaalai Isaimaalai album (2009)
Songs written by Fr. Arul Rajan
Music by Fr. Albin Roby
Singers:
SPB,Krishnaraj,Mano,Manjari,Deepa Miriyam, Harini and Fr. Albin
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First Joyful Mystery - The Annunciation
When
Adam and Eve sinned in Paradise, they lost their right to happiness.
But God promised to send His only Son to regain this happiness for
them. Out of all the world, God chose Mary to be the Mother of His Son.
One day the Angel Gabriel from heaven appeared to her. "Hail, full of
grace!" he cried. And he told her that she was to be the Mother of the
Most High. Mary answered, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord!" At that
moment the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God’s Son, entered the
world. This is called the Incarnation.
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Second Joyful Mystery - The Visitation
The
Angel Gabriel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth, though an old lady,
was to have a little son. This son was St. John the Baptist. So
immediately Mary hurried over the hills to take care of her cousin.
When Elizabeth saw her, she cried, "Blessed art thou among women, and
blessed is the fruit of thy womb." Mary answered by singing the
Magnificat. Mary stayed with her cousin until John the Baptist was
born. She was Elizabeth’s little nurse and maid servant. When John was
born and Elizabeth was strong again, Mary returned to her own home to
wait for the birth of her own dear Son, Jesus.
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Third Joyful Mystery - The Nativity
The
proud Roman Emperor ordered all his citizens to pay their taxes in
their home cities. So Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary traveled to
Bethlehem. Bethlehem was so full of visitors they could not find a
place to sleep. So they went out to a little stable in a hill. And
there Jesus, the Savior of the world, was born. A glorious star shone
in the heavens. Angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth
peace to men of good will!" Shepherds came to adore the newborn King.
Wise Men from the east brought Him lovely gifts. Mary was deeply happy.
She lifted Him high for the world to see. This was the first Christmas.
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Fourth Joyful Mystery - The Presentation
All
men and women are the children of God. The holy Jews carried each first
born son to the Temple and offered him to God. Then in his place, they
gave God a lamb or, if they were poor, a pair of pure white doves. So
Mary carried her Son to the Temple. She offered Him to God. Then,
because she was poor, she offered in His place two white doves. But a
great prophet called Simeon saw the Baby and knew this was the Savior
of the world. He cried aloud in his joy. And a wise old lady named Anna
blessed Him and His dear Mother. Then Mary carried her Son home again.
She was His beloved nurse and teacher and protector.
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Fifth Joyful Mystery - The Finding in the Temple
The
Jewish Temple was God’s house on earth. When Jesus was twelve years
old, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem where the Temple stood.
Jesus loved His Father’s house. So when Mary and Joseph returned to
Nazareth, their home town, He stayed behind. He knew that God wished
Him to stay longer in His Father’s house. Soon Mary and Joseph found
that Jesus was lost. They hurried back to the Temple. For three days
and nights they looked everywhere for Him. Finally, they found Him
seated among the doctors and priests. He was asking them wise questions
and teaching them about the Savior. He did this because this was "His
Father’s business. Then quietly He returned to Nazareth with Joseph and
Mary and for the rest of His youth, He was perfectly obedient to them.
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First Sorrowful Mystery - The Agony in the Garden
Everyone
who commits a sin is a criminal against the good God. So he should be
punished. But Jesus, our Saviour, came to take the sinner’s place. He
asked God to punish Him instead of us who really are the guilty ones.
This suffering of Christ we call His Passion. On Holy Thursday after He
gave us the Blessed Sacrament, He went into a lonely garden called
Gethsemane. He looked ahead and saw all He was going to suffer. He saw
all our sins, ugly, filthy, evil. And the thought of His Passion and
our sins made Him sweat blood. This blood poured down upon the ground
in His agony. Then Judas came with the soldiers. Like a traitor he
kissed Jesus. The soldiers led Him away to death.
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Second Sorrowful Mystery - The Scourging
Pilate,
the Roman Governor, knew that Jesus was not guilty. But all the people
cried out for His death. And because Jesus had taken our place, God,
His Father, was willing to let His Son die. Pilate ordered Him to be
whipped. The soldiers fastened Him to a stone column. Then with heavy
whips, they beat His back. Jesus suffered terribly from this scourging.
But He did not cry out. For He knew who many people commit sins with
their bodies. We sometimes call these the sins of the flesh. So He
wanted to suffer for their sad sins. He wanted us to be strong against
this kind of ugly sin.
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Third Sorrowful Mystery - The Crowning with Thorns
Jesus
was the King of Kings, the King of the Jews. But the Roman soldiers
thought this was funny. "Still, let’s pretend that He is, one of them
cried. "For a joke let’s make Him a crown." So they picked up a branch
of cruel thorns, and made it into a crown. They pushed it into the head
of our Savior. It hurt Him terribly. The blood ran down into His eyes.
The thorns tore His skin and reached toward His brain. Then the
soldiers put a reed in His hand. They threw a dirty red cloak over His
shoulders. They laughed at Him and cried, "Hail to the King!" Jesus
suffered all this because of our sins of thought and pride.
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Fourth Sorrowful Mystery - The Carrying of the Cross
Pilate
heard the people cry out, "Crucify Him!" So Pilate ordered Him to be
nailed on a cross. But first He had to carry His own cross up to the
top of Calvary. The cross was very heavy. The soldiers put it on His
shoulder and it rubbed against His torn flesh. They dragged Him through
the city and up the hill to die. The people laughed at Him and threw
rocks and mud. When He fell, the soldiers kicked Him to His feet. Once
along the way, He met Mary, His Mother. But she could do nothing to
help her dear Son. Veronica ran out of the crowd and wiped His face
with her veil. Some good women wept for Him. And Simon was forced to
help Him carry the cross.
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Fifth Sorrowful Mystery - The Crucifixion
For
three hours our dear Lord hung on the cross. He was taking on Himself
the punishment for our sins. He prayed to His Father in heaven,
"Father, forgive them." He forgave the terrible sinner who became the
Good Thief. He gave us His own dear Mother. He cried out because He was
thirsty for our love. At length, He knew that God had forgiven our
sins. Once more, we had the right to enter heaven. So He dropped His
head and died. "Greater love than this no man hath than to lay down his
life for his friends."
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First Glorious Mystery - The Resurrection
Christ died on Good Friday. He was buried in the Holy Sepulchre.
For
three days He lay dead. Soldiers guarded the tomb. The Roman Governor,
Pilate, placed on the heavy door the seal of Rome. Then Sunday morning
dawned. Beautiful light appeared in the sky. The soldiers saw light
pouring from the grave where Jesus lay. The great, heavy stone rolled
away of itself. And Jesus, glorious, strong, beautiful, and alive, came
forth from the tomb. He visited His dear Mother and thanked her. He
showed Himself to Mary Magdalen who was weeping for Him. He appeared to
His Apostles. He proved to us that we shall live forever. This was the
first Easter.
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Second Glorious Mystery - The Ascension
For
forth days Jesus remained on earth after His Resurrection. He
established His Church and gave it wonderful powers. He talked to His
friends, telling them about heaven, and about the work they must do
first for God and souls. Then one Thursday, He took them all up on
Mount Olivet. He gave them His last instructions and said goodbye.
Slowly by His own power, He began to rise from the earth. He stretched
out His hands to bless them. He smiled down for the last time upon His
Mother. At last a cloud covered Him, and He entered the joys of heaven.
An angel then came to the Apostles and told them to go back and begin
to work for souls. Some day they too would enter heaven and be happy
forever.
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Third Glorious Mystery - The Descent of the Holy Ghost
Christ
had promised the Apostles, "I will send you the Holy Spirit. He will be
your Comforter." After Jesus left them, the Apostles were afraid. So
they hid themselves in the little apartment of Mary. They prayed and
waited for nine days. This was the first Novena. Then on Pentacost,
over their heads, the Apostles saw parted tongues of fire. A tongue
settled on each of their heads. The Holy Spirit had come. At once, they
went out and began to tell everyone about Jesus. They spoke so strongly
that thousands believed and were baptized. This was the birthday of the
Catholic Church.
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Fourth Glorious Mystery - The Assumption
For
a long time, Jesus left His Mother on earth. He wanted her to take care
of His Apostles, and be the Mother of the new Church. Then one day He
quietly sent for her, and with a smile she died. The Apostles came from
all over the earth to be at her deathbed. They carried her body to her
grave and laid it gently in the ground. Saint Thomas came late, after
the burial. When the Apostles took him to the grave, they found it
empty and open. Where Mary’s body had rested, beautiful lilies were
growing. Jesus had sent His angels to bring the body of His Mother to
heaven. It was too pure to rest in the earth. It had served Him so well
that it must at once enjoy the happiness of heaven.
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Fifth Glorious Mystery - The Coronation
Mary
had served Jesus all her life. She had loved and served God with her
whole heart and soul. She had never committed the slightest sin. So in
heaven she was to have her reward. Body and soul, Mary entered heaven.
Her Son, Jesus, met her and took her in His grateful arms. The heavenly
Father said, "This is My dear devoted daughter." The Divine Son said,
"This is My dear faithful Mother." The Holy Spirit said, "This is my
sweet, pure bride." And the saints and angels all cried, "This is our
Queen!" So Jesus, the King of Kings, seated her on her throne. On her
head He placed a glorious crown of stars. But Mary looked down to see
her children on earth. For now she could help her sons and daughters to
reach heaven. Mary is the Queen of Heaven. But she is our loving Mother
who protects us with her power.
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Flowers for the Queen
Mary
is
the lovely Mother of the world. She is the beautiful Queen of
Heaven. Now the sweetest gift that people give to a mother and a queen
is a bouquet of flowers. Mary, since that first Christmas, has been
wonderfully good to all her children. So we love to give her roses.
Since she is in heaven, it is hard to give her roses from our gardens.
Yet we do this when we decorate her shrines. Always we can give her our
Rosary, a beautiful bouquet of prayers. So we lay the Rosary in the
arms of our Queen and Mother.
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Saint Dominic
Like
all
the great saints, Saint Dominic deeply loved God’s Mother, Mary. He
dedicated his splendid priests, the Dominicans, to her. Dominic taught
men to love the name of Jesus. He longed to make them know and love the
sweet Mother of Jesus. He wanted them to pray to her, to think of her,
to recall the wonderful life of Jesus and Mary. Mary loved her son,
Dominic. So she gave him a string of beads like a necklace. She taught
him how to use it. She asked him to give it to the world. And from that
day on, men and women have used the Rosary when they pray to God’s
Mother.
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Praying the Rosary
Sometimes,
when we pray to Mary, we talk to her. Sometimes, when we pray to Mary,
we just think about her and her Son. When we use the Rosary, we talk to her and think about her and Jesus at
the same time. For our vocal prayers we use the Apostles Creed, the Our
Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be to the Father. For our mental
prayers, we think about the great events in the life of Mary and her
divine Son called Mysteries. So when we use the Rosary, we talk to the
Blessed Trinity, to Our Father in Heaven, and to Mary herself. And all
the while we keep think about the great events that filled the life of
Jesus and Mary on earth.
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The Greatest String of Beads
Often
we call the Rosary our "beads." Almost every Catholic carries these
beads in his pocket or in her purse. Little children love to say them
with their parents. When Catholics die, usually their beads are twined through their fingers and they are
buried with them. Great saints have called their beads a ladder leading
up to heaven. But simple, uneducated people loved them too. Today, good
Catholics say them when they walk, in street cars, while they wait for
friends, at night in their rooms, driving their autos, wherever they
have a minute to think of Jesus and talk to Mary.
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The Way the Rosary is Said
Most
beads are only one-third the full Rosary. The beads start with a
crucifix. On this, we recite the Apostles Creed. Then on all the large
beads we say the Our Father. At the beginning of the Rosary there is
one of these large beads. Following it are three small beads. On each
bead we say the Hail Mary. The beads are connected
with a chain. When we come to the big space that follows each group of
Hail Marys we say the Glory Be to the Father. The beads are grouped in
decades called Mysteries; one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and one Glory
Be. On a small set of beads, there are five decades. On a complete
Rosary, there are fifteen decades.
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Thinking and Praying
We
like to say important things over and over again. Our mother loves to
hear us say repeatedly, "Mother, I love you!" When a hero passes, the
crowds keep shouting, "Hooray! Hooray!" So in the Rosary we repeat the
beautiful Hail Mary. Mary loves to think we greet her over and over
again. But while we do this, we keep
thinking about her and her Son. We pick a scene from her life and the
life of our Lord. We think of that while we say one decade. So with our
voices we praise and love God and Mary. And all the time, we keep
thinking about the things that made her happy, the cruel Passion of Our
Lord that made her sad, the glorious events that made her Queen of
Heaven.
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Days of the Week
So
when
we start the Rosary, we ask ourselves what day of the week it is.
If it is Monday or Thursday, we say, "For the five decades of my beads,
I will think of the things that filled Mary’s heart with joy." These
are the Joyful Mysteries. If it is Tuesday or Friday, we say, "Today I
will think of the things that made the heart of our Mother sad." These
are the Sorrowful Mysteries. If it is Wednesday or Saturday, we say,
"This day I will think only of those things which made Mary deeply
happy." These are the Glorious Mysteries. If it is Sunday in Advent and
up to
Lent, we think of the Joyful Mysteries. During Lent on Sunday we think
of the Sorrowful Mysteries. The rest of the year on Sundays we think of
the Glorious Mysteries.
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The Indulgences of the Rosary
When
you get a new Rosary, you should have it blessed (if a priest is
available). The Popes have loved the Rosary very much. So they gave
priests power to bless the
Rosary, and when they do, each bead carries with it an Indulgence. This
Indulgence is the remission of the temporal punishment we must suffer
for our sins either on earth or in Purgatory. There are various kinds
of Rosary blessings and
each has a different kind of Indulgence. One blessing is called the
Dominican, for the great Saint Dominic who received the Rosary from
Mary. Another is called the Apostolic. This is the blessing of the
Pope. Another is called the Crosier, which makes us think of the cross
on the Rosary.
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A Sure Sign of Predestination
Pope
Pius
X said: "If you want peace in your heart, in your home, in your
country, assemble together every night and say the ROSARY. Many
complain that it is tiring repetition – that they cannot meditate on
the mysteries. Our Blessed Mother gave this advice to St. Dominic:
"This is why, before doing anything else, priests should try to kindle
a love of prayer in people’s hearts and especially a love of my rosary.
If only they would all start saying it and persevere, God, in His
mercy, could hardly refuse to give them His grace. So I want you to
preach My Rosary!" St. Louis de Montfort said: "I beg of you to beware
of thinking of the Rosary as something of little
importance – as do ignorant people and even several great but proud
scholars. Far from being insignificant, the Rosary is a priceless
treasure which is inspired by God." He also tells us: "For never will
anyone who says his Rosary every day become
a formal heretic or be led astray by the devil." St. Dominic prayed to
Our Lady that she would force the devils, who possessed a man, to
reveal the truth about devotion to her. The devils were forced by Our
Lady to reveal: "Now that we are forced to speak we must also tell you
this: Nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned,
because she obtains for her servants the grace of
true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God’s
forgiveness and mercy." St. Teresa of Avila tells us how priceless a
treasure it is by showing the value
and merits of a single HAIL MARY. Shortly after her death, she appeared
to one of the sisters of her community and told her that she was
willing to return to a life of
suffering until the end of time to merit the degree of glory which God
rewards one devoutly recited Hail Mary. What a wonderful consolation to
know that we can be assured of salvation by giving just fifteen minutes
a day to praying the Rosary.
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Courtesy: True Catholic |
Comments (1)
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John Fernando - Dec 25, 2009 6:13 AM
Ave Maria. Mother Mary pray for us.
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