Rosarium Virginis Mariae by John Paul II

(Rome: Vatican, 2002), 39

Introduction

  • The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. (1)
  • With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. (1)
  • Pope Paul VI emphasized the Rosary's the Rosary's evangelical character and its Christocentric inspiration in Marialis Cultus bib
  • John Paul II: "The Rosary is my favorite prayer." (2)
  • He declares 2002–2003 as "The Year of the Rosary": "To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ." (3)
  • He frequently cites his prior encyclical Novo Millennio Ineunte bib, first in (5)
    • "What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer." (5)

Contemplating Christ with Mary

  • The Transfiguration (cf. Mt-17: "And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun") can been seen as an icon of Christian contemplation. (9)
  • The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. (10)
  • The Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary's own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer. (12)
  • The Rosary is part of this varied panorama of “ceaseless” prayer. (13)
  • "Lady, thou art so great and so powerful, that whoever desires grace yet does not turn to thee, would have his desire fly without wings." (Paradiso XXXIII, 13-15)

Mysteries of Christ—Mysteries of His Mother

  • In (19), Pope John Paul II proposes the Luminous mysteries
  • The simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life (25)
  • Redemptor Hominis bib: "it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man is seen in its true light" (25)
  • Each mystery of the Rosary, carefully meditated, sheds light on the mystery of man. (25)
  • Ps-55: “Cast your burdens on the Lord and he will sustain you” (25, cf. Favorite Bible Passages)

"For Me, to Live Is Christ"

  • The Rosary helps us to be conformed ever more closely to Christ until we attain true holiness. (26)
  • The Rosary can be thought of as a Western analogy to the Eastern tradition of the Jesus Prayer (27)
  • The Rosary is simply a method of contemplation. (28)
  • Consider meditating upon an icon of each mystery as you pray it (29), and proclaiming a related passage from scripture (30)
  • Listening and meditation are nourished by silence. (31)
  • When the Hail Mary is properly understood its Marian character is not opposed to its Christological character, but that it actually emphasizes and increases it. (33)
    • The center of gravity in the Hail Mary, the hinge which joins its two parts, is the name of Jesus. (33)
    • Notes custom in certain regions of highlighting the name of Christ by the addition of a clause referring to the mystery being contemplated (33, cf. Marialis Cultus 46)
  • Conclude each mystery with a prayer for the fruits specific to that particular mystery. (34)
  • The Rosary beads (36): converge upon the Crucifix since the life and prayer of believers is centered upon Christ; are a chain that links us to God; remind us of our many relationships

Conclusion

  • Like the Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary is a prayer of and for the family, a prayer that brings the family together (41)

Topic: The Rosary

Source: Jordan

Bibliography

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Created: 2022-10-22-Sat
Updated: 2022-10-31-Mon