Quote for the Day: Holy Rosary

[Brigid]

Hm.. temple and intellect.. presentation of the child Jesus in..

I could definitely get some wide ranging quotes in for these mysteries.. probably will have to too..

To me this mystery is definitely about obedience to Him. Of course, it could be thought of as the offering of Him to God as sacrifice.

I think this is another place the picture gallery might come in handy. While praying the Rosary I stay focussed better by looking at a beautiful picture of that mystery.

[martin]

Looking forward to what you come up with shin.
It's startin' to sound good already. 

[Patricia]

In 1460, more than two centuries after that first communication to St. Dominic, when the Rosary devotion was in decline, Our Lady appeared to another Dominican, Alain de la Roche, to confirm her first intention. She told him to spread the Rosary devotion with the same form: 150 Hail Marys distributed in three sets of five mysteries.
After placing the Rosary around his neck, Our Lady told Fr. de la Roche:

“My son, you know perfectly the ancient devotion of my Rosary, preached and diffused by your Patriarch and my Servant Dominic and by his spiritual sons, your religious brothers. This spiritual exercise is extremely agreeable to both my Son and to me, and most useful and holy for the faithful.

“When my Servant Dominic started to preach my Rosary … the reform in the world reached such heights that it seemed that men were transformed into angelic spirits and that Angels had descended from Heaven to inhabit the earth. … No one was considered a true Christian unless he had my Rosary and prayed it. … The prestige of the holy Rosary was such that no devotion was or is more agreeable to me after the august Sacrifice of the Mass. …

“I desire, therefore, that it [the devotion of the Rosary] be restored again in the Church for the consolation of a great number of souls. You will be the one to preach my Rosary, exhorting all the faithful to pray it devoutly. … The Rosary will be a most powerful weapon against Hell; it will subdue vices, destroy sin and conquer heresies. All those who will recommend themselves to me through my Rosary will not be eternally condemned.”

[Patricia]

I always have difficulty meditating on the fifth Joyful Mystery-- The finding of Our Lord Jesus in the Temple. What is it that you think or meditate upon while saying this mystery, besides the obvious of course, Our Lady and St. Joseph searching for their Son and finding him ?
I don't understand why He was lost for three days ? Maybe that is why it is a Mystery.

[Shin]

I always have difficulty meditating on the fifth Joyful Mystery-- The finding of Our Lord Jesus in the Temple. What is it that you think or meditate upon while saying this mystery, besides the obvious of course, Our Lady and St. Joseph searching for their Son and finding him ?
I don't understand why He was lost for three days ? Maybe that is why it is a Mystery.

I am very poor at rosary meditation.. so I think about the simple things.. you've made me think about it more..

I think about how it's to parallel the three days and nights He is in the tomb.. And Jonah in the belly of the fish three days and nights..

'Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying: Master we would see a sign from thee. Who answering said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.'

Matthew 12:38-40

And so then, the finding of Him again in the Temple parallels the finding of Him again in Heaven -- He goes to the Temple without telling His parents, of His own (or rather about His Father's work) like the Ascension..

When He is away during the three days and nights after His death, He is telling the good news to the souls in the Limbo of the Fathers (the Bosom of Abraham) that they are now redeemed. . . In the Temple He is teaching the scribes there. . . So while it is painful for His parents in both cases, the pain is the cost of the good news.. Their pain is for the greater good..

[martin]

I always have difficulty meditating on the fifth Joyful Mystery-- The finding of Our Lord Jesus in the Temple. What is it that you think or meditate upon while saying this mystery, besides the obvious of course, Our Lady and St. Joseph searching for their Son and finding him ?
I don't understand why He was lost for three days ? Maybe that is why it is a Mystery.

I remember once when I was so busy at work that I neglected prayer for several days but then made a point of praying the scriptural rosary no matter how tired I felt. I started with the joyful mysteries and when I came to the fifth and read the line, "My Child why have you done this? Did You not know Your father and I were searching for You in great anxiety."
It was as if Our Lady was addressing these words to me and I felt such sorrow for what I'd done to Her by missing my prayers that if I'm ever tempted to do so now I just call this to mind and I can overcome my laziness.
We offend our dear Mother so much when we refuse to pray.

[Shin]

I always have difficulty meditating on the fifth Joyful Mystery-- The finding of Our Lord Jesus in the Temple. What is it that you think or meditate upon while saying this mystery, besides the obvious of course, Our Lady and St. Joseph searching for their Son and finding him ?
I don't understand why He was lost for three days ? Maybe that is why it is a Mystery.

I remember once when I was so busy at work that I neglected prayer for several days but then made a point of praying the scriptural rosary no matter how tired I felt. I started with the joyful mysteries and when I came to the fifth and read the line, "My Child why have you done this? Did You not know Your father and I were searching for You in great anxiety."
It was as if Our Lady was addressing these words to me and I felt such sorrow for what I'd done to Her by missing my prayers that if I'm ever tempted to do so now I just call this to mind and I can overcome my laziness.
We offend our dear Mother so much when we refuse to pray.

That's very moving Martin.. the relationship between mother and children.. God help them!

[Patricia]

Very helpful tips for meditation, Martin and Shin. Will help me a lot. Brigid, any input on the fifth Joyful Mystery?

[Brigid]

Very helpful tips for meditation, Martin and Shin. Will help me a lot. Brigid, any input on the fifth Joyful Mystery?

I don't understand why He was lost for three days ?

That's a hard one for any mother to understand, but I've heard it said that caravans (those which Mary and Joseph went with) separated the men from the women. Mary thought that Jesus was with Joseph and Joseph thought Jesus was with Mary (children could be with either parent). Then when they found out differently at the end of the day they were a days journey from the temple. By the time they got back it was another day, plus they looked all over the city for Him without checking the temple since they didn't think it likely at all that He was there. So that along with the typological factor that Shin and Martin spoke of would answer why.

[martin]

I've learnt something very special from the saints books. It's like a kind of secret they all share. It's a secret they want to share with everyone ( a shortcut if you like) to sanctity that on the face of it looks too simple to be true that I suppose many (including myself) are inclined to dismiss it and take the more difficult road that requires sometimes more human effort than reliance on grace and of course more so done out of duty than love of God.
I'm sure Our Lord does look kindly on any effort we make even if at times it be misguided while at the same time He knows how much we could profit by simple childlike obedience to what He has made known through special revelations from His Holy mother and Himself to the saints.

Not so long ago I decided to open me big ears and listen to this message and abandon certain (what I call) good practises to replace them with the better ones revealed to the saints and now I see why our dear Lord and His Blessed Mother recommended these all along and have pleaded many many times throughout history that we listen to this simple message.

The two shortcuts to sanctity are the Holy Rosary and meditation on the Passion of Our Lord.

I don't know why this is so but I can hazard a guess that obedience to Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin comes before all other good works, even the ones that we might feel would be more profitable to our souls; a bit like the story in the Old Testament where the prophet told the king to bathe seven times in the Jordan and he would be healed of his leprosy. The king felt that this was a ridiculous thing to do but was eventually persuaded to obey the prophet and so he was healed.

We can't all be priests, monks or religious. But we all can take the vow of obedience and decide to do what Our dear Lord and Our Blessed Mother have asked us to do so many times.
Disobedience seems to be the root cause of many evils in the world today. Children disobeying parents, religious disobeying their superiors, Priests disobeying their bishops, so on and so on and the deadly sin of pride is usually the root cause of disobedience.

What soldier even in peace time would refuse to obey his commander and yet we are in the most serious war of all; The outcome has eternal consequences and if we can't listen to those who have already achieved the victory then where is that going leave us?

Please God if we can all do a reverent rosary everyday, even if it means neglecting  another good devotion and meditate a little each day on the suffering of our dear Lord, we will realise the truth and the wisdom of all the saints who've recommended this to us.
There's no need here to quote Fatima, St Allen, St Dominic, St Pio, St Alphonsus or the hundreds of other saints who have given this advice as we're all aware of what they've said but I know how easy it is to miss the point and I'm only too aware of my own deafness at times

I had to write this tonight because I would have never done it if I left it one more day as I'm so aware that it could sound like preaching but I really don't mean it to come out that way. We are all equals here and one reminds the other and that's all it is, A loving reminder.
What blessings and what graces and miracles of conversion will we receive and witness by these two simple requests being heeded.
Everything we ask for and everything we need to be saints will be given us through these two means. I'll just finish with this quote from St Louis Marie De Montfort

"If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins you
shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.  Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have
one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practise black magic, and
even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your
life and will save your soul, if-- and mark well what I say-- if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day
until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins."
                              - St. Louis De Montfort

[Brigid]

Saying the Rosary everyday is needed for the scapular anyway (or the Little Office), but saying it devoutly is what is so difficult. Even with what seems like full concentration I never know if I've said it truly devoutly.

[Shin]

Very helpful tips for meditation, Martin and Shin. Will help me a lot. Brigid, any input on the fifth Joyful Mystery?

I don't understand why He was lost for three days ?

That's a hard one for any mother to understand, but I've heard it said that caravans (those which Mary and Joseph went with) separated the men from the women. Mary thought that Jesus was with Joseph and Joseph thought Jesus was with Mary (children could be with either parent). Then when they found out differently at the end of the day they were a days journey from the temple. By the time they got back it was another day, plus they looked all over the city for Him without checking the temple since they didn't think it likely at all that He was there. So that along with the typological factor that Shin and Martin spoke of would answer why.

You know, I'm grateful you said this Brigid because this explanation makes such good sense and otherwise you might wonder at it all.

... Martin your post on the rosary really makes me want to say it regularly again, daily again.. I remember around the time of my Confirmation, and I found the Rosary Confraternity.. and I committed.. and then I couldn't maintain it.. and then later again, at a prayer group.. regularly.. but that ended.

I need to restore a daily rosary to my life. I will put the time and focus into what I need to do to be able to do it well. I need to be able to pray it better than I have in the past.

Please say a prayer for me to be able to pray the rosary well enough to be able to pray it regularly.

And this reminds me that I need to focus again on gathering more quotes to finish the website for it. 

I have great difficult praying the rosary.. I need to approach it more slowly and figure out how to be able to pray it in such a way that while it may still be a struggle it's interiorly rewarding enough that I don't peter out of the devotion but can sustain it.

[Patricia]

Catechist Cured so That He Could Continue Teaching!

Brother John Aranguren, S. J. was born in Guipuzcoa, Spain, and he was working in the town of Pasto, near Bogota, Columbia, in the School of St. Francis Xavier. He was a Jesuit brother teaching Catechism to children who had been baptized Catholics but who would never have known about God if it were not for his devotion and interest in teaching them the rudiments of their faith.

One day he noticed a swelling of his tongue. It increased until he could only talk with great difficulty. It was cancer.

The cancer was first discovered at the end of 1948, and on the 30th of August 1949 he underwent the first operation in Palermo Hospital in Bogota. This first operation removed several teeth and much tissue, but the tumor recurred over a wider area. He was going to be operated on again on the 19th of September, when during the night of September 18th to 19th, a miracle took place.

In a hospital in Bogota, the brother was to have his tongue removed by Dr. Pablo Tovar Borda. He was resigned. He understood that it was either his tongue or his life, and he obeyed his Superiors. He would never speak again. He would never again explain to little children who God was...that they had a Guardian Angel...that they must fulfill ten commandments in order to keep in God's love and obtain Heave.

During the night before the operation, the brother awoke. Standing beside his bed was his mother, who had died long before this. She seemed absolutely real. She was accompanied by a radiantly beautiful Lady dressed in white, with a golden globe suspended around Her neck, and much love and light that filled him with amazement and joy. His mother explained that this was Our Lady of Fatima, and that She had come to cure him and also to give him a message.

Our Lady then reached down and touched his tongue. Instantly the cancer disappeared and Our Lady said: "Continue to teach the children Catechism, but also teach them how to pray the Rosary. Do not tell anyone about this until you have spoken to the doctor."

Still filled with the joy of the vision, the poor brother hardly realized what had happened. It was only when darkness had returned to the room that he began to move his tongue and gradually the realization of the apparition and the cure had come to him. It was true! It wasn't a dream! He could move his tongue normally! He could talk normally! He wanted to jump out of bed and run and shout and tell everyone what had happened. But he remembered the words of Our Lady: "Do not tell anyone about this until you have spoken to the doctor." And the doctor would not be there until the time of the operation to remove his tongue!

In order to keep himself from disobeying Our Lady, he remained in silent prayer until morning. The orderly came to give him the anesthesia and prepare him for the operation. He shook his head, refusing it. The orderly tried to insist, explaining: "It is either your tongue or your life, so do not hesitate."

The brother simply continued to shake his head. When the orderly tried with some force to give the anesthesia, he resisted also with force. The orderly sought reinforcements, but the brother made it clear that he would not accept the anesthesia.

When the doctor came, the men said to him in distress: "Doctor, he won't take the anesthesia. He seems to be afraid of the operation."

The doctor repeated what he had told him before: it was either his tongue or his life. But now the brother was free to speak!

"Doctor, Our Lady of Fatima appeared to me during the night and cured me. The cancer is gone!"

Of course, not believing this, the doctor began the examination. It was true. The cancer had disappeared. The brother was released from the hospital and he continued teaching Catechism in the Missions of Colombia, even into his 80s.

He also began teaching the children, with equal fervor, with equal zeal, how to pray Our Lady's Rosary!

[Shin]

Our Lady of Fatima, please help my dear aunt. 

[Brigid]

Patricia, you were curious what I meditate on for the Fifth Mystery - since I'm a convert and didn't have Jesus in the Tabernacle or in the Eucharist before, I meditate on finding Him in the Church/church.

[Shin]

Those are some beautiful thoughts Brigid.. 

I love meditating on Our Lord in the Eucharist.. I think this bears the most fruit for me in many ways..

That also reminds me..

We've got about eighteen quotes so far for the Fifth Joyful Mystery on the Holy Rosary pages, which are still quite slowly under construction as ever too.

Many from St. Anthony of Padua who goes quite deep..

The quotes aren't as coherently arranged as perhaps they might be yet.. well step by step..