Mysteries of the Rosary, adapted from the scripts of Abouna Yaacoub

 

1- Joyful Mysteries

 

First mystery: The Annunciation                                                           Grace: Humility

Oh the greatness of Mary! To be selected to become the Mother of God! The angel Gabriel announced to her: “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). Virgin Mary is filled with grace because she won alone the graces that all the saints won altogether, and she was prepared by God from eternity to be the Mother of the Savior of the world. He made her free of sin and came upon her as in a temple profusely decorated with heavenly gifts.

The Lord is with you: God is everywhere in his ability as a creator. He is with sinners in his current grace for them to return to Him; he is with the saints as well with his justified grace and he is with Mary by a greatest unlimited grace.

Since the basis of greatness is humility, Mary replied: “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” The servant works, is faithful, humble, obedient and chaste. Mary is a servant not only in words, but in deeds as well.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Second mystery: The visitation                                              Grace: Absolute readiness

Mary began her mission when the fetus was formed in her womb. Here she visits her relative Elizabeth, whereby John becomes hallowed in the womb. Elizabeth acknowledged the greatness of Mary: “Blessed are you among women! And blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:42).

Blessed is the fruit of your womb: Eve made us perish by reaching out to the forbidden fruit and Mary saved us by giving us the Fruit of Life. A beautiful flower yielded a gorgeous tree. Jesus is the source of blessings as a blessed God above all ages (Romans 9/9) . He is blessed by angels because he is their Creator and he is blessed by humans because he is their Redeemer. Every part of Jesus deserves the blessing: his mouth which taught us the way of salvation, and his hands which planted good everywhere.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Third mystery: The nativity of Jesus                                           Grace: Living true life

The Word became flesh (John 1:14): The nativity is an act of faith, hope and love. It is an act of faith that Mary is the Mother of God, because she is the mother of Jesus the true God, thanks to the union of the two natures in one Person. The nativity is also an act of hope having heaven as its theme, and God has a strong desire to let us in it. God has shown this desire by coming down to raise us to heaven. The nativity is also an act of love, because Christ showed us all his love being born of the Virgin Mary. In paradise, Adam fled from the face of God, and God began to call him to come to him. Thus Christ, wore the garment of man and began to call him to show him love.

My bliss is to be with human beings: God is strength, and I am weakness; He is rich, and I am poor; He is knowledge, and I am ignorance. What made ​​him approach me is love. What a great mystery, how deity was united with humanity; that is God with dust, and greatness with littleness.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Fourth mystery: The Presentation of Jesus                         Grace: Submission in faith

The old law imposes on every firstborn male to be devoted to God, and his parents have to present him to the Lord through the priest at the temple. “Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22); Mary was submissive to this law, and thus was glorified. We can call Mary a priest for presenting Jesus as a guarantee for the salvation of mankind. The Lord of heaven and earth, the first legislator, submits to the law, although it is to Him that every knee bends. He is the Creator of bliss and his happiness is immeasurable. He is purity itself, the crown of virgins and the eternal light.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Fifth mystery: Finding Jesus in the temple                         Grace: The endless pursuit

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor” (Luke 2:52): In the wisdom, that is science, and “Desire without knowledge is not good” (Proverbs 19:2). Who was in darkness does not single out gems from the soil. The sunlight does not go through the vessel filled with soil.

In grace: Jesus had all virtues and has shown them through deeds: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15).

He who climbed a high mountain, thought that when he arrives to the summit, he will touch the sky, and the fact is that once he arrives, he sees himself very far from it. As such, the little Scientists think they possessed books, while the seniors humble themselves knowing that they need to go in the depth of study and knowledge.

*Rosary chaplet

Sorrowful mysteries

 

First mystery: The agony of Jesus in the garden                     Grace: True repentance

“… I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (John 10:17-18). What Jesus said about his life can be said about his whole passion. The first thing that he endured in the Olive Garden is sorrow. The sorrow of the soul is no less severe than the body aches because it caused him to sweat blood.

The Christian weapon is a triangle of patience, prayer and tears. In order to get the condolence obtained by Jesus through having a heavenly angel, we have to pray like he did.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Second mystery: The scourging at the pillar                              Grace: Aching for sins

“Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged” (John 19:1). “He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified” (Mark 15:15). They tied him to the pillar of the universe, and by tying him, we were saved from our sins. Like Jesus tied himself to the pillar of passion, tie yourself to the pillar of his love. Do not be afraid to go through pain and mortifications in your whole body, as well as fasting and controlling the senses.
Let the flogging pillar O Jesus be like the Cross a memorial for the sins I have committed, and the passion you endured for me, the miserable.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Third mystery: Jesus crowned with thorns                                    Grace: Contempt all worldly glory

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53/7).

“They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews” (Mark 15:17 -18).

Christ is the Prince of Peace. The Church, which is the bride, considers the day of her lover’s death, his punishment and insulting a day of joy, because this day of the passion is the day of his wedding, and the wedding day is the day of atonement, grace, blessing and salvation for us.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Fourth mystery: Jesus carrying the cross                         Grace: Patience in adversity

“So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull” (John 19:16-17).

The Christ carried his cross as the priest holds the key to the Holy of Holies. By the weight of the cross, and carrying it painstakingly among curses and insults, and by falling on the ground, Jesus demonstrated that he is carrying our sins and not his, because he is the righteousness and holiness.

It is hard for the man to carry the cross, but it is harder to hear the Christ’s words, saying: Depart from me, O cursed, into the eternal fire. So why then are we afraid of carrying the cross which leads to the Kingdom?

*Rosary chaplet

 

Fifth mystery: Crucifixion of Jesus                                                   Grace: Perfect love
Inthe Crossthere is salvation, life, andprotection fromenemies. In the Cross, there is thejoyofspirit andperfectionof sanctity. There is no salvationof the soulnorhope ofeternal life but inthe Cross.

Jesus died on the Cross for you so that you also carry your cross and crave to die on it; because if you die with him you will also live with him, and if you share the agony with him, you will share the glory. Would there be something better and more beneficial than suffering for the salvation of mankind, Jesus would have led us to it by saying and ideals.

*Rosary chaplet

Luminous Mysteries

 

First mystery: The baptism of Jesus                                Grace: Filiation to the Father

Faith is a virtue that God poured in you when you accepted baptism. This sacrament is established by Jesus, who ordered his disciples to give it to all human beings, saying: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19).

You, who were united with God through baptism, and became a son to him, were adopted by God, not according to human adoption but by joining him. What have you done with ​​the white garment that was given to you in baptism?

*Rosary chaplet

 

Second mystery: The wedding at Cana of Galilee                    Grace: The adoption of human reality

The role of our Mother Mary in the first miracle that Jesus worked is represented in three ways:

* Mary is our advocate and our intercessor to God.

* Mary is the intermediary between God and us, she is a channel that delivers God’s blessings and goodness to us.

* Through Mary, Jesus came down to earth, and through Mary people go up to heaven.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Third mystery: A call to repentance and receiving forgiveness                   Grace: The longing for the Kingdom

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord” (Luke 3:4). In the wilderness means in the heart of the sinner, because it looks like the wasteland, where no grass or trees grow and where we do not see flowers but thorns and Astragalus. The Lord screams in the harsh heart and makes his voice heard. His voice is that of guidance and preaching, that of grace and inner inspirations.

Repentance is essential to us, due to the past because we insulted God, and to the present because we are a member of Christ’s body, and to the future because we want the Kingdom of Heaven.

*Rosary chaplet

 

Fourth mystery: the transfiguration of the Lord                           Grace: Following the teachings of Jesus

Transfiguration on Mount Tabor: the figure of glory!

Transfiguration on Golgotha: the figure of sadness!

Transfiguration on the altar: the figure of love!

*Rosary chaplet

 

Fifth mystery: The Lord’s Supper                     Grace: Participating in the Eucharist

The sign of true love is the desire of the lover to please his beloved in all of the ways available.

Jesus Christ has given me a great honor in the sacrament of the Eucharist; in which he is a friend of mine, my guest and my groom. In the Eucharist, he feeds me his flesh and blood and turns me entirely into him. Then the depth of me becomes holier than churches and altars, and it becomes true to say: My self is like a paradise, because the King of glory resides there.

*Rosary chaplet

Glorious Mysteries

 

First mystery: Resurrection of Jesus                                         Grace: Returning back to God

“He humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place” (Philippians 2:8).

On the morning of the resurrection Sunday, before the rising of the sun, Christ came out victoriously from the grave. Christ predicted His resurrection on the third day and likened Himself to Jonah (Matthew 12: 40) and said that He could lay down His life and take it up again (John 10: 18).

O my Lord, glory be to Your soul which came out victoriously from hell, to Your body which came out victoriously from the grave and to Your divinity which might is proclaimed in magnificent splendor and radiance, to take our soul out of the abyss of sins and our body out of the grave of passiveness.

O Mary, our mother, as you suffered with Jesus, your son, and were worthy of victory and glory with Him, make us die with Him to live with Him.

* Rosary chaplet

 

Second mystery: Ascension of Jesus                                               Grace: Longing to it

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and He sat at the right hand of God.” (Mark 16: 19). Jesus redeemed Man, established the church and opened the gates of heaven. Christ did not descend on earth without Mary, how would He go up to heaven without her? Jesus’s last look upon earth must have been to His mother, Mary.

If Jesus entered heaven after undergoing suffering, how then would it be for us, children of Eve?

O Mary, our mother, without you nothing is possible, you are the way, walk with us to the destined land.

* Rosary chaplet

 

Third mystery: Coming of the Holy Spirit                                 Grace: Listening to his inspirations

“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:3-4 a). Mary witnessed the birth of Jesus and in the attic of Zion she witnessed the birth of the church by the coming of the Spirit. She is a mediator between Jesus and men and a mediator between the church and men.

We honor the Holy Spirit by listening to his voice which incites in us good thoughts and holy inspirations. All that which is in us and leads to our sanctification and conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the spirit of truth which guides us, the spirit of grace which sanctifies us and the spirit of love which unites us with God. This love which showers us with the remaining gifts: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord.

O Mary, our mother, you who accompanied Jesus in all the stages of His life, and strengthened the apostles while they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit, be on our side always.

* Rosary chaplet

 

Fourth mystery: Assumption of Mary                                              Grace: Good death

“Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke…” (Songs of Solomon 3: 6) Mary went up to heaven in the arms of her son. She is the queen of heaven and earth, her son on the right hand of the Father and she on the right hand of the son.

Let us venerate Mary because God honored her above angels and saints. Mary is capable of obtaining from God all that He can make and since God is mighty to make whatever He wishes, so Mary is capable of obtaining all she asks from God.

O Mary, our mother, you are capable of obtaining from God all that He is mighty to make, help us to be deserving of heaven.

* Rosary chaplet

 

Fifth mystery: Coronation of the Virgin as queen of heaven and earth             Grace: Filial confidence in her

“A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” (Revelation 12: 1).

The sanctity of Mary is above all. After the angels carried her to heaven, God seated her on the right hand of her son, higher than the cherubim and seraphim. As Jesus submitted to her on earth, here He is in heaven responding to her requests.

O Mary, our mother, your life on earth was not free of thorns, nurture in us our longing and working towards living and dying with Jesus.

* Rosary chaplet