Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: dcyprich@questor.wimsey.bc.ca (Dusan J. Cyprich) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Praying the Rosary Message-ID: Date: 17 Sep 90 07:10:21 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: The Questor Project: FREE World-wide News & e-Mail Lines: 135 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu >> I am what I like to think of as a relapsed Catholic, since I left >> the Church when I was 18 (becoming a lapsed Catholic, to use a >> common phrase) and returned when I was 32. I have just begun >> trying to pray the rosary again, but I find I can't remember the >> various mysteries. Hi Roseanne. I also abandoned the Catholic faith for about two (?) years and just recently (within the last five months or so) returned to it. Before this, you could say that I was somewhat of a Fundamentalist. >> Is anyone out there able to help me with a list? Sure, I can give you a short, detailed list of one of the mysteries. This is from a book called "Let's Pray (not just say) the Rosary." It can be ordered from Liguori Publications. It only costs 50 cents. The address is: One Liguori Drive Liguori, Missouri 63057 If you have a hard time finding a copy of it, leave me your address and I'll mail it to you ... for FREE!!! I'll even mail copies to other people who ask for it ... on the condition I don't get a large number of orders (I'm just a student)! Ok, here are The Joyful Mysteries (suggested for Mondays and Thursdays). It includes the meditations for each of the small beads (Decades) on the Rosary. I. The Annunciation 1. Our Lady, rapt in prayer, is kneeling in her little home in Nazareth. 2. Suddenly, a bright light glows in the little room. 3. Unafraid, our Lady looks up to see the Archangel Gabriel standing before her. 4. For a moment, he gazes at her lovingly, and then speaks: "Hail, full of grace!" 5. He asks her to be God's Mother and awaits her reply. 6. Mary asks but one question: What of her vow of virginity? 7. The angel explains that she is to be at once virgin and mother. 8. Without further hesitation, our Lady bows her head in loving submission: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." 9. "Be it done to me according to thy word." 10. Then the angel departs and leaves the Word made flesh dwelling in Mary's womb. II. The Visitation 1. Our Lady had heard from Gabriel that her cousin, Elizabeth, is to have a baby. 2. Wishing to help her, Mary journeys from Galilee into the Judean hill country to Elizabeth's home. 3. Coming to her cousin's front door, our Lady greets her. 4. The presence of Mary's Son within his Mother causes Elizabeth's son, John, to leap with joy in his mother's womb. 5. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth cries, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" 6. Filled with God's joy and love, our Lady chants her glorious Magnificat: "My soul doth magnify the Lord." 7. For three months she stays there helping Elizabeth. 8. She washes dishes, mends clothes, sweeps floors, prepares the meals. 9. She talks and prays and works with her elderly cousin. 10. Then, her services being needed no more, she takes the long journey home. III. The Birth of our Lord 1. An edict from Caesar Augustus in imperial Rome starts Joseph and Mary on the tedious road to Bethlehem. 2. Arriving there, they can find no room in the inn. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." 3. At last they find shelter in a hillside cattle shed. 4. There, in the stillness of the star-sprinkled night, Mary brings her Son, whose only Father is God. 5. She wraps him in the swaddling clothes which she has woven in preparation for his coming. 6. She lays him tenderly in the manger's straw. 7. There, she and Joseph adore their infant God. 8. On a nearby hillside, shepherds watching over their sheep are startled by angel voices bringing tidings of great joy. 9. They leave their sheep and come running to the feet of the Lamb of God. They kneel in simple faith to adore the tiny Good Shepherd. 10. All the while, Bethlehem and the wide world are sunk in unheeding slumber. They do not know that the Savior, Mary's Son and the Father's, is in their midst. IV. The Presentation of our Lord in the Temple 1. The time of Mary's legal purification draws near. She wraps the Child in warm clothing and takes him to Jerusalem with Joseph to present him to the Lord, his Father. 2. At the temple, Joseph purchases two doves, the offering of the poor. 3. Mary gives these offerings to the priest, and he prays over her. 4. And she, the immaculately spotless one, is cleansed! 5. As they come away from the altar, the aged Simeon meets them. 6. Eagerly, reverently, he takes the Child in his arms. 7. He sings his song of joy and dismissal now that his eyes have seen God's salvation sent to all people. 8. Looking at our Lady, he prophecies that a sword of sorrow will pierce her heart. 9. As they turn from Simeon, Anna, the prophetess, rejoices also to see the tiny King Messiah. 10. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they return to Nazareth. V. The Find of the Child Jesus in the Temple 1. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus (now a boy of 12) travel with a caravan up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. 2. The days of the feast being over, Mary and Joseph set out for home. But the Child Jesus remains in Jerusalem. 3. Terror seizes Mary's heart when she finds at the end of the first day's journey that her Boy is not with them. 4. Mary and Joseph return to Jerusalem anxiously, sorrowfully, seeking Him. 5. For three heartbreaking days, they search in vain. 6. At last, they find him in the temple, listening to and asking the wise men questions. 7. With mingled sorrow and joy, Mary wonders: 8. "Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." 9. They do not understand his answer about his Father's business. 10. Jesus then goes down with them to Nazareth, remaining there in obscurity and obedience for 18 long years. >> I'm eager to make contact with other educated, technically-hip, >> Catholics. Me too! :) God bless djc