When praying the Rosary it is more beneficial to guide our imagination, (meditation and contemplation), by focusing on an “image” or “vision” of the particular mystery being said. In the Hail Mary we are asking the Mother of God to pray to her Son for us that we may have what we want. Why, or for what motivation would Mary hear our prayer and ask her Son for help on our behalf? The traditional Rosary with its Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious Mysteries gives 150 reasons or meditations for us to focus on and use as a reason to ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for us.
For example for each phrase of the “Hail Mary” if we focus on a particular image of Jesus for the particular decade we are praying, we can in effect say:
Because Jesus experienced this, _______(His role in the Mystery)___________, hear my prayer and answer me.
Fill in the blank with a vision of Jesus at each Mystery. The following shows words of the Hail Mary emphasized in caps. The meditation can used with each emphasized word by visually seeing and thinking of the mystery. For example, let’s say we are praying the fourth Sorrowful Mystery; "Jesus carries the Cross", our visualized prayer might be as follows:
HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord,
(visualize Jesus, the Son of Mary under the weight and sorrow of the Cross), is with thee,
BLESSED art thou among all women,
(visualize Jesus, the Son of Mary under the weight and sorrow of the Cross), and
BLESSED is the fruit of thy womb,
(visualize Jesus, the Son of Mary under the weight and sorrow of the Cross), JESUS.
HOLY Mary full of grace, pray for us sinners,
(visualize Jesus, the Son of Mary under the weight and sorrow of the Cross),
NOW,
(visual Jesus, the Son of Mary under the weight and sorrow of the Cross), and at the
HOUR OF OUR DEATH,
(visual Jesus, the Son of Mary under the weight and sorrow of the Cross), Amen.
What mother could resist such a plea?
Thus, our petition begs Mary for the reason of her Son in the situation of each particular Mystery, to answer our prayer. Our prayers become more powerful and effective according to the "heart and feelings" of each phrase that we "experience" with each of the Rosary's Mysteries. "You will reap what you sow". If you put less in you will get less out of it. It you spend the time, make it count!
We not only have the traditional 150 reasons to pray for Mary’s intercession but an additional 50. In 2002 Blessed Pope John Paul II introduced a forth decade of the Rosary, the Luminous Mysteries or Mysteries of Light that are prayed on Thursdays: 1. The Baptism of Jesus; 2. The Wedding at Cana; 3. Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom; 4. The Transfiguration; 5. The First Eucharist.
If you are going to pray the Rosary why not make it more effective and powerful with meditation and contemplation. Essentially this means visualizing each mystery and putting ourselves at the scene of each mystery to maximize the teaching of its doctrine and remind Mary the cause to answer our prayers.
Pray the Rosary each day in the month of October!
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