The Glorious Mysteries
The Resurrection and what follows from it — the empty tomb, the ascent, the fire at Pentecost, and the Mother taken up and crowned. The end toward which the other fifteen mysteries were moving.
The Sign of the Cross
Holding the crucifix: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Three Hail Marys
On the three small beads, for an increase of faith, hope and charity — The Hail Mary.
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The Resurrection
He is not here; for he is risen, as he said.
No one saw it happen. There is only the stone rolled back, the folded cloths, and a series of people who will shortly be killed rather than say it did not occur. The wounds remain in the risen body — glory does not erase what was suffered, it vindicates it.
Ten Hail Marys
On the ten small beads, meditating on the mystery — The Hail Mary.
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The Fatima Prayer
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
The Ascension
Why stand you looking up to heaven?
He leaves, and the angels tell them to stop staring at the sky and get on with it. Our nature has been carried up into God; that is the ground of hope. But hope is meant to send us back down the mountain, not keep us gazing at the clouds.
Ten Hail Marys
On the ten small beads, meditating on the mystery — The Hail Mary.
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The Fatima Prayer
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
The Descent of the Holy Spirit
And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire.
The men who ran away in the garden walk out of that upper room and preach to the crowd that had called for his blood. Nothing about them changed except the Spirit. Mary is in the room, praying with them, as she was at the beginning in Nazareth.
Ten Hail Marys
On the ten small beads, meditating on the mystery — The Hail Mary.
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The Fatima Prayer
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
The Assumption of Our Lady
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun.
The body that carried God is not left to corruption. What is promised to all the faithful at the end is granted to her at once — not as a privilege withheld from us, but as the first instance of what we are promised.
Ten Hail Marys
On the ten small beads, meditating on the mystery — The Hail Mary.
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The Fatima Prayer
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
The Coronation of Our Lady
And on her head a crown of twelve stars.
The girl who called herself the handmaid of the Lord is crowned queen of heaven. The logic of the whole gospel is in that reversal: he has exalted the humble, and the last mystery of the rosary is the proof of the first one’s promise.
Ten Hail Marys
On the ten small beads, meditating on the mystery — The Hail Mary.
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The Fatima Prayer
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
The Closing Prayer
“O God, whose only begotten Son, by his life, death and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life: grant, we beseech thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord.”
Amen.
The Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.