The Mysteries of the Rosary

.....and MAry the Mother of God, she whose Heart was pierced by the Sword.

She , also sinless, another Lamb, the Sorrowful Virgin

The Co-Redemptrix.

 

Thanks Kathy.

It's wonderful how these saints all end up placing forward the same hidden truths. for our attention.


Matthew 11:25

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

 

http://www.passioiesus.org/en/santos/citas_santos.htm




Saint Alphonsus de Liguori,
MEDITATIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST,
Introduction.
"He who desires", says St. Bonaventure, "to go on advancing from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, should meditate continually on the Passion of Jesus." And he adds that "there is no practice more profitable for the entire sanctification of the soul than the frequent meditation of the sufferings of Jesus Christ."
St. Augustine also said that a single tear shed at the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus is worth more than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or a year of fasting on bread and water.

St. Josemaría Escrivá
Furrow, Penance 993
In our meditation, the Passion of Christ comes out of its cold historical frame and stops being a pious consideration, presenting itself before our eyes, as terrible, brutal, savage, bloody... yet full of Love.
—And we feel that sin cannot be regarded as just a trivial error: to sin is to crucify the Son of God, to tear his hands and feet with hammer blows, and to make his heart break.
St Paul of Cross,
Spiritual diary.
"The remembrance of the most holy Passion of Jesus Christ is the door through which the soul enters into intimate union with God, interior recollection and most sublime contemplation..."
"The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love. "The greatest and most overwhelming work of God's love."
"The most holy Passion of Jesus Christ is the most efficacious means to convert obstinate sinners."
"The holy sufferings of Jesus is a sea of sorrows, but it is also a sea of love. Ask the Lord to teach you to fish in this sea. Immerse yourself in it, and, no matter how deeply you go, you will never reach the bottom. Allow yourself to be penetrated with love and sorrow. In this way you will make the sufferings of the gentle Jesus your own. Fish for the pearls of the virtues of Jesus. This holy fishing is done without words." 8th April, 1758

St. Peter of Alcantara,
Seven other meditations of the Passion of Our Lord,
and the manner how it ought to be meditated upon.
A golden treatise of mental prayer. Chapter IV.
In the passion of our blessed Saviour, six things chiefly are to be meditated upon. First, the bitterness of his sorrow, that we may compassionate with him. Secondly, the greatness of our sins, which were the cause of his torments, that we may abhor
them. Thirdly, the greatness of the benefit, that we may be grateful for it. Fourthly, the excellency of the divine charity and bounty therein manifested, that we may love him more fervently. Fifthly, the conveniency of the mystery, that we may be drawn to admiration of it. Lastly, the multiplicity of virtues of our blessed Saviour which did shine in this stupendous mystery, that we may partly imitate and
partly admire them; wherefore, in the midst of these meditations, let us sometimes compassionate with our blessed Saviour in the extremity of his sorrows; extreme indeed, both by reason of the tenderness of his body, as also, for the great affection he bore unto our souls.
He did suffer them without any manner of consolation, as we shall speak hereafter in its proper place. Sometimes let us stir up in ourselves compunction for our sins, which were the cause of his great sufferings. Sometimes let us kindle in our souls an ardent affection, considering his great affection towards us, which upon the cross he declared and manifested to the whole world. And the benefit which he bestowed upon us in his passion, because he bought us with the inestimable price of his precious blood, of which only, we reap the benefit and commodity.
St Francis of Sales,
Treatise on the Love of God,
Chapter XIII -That mount calvary is the academy of Love- The death and passion of Our Lord is the sweetest and most constraining motive that can animate our hearts in this mortal life... so, in the glory of heaven above, next to the Divine goodness known and considered in itself, Our Saviour's death shall most powerfully ravish the blessed spirits in the loving of God.
Thomas À Kempis
Imitation of Christ;
The Twenty-Fifth Chapter, Zeal in amending our lives The religious who concerns himself intently and devoutly with our Lord's most holy life and passion will find there an abundance of all things useful and necessary for him. He need not seek for anything better than Jesus.
Saint Alphonsus de Liguori,
Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, Introduction,
I., How Deserving Jesus Christ is of our Love,
on Account of the Love He has Shown Us in His Passion. He (St. Francis of Assisi ) was one day found by a gentleman shedding tears, and crying out with a loud voice: being asked the cause "I weep," he answered, "over the sorrows and disgraces of my Lord: and what causes me the greatest sorrow is, that men, for whom he suffered so much, live in forgetfulness of him." And on saying this he wept the more, so that this gentleman began also himself to weep.
St John of the Cross As to the Passion of our Lord, ...never in anything follow your own will and your own inclination, for that was the cause of His death and passion

Beata Angela of Foligno,
Book of life, #18, p. 272. if your soul is not elevated, go back to yourself, start from the beginning and review from head to foot all the ways in which this suffering God-man was afflicted and crucified. If you cannot regain and rediscover these ways in your heart, repeat them vocally, attentively and frequently; because what the lips say and repeat grants fervor and warmth to the heart
St. Maximus of Turin,Sermons 53, 1-2. 4 Our Savior's passion raises men and women from the depths, lifts them up from the earth, and sets them in the heights.
St. Bonaventure. One day,” writes Bonaventure, “while Francis was praying... Jesus Christ appeared to him fastened to the cross" “And the memory of Christ’s passion was so impressed on the innermost recesses of his heart that from that hour, whenever Christ’s crucifixion came to mind, he could scarcely contain his tears and sighs.”
St Francis of Sales,
Introduction to the Devout Life,
Part II, Chapter I. The Necessiy of Prayer, N.2 But especially I commend earnest mental prayer to you, more particularly such as bears upon the Life and Passion of our Lord. If you contemplate Him frequently in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with Him, you will grow in His Likeness, and your actions will be moulded on His. He is the Light of the world; therefore in Him, by Him, and for Him we shall be enlightened and illuminated__

 

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery

Christ Dies on the Cross.

John 19

The Crucifixion of Jesus
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.


19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”


22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”


23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.


24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”

So this is what the soldiers did.


25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.


The Death of Jesus
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.


31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”


The Burial of Jesus
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

 

I woke up, this, the morning of Good Friday filled with a huge feeling of great joy and gratitude for the gift of life. I go away now for a few days camping and it is always with a feeling of child like adventure and anticipation. Each day, each second is pure gift. It won't go on forever, how we must treasure it. As I get older I realise more and more than the sands of my life trickle through my fingers with increasing speed. This does not make me sad , for the world to come cannot be compared to this one in it's joyful richness and I know the greatest adventure of all awaits.

While the great adventure here below continues....

Romans 8:18

Future Glory
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.…

 

It is curious as we contemplate the Mysteries of the Rosary, which are the mysteries of Eternity itself..and which we shall as angels contemplate for ever and ever in this world and the next....how sorrow is intertwined with joy and they with Glory and they with light.



So on this most sorrowful of all days I awake with great Joy, for this is the day when Christ has broken the chains of sin and paid the price to set us free.

Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

...and we know, with the very greatest confidence that as we turn to Christ , like the Good Thief and ask for Mercy it shall be given and we shall enter into His Kingdom.

 

A Physician's View of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ...http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/on..._view_of_the_crucifixion_of_jesus_christ.aspx

 

Beautiful thread!

I'm trying to read through it slowly, respectfully. When one reads as such it can bring one closer to the heart of our true eternal Mother.. almost face to face. I find it rich in imagery, quite learned for the soul.

For the soul that is lacking encouragement; sitting on the fence so to speak: I wish to testify to the power of the Rosary.

In short: While meditating on one of the mysteries I seen a vision of our blessed Mother clothed in.. what I can only describe as the sun. She had a halo around Her head.. with what appeared to be a sunspot moving inside. My eyes were shut but I could clearly see through them. I witnessed this first of two graces in short succession.

Perhaps unrelated or as a direct result of the Rosary or in communion - as I have a devotion to the Holy Face, also: I seen a vision of Jesus, while He was here on earth; the day after the vision of our Blessed Mother.

Do not underestimate the power of the Rosary or any blessed devotion for that matter.

God Bless!

 

What does your Spiritual Director think on these phenomena, , 'Spirit'?

 

Hi, Padraig.

I do not have a "Spiritual Director" as of now, but my Heavenly Father from which all enlightenment comes from.

As for my revelations, visions, there have been many. For example, I did discuss my vision of St. Therese with my parish priest and dear friend sometime ago, and he didn't have any problems with it.

God Bless!

 

I am sorry Spirit. I have prayed and given some thought to this. Please do me the great favour of not sharing any more supernatural phenomena which you might have experienced until you have been under the authority of a Spiritual Director for a period of at least six months and he gives explicit approval to you publically revealing such things on an open forum like this.

I do not write this with any wish to quench the workings of the Holy Spirit but in a Spirit of Discernment.

 

My intentions are of good spirit. However, if I have offended you unknowingly in some way, then I apologize. To keep such joy of the truth in is difficult when many wondering souls do not believe.

I humbly decline, as you wish.

God bless!

 

Thank you so much.

A happy and a grace filled Easter.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_of_Saint_John_of_the_Cross

Christ of Saint John of the Cross is a painting by Salvador Dalí made in 1951. It depicts Jesus Christ on the cross in a darkened sky floating over a body of water complete with a boat and fishermen. Although it is a depiction of the crucifixion, it is devoid of nails, blood, and a crown of thorns, because, according to Dalí, he was convinced by a dream that these features would mar his depiction of Christ. Also in a dream, the importance of depicting Christ in the extreme angle evident in the painting was revealed to him.

The painting is known as the "Christ of Saint John of the Cross", because its design is based on a drawing by the 16th-century Spanish friar John of the Cross. The composition of Christ is also based on a triangle and circle (the triangle is formed by Christ's arms; the circle is formed by Christ's head). The triangle, since it has three sides, can be seen as a reference to the Trinity, and the circle may be an allusion to Platonic thought. The circle represents Unity: all things do exist in the "three" but in the four, merry they be.[1]

On the bottom of his studies for the painting, Dalí explained its inspiration: "In the first place, in 1950, I had a 'cosmic dream' in which I saw this image in colour and which in my dream represented the 'nucleus of the atom.' This nucleus later took on a metaphysical sense; I considered it 'the very unity of the universe,' the Christ!"[2]

In order to create the figure of Christ, Dalí had Hollywood stuntman Russell Saunders suspended from an overhead gantry, so he could see how the body would appear from the desired angle.

 

I have a large copy of the painting over my bed at home, it is wonderful for prayer and meditation. He also did another wonderful painting of the Last Supper, and I would love to get my hands on a copy.

View attachment 2787

 

Though I always thought Dali himself was...well a little odd. Genius... perhaps...