I suppose this turned into a series of sorts! If this is the first article you have come across in praying the mysteries of the rosary, I have written how I pray the Luminous and Joyful Mysteries in hopes that it helps focus your prayer and bring you closer to the heart of Jesus through Mary. I have a funny relationship with these mysteries in the sense that they often make me uncomfortable. I suspect this has to do with my spiritual immaturity, but bear with me for a short story.
One (probably a few) of my recurring sins stems from my insecurities – that I am not enough. Not smart enough, athletic enough, hard-working enough, a good enough mother, a good enough leader, good enough Catholic… The list is endless. And so when I first picked up these mysteries, I felt like it was me and my failings alone that “caused” the death of Christ. In all honesty, I avoided praying these mysteries and instead would just recite the prayers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Then, one lent, I decided they were the only ones I would pray. 47 days of the Sorrowful Mysteries. I wish I could say that I had a smack-down-fall-to-the-ground-like-Paul moment, or even a continual reassurance about God to Moses when he didn’t want to go to Egypt. I did not get that. But I did get a lesson in fortitude and discipline. I no longer shy away from these Mysteries! I can now pray them and know that it was not my sins alone that caused the bloody death of Christ, but that if I were the only one, He would have been crucified just for me. That’s how big His love is. So when I pray these Sorrowful Mysteries I aim to love big like Christ. Here is how I try to do that:
- The Crowning of Thorns: I pray for someone who has brought me the feeling of great agony and anxiety. This is a person that I would see and my heart would beat faster (and not in a good way.) Sometimes all I can do is force a single Hail Mary, and other times I am able to pray and meditate more freely asking God to bless them and soften my heart toward them. This is also a place where I bring my anxiety or worry regarding a decision or emotionally difficult task I have to complete.
- The Scourging at the Pillar: This Mystery is inconsistently prayed for and could take a lot of turns depending on how the first decade went, or what is on my mind. Sometimes I pray in general sorrow for sin and those that offend Him, sometimes I ask God to let me be more tolerable to Earthly displeasures/pain. Sometimes this one is a carrying over from the first decade and/or an early start to the third. Usually, I feel myself falling into a deeper movement of general sorrow for all Jesus endured.
- The Crowning of Thorns: I pray for Jesus to remain King in my life and that all other idols I hold would decrease so that I may look to God alone. I ask Him to show me an idol that is interfering in my relationship to Him. This is a hard one for me, as I usually don’t like the nudges I receive due to my unhealthy attachment to sin. The fruit of this mystery is also moral courage. I often find myself asking for courage.
- Carrying of the Cross: I pray for my husband. I don’t see all the crosses he carries, though I know they are many – some I unknowingly give to him! I also pray for my Opa. After he passed, our family got together to pray a rosary and I happened to lead this mystery with our family. When I pray for his soul, I will sometimes think of other souls for whom I want to pray.
- The Crucifixion: My most fruitful 5th mysteries are when I kneel. I pray for the conversion of sinners and for the souls in purgatory. I pray for the sorrow of sin and in thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sin.
- If you want to get wild and pray a 6th mystery… Jesus is Laid in the Sorrowful Arms of Mary. I meditate on that image in my mind – most often I am just a bystander far away, or a bird flying overhead to witness it, afraid to get too close should the death of a child be contagious. One day I hope to be brave enough to stand in the place of John, Mary Magdalene, or Joseph of Arimathea. Perhaps I will one day yet further be brave enough to put myself in the shoes of Mary, Mother of God. I try to simply “be” for this Mystery and watch Mary as she grieves, and I grieve with her.