The Mysteries of the Rosary and the Cross

Some Catholics shy away from the Rosary because they view it as repetitive prayer.  But it is much more than mere repetition.

Thanks to divine providence, I happened upon an out-of-print book at a sale, “The Splendor of the Rosary” by Maisie Ward. Ward distilled the rosary from its physical nature down to its spiritual nature: “the beads are there for the sake of the prayers, and the prayers are there for the sake of the Mysteries” (pg. 7). She thus gives the reason why the rosary is not mere repetition: The goal is contemplation of the lives of Jesus and Mary through the mysteries.

Contemplation on the mysteries of the Catholic faith enriches our life, deepens our faith, and helps us to love better. The mysteries of the Catholic faith, as such, cannot be fully exhausted or defined.

Fr. John Hardon noted that while we do not have that capacity, “nevertheless, though incomprehensible, mysteries are intelligible. One of the primary duties of a believer is, through prayer, study, and experience, to grow in faith, i.e., to develop an understanding of what God has revealed.”

Even though it sounds counterintuitive, the mysteries engage not only our faith but our intellect and reason. Jesus’ command to Simon on fishing applies to the engaging of mysteries: “put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). The nets are prayer, and the deep water represents the mysteries of the faith.

I think the mysteries engage more than our faith, reason, and intellect. They touch on our lives and experience as well. We have all run up against suffering of some kind, but it does not always confine itself to tragic events. Sometimes suffering gets mixed up within a joyful occasion. For Holy Week and its crescendo at Calvary, let us examine the non-sorrowful mysteries of the rosary in light of the cross.

The Cross in the Joyful Mysteries

Taking off the joyful lenses, one of the cruciform aspects of the Joyful Mysteries is uncertainty. At the Annunciation, Mary submitted her will to that of the Father with not much practical detail to back it up. How exactly would it all work?

Mary’s faith has been praised for all generations since her time on earth, and deservedly so. Her faith did not mean that she knew everything, however. It was her incredible trust in God. Similarly, we can look at the birth of Jesus and feel some of the stress that St. Joseph undoubtedly felt. On the one night that they desperately need a place to stay, Mary and Joseph are refused twice and bunk with the animals.

Maisie Ward noted the unique quality of the Presentation in the Temple. It belongs to the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary and it is also one of the seven sorrows of Mary. Picture Mary and Joseph singing the psalms of ascent and bringing the Messiah into His temple. What an incredible moment in the history of Israel!  The long-awaited Messiah fulfilled the law of Moses, which was ancient history even 2,000 years ago. Simeon enters the scene with praise for the Lord before prophesying that a sword will pierce Mary’s heart. The pattern of the cross is an ever-present part of life. Sometimes its timing is terrible.

One of the other previews of the cross comes with the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52). Jesus had stayed behind when Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem in a caravan; it was three days before Mary and Joseph found their son. Not knowing where their child was for three whole days! Even with heroic trust in God, that would still be difficult for any parent.

The Cross in the Luminous Mysteries

The fifth luminous mystery, the institution of the Eucharist, is the most theologically obvious one to include the cross. At the Last Supper, Jesus’ words, “this is My body, which will be given up for you” speak of a sacrifice that had not temporally happened yet. What happens at the offering of Mass – including the very first one – is a re-presentation of Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary (see the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” #1366-1367).

Besides the Eucharist, the baptism in the Jordan also has a heavy dose of the cross in it. We have that thanks to St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: “Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (6:3). It is only through death in Christ that resurrection results.

The sacrament of marriage contains the cross, as any husband and wife could attest. At Cana, the bride and groom have the first cross of their marriage very early. Running out of wine at a wedding reception was tremendously embarrassing in that time and place, given the Middle Eastern emphasis on hospitality.

St. Luke bookends his account of the Transfiguration with discussions on the Passion. Jesus first tells of His upcoming death (9:22). He takes it further, exhorting us to take up our crosses daily (9:23). After the Transfiguration and the casting out of a demon, Jesus repeats the warning of His impending death (9:44).

St. Mark also includes the conversation on the way down the mountain; Jesus admonishes them to tell no one until He had risen from the dead (9:9). The glory on the mountaintop was accompanied before and after by teaching on the Passion.

The Cross in the Glorious Mysteries

The Glorious Mysteries begin with the Resurrection on Easter Sunday (John 20:1-18). St. Mary Magdalene does not recognize Jesus in the garden at first. Once she does, Jesus gives her a soft rebuke, “stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (20:17). Her sorrow transformed to relief, and Jesus tells her not to hug Him. Sometimes we think we know perfectly what Jesus should provide for us, but we do not get to decide how Jesus will respond to our prayers.  Unanswered prayers take much faith on our part and can be very difficult.

One of the aspects of the cross I associate most with the Ascension is abandonment. The remaining apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). This, in my mind, is a variation of, ‘Jesus, you’re leaving now?”

This cross is one of submission to the divine will. While a lot of us would rather have Jesus here with us now, it is a greater leap to trust His plan. Sending the Holy Spirit was only possible with Jesus ascending into heaven.

I used to fall into the trap of thinking, if God would only send a dramatic miracle, everyone would believe. That very thing happened at Pentecost: a dramatic miracle of speech, the preaching of the apostles, and converts by the thousands (Acts 2:1-41). And yet many in the crowd merely scoffed, calling the apostles drunk. Everything was teed up for the Holy Spirit to turn hearts, yet some hearts remained firmly closed.

The Assumption and Coronation of Mary have less of the cross in them as the other mysteries. Even these, however, were preceded by suffering. The conversation about our glorified bodies only happens after Jesus paid the debt.

Concluding Exhortation

St. John Paul II was one of the great apostles of the rosary during his pontificate. In his encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae, he encouraged devotion to the rosary as an entrance into contemplative prayer.

“To look upon the face of Christ, to recognize its mystery amid the daily events and the sufferings of his human life, and then to grasp the divine splendour definitively revealed in the Risen Lord, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father: this is the task of every follower of Christ and therefore the task of each one of us. In contemplating Christ’s face we become open to receiving the mystery of Trinitarian life, experiencing ever anew the love of the Father and delighting in the joy of the Holy Spirit” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae #9).

The love of the Father and the joy of the Spirit remain in suffering, for the mysteries of the faith are rooted in the divine. Remember Maisie Ward’s great lesson that the beads and prayers are there for the sake of the mysteries. This Holy Week, pick up the rosary with the Passion of Our Lord looming. Sit at the feet of Christ with the Blessed Mother and see the cross. Embrace the cross and enter into the Passion, regardless of the day’s mysteries.