Meditations on the Holy Rosary

C. Morrison Peter

Description

The meditations set down in this short volume stem from countless recitations by Peter C. Morrison over the course of approximately sixty years. He believes that the Holy Spirit has been abundantly active during the recitations. The Spirit has also never failed to guide and inspire him as soon as he sits down to print the reflections contained in this book. Meditations on the Holy Rosary draws from his life experiences, his knowledge of the Bible, and from the classes in Theology and homilies from inspired preachers.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Catholic Church

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645757313
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Meditations on the Holy Rosary
Walking with the Mysteries
Peter C. Morrison
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-11-30
Meditations on the Holy Rosary About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgement Introduction The Joyful Mysteries The Annunciation The Visitation The Incarnation The Presentation in the Temple The Finding of the Boy Jesus in the Temple The Sorrowful Mysteries The Agony in the Garden The Scourging at the Pillar The Crowning with Thorns The Carrying of the Cross The Crucifixion The Glorious Mysteries The Resurrection The Ascension The Descent of the Holy Spirit The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth The Luminous Mysteries The Baptism in the Jordan The Wedding at Cana The Proclamation of the Kingdom The Transfiguration The Institution of the Holy Eucharist
About the Author
Peter C. Morrison is an adjunct professor of English at Suffolk Community College. He has a Ph.D. in English and a master’s degree in theology. His poems have been published in Suffolk County’s Bards Annual.
Dedication
For my wife, Louisa, who has endured my countless hours at the computer.
Copyright Information ©
Peter C. Morrison (2020)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Austin Macauley is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity. In this spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers; however, the story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.
Ordering Information
Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Morrison, Peter C.
Meditations on the Holy Rosary
ISBN 9781645757290 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781645757306 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781645757313 (ePub e-book)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020912556
www.austinmacauley.com/us
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
40 Wall Street, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10005
USA
[e-mail]
[phone]
Acknowledgement
The Benedictine Fathers at St. Vincent Monastery and College in Latrobe and Rev. Msgr. William A. Hanson, Pastor of Mary Immaculate Parish, Bellport, NY.
Introduction
I first began saying the Rosary after reading Bishop Sheen’s book, Peace of Soul. I had a summer job at Grumman Aircraft in Bethpage, Long Island, New York. I found it in the Grumman Library and read it during my lunch hours, sitting beside the runway. The book somehow caused me to filter out the noise of plane engines and to concentrate on the mesmerizing words of that saintly bishop.
My father was killed in a plane crash in the late forties. Two years later, my mother married again, this time to an Episcopalian, whom she met while teaching dancing at Arthur Murray’s. Unfortunately, my stepfather was anti-Catholic. Both he and my mother decided that my brother and I should attend the Episcopal Church. In my late teens, when I worked at Grumman, my sessions with Bishop Sheen had convinced me that I should return to the faith in which I was baptized Roman Catholicism. Despite mild opposition from my stepfather, I went to a Catholic college in Pennsylvania, which had an affordable tuition at the time. Before leaving for college and mostly while walking our dog, I prayed the Rosary. It filled me with the utmost peace. Through reading and watching religious films with my devout grandmother, I became acquainted with the children of Fatima and the miracle of the sun. I was convinced then, as I am now, of the reality of Fatima, and concomitantly of the spiritual value of the Rosary.
For a while, after the Second Vatican Council, the Rosary was sneered at by some, as the refuge of old women with little to no “theological” sense. I’m afraid I was among those who sneered, or at least among those who thought the Rosary was inferior to the traditional liturgy. It was not until after I married that I began again to recite this precious and special collection of prayers inspired by our Mother Mary. At first, I did it while driving; I used a chaplet, which made driving somewhat safer. Now, I do it, as I did in my late teens, while walking the dog, while waiting for a doctor, or car repair, or anywhere that waiting is involved. I, more and more, appreciate being taken into the realm of meditation through these beads. Suddenly, I felt the urge to share my meditations in the form of the following book. Often, I would sit before my computer and wait for the Holy Spirit to help me continue. The Spirit never failed me; at times it was as if the Spirit were speaking through me, telling me to reach into my everyday experiences to help fuel the meditations. I pray that anyone reading the thoughts in this book will be so inspired and will add her or his personal meditations to mine.
The Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation
Those of us who are fortunate enough to be living in the 21 st century, in a middle-class environment, with a new surge of empowered women, must have a particularly difficult time placing ourselves in the small, poor town of the Nazareth of roughly 33 BCE. Perhaps the closest comparison may be recalled in the person of St. Bernadette of Lourdes, a young, poor, relatively uneducated, devout peasant girl. To Bernadette appeared the beautiful lady who called herself “The Immaculate Conception.” This announcement surpassed the understanding of St. Bernadette and confused the priests, who maintained that the Immaculate Conception was not a person, but an event. Obviously, the traditional theological terminology does not suffice. Through the experience of St. Bernadette, one might more easily imagine the state of mind produced by the angel’s announcement to our lady, the Virgin Mary. Here was something beyond the stretching of theological categories passed down to Mary by the local rabbi. Mary does not doubt the angel’s word; however, she seems to think that there is something she, herself, must do in order to bear the Son of God. It is in this spirit that she questions the angel. She is not here necessarily thinking in terms of Christ entering her womb through the action of the Holy Spirit. She is, of course, thinking of the usual causes whereby a woman becomes pregnant. It is in response to Mary’s question that the angel assures her that the child’s father will be none other than our very Creator. It takes a dream to convince Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, that Mary has not sinned with another man. Today, we apply the original, biblical phrase “put her away” to the confinement and treatment of someone who is so psychologically disturbed as to be a danger to him or herself and possibly to others. No doubt, there are those today who, if they know the Gospel story at all, would relegate Mary to the company of the deranged. The substance of Joseph’s dream, therefore, is to assure him that Mary need not be “put away” in any sense of the word, but rather that she be taken to wife, and that Joseph, in his acceptance, might become the foster father of God Himself.
There are biblical foreshadows of the Mystery of the Virgin Birth, for example the promise of a child to Sarah, and much later to Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, both of whom are too old for childbearing. In sending His angel to announce the Virgin Birth, God the Father exercises his power, not only over life and death, but in this case, over the mortal process of pregnancy and birth. In each case, but especially in the case of Mary, God not only enters the world of His creations, but also suspends the usual conditions for conception and birth. Like so much that the Evangelists report as truth, this is beyond our human understanding; it calls for faith in the deepest sense of the word.
To return to the story of Bernadette of Lourdes, we might ask ourselves what it is about this saint that so strikes the believer. My attention, at least, is drawn not so much to the possibility of Jesus’ mother appearing miraculously to a simple peasant girl and announcing that she is the personification of an abstraction. It is rather focused on the overwhelming love Bernadette feels toward this lady and on the love of the lady, not only for Bernadette, but also for the humble, the sick, the poor, and the believers in any condition of life. I have long been an admirer of the film version of Franz Werfel’s novel The Song of Bernadette. For me, the most impressive scene in the film finds the girl in tears, as the character of Bernadette’s mother observes, “night after night.” In this scene, Bernadette (as played by Jennifer Jones) tearfully avows that she will “die” if she doesn’t see cannot see the lady again. The girl’s love for the Heavenly Mother so moves the parents that the father declares that Bernadette “ will see her again.”
If one looks closely at the Annunciation, one sees the intensity of love which God bears to His people. One also sees the return of that love in the acceptance by Mary and Joseph of the plan that will eventually involve the Almighty Himself. To what extent did Jesus’ parents anticipate the painful, human death in order that we may be reconciled with Him to the point of sharing His life? In a real sense, the request of the angel to Mary asks that she participate in her Son’s sacrifice even before Jesus is born. Anyone who reports a miraculous occurrence must inevitably suffer the