CONTEMPLATING CHRIST WITH MARY – Lessons From the Holy Rosary

A Face Radiant as the Sun:  “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun” (Mt 17:2). The Gospel scene of Christ's transfiguration, in which the three Apostles Peter, James and John appear entranced by the beauty of the Redeemer, can be seen as an icon of Christian contemplation. 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 splendor 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. Saint Paul's words can then be applied to us: “Beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being changed into his likeness, from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).

Mary, Model of Contemplation: . The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way, the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger” (Lk 2:7).

Thereafter Mary's gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never leave him. At times it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of the finding in the Temple: “Son, why have you treated us so?” (Lk 2:48); it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of deeply understanding Jesus, even to the point of perceiving his hidden feelings and anticipating his decisions, as at Cana ( Jn 2:5). At other times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple ( Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter hers would be a gaze radiant with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a gaze afire with the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 1:14).

Mary's Memories:  Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word: “She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51). The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her, leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son's side. In a way those memories were to be the “rosary” which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life. Even now, amid the joyful songs of the heavenly Jerusalem, the reasons for her thanksgiving and praise remain unchanged. They inspire her maternal concern for the pilgrim Church, in which she continues to relate her personal account of the Gospel. Mary constantly sets before the faithful the “mysteries” of her Son, with the desire that the contemplation of those mysteries will release all their saving power. In the recitation of the Rosary, the Christian community enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary.

The Rosary, a Contemplative Prayer:  The Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary's own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer. Without this contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning, as Pope Paul VI clearly pointed out: “Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ: 'In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words' (Mt 6:7). By its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord's life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord. In this way the unfathomable riches of these mysteries are disclosed”. It is worth pausing to consider this profound insight of Paul VI, in order to bring out certain aspects of the Rosary which show that it is really a form of Christocentric contemplation.

Remembering Christ with Mary:  Mary's contemplation is above all a remembering. We need to understand this word in the biblical sense of remembrance (zakar) as a making present of the works brought about by God in the history of salvation. The Bible is an account of saving events culminating in Christ himself. These events not only belong to “yesterday”; they are also part of the “today” of salvation. This making present comes about above all in the Liturgy: what God accomplished centuries ago did not only affect the direct witnesses of those events; it continues to affect people in every age with its gift of grace. To some extent this is also true of every other devout approach to those events: to “remember” them in a spirit of faith and love is to be open to the grace which Christ won for us by the mysteries of his life, death and resurrection. 

Consequently, while it must be reaffirmed with the Second Vatican Council that the Liturgy, as the exercise of the priestly office of Christ and an act of public worship, is “the summit to which the activity of the Church is directed and the font from which all its power flows”, it is also necessary to recall that the spiritual life “is not limited solely to participation in the liturgy. Christians, while they are called to prayer in common, must also go to their own rooms to pray to their Father in secret ( Mt 6:6); indeed, according to the teaching of the Apostle, they must pray without ceasing (1Thes 5:17)”. The Rosary, in its own particular way, is part of this varied panorama of “ceaseless” prayer. If the Liturgy, as the activity of Christ and the Church, is a saving action par excellence, the Rosary too, as a “meditation” with Mary on Christ, is a salutary contemplation. By immersing us in the mysteries of the Redeemer's life, it ensures that what he has done and what the liturgy makes present is profoundly assimilated and shapes our existence.

Learning Christ from Mary:  Christ is the supreme Teacher, the revealer and the one revealed. It is not just a question of learning what he taught but of “learning him”. In this regard could we have any better teacher than Mary? From the divine standpoint, the Spirit is the interior teacher who leads us to the full truth of Christ (Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:13). But among creatures no one knows Christ better than Mary; no one can introduce us to a profound knowledge of his mystery better than his Mother.

The first of the “signs” worked by Jesus – the changing of water into wine at the marriage in Cana – clearly presents Mary in the guise of a teacher, as she urges the servants to do what Jesus commands ( Jn 2:5). We can imagine that she would have done likewise for the disciples after Jesus' Ascension, when she joined them in awaiting the Holy Spirit and supported them in their first mission. Contemplating the scenes of the Rosary in union with Mary is a means of learning from her to “read” Christ, to discover his secrets and to understand his message. This school of Mary is all the more effective if we consider that she teaches by obtaining for us in abundance the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even as she offers us the incomparable example of her own “pilgrimage of faith”.  As we contemplate each mystery of her Son's life, she invites us to do as she did at the Annunciation: to ask humbly the questions which open us to the light, in order to end with the obedience of faith: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).

Being conformed to Christ with Mary:  Christian spirituality is distinguished by the disciple's commitment to become conformed ever more fully to his Master (Rom 8:29; Phil 3:10,12). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Baptism grafts the believer like a branch onto the vine which is Christ ( Jn 15:5) and makes him a member of Christ's mystical Body (1Cor 12:12; Rom 12:5). This initial unity, however, calls for a growing assimilation, which will increasingly shape the conduct of the disciple in accordance with the “mind” of Christ: “Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). In the words of the Apostle, we are called “to put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27).

In the spiritual journey of the Rosary, based on the constant contemplation – in Mary's company – of the face of Christ, this demanding ideal of being conformed to him is pursued through an association which could be described in terms of friendship. We are thereby enabled to enter naturally into Christ's life and as it were to share his deepest feelings. In this regard Blessed Bartolo Longo has written: “Just as two friends, frequently in each other's company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hidden-ness, patience and perfection”. In this process of being conformed to Christ in the Rosary, we entrust ourselves in a special way to the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin. She who is both the Mother of Christ and a member of the Church, indeed her “pre-eminent and altogether singular member”, is at the same time the “Mother of the Church”. As such, she continually brings to birth children for the mystical Body of her Son. She does so through her intercession, imploring upon them the inexhaustible outpouring of the Spirit. Mary is the perfect icon of the motherhood of the Church. 

The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us (Gal 4:19). This role of Mary, totally grounded in that of Christ and radically subordinated to it, “in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power”. This is the luminous principle expressed by the Second Vatican Council which I have so powerfully experienced in my own life and have made the basis of my episcopal motto: Totus Tuus.  The motto is of course inspired by the teaching of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, who explained in the following words Mary's role in the process of our configuration to Christ: “Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ”. Never as in the Rosary do the life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ! 

Praying to Christ with Mary:  Jesus invited us to turn to God with insistence and the confidence that we will be heard: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). The basis for this power of prayer is the goodness of the Father, but also the mediation of Christ himself (1Jn 2:1) and the working of the Holy Spirit who “intercedes for us” according to the will of God ( Rom 8:26-27). For “we do not know how to pray as we ought” (Rom 8:26), and at times we are not heard “because we ask wrongly” (Jas 4:2-3).

In support of the prayer which Christ and the Spirit cause to rise in our hearts, Mary intervenes with her maternal intercession. “The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary”. If Jesus, the one Mediator, is the Way of our prayer, then Mary, his purest and most transparent reflection, shows us the Way. “Beginning with Mary's unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed their prayer to the Holy Mother of God, centering it on the person of Christ manifested in his mysteries”. At the wedding of Cana the Gospel clearly shows the power of Mary's intercession as she makes known to Jesus the needs of others: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). 

The Rosary is both meditation and supplication. Insistent prayer to the Mother of God is based on confidence that her maternal intercession can obtain all things from the heart of her Son. She is “all-powerful by grace”, to use the bold expression, which needs to be properly understood, of Blessed Bartolo Longo in his Supplication to Our Lady. This is a conviction which, beginning with the Gospel, has grown ever more firm in the experience of the Christian people. The supreme poet Dante expresses it marvelously in the lines sung by Saint Bernard: “Lady, thou art so great and so powerful, that whoever desires grace yet does not turn to thee, would have his desire fly without wings”. When in the Rosary we plead with Mary, the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:35), she intercedes for us before the Father who filled her with grace and before the Son born of her womb, praying with us and for us.

Proclaiming Christ with Mary: The Rosary is also a path of proclamation and increasing knowledge, in which the mystery of Christ is presented again and again at different levels of the Christian experience. Its form is that of a prayerful and contemplative presentation, capable of forming Christians according to the heart of Christ. When the recitation of the Rosary combines all the elements needed for an effective meditation, especially in its communal celebration in parishes and shrines, it can present a significant catechetical opportunity which pastors should use to advantage. In this way too Our Lady of the Rosary continues her work of proclaiming Christ. The history of the Rosary shows how this prayer was used in particular by the Dominicans at a difficult time for the Church due to the spread of heresy. Today we are facing new challenges. Why should we not once more have recourse to the Rosary, with the same faith as those who have gone before us? The Rosary retains all its power and continues to be a valuable pastoral resource for every good evangelizer.

THE PROTECTION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD (OCTOBER 1) – GREAT VESPERS

The glorious feast of your Holy Protection has come, O most pure Virgin. Illuminate more brightly than the sun all your people who with faith and with a pure heart proclaim you to be truly the Mother of God. They likewise sing out to your Son: O Christ our God, through the prayers of the ever-Virgin, who immaculately gave You birth in the flesh, let not your inheritance be vanquished by the enemy; but because You are the merciful One, save our souls in peace.

The people desire to sing to you, most pure Lady, but they cannot sing praises worthy of your Son. For you always intercede for all the faithful and embrace them with your holy protection. You pray that all will be saved, all who honor you with faith, O most pure Mother of God.

Let us assemble today, O faithful, and praise the immaculate Queen of all, the most pure Virgin, the Mother of Christ our God; for she always mercifully extends her hands to her Son. In amazement, Andrew saw her in a cloud, protecting the faithful with her mantle. Let us fervently sing to her: Rejoice, O protection, defense, and salvation of our souls.

Having purified our minds and souls, we also rejoice with the angels, joyously singing the hymn of David to the virgin bride of Christ our God, the King of all: Arise, O Lord, in the place of your dwelling, You and the ark of your majesty. Because You have adorned her as a beautiful palace, receive her into your city that through her prayers, O Lord, and with your almighty power, she will order our lives and protect our Church from its enemies.

Higher than all beings in heaven or on earth, more glorious than the Cherubim, and more honorable than all creation, Christ has given you as the powerful protection of the Christian people to protect and save all sinners who hasten to you. Therefore, O Lady, we sing hymns to you because you are the refuge of all people, and we gloriously celebrate the honorable feast of your Protection. We ask Christ to grant us great mercy through you.

O people, let us gloriously sing David’s song to the young bride, to the mother of Christ our God and the King of all. O Master, the Queen stood at your right hand, clothed in golden robes and adorned with celestial beauty. You have affirmed her, chosen from among women, and deigned to be born of her because of your great mercy. You have given her as a help to your people to build up and protect your servants from all misfortunes, O only-blessed One.

O Theotokos, you are a mountain greater and more glorious than Mount Sinai. It could not bear God’s glory coming down in images and tents. It caught fire and shook with thunder and lightning. You likewise had the Divine Fire in you. Through the will of Him who holds all in the palm of his hand, you bore the Word of God in your womb without being burned. Since you have a mother’s confidence before Him, O Lady, help those who faithfully celebrate your precious feast. Do not forget in your mercy to visit us, for you have received a gift from God to build up and protect the Christian flock of your servants.

O all-pure Mother of God, the Church is clothed with your honorable protection as with a most glorious wreath. It radiantly rejoices today. It mystically dances with joy and sings to you, O Lady: Rejoice, honorable raiment and crown of God’s glory. Rejoice, unique perfection of glory and eternal joy; rejoice, refuge of all who hasten to you;

rejoice, our salvation and deliverance.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AFTER THE DIVINE LITURGY

I thank You, O Lord my God, for You have not rejected me, a sinner, but have made me worthy to be a partaker of Your holy things. I thank You, for You have permitted me, the unworthy, to commune of Your most pure and heavenly Gifts. But, O Master Who loves mankind, Who for our sakes did die and rise again, and gave us these awesome and life-creating Mysteries for the good and sanctification of our souls and bodies; let them be for the healing of soul and body, the repelling of every adversary, the illumining of the eyes of my heart, the peace of my spiritual powers, a faith unashamed, a love unfeigned, the fulfilling of wisdom, the observing of Your commandments, the receiving of Your divine grace, and the attaining of Your Kingdom. Preserved by them in Your holiness, may I always remember Your grace and live not for myself alone, but for You, our Master and Benefactor. May I pass from this life in the hope of eternal life, and so attain to the everlasting rest, where the voice of those who feast is unceasing, and the gladness of those who behold the goodness of Your countenance is unending. For You are the true desire and the ineffable joy of those who love You, O Christ our God, and all creation sings Your praise forever. Amen.

A PRAYER OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT: O Master, Christ our God, King of the Ages, Maker of all things: I thank You for all the good things You have given me, especially for the communion with Your most pure and life-creating Mysteries. I implore You, O gracious Lover of mankind: preserve me under Your protection, beneath the shadow of Your wings. Enable me, even to my last breath, to partake worthily and with a pure conscience of Your holy things, for the remission of sins and unto life eternal. For You are the Bread of Life, the Fountain of Holiness, the Giver of all Good; to You we ascribe glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

 A PRAYER TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: O most holy Lady Theotokos, the light of my darkened soul, my hope, my protection, my refuge, my rest, and my joy. I thank you, for you have permitted me, the unworthy, to be a partaker of the most pure Body and precious Blood of your Son. Give the light of understanding to the eyes of my heart, you that gave birth to the True Light. Enliven me who am deadened by sin, you that gave birth to the Fountain of Immortality. Have mercy on me, O loving Mother of the merciful God. Grant me compunction and contrition of heart, humility in my thoughts, and a release from the slavery of my own reasoning. And enable me, even to my last breath, to receive the sanctification of the most pure Mysteries, for the healing of soul and body. Grant me tears of repentance and confession, that I may glorify you all the days of my life, for you are blessed and greatly glorified forever. Amen.

PRAYERS BEFORE RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION

O Lord, Master, Jesus Christ our God, You alone have authority to forgive sins because You are good and the lover of mankind. Forgive all my transgressions committed knowingly or unknowingly, and grant that I may partake, without condemnation, of Your divine, glorious, pure and life-creating Mysteries. May this communion not be for condemnation, or for the increase of sin, but for cleansing, sanctification and to obtain life in the kingdom, which is to come. Let this Eucharist be a defense and help against those who fight against me, to the elimination of my many iniquities. For You are the God of mercy and compassion and the lover of mankind and to You is due all glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Lord and Master, I am not worthy or sufficiently pleasing for You enter under the roof of the house of my soul. Since You, the Lover of mankind, wish to dwell in me, I boldly approach. Command me, and I shall open the doors, which You yourself have made. In your constant love for mankind You may enter in and enlighten my darkened mind. I believe You will do this, for You did not send away the harlot who came to you in tears or the publican who repented. You did not refuse the thief who acknowledged Your kingdom, or the penitent persecutor, Paul, to continue in his ways. Rather, You numbered among Your friends all those who came to You in penitence, for You alone are blessed always, now and ever and to ages of ages. Amen.

FOR THIS PARISH AND CITY, FOR EVERY CITY AND COUNTRY AND FOR THE FAITHFUL WHO LIVE IN THEM, LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

People often complain that the Divine Liturgy is the same each time it is celebrated.  That is true to some extent, though hymns and scripture readings change at each service.  But what the Divine Liturgy is, among other things, is very complete.  We cover so many areas of life in the Liturgy, and in this petition, we focus directly on the community in which we live and our parish community. As we pray this petition, you should bring to mind some aspect or aspects of your life in your community.  Things to bring to mind as this petition is being offered might be your job and your co-workers, your school and your classmates, your kid’s baseball team, the teller at the bank, the clerk at the store or any number of other things.
Not only do we bring to mind our city, but every city and country in the world.  And we pray especially for the faithful people who dwell everywhere on earth.  We pray that the faith is spread everywhere on earth.  We pray that it takes root and is established on a solid foundation wherever it is planted.  This is also a good time to bring to mind those who live in areas where Christians are persecuted, for their safety and for the protection of churches and communities in places of Christian oppression.
Can you see how this one petition brings so many possibilities when it comes to prayer?  If you prayed for one of these things at each liturgy, then this petition would be thought of in at least ten different ways at ten liturgies.  Truly a far cry from “the same and the same.”  And a testament to how a few precious words can bring so much to our minds, our hearts and our prayers.
Thank You Lord for the city in which I live, and for the church community to which I belong.  Protect and bless all those who are part of my church community.  Protect and bless those who are part of the city in which I live.  Remember my neighbors, my co-workers and my friends, those who work in the businesses which I patronize, those who travel on the streets I drive on, those who live in the houses on my street, for those who visit my town and those who make this place their home.  And remember those who live in all the cities and towns of our world, keep them safe, safeguard our faith, protect those who call themselves Christians and allow our beautiful faith to be spread safely and firmly to every corner of the earth.  Amen.

FOR TRAVELERS BY LAND, SEA, AND AIR, FOR THE SICK, THE SUFFERING, THE CAPTIVES, AND FOR THEIR SALVATION, LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

Again, our Church offers a wide variety of things and people to remember on this one petition.  You could focus on a different part of this petition at every liturgy and that would provide variety in praying the service.  “And air” was added to the liturgy in the past century, evidence that the liturgy does change ever so slightly as there is need. This is a good petition where you can have a “slide show” going through your mind.  Often when I am praying this petition, I am thinking of specific people who I know are traveling, and specific people in our community who are sick.
The liturgy, however, is an act of all the people of a community, on behalf of all the people in the world.  So there is a global prayer offered for the millions and millions of people on earth, the overwhelming majority of which, obviously, we do not know by name, who are sick or suffering.  There are many people in poor parts of the world who do not have access to medical care, and this petition is a good time to pray for them, and for those who have the means to bring medical relief to them.  There are people in the world who are suffering in many different ways—poor, homeless, orphans, etc. and this is a good time to bring them to mind and to prayer.  At any given time, there are people who are being held unjustly in captivity.  And then there are those who are justifiably being held in prisons and jails who should also not escape our prayers for their repentance and salvation.  Unfortunately there are many areas in the world where Christians are not safe to practice their Christianity.  They are held “captive” by oppressive governments who are bent on stamping our Christianity.  We pray for them here as well.
It is interesting to note that we are not praying for safety, freedom, liberation, or vindication for any of the groups mentioned in this petition.  We are not praying for material gain or recovery.  We are praying for the most important thing—salvation.  Perhaps someone who is suffering will never get better, or the person in poverty will never get rich.  But salvation is very much in God’s plan for every human soul, and so the prayer for everyone covered by this petition is simple—salvation.
Lord, free those who are held captive by unclean spirits; sail with those who sail; travel with those who travel; defend the widows; protect the orphans; liberate the captives; heal the sick. Remember, Lord, those who are in mines, in exile, in harsh labor, and those in every kind of affliction, necessity, or distress; those who entreat your loving kindness; those who love us and those who hate us; those who have asked us to pray for them, unworthy though we may be.  Amen.

THE HOLY SPIRIT, GIFT OF GOD'S LOVE BY ST. AUGUSTINE

There is no gift of God more excellent than this. It alone distinguishes the sons of the eternal kingdom and the sons of eternal perdition. Other gifts, too, are given by the Holy Spirit; but without love they profit nothing. Unless, therefore, the Holy Spirit is so far imparted to each, as to make him one who loves God and his neighbor, he is not removed from the left hand to the right. Nor is the Spirit specially called the Gift, unless on account of love. And he who has not this love, "though he speak with the tongues of men and angels, is sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal; and though he have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and though he have all faith, so that he can remove mountains, he is nothing; and though he bestow all his goods to feed the poor, and though he give his body to be burned, it profiteth him nothing." How great a good, then, is that without which goods so great bring no one to eternal life! But love or charity itself,--for they are two names for one thing,--if he have it that does not speak with tongues, nor has the gift of prophecy, nor knows all mysteries and all knowledge, nor gives all his goods to the poor, either because he has none to give or because some necessity hinders, nor delivers his body to be burned, if no trial of such a suffering overtakes him, brings that man to the kingdom, so that faith itself is only rendered profitable by love, since faith without love can indeed exist, but cannot profit. And therefore also the Apostle Paul says, "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by love:" so distinguishing it from that faith by which even "the devils believe and tremble." Love, therefore, which is of God and is God, is specially the Holy Spirit, by whom the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by which love the whole Trinity dwells in us. And therefore most rightly is the Holy Spirit, although He is God, called also the gift of God. And by that gift what else can properly be understood except love, which brings to God, and without which any other gift of God whatsoever does not bring to God? . . . Wherefore, if Holy Scripture proclaims that God is love, and that love is of God, and works this in us that we abide in God and He in us, and that hereby we know this, because He has given us of His Spirit, then the Spirit Himself is God, who is love. Next, if there be among the gifts of God none greater than love, and there is no greater gift of God than the Holy Spirit, what follows more naturally than that He is Himself love, who is called both God and of God? And if the love by which the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father, ineffably demonstrates the communion of both, what is more suitable than that He should be specially called love, who is the Spirit common to both? For this is the sounder thing both to believe and to understand, that the Holy Spirit is not alone love in that Trinity, yet is not specially called love to no purpose.  

Please pray for the health and protection of our Pope Francis

especially now that ISIS has targeted the Vatican....
 just a simple Hail Mary (read below).  THE HOLY FATHER MAKES A REQUEST FOR PRAYERS   THAT GOD PROTECTS HIM AND GIVES HIM FORCES TO MEET THIS  DIFFICULT TASK ... SO BE IT!!
 Our goal is to reach ten million Hail Mary's for Pope Francis.
We pray for the Holy Father that the heavenly Mother intercedes for him and protects him in his ministry:

 Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.
 Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
 Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
 now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Vespers

Starting this Saturday, at 4:30 PM, Vespers will be celebrated at St. John the Baptist.  Please join us!

In the Byzantine Tradition the liturgical day begins in the evening with the setting of the sun. This practice follows the Biblical account of creation: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Gen 1:5).

The Vesper service in the Church always begins with the chanting of the evening psalm: “...the sun knows it’s time for setting, You make darkness and it is night….” (Psalm 104: 19-20) This psalm, which glorifies God’s creation of the world, is man’s very first act of worship, for man first of all meets God as Creator.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, O Lord my God, Thou art very great…

O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all. The earth is full of Thy creatures (Ps 104:24).

Following the psalm, the Great Litany, the opening petition of all liturgical services of the Church is intoned. In it we pray to the Lord for everyone and everything.

Following this litany a number of psalms are chanted, a different group each evening. These psalms normally are omitted in parish churches though they are done in monasteries. On the eve of Sunday, however, sections of the first psalm and the other psalms which are chanted to begin the week are usually sung even in parish churches.

Psalm 141 is always sung at Vespers. During this psalm the evening incense is offered:

Lord, I call upon Thee, hear me. Hear me, O Lord.

Let my prayer arise in Thy sight as incense.

And let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice. Hear me, O Lord.

(Psalm 141:1-2).

At this point special hymns are sung for the particular day. If it be a Church feast: songs in honor of the celebration are sung. On Saturday evenings, the eve of the Lord’s Day, these hymns always praise Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

The special hymns normally end with a song called a Theotokion which honors Mary, the Mother of Christ. Following this, the vesperal hymn is sung. If it be a special feast or the eve of Sunday, the celebrant will come to the center or the church building with lighted candles and incense. This hymn belongs to every Vesper service.

O Tranquil Light of the holy glory of the Immortal Father, heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ. Now we have come to the setting of the sun and behold the light of evening. We praise God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For it is right at all times to worship Thee with voices of praise, O Son of God and Giver of Life, therefore all the world glorifies Thee.

Christ is praised as the Light which illumines man’s darkness, the Light of the world and of the Kingdom of God which shall have no evening (Isa 60:20, Rev 21:25).

A verse from the Psalms, the prokeimenon, follows—a different one for each day, announcing the day’s spiritual theme. If it be a special day, three readings from the Old Testament are included. Then more evening prayers and petitions follow with additional hymns for the particular day, all of which end with the chanting of the Song of St Simeon:

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation: which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and to be the glory of Thy people Israel (Lk 1:29-32).

After proclaiming our own vision of Christ, the Light and Salvation of the world, we say the prayers of the Thrice-Holy (trisagion) through to the Our Father. We sing the main theme song of the day, called the Troparion, and we are dismissed with the usual benediction.

The service of Vespers takes us through creation, sin, and salvation in Christ. It leads us to the meditation of God’s word and the glorification of his love for men. It instructs us and allows us to praise God for the particular events or persons whose memory is celebrated and made present to us in the Church. It prepares us for the sleep of the night and the dawn of the new day to come. On the eves of the Divine Liturgy, it begins our movement into the most perfect communion with God in the sacramental mysteries.

PRAYERS TO THE MOTHER OF GOD

Rejoice Mary, Mother of God, Virgin, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, for thou hast borne the Savior of our souls.

Meet it is in truth, to glorify thee, O Birth-giver of God, ever blessed, and all undefiled, the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who without stain didst bear God the word, true Birth-giver of God, we magnify thee.

O gracious Mother of the gracious God, O most pure and blessed Mary, the Mother of God, pour the mercy of thy Son and our God upon my impassionate soul, and with thine intercessions set me unto good deeds, that I may pass the rest of my life without blemish and, with thine aid, attain heaven. O Virgin mother of God, the only one who art pure and blessed. O Queen of the Heavenly Host, Defender of our souls: being delivered from evil, as thy servants, O Mother of God, we offer unto thee the hymns of thanks and victory; but as thou hast power invincible, deliver us from all calamity, that we may cry unto thee: Rejoice, O ever-Virgin Bride!

O virgin, spotless, undefiled, unstained, all-chaste and Pure Lady, Bride of God, who by the glorious birth-giving hast united God the Word with Man and linked our fallen nature with Heavenly Things; who art the hope of the hopeless, the helper of the oppressed, the ready protection of those who haste unto thee, and the refuge of Christians; despise me not, who am defiled and sinful, who by my wicked thoughts, words and deeds, have become an unworthy servant, and by my slothfulness have turned into a slave to evil affections. O Mother of the God of Love, have mercy and compassion upon me, a sinner and a prodigal. Accept this prayer which is offered to thee from my impure lips; and putting forward thy maternal influence with thy Son, my Lord and Master, beseech Him to open unto me the loving-kindness of His grace; beseech Him to overlook my countless transgressions, to give me true repentance and to make me to be a zealous doer of His commandments. And thou, being gracious and compassionate and tender-hearted, be thou ever present with me in this life as my defender and helper, so that I may turn aside the assault of my enemies, and guide me into salvation; help my poor soul at the hour of my death, and drive far from it all the dark forms of the evil ones. And in the dreadful Judgment Day, deliver me from everlasting punishment, and present me as an inheritor of the ineffable glory of the son, our God. Amen!

The Jesus Prayer

One of the hallmarks of Eastern spirituality is meditation, a discipline brought to near-perfection by the Desert Fathers and Mothers. The Jesus Prayer is a short repetitive prayer, which is profound and deeply mystical. Indeed, in a few short words, it expresses much of our Christian belief, including the need to be humble before God.

Although there are minor variations, the most common form of the prayer is “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.” The words stem from a number of biblical passages. It was Peter who first acknowledged Jesus. “Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16:16) In the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee it is the publican’s prayer which is pleasing to God. “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.” (Luke 18: 13) Also in Luke, Jesus encounters ten lepers who call out to Him from a distance. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” (Luke 17:13)

In the Jesus Prayer, we call on Him to be merciful. Of course, Jesus does not need to be reminded to be merciful. Just as the prodigal son’s father ran out to greet and forgive his lost son long before he had reached home, so too does Jesus constantly shower His mercy without us asking. It is not He who needs reminding, it is we who must be reminded that we are in need of His mercy.  The Jesus Prayer does just that. Through constant repetition, it instills the humility needed seek God’s mercy. Like Peter when he began to sink into the sea, we call out to Jesus, “Lord, save me.” (Matthew 14:30) The Jesus prayer can be our hand reaching out to Jesus in time of distress.

The Jesus Prayer is often recited with the aid of a chotki (prayer rope) having anywhere from 50 to 500 knots. When not in use, the prayer rope is traditionally wrapped around the left wrist so that it continues to remind one to pray without ceasing. As well, the Jesus Prayer may be accompanied by the sign of the cross each time it is prayed. As a more profound expression of humility, great prostrations (kneeling down and lowering one’s forehead to the ground) may be done. In this sense, we pray with not only our mind, but our body as well. This action reinforces our goal of humility. For those of us who have reached a certain stage in our lives, great prostrations also reinforce the need for knee replacement surgery!

The second goal of the Jesus Prayer stems from Saint Paul’s appeal to the Christians in Thessalonica. “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Ultimately, the Jesus Prayer can lead to this. Through persistent use, it is internalized; it becomes a part of your very being. This may seem an impossible goal. However, like all good things, it may come about through habit and perseverance. Like the physical discipline of running, the Jesus Prayer is a spiritual discipline. Eventually it can enter into your heart, so there is no longer any effort in reciting it, but it recites itself spontaneously. In this way, we are told, prayer will become as natural as breathing. “Let His most sweet name be joined to your breath; and then you will know the profit of silence,” wrote Gregory the Theologian.

Prayer for our Patriarch

O Lord, we pray You: defend and save His Beatitude, Patriarch Sviatoslav. He is the Primate and Father of the great fellowship of our Church, and wherever he may be in fulfillment of his duties, he is praying for us, and is offering to You with holy fervor his prayers at the Altar. Wherefore, O Lord, turn Yourself toward us, unite our prayers with his and receive them into the bosom of Your infinite mercy. Whether he weeps or rejoices, at home or abroad, we desire to united with him. Hear his holy prayers on behalf of our long-suffering land of Ukraine. Grant him the grace and wisdom, courage and perseverance, to fulfill the great work to which You have called him – by the prayers of the holy hierarchs, martyrs, and confessors of Ukraine, in whose shoes he been called to walk. Look kindly as ell on the land of Ukraine, and on her people, especially on those to whom leadership, government, and security are entrusted. Bless the newly-elected President, and his ministers in public office; in these days especially grant that they be upheld and strengthened in every good deed so that all may lead undisturbed and tranquil lives in perfect piety and honor. For You are the One who has mercy and save, and to You we send up glory, together with Your Father, who is without beginning, and Your most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayers to the Mother of God

Rejoice Mary, Mother of God, Virgin, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, for thou hast borne the Savior of our souls. Meet it is in truth, to glorify thee, O Birth-giver of God, ever blessed, and all undefiled, the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who without stain didst bear God the word, true Birth-giver of God, we magnify thee.

O gracious Mother of the gracious God, O most pure and blessed Mary, the Mother of God, pour the mercy of thy Son and our God upon my impassionate soul, and with thine intercessions set me unto good deeds, that I may pass the rest of my life without blemish and, with thine aid, attain heaven. O Virgin mother of God, the only one who art pure and blessed. O Queen of the Heavenly Host, Defender of our souls: being delivered from evil, as thy servants, O Mother of God, we offer unto thee the hymns of thanks and victory; but as thou hast power invincible, deliver us from all calamity, that we may cry unto thee: Rejoice, O ever-Virgin Bride!

O may I obtain this, most-holy Lady and Birth-giver of God, through thine intercessions and mediations, by the grace and exceeding great love of thine Only-Begotten son, my Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, to Whom is due, with the eternal Father and the All-Holy, Good and Life-Giving Spirit, all honor and glory and worship, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

O most glorious Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ our God, accept our prayers and present them to thy son and our God, that He may, for thy sake, enlighten and save our souls.

21 Things We Do When We Make the Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross is a simple gesture yet a profound expression of faith for both Catholic and other Christians. As Catholics, it’s something we do when we enter a church, after we receive Communion, before meals, and every time we pray. But what exactly are we doing when we make the Sign of the Cross? Here are 21 things:

1. Pray: We begin and end our prayers with the Sign of the Cross, perhaps not realizing that the sign is itself a prayer. If prayer, at its core, is “an uprising of the mind to God,” as St. John Damascene put it, then the Sign of the Cross assuredly qualifies. “No empty gesture, the sign of the cross is a potent prayer that engages the Holy Spirit as the divine advocate and agent of our successful Christian living.”
2. Open ourselves to grace: As a sacramental, the Sign of the Cross prepares us for receiving God’s blessing and disposes us to cooperate with His grace.  
3. Sanctify the day: As an act repeated throughout the key moments of each day, the Sign of the Cross sanctifies our day. “At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign,” wrote Tertullian.
4. Commit the whole self to Christ: In moving our hands from our foreheads to our hearts and then both shoulders, we are asking God’s blessing for our mind, our passions and desires, our very bodies. In other words, the Sign of the Cross commits us, body and soul, mind and heart, to Christ. “Let it take in your whole being—body, soul, mind, will, thoughts, feelings, your doing and not-doing—and by signing it with the cross strengthen and consecrate the whole in the strength of Christ, in the name of the triune God.”
5. Recall the Incarnation: Our movement is downward, from our foreheads to our chest “because Christ descended from the heavens to the earth,” Pope Innocent III wrote in his instructions on making the Sign of the Cross. Holding two fingers together—either the thumb with the ring finger or with index finger—also represents the two natures of Christ.
6. Remember the Passion of Our Lord: Fundamentally, in tracing out the outlines of a cross on ourselves, we are remembering Christ’s crucifixion. This remembrance is deepened if we keep our right hand open, using all five fingers to make the sign—corresponding to the Five Wounds of Christ.
7. Affirm the Trinity: In invoking the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we are affirming our belief in a triune God. This is also reinforced by using three fingers to make the sign, according to Pope Innocent III.
8. Focus our prayer on God: One of the temptations in prayer is to address it to God as we conceive of Him—the man upstairs, our buddy, a sort of cosmic genie, etc. When this happens, our prayer becomes more about us than an encounter with the living God. The Sign of the Cross immediately focuses us on the true God, “When we invoke the Trinity, we fix our attention on the God who made us, not on the God we have made. We fling our images aside and address our prayers to God as he has revealed himself to be: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
9. Affirm the procession of Son and Spirit: In first lifting our hand to our forehead, we recall that the Father is the first person the Trinity. In lowering our hand we “express that the Son proceeds from the Father.” And, in ending with the Holy Spirit, we signify that the Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, according to Francis de Sales.
10. Confess our faith: In affirming our belief in the Incarnation, the crucifixion, and the Trinity, we are making a sort of mini-confession of faith in words and gestures, proclaiming the core truths of the creed.
11. Invoke the power of God’s name: In Scripture, God’s name carries power. In Philippians 2:10, St. Paul tells us that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” And, in John 14:13-14, Jesus Himself said, “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
12. Crucify ourselves with Christ: Whoever wishes to follow Christ “must deny himself” and “take up his cross” as Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 16:24. “I have been crucified with Christ,” St. Paul writes in Galatians 2:19. “Proclaiming the sign of the cross proclaims our yes to this condition of discipleship.”
13. Ask for support in our suffering: In crossing our shoulders we ask God “to support us—to shoulder us—in our suffering.”
14. Reaffirm our baptism: In using the same words with which we were baptized, the Sign of the Cross is a “summing up and re-acceptance of our baptism,” according to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
15. Reverse the curse: The Sign of the Cross recalls the forgiveness of sins and the reversal of the Fall by passing “from the left side of the curse to the right of blessing,” according to de Sales. The movement from left to right also signifies our future passage from present misery to future glory just as Christ “crossed over from death to life and from Hades to Paradise,” Pope Innocent II wrote.
16. Remake ourselves in Christ’s image: In Colossians 3, St. Paul uses the image of clothing to describe how our sinful natures are transformed in Christ. We are to take off the old self and put on the self “which is being renewed … in the image of its creator,” Paul tells us. The Church Fathers saw a connection between this verse and the stripping of Christ on the cross, “teaching that stripping off our old nature in baptism and putting on a new one was a participation in Christ’s stripping at his crucifixion.”He concludes that we can view the Sign of the Cross as “our way of participating in Christ’s stripping at the Crucifixion and his being clothed in glory at his resurrection.” Thus, in making the Sign of the Cross, we are radically identifying ourselves with the entirety of the crucifixion event—not just those parts of it we can accept or that are palatable to our sensibilities.
17. Mark ourselves for Christ: In ancient Greek, the word for sign was sphragis (σφραγίς), which was also a mark of ownership.  “For example, a shepherd marked his sheep as his property with a brand that he called a sphragis.” In making the Sign of the Cross, we mark ourselves as belong to Christ, our true shepherd.
18. Soldier on for Christ: The sphragis was also the term for a general’s name that would be tattooed on his soldiers. This too is an apt metaphor for the Christian life: while we can be compared to sheep in the sense of following Christ as our shepherd, we are not called to be sheepish. We instead are called to be soldiers of Christ. As St. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6, “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. … take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
19. Ward off the devil: The Sign of the Cross is one of the very weapons we use in that battle with the devil. As one medieval preacher named Aelfric declared, “A man may wave about wonderfully with his hands without creating any blessing unless he make the sign of the cross. But, if he do, the fiend will soon be frightened on account of the victorious token.” In another statement, attributed to St. John Chrysostom, demons are said to “fly away” at the Sign of the Cross “dreading it as a staff that they are beaten with.” 
20. Seal ourselves in the Spirit: In the New Testament, the word sphragis, mentioned above, is also sometimes translated as seal, as in 2 Corinthians 1:22, where St. Paul writes that, “the one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.” In making the Sign of the Cross, we are once again sealing ourselves in the Spirit, invoking His powerful intervention in our lives.
21. Witness to others: As a gesture often made in public, the Sign of the Cross is a simple way to witness our faith to others. “Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still,” wrote St. Cyril of Jerusalem.