The
Fruits of the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary
Jenny
N. Sullivan
© 2018
The fruits of the mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary are
not usually the subject of rosary commentaries.
The mysteries themselves are. And they are quite obviously worth study
and contemplation. But the fruits of
the mysteries helped me to understand the mysteries better and appreciate the
mysteries more. So I write about them. The fruits tell us in plain language
what we will obtain from earnestly meditating upon the mysteries as we pray the
rosary. What a gift from God and His mother.
The
Fruits of the Luminous Mysteries
The
Luminous Mysteries seem to me to be vitally important for coming to an
appreciation of the importance of being in the faith. They call us to be open
to it, to see the light, I suppose.
1.
The Baptism of Christ: John the Baptist
baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River.
Fruit
of the Mystery: Openness to the Holy Spirit.
Openness to the Holy Spirit
is the cure for loneliness. I pray that all, especially those I love, are open
to the Holy Spirit in their lives. Openness is a matter of not creating a
barrier. George Herbert, the early 17th
century English poet, in his poem “Love,” speaks of God’s love for us and longing
for us in the lines “Love bade me welcome” and Love “drew nearer to me” and
“Love took my hand.” That love is God in the person of the Holy Spirit. Openness
to the Holy Spirit is a matter of letting God in and letting God work. Letting
the Holy Spirit in is letting love in.
2.
The Wedding at Cana: Jesus turns water into
wine at the prompting of His mother Mary.
Fruit
of the Mystery: To Jesus through Mary.
When Mary came to Jesus and told Him that the wedding guests
were running out of wine, He answered, “Woman, what does this have to do with
me? My hour has not yet come.” But then Mary said to the servants, “Do whatever
He tells you.” (John
2: 4-5) Turning water into wine was His first miracle. But in the way that He
speaks to his mother, he sounds as if He was not ready to perform His first
miracle: his “hour had not yet come.” Nevertheless, Mary seems to know He will
in fact honor her wishes. We do not hear her debating with her son but rather
telling the servants to do whatever He is going to tell them to take care of
the wine shortage. Mary holds a lot of sway with Jesus. She is special. She was
not born with the original sin we all share; she is the Immaculate Conception.
She was obedient to God when she said “yes” to the angel Gabriel. And so, like
the servants who have no more wine, we can go to Mary and ask her to speak to
her son on our behalf. Look at what the mother of God tells the servants. It is
the same wise counsel she gives to us: “Do whatever He tells you.” That is the prescription
for a life well lived in the will of God.
The prayers of the rosary and meditations upon its mysteries are Mary
offering us the opportunity to contemplate and appreciate the life, death, and
resurrection of the Savior and the establishment of His church.
3.
The Proclamation: Jesus proclaims the kingdom
of God as he travels throughout Israel, calling all to conversion.
Fruit
of the Mystery: Conversion of Heart.
If someone is already praying the
rosary, doesn’t that person already have a converted heart? Yet a luminous mystery offers the fruit of a
converted heart. Most of us likely can identify with Paul when he says “not even the good
that I desire is what I do; but what I hate, that is what I do.”(Romans 7:15) We all fall away from time
to time and need over and over the conversion of our hearts. John Donne, in his poem “Batter My Heart,”
explains in his opening lines how he is he is in need of conversion of heart
and asks God to do whatever it takes to retrieve him.
Batter my heart,
three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe,
shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand,
o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow,
burn, and make me new.
We have the gift of praying the rosary to accomplish just
that.
4.
The Transfiguration: Jesus leads the apostles
up a high mountain where they see Him transfigured in a glorious light.
Fruit
of the mystery: Desire for Holiness.
As Saint Augustine said, “God made us
for Him, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.” Things of this world can make us restless and
anxious. But all these things speak to a deeper restlessness, which is a yearning
for God. He has placed this longing in the hearts of His creatures. Sometimes
it takes a while for us to understand this longing, this unease when we are
outside of God’s grace. It can be so masked by the enticements of the world,
enticements that can never fully satisfy. That desire for Him is a great
blessing. It leads us to truth and dignity and right reason about our beautiful
blessings in this life. Praying the rosary nurtures our desire for holiness.
5.
The Last Supper: Christ gives Himself to the
apostles in the form of bread and wine and tells them to do this in memory of
Him.
Fruit
of the Mystery: Love of the Eucharist.
“Recognize in this bread what hung on
the cross and in this chalice what flowed from His side,” instructed St.
Augustine. The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the greatest gift of
the Mass—Christ with us in body and blood, soul and divinity. “Unless you eat
my flesh and drink my blood, there is no real life in you.” (John 6:53) Through the Real Presence we
have real life, life that is deep and authentic, full of meaning, purpose, and
direction—a life of joyful pilgrimage. The Eucharist feeds us with the love of
Christ and sends us forth to live in God’s grace with joyful hearts.
(The
Luminous Mysteries were instituted by Saint Pope John Paul II in October 2002.
The Rosary was given to Saint Dominic by the Blessed Mother in the beginning of
the 13th century.)
The
Joyful Mysteries
I write about the Joyful Mysteries next because they are
just that—joyful and therefore a wonderful place for an open heart to begin, a
heart opened by the Luminous Mysteries. They are about Mary’s joy in her child
and remind parents and all adults of the joy we take in children.
1.
The Annunciation: The angel Gabriel announces
to Mary that she is to be the Mother of God.
Fruit of the Mystery:
Humility.
Mary’s
humble “yes” to God brought salvation into the world. Eve pridefully said, “No,
I will not follow God’s will” and followed the serpent instead. But without God
we wander in a desert east of Eden, in a fallen world, wounded, lonely,
sometimes on the edge of despair. Only
when people say yes to God can dignity and true freedom flourish. Jean Francois
Millet’s painting “The Angelus” is an icon of Christian humility. A farmer and
his wife stop their work in the field at noon to pray the Angelus, a devotion
humbly adhered to today by millions. What the prayer honors, Mary’s consent to
God that it be “done until me according to Thy word,” is itself a verbal icon
of Christian humility. Mary’s humble “yes” gave to us her child and redemption.
Source: Google Images
2.
The Visitation: Upon Mary’s arrival at the
home of her cousin, Elizabeth greets her with “Blessed are you among women and
blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
Fruit of the Mystery:
Charity toward neighbor.
John
the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother’s womb at the presence of Christ in His
mother’s womb. In love, in charity, God knit these children in their mothers’
wombs. In love, in charity, these women gave their flesh to their children. In
love, in charity, they blessed one another with their care and companionship.
In love, John the Baptist gave his life to Christ and for Christ. Christ, in
love, gave his life for all. We must remember to love those Christ died for,
even when it is difficult. Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor wrote stories of
grace and redemption using characters who ranged from unattractive to
grotesque. But her stories show how God offers them grace too and uses them too
as vehicles of God’s grace for others. The challenge to show them love and
charity can be huge, but God’s love for them demands that we do. He loves us
even when we are unattractive and made grotesque by sin.
3.
The Nativity: Mary gives birth to the savior
of the world.
Fruit of the Mystery: Poverty of Spirit.
Poverty
of Spirit is not what it may sound like at first. A poor spirit is one that
understands that everything comes from God. He made us, He sustains our being, He
redeemed us and prepares a place for us in Heaven because Mary, in her poverty
of spirit, said yes to God. God created our beautiful world and gave man
dominion over it. We are to enjoy it and should use it to His glory. However, materialism,
which is giving the things of the world the power to control us and drive us,
can put a wedge between us and God. Worldly success may make us think we do not
need Him or don’t have time for Him. This is perhaps why it is so difficult for
a rich man to get to heaven (Matthew
19:24). The true joy of living comes from a relationship with God and the
ability to see His wonderful creation for what it is , God’s gift to us.
4.
The Presentation: The Blessed Mother and her
husband Joseph present the Christ child at the Temple.
Fruit of the Mystery:
Obedience.
Mary’s
yes to God the Father, her obedience to God, continues as she brings her child
to the Temple with Joseph to consecrate Him to the Father. Parents present
their children in thanksgiving to God for entrusting children to them for their
joy and for His glory. Parents pledge to raise them in His truth so that, by living
in obedience to Him, their children will have full lives, knowing God’s comfort
and joy. And families, friends and godparents gather joyfully at an infant’s
baptism in loving support.
5.
The Finding in the Temple: After three days,
Mary and Joseph find Jesus among the Temple elders.
Fruit of the Mystery: Joy in
finding Jesus.
The
joy of Mary and Joseph at finding their child in the House of God is the joy of
any loving parent whose child comes to know Christ truly. It is also our own joy in coming to the
temple and finding Jesus.
The
Sorrowful Mysteries
The
Sorrowful Mysteries remind us of the sacrifice of Christ to save us all. They
give meaning to suffering, His and our own. Pain is so hard to bear. But when
we join our suffering with that of Christ on the cross and offer it up for the
sins of the world, our pain is transformed into purpose and meaning. It still
hurts, but the pain is not victorious. It can be put to precious use.
1.
The Agony in the Garden: Jesus prays to the
Father in anticipation of the pain He is about to suffer.
Fruit of the Mystery: Acceptance
of God’s will.
The
old Baltimore Catechism explains that we exist to know, love, and serve God in
this life and enjoy Him in the next. Sometimes it seems difficult to discern
God’s will. We have scripture, church tradition, and the teaching of the
Magisterium to help us. When we know we have failed to follow His will, we have
the grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When it seems we are given trials
to bear, what we do with that “cross” makes all the difference. I think of dear
Flannery O’Connor, on the verge of an exciting life as a writer in New York
City, being struck down with lupus and having to return to her home in Georgia
to live as a semi-invalid until her early death. This life was not what she had
longed for. But look what she did with it, writing great short stories about
grace and redemption. Like cloistered nuns who spend their lives praying for
the salvation of the world,
F
O’C sat down to her typewriter religiously every day and wrote her jarring
stories out of that same holy concern. Her small life was huge and rich and
meaningful.
2.
The Scourging at the Pillar: Jesus is lashed
and whipped at Pilate’s orders.
Fruit of the Mystery: Purity
of Intention.
An
act is more or less pure according to the degree of selfless love of God with
which it is performed. Christ, in complete selfless love of the Father,
submitted to the scourging in the garden. He prayed to the Father to “let this
cup pass” from Him. (Matthew 26:39). But
he also affirmed that it was the Father’s will, not His, that should be done.
Later, from the Cross, He would pray to the Father to “forgive them for they
know not what they do.”(Luke 23:34) Only
when we come to the faith do we begin to understand the Father’s will so that,
in imitation of Christ, we can strive for purity of intention, that is to say we
can strive to act out of love of God in all that we do.
3.
The Crowning with Thorns: A crown of thorns
is pressed into Jesus’s head to mock Him.
Fruit of the Mystery:
Contrition.
Our
sins mock Jesus as the soldiers mocked Him with the crown of thorns. They did
not believe that He was God, so they spat on Him. We do the same when our words
and deeds are not motivated by a love of God, when they do not possess purity
of intention. But Christ wore that crown and went to that cross so that we
could be reconciled to the Father. We can be brought back to peace and love by
way of a contrite heart and a full and honest examination of conscience. I love
the ending of a George Herbert poem in which the speaker tells of his decision
to live “free as the road,” meaning not caring for how God wanted him to live. As
the speaker goes on and on about his dissolute life he exclaims
As
I raved and grew more fierce and wild
at every word
Me
thought I heard one calling, “Child!”
And I replied, “My Lord.”
His
raving is suddenly soothed by the call of God the Father, and he calmly answers
with a grateful, contrite heart, recognizing God as “My Lord.” Beautiful.
4.
The Carrying of the Cross: Christ carries the
heavy cross along the way to Calvary.
Fruit of the Mystery:
Patience.
Christ
stumbled three times on the way to Calvary. So do we all stumble along the way
on our pilgrim’s progress. Sometimes we stumble under the weight of our pain
and sufferings. Patience will help us to endure. Christ stumbled under the
weight of our sins but patiently calls us over and over to come home and be
reconciled to the Father. So too, in imitation of Christ , with His grace, are
we called to be patient with others, even when they sin against us, and we are
called to forgive them “seventy times seven,” if that is what it takes. (Matthew 18: 21-22)
5.
The Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
and dies after three hours of agony.
Fruit of the Mystery:
Perseverance.
Perseverance is remaining in
a state of grace until the end of one’s life. This is impossible without God’s
help and our poverty of spirit. And so
He gives us the church and its sacraments. Let me say first that in every age,
the Church has some people in charge who do not represent her rightly and who drive
God-seeking people away. Flannery O’Connor once said that “Sometimes we have to
suffer from the Church as well as for her.” I am not sure what in particular
she had in mind, but I know that when people in the church sin against the
church, it is a sad thing if that drives others away from the church. Ours is a
sacramental faith, and the Church gives us priests to administer the sacraments
to carry us through life. We have Baptism to consecrate us to God. We have
Confirmation to teach us our faith. And especially in the context of
perseverance, we have Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. We remain in grace
through repentance and confession, and we sustain a life of grace through the
Eucharist. If we are so fortunate as to realize our impending passing, we have
Anointing of the Sick to give us a happy death.
The
Glorious Mysterious
The
glorious mysteries are the culmination of the faith. They invite us to
contemplate the great gift of eternity with God.
1.
The Resurrection: Christ rises from the dead.
He appears to His followers, speaks to them, and eats with them.
Fruit of the Mystery: Faith.
With
His resurrection, Christ’s divine authority is confirmed, and so our faith is
confirmed. Christ will do what he promises. “Just as in Adam all died, so in
Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor.
15:20-22) The virtue of faith is the gift of faith, and by it we believe all
that God has revealed to us and that His church proposes for our benefit.
2.
The Ascension: Jesus ascends to Heaven forty
days after His Resurrection.
Fruit of the Mystery: Hope.
Hope
desires good for us in the future. We long for what is good and, with hope, we
live in the expectation of it. In the Christian life, hope enables us to look
forward from day to day, to strive to know, love, and serve God in this life and
enjoy Him in the next.
3.
The Descent of the Holy Spirit: The Holy
Spirit at Pentecost descends upon Mary and the apostles.
Fruit of the Mystery: Love
of God.
When
my mother had her first stroke, the one from which she recovered, thank God, I
had an encounter with the Holy Spirit descending to bring to me the love of
God. Mother was in the hospital, and I was staying at her house, alone, having
left my precious children in the care of their loving father. Because she had a
living will, the hospital asked me to bring them a copy for them to have on
file. That morning, the copy shop in Ocean View was not yet open when I
arrived. I was a wreck and felt so alone and lonely. I decided to walk along
the beach to pass the time. The water and the sand were breath-taking, as
usual. The beauty made me want to cry. But the beauty was too late: I was
already crying out of sadness over Mother and fear about whether or not I could
competently do all the things that would be required of me and because I felt
lonely and helpless. Alone on the beach, I began to sing one of the “modern”
hymns we sang at Mass, one that was the prayer of my heart at that moment.
“Lord, send down your spirit and renew the face of the earth….” No sooner had I
blubbered that through my wracking sobs than I reached into my pocket and found
a long lost cross with garnet stones, a pendant I long ago had accepted that I
would never see again. More than a year earlier I had packed away a pair of
trousers with other out-of-season clothes. Only recently had I rediscovered the
pants and decided to start wearing them again.
I put them on that morning but had no reason to put my hands in the
pockets. When I finally did so on the beach, I found the Holy Spirit waiting
for me. Mother later wrote one of her wonderful poems about the incident. Here
it is.
Jenny’s Cross of Garnet Red
I walked along the sea and shore
At
the dawning of the day.
My heart was sad and troubled
As
I began to pray.
O Lord, please lift my burdens.
They
are so hard to bear.
Or give me strength and comfort me
Because
I know you care.
And
as I walked along the shore,
My feet upon the sand,
I
reached deep in a pocket
And a cross was in my hand.
So
long it had been missing
I counted it for lost.
Now
quietly He spoke to me
Through my little chain and cross.
Now
in my heart my little cross
With its stones of garnet red
Is
laid upon a greater cross,
The cross on which He bled.
And
then my day grew brighter
And my heart was fresh and free.
For
He had heard my morning prayer,
And He had answered me.
4.
The Assumption: The Blessed Mother is taken
up to be united with her Divine Son in
Heaven.
Fruit of the Mystery: Desire for Heaven and the Grace of a Happy
Death.
Let
me return to Mother. In the nursing home, after a second, devastating stroke,
she declared three times that she wanted to come into the Church. I contacted a
priest, who gave her instruction and received her into the faith. Earlier she had
asked me what Catholics believe, and I told her we believe that Christ founded
this church for us and gave us the sacraments so that He is with us throughout
our lives. But something else also probably helped her to “cross the Tiber.”
One day I walked into her room as two African aides were attending to some of
her needs. One sweet young woman smiled down at Mother in her bed and began,
“Hail Mary, Full of Grace. “ The other woman joined in, smiling too as they adjusted
Mom’s sheets and prayed the Hail Mary together. Mama seemed pleased and smiled
back at them. “She likes that,” one of them told me. That led me to believe
that Mother had had this experience of prayer with these young women before. I
will finish this story with the next mystery.
5.
The Crowning: Mary is gloriously crowned
Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Fruit of the Mystery:
Confidence in the intercession of Mary.
During
Mother’s period of instruction, I shared the story of the nursing assistants
with Father. When it came time for Mom to pick a confirmation name, she wanted
Ruth. While Ruth is a figure from the Old Testament, I believe she wanted that
name to honor her beloved sister who died early from cancer. Father explained
that pre-Christian figures are a bit problematic for confirmation names and
that he thought that “Mary might have been calling to you through those nurses.”
She liked that suggestion, and so she became Kurkee Mary, as I called her for
the next while.
On
the day she died, little Ana, who was hired to sit with her until I arrived in
the afternoon, witnessed her death. “Mrs. Norman looked all around the top of
the room, stared into that corner, smiled, and died,” she told me.
Mother
had the Grace of a happy death. She had the Grace of a desire for Heaven and confidence
in Mary’s intercession, I am sure.
