The Five Joyful Mysteries
Monday and Thursday
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries
The Five Glorious Mysteries
Saturday, Sundays and Wednesdays
The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary
I was in prayer: it was evening. I was praying towards Jerusalem because my people prayed three times a day, morning, noon, and evening facing Jerusalem. I was praying that soon the Messiah would come to take away all hatred: to take away all sins from my people. As I was praying, there suddenly appeared an angel.
At first I was startled, and afraid because of the glory of this messenger from God. When I heard him say "Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you" I was very confused at this greeting, why was he naming me "Full of Grace"? I heard his message, and I was very humbled that I had favor from God: that I was called to bear His Son.
But, although I accepted God's will for me, I didn't understand how it would happen. I asked the angel how this could happen? I am a virgin! The angel assured me, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you: the shadow of the Most High will enwrap you and the child to be born of you will be called Son of God." At that instant, I remembered the prophesy of Isaiah. The prophesy of the Messiah. The prophesy that He would be a suffering servant. A servant rejected by His own people and yet raised by God.
Knowing that, I said, "Behold the handmaid, the servant of the Lord: be it done to me according to Your word."
My children, be always open to seek the will of God in your life no matter what it is. Never be afraid of God's will. God's will always does contain suffering but God's will also brings peace. God's will contains Joy. Pray to the Heavenly Father: pray that He will give you the grace, through my prayers to accept His will in all things. Follow my example. Place yourself at God's disposal and He will do great things for you, and with you.
THE VISITATION of Mary to Elizabeth
As soon as I realized by Gabriel's message that Elizabeth, my cousin, who had been barren
for a long time, and who was now old, had nonetheless conceived, I was prompted by God's
grace to go to help her in her need. She was in her sixth month: I went from Nazareth to
Judea. Along the way I was pondering the message that the angel had given me. It all
seemed so wonderful that God would use me for His kingdom; for His glory! I had heard that
Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, had become mute: he had doubted the Lord: he doubted that God could work a
miracle in his life. I was a sad to hear that, but overjoyed that God was granting
them the gift of a child.
As I arrived at Zechariah's house, and greeted Elizabeth, she jumped up from her work, and shouted for joy, and said, "Blessed are you among all women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy! Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
Out of Elizabeth's mouth came the confirmation of Gabriel's message: that I had conceived the Son of God, and even the unborn child in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy! I began to sing the hymn of praise that came from my heart. I was so filled with God's love that I just had to share my joy with Elizabeth and her household.
My children, never doubt that God can work a miracle in your Life even if things seem humanly impossible: all things are possible with God. Trust Him, trust Him my children. As I visited Elizabeth out of love, I wish to visit you out of love. I wish to come into your situation whatever it may be: to be present with you and to pray with you and for you. God will manifest His power if we believe.
Elizabeth told me, "Blessed are you who have believed that the Lord's words would be fulfilled in you." Trust in the Lord. I am with you to pray with you. Offer this mystery to the Heavenly Father that He will also work a miracle of grace in your life: ask the Heavenly Father for the gift of faith and absolute trust in His work. I am praying with you, and for you.
THE NATIVITY of our Lord Jesus ChristJoseph and I came to Bethlehem because there was a decree that all should go to their ancestral town to be registered. In obedience to the law of the land, Joseph and I went to Bethlehem, the ancient city of Joseph's ancestor, David. God even used the oppression of the Roman government to bring about your salvation: because it was in this time of oppression, my Son, your Savior, was born.
We looked for a place but there was no room anywhere: the town was so full. What was offered us was a stable not too far from where the shepherds were guarding their flock. It was more of a cave, than anything else, yet the straw was dry and there was shelter from the wind, and we gave thanks to God for sheltering us.
A little while later, my Son would be born, the Son of God, the Word
made flesh. Because of the immensity of Love that the Lord had filled me with, I felt no
pain at His birth. There was pure joy at the coming of my Son. I held Him in my arms: He
was the very Savior of the world. Joseph held the Child in his strong arms and he was also
filled with wondrous joy. He also gave thanks to God and promised to follow God’s
will, and be a good foster-father for this Child. A little time passed, and then the
shepherds that were near the stable also came, and they worshipped my Son. The angels had
told them that Heaven was rejoicing at the birth of my Son.
In obedience to the Law of Moses, forty days after my Son was born, Joseph and I went to Jerusalem to present my Son before the Lord and to redeem Him with two turtle doves. We didn’t know then that this sacrifice was in anticipation of the sacrifice He would make on Calvary for your salvation. We were filled with the joy that God had sent us the Redeemer, we didn’t know God’s plan, then.
When we entered the temple, there was a holy man by the name of Simeon waiting there. He had been waiting for many years, coming every day to the temple, hoping that his prayers to see the Messiah before he died would be answered. When he saw our little family enter the Temple courtyard, Simeon came straight over to us, and took my Child into his arms and said, "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." We were amazed at this! You see, we were not used to signs and miracles in our lives, so this seemed very strange to us! Then Simeon turned and blessed Joseph and I, and said to me: "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted, and you yourself a sword will pierce, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." There was also a prophetess at the Temple, an old woman, named Anna. She was 84 years old, and now that she was a widow, she never left the temple, but worshiped day and night, with fasting and with prayer. She had been there for years now, praying and waiting for the coming of the Messiah. As we walked through the courtyard, we must have looked like any other family coming to offer sacrifice for their child. But she immediately came towards us, prompted by the urging of the Holy Spirit, and she gave thanks to God for letting her live to see the miracle of the birth of our Savior! Then she told everyone who was there waiting for the redemption of the world, that the Savior had come!Although Joseph and I trusted in the Lord, we were surprised that all of these things were happening. We were simple, poor people, no one special. And yet, here we were, parents to the Savior of the world! We held all these words in our hearts. The Child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and all could see that the favor of God was upon him.
My greatest pain, my children, is that people reject my Son: people reject His message of love and peace. People reject His message of repentance and holiness. My children, ask the Heavenly Father that He will make you holy in all things. Take away from your life whatever is displeasing to God so that your worship at Mass, your prayers, and your very life, will be acceptable to God the Father. I will pray for you in your time of worship. I will pray for you always.
FINDING JESUS IN THE TEMPLE at age 12Jesus was twelve years old and Joseph and I, as the custom was for my people, wished to take Him to Jerusalem for the Passover. We went and we were filled with joy to worship God with His people.
After the days of Passover were done, Joseph and I went back to Nazareth in the caravan of family members and friends that we came in. Joseph went with the men and I with the women. The children were either with their fathers or mothers. Both of us thought that Jesus was with the other. When evening came, Joseph and I came together and we did not find Jesus. He was not among our relatives, nor was He among our friends! We didn’t know what had happened to Him! So we decided to go back to Jerusalem to look for Him.
My heart was torn in two: the sufferings predicted by Simeon were already starting. "What happened to my Son?" I questioned. It took us two days to go back to Jerusalem and on the third day we finally found my Son, safe, in the temple. My heart rejoiced! Perhaps the trials were not starting, perhaps we had more time before the suffering prophesied in Scripture would begin.
He was among a group of elders, rabbis, and He was reading the Law with them. They were discussing the Law of Moses: He astonished the elders who marveled at His insight to the Law. They saw only a boy. So, they were amazed.
As I was hearing Him, there was such an amount of joy welling up in my heart, joy to hear my Son teaching for the first time. God was giving me a taste of what my Son would be doing during His earthly ministry. I ran up to Him and said, "My Son, why did You do such a thing? Your father and I with so much worry have been looking for You." Jesus looked at me with Love and yet with conviction and He said to me, "But why were you looking for Me? Did you not know I should be about My Father's business."
At first, I could not understand such a response: and yet I did. We had
been concerned for our own reasons. But, my Son was aware of His vocation: He had to
fulfill what He was created for. He was created for God: He was created to obey His Father
in all things. I watched Him grow into maturity: I watched Him love and His love was only
a reflection of the Father's love.
My Son came with His apostles to the Mount of Olives. There was a garden there that He frequently went to pray: He felt a sadness; a deep, deep sadness. He took His closest friends, Peter whom He was to give charge of the Church, James, and John.
Jesus said to them: "My heart is sorrowful to the point of death: stay here and pray and keep watch while I go and pray by Myself." Jesus went over further to pray: He wanted to pray by Himself. He wanted to pour out His heart to His Father as I often have seen Him do with His prayer. My Son always prayed continuously to His Father: He always looked to the Father for His consolation.
During the time He prayed, He saw all the agony He was going to suffer: and the agony was not so much the pain of the crucifixion as the pains of the sins of the world. Every sin, every injustice, every infidelity that would ever be done, He saw and felt at that very moment, and the pain of it caused Him to sweat blood.
His agony, His sorrow, and so much sinfulness caused the blood to
burst from His forehead. It was just another anticipation of when His Precious Blood would
be shed on the cross. That Blood that was sweat on Gethsemane blessed that very spot into
Jesus' sacred place of prayer.
My Son was sent to Pilate after being judged by the Jewish authorities. The Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate said to the crowd: "I find no fault in this Man worthy of death: so I will have Him scourged: then I will set Him free." Pilate said this to placate the crowd because he knew my Son was innocent of all the accusations that they were throwing at Him.
Pilate sent my Son to be scourged: This was a terrible punishment, that often killed strong men. Not only was a whip used, but it was tipped with bits of metal, to tear at the skin. My poor Son was whipped furiously: demons took possession of the soldiers. All the anger of hell was vented out on my Son. The soldiers that scourged my Son were filled with the very hatred of hell itself.
When Jesus received this horrible scourging it was because He loved you so very much that He took all this pain. Because He wanted you to be healed of your sins: of all the diseases of the soul, mind, and body that Jesus took all this punishment. Jesus did not take all this punishment to condemn you: He took it all to save you. Behold the love of my Son for you and yet behold His meekness as the Lamb that is brought to the slaughter: my Son was scourged without even His saying a word. Angels waited for that word, and would have rescued Him in a moment. But He suffered this horrible pain and humiliation, for you.
My children, my Son wishes to heal you by His stripes. By the scourging He received, He wants to set you free of all types of oppression, of all types of bondage. By the wounds of my Son you are healed and set free. My children, pray to the Father that He will heal the wounds of your heart so that you can pray with love. Ask the Father to teach you how to love the way my Son loves. Pray for those who are possessed by hatred: pray for those who have an insatiable need to seek revenge. Pray that they too will be liberated and healed by the stripes of my Son. Jesus is Crowned with ThornsAfter the scourging, the soldiers put an old, dirty purple robe onto my Son. His wounds were still bleeding on his back, and the mere touch of the fabric hurt Him. And like any bloody wound, as they dried, they stuck to the fabric, and cause my Son even more pain and suffering.
Then my Son was led to the praetorium where the soldiers wanted to
further amuse themselves. They took some vines with sharp thorns and twisted them into a
skull like cap. They placed this awful cap on the head of my poor Son and pressed it down
hard, causing the thorns to pierce His scalp until He began to bleed. Then they put a reed
in His hand and they knelt before Him and they mocked Him and said to Him, "All Hail,
King of the Jews," and they spit in His face, they hit His head with the reed, they
slapped His face, and plucked His beard. Jesus continued to say nothing. He received it
all silently, peacefully. They did this all night, and did not allow Him to sleep, or even
have anything to eat or drink. By morning, my Son was suffering horribly, and exhausted.
My children, I call you to make reparation to my Son. Follow Him by leaving all sin behind: by loving Him and revering Him in the Blessed Sacrament. When you receive Him in Holy Communion, tell Him that you love Him for the sake of all those who will not love Him. Ask for his Divine Mercy, for yourself, and for the whole world. Offer this mystery to the Father in reparation for all the blasphemes that were ever said against my Son. Pray for those who live in sin. Promise the Father that you will keep Sunday holy by going to Mass and receiving Holy Communion and to help you to give yourself to prayer and to doing the will of God. I am praying for you, my children and I will guide you in loving Jesus, for yourself, and for those who will not love Him.
Jesus Carried the CrossThat Friday, that first Good Friday, Jesus, my Son, after He was horribly beaten, mocked, and was crowned with thorns, the soldiers came to Him and ripped away the dirty robe they had placed upon Him, freshly tearing open His many wounds. Then He was given a heavy cross to carry through the streets of Jerusalem all the way to Mount Calvary where they had crucified others. He carried that awful cross through the same streets that He had come triumphantly the Sunday before. The people who cried "Hosanna", where were they now? The crowd lined the streets and now cried, "Crucify Him."
I was there along the way and I met my Son: His face all beaten, all
covered with blood from His bleeding back, and head, tired and dirty, and yet our eyes
met. Our eyes filled with love for each other. I longed to wipe the dirt and blood from
His face, to remove that awful crown of thorns, but both of us knew that it was totally
unavoidable that He should go through this agony for the salvation of the world. Even so,
I was so grateful when Simon of Cyrene finally took the cross from my Son’s back
after the third time He fell. But, even the awful weight of the cross on Jesus' body was
not as heavy as the weight of the sins of the world on His soul. Then, out of obedience to
His Father, Jesus continued the journey until He reached Calvary.
When we had finally reached Mount Calvary, called Golgotha, Place of the Skulls, I arrived behind the crowd and the soldiers in time to see my Son thrown on the cross after being stripped naked in front of the crowd. They drove spikes through His hands and feet. Only the grace of the Lord gave me the strength to withstand the sight of my Son being nailed on the cross by those brutal and callous soldiers.
They laughed at Him, and urged Him to cry out. He never made a sound. They lifted the cross to its place, and then my Son hung there for three hours. The crowd mocked him, and the soldiers even gambled at the foot of the cross. Then, when I thought my heart would break for sorrow, I heard my Son say, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing." Jesus prayed for His enemies and pleaded for their ignorance: He also pleaded for your ignorance.
There were two thieves crucified with Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left, and to the repentant thief He promised Paradise. Finally He looked at me and at John: He told me, "Woman, behold your Son" and to John, "Behold your mother." My spiritual motherhood is Jesus' gift to all of you: Jesus gave me to His disciples, and to the whole Church, to be mother and intercessor for everyone.
When the third hour came, the sky became dark and Jesus cried out, "Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit." My Son bowed His head, the symbol of obedience to the Father. Then, He died.
Maybe someone in the crowd gasped, but one of the soldiers looked
up, and seeing my Son was dead, stabbed His side with his spear, to make doubly sure that
He was truly dead. Then the earth began to quake. There was a great storm in Heaven, the
whole of creation was reacting at man's crime, the killing of their Savior. They told me
later that the veil of the Temple tore, and that dead people rose from their graves, and
walked in the streets. After it was calm, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and John took my
Son down and then placed Him in my arms. I remembered while I was holding Him the prophecy
of Simeon, "The sword of sorrow will pierce your soul." That prophecy was coming
true: my heart bleeding within me. But just as I was holding my Son in my arms, I
remembered His words that He would rise, again. All that I needed to do was to wait until
that prophecy was fulfilled.
At dawn of the first day of the week, I was with John and Peter. I was in my room alone: John and Peter were in the next room. I was sleeping, or rather, trying to sleep. We had placed Jesus in His tomb on Friday night, before sunset. The others were filled with despair. They thought He was truly dead. Some of the women, including our friend Mary Magdalene were going to go to the tomb this morning to anoint Jesus with the herbs and spices for burial, since we could not do it on the Sabbath. I smiled to myself, as I wondered what they would find.
I woke up completely to cries of joy in the next room. Mary
Magdalene was crying and laughing and telling Peter and John that she had seen my Son,
that He was alive! That His body glowed with a shining light, and that His wounds were no
longer bleeding! I smiled to myself… I had known He would return. I began to get up,
to prepare for Him, for I knew He would be coming to us soon.
For forty days Jesus spent time with us, eating with us, praying with us, showing Himself to many of our friends. One day there came a good friend, Thomas, who claimed that it was not "logical" that a man could rise from the dead. But my Son even calmed his doubts, and that helped to show the world that not even all Jesus’ best friends accepted the miracle like simple children. Even some of Jesus’ best friends needed proof! On another day, my Son appeared to over 500 people, and they spread word of the miracle far and wide.
Then, after forty days, Jesus led us to the outskirts of Bethany to the Mount of Olives: that mount where He had been transfigured in the sight of Peter, James and John. Jesus took us to the Mount of Olives and He lifted up His arms and He blessed His apostles and He blessed His disciples. He blessed the holy women and He blessed me, His mother. He said to His apostles, "Go to the whole world and preach the good news to every creature. Teach all that I have commanded you. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I am with you always even to the end of time."
Then He said to them, "Go to Jerusalem and stay there until My Father has sent you the promise: then when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will have power to be My witnesses: you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and even to the ends of the earth." As Jesus was saying this, He was lifted up before our eyes.
He went up into Heaven finally and cloud came and took Him from our sight and we saw Him no more. Then I saw two men dressed in white. They were angels and said to the apostles, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up into the heavens. This Jesus who you saw go up into Heaven will come again as He went."
Then we went to Jerusalem to the upper room where Jesus had changed
bread and wine into His Body and Blood. There we stayed to pray and wait for the Holy
Spirit that He promised would come to us.
It was the day that later generations would call Pentecost. The city of Jerusalem was crowded. Every people from every known nation of the world who were of the Jewish faith came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon, and Judas the son of James, some of the women, and the cousins of my Son and I were still in the upper room, devoting ourselves to prayer, when suddenly we heard a rushing wind. It filled the room with it’s sound. We could feel wind on our faces and then we saw fire right in the midst of us: a fire that was not of this world but a fire that came upon our heads and as it touched us we were filled with the immense power of God. We felt joy and peace: we felt love. All our fear was gone: we no longer had a fear of who might came to the door. Who might arrest us. We were filled with love for the world, and longed to share the message of my Son with the whole world.
The apostle Peter took the lead and opened the door of the upper room and the apostles and the disciples went out. There were people from every nation, from every language, and yet every one understood Peter's sermon. Everyone understood the message of salvation.
Peter said, "This is the fulfillment of what was said by the
prophet Joel: the Spirit of the Lord will come down on all flesh. Save yourselves,"
he said, "Repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and you
too will receive the Holy Spirit." On that day three thousand entered the Church of
my Son. I was filled with joy listening to Peter and seeing the apostles baptizing those
who came forward. Jesus again fulfilled His words: the power of the Spirit was upon His
disciples who bore witness to Him.
Also, my children, share the good news that Jesus is the Savior of the world and there is no other Savior but Jesus. I will pray that the Lord will use you in power and by the grace of the Holy Spirit you will be transformed into witnesses for Jesus.
The Assumption of Mary into HeavenI knew that my last days were to come. After Pentecost, John and I went to Ephesus and we lived there for thirty years. I saw the Church that the Apostles built begin to grow, that day in Jerusalem. In that thirty years, I saw it began to become strong, with the strength of God. Finally, I told John, "My days on earth are coming to an end. I wish to go back to Jerusalem and to be with all the Apostles and to say farewell. " John complied and we went to Jerusalem.
I asked once we arrived in Jerusalem to send for the apostles. I told the apostles, "It is time for me to leave you, my sons. I must go to be with Jesus and I will continue to pray for you and I will still be concerned with your welfare." They had tears in their eyes, but I prayed that they would not feel pain or sorrow. Then I laid back and I fell asleep.
Then I heard my Son's voice, "Come, My beloved mother. Awake, I have come for you." My eyes opened and Jesus in all His glory came for me and angels were attending Him. "Come, My beloved Mother," He said, "Come, and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you by My Father."
The angels lifted me up in their hands
and I went and followed my Son into Heaven. I heard the choirs of angels and the choirs of
the Just as they sang a hymn of praise to the most Holy Trinity. They said, "Blessed
are you O God of Hosts: You in Your greatness have exulted Your Handmaid. For the one who
bore Your Son, the spotless Virgin Mary, has been made worthy to join You in Heaven.
Welcome, O Daughter of God. Welcome O Mother of the Savior. O welcome Bride of the Holy
Spirit. Welcome, Handmaid and Queen."
When I arrived in Heaven My eyes were filled with the glory of it. I approached the throne of the Trinity and God the Father, Jesus my Son, and the Holy Spirit . There was great rejoicing in Heaven: the angels began to sing. Their voices were so filled with beauty, I cannot even begin to describe it to you.
I bowed low, before God, and praised Him. Here was I, His lowly handmaiden, proclaimed Queen of Heaven! But then I thought of all of you, my children, still on earth, and your struggles to reach this happiness in Heaven. My eyes began to fill with tears. I prayed for you, and Jesus, my dear Son, smiled.
My children, I come to pray for you, and to ask Jesus' blessing upon you. Entrust yourselves to my prayers. Jesus is always ready to respond to my prayers. Children, come to me in prayer, and I will join my prayers to yours. I will intercede for you, and through me will pour all of my Son's graces. My beloved children, pray to become totally holy in the eyes of God and I will be waiting for you until we are together to praise the Lord for all eternity.
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