Today, we address a recent comment on our last post on Divine Mercy devotion:
“I pray the Rosary every day. I found that the divine mercy is a calming prayer when I feel too much sorrows and pains in my soul, and can’t bear anymore. I see the image as reflecting Jesus after his side was pierced and all his blood and water came out. This is an important moment. For me it has a special private meaning, which I might share with you one day… anyway, I guess each one has his own way to be devoted.”
Reply:
We are agreed that the repetitiveness of the Divine Mercy Chaplet is soothing. That seems to be the consensus of most who pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. My point is that the Chaplet omits much that is necessary for our true spiritual nourishment. There is simply so much more sustenance in the Rosary!
At one time in my life, I found something similar in the repetitive “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” The prayer helped at a time when I was driven nearly to despair. However, like you, I also prayed my rosary and it was the rosary that moved to make the necessary changes to to become a child of Mary. That is to say, the rosary moved me from simple soothing prayer to a fruitful prayer, which drove me to cast aside vanities that hindered spiritual growth and take up my cross with a loving sacrificial heart, because my heart, through Our Lady’s rosary, had become linked to hers.
This transformation took place as a result of the meditations on the sacred mysteries of the rosary. Instead of repeating the Hail Mary with my mind in a neutral gear, the rosary’s mysteries opened my mind and heart to the thoughts of her Immaculate Heart. In time, I noticed various things about the mysteries. An example:
The Joyful Mysteries end with the reunion of Mother and Child Jesus in the Temple, a joyful event which nevertheless has a twinge of sorrow for the things that are to come, as Jesus reminds her He must be about His Father’s business.
Then, we go to the Sorrowful Mysteries and begin to discover the extent of Our Father’s business. And in the last Sorrowful Mystery we see the Mother and Child reunited again, but this time at His Crucifixion and death. We share her sorrow as Mary holds her Divine Son in her arms. We begin to realize the extent of His immense love for us, and the gravity of sin which causes such suffering.
This infinitely sorrowful moment is followed by the Glorious Mysteries which show us the triumph of the Cross. In the last Glorious Mystery, Mother and Child again reunite, this time in the splendour of heaven. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven is the culmination of the Mysteries of the Rosary and exemplifies both the end of the Christian’s journey and the end of the Church’s journey. For in it we see that the Coronation of Mary in Heaven is God’s foreshadowing of the triumph of His Church.
The rosary gives solace, but also helps us identify the deeply ingrained sins that hinder our progress. With our Rosaries, we open up our hearts and our minds to the Mother of God, the Seat of Wisdom and allow her to share the thoughts of her immaculate heart with us.
So many others speak much more effectively on the benefits of the rosary and I apologize for my inadequacy in this regard. This is merely a very brief attempt to reply to one reader’s comment; Please understand that I am not attacking the Divine Mercy devotion; only trying to explain why it is better to pray the rosary if at all possible.
After all,
It is the rosary that Our Lady asked for, and it is the Rosary that she used to defeat other heresies at earlier times and will use again, to defeat Modernism and atheistic materialism, the two beasts which threaten the Church today.
So there you have it!
Now, pray the rosary and confound satan and all his works and pomps!
Related posts:
Divine Mercy and the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Message of Fatima and the Way of Divine Love – Updated
April 2020: Please note, the links will be updated later, as we continue to upload our archived posts to our new platform.
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
† Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come, Viva Cristo Rey!
† St. Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family, protect our families, protect our priests!
† St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!