God Speaks to Us Through the Holy Rosary

“In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, He spoke to us through a son, whom He made heir of all things and through whom He created the universe,”  (Hebrews 1:1-2)

In the Old Testament, God spoke to His people through the patriarchs and the prophets.   Such theophanies are among the most dramatic and consequential moments in Scripture.  In the Book of Exodus, God calls out to Moses from the burning bush:  “Then He said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God”  (Exodus 3:6 New International Version).  

In the New Testament, as the Letter to the Hebrews points out, God speaks through the living witness and the words of His Only Begotten Son.  There are two occasions in the New Testament, however, when God choses to speak directly:  the Baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration.  

 
As both the Baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration are included among the Luminous Mysteries, God thus speaks to us through the Rosary. 

 
The Gospels of St. Mark, St. Matthew and St. Luke all include accounts of the baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist.  Importantly, they record for us the words of God the Father.   As St. Mark writes:  “It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.  On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.  And a voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.  (Mark 1:9-11).  See also Matthew 3:13-17 and Luke 3:21-23.  

 
In this First Glorious Mystery taken from the Synoptic Gospels, we see the revelation of the Trinitarian nature of God.  God the Holy Spirit descends upon God the Son and afterwards God the Father confirms for us that Jesus is His Son and that He is well pleased with His Son.  Here God is telling us directly and without any ambiguity that Jesus is God’s Son and what God approves of what he is doing on Earth.  

 
The Fourth Luminous Mystery - The Transfiguration - is also drawn from the Synoptic Gospels (See Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-13; and Luke 9:28-36).  Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain where Jesus becomes radiantly white and converses with Moses and Elijah.  As if this isn’t astounding enough for these three Apostles (and us too), then God speaks directly to Peter, John and James. “Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, ‘This is my beloved Son. Listen to him’ “ (Mark 9:7).  

In the Old Testament, God periodically talked to prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.  In the Transfiguration, God talks to three of Jesus’s Apostles - Peter, James and John.  Like He did during Jesus’s Baptism, God declares that Jesus is His beloved Son.  Furthermore, God directs these Apostles to listen to His Son.  Not only that, God is talking to us through the Gospel accounts and through the Fourth Luminous Mystery.  He is telling us that Jesus is His beloved Son and directing us to listen to His Son.  

In the New Testament, God speaks only a few words, preferring instead to speak volumes through His Son.  But when God does speak in the New Testament, His words are powerful, concise and to the point.  They confirm Jesus being the beloved Son of God and they direct us to listen to Jesus the Son of God.  As we pray and contemplate the First and Fourth Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, God speaks to us directly as well.  As we pray and contemplate the First and Fourth Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, we become witnesses of these two most extraordinary theophanies.