Mary the Mother of God and the Rosary

Mary, Mother of God, Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix, Matriarch of the Church, Queen of all in Heaven and Earth, Intercessor for sinners, and our Lady for everyone seeking God.

Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary and Grandparents of Jesus, who tradition implies were childless and found Joachim praying for a child and promised by an angel their prayer would be answered. Stories such as this appear in the Old Testament when the Hand of God moves to bring about a key element of His Plan to redeem the world from sin and a leader is to be born who will do God’s Bidding in moving us closer to the Incarnation of Jesus and the completion of the Paschal Mystery.

Abraham and Sarai (Sarah); Issac and Rebekah; Jacob and Leah (later Rachel); Manoah and (Hanna) the birth of Samson; Zechariah and Elizabeth- the birth of John the Baptist.

The birth of Mary was no accident, and did not happen by chance. It was an essential part of Almighty God’s Eternal Plan to redeem us and God’s Word would take on humanity in an astounding manner of humility to become like us in all things except sin. However, He without sin would become the very essence of sin to fulfill the final act of destroying sin and overcoming eternal death for each one of us. “It is Finished” the last words of Jesus on the cross.

Let’s take a look at the chronology of Mary’s life in ways that opened for humanity not one path to God, but innumerable roads through her pure and perfect acceptance as she became the one through which her Son Jesus Christ ordained many avenues of graciousness and splendor via the most perfect instrument of God’s Creatures; The Blessed Virgin, forever!

September 8 Mary is born to Joachim and Anne, without the stain of Original Sin, nurtured as a perfect child and protected by God’s Divine Grace.

Her Immaculate Conception, December 8, is acknowledged by the Catholic Church, stating “that the Church has become more aware that Mary, “full of grace“ through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854.” CCC # 491.

The Angel Gabriel announces to Mary she is to become the Mother of God, and will give to her newborn the name of Jesus. Lk. 1: 31. This event is celebrated March 25th.

Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth of whom the Angel tells Mary her cousin is already in her sixth month since nothing is impossible with God. Lk. 1: 36. This visitation is celebrated May 31st.

Jesus is presented in the Temple for purification according to the Law of Moses, and celebrated February 2nd. Lk. 2: 22.

Mary is assumed into heaven, body and soul as the CCC # 966 exclaims; “Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conquerer of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.”

Some of the many other feasts and celebrations about and for Mary are listed here.

January 1: Solemnity of Mary

February 11:Our Lady of Lourdes

May 1:Queen of Heaven

May 13:Lady of Fatima

August 22:Immaculate Heart of Mary / Queenship

October 7:Lady of the Most Holy Rosary

Perhaps the most perfect way to think of Mary is through the rosary and certainly praying the beads anytime of the day and night is more than just mumbling words. It can become a perfect discipline without even consciously picturing images. The very fact that you take the time and effort to hold them and somehow speak the words silently or verbally is an act of obedience to her presence.

Rosary beads have become a sign of prayer, but in some instances I have seen beads hanging from rear view mirrors in cars and some may not be Catholic but there is something ominous about the rosary beads that while visible add some type of faith to those exposing them and to many more who view them. There is a mystery of Mary’s presence even just through the rosary beads that entices many to somehow reach God in their own way, and that can be Grace working through a simple sign of someone’s faith.

To reject or disregard The Blessed Virgin Mary from the annals of faith in the Roman Catholic Church would be a way of dismissing the vehicle that God chose to bring His Son into our world. After all, God chose the person of Mary, before her mother St. Anne conceived her in her womb, to become the manner in which the Salvation of mankind in God’s eternal plan to share His Life and Love with us would be part of the Paschal Mystery. So Mary is not just a person who happened to be mentioned in the bible and to whom much admiration is given in the Church, but she is a very important and prominent part of God’s original plan to bring about salvation to the human race and the loving acceptance of a very holy and chosen vehicle of Almighty God to whom He would take on the human person of Jesus in her womb. Therefore, Mary is the most perfect human to have lived on our planet and she is the mother of all mankind. Her rosary is a most perfect way to pray the events that occurred in the life of man and a reflection on Jesus Christ, who is True God and True Man.