The Joyful Mysteries: a Symbol of All Human History? - Introduction

I decided to revisit this subject in a dialog format to make it more entertaining: TEACHER vs STUDENT. Here goes, and enjoy!

Introduction

STUDENT: So, TEACHER, what are we in class for today?

TEACHER: Well, we will try to establish the theory that the Joyful Mysteries, the first three, image all of human history, the entire Divine Plan.

STUDENT: That is a tall order. Where in the world would you get this?

TEACHER: Well, just hang loose, blood; the Catholic geek-man gonna set you up on the theology side! It is going to be astounding. For starters, we already have supreme Bible metaphors for the whole Divine Plan in, basically, the beginning of Scripture, and the end of Scripture. Do you remember those from previous articles?

STUDENT: Yes, but refresh my memory.

TEACHER: OK, more specifically, the creation days of Genesis image all of human history, per the testimony of several Early Church Fathers. Each day of creation images an age of recreation, or the remaking—renewal—of man. This is the beginning of Scripture. Similarly, the end of Scripture has a parallel: the beast kings of Apocalypse 17. They, likewise, image the phases of sin in human history in God’s Plan, per the suggestion of St. Hippolytus, and this is, obviously, again, the end of Scripture. Each of these Scriptures are mammoth biblical passages.

STUDENT: Ok, but how does this relate to the Joyful Mysteries?

TEACHER: As follows: our theory will perfectly fit the analogies. More specifically, what if, instead of at the beginning or end, God left somewhere in the middle of Scripture a little scene of soft whispers that conveyed this mystery, something obscure and humble and small, kind of like the Scripture in which God told a prophet, “I am coming; listen for Me.” A great thunder came, but God was not in the thunder. A great fire or wind came, but God was not there. A great earthquake trembled the ground, but God was not in the earthquake. Then, a small, hardly audible breeze and whisper was heard, and there was God.

And that little breeze is the Joyful Mysteries' pregnancies!

The Five Ages of the Old Testament

STUDENT: That sounds awesome. But how do we get there? Where do we begin?

TEACHER: Well, it turns out that the Joyful Mysteries version entirely depends on the creation days and beast kings. So we will need to review those. We need a refresher.

STUDENT: Go for it!

TEACHER: Here is the wonder: day and night, the story of salvation history alternates like the days of creation: evening came and morning followed, the first day. Evening came and morning followed, the second day, and so forth. That is, spiritual darkness fell around God’s People, but God drew light from it, spiritual illumination. The sin came back, and God redeemed it. Evening came and morning followed, the first day…, the second day, and on and on.

STUDENT: As in? Be more specific!

TEACHER: You got it! In the beginning was the fall, and darkness fell over quickly with the age of Noah’s day, wickedness! But God entered in with great light: the Flood. Sinful humanity was baptized away and Creation started over with Noah.

Then, sin arose again with Babel, and God brought light, the confounding of tongues, followed by the big light, the calling of Abraham and the formation of the first People of God, the Hebrews.

Then, the third darkness arose with Egypt’s enslavement of the Hebrews, and it was followed by light, the Exodus and Old Testament Kingdom, David.

Then, the fourth darkness arose, the progressive wickedness of the Jews as they approached the Babylonian exile, and it was followed, once again, by light, that same Exile that converted the hearts of the Jews back to God and ushered in the great renewal—the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the rebuilding of the Temple.

Finally, the fifth darkness was Maccabees, where many Jews were martyred by the Antichrist figure, Antiochus IV Epiphanies, and the war that ensued. And a little while later, the greatest redemption of God in Person in human history, the coming of the Christ.

And it continues into the New Testament era, more or less. You get the picture.

STUDENT: I get the picture, but is there any support for this explicit historical analogy in Sacred Tradition?

TEACHER: Absolutely. St Augustine himself delineates these five ages of the Old Law in his On the Instruction of the Uncatechized. Let us look at the passage:

Chapter 22.— Of the Six Ages of the World

39. Five ages of the world, accordingly, having been now completed (there has entered the sixth). Of these ages the first is from the beginning of the human race, that is, from Adam, who was the first man that was made, down to Noah, who constructed the ark at the time of the flood. Then the second extends from that period on to Abraham, who was called the father indeed of all nations which should follow the example of his faith, but who at the same time in the way of natural descent from his own flesh was the father of the destined people of the Jews; which people, previous to the entrance of the Gentiles into the Christianfaith, was the one people among all the nations of all lands that worshipped the one true God: from which people also Christ the Saviour was decreed to come according to the flesh. For these turning-points of those two ages occupy an eminent place in the ancient books. On the other hand, those of the other three ages are also declared in the Gospel, where the descent of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh is likewise mentioned. For the third age extends from Abraham on to David the king; the fourth from David on to that captivity whereby the people of God passed over into Babylonia; and the fifth from that transmigration down to the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. With His coming the sixth age has entered on its process; so that now the spiritual grace, which in previous times was known to a few patriarchs and prophets, may be made manifest to all nations; to the intent that no man should worship God but freely, fondly desiring of Him not the visible rewards of His services and the happiness of this present life, but that eternal life alone in which he is to enjoy God Himself: in order that in this sixth age the mind of man may be renewed after the image of God, even as on the sixth day man was made after the image of God.

STUDENT: It seems to provide what we are looking for. Can you apply it?

TEACHER: You bet. Simply notice that, first, St. Augustine provides five epochs for the Old Testament, like our five sets of darkness and light traversed above. Similarly, if we look closer, the partitioning points of St. Augustine’s rendition are precisely the points of light in our discourse, leaving the greater history between his points of light as the darknesses of our discourse. Just follow it:

Firstly, let us show that each point of partitioning is light.

Adam: Original Justice is light.

Noah: the Flood is light

Abraham: the confounding and formation of the Hebrew People are light

David: the formation of the Holy Kingdom after the Exodus is light.

Captivity: the captivity, though great suffering for the Jewish People, is still light, since by it, God softened the hearts of His wayward People and brought them to repentance [the Restoration to Holy Land and rebuilding of the Temple fits here as well.]

The Christ: need we say more about the First Coming of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus!

Too, note general history between these lights are phases of darkness:

Between Adam and Noah: the fall and wickedness of Noah’s day.

Between Noah and Abraham: the great sin of Babel, blasphemous materialistic perversity

Between Abraham and David: the Egyptian Enslavement

Between David and Captivity: the great sin of the Jews prior to the Exile

Between the Captivity and First Coming of Jesus: the darkness of the Maccabeean struggle, including OT Antichrist figure, Antiochus

STUDENT: You got it, it fits pretty darn good!

TEACHER: It does! Moreover, the beast kings support the five here.

STUDENT: How so?

TEACHER: Well, it is self evident when the kings of sin are partitioned. Let us quote the text:

Apocalypse 17:

The beast, which thou sawest, was, and is not, and shall come up out of the bottomless pit, and go into destruction: ...And here is the understanding that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings: 10] Five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come: and when he is come, he must remain a short time.

See that, again, with St. Hippolytus testifying a possible meaning to the kings as ages of sin, the meaning of “five have fallen” is self-evident: St John is himself writing at the close of the age of the First Coming of Christ, which means he is in the sunset of the sixth light of human history, making five ages of sin preceding him, as we saw with St. Augustine above.

For Full Reference see Ages of the World in the Joyful Mysteries