THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY
by Dom Columba Marmion, O.S.B.
Abbot of Maredsous
Nihil obstat: Hugh Schuck, O.S.B. Censor deputatus
Imprimi potest: Gerald Benkert, O.S.B. Abbot of Marmion Abbey
Imprimatur: John J. Boylan, D.D. Bishop of Rockford
This translation of Dom Columba Marmion's "Les Mysteres du Rosaire" is
published with the permission of the Abbey of Maredsous in Belgium.
PREFACE
"If Christ Jesus is the Son of God by His eternal and ineffable birth
in the Bosom of the Father," writes Dom Marmion, "He is also the Son of
Man by His temporal birth in the womb of a woman.
"This woman is Mary; but she is also a Virgin. It is from her, and from
her alone, that Christ takes His human nature. It is to her that He
owes His nature as the Son of Man. She is truly the Mother of God. For
this reason Mary occupies a position in Christianity which is unique,
exalted and essential. Just as Christ's character as the 'Son of Man'
cannot be separated from that of the 'Son of God,' so also is Mary
united to Jesus; in fact, the Virgin Mary shares in the mystery of the
Incarnation by a claim which belongs to the very essence of that
mystery.
"This is why the Virgin Mary is associated by such close ties with the
economy of the fundamental mystery of Christianity, and, consequently,
with our supernatural life that Divine life which comes to us from
Christ, the God-Man, and which Christ gives us as God, but through the
instrumentality of His human nature. Like Jesus, we too should be a
'Son of God' and also a 'Son of Mary.' He is both the one and the other
in a perfect manner. If we wish to reproduce His likeness in ourselves,
we should likewise have this two-fold character.
"Our piety would not be truly Christian if it did not include the
Mother of the Incarnate Word. Devotion to the Virgin Mary is not only
important, but essential, if we want to draw abundantly from the
fountain of Divine life. Separating Christ from His Mother in our
devotion is tantamount to dividing Christ. To do this is to lose sight
of the essential role of His sacred humanity in the dispensation of
Divine grace. When the Mother is abandoned, the Son is no longer
understood. Has this not been the fate of Protestant peoples? By
rejecting devotion to Mary under the pretext of preserving intact the
dignity of the one and sole Mediator, have they not ended by losing
their faith even in the Divinity of Christ Himself? If Christ Jesus is
Our Savior, our Mediator, our Eldest Brother, inasmuch as He assumed
our human nature, how shall we really love Him or attain a perfect
likeness to Him unless we have a very special devotion to her from whom
He received this human nature?
"We ought to imitate Jesus in all things," Dom Marmion writes. "The
Eternal Word chose Mary for His Mother; in like manner we should choose
her for our Mother and have a childlike devotion to her."
How was this "childlike devotion" practiced by Dom Marmion?
"In the morning, after Mass," he confided to one of his disciples,
"when I have Jesus in my heart, I present myself to the Blessed Virgin
in order to consecrate myself to her, and I say to her: 'Behold your
Son.' O virgin Mary, I am your child; besides, I share in the
Priesthood of Jesus; therefore, accept me as your son as you have
accepted Jesus. I am unworthy of your generosity; however, I am a
member of the Mystical Body of your Divine Son. And He Himself has
said, 'as long as you did it for one of these, the least of My
brethren, you did it to Me.' I am one of these 'least brethren'; to
refuse me would be to refuse Jesus Himself."
Dom Marmion insisted that everyone should determine for himself the
practices of piety best suited to express his confidence in the Mother
of Jesus and his reverence and love for her, adding that it is not
necessary for anyone to overburden himself with such practices, but
that it is important to remain faithful to those which he has selected.
In his own case, in addition to his self-oblation each morning after
Mass and the recitation of the Angelus, he was devoted most especially
to the Rosary.
"There," he wrote, "we praise Mary ever united to her Son; we repeat
lovingly and unceasingly the greeting addressed to her by the heavenly
messenger of the Incarnation; we contemplate Christ in the whole cycle
of His mysteries in order to unite ourselves to Him; we congratulate
the Virgin Mary on her intimate association with these mysteries, and
we give thanks to the Blessed Trinity in the 'Gloria' for all the
privileges of the Mother of Jesus."(See the beautiful conference on
"The Mother of the Incarnate Word" in Dom Marmion's "Christ is the Life
of the Soul.")
"If ever I come to the end of a day without having said the Rosary," he
often declared, "I confess that I feel disappointed. There are some
people who say: 'The Rosary is a good thing for women and children.'
Granted. But what does our Lord say?--and here his voice would take on
the tones of deep earnestness--: 'Unless you become as little children,
you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven.'--and for my part, I want to go
there!..."
Among the many beautiful pages devoted by Dom Marmion to the mysteries
of Christ we have selected the following for the sole purpose of
helping devoted souls to recite the Rosary better.
Dom Raymond Thibaut, O.S.B. Maredsous Abbey, Belgium
The Mysteries of Christ in the Rosary
Christ came to earth to be our model.
The Word became Incarnate, not only to bring us the gospel of salvation
and to accomplish our redemption, but also to serve as a pattern for
our spiritual lives.
Each of Christ's mysteries is a revelation of His virtues. The humility
of the crib, the retirement of His hidden life, the zeal of His public
life the self-annihilation of His Sacrifice, the glory of His triumph,
all these disclose virtues which we must imitate; they are mysteries in
which we should participate.
This is the reason why the contemplation of the mysteries of Christ--
for instance, while reciting the Rosary--is so fruitful for the soul.
The life, the death, and the glory of Jesus serve as ideal models for
our life and death and glory.
Never forget this truth: the Eternal Father is pleased with us only in
so far as we imitate His Son and inasmuch as He sees in us the likeness
of His Son, for it is in His image that He has predestined us from all
eternity.
For us there is no other form of sanctity than that which Christ has
shown us. The degree of our perfection is measured by the degree of our
imitation of Jesus and of our union with Him.
I. THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES
1. The Annunciation
Picture the scene of the Annunciation. God proposes the mystery of the
Incarnation which He will accomplish in the Virgin Mary--but not until
she has given her consent. The accomplishment of the mystery is held in
suspense awaiting the free acceptance of Mary. At this moment Mary
represents all of us in her own person; it is as if God is waiting for
the response of the humanity to which He longs to unite Himself. What a
solemn moment this is! For upon this moment depends the decision of the
most vital mystery of Christianity.
But see how Mary gives her answer. Full of faith and confidence in the
heavenly message and entirely submissive to the Divine Will, the Virgin
Mary replies in a spirit of complete and absolute abandonment: "Behold
the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to Thy word." This
"Fiat" is Mary's consent to the Divine Plan of Redemption. It is like
an echo of the "Fiat" of the creation of the world. But this is a new
world, a world infinitely superior, a world of grace, which God will
cause to arise in consequence of Mary's consent, for at that moment the
Divine Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, becomes Man in
Mary: "And the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us."
2. The Visitation
See how the Holy Spirit greets the Virgin Mary through the mouth of
Elizabeth: "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of
thy womb! And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things
shall be accomplished that were spoke to thee by the Lord."
Blessed indeed, for by this faith in the word of God the Virgin Mary
became the Mother of Christ.
What finite creature has ever received honor such as this from the
Infinite Being?
Mary gives all the glory to the Lord for the marvelous things which are
accomplished in her. From the moment of the Incarnation the Virgin
Mother sings in her heart a canticle full of love and gratitude.
In the presence of her cousin Elizabeth she allows the most profound
sentiments of her heart to break forth in song; she intones the
"Magnificat" which, in the course of centuries, her children will
repeat with her to praise God for having chosen her among all women:
"My soul magnifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid...
Because He Who is mighty has done great things for me
And holy is His name."
3. The Birth of Jesus
The Virgin Mary sees in the Infant that she has given to the world, a
child in appearance like all other children, the very Son of God.
Mary's soul was filled with an immense faith which welled up in her and
surpassed the faith of all the just men of the Old Testament; this is
why she recognized her God in her own Son.
This faith manifests itself externally by an act of adoration. From her
very first glance at Jesus, the Virgin prostrated herself interiorly in
a spirit of adoration so profound that we can never fathom its depth.
In the heart of Mary are joined in perfect harmony a creature's
adoration of her God and a Mother's love for her only Son.
How inconceivably great the joy in the soul of Jesus must have been as
He experienced this boundless love of His Mother! Between these two
souls took place ceaseless exchanges of love which brought them into
ever closer unity. O wonderful exchange: to Mary Jesus gives the
greatest gifts and graces, and to Jesus Mary gives her fullest
cooperation: after the union of the Divine Persons in the Blessed
Trinity and the hypostatic union of the divine and human natures in the
Incarnation, no more glorious or more profound union can be conceived
than the union between Jesus and Mary.
4. The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
On the day of the Presentation God received infinitely more glory than
He had hitherto received in the temple from all the sacrifices and all
the holocausts of the Old Testament. On this day it is His own Son
Jesus Who is offered to Him, and Who offers to the Father the infinite
homage of adoration, thanksgiving, expiation and supplication.
This is indeed a gift worthy of God.
And it is from the hands of the Virgin, full of grace, that this
offering, so pleasing to God, is received. Mary's faith is perfect.
Filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, she has a clear
understanding of the value of the offering which she is making to God
at this moment; by His inspirations the Holy Spirit brings her soul
into harmony with the interior dispositions of the heart of her Divine
Son.
Just as Mary had given her consent in the name of all humanity when the
angel announced to her the mystery of the Incarnation, so also on this
day Mary offers Jesus to the Father in the name of the whole human
race. For she knows that her Son is "the King of Glory, the new light
enkindled before the dawn, the Master of life and death."
5. Jesus is Found in the Temple
"How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My
Father's business?" This is the answer that Jesus gave to His Mother
when, after three days' search she had the joy of finding Him in the
Temple.
These are the first words coming from the lips of the Word Incarnate to
be recorded in the Gospel.
In these words Jesus sums up His whole person, His whole life, His
whole mission. They reveal His Divine Sonship; they testify to His
supernatural mission. Christ's whole life will only be a clarifying and
magnificent exposition of the meaning of these words.
St. Luke goes on to tell us that Mary "did not understand the word that
He spoke." But even if Mary did not grasp the full significance of
these words, she did not doubt that Jesus was the Son of God. This is
why she submitted in silence to that Divine Will which had demanded
such a sacrifice of her love.
"Mary kept these words of Jesus carefully in her heart." She kept them
in her heart, for there was the tabernacle in which she adored the
mystery concealed in the words of he Son, waiting until the full light
of understanding would be granted her.
II. THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES
1. The Agony in the Garden
It is for the love of His Father above all else that Jesus willed to
undergo His Passion.
Behold Jesus Christ in His agony. For three long hours weariness,
grief, fear and anguish sweep in upon His soul like a torrent; the
pressure of this interior agony is so immense that blood bursts forth
from His sacred veins. What an abyss of suffering is reached in this
agony! And what does Jesus say to His Father? "Father, if it be
possible, let this chalice pass from Me." Can it be that Jesus no
longer accepts the Will of His Father? Oh! certainly He does. But this
prayer is the cry of the sensitive emotions of poor human nature,
crushed by ignominy and suffering. Now is Jesus truly a "Man of
Sorrows." Our Savior feels the terrible weight of His agony bearing
down upon His shoulders. He wants us to realize this; that is why He
utters such a prayer.
But listen to what He immediately adds: "Nevertheless, Father, not My
will but Thine be done." Here is the triumph of love. Because He loves
His Father, He places the Will of His Father above everything else and
accepts every possible suffering in order to redeem us.
2. The Scourging
Christ substituted Himself voluntarily for us as a sacrificial victim
without blemish in order to pay our debt, and, by the expiation and the
satisfaction which He made for us, to restore the Divine life to us.
This was the mission which Christ came to fulfill, the course which He
had to run. "God has placed upon Him"--a man like unto ourselves, of
the race of Adam, but entirely just and innocent and without sin--"the
iniquity of us all."
Since Christ has become, so to speak, a sharer in our nature and taken
upon Himself the debt of our sin, He has merited for us a share in His
justice and holiness. In the forceful words of St. Paul, God, "by
sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin-offering, has
condemned sin in the flesh." And with an impact still more stunning,
the Apostle writes: "For our sakes He (God) made Him (Christ) to be sin
who knew nothing of sin." How startling this expression is: "made Him
to be sin"! The Apostle does not say "sinner," but--what is still more
striking--"sin"!
Let us never forget that "we have been redeemed at great price by the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot."
3. The Crowning with Thorns
Christ Jesus becomes an object of derision and insults at the hands of
the temple servants. Behold Him, the all-powerful God, struck by sharp
blows; His adorable face, the joy of the saints, is covered with
spittle; a crown of thorns is forced down upon His head; a purple robe
is placed upon His shoulders as a mock of derision; a reed is thrust
into His hand; the servants genuflect insolently before Him in mockery.
What an abyss of ignominy! What humiliation and disgrace for One before
Whom the angels tremble!
The cowardly Roman governor imagines that the hatred of the Jews will
be satisfied by the sight of Christ in this pitiful state. He shows Him
to the crowd: "Ecce Homo--Behold the Man!"
Let us contemplate our Divine Master at this moment, plunged into the
abyss of suffering and ignominy, and let us realize that the Father
also presents Him to us and says to us: "Behold My Son, the splendor of
My glory--but bruised for the sins of My people."
4. Jesus Carries the Cross
Let us meditate upon Jesus Christ on the way to Calvary laden with His
cross. He falls under the weight of this burden. To expiate sin, He
wills to experience in His own flesh the oppression of sin. Fearing
that Jesus will not reach the place of crucifixion alive, the Jews
force Simon of Cyrene to help Christ to carry His cross, and Jesus
accepts this assistance.
In this Simon represents all of us. As members of the Mystical Body of
Christ, we should all help Jesus to carry His Cross. This is the one
sure sign that we belong to Christ--if we carry our cross with Him.
But while Jesus carried His cross, He merited for us the strength to
bear our trials with generosity. He has placed in His cross a sweetness
which makes ours bearable, for when we carry our cross it is really His
that we receive. For Christ unites with His own the sufferings,
sorrows, pains and burdens which we accept with love from His hand, and
by this union He gives them an inestimable value, and they become a
source of great merit for us.
It is above all His love for His Father which impels Christ to accept
the sufferings of His Passion, but it is also the love which He bears
us.
5. Jesus Dies on the Cross
At the Last Supper, when the hour had come to complete His oblation of
self, what did Christ say to His Apostles who were gathered around Him?
"Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for
his friends." And this is the love, surpassing all loves, which Jesus
shows us; for, as St. Paul says, "It is for us all that He is delivered
up." What greater proof of love could He have given us? None.
Hence the Apostle declares without ceasing that "because He loved us,
Christ delivered Himself up for us," and "because of the love He bears
for me, He gave Himself up for me."
"Delivered," "given"--to what extent? Even to the death on the cross!
What enhances this love immeasurably is the sovereign liberty with
which Christ delivered Himself up: "He offered Himself because He
willed it." These words tell us how spontaneously Jesus accepted His
Passion. This freedom with which Jesus delivered Himself up to death
for us is one of the aspects of His sacrifice which touch our human
hearts most profoundly.
III. THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES
1. The Resurrection of Christ
On the day of His Resurrection Jesus Christ left in the tomb the shroud
which is the symbol of our infirmities, our weaknesses, our
imperfections. Christ comes from the tomb triumphant--completely free
of earthly limitation; He is animated with a life that is intense and
perfect, and which vibrates in every fibre of His being. In Him
everything that is mortal has been absorbed by His glorified life.
Here is the first element of the sanctity represented in the risen
Christ: the elimination of everything that is corruptible, everything
that is earthly and created; freedom from all defects, all infirmities,
all capacity for suffering.
But there is also another element of sanctity: union with God, self-
oblation and consecration to God. Only in heaven shall we be able to
understand how completely Jesus lived for His Father during these
blessed days. The life of the risen Christ became an infinite source of
glory for His Father. Not a single effect of His sufferings was left in
Him, for now everything in Him shone with brilliance and beauty and
possessed strength and life; every atom of His being sang an unceasing
canticle of praise. His holy humanity offered itself in a new manner to
the glory of the Father.
2. The Ascension of Our Lord
Our Lord said to His Apostles before He departed from them: "If you
loved Me, you would indeed rejoice that I am going to the Father." To
us also Christ repeats these words. If we love Him, we shall rejoice in
His glorification; we shall rejoice with Him that, after completing His
course on earth, He ascends to the right hand of His Father, there to
be exalted above all the heavens in infinite glory.
But Jesus goes only to precede us; He does not separate Himself from
us, nor does He separate us from Himself. If He enters into His
glorious kingdom, it is to prepare a place for us there. He promises to
return one day to take us with Him so that, as He says, where He is we
also may be. True, we are already there in the glory and happiness of
Christ, by our title as His heirs; but we shall one day be there in
reality. Has not Christ asked this of His Father? "Father, I will that
where I am, they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with Me."
Let us then say to Christ Jesus: "Draw us into Your triumphal march, O
glorious and all-powerful Conqueror! Make us live in heaven by faith
and hope and love. Help us to detach ourselves from the fleeting things
of earth in order that we may seek the true and lasting goods of
heaven!"
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles
The Holy Spirit appeared under the form of tongues of fire in order to
fill the Apostles with truth and to prepare them to bear witness to
Jesus. He also come to fill their hearts with love.
He is the Person of Love in the life of God. He is also like a breath,
an aspiration of infinite Love, from which we draw the breath of life.
On the day of Pentecost the Divine Spirit communicated such an
abundance of life to the whole Church that to symbolize it "there came
a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind coming, and it filled the
whole house where they (the Apostles) were sitting."
But it is also for us that the Holy Spirit has come, for the group in
the Cenacle represented the whole Church. The Holy Spirit came to
remain with the Church forever. This is the promise of Jesus Himself.
He dwells in the Church permanently and unfailingly, performing in it
without ceasing, His action of life-giving and sanctification. He
establishes the Church infallibly in the truth. It is He Who makes the
Church blossom forth with a marvelous supernatural fruitfulness, for He
brings to life and full fruition in Virgins, Martyrs, Confessors, those
heroic virtues which are one of the marks of true sanctity.
4. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven
If Christ Jesus wishes us to love all the members of His Mystical Body,
should we not love above all others her who gave Him the very nature by
which He became our Head, the same nature which He uses to communicate
His grace to us? We cannot doubt but that the love which we show to his
Mother is extremely pleasing to Christ.
We shall manifest our love by extolling the sublime privileges which
Jesus has bestowed on His Mother, among which the Assumption is one of
the most glorious. If we wish to please our Lord very much, we shall
admire the wonderful gifts with which He has lovingly adorned the soul
of His Mother. He wishes that we should sing the praises of the Virgin,
who was chosen among all women to give the Savior to the world.
"Yes, we shall sing your praises, for you alone have delighted the
heart of your God. May you be blessed, for you have believed the word
of God, and in you the eternal promises have been fulfilled."
5. The Coronation of Mary in Heaven
What is the purpose of all the mysteries of Christ? To be the pattern
of our supernatural life, the means of our sanctification, the source
of all our holiness. To create an eternal and glorious society of
brethren who will be like unto Him. For this reason Christ, the new
Adam, has associated with Himself Mary, as the new Eve. But she is,
much more than Eve, "the Mother of all the living," the Mother of those
who live in the grace of her Son.
And since here below Mary was associated so intimately with all the
mysteries of our salvation, at her Assumption into heaven Jesus crowned
her not only with glory but also with power; He has placed His Mother
on His right hand and has given her the power, in virtue of her unique
title of Mother of God, to distribute the treasures of eternal life.
Let us then, full of confidence, pray with the Church: "Show yourself a
Mother: Mother of Jesus, by your complete faith in Him, our Mother, by
your mercy towards us; ask Christ, Who was born of you, to give us
life; and Who willed to be your Son, to receive our prayers through
you."
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Joseph Marmion was born in Dublin in 1858, the son of an Irish father
and a French mother. Brought up in the atmosphere of a good Catholic
family, he showed signs of a vocation to the priesthood at an early
age. After his preparatory studies in Ireland, he was sent to Rome to
complete his education and was ordained there in 1881.
On his return journey to Ireland he visited the newly-founded
Benedictine Abbey of Maredsous in Belgium. So impressed was he by his
visit that he promised to enter the monastery as soon as he could make
the necessary arrangements. Five years passed before his promise could
be fulfilled. Having heard the divine call and having received the
permission of his bishop, he left home and country and went into a
strange land in order to seek God the more intensely.
At his religious profession Joseph Marmion received the name of
Columba--the name by which he would henceforth be known. His talents as
a teacher were soon recognized; he was assigned to teach philosophy at
Maredsous and was later entrusted with the double responsibility of
Professor of Theology and Prior of the Monastery of Mont Cesar in
Louvain. But he became better known for his life of prayer and virtue
and for the great skill which he showed in the direction of souls.
In 1909 Dom Columba Marmion was elected Abbot of Maredsous. Following
in the footsteps of St. Benedict, he was above all the spiritual father
of his community. The spiritual writings which are now famous are the
outgrowth of the conferences given by Abbot Marmion to his community
and of the retreats which he gave to religious outside of his own
community. These writings manifest both a depth of theological thought
and the warmth of an intense interior life; they are the masterpieces
of one who was truly a master of the spiritual life. He passed to his
eternal reward on January 30, 1923.
The principal works of Abbot Marmion are:
Christ the Life of the Soul,
Christ in His Mysteries,
Christ the Ideal of the Monk,
Union with God,
Words of Life,
Sponsa Verbi.
His biography, written by one of his disciples, Dom Raymond Thibaut, is
entitled: "Abbot Columba Marmion: A Master of the Spiritual Life."
Printed by The Abbey Press, St. Meinrad, Indiana.