1. Prayer,
Mary: Queen and Mother,
How to Meditate on the Mysteries while praying the Rosary.

In this first session we will examine the concept of prayer, why we pray, and how we should pray.

We will explore the different types of prayers (vocal, meditation, and contemplation) and how our body can be used in prayer.

We will appreciate why we pray to Mary, the angels, and saints.

We will explore how we can turn our vocal prayers of the Rosary into a way of meditating the Mysteries.

2. The Joyful Mysteries.

We will learn of the spiritual and material things that God created, and of the gifts and free will he gave to God revealed to the prophet Isaiah, “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” Isaiah 11:1

This prophecy is fulfilled when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that her son will, “be given the throne of David his father...”(Luke 1:32) This becomes apparent when we realize that Isaiah was talking about Jesse's son, King David, whose kingdom was reduced to nothing but a “stump.”Jesus is the “bud” that blossoms from out of that stump and becomes the King of the House of David. It shouldn't be a coincidence that, in their native tongue, the word “Nazareth” – where Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary – means “shoot” or “branch.”

IN THIS SESSION will we discover how God's promise of a Messiah is fulfilled through the consent of Mary through Gabriel's own words. We will explore the meeting of the unborn Jesus, and St. John the Baptist, and how Mary is inferred as the New Ark of the Covenant. We will put ourselves in the place of St. Joseph and Mary as they look in vain for a place for the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. We will understand what Mary was doing in the Temple during the Presentation. And we will investigate the five days Jesus was missing before he was found in the Temple.

3. The Luminous Mysteries

The prophet Isaiah revealed that God will send a servant. Isaiah says, “It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)

During the Presentation in the Temple, the prophet Simeon acknowledges that Jesus is this servant when he says: “my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles...” (Luke 2:30-32)

IN THIS SESSION we comprehend that Jesus reveals he is this light through public miracles, actions, and teachings. We recognize that he did not come to assemble just the tribes of Jacob (whom God renamed “Israel”) into a kingdom, but all nations in what is the “Kingdom of God.”

We will discover why Jesus allowed himself to be baptized even if he had no sins to repent for. We will explore the Miracle at Cana, and how Mary is perceived as the New Eve. We will understand the “Kingdom of God” as Jesus taught it through the apostles – which they didn't comprehend right away. We will see how the Transfiguration is similar to the Baptism in the Jordan, as well us discover what Jesus, Moses and Elijah were talking about. We will also take a long close look at the Last Supper and how covenants in the Old Testament (which incidentally means “old covenant”) is replaced by this “new and everlasting covenant” as Jesus declares himself being the sacrifice when he infers that his body and his blood are separated – just as when the blood is separated from the body of animal sacrifices.

4. The Sorrowful Mysteries

The prophet Ezekiel foretold that Messiah will cleanse the temple, and water will flow from its side. “I saw water flowing out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east.” (Ezekiel 47:1)

Right after Jesus entered Jerusalem in a triumphant procession, he made his way to the Temple. Since it was closed, he came back the next day and cleansed it of money changers. When the Jews asked him for a miracle to prove his authority, he tells them to destroy the “Temple” and in three days he would rebuild it. Saint John, in his Gospel, is quick to explain, “But he was speaking about the temple of his body.” (John 2:21) Because the “Temple” is where the spirit of God dwells, we understand that the body of Jesus is a Temple – in fact the real temple – because God's spirit dwells in him. It is only at the crucifixion that the second part of Ezekiel prophecy is fulfilled, for when a soldier pierced the side of Jesus with a lance, “blood and water immediately flowed out.” (John 19:34)

IN THIS SESSION we will see how Jesus fulfills what the Psalms and prophets have foretold about the Messiah. We will appreciate how his passion and death “buys back” our relationship with God – something that was severed by Adam and Eve's disobedience.

5. The Glorious Mysteries

Since the beginning of time, mankind has always made sacrifices to God. Genesis recounts the offerings of Cain and Abel. They would burn their offering so that the smoke can carry their sacrifice when it rises up to God. But “The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” (Genesis 4:4)

Whereas we are not sure if the smoke of other earthly sacrifices is accepted by God, the Ascension visually shows that God accepts Christ's sacrifice by accepting him into heaven.

IN THIS LAST SESSION we will understand how the Resurrection and Ascension completes the mission of Jesus so that the Holy Spirit can “breath life” into The Church during Pentecost; and how it is an example for Mary's Assumption, and our own resurrection when Christ returns. Finally we will probe why Mary is Queen, by virtue of being the mother of a Davidic king.