Sorrowful Mysteries

For you today I pray the Sorrowful Mysteries:
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with Thorns
The Carrying of the Cross
The Crucifixion

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Dear Rebecca,

Please forgive the times I treated you with coldness or cruelty. I sorrow for the grief I brought to you. For those moments, and every moment when I did not act towards you as I should, I pray that you and God will forgive me.

May God free us both from our sins, and let us live in Him, always choosing the good and avoiding the evil. May God bless you always.

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O God, whose property it is ever to have mercy and to spare : we humbly entreat Thee, on behalf of the soul of thy handmaid Rebecca, whom Thou bid on Friday to pass out of this world, that Thou wouldst not deliver her into the hands of the enemy, nor forget her forever, but command her to be taken up by the holy Angels, and to be borne to our home in paradise, that as she had put her hope and faith in Thee, she may not undergo the pains of hell, but may possess everlasting joys. Through our Lord. Amen.

Thank you

O GOD, Who, by the humility of Thy Son, didst lift up a fallen world, grant unending happiness to Thy faithful: that those whom Thou hast snatched from the perils of endless death, Thou mayest cause to rejoice in everlasting joys. And may Rebecca be counted in their number. Through the same, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, through all the ages of ages. Amen.

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Thank you, Rebecca, for wanting us to say grace at every meal, for wanting to offer God your music at Mass, for wanting to go with me to talks at St. Michael and Sts. Peter and Paul, for getting us enrolled in the brown scapular society. I don't think that we remembered that membership as well as we should have, but God is forgiving and our intentions were good. Thank you for your charity to Food for the Poor.

May God remember every devout and generous impulse of thy heart, dear friend, that you turned into action, and bless you for them.

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The Joyful Mysteries
The Annunciation
The Visitation
The Nativity
The Presentation in the Temple
The finding in the Temple

[Prayed in your memory and for the honor of our Lady this morning]

Ember Friday

At that time Mary rising up went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah: and she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: and she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord: and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

Luke 1:37-47

Today's gospel is my favorite mystery of the rosary: the eye sees only two women of modest means meeting in the back country of a weak nation, but four human souls are present, the least of them a saint of God, the greatest of them beyond comprehension, and the Holy Ghost is at work among them.

Repetitious Prayer? Graven Images?

cr0wnz730 asked the following question on youtube:

explain roserie beads if the Bible said avoid repititave prayers and explain symbolism if the Bible prohibits it

Jesus condemned *vain* repetion, the notion that you have keep repeating yourself to make sure God hears you, but He does not condemn all repetition. He Himself prayed repetitively (Matthew 26:44), and God accepts the ever repeated praise of the angels (Revelation 4:8). If you open your Bible to Psalm 136, you will see see that the Bible itself contains repetition, with each verse ending with the words "For his mercy endureth forever". Similarly, in Daniel 3:57-88, the three just men being miraculously protected by God repeat the words "bless the Lord" at the end of each verse. In the New Testament, check out Jesus's parable in Luke 18:9-14. Who prays repetitively there, the Pharisee or the publican? Which one goes home justified?


God forbids the manufacture of idols to worship, but not all "symbolism". In Exodus 25:18, He not only allows but commands Moses to make two statues of cherubim for the mercy seat on top of the ark. 2 Chronicles 3:10-13 and I Kings 6:23-27 say that Solomon had two more golden statues of angels constructed for the Holy of holies. And 1 Kings 6 goes on to describe many more images Solomon used to decorate the Temple. How did God react to this place of abundant "symbolism"? The Bible does not record that He condemned it. Rather He chose it for His own and sanctified it (2 Chronicles 7:12-16).

In Ezekiel 41, the prophet is given a vision of the new Temple. The new temple in this vision from God is also decorated, with images of cherubim and palm trees on the walls and doors.

In Numbers 21:8-9, God commands Moses to make a bronze serpent. Then in John 3:14, Jesus compares Himself to that same serpent. Would Jesus associate Himself with an image made by human hands if all such images are inherently evil?