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September 13, 2021
As an Evangelical, my dear family, I was under the impression that those who had a devotion to Mary were idolaters. That changed when I found out the truth about the devotion, it is scriptural. I had to repent for falsely accusing my brothers and sisters. So, I wanted to share with you what this devotion to Mary looks like and what role she plays in the Body of Christ.
So, let us look at the first part of the Rosary prayer." Hail Mary full of grace" This comes from Luke 1:28: And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And so, Gabriel, an angel of God appeared to Mary and spoke these words. So, this salutation to the Blessed Mother and the Hail Mary's is pure Scripture.
Part two, when I first heard it, it offended me as a Spirit filled Evangelical. How could God have a mother? That seemed really off base to me, so I put the question to an elder. He told me that it is a declaration of Jesus being the second person of the Holy Trinity, and as such, God. So, in the second part of the prayer, "Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death". That was the reason Mother of God is her title because Jesus, her son, is God. Obviously, Mary is created, she is a creature, she is not God.
Well, in addition to this prayer, we announce a mystery from the life of Jesus and for each of the ten beads, meditate upon it as we say the Hail Mary. So, for instance, for the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, we meditate on ten Scriptures that came from His passion. The First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden:
Meditation for the first bead: Imagine the Garden of Gethsemane, a favorite place of prayer for Jesus and the Apostles. And then we say the Hail Mary.
Meditation for the second bead: The Agony in the Garden. This is where He suffered intense pain of mind and body, as well as a violent struggle and contest. Jesus' agony was an emotional suffering, as well as spiritual. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Ok, the third meditation: For the third bead of the Rosary: "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by." Jesus asks the Father. As a human, Jesus dreaded the suffering as much as we do. Hail Mary, full of grace, and we do the next Hail Mary.
Meditation on the fourth bead: Jesus surrenders to the Father's will even though He knows full well what He will suffer. "My Father, if this cannot pass me by without my drinking it, your will be done!" Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, and the rest of the Hail Mary.
And then meditation on the fifth bead: Three times, Jesus asks for the cup to be taken away and each time again surrenders to the Father's will. An angel then came to strengthen Him. Hail Mary.
Meditation on the sixth bead: Jesus was let down by His three closest friends. He needed their company and wanted them to pray with Him. Three times He asked them. They gave in to sleep instead. They did not know what lay ahead. Nor do we, at any point in our lives. That is why we must always try to do what the Lord may be asking. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Meditation on the seventh bead: In His anguish He prayed with all the greater intensity, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. This is a very rare medical condition caused by extreme stress. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
And then the meditation on the eighth bead: The soldiers arrive, and Jesus says, "Sleep on now. Enjoy your rest!" The Apostles receive this well-deserved sarcasm. Hail Mary, full of grace.
Meditation on the ninth bead: Jesus is betrayed with a kiss by one of His very own, with whom He had just sat at table and celebrated Passover. Let us not forget that Jesus loved Judas. This was a painful betrayal of friendship. Hail Mary, full of grace.
And the meditation on the tenth bead: One of the Apostles grabs his sword and slashes off the ear of the High Priest's servant. Jesus answers, "Enough!" Then He touches the man's ear and heals him. The soldiers witness a miracle before their very eyes, yet they continue to arrest Him. How often do we, too, ignore the miracles in our lives? Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
So, you see, you say the entire Hail Mary with each meditation, but for the sake of brevity I only said the first of a few words. So, as you can see, all these meditations are centered around Jesus' life. They glorify God and do nothing for Mary. She is only there in a supportive role. All the rest of the mysteries of the Rosary are also taken from Scripture so that as we slowly contemplate the Lord in each mystery's ten beads, we are being saturated in His life, while offering our petitions to Mary who will in turn present them to the Father. By the way the meditations were taken from Holy Cross Family Ministries.
Within praying the Rosary, we are hearing, seeing, touching and meditating. We are requesting her prayers for our intentions, and she is presenting them as prayer to the Father.
But before she presents them, she adorns them by reminding The Father of how His Son suffered and it is by His blood and His sacrifice, that she asks this miracle be done. And you will notice also in the Rosary, you will notice also that at the end of the Rosary we ask for prayers at the hour of our death, because this is the decisive moment that determines our eternity, so we especially focus on her intercession at the hour of our death.
Well, we all need as much prayer we can get dear ones, and the more influential the prayer warrior the better. Many will say, "Here is the Christ...there is the Christ." And many will be deceived, but one thing is for sure, Mary knows her Son and she will never allow you to go astray and worship the anti-Christ. We are the elect and she is the Mother of the Elect. Consider that God the Father, with the Holy Spirit planted the Holy Seed within her womb. This most certainly points to her as Mother of the faithful.