ROSARY MONTH CELEBRATION 2019
Mary Help of Christians Theology Seminary
When everyone has gathered in the chapel, the priest, in white (preferably Marian)
stole begins with these or similar words:
Priest: We are gathered in the name of the +Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit.
Congregation: Amen.
Priest: The Lord be with you.
Congregation: And with your Spirit.
Priest: Brothers, the rosary is a gift of our Blessed Mother Mary to us
her children. As we begin this celebration of the rosary month,
let us together raise our hearts and minds to the mysteries that
our sublime Mother beheld in her heart and person, as salvation
unfolded in human history.
Then, a lector reads the scripture passage:
A Reading from the Prophecy of Zechariah
Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you—it
is the Lord who speaks. Many nations will join the Lord on that day; they will
become his people. But he will remain among you, and you will know that the
Lord of hosts has sent me to you. But the Lord will hold Judah as his portion in the
Holy Land, and again make Jerusalem his very own. Let all mankind be silent
before the Lord! For he is awaking and I coming from his holy dwelling.
The Word of the Lord
Congregation: Thanks be to God.
The priest shall now pray over the congregation who wish to celebrate the month
of the rosary. With hands extended, he continues:
Priest: Let us pray:
All-powerful and ever living God, you called Mary your
handmaid to share in the mysteries of your salvation
through her intimate relationship with your Son, our Lord
and savior, Jesus Christ. Grant that all those who wish to
pray the rosary with her may be nourished by the
mysteries we ponder, and grow in love of the truth of
your salvation. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Congregation: Amen.
The eldest and the youngest in the community shall carry the image, as the
seminarians line up after it. An appropriate Marian hymn is sung while the
procession is on-going. At the entrance of the dorm, the beadle and a
representative of the dorm shall receive the image from the community. The
Rosary follows.
After the Image of the Blessed Mother is enthroned in her altar, a representative of the dorm
occupants, preferably the eldest, shall lead the welcome prayer.
Leader: O blessed Mother I welcome you into my heart.
Others: May it be pure and spotless as your Immaculate heart.
Leader: O blessed Mother I welcome you into my mind.
Others: May it be always mindful of the things from above.
Leader: O blessed Mother I welcome you into life.
Others: May it be as sublime as your own earthly life.
Leader: Let us pray…
Occupants: O blessed Mother, we welcome you to our home. Delight fills our hearts as you
come and visit us and our community. As you stay with us, bless our
relationships, that we may pursue only what is Holy. Free us from all discord and
misunderstanding; sow in our hearts genuine love for your Son and our brothers.
Help us in our struggles for humility, purity and charity. Direct our hearts always
to what leads us to your Son, so that together we may respond to our prime call of
holiness. This we ask, O blessed Mother, through your powerful intercession.
Amen.
The rosary follows as usual.
1. Credo
2. Our Father
3. 3 Hail Mary’s
4. Glory Be
THE MYSTERIES OF JOY
First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation to Mary
The Angel Gabriel said to Mary: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you
among women…You shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus… Mary
answered, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.”
In the quiet of a garden, God proposes (through an angel) and a woman accepts. Mary is
accepting to walk into a mystery. She does not know what lies ahead on this new path, but she
knows who is asking and she trusts in him. There are many annunciation moments in our life,
and sometimes we hesitate to say yes because we cannot foresee the future or control what will
happen. In this mystery, we ask Mary to give us deep trust and confidence in the one who invites
us to follow the way to holiness.
Second Joyful Mystery: The Visitation
“Elizabeth was filed with the Holy Spirit and cried out in a loud voice: “Blessed are you among
women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb…The moment your greeting sounded in my ears,
the babe in my womb leapt for joy.”
During those months, Mary and Elizabeth did not just sit around waiting. They were working,
preparing for Elizabeth’s delivery, quietly conversing, and praying. Together, they are like a
little community, a pre-figuration of the Church. In our lives too, God gives us spiritual
friendships who help us grow closer to him. Sometimes he links our lives together for a larger
purpose that will reveal itself with time. In this mystery, ask Mary to help us and our spiritual
companions to listen carefully for God’s voice in our lives.
Third Joyful Mystery: The Nativity
“And it came to pass while they were there, that the days for Mary to be delivered were fulfilled.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothing and laid him in
a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
All of Bethlehem was dark and quiet when the Savior made his entrance into the world, and his
first home was in the protective circle of Mary’s arms. Imagine how Mary’s heart shone with a
love spanning the tender, protective love of a mother holding her baby in her arms and the
profound adoration of a soul adoring her Creator and Lord in the flesh. In our lives too, there are
times when God asks us to make a choice that we do not fully understand, and the blessing
reveals itself only later in time. Once the blessing comes, we understand that the only way to
understand God’s plan was to live it. In this mystery, ask Mary for the grace to believe in the
blessings that were promised by God in our own lives, even if they seem slow in coming.
Fourth Joyful Mystery: The Presentation
When the days of her purification were fulfilled they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to
the Lord…Simeon blessed them and said to his Mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the
fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted; and thy own soul a
sword shall pierce.”
Mary and Joseph were presenting the Only Begotten Son to the Eternal Father, in a temple that
was merely the shadow and copy of the real temple in heaven. They were also acknowledging
that this child was not their own, and that his first bond of kinship was to his Heavenly Father.
Mary was not one to cling to her child with overprotective love. Yet even she, the selfless and
obedient one, was promised that a sword of sorrow would pierce her heart on the day of
separation. Why does God give us such beautiful gifts and then ask us to give them up? Why
does he allow a loving heart to be pierced with loss? These questions must be brought to Mary,
who suffered this sword in a terrible way, more than any mother, any father. Through this
mystery, let us ask her to give us courage to face the many mysteries our call, especially those
which give us confusion.
Fifth Joyful Mystery: The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
“After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to
them and asking them questions…And He returned with His parents to Nazareth, and was
obedient to them.”
Jesus did not come into the world as a high inquisitor or a majestic fellow. He came as a humble
boy, immersed in a family, and subject to his parents, Mary and Joseph. But when she realized
that Jesus was not with them in their journey, she was filled with sorrow and worry, as any
mother would do. It was perhaps the first manifestation of the pain she is to bear at the mission
of her Son. It was her first experience of “death” as mother of God. In our lives too, we are
called to die each day; to deny ourselves continuously so as to give more meaning to God’s plan
in our lives. In this mystery, let us ask the blessed Mother to help us in our daily struggle for self-
denial and sanctification.
5. Hail holy Queen
6. O God, whose only begotten Son…
Vespers follows afterward.
Blessing of Rooms, Altars and other Articles of Religious Devotion
Priest: The Lord be with you
Congregation: And with your Spirit
Priest: Let us pray:
Blessed be your name, O Lord, you are the fount and source of every
blessing, and you look with delight upon the devout practices of the
faithful. Draw near, we pray, to these your servants, that as they use
these +symbols of their faith and devotion, grant that they may also
strive to be transformed into the likeness of Christ, your Son. We also
ask you to bless+ these rooms for private rest and adoration, that all
who come and live in it may find rest in your loving arms. Preserve
them from all sin, and draw them closer to you each day of their lives.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
