| The Apostles' Creed | The earliest declaration of the faith shared by most mainline Christian denominations; appeared sometime in the second century. |
| The Our Father | This prayer is appropriately at the beginning and the end of each mystery since all things come from God, the Father and go back to God, the Father. The Father is revealed by His Son Jesus Christ in each of the Mysteries of the Rosary, as He said, "If you know me, then you will also know my Father." (John 14:7) |
| The Hail Mary | This prayer has Jesus as its focus. The prayer comes from the Scriptures about Jesus and has as its centerpoint, the Name of Jesus |
 The
Annunciation |
Luke 1:26-38 Mary teaches us how to surrender to God and say Yes. In patient waiting and silence, she receives all that the Father has to offer her--His Son Jesus Christ. Along with that gift comes the suffering she shares with her Son in being with Him at the foot of the Cross. |
 The
Visitation |
Luke 1:39-56 Jesus teaches us humility and obedience in being helpless in the womb of His Mother. Elizabeth teaches us how we should receive and worship the Lord who comes to us in the Eucharist, as He came to her in the Living Tabernacle of Mary. Mary teaches us how to be tabernacles for Him. |
 The
Nativity |
Luke 2:1-20 The shepherds teach us how to be ready at all times--even in the night--to receive the Lord. Mary and Joseph teach us how we must prepare a place, even a meager place, to receive the Lord in our hearts. Mary also teaches us about patiently pondering these mysteries in our hearts. |
 |
Luke 2:21-39 Simeon teaches us about patient waiting and watchfulness. In his prophecy we learn how we share in the suffering of our loved ones as Mary would share in the suffering of her Son. We also learn how that suffering opens hearts and brings new hope. We ask that she may present us as a perfect offering as well. |
 |
Luke 2:40-52 Jesus is the one who seeks us out and finds us and He, too, knows what it feels like to be lost. With Mary, we seek Him in the temple. Like the Pharisees, we come to Him on the throne to learn Wisdom from Him. |
 Agony
in the Garden |
Luke 22:39-53 At this beginning of His Passion, Jesus
looks for support from His disciples, but they abandon Him. Alone
and afraid, feeling the pain of what was to come, Jesus sought an easier
way out, but in the end, surrendered to the Way of the Cross. Jesus
teaches us to keep praying, how to stay strong, how to choose the Father's
path, even when it is harder.
Jesus knows the pain of betrayal, but still He surrenders. Jesus strength is not in human power, but in surrender and weakness, trusting that God will deliver Him. |
 Scourging
at the Pillar |
Mark 15:6-15 Jesus takes our sins on Himself. Each lash of the whip is for us, because of us. Jesus is sinless, yet He is punished for our sins. Jesus is innocent, yet the criminal, Barabbas is set free. Jesus can stop them, can assert His power at any time--He is God! But He surrenders, He bears it all for our sake, so that we might be set free. Jesus teaches us to surrender, to suffer so that our brother may be set free. We also see how our sins cause Him suffering. |
 Crowning
with Thorns |
Mark 15:16-20 Jesus bore it all in silence. He is the King of the Jews. Indeed, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, yet He bore their mockery in silence. He could command hosts of angels, yet He was crowned with suffering and made to look like a fool. All Christians are called to follow Jesus--to only find recognition and glory through the Cross. We can praise our King who was not crowned with jewels, but with thorns. He understands what it means to suffer, to feel alone, to be mocked, to be beaten and treated cruelly. Those were the signs of royalty for Him and they are for us, too. |
 Carrying
of the Cross |
Luke 23:26-32 Jesus bears the sins of the world as He walks, beaten and mocked, bleeding and bruised to His death. Where can He find hope in this desperate hour? His hope is in God. Even now, He has hope, believing that His Father--our Father--will deliver Him. He teaches us to find hope in the most desperate time. He also teaches us that we must take up our Cross and follow Him in order to come to the Father. We must bear all our Crosses with Him, asking for His strength, finding strength in His example. |
 Crucifixion |
Luke 23:33-49 As Jesus died on the Cross, He begged His Father to forgive those who crucified Him--He even made excuses for them. Can we forgive like that? Can we forgive everyone like that? We must. Jesus also teaches us that it is never too late. Anyone can repent, even dying on the Cross and be saved. It is very important for us to remember that. No one is a hopeless cause. We must pray that everyone repents and believes and finds salvation with Jesus. Jesus also teaches us the final surrender of death. We are not in control of our lives and we can only surrender our spirit into God's hands. We must surrender every moment of the day into God's hands. |
 Resurrection |
Luke 24:1-35 After entering fully into our humanity, even to experience our death, Jesus brought our humanity out of sinful mortality into the embrace of the Father in heaven. Although He died, death had no power over Him and so He rose again, freeing us also from death, who have been baptized into His death. He is our hope and in Him we are glorified to life forever in union with the Father and the Spirit, forever and ever. |
 Ascension |
Luke 24:50-53; Acts (1:1-5) + 6-14 After rising from the dead and appearing to His disciples, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. Although the Divine Word never left the right hand of the Father, when He ascended, Jesus brought His human Body into the Divine Embrace of the Father. As a result, all who have been baptized into His Body have also been brought into the Divine Embrace. Jesus' Ascension marks the end of His earthly life and also marks the beginning of the life of the Church. |
 Pentecost |
Acts 1:8,13-14; 2:1-15 Promised by Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended on Mary and the Apostles in the Upper Room on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. The Spirit opened up the contemplative, Marian life of prayer to the whole Church and empowered the disciples to be sent forth to spread the Gospel in their words and in their lives. According to St. Paul's substantial doctrine on the Holy Spirit, the mission of each Christian is empowered by the Spirit and is manifested in different vocations and charismata. This is an especially important Mystery, because it could be said that there is a Pentecost at each Baptism, when believers receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. |