The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 131: Worship and Warmth

Episode Date: May 11, 2025

What  will be true in heaven is already true in the manger at Bethlehem. Already, heaven and earth bend the knee in worship of Jesus to the glory of God the Father. Fr. Mark-Mary draws our attention to the gaze of Mary, Joseph, and the angels, fixed on Jesus, in Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini’s painting of the Nativity. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Nativity and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary. All of the Sacred Art we’ll be meditating with can be found in the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, for free linked in the complete prayer plan, or for free in the Ascension App. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 131. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit AscensionPress.com forward slash Rosary in a Year or text R I Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts is in the

Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary with myself and other friars on behalf of myself and the whole team here at Ascension. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's helped support this podcast financially. Your support is so appreciated and helps us to reach as many people as possible. And if you haven't already, please consider supporting us at ascensionpress.com forward slash support. Today we will be meditating upon and praying with the third joyful mystery, the Nativity, with help from

a Nativity painting in the presbytery of a church in Vienna by the artist Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini. Okay, first some notes about the artist and the painting. So the artist, Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, was a Venetian painter who was commissioned to paint the interiors of many churches in Europe in the early 1700s. He specialized in historical scenes from the Old Testament and excelled at painting ceilings and domes. He himself lived from 1675 to 1741. The painting we are praying with today was painted somewhere between the years 1725 and 1727. The painting itself was commissioned by an empress of Austria,

who commissioned Pellegrini to paint the inside of a church in Vienna. And this is one of the scenes he painted. Instead of using the traditional frescoes where paint is applied to wet plaster, Pellegrini created this painting by applying oil paint to dry plaster. This lends the scene a unique color, tone, and texture. Now a bit of a description of the painting itself. At the center of this painting is the infant Christ child in a wooden manger, wrapped in soft white clothes.

Four figures surround the manger. To the right of the Christ child, to the viewer's left, is his mother, bending tenderly and serenely towards Jesus. She kneels in adoration, clothed in flowing pink and blue garments that contrast with the earthly tones of the manger. To her right, St. Joseph in brown actively leans over protectively, perched as if ready to spring into action, his brown garments blending into the warm, rustic surroundings.

His expression is one of quiet reverence, his gaze fixed lovingly on the Christ child. The two figures to Jesus' left, to the viewer's right, are winged angels, the one nearer wearing pink and the exterior angel wearing brown, providing a symmetry to Mary and Joseph. And above the figures is a bright white scene of clouds. Mary pulls upon the corner of the white cloth Jesus lays upon, making a triangular shape, framing Jesus, revealing His identity in the Most Holy Trinity, and Mary's role in pointing us to it. Jesus' tiny hands are outstretched,

as if already offering himself to the world. His face radiates a gentle glow, casting light upon the surrounding figures. So let's go ahead and reflect on this painting in a way that's going to be helpful for our prayer. My theme for today is that in the manger and in the Holy Family, there is worship and there is warmth. A couple of days ago in our reflection on the Annunciation, we noted the eyes of the angel Gabriel and how they were downcast as his head and body were bowing in reverence to Mary.

And how Mary responded with her own head respectfully and humbly tilted, with her eyes also downcast, both taking the disposition of reverence between one another and before the plan of Almighty God. Yesterday at the visitation, we noted the eyes of Elizabeth and Mary locked together, two women who really knew each other and who really saw each other, and were sharing in each other's joy as mothers, and also sharing in each other's joys as faithful Jewish women rejoicing in the light of the presence of the promised Messiah. Today, our painting of the Nativity has all eyes. The eyes of men and the eyes of the angels, all on Jesus.

Joseph, Mary, and the two angels, they're gazing upon the newborn Savior in contemplation and adoration. Today we see more than reverence or veneration. Today we see more than simply human love. Today, at the Nativity, we encounter the worship proper of creatures to their Creator. In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes, At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And what I believe is this is like what will be true in heaven is already true in the manger at Bethlehem.

As at the manger in Bethlehem in the, already heaven and earth bend the knee in worship of Jesus to the glory of God the Father. Secondly, what we perceive on the countenances on the faces of Mary in Joseph on the countenances, on the faces of Mary and Joseph, is the profound warmth of love. The one they worship, they also love with the most profound and tender of loves. The one they worship here, newborn in the manger. As he grows, will himself return this love, and he will come to love them with the most profound and tender of loves.

What we encounter in the manger of Bethlehem today, and what we will encounter in the house of the Holy Family in Nazareth, is the answer in history, is the answer in time to the prayer that Jesus would one day teach his disciples. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Here at the Nativity, we see what that looks like. We see its fulfillment and the nature of its fulfillment, the perfect union of adoration and love, the perfect union of worship and warmth. In this moment, how can we join in this worship and warmth?

How can we step into the mystery of the Nativity, worshipping Him both as we pray now and as we walk through our lives, turning our gaze to Him? As we pray today, let us place ourselves with Mary and Joseph and all of the holy angels before Jesus in the main trip, Ephelihim. And as we pray, let us worship Him. As we pray, let us love Him. And as we pray, in turn, let us receive the warm and tender love that He has for us. And now with Mary and Joseph and all of the angels, let us pray in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. 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. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.

World without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right. Thanks so much for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poco Poco friends. God bless y'all.