The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 189: Beginning Our Meditation

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

We begin Phase 4: Finding Focus today, reviewing several topics for meditation on the Annunciation. Putting the mental meditation archive we’ve been building into practice, Fr. Mark-Mary leads us through prayer prompts and a decade of the rosary. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Annunciation and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

PAM, 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 189. 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 the podcast 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. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, Saint Reflections, and beautiful images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on.

Today we will be meditating upon and praying with the first joyful mystery, the Annunciation. Well, friends, welcome. We've made it to phase four, which is a big deal. Give yourselves a round of applause. A little clap for everybody. The fourth phase is called Finding Focus. And so, up to this point, we've been doing quite a bit of work to build up our mental meditative archive with a variety of teachings about the mysteries with reflections, luxio divinas, saint writings, artwork, et cetera. And now we're going to be applying these very deeply to prayer. We're just going to be pulling from what we have received and going deeper.

I think a very natural sort of common analogy would be like studying. You go to class, you receive all the material, and then there's a point where it's midterms or it's finals where you really do like a deep dive. The end being like a simulating, really owning the information. And in this case, not just owning the information, but actually being transformed and changed by the truths

that we have meditated upon and that have been revealed through these mysteries. And in a certain sense, like there's a way in which at this point, like each individual praying on this journey, like takes the reins. There's a part where in many ways I've been leading, and I'm going to continue to be there, but there's a way in which the work now is for the individual at the service of, again, like receiving this deeply so that for the next 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 years of your life, you have this, again, what we've been calling a meditative archive to pull from and to apply in your praying, particularly your meditating

upon the mysteries of the rosary. So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to give a brief like introduction, some reminders of what we've talked about. And then like for this next phase, we're going to just pray one decade, not super slow, but with a little bit more of a lingering pace. And what I'll encourage you to do is if you recall back to our time of Lexa Divina, we practiced these four Rs, receive, respond, request, and then rejoice. Like, receive what is being revealed.

So, like, we're just going to take a moment to ask that, like, what's being revealed? How can I respond? Then we're going to, like, ask for the grace to respond and then close up our time kind of like with this rejoicing. Thanking God for the time of prayer, what's been revealed, the invitation, the graces that have been communicated. And then we'll pray the decade of the rosary and begin again tomorrow. Today as we pray our decade just focused on the Annunciation, we'll start with some reminders of a few of the themes helping us as we move into more independent meditation.

So we're just gonna touch on a few themes, but pay attention to the movement of your heart. Do you feel particularly drawn to just remain with any of them, to perhaps like rest with any of them? Or do you already have a previous theme on your heart that you'd like to meditate on? We can bring to mind our meditation on Luke 1, verses 26 to 38, dwelling on how unexpected the mystery of the Annunciation was. In this passage, Mary asked the angel Gabriel, how can this be? And the response of the angel,

nothing is impossible with God. Mary didn't expect it to be her. She didn't expect the timing to be this way. Really, like nobody did. Nobody understood at least the fullness of how the Messiah would come. And how often does God come to us in unexpected ways? And often the experience is, okay, like we're going deeper than I thought. We're looking for something fuller, richer than I thought

that I planned on. Mary says yes to the unexpected and mysterious. How can this be? Mary dialogues with the angel. She honestly shares her heart, but with this openness. So we all have these experiences happening, which again are mysterious. Where there can be the question of how can this be? How could good come from this situation?

How can there be resurrection, new life here? And we can honestly bring that question to the Lord. But then we also, particularly right in the context of the Annunciation, we have this response. Nothing is impossible for God. Nothing is impossible for God. He's going to give us the grace we need. We, like Mary, just say yes. We give our fiat because nothing is impossible with God.

Or maybe, like one of the sacred art pieces resonated with you. So as we pray, you can bring that to mind. Perhaps, right, Fra Angelico's painting that led us to meditate on the humility and reverence of Mary and the angel as they bow to one another. Allow your mind to rest on the tone of this mystery depicted with greatest respect and reverence. Gabriel knows Mary is the immaculate conception and although she is a lowly handmaid, he bows before her with reverence.

And Mary returns the gesture, bowing before God's work in this moment. And how might this moment of the Annunciation be drawing you into a greater reverence before the mystery of God at work in your own life. And finally, you could bring to mind one of our Saint reflections, perhaps. St. Gregory the Wonderworker. St. Gregory said of the Annunciation, Today our strains of praise sung joyfully by the choir of angels and the light of the Advent Christ shines brightly upon the faithful. Today is the glad springtime. angels and the light of the Advent Christ shines brightly upon the faithful.

Today is the glad springtime. Allow your mind to recall our meditation on the wonder that is announced at the Annunciation. God is becoming man to save us. The wonder worker can illustrate the beauty of the Annunciation, not just an unexpected moment, but one of great joy. So now we'll just take a moment to, if you will, sift through your mental archive that we've been building up through our phases of meditation. And allow the Holy Spirit to draw you

to a particular subject, particular theme, particular word or image. And what aspect of the enunciation might God be calling you to step deeper into? If you feel called to meditate longer on any specific question or mystery, feel free to pause the episode and continue your time of meditation. So we'll just take a little moment of stillness here to go through the four hours. stillness here to go through the four R's. What is the grace, the truth being revealed that you are being invited to receive? How can you respond? What's the grace you'd like to request? And then rejoice. Give thanks to the Lord for this time of prayer, and the grace given,

and his life shared. And now, together with Mary, 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, 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 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, friends, thanks so much for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poco Poco, friends. God bless y'all.