The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 349: The Joyful Mysteries

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

We return to Fra Angelico’s painting of The Annunciation and Giulio Campi’s fresco of the Presentation in the Temple as Fr. Mark-Mary leads us in meditation on the reverence and faith revealed in the Joyful Mysteries. Our prayer explores themes of humility, God’s love for us, and the importance of keeping our eyes on Jesus. Today's focus is the Joyful Mysteries, and we’ll be praying the full Rosary. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan friars with Renewal, and this is the Rosary in Year podcast. We're 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 349. 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 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. No matter what app you're listening in, remember to tap, follow or subscribe for your daily notifications. Today we will be praying the joyful mysteries. Let us begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. then. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who is conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to hell. On the third

day, he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe even the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting, amen. For Holy Father's health and intentions, 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 for an increase in the theological virtues of faith hope and charity hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are 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 are thou and thou and 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 are thou among women and blessed it 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 the first joyful mystery is the Annunciation let's take a moment and

revisit and pray with the painting of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico there's an interesting detail where the archangel Gabriel is bowing to our lady and our lady and our lady has her head slightly tilted forward herself having a posture of reverence. And we see this angel, this messenger of God, right, like showing reverence to this poor, lowly handmade who is and who is depicted here as a queen and Mary with her head bowed in reverence before the word spoken in God's election of her.

As we pray, like, I'd really encourage us to kind of focus on Mary's disposition. this experience of being picked by God, chosen by God, like in his presence, part of his plan. And certainly we can have a lot of frustrations in life and what's happening, et cetera, et cetera. But we have been picked and chosen by God. Can we ask to like Mary have like a reverence for God and his plan and how it is unfolding here and now and all of the particulars in our life? 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 sun and to the holy spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen Amen. Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. The second joyful mystery is the visitation. Remember Elizabeth's words to Mary during the visitation, blessed is she who believed. And what does this, like, reveal about God? It reveals God, as we've said again and again, that God keeps His, promises he is faithful so what's our invitation the invitation here is to imitate Mary's faith to like Mary believe in Jesus believe his word believe for in his

goodness and in believing and sharing in Mary's faith we share right in the Father's fulfillment of his promises and in sense we share right, in her blessedness. Blessed are we who believe. Our Father who art in heaven, hallow 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed it 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 are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us. us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are 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 sun and to the holy spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. The third joyful mystery is in the nativity. St. Bernard of Claerville wrote, For Christ, though a child is full of grace and truth, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead. how truly incredible is this god wants us to approach him like so much that like he veils his glory he closed himself we could say in humanity and the humanity of a child he takes on a human nature

right including that of a baby the creator of the universe comes to us as a little poor vulnerable baby And I do believe that part of this is so that we are not afraid to draw close to him. My brothers and sisters, let us look upon the Christ's child. Let us worship him. Let us adore him. Let us recognize his divinity. But also, let us be moved by his poverty and his vulnerability and draw close to him to experience like real deep, profound intimacy with our Lord.

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. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are 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 are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for

for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are 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 are 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 are thou among women, and blessed it 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. Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. The fourth joyful ministry is the presentation of Jesus in the temple. In Giulio Kompi's fresco, the presentation in the temple,

the fresco, it's filled with people kind of going at all different, directions and looking at all different directions and there's just like there's an overall kind of sense of scatteredness and of commotion but if you remember like there's one face that's unaffected by it and that is the face of mary and her eyes despite the surrounding chaos and commotion her eyes remained focused on jesus there's a lot going on in our lives there's a lot of emotion, a lot of chaos, a lot, saying, look over here, look over here, worry about this. Let us like Mary, let's keep our eyes focused on Jesus. Let's surrender it all to him. Let's be renewed in our faith, our hope, and our charity towards him. And let us be filled

with peace because Jesus is in control and Jesus is Lord. 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 are 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. grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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

Hale Mary full of grace The Lord is with thee Blessed are 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 are 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 sun and to the holy spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen oh my Jesus forgive us our sins save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of thy mercy the fifth joyful mystery is the finding of jesus in the temple if you recall one of the episodes we looked at the idea of an actor and a director and that when you are the actor, you kind of have a pretty small, like, scope of vision.

Like, you know your part, you know what you're supposed to do. But you don't see the whole picture, but you have to trust, like, that the director who sees the whole picture knows what he's doing, right? The actor has to trust the director. And here in the finding of Jesus in the temple, we see Mary in a certain sense, like an actor having a small scope of vision and insight.

She knows her part, like it's to raise Jesus, to love Jesus, to be the best mother to Jesus possible. But then here's something unexpected happens, right, as he's lost. And when she encounters Jesus, he says to her, like, did you not know that I must be in my father's house? Like something new is being revealed. And Mary doesn't, like, just get it all of a sudden. She continues to ponder it and keep it in her heart.

All of this, this prayerful pondering and keeping of these things in her heart is this act of trust. An act of trust in the images of the director, surrender to the director. But here, of course, like the director is almighty God himself. And so we are called to be faithful to what is given to us each moment, each day, to experience the freedom of not having to sort of see how it all fits, to make sense of all, to make it all work. but to keep prayerfully pondering whatever's happening with the Lord, surrendering it to him, trusting that he is at work for the good

in all things for those of us who love him. Our Father who art in heaven, hallow 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 them. us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen hail mary full of grace the lord is with thee blessed are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 are 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 oh my jesus forgive us our sins save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven especially those in most need of thy mercy hail holy queen mother of mercy our life our sweetness and our hope to thee do we cry poor banished children of eve to thee to we send up our sighs mourning and weeping in this valley of tears turn then most gracious advocate thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile

show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us, most holy mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. O God, who's only begotten Son by His life, that the resurrection is purchased for us the rewards of eternal life.

Grant, we beseech thee that meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thanks everyone for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poca poca, poca, friends. God bless you all.