The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 356: The Joyful Mysteries

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

We journey again through the Joyful Mysteries, stopping to meditate with Jan van Eyck’s depiction of the Annunciation and its reminder to keep in conversation with God. Fr. Mark-Mary reminds us of St. Joseph’s essential role in the Nativity. We meditate on Mary’s sacrifice revealed in the Presentation in the Temple, and the call to turn to God in the Finding in the Temple. 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, The Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast. We're through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and to Mary. It becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is Day 356. 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 33-7777. 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 podcasts in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full of 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 generosity. It's 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 praying that joyful mysteries

let's begin in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen 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 the virgin mary suffered an unpontious pilot was crucified die 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 in 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 our 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 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. The first joyful mystery is the enunciation. So in Van Nuke's depiction of the enunciation, there's that really interesting detail. The enunciation from the angel, right, it's written in a way that us, the viewer, reads it. But then Mary's response is upside down, communicating that she's speaking

directly to God. And this is like a really beautiful artistic way to communicate this reality that we see in Mary and certainly in Jesus. Life is happening. These horizontal things here on earth are happening. But Jesus is always experiencing them, like first and foremost in relationship with his Heavenly Father. And Mary is going to go about life similarly like this. You know, her keeping these things and pondering them in her heart. It points to the way in which she's always in dialogue, in communion with God. And here Mary is having this enunciation. Her whole life trajectory is going to surprisingly change. And you see her speaking to God himself. So as life is happening, we want to live it like Mary, we want to pray through it like Mary always in relationship with God, offering it to him, receiving it to him, like mourning it, grieving it with him, rejoicing in it with him.

So as we pray this decade, let us bring the particular circumstances of our life to God here, whatever it is, like let us journey through it in dialogue with the 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 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.

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 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 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 Part of my favorite, maybe you can call it like series within the series during this year, has been reflecting on the joyful mysteries, kind of with a particular focus on St. Joseph in his role. If you remember in Frederico Maldarelli's painting of the visitation, we have Joseph there. And of course, it's not explicit in the Gospels, but I think he was probably there. I think we can kind of pretty confidently say he didn't just let Mary go do this whole journey,

this dangerous journey, this long journey all by herself. But I really see like Joseph here being an icon and an instrument of God the father's paternal care, his fatherly care for Mary, that Joseph was there to walk with her, to journey with her, to help guide her, lead her,

to protect her. As we pray today, like, I guess the invitation isn't to, like, immediately make this one about us, but just to see Joseph caring for Mary as a gift from the Father, rejoice in it, and be moved by the tenderness of the heart of our Heavenly Father, like this truly Fatherly Heart that we see in the gift of Joseph accompanying, journeying with Mary. 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. 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 an 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 third joyful mystery is the nativity now we're not going to make all five of our decades today about st joseph but i'd like to make another one about st joseph or kind of through the lens with an emphasis on st joseph as we talked about remember like so mary's there she's just given birth to Jesus, this young woman with a tiny baby, and then come these

shepherds, and then come the magi. And I really got to believe that these encounters with the shepherds, these encounter with the magi, which become written in the gospels and become a source of like really deep grace and beauty and good news and source of contemplation for us, right? I just don't think these happen if St. Joseph isn't there. Maybe I'm looking at it a little bit too humanly, but also I think it's probably true. It's like it just wouldn't be safe for Mary all by herself to be just like welcoming all of these visitors. Again, could be wrong. But St. Joseph is there, right? And because St. Joseph is there, like Mary is safe. Mary's protected. And that door can be open to the shepherds, to the magi, allowing them to come and encounter Jesus.

And then allowing all of us who come to the gospel to enjoy. the fruits of those encounters. So again, just the beauty of the protection and the care of St. Joseph and the way in which it gives our lady a particular freedom because of that security. And maybe today as we pray, we can kind of behold that beauty, rejoice in it, but also know that Joseph has been given by God to protect us, to care for us in a particular way. So maybe we can entrust ourselves and our loved ones again to his protection. in his intercession as we pray this decade 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 Lord, and at the Lord, God, 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 Lord 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 Son, 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 mystery is the presentation of Jesus in the temple. In the presentation in the temple, we get a deeper insight, right? becomes more in focus what marries, yes, at the enunciation is going to cost her.

Simeon prophesies that a sword will pierce her own heart. And of course, even just at that prophecy, this other sort of type of annunciation, like that sword already pierces her heart. but what it will specifically look like how it'll happen still remains veiled in mystery and what does Mary say again through her actions right Mary still says yes Mary said yes to being the mother of

of the savor at the Annunciation and here in the temple Mary says a deeper yes a new yes an ongoing yes to being the mother of a suffering, sacrificial Savior. And we see Mary freely saying yes again and again and again. Her yes at the enunciation was renewed again and again and again. We ask for her prayers and her grace to say yes again, particularly to some of the previous yeses we've made myself,

my consecration, my priesthood, perhaps if you're a parent or a spouse, like yes again to your vocation, yes again to trusting God if you've desired those things and they haven't been given to you yet. We say yes, we say yes, we say yes. That is how we make this journey. So again, we look to Mary to be inspired by her example and we cry out to her that we may be strengthened by her prayers. 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, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the first of us. 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. 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. 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 fifth joyful mystery is the finding of jesus and the temple we um with mary have to get comfortable with mystery mary like all of us was on a pilgrimage of faith it wasn't all clear right away it's a thing we've talked about again and again and again is it kept becoming more and more clear more and more

was revealed as we see mary finding jesus in the temple there's a deeper like unveiling a deeper revelation but there's never a time where it's like it's all revealed right away like it's going to unfold with time but mary she was comfortable with mystery because she was secure in her identity and she's secure in his identity, in the Lord's identity, who he is, what his nature is. So my friends, like, as we pray this mystery, we ask to make the next best step on the pilgrimage, one of surrendering and accepting the reality of this pilgrimage of faith, the reality of the mystery, and asking to be, you know, more and more comfortable in the mystery. And on this pilgrimage of faith, find some comfort in the maternal care and intercession.

of Mary. 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, they are 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 us. 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 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 hail holy queen mother of mercy our life our sweetness and our hope. To thee, do we cry, poor banished children of you? To thee, do we stand 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 to our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement,

O loving, a 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, death, resurrection is purchased for us the rewards of eternal life grant we beseech thee that meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of 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 all right thanks everyone for joining me and praying with me today i look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow poco poco friends good bless you Thank you.