by Joseph Nangle, OFM
Pax Christi USA 2023 Teacher of Peace
With the celebration this week of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption, body and soul, into heaven comes a renewed appreciation for that traditional Catholic practice, the rosary. It is a prayer which offers a compelling rationale for the teaching on the Assumption.
First a little history. For centuries devotion to the Mother of God in the Catholic tradition was exemplified in the wide spread personal and communal prayers centered on the rosary. Gradually our post-Vatican spirituality was focused in other directions. Pope Paul VI, whose pontificate was dedicated to implement the teachings of the Council, noticed this trend and in an apostolic letter entitled Marialis Cultis (Marian Devotion) declared: [The rosary] “should not be propagated in a way that is too one-sided or exclusive. The rosary is an excellent prayer, but the faithful should feel serenely free in its regard.”
More recently the People of God are rediscovering it. We are finding in this devotion the truth of what Pope Paul VI also stated in Marialis Cultis: “Mary is one of our race… and truly OUR SISTER, who as a poor and humble woman fully shared our lot.”
Simply stated, the so-called “mysteries” (highlights) of the rosary offer reflections on key moments in salvation history from the unique perspective of Jesus’ mother.
Joyful moments:
- when this young woman of a small out-of-the-way place at the outer edges of the Roman Empire is told that she will be the mother of her people’s long-awaited Savior.
- when Mary spends three months with her cousin Elizabeth who was also favored by God.
- when she goes into labor and gives birth to a healthy infant.
- when she and her husband present the child in the temple of Jerusalem for the Jewish rite of circumcision and hear marvelous words about him from two of the elders there.
- when her growing son goes missing for three days and is found safely in the Temple.
Sorrowful moments:
Mary surely knew what was happening to her Son in his last days:
- that a spineless Roman governor bowed to the crowds and condemned Jesus to death.
- that he handed Jesus over to torturers who scourged him unmercifully and crushed a branch of thorns into his head, mocking the claims that he was “King of the Jews.”
- that she must have stood on the roadside with other brave women as Jesus dragged his cross toward Calvary.
- as she stood by and watched him die an agonizing death by crucifixion.
Glorious moments:
- undoubtedly she heard about the women who discovered Jesus’ empty tomb and proclaimed that her son was alive.
- she must have been told that Jesus had returned to their home country of Galilee and from there took leave of this world and returned to his and her Father.
- she was in that upper room with the rest of Jesus’ disciples and knew of the powerful descent of the Holy Spirit on them (Acts 1:14, 2:1).
- she witnessed that first proclamation of her Son’s message on that Pentecost Day and its enthusiastic acceptance by the crowds.
We can only speculate about Mary’s life thereafter. We know that from his cross Jesus had entrusted his Mother to the favored apostle, John. We know that the decree declaring Mary’s Assumption states: “[H]aving completed the course of her earthly life, the Virgin Mary was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” (Pope Pius XII, November 1 , 1950)
We surely can conclude, as we journey with Mary along the path of the rosary, that her return to God in spirit and without bodily corruption is entirely appropriate. This “sister of ours” felt in her entire being each of these moments as every mother would.
Her “spirit rejoiced in God her Savior” (Magnificat, Luke 1:46). A “sword pierced her heart” (Luke 2:35). She is the first and greatest witness to the “Word made Flesh among us.”
Joe Nangle OFM is a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace and the 2023 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. As a member of the Assisi Community in Washington, D.C., he is dedicated to simple living and social change. Joe also serves as the Pastoral Associate for the Latino community at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington, Virginia.