Old Stuff

The Shorter Rosary

I live exactly one quickly-prayed 5-decade rosary away from my office, so I've been trying to develop the virtue of praying five decades daily during my drive. Following John DaFiesole's advice, last night I decided to concentrate on the quis of the joyful mysteries. Thanks to John, this was the shortest Rosary I've ever prayed - I spent the entire drive thinking about the persons involved in the first joyful mystery, the annunciation.

I hadn't realized before that all the different kinds of persons that exist are present at the Annunciation:

• God the "Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth", Creator of the setting and actors in the mystery;

• Mary, a created person composed of a spiritual soul and a body, possessing a human nature, mysteriously filled with God's grace, in quiet repose in a small village in the Levant;

• Gabriel, a created person composed solely of spirit, on a mission from God to ask Mary whether she will be (mystery of mysteries) God's mother;

• God the Holy Spirit, Love who proceeds from Being and Truth, an eternal and infinite spiritual person sharing the divine nature, who descends upon Mary in a fruitful union of spousal love;

• the second person of the Trinity, the begotten, uncreated infinite and eternal Son of God, sharer of the divine nature, who after obtaining Mary's consent, empties himself by adding to himself our human nature, and becomes the God-Man, son of Mary.

I've probably fallen into half a dozen heresies there...