By Sister Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart
First Mystery: The Annunciation of the Son of God
The Angel announced to Mary and said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God; you shall conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus.” Mary said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” And the Angel departed from her. (Lk 1:26–38)
Meditation
The Angel announces to the Virgin that she will be the Mother of God. The Virgin, being the Immaculate Conception and Full of Grace, says “yes” to the will of the Father and receives, through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, who becomes incarnate within her most pure womb. In this way, the Virgin is our perfect and ideal model for receiving Holy Communion, because just as she believed with her most pure mind in the truth of the Incarnation announced by the Angel, so too must we believe—without adhering to strange doctrines or superstitions—in the dogma of the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist through transubstantiation, which takes place during Holy Mass at the moment of the consecration of the bread and wine. After the consecration, there is no longer bread and wine, but the substance of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, just as the Virgin adhered with all her Immaculate Heart to her Son who was incarnating within her, loving no one and nothing more than her divine Son, so too, when we receive Communion, we must have a pure heart that loves Jesus in the Eucharist and Him alone; and if we love creatures, let it be in Him, through Him, and for Him. The Virgin also received Him with her most pure body, because there was no intervention of man in the conception of Jesus. In the same way, our body must be purified through penance, but above all through sacramental confession, in order to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in imitation of Mary. Immaculate Conception, we ask you to help us always imitate you, so that we may receive your Son Jesus in the Eucharist with a pure mind, heart, and body, through sanctifying grace.
Second Mystery: The Visitation of Our Lady to Her Cousin Saint Elizabeth
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Lk 1:39–46)
Meditation
The Virgin, pregnant through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, undertakes a long and dangerous journey to help her cousin Saint Elizabeth, who was also expecting a child. The visit of the Virgin brings joy and gladness to Elizabeth and John the Baptist, who leaps for joy in his mother’s womb. The reason for their joy is that with the visit of the Virgin comes Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, the Redeemer. Through her visit, the Virgin teaches us two things: to practice mercy toward those most in need, and that her maternal presence is always accompanied by the presence of her Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. Let us visit the sick members of our parish, especially those who once belonged to parish ministries and now find themselves alone and abandoned. Let us visit them with the love and joy of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.
Third Mystery: The Birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem
The Angel said to the shepherds: “I bring you good news of great joy for all the people: today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord.” (Lk 2:11–16)
Meditation
Jesus is born in a humble stable in Bethlehem. The God of infinite majesty—the God whom the heavens cannot contain, before whom the Angels bow in adoration—is born as a human child in a cave used as a shelter for animals on a cold and starry night. After being born virginally, passing through the body of the Virgin Mary as a ray of sunlight passes through glass without harming it, an Angel receives Him and places Him in Mary’s arms. She wraps Him in swaddling clothes, covers Him with her mantle, cradles Him lovingly, and nurses Him. The Creator of the visible and invisible universe is born helpless, trembling from the cold, crying from hunger, needing the love and embrace of a mother. The Virgin practices mercy toward the Child Jesus, who is poor and defenseless, feeding Him, warming Him, and caring for Him. In this way, she gives us an example so that we too may practice mercy toward those most in need. Let us ask the Immaculate Virgin in this mystery to help us practice mercy, so that we may “store up treasures in heaven,” and thus receive mercy from the God of infinite mercy on the day of our death. Amen.
Fourth Mystery: The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple
When the days of purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. (Lk 2:22–40)
Meditation
A few days after His birth, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph bring the Child Jesus to the Temple for the rite of presentation, through which firstborn sons were consecrated to God. Today, the atheism of materialistic society has invaded many of the faithful, causing them to lose the sense of sacramental mystery and sanctifying grace. Many now think of the sacraments—especially Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and Marriage—as merely social events rather than salvific encounters in which Jesus Christ becomes present with His redemptive sacrifice to grant us salvation. The sacraments are not social appearances or superficial signs of Christianity hiding pagan hearts and customs. They are channels of grace through which the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ is made present and communicated. Through this grace, acting in the deepest root of the human soul, man participates in the divine life of the Trinity and becomes an adopted child of God. Let us ask the Virgin in this mystery to help us die to the old man dominated by passions, superstition, error, and concupiscence, and be reborn as a new man. May she, the Immaculate Conception, present us as newborn children in her arms to her Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.
Fifth Mystery: The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. Returning home after the feast, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem without His parents knowing it. (Lk 2:41–51)
Meditation
Our Lord, at twelve years old, remains in the Temple answering the questions of the teachers of the Law. Meanwhile, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph begin the journey home separately, each thinking Jesus is with the other. After three days, they realize He is not with them and return anxiously to Jerusalem searching for Him.
In truth, Jesus was never lost; He remained always in the Temple. The same often happens to us: we walk in the opposite direction from where Jesus is and then think He has abandoned us. Many times it is we who walk away from Him. Jesus is in the Temple; more specifically, He is in the Tabernacle; more specifically, He is in the Eucharist. Let us not direct our steps away from the Temple, away from the Tabernacle, away from the Eucharist. Let us direct our steps toward Jesus, who is present in the parish church, in the Tabernacle, and in the Eucharist. Together with Mary, who found her Son in the Temple, let us also go to the church, to the Tabernacle, to Eucharistic Adoration. Let us adore our God in the Eucharist, who descended from Heaven to pour His inexhaustible love into our hearts and into the hearts of all who approach Him with faith, love, and a contrite and humble heart. Mary, Immaculate Conception, you who found your Son in the Temple, lead us by the hand to the Temple, to the Tabernacle, to Eucharistic Adoration. Instill in us a true love for the Eucharist, so that loving your Son in the Eucharist during this earthly life, we may continue loving Him for all eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
