CommunionFire Special: The Chronicles of Cleophas Chapter Eight

"...blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus" Luke 1:42 I looked up and saw the moon. It looked like a woman ready to give birth.

Chapter Eight: Can Non-Catholics Pray The Rosary?

What? 
Should I post this? 

Remember the introduction of this book? 'Jesus looked right at me and said, "Follow Me". As He did He infused me with the power to follow Him. I had tried for 40 years to follow Him based on what other had to say about it and in my own strength. Now He was looking right at me and I could feel His virtue filling me with new faith and confidence that it was finally out of my hands!' Jesus is in charge and I just follow Him. 

The GPS for our journey on His paths of righteousness seems to be in the bread of his Body and the Wine of his Blood. Daily Communion leads to high adventure with Jesus!

When He keeps sharing His life and love with me in the glory of His presence I am being transformed from one degree of glory to another. This was said by another guy who lived his life by deepening communion and intimacy with Jesus. He wrote most of the New Testament. St. Paul lived out his faith being "Communion-Centric" in following Jesus. His message lit up with the brightness of the glory of Jesus! Jesus said upon the rock of revelation He would build his Church. The Table is where this all happens. 

My daily, communion-centric  life began in November of 2012. It has been an amazing ride. In recent weeks I yielded to His leading to bring me into a deeper experience with His natural family and His "highly favored" Mother, the Virgin Mary.

I figure, well, I have no church to boot me out anymore, though this post will bring me lots of 'well-wishers', I'm sure. But this may be the only time in your entire Christian walk that this "non-catholic" brother will try to give some honest, faith-filled, Spirit-led directive about Praying the Holy Rosary. It is now part of my daily devotional activities in addition to CommunionFire with my sweet wife Camille. Communion in the morning and the Rosary walking in the sunset.

How does this fit the Chronicles of Cleophas? There will be more on that in the next chapters. But briefly, if you haven't figured it out by now, These Chronicles are meant to introduce you to the one of a kind family of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, King of kings, Savior, Lord and Son of God. This post is an Introduction to His Mother Mary, the Queen of Heaven, The Holy Virgin and Mother of the Church.

FYI - Did you know in Israel, the Jewish tradition is that the Mother of the Son (when the Son is King) is the Queen. you can study that on your own... just an interesting cultural item that I just learned about.

Tonight on my prayer walk it was "The Joyous Mysteries". 

As I walked and prayed I looked up and saw the moon's light filtering though the overcast sky and I guess its like a 1/4 crescent moon. When I spoke and meditated on the phrase from the Hail Mary "blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus" - the moon looked like the midriff of a fully pregnant woman. I looked again and again. 

The Holy Spirit brought the reflection of each mystery to life. 
1st glorious mystery "When the FULLNESS OF TIME had come" 
2nd: Elizabeth was FILLED with the Holy Spirit! 
3rd: The TIME CAME for (Mary) her to GIVE BIRTH! 
4th:Every male that OPENS THE WOMB is holy!  
5th: 12 years old Jesus was about His Father's Business in the Temple. After 3 DAYS HE was FOUND IN THE TEMPLE  the birthing of the Gospel.

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Some Information about The Holy Rosary

Prayer Partners: Who is your favorite prayer partner? Who had the greatest influence on your prayer life? Do you pray alone, as a family, as a group or congregation in your home group or church? Have you ever been involved in intercessory prayer? The Rosary helps you understand how to partner with Holy Mother, Virgin Mary in prayer. She loves to join us in prayer and to be a prayer partner. This partnership helps us understand how 'on earth as in heaven' works. (You may want to Google or Wikipedia "The Holy Rosary" for more information.) Asking St. Mary to pray for you is like asking your friend or prayer partner to pray for you. When you are in genuine need and depend on the Lord Jesus, don't you ask everyone on the planet to pray for you, why not heaven's army as well? 

The Rosary is basically comprised of New Testament Scriptures. For example: The Hail Mary comes from Luke 1:42 "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! " And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?"

Do you believe? The Rosary combines the broad spectrum of the 21 definitions for prayer in the Scriptures from intercession to contemplative prayer. If you believe the Apostles Creed then you believe in the "communion of the saints". We are encompassed by a great crowd in heaven's grand stands. What do you think heaven is doing now? They are doing the same thing the Savior is doing. He is ever interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. "On earth as in heaven" means that we are praying together to the Father for the salvation of souls, the healing, care, provision of those in need and for the coming of the Kingdom of God with the New Jerusalem!

The Rosary is something developed and promoted in the Roman Catholic church. It is not a part of the fabric of faith with Eastern Catholics or Non-Catholics. Does that mean it is exclusive to Roman Catholicism? Well, not as of tonight! Its up to you. The Rosary for me is nourishing the encounters and experiences I have when I meet with the Lord at His Table for Communion! "A prayerless Church is a powerless Church." I had to take account that if at least 50% of the church is praying The Rosary, why shouldn't all Christians look into it. 

If you want to see the actual program I uploaded to my phone and use when I go on my prayer walks just after sunset click here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.rosario.it&hl=en

The Holy Rosary is a form of Historic Prayer done by over a billion Christians. I think the time has come for another veil or blinder to be removed. The word holy means something that is not common, sacred, set apart by the nature of the Lord. The Rosary is a very unique combination of statements of faith from the scriptures. The fear that keeps away many non-Catholics is that it uses 'vain repetitions'. Study the content of the Rosary and tell me one sentence that can be considered vain. Also there is no such thing as Mary worship except among cultists and non-christian 2nd and 3rd world 'mixtures' of religion and the occult. Again this is based on fear not faith by those who have never really looked at the Scriptures, Early Church teachings or Church Liturgies over the past 2,000 years. 

Maryology is not only a completely valid part of our Christian faith it is vital in understanding God's purpose and how it works. In most non-Catholic circles this area of teaching is totally missing and avoided. Why? We talk about Peter, James, John, Paul all the Apostles but what about His Mother and Dad? They had 30 years with Jesus to themselves and Jesus earthly family and neighbors. The more you get to know about her the more your heart beats to get to know her and your love for her grows as you realize her part in God's plan of salvation. Part of knowing Jesus personally in Communion is realizing His heaven-adopted father Joseph and heaven-appointed mother Mary are the first members of your heavenly family as well. More on that later.

It goes back to "the visitation of heaven to announce God's plan to Mary and Joseph and the divine conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary". She spent 33 years one-on-one with Jesus Christ as His Mother. Tell me that's not special. A huge vacuum among non-Catholics is the understanding and appreciation of the most highly favored personage in the history of creation. She is a role model to all of us with stature that exceeds the Apostles and Prophets, not to mention a comfort and counselor to all women from girlhood to womanhood, motherhood and family. She indeed should be considered by all believers. Consideration of her as Queen of Heaven, The Holy Virgin Mary and Mother of God are good starting places for the dialog. Like Communion, why is there so little attention given to Mary in non-Catholic settings much less  the other members of Jesus earthly family including Joseph and all the others mentioned in these chronicles. The saga of these chronicles is to help bring to bear that Jesus is surrounded by the most unusual family in Creation including His mother and thereby our Mother in the faith.   

I have been a student of prayer for over 40 years. I am a 'revivalist' prayer warrior. I had a radio program called International Voice of Prayer, been a member of intercessors for America, was part of the First National Prayer Congress in Dallas in 1976, was the head of Intercessory Prayer Ministry at Christ for the Nations. "Prayer always precedes effective evangelism and revival.' So now, Jesus is taking me where most non-Catholics don't go. Hopefully you are still reading this! 

The Rosary includes: The Lord's Prayer, The Apostles Creed, The Glory Be to the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and every shall be world without end amen. The Creed is at the beginning and the other three happen every tenth time you reflect when vocalizing of "Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." (The Rosary is typically been done daily with "Rosary Beads" which are set up to help you keep track or not lose track of 5 'decades of the Hail Mary separated by The Bible look at Mysteries of our faith and generally takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. Today there are phone apps as well!) Example: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.rosario.it&hl=en

Every 'decade' or 10 "Hail Marys" and topical scriptures from the Bible called "A Holy Mystery". Each Holy Mystery (mysteries of faith that increase your faith when you meditate on them) has 5 parts. There are 4 Topical Mysteries: Joyful Mysteries, Sorrowful Mysteries, Glorious Mysteries and Luminous Mysteries. Basically you just read the scriptures as a subject to be thought about while repeating the Hail Marys. The concept is that the prayer-filled contemplative repetition of the Hail Marys is augmented by an inward reflection of each mystery at the same time. The Rosary is all about Jesus as though kneeling next to His Mother as the Mother of our Lord and therefor Mother of our faith.   

A complete Rosary (50 decades + one set of mysteries) goes something like this:

Begins with "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen"
Then The Apostles' Creed and The Our Father, then
"Hail Mary for an increase in faith. Hail Mary for an increase in hope. hail Mary for an increase in charity." 
Then: Glory Be followed by reading:
 
(1st Joyful Mystery Luke 1:26-27, Galatians 4:4) 
Followed by the Our Father then 10 Hail Marys and then Glory Be and 
O my Jesus Forgive us our sins, Mary, Queen of peace, pray for us.

(Then the 2nd Joyful Mystery Luke 1:39-42)
Followed by the Our Father then 10 Hail Marys and then Glory Be and 
O my Jesus Forgive us our sins, Mary, Queen of peace, pray for us. 

(Then the 3rd Joyful Mystery Luke 2:1-7)
Followed by the Our Father then 10 Hail Marys and then Glory Be and 
O my Jesus Forgive us our sins, Mary, Queen of peace, pray for us. 

(Then the 4th Joyful Mystery Luke 2:21-24)
Followed by the Our Father then 10 Hail Marys and then Glory Be and 
O my Jesus Forgive us our sins, Mary, Queen of peace, pray for us. 

(Then the 5th Joyful Mystery Luke 2:41-47, 49)
Followed by the Our Father then 10 Hail Marys and Glory Be 
O my Jesus Forgive us our sins, Mary, Queen of peace, pray for us
Hail Holy Queen

There are other prayers and other versions but this is the basic outline. There is plenty of information online and I urge you to at least read about it. Get a feel for it. There must be something to it. If 1.2 Billion believers are involved with The Rosary and many Eastern Catholics are as well don;t you think its high time Non-Catholics ought to look into it? The Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ Son of God Have Mercy on me a sinner" and other prayers may be helpful as well. lets learn from Church history from the Apostles, the Holy Martyrs, The Doctors of faith and those who have dedicated their entire life in private communities of prayer. Its time for dialog with heaven as well as dialog among all Christians starting with Communion-Centric Lifestyle and Worship.  

FYI - don't think of "mystery" as unsearchable or unknown but rather as revelation from the holy Spirit that triggers transformation and faith. If you check them out you will see they are all direct from the Bible. they are like topical studies that are done prayerfully and contemplated while declaring the Hail Marys. 

Joyful Mystery of the Rosary Monday & Saturday

1. The Annunciation of the Lord to Mary
2. The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
3. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ
4. The Presentation of our Lord
5. Finding Jesus in the Temple at age 12

Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary Tuesday & Friday

1. The Agony of Jesus in the Garden
2. The Scourging at the Pillar
3. Jesus is Crowned with Thorns
4. Jesus Carried the Cross
5. The Crucifixion of our Lord

Glorious Mystery of the Rosary Wednesday & Sunday

1. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
2. The Ascension of Jesus to Heaven
3. The Descent of the Holy Ghost
4. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven
5. Mary is Crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth

Luminous Mystery of the RosaryThursday

1. The Baptism in the Jordan
2. The Wedding at Cana
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom
4. The Transfiguration
5. The Institution of the Eucharist