The fruits of the Rosary (I)

Each mystery has its own spiritual fruit, which Pope John Paul II called "fruit of holiness".

Fruits of the joyful mysteries

The fruit of the 1st joyful mystery (the Annunciation to Mary by the angel Gabriel and the Incarnation of Christ (Lk 1: 26-38; Mt 1: 18-25) is humility; the 2nd mystery: the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth (Lk 1: 39-55): fraternal charity; 3rd mystery: the Nativity of Jesus in Bethlehem (Mt 2: 1-12; Lk 2: 1-20): the spirit of poverty; 4th mystery: the Presentation of the newborn Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2: 22-38): purity and obedience; 5th mystery: the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2: 40-51): zeal in responding to God's call.

Fruits of the luminous mysteries

1st mystery: the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan (Mt 3: 13-17): the state of grace; 2nd mystery: the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2: 1-12): trust in the will of God and in Mary; 3rd mystery: the proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the invitation to conversion (Mk 1: 15): interior conversion, holiness; 4th mystery: the Transfiguration (Lk 9: 28-36): contemplation; 5th mystery: the institution of the Holy Eucharist (Jn 13): receiving the sacraments.

Saint Louis de Montfort had this advice about the recitation of the Rosary:

"Be careful not to look upon this practice as the common man does, and even as many proud scholars do, as a minor practice of little consequence; it is in truth great, sublime and divine. It was given to us by heaven, to convert the most hardened sinners and the most obstinate heretics. God has attached to it grace in this life and glory in the next. The saints have practiced it and the sovereign Pontiffs have approved it."

(To be continued on October 11)

Isabelle Rolland, Le Rosaire, présent du Ciel et chemin de sainteté (The Rosary, Gift from Heaven and Path to Holiness)