The Bible and the Rosary

Edgardo C. de Vera

A friendly dialogue between a Catholic and three pastors of a relatively well-known non-sectarian group was well into its second hour when the former said, “I carry my Bible every day in my pocket.” One of the surprised three wondered it to be the Sacred Scriptures digitized for today’s smartphones until the Catholic held up his rosary beads saying, “This is the Bible I carry daily with me,” and in the silence that followed, continued “…the Bible is in the Rosary and the Rosary is in the Bible.”

Many may be as perplexed by this claim as the trio of pastors had been initially, until it was explained to them that the meditation which is the soul of the Holy Rosary need not be confined to simply each respective Gospel episode. We say the prayer Christ taught us in the Our Father, repeat the scriptural salutations in the Hail Mary, and glorify the One Triune God in the song of the Angels. Our fingers move down the beads and we contemplate Christ against the backdrop of Salvation History. In the words of St. Augustine, “The Old Testament is revealed in the New and the New hidden in the Old.”

Christ is in the Rosary. As we fix our contemplation on Jesus, we recall persons that prefigured Him, moreover His teachings and events likewise. To illustrate the point, we cite four examples, one each from the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries. Each one will have a corresponding doctrine of our Faith.

Second Joyful Mystery: The Visitation (Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant)

At the Visitation Mary went to the hill country of Ain Karim and greeted Elizabeth who replied, “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43) Her words parallel what David had spoken in the same hill country at the approach of the Ark of the Covenant, “How can the ark of my Lord come to me?” (2 Sam 6:9)

The Old Testament Ark was an ornate crate made of acacia wood made holy by its contents: the Word of God in tablets of stone, an urn of manna, and the staff of the High Priest. Mary is the New Covenant Ark: she bore the Word of God made flesh in her womb – Jesus our Eucharistic Manna and Eternal High Priest. And just as the Ark remained with David in the hill country six months, so did Mary with Elizabeth.

Fifth Luminous Mystery: The Institution of the Eucharist (Mass as Covenant Memorial)

God gave Moses the prescription on how to offer a sacrifice to Him to be a memorial of their deliverance from Egypt. (Ex 12:14) After leaving Egypt, the Covenant was ratified at Mount Sinai and Moses sprinkled the people with the blood of the sacrifice as prescribed by God, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant.” (Exo 24:8)

Jesus never used the word covenant during His entire three-year ministry except at the Last Supper when He said “…do this in memory of me.” (Lk 22:19) Lifting up the cup of wine He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood…” (Lk 22:20) These are words we hear pronounced in persona Christi by the priest at Mass. He commands us to observe this sacrifice as the memorial of our deliverance from death.

The Second Coming of Christ will take place in your lifetime. According to this book which contains a series of incredible messages and prophecies to an Irish seer, our present generation will witness the Second Coming of Christ. Click here to read a book review that summarises the key messages of the book.

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Carrying the Cross (Sacrifice of the Only Son)

Abraham was instructed by God to take “your son, your only son” to be sacrificed to Him at Mount Moriah. Abraham and Isaac reached Moriah and the latter carried the bundle of wood for sacrifice on his shoulder up the mountain. (Gen 22:1-8)

Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, carried the wooden cross for His sacrifice on His shoulder as He ascended Calvary, which is one of the seven peaks of Mount Moriah.

The Fifth Glorious Mystery: Coronation of Mary (Queen Mother)

In the Old Testament, Solomon, the son of David, created the office of the gebirah or queen mother and installed his mother Bathsheba queen of the Kingdom of Judah. (1 Kgs 2:19) Thereinafter all the subsequent Davidic kings reigned with their respective mothers who was the Queen Mother of the Kingdom.

Jesus is the Son of David par excellence whose kingdom will have no end. (2 Sam 7:12-14) He is our Eternal High Priest and King and His Mother Mary, the gebirah of the New Jerusalem (the Church), reigns with Him. It is significant to note that the role of the Queen Mother in the Kingdom of Judah was to attend to the people’s needs and intercede for them in their behalf. The Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary is better understood in this light.

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The aforementioned examples are a brief sampling of what we can discover when we pray the Bible in the Rosary. Our meditations include the promise in the Old Covenant in view of the New, much like the Old Testament first reading and Gospel proclaimed at Mass. And this does not stop there; with each recitation of the Rosary new insights on the promise and fulfillment in the Scriptures will unfold with each mystery and contribute to further interest in studying the Word of God more diligently.

Blessed John Paul the Great, perhaps the most Marian Pope, hailed the Holy Rosary as the prayer of the Mother of the Church. He called it “…the remedy for our times… my favorite prayer.” He expanded the scope of meditations with addition of the Mysteries of Light, or Luminous Mysteries. Hence any episode in the ministry of Jesus Christ can be meditated on in the “generic” Third Mystery, The Proclamation of the Gospel.

Naturally that will include what had prefigured Gospel events in the Old Testament. For example: Jesus defining the New Law in the Sermon on the Mount was foreshadowed by Moses giving the Law on the plains of Moab. We meditate on Jesus “perfecting” the Deuteronomy (the second law) where Moses redefined the Law God had given at Sinai and allowed concessions on hatred for enemy, divorce, and revenge. “I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.” (Mt. 5:17-18).

The Holy Rosary should be the favorite prayer of every Christian. It is the one Marian devotion that opens up unplumbed insights in the Bible that cannot be seen by a mere cursory reading of the texts. Whoever sincerely seeks Christ will do well by going to the Queen Mother who acquaints all her children in the Kingdom of her Son in each Hail Mary. The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen articulated it best: “As she formed Jesus in her body, so she forms Jesus in our souls.”

Mary brings the Gospel message and instructs, “Do whatever He tells you,” (Jn 2:5) echoing what the Father commands “…listen to Him.” (Mt 17:5). All that the Father wills, and the commandments of Jesus are contained in the Sacred Scriptures which we can meditate on while praying the Holy Rosary. The Holy Spirit imparts abundant graces to enlighten us to understand and enable the faithful to live as the Father wills. The Bible and the Rosary are the one-two combination punches that floor Satan every time.

The Second Coming of Christ will take place in your lifetime. According to this book which contains a series of incredible messages and prophecies to an Irish seer, our present generation will witness the Second Coming of Christ. Click here to read a book review that summarises the key messages of the book.

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