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Everyday Rosary Newsletter -- Start Advent Right December 01, 2009 |
Everyday Rosary Newsletter Vol.1, Issue #02 -- Getting Advent Off On The Right Foot?December 1, 2009 Advent Greetings!
The monthly Everyday Rosary Newsletter is brought to you from the How-to-pray-the-rosary-everyday.com website. In each issue you will find Rosary inspirations, new meditations, feature articles and ideas that support your prayer life, a calendar of upcoming Rosary Feast Days, and how to incorporate your faith in other holidays. Plus stories on how the Rosary has affected the lives of others and what people are doing to promote the Rosary. It will also keep you up-to-date on information added to the site. It is your monthly dose of Rosary inspiration! Table of Contents
Preparing For And Celebrating The Birth Of Jesus At ChristmasA Note From The Editor:Christmas is a time of joy found in hope, warmth, family, gift giving and good cheer. These wonderful feelings of love are only possible because in the beginning, God breathed the gift of His life into man's soul enabling us to enjoy these emotions. When Adam and Eve sinned, the grace of God's life left the souls of mankind. Christmas is a celebration of the greatest event in all of history. God became man and dwelt amongst us. Jesus, born in a stable more than 2,000 years ago, came to redeem this grace that was lost through the sin of our first parents. Everything that is good, all that is joyful and all that is holy in life are so because God humbled Himself and became man in order to redeem for the sins of all men that began when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden so many years ago. This Christmas, really take the time to stop and thank Jesus for coming to earth as a helpless baby, born into poverty in order to become your Brother and make you an heir to Heaven. TopArticlesThe Nativity Is Absolute And Complete Joy The most joyful event in human history is the birth of Jesus. It is no wonder then why it is meditated upon along with the other Joyful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary. Without this mystery, none of the others would exist. Jesus would not have become man if Mary had not cooperated with the most Holy Will of God. Mary's role in the redemption of mankind cannot be overlooked or brushed aside. The Rosary teaches you this truth. Mary did not redeem mankind, Jesus did, but without Mary, Jesus would not have come into this world. God did not have to redeem man in this way. God is all powerful. But He did choose to. He did so to teach us the insurmountable value of heroic virtue...
Virtues that were perfected in Mary and later exemplified in the teachings of Jesus. Who doesn't think of Christmas without a smile coming across their face? The smells, the sounds, the tastes of Christmas are unparalleled with any other holiday. Christmas is "the best time of the year". This is so because of Who is being celebrating- Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Who came into this world through the "yes" of Mary, the immaculate virgin of Nazareth. New Meditation on the Third Joyful Mystery: The Nativity Christmas is a big deal. It means everything to a Christian. The long awaited Savior came and He has promised to come again. But in the mean time, you and I are lucky. All have access to the graces God pours out through His Church, this was not so for Moses or any of the prophets, but it is for you and me. Let's not waste them.
Family Rosaries There is no better time to begin praying the Rosary as a family than during Advent and at Christmastime. Do you remember the words of Fr. Peyton? "The family that prays together, stays together." How true, and sadly how prophetic. In recent decades, many families have been torn apart. If only more families would have taken Fr. Peyton's advise, this sad reality would not be so. On earth, nothing will ever be perfect, this is the "valley of tears" after all, but there is much peace and grace waiting for those who ask for it. As a family you must ask for it by praying together and asking God to watch over and protect your family. If many years have passed without the Rosary devotion being part of your family prayer time, or if you have no family prayer time, why not buy your spouse a Family Rosary. A Family Rosary is set of rosary beads that have one set of introductory prayer beads then at the metal, branch off into two sets of regular five decade rosary beads. You can sit together and pray using the same set of beads. Beautiful, handmade Family Rosaries can be purchased from Simplicities of Life, this month's featured Rosary Promoters. Please see their interview below in the Meet This Month's Rosary Promoter section of this newsletter. Giving this type of gift at Christmastime is an enchanting way to say I want to begin saying the Rosary with you. That is love. A popular saying is "Nothing says I love you like a diamond." Well, I beg to differ. I believe nothing says I love you like a spouse who wants to pray the Rosary with their husband or wife. Top Top TenTop Ten Ways To Have A Peaceful And Serene Christmas Season
Top How To GuideHow To "Imitate What They Contain" During Christmas Near the conclusion of the Rosary, in the "Let us pray" prayer from the Breviary, you pray the words... "Grant we beseech Thee, that while meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise." The mysteries themselves hold a promise- the promise of eternal life. Meditating upon the mysteries of the Rosary is meditating upon the events in the life of Jesus. Jesus came to free you from your sins and He has promised you the reward of Heaven.
But let's take a look a little closer at the meaning of the words in this prayer. Imitate what they contain comes before obtain what they promise. In order to obtain the promised reward of eternal happiness in Heaven, you must imitate the events in Jesus' life, particularly those contained in the mysteries of Rosary, and obey the commandments. "But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." -Matthew 19:17 So carefully go about imitating these events. For now let's examine how to imitate the events in the Third Joyful Mystery of the Rosary-The Nativity. It is interesting to note that Christmas has become about money and worldly gifts, when the Nativity, the birth of Jesus, is about poverty, humility, and complete trust in God. There is nothing wrong with giving gift at Christmas time. It is good when done for the right reason and kept in perspective. But to really imitate what the mystery of the Nativity contains, you must go further than simply giving and receiving gifts. You must exercise poverty in some realms of your life. If you truly are less fortunate financially than others, thank God for the opportunity to trust that He will provide for your needs. This year you will need to show more love for others by showing them how important they are with gifts money can't buy, because you don't have the means to simply give gifts, you have to show your love. If you are not struggling financially, scrimp a little this year. Buy gifts for a large family at your parish or buy them a turkey for Christmas dinner. You don't need to turn to a gift giving card from a tree. You know who may appreciate a little extra this Christmas that you can help provide. This is how God works. We all are striving for the same goal--Holiness. And there are many means to getting there. Besides poverty, imitate the trust displayed by Mary. She trusted God completely. Just think of her situation. Very pregnant, in a foreign town, with nowhere to stay. She had no control over what would happen to her. But she trusted St. Joseph and she trusted God. The shepherds also displayed heroic trust. They left their sheep to follow a star that angels from Heaven told them to follow. Many would have been scared, or thought they were dreaming. But the shepherds, no they left their sheep, their livelihood, to go and follow the directions of the angel. No matter how out of control you feel about anything whether it be great or small. Do not fret. God already has a plan for you and He will provide for all your needs.
Calendar Of Upcoming Feast DaysThe Immaculate Conception - December 8th Our Lady of Guadalupe - December 12th Christmas - December 25th Feast of the Holy Family - December 27th Mary Mother of God - January 1st The Epiphany of the Lord - January 6th Top ResourcesRosary Gift Resources
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DVD's Miscellaneous
Important Links
TestimonialsWe love to hear from our visitors. Here is what a recent visitor had to say about How-to-pray-the-rosary-everyday.com"I found your site very helpful and will continue to use it in the future." Meet This Month's Rosary Promoter! Coby and Kessie Thomas of Simplicitiesoflife.com have been married since 1999, have 4 beautiful children here on earth and one child in heaven, and follow the path God sets before them. Coby and Kessie began Simplicities of Life, a family-owned, Holy Spirit-inspired company with the sole purpose of promoting holy marriages and families through the unique rosary products they lovingly make by hand. Read entire interview here... ==============================================================
If you would like to be highlighted as the Rosary Promoter of the Month, use the Rosary Promoter Submission page on How-to-pray-the-rosary-everyday.com and write us asking for a Rosary Promoter application. If you know someone that promotes the Rosary and should be featured as a Rosary promoter, by all means pass this along to them or send us their information and we'll contact them. Q&AWhat is a Rosary Novena? A 54-Day Rosary Novena consists of five decades (one set of mysteries) of the Rosary each day for 27 days in petition, followed by 27 days of thanksgiving totaling 54 days. The first day meditate upon the Joyful Mysteries, day two the Sorrowful and day three the Glorious. Continue in this order throughout the 54 days. This is considered a novena because when you are done, you will have prayed nine sets of the Joyful, nine sets of the Sorrowful, nine sets of the Glorious in petition and nine sets of each in thanksgiving. It is really a set of six novenas. This novena was requested by Mary to a young girl in 1884. Mary appeared to Fortuna Agrelli who was near death in a vision along with St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena. Mary spoke these words to Fortuna, "Child, your faith has pleased me. Whosoever desires to obtain favors from me should make three novenas in petition of the prayers of the Rosary, and three novenas in thanksgiving." Fortuna did as Our Lady requested and was cured. This is a very powerful novena. It is even described as miraculous. If you would like to incorporate the Luminous Mysteries into this 54 day novena, you could make it a 72 day novena by adding the Luminous Mysteries into the cycle of mysteries, or pray the Luminous mysteries as an extra Rosary each week during the novena. This is optional though. What's NewA Glimpse Into January's Newsletter
Thank You!Thank you for reading! Keep visiting www.how-to-pray-the-rosary-everyday.com and remember we love hearing from you. Please use the "contact us" page to leave any and all suggestions or comments. I hope your Advent gets off to a peaceful and serene start. Queen of All Saints. Pray for us! To Jesus through Mary, Kathleen Bowen and The Rosary Team P.S. If you like this newsletter and are looking for an easy way to promote the Rosary, please "email it forward" to someone you know who might appreciate it. If a friend did forward this to you and you like what you read, please subscribe now! As our site and community grows, I hope that you drop me a line and tell me how the Rosary is working in your life! Did a personal transformation take place in your life that was inspired by something on our site? Share it with the rest of us! Often, having a support community really keeps you going. Feel free to send in tips or questions too! We love mail! |
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