Romanus Cessario, o.p. Perpetual Angelus As the Saints Pray the Rosary MAGNIFICAT Paris • New York • Oxford • Madrid
Text by Romanus Cessario, o.p. Publisher: Romain Lizé Editor-in-Chief: Rev. Sebastian White, o.p. Editor: Gabrielle Charaudeau Assistant editor: Lou Trullard Graphic design cover: Diane Danis Iconography: Isabelle Mascaras Copyediting and proofreading: Susan Needham and Samuel Wigutow Production: Thierry Dubus and Morgane Lajeunesse Photoengraving: IGS, Paris. Copyright © 2025 by Magnificat Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in February 2025 by Sepec, France First edition: February 2025 Edition number: 25L0363 ISBN: 978-1-63967-148-9 No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For more information, write to Magnificat, PO Box 834, Yonkers, NY 10702. www.magnificat.com
For Edward and Deborah Sweeney Gracious Hosts & Devoted Promoters of Our Lady’s Rosary
Contents Biblical Abbreviations 9 Zechariah and the Saints 11 The Rosary Prayer 19 Section I: Saint Benedict and the Mysteries of the Infant Christ 27 1. The Annunciation 33 2. The Visitation 43 3. The Birth of Our Lord 53 4. The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple 63 5. The Finding of the Christ Child in the Temple 73 Section II: Saint Bernard and the Mysteries of the Ministering Christ 81 1. The Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan 89 2. The Wedding Feast of Cana 99 3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God 109 4. The Transfiguration 119 5. The Institution of the Eucharist 129 Section III: Saint Francis and the Mysteries of the Suffering Christ 135 1. The Agony in the Garden 143 2. The Scourging at the Pillar 153 3. The Crowning with Thorns 163 4. The Carrying of the Cross 173 5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus 183
Section IV: Saint Dominic and the Mysteries of the Glorious Christ 191 1. The Resurrection of the Lord 199 2. The Ascension of the Lord into Heaven 209 3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit 219 4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven 229 5. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 239 Conclusion 249 Art Credits 252
9 Biblical Abbreviations Used in This Book Old Testament Genesis Gn Exodus Ex Deuteronomy Dt Joshua Jos 2 Kings 2 Kgs Psalms Ps Song of Songs Sg Wisdom Wis Isaiah Is New Testament Matthew Mt Mark Mk Luke Lk John Jn Acts of the Apostles Acts Romans Rom 1 Corinthians 1 Cor 2 Corinthians 2 Cor Galatians Gal Ephesians Eph Philippians Phil Colossians Col 1 Thessalonians 1 Thes 1 Timothy 1 Tm 2 Timothy 2 Tm Hebrews Heb James Jas 1 John 1 Jn Revelation Rev
11 Zechariah and the Saints The morning Mass for Christmas eve awakens our attention to the grace of Christian conversion. The Gospel reading relates this announcement to Zechariah. “I was sent to speak to you, and to announce to you this good news” (Lk 1:19), says the angel Gabriel to this priest of the old dispensation. But Zechariah, we are told, hesitated and did not believe that his wife Elizabeth, who was advanced in years, could still bear a son. Because of his failure to believe the good things that God was about to accomplish in the world, Zechariah was left unable to speak. The Church, however, perceives a salutary lesson in Zechariah’s enforced period of silence, one that illuminates the mission of his son, John the Baptist. Silence, the saints remind us, begets preaching, and preaching readies the human heart for conversion. Only the silent and recollected person can first recognize and then point out to others the figure of Christ, who comes into the world as the source of every grace and blessing. In every generation, the Church seeks to turn “the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous” (Lk 1:17), urging us to reflect on our own
12 Perpetual Angelus commitment to the Gospel. Few, if any, Christians can expect the kind of dramatic experience that God provided for the father of John the Baptist. For most of us, the conversion experience transpires in quite ordinary ways, though perhaps also in painful ways at times—something like ice skittering across the top of a hot stove. We know too, however, that the Holy Spirit can be counted upon to provide consolation, even in the most difficult cases—balm from heaven, if you will. And though the presence of pain does not guarantee the authenticity of the experience, growth in the Christian life does always entail some suffering, even if only that which comes from relinquishing our own judgment concerning what is possible for God to accomplish in us and in the world. Zechariah’s mutism serves as a divine sign, warning us against too much introspection about the workings of God’s grace. In fact, the experience of Zechariah prepares us to expect the impossible. So Gabriel announces that the divine power is about to manifest itself in a definitive way: “But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time” (Lk 1:20). Just as Zechariah matured in the silence that accompanied his conversion, so the Christian believer who is ready to do the will of God must cultivate a silent and recollected spirit.
13 Zechariah and the Saints In his silence, Zechariah learns a basic principle that still holds true in every authentic conversion, namely, that God alone changes hearts. “Ask yourself whether this involved any merit, any motivation, any right on your part,” says Saint Augustine, “and see whether you find anything but grace.” Isn’t that true especially today? Our saints still insist how little unaided self-determination contributes to one’s growth in holiness. Thérèse of Lisieux devoted her spiritual energies to explaining this mystery of personal transformation to an audience that has come to encompass the globe. She spoke about her “Little Way,” a way of trust in the goodness and the power of a loving Jesus. Thérèse encourages us not to think about our failings but to confide ourselves to the divine Goodness. This abandonment to God’s mercy subtly changes us. Such transformations on the spiritual plane are prefigured in Zechariah’s perplexing encounter with the angel. Zechariah considered only his wife’s physical condition, whereas the angel proclaimed God’s power, which can overcome all obstacles. The experience of Zechariah reveals that no matter how sinful or ill-disposed toward conversion we find ourselves at a given moment, God’s love still prevails, for he loves us, not because we are good, but because he is. Before all else, the Incarnation teaches us this one, indispensable lesson: Convert us, O Lord, and we shall be converted! Conversion opens our hearts and loosens our tongues so that we can pray. The Swiss theologian
14 Perpetual Angelus Hans Urs von Balthasar tells us: “Christian prayer can attain to God only along the path that God himself has trod; otherwise it stumbles out of the world and into the void.” As a prayer that leads us along the path that Christ himself marks out, the rosary ensures that we observe this norm. The following meditations on the joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries aim at illuminating this path. We should undertake this privileged form of prayer with a renewed faith, confident that encountering the principal moments of our salvation history will foster transformations of grace in our own lives. To pray the rosary means to live the mystery of Christ along with his Mother, the Virgin Mary. Such a bold undertaking in faith requires the assistance of experts. So we turn to the saints, who form part of the communion of the Church. The lives of the saints especially manifest the fruit of Christian conversion and at the same time illustrate the variety of ways that men and women can follow the path that Christ has trod in the world. Their words and example can lead us halfway, so to speak, to the mystery of Christ. So we learn from the life and prayer of Carmelite nuns, such as Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and Saint Elizabeth of Dijon, from the simple instructions that Saint Jean-Marie Vianney gave his parishioners at Ars, from the delightful sentiments that Saint Bernadette Soubirous expressed after her visions of the Virgin Mary had stopped, from the spiritual exuberance of Saint Charles de Foucauld,
15 Zechariah and the Saints and from the words of other holy men and women as well. While the thoughts of many saints have helped to develop these meditations, four saints are conspicuously present in the pages that follow. They are Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Francis of Assisi, and Saint Dominic. These four holy founders of religious institutes guide our meditations during the mysteries that comprise the twenty decades of the rosary, joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious respectively. Saint Benedict (480–543) leads us through the joyful mysteries. The Father of Western Monasticism developed a way of living the Christian life that embodies the central truth of the Incarnation, the humbling of the Word of God. The Benedictine monastery is a school in which one learns how both to pray and to imitate Christ, especially through the practice of poverty of spirit: “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness” (Phil 2:5–7). Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090–1153) introduces the luminous mysteries which were given to the Church by Pope Saint John Paul II in his 2002 Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae: “Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the ‘light of the world’ (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of
16 Perpetual Angelus his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom” (no. 21). Although a reformer of monastic life, Bernard was called upon by the Church to preach widely throughout Europe. His work Sermons on the Song of Songs presents the mysteries of Christ’s public life as manifestations of the love that God bears toward every human being. Saint Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) presents the sorrowful mysteries. The Poor Man of Assisi, who bore in his own body the visible marks of Christ’s crucifixion, revitalized the practice of evangelical poverty in the Church. By the witness of his own life and preaching, Saint Francis established a permanent witness to the positive role that the virtues of humility and prudent obedience play in the Christian life: “And found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:7–8). Finally, Saint Dominic (1170–1221) introduces us into the glorious mysteries. Through his personal commitment to the Preaching of Jesus Christ, as he himself described the work of his first followers, Dominic Guzman renewed the Church’s consciousness of the grace of the Word. Now he encourages us to believe once again in the divine power that Christ’s Resurrection introduces into the world: “Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
17 Zechariah and the Saints and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9–11). Let us confide ourselves to the intercession of these four holy men, Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard, Saint Francis, and Saint Dominic, asking them to guide our meditations on the mysteries of the rosary.
26 Perpetual Angelus Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Section I Saint Benedict and the Mysteries of the Infant Christ
29 Since he could not even have known about the prayer in its present form, we might wonder how Saint Benedict can help us grow in our appreciation of the rosary. The answer is simple: Saint Benedict loved solitude. We know this from the touching incident that Saint Gregory the Great relates in his life of the saint. At Subiaco (in Italy), Benedict made his home in a narrow cave and for three years remained concealed there, unknown to anyone except the monk Romanus, who lived in a monastery close by under the rule of Abbot Deodatus. With fatherly concern this monk set aside as much bread as he could from his own portion; then from time to time, unnoticed by his abbot, he left the monastery long enough to take the bread to Benedict. Saint Gregory the Great goes on to narrate with what ingenuity Romanus used bell and rope in order to keep the young Benedict alive, and how Romanus refused to let even the devil, “the ancient enemy of mankind,” obstruct this good service of caring for the young solitary. After this period of preparation, Saint Benedict’s monastic instruction always aimed to develop in others an appreciation for “his dear solitude.”
30 Perpetual Angelus For us too, the recitation of the rosary provides a time of solitude, even if we must remain in the surroundings of our work and other occupations. We pause in our daily schedules and may even come together with others, united in the common purpose of undertaking a spiritual exercise. Benedict sought out solitude because he desired to please God alone. The rosary provides the opportunity for us to renew this fundamental disposition of the Christian life: Soli Deo! Further, the twenty decades give us time to learn about God and his plan for our salvation. Just as the time that Saint Benedict spent in the cave matured his love for solitude, so also time spent praying the rosary creates a spiritual space in which God can instruct us and manifest his care for us. Once we become accustomed to this practice, we can make our own the words of the Benedictine Saint Anselm of Canterbury: “I long to understand in some degree thy truth, which my heart believes and loves.” Saint Benedict is especially suited to uncovering the mysteries of the Infant Christ. The Incarnation reveals the kenosis of God; as we saw in the Letter to the Philippians: “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God some thing to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself” (Phil 2:6–7). The life of a monk is ordained to remind the Church about the humbling of God, so there is an appropriate link between the five joyful mysteries and the witness of the saint who is the father of monks. These mysteries of the rosary invite
31 Saint Benedict and the Mysteries of the Infant Christ us to meditate on the Word of God’s coming into the world and the events associated with his infancy. They speak, in other words, about the humbling—the kenosis—of the Word of God. Just as everything that the Incarnate Son does for us contributes in some way to our salvation, the mysteries of Christ’s poverty and dependency encourage us to desire the life of the Beatitudes, especially the architectonic beatitude of poverty of spirit. The joyful mysteries announce the start of our salvation, and in the beginning we already see the end. The humbling of God establishes a paradigm for the salvation of the Church. It is a pattern of humbling and exaltation, of going forth and return. Saint Paul describes the divine scheme for our salvation when he speaks about the manifestation of God’s mercy: “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4–7). Christian faith in the Incarnation of the Son of God stands at the center of the rich spiritual teaching that Saint Benedict communicated to the Western Church. Let us confidently ask him now to help us to meditate on the five joyful mysteries of the rosary, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith (see Eph 3:17).
33 1 $ The Annunciation The first joyful mystery discloses the inner vitality of God as it reaches down and takes hold of the heart of “a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary” (Lk 1:27). What does the angel Gabriel announce to her? He tells her she will become a mother: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father … and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Lk 1:30–33) Then the angel further clarifies how this miraculous birth will come about: “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Lk 1:35). What do these Scripture texts tell us? From the very beginning, salvation is revealed as a Trinitarian event. When Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity meditated on the Annunciation, she was captivated by the thought that the Blessed Virgin Mary “kept herself so little, so withdrawn before God, in the recesses of the Temple, that she drew the delight of the holy Trinity.” The Incarnation of the Son of God
34 Perpetual Angelus allows us to discover God’s purposes, not in remote abstractions about God, but in the Word made flesh. And so we inquire in faith why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (see Jn 1:14). Saint Bernadette Soubirous gives the simple and complete reply: “God humbles himself in his Incarnation to prove his love for us.” Because they know that God does not want his Trinitarian presence to frighten us away, the saints present the Annunciation as a gentle mystery, one that draws us into an intimate communion with God. The Annunciation manifests the compassion of God for the human race. We see this in the announcement that the angel makes to Joseph: Mary “will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). The French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote: “Knowledge of God without that of our misery equals pride. Knowledge of our misery without that of God equals despair. Knowledge of Jesus Christ strikes the balance, since in him we find both God and our misery.” His words illuminate the encouragement and admonition that the prophets of Israel repeatedly communicated to the weary people of the Old Law. Recall the prophecy of Isaiah: “Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth” (Is 42:2–4). Indeed, all during the long advent of the human race, the Chosen People were instructed to expect redemption from the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah even announced
35 The A nnunciatio that the actual condition of Israel’s misery should not be a cause for anxiety. “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service has ended, that her guilt is expiated” (Is 40:1–2). Instead of anxiety about punishment, the prophets announce a great reversal for God’s Chosen People. For there will come a time when sin will neither mean despair nor result in definitive separation from God. Actually we see a shift in the divine pedagogy. Because the old did not work, on account of man’s hardness of heart, God had to establish in his mercy another way. Of course, Isaiah could only describe this new state with images suggestive of an entirely novel age. For example, he presents the now-familiar picture of universal reconciliation evoked by the cohabitation of otherwise uncongenial beasts along with the presence of a little child. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
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