Meditations on the Joyful Mysteries for First Saturday

Meditations from the booklet Links of Love: Short Meditations on the Rosary

Today is the first, First Saturday of the year. Reminder that in order to enjoy all the indulgences of the First Saturday devotions we must attend Mass, make a good confession within 8 days, receive Holy Communion, Pray the Rosary, and meditate for 15 minutes on at least one of the mysteries of the Rosary.

So, I present these meditations on the Joyful Mysteries to help you fulfill your obligations for today. These are from a booklet titled Links of Love: Short Meditations on the Rosary by Father Francis Friedel, S. M., S. T. D., Ph. D. (Marianist Publications, 1952, pages 5-16).

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Meditations on the Joyful Mysteries

Prayer Before Meditation

Holy Spirit, come, dwell in my soul. Enlighten my mind that I may know; inflame my heart that I may love; strengthen my will that I may do what is right.

Virgin Mother, be at my side during this meditation.

My Jesus, I believe that You dwell in my heart by your grace and sacramentally when I receive you in Holy Communion. I adore you as my God, and Creator. . . In You I live, move, and have my being. I give myself wholly to You and Your service. May I be faithful to You this day. Be merciful to the holy souls in purgatory and to all who are in their agony and are to die today.

1. The Annunciation

Let me behold you kneeling in prayer, Mother Mary, when the Archangel Gabriel came to visit you to announce to you that you were to become the Mother of God and, by that token, to become the Mother of men. You were then a young girl, possibly fifteen, when the heavenly visitor steps into your room. He begins his message with a salutation dictated to him by God Himself. Were words such as these ever heard before and applied to any creature by God? Hail, full of grace. . . the Lord is with thee. . . blessed art thou among women.

So the Angel speaks to you as the messenger of God. Then he assures you not to be afraid because yours is a great mission to accomplish on earth for the benefit of all mankind. Man had fallen and now the moment had come to effect the restoration of mankind to God's favor and love. The Angel tells you that you are the instrument chosen by God for that purpose, not a passive instrument but a voluntary agent; you are to be the Mother of God, for the Second Person of the Trinity had offered Himself to the Heavenly Father as the Victim of Expiation for mankind; He, the Godhead would assume our human nature and thus through the union of divinity and humanity, the chasm would be bridged between God offended and offending man.

Gabriel explains to you that this can be done without the cooperation of man but through the operation of the Holy Spirit. The proposition is presented to you; will you or will you not accept to be Mother of God, Mother of the Redeemer, Mother of the One to be Crucified? . . .The world hangs breathless over your decision. . . It is forthcoming at once. . . “Be it done unto me according to thy word''. . .

A miracle takes place. . . The Son of God becomes man in your womb. . . You are the Mother of God but, you also become the mother of men, the mother of all Christians and the co-operator in their salvation. You are at this moment the Mother of the Mystical Body. At the instant in which Jesus was conceived, you accomplished the generation of the Mystical Body. . . By your consent to the Incarnation of the word, you contributed to the work of our Redemption and devoted yourself to our salvation Blessed Mother, we are truly your children for you have brought us forth to the supernatural life. . . you have a true maternal care for us. . . you have a tender affection for us. . . you love us as a true Mother.

With Christ, I must be another Christ, another son of Mary. . . Your ambition is that I, who have been brought forth by your charity after Christ, be so united with Christ, that with Him I may be but one son, one and the same Christ. This means. Mother, that I must be a saint and a great saint.

Good Jesus, by the love with which You love Your Mother, I beseech You, grant that I may truly love her as You truly love her and wish her to be loved.

I will slowly say the Hail Mary and stop at each phrase for a moment. . .

2. The Visitation

As the Angel pointed out to you, Blessed Mother Mary, how it was possible for you to become the Mother of God and remain a virgin, he gave you a sign by which the reality of these events was to be confirmed. He told you that your cousin Elizabeth, already advanced in years and up until then childless would bring forth a son who was to be the forerunner of your own Divine Son. As soon as the Angel had left you, you went “in haste” to the mountain country where Elizabeth and Zachary, her priest-husband, lived, to render her the services she would need. This was a considerable journey for you on foot; no conveniences for you such as we are accustomed to today. Hardships and dangers would not hold you back; you had a mission to accomplish.

When you arrived at the home of Elizabeth and Zachary, it was Elizabeth who gave expression of her devotion to the Mother of God. If we seek for the manifestation of devotion in Scripture, we find it in the words of the Angel; we find it again in the words of your cousin. How is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to visit me? Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Elizabeth, by divine inspiration, picks up the words of Gabriel and continues to complete the first part of the Hail Mary. Can greater words of praise be uttered? Full of grace. . . blessed among women. . . blessed the fruit of thy womb. . .

The Incarnate Word was cradled in your bosom. As you brought Jesus near to Elizabeth, John the Precursor hidden in the womb of his mother, recognized you and leaped for joy. According to general belief, it was at this moment that he was cleansed from original sin even before his birth and sanctified in his mother's womb. This is your mission, Mother — to bring Jesus to souls — and as He approaches them they are cleansed and made holy.

Your own heart overflowed with love and gratitude to God that you burst forth into that magnificent canticle which the Church has adopted as her own: My soul doth magnify the Lord. . . my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. . . for He that is mighty hath done great things in me. . . and holy is his name. . . He hath regarded the lowliness of His handmaid.

Help me, Mother, to be a true Christ- bearer also, to bring Jesus to souls to sanctify them. . .

3. The Nativity

God's ways are mysterious. The Prophet had foretold that you were to bring forth the Son of God in the town of David but you were living at Nazareth, sweet Mother Mary. In God's design a pagan emperor wishing to take a census of his vast empire issued an edict that all people should be registered; this meant that you and Joseph, who were of the house and family of David, had to go to Bethlehem. Your time was drawing near to give birth to your Child but you don't question God's will as expressed to you by a pagan superior. You and Joseph quietly prepare for the long, tedious journey in the dead of winter.

No one would give you any place to stay and bear your Child, who is the God-Man. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. . . Nothing but refusal at Joseph's request. . .You must finally take refuge in a cave where animals took shelter. Here in the darkness takes place the most important event in history. The Word was made flesh and makes His dwelling among us.

Though Jesus was born in a lonely stable, the event of His birth did not go unheralded. Again, it is your mission to present Jesus to souls, to men of good will who are willing to listen to His good tidings.

The angels announce His coming to poor, humble shepherds. They speed to Bethlehem and find the Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Like the monstrance, you hold the Child in your arms and show Him to these good souls that they might express to Him their adoration, their love, their thanksgiving. . . These, in turn, pass on the good news to others who must have come to witness the marvels that had taken place. What do they find? A beautiful young girl, a virgin-mother, showing them the Creator of the world. Then, as always, you draw men to Jesus.

The poor and the humble are the first to be invited to the crib-throne of Jesus but there are others who are poor in spirit and meek and humble of heart, though wealthy in this world's goods. The wise men from the East are drawn by a star to Jesus' feet; there they find you with Him as always. . . “They find the Mother and the Child”, . .The shepherds give of their poverty, but they give; the Magi give of their wealth — gold, incense, myrrh; all must give of their love, their adoration, and their sacrifice.

You were the instrument of God to bring the greatest Christmas gift of all to the world. . . make me too an instrument of God in helping to bring Jesus to the souls of men. . .

Let every day be for me a Christmas day, because each day brings Christ to me in the Mass; let the fragrance of the grace of the Mass penetrate every thought, sentiment, emotion, action, volition of the day. You have made me another Christ, make me a truly worthy son of Mary.

4. The Presentation

Blessed Mother, you would not dispense yourself from the Law of Moses even though your Son and you were above the law. This Law called for a journey to the Temple to be purified. How could the ceremonies of the Old Law purify you who were sinless in every way? Conceived without sin, free from every stain of sin, virgin of virgins. . . You bore in your arms the Author of the Law, yet He wished to share in the fulness of our nature, in all things save sin, in order to cleanse that nature from sin; you, too, would share with Him in the consequences of fallen nature in order to lift it up. . . .

While fulfilling the prescriptions of the Law in offering Jesus who was to be the first-born of many brethren, and redeeming Him by making the offering of the poor, you were especially concerned again with bringing Christ to souls of good will. This is your mission always, dear Mother — that of co-redemptrix, that of bringing Christ into the lives of men and women.

This time it is the aged Simeon who had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he could not die until he had seen the Holy One of God. Simeon was led by this Spirit into the Temple. Many others saw Mary and Joseph and the Child and assumed it was no more than an ordinary couple bringing their baby-boy to offer him to the Lord. But Simeon, inspired by the Holy Ghost, saw beyond what mortal eyes can see; the Holy Spirit must have told him: this is the one, the Expected One. As he took Jesus into his arms, the desires of his life were fulfilled. . . now he was willing to pass out of this life. . . he had seen the Light unto the revelation of the Gentiles. . . and the glory of Israel. . . his eyes had seen his Savior.

He had a message for you, Blessed Mary, a sad message: the sword of sorrow would pierce your heart; in the midst of your joy of the moment there is to be the shadow of the cross. While there is sorrow and sadness there is the quiet of peace and joy.

Anna the prophetess, had spent many years of her widowhood close to the Temple of God; she, too, was privileged to receive the word of the Holy Ghost that her Savior and the Savior of the world had finally come and she was gifted beyond measure with the privilege of looking upon His face. She and Simeon went forth announcing the good news. How many listened to them and prepared themselves for the time when this baby would grow up and show Himself publicly to the world and proclaim His divinity and His mission as Redeemer?

Am I, too, one of these who receives warnings of grace; for a moment I am stirred up and promptly forget or grow slack both in God’s service and in my function as an apostle to help bring souls to Jesus through you. . . I will go out and, by the example of my life as well as by my words, show forth Christ in me.

5. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

After manifesting Jesus to choice souls such as Simeon and Anna in the Temple, O Blessed Mother, you and Joseph kept Him close to you in the intimacy of the family. You gave Him the care that every loving mother gives a loved child; you watched Him grow from babyhood into childhood; you taught Him to speak and to walk; how it must have thrilled you and Joseph to see Him grow mentally and physically. How it thrilled you when for the first time He called you ''Mother”. He was the most obedient of children; each day He shared in the little household chores. As He grew older you taught Him to read; His textbook was the Holy Scripture, the word of God being read by God's Word.

The years passed all too rapidly and soon Jesus had reached the age of twelve, the age when the Jewish boy was to take upon himself the responsibilities of observing the requirements of the Jewish law; he was becoming a spiritual adult. Here for the fourth time you were manifesting Him to souls, whom He wished to sanctify and transform them into Himself and into apostles.

After fulfilling the requirements of the law with relation to the Paschal feast, you and your friends were returning home; you had not noticed that Jesus was not with the group. Only at the end of the day when the families grouped together for the evening meal and rest, you became aware that He was not around. You and Joseph became anxious; all your inquiries as to His whereabouts were useless. The two of you had to go back to Jerusalem and after searching in vain for three days, you chanced to come back to one of the Temple rooms where the doctors of the Law met; there was your twelve-year old boy living proof of the greatest learning; He was asking and answering the questions of these learned men of the law, astonishing them by the wisdom of His answers; never had they heard so much learning and that from a stripling of a boy. Where did He get His learning? Here was the Word of God revealing Himself to the leaders in Israel. I wonder what their reaction was. Did they just go about their daily routine making an occasional comment about this wonder-boy and, in due time, forgetting Him. Were there some who about eighteen years later would recall this memory and become one of His followers?

But for you at the moment, Mary, there was only one thing: you had your Boy back. Your anxiety was at an end. When you reproached Him for causing you this worry, His simple, clear answer was that He had to be about His Father's business. It was like giving a preview of His mission to come.

Mother Mary, your grief at the loss of Jesus might be compared to the grief that souls should experience when they have lost Jesus to sin; but, unfortunately most souls are hardly conscious of what a great loss is theirs. Let me not be separated from Jesus by sin. If I should have the misfortune to fall into sin, let me hasten to return to Him and to feel some of the joy which was yours when Jesus was restored to you.

Prayer after Meditation

Thanks, O my Jesus for the graces you have given me during this brief and holy conversation. Pardon any failings of which I may have been guilty.

Virgin Mother, I place my resolutions for today in your hands. Here is what I must watch today... Here is what I propose to do…

Obtain for me the grace to be faithful. I intend a few times today to visit Jesus and you within my soul and, if possible, to make at least one visit to the Blessed Sacrament.