Meditations on the Holy Rosary: Walking with the Mysteries

By Peter C. Morrison

The meditations set down in this short volume stem from countless recitations by Peter C. Morrison over the course of approximately sixty years. He believes that the Holy Spirit has been abundantly active during the recitations. The Spirit has also never failed to guide and inspire him as soon as he sits down to print the reflections contained in this book. Meditations on the Holy Rosary draws from his life experiences, his knowledge of the Bible, and from the classes in Theology and homilies from inspired preachers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Nov 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645757313

Peter C. Morrison

Peter C. Morrison is an adjunct professor of English at Suffolk Community College. He has a Ph.D. in English and a master’s degree in theology. His poems have been published in Suffolk County’s Bards Annual.

Book preview

Eucharist

About the Author

Peter C. Morrison is an adjunct professor of English at Suffolk Community College. He has a Ph.D. in English and a master’s degree in theology. His poems have been published in Suffolk County’s Bards Annual.

Dedication

For my wife, Louisa, who has endured my countless hours at the computer.

Copyright Information ©

Peter C. Morrison (2020)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Austin Macauley is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity. In this spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers; however, the story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Morrison, Peter C.

Meditations on the Holy Rosary

ISBN 9781645757290 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781645757306 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781645757313 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020912556

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published (2020)

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 28th Floor

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgement

The Benedictine Fathers at St. Vincent Monastery and College in Latrobe and Rev. Msgr. William A. Hanson, Pastor of Mary Immaculate Parish, Bellport, NY.

Introduction

I first began saying the Rosary after reading Bishop Sheen’s book, Peace of Soul. I had a summer job at Grumman Aircraft in Bethpage, Long Island, New York. I found it in the Grumman Library and read it during my lunch hours, sitting beside the runway. The book somehow caused me to filter out the noise of plane engines and to concentrate on the mesmerizing words of that saintly bishop.

My father was killed in a plane crash in the late forties. Two years later, my mother married again, this time to an Episcopalian, whom she met while teaching dancing at Arthur Murray’s. Unfortunately, my stepfather was anti-Catholic. Both he and my mother decided that my brother and I should attend the Episcopal Church. In my late teens, when I worked at Grumman, my sessions with Bishop Sheen had convinced me that I should return to the faith in which I was baptized Roman Catholicism. Despite mild opposition from my stepfather, I went to a Catholic college in Pennsylvania, which had an affordable tuition at the time. Before leaving for college and mostly while walking our dog, I prayed the Rosary. It filled me with the utmost peace. Through reading and watching religious films with my devout grandmother, I became acquainted with the children of Fatima and the miracle of the sun. I was convinced then, as I am now, of the reality of Fatima, and concomitantly of the spiritual value of the Rosary.

For a while, after the Second Vatican Council, the Rosary was sneered at by some, as the refuge of old women with little to no theological sense. I’m afraid I was among those who sneered, or at least among those who thought the Rosary was inferior to the traditional liturgy. It was not until after I married that I began again to recite this precious and special collection of prayers inspired by our Mother Mary. At first, I did it while driving; I used a chaplet, which made driving somewhat safer. Now, I do it, as I did in my late teens, while walking the dog, while waiting for a doctor, or car repair, or anywhere that waiting is involved. I, more and more, appreciate being taken into the realm of meditation through these beads. Suddenly, I felt the urge to share my meditations in the form of the following book. Often, I would sit before my computer and wait for the Holy Spirit to help me continue. The Spirit never failed me; at times it was as if the Spirit were speaking through me, telling me to reach into my everyday experiences to help fuel the meditations. I pray that anyone reading the thoughts in this book will be so inspired and will add her or his personal meditations to mine.

The Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation

Those of us who are fortunate enough to be living in the 21st century, in a middle-class environment, with a new surge of empowered women, must have a particularly difficult time placing ourselves in the small, poor town of the Nazareth of roughly 33 BCE. Perhaps the closest comparison may be recalled in the person of St. Bernadette of Lourdes, a young, poor, relatively uneducated, devout peasant girl. To Bernadette appeared the beautiful lady who called herself The Immaculate Conception. This announcement surpassed the understanding of St. Bernadette and confused the priests, who maintained that the Immaculate Conception was not a person, but an event. Obviously, the traditional theological terminology does not suffice. Through the experience of St. Bernadette, one might more easily imagine the state of mind produced by the angel’s announcement to our lady, the Virgin Mary. Here was something beyond the stretching of theological categories passed down to Mary by the local rabbi. Mary does not doubt the angel’s word; however, she seems to think that there is something she, herself, must do in order to bear the Son of God. It is in this spirit that she questions the angel. She is not here necessarily thinking in terms of Christ entering her womb through the action of the Holy Spirit. She is, of course, thinking of the usual causes whereby a woman becomes pregnant. It is in response to Mary’s question that the angel assures her that the child’s father will be none other than our very Creator. It takes a dream to convince Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, that Mary has not sinned with another man. Today, we apply the original, biblical phrase put her away to the confinement and treatment of someone who is so psychologically disturbed as to be a danger to him