Introduction

The month of October has been dedicated to the Holy Rosary at least since the time of Pope Leo XIII toward the end of the Nineteenth Century.  For each day of the month a mystery — which taken together span the whole of salvation history — will be provided along with relevant Scripture verses to precede each Hail Mary.  As Pope St. John Paul II noted in his apostolic letter on the Rosary, “the cycles of meditation proposed by the Holy Rosary are by no means exhaustive” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae; October 16, 2002; no. 24).  

It seems therefore the Rosary could on occasion be enriched by including other mysteries or by “expanding” others for further reflection. Indeed, as the pope pointed out, “every individual event in the life of Christ, as narrated by the Evangelists, is resplendent with the Mystery that surpasses all understanding (cf. Eph 3:19): the Mystery of the Word made flesh, in whom ‘all the fullness of God dwells bodily’ (Col 2:9)” (no. 24). 

This approach, in its admitted complexity, has no other aim than to uncover “the theological depth of a prayer suited to those who feel the need for deeper contemplation” (no. 39) and “to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary’s place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ” all the while “without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer’s traditional format” (no. 19).

One might, by praying at least a decade of the Rosary each day in October, keep in mind the needs of the Church and the world, especially for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East as well as for the Synod of Bishops meeting in Rome this month.

Day 1. Beginnings

"In the prayer of the Rosary we turn to the Virgin Mary so that she may bring us ever closer to her son Jesus, so as to know him and to love him more and more" (Pope Francis).

 

Our Father….

1) In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.  (Gen. 1:1-2). Hail Mary (after each verse).…

5) And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” (Gen. 2:16-17)
6) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. (Gen. 3:6)
7) The LORD God said to the serpent, “…..I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen. 3:15)
8) Therefore the LORD God sent Adam forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gen. 3: 22-24)
9) Death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. (Rom. 5: 12-14)

10) [God’s beloved Son] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created through him and for him.  He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:15-17)

Glory be to the Father….

Collect 

Lord our God, you chose the Blessed Virgin,
formed by the Holy Spirit, 
as the firstfruits of the new creation;
grant that we may reject the old ways of sin,
embrace wholeheartedly the new life of the Gospel,
and honor faithfully the new commandment of love.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
God, for ever and ever.  Amen. 
(Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary; New Eve)

 

Day 2. Preparation

 

“The rosary is a means given by the Virgin for contemplating Jesus and, meditating on his life, for loving and following him always more faithfully.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

 

 Our Father….

1) Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!.... Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. (Lk. 24:25,27). Hail Mary (after each verse)...

2) Death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. (Rom 5:14)

3) You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Heb. 12:23)
4) Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ (Jn 8:56-58)
5) I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,-- that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. (1 Cor. 10:1-4)
6) All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ (Mt 1:22-23)
7) The angel said to Mary: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Lk 1:32)

8) The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here. (Mt 12:42)8) Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:  ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. (Mt 12:15-18)
9) But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. (Mt 12:39-40)
10) 10) Now to God--who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith.  (Rom 16:25-26)

 

 

 
O God, who, fulfilling the promise made to our Fathers,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary
the noble daughter of Zion,
grant that we may follow her example, 
for her humility was pleasing to you 
and her obedience profitable to us. 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
 who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

(Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Mary, Chosen Daughter of Israel)

 

Day 3.   Immaculate Conception and Birth of Mary

 

(Pope St. John Paul II)

 

 Our Father….

 

1)  For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. (Rom. 5:15b). Hail Mary (after each verse)….
2) If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:17)
3) Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. (Rom. 5:18) 
4) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. (Rom. 8:29)
5) Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind--yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. (Eph. 5:25-27)

 6) It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. One, the child of the slave, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise. (Gal. 4:22-23)
7) Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. (Gal. 4:24-25)
8) But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother. (Gal. 4:26)
9) Now you, my friends, are children of the promise, like Isaac. (Gal. 4:28)
10) So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman. (Gal. 4:31)

 

Glory be to the Father….

 

Collect

Lord our God,
you made the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
the home of your eternal Word
and the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit.
Give us a heart that is free from sin
and attentive to your will,
that, faithful to your commandments,
we may love you above all things
and seek to help others in their need.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary; The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary)