Posted on 10/20/2010 3:15:06 AM PDT by markomalley
We conclude our Patristic Rosary Project today with the: 5th Glorious Mystery: The Coronation of Our Lady Can we be certain of our final judgment? Those who say they are run the risk of the sin of presumption. We must proceed always with humbly confident perseverance. Salvation is possible. Our Lord has taken our humanity to the heavenly throne, where it (and we in it) already are glorified. The saints the Church has discerned through our long earthly pilgrimage, demonstrate that virtue and perseverance is possible. They intercede before Gods throne for us. Our greatest example and intercessor is the Blessed Mother of God, our Mother and Mother of the Church, who was assumed body and soul into heaven and is now reigning as heavens Queen. In our recitation of the Rosary we gaze at Mary our motherly Queen who redirects our gaze to the source of her beauty, the Lord Himself. Their glory is our promise. But first, with tools such as the Rosary in hand, we must make our way through this world and persevere to the end and our judgment. Cassiodorus (+c. 585) writes:
The idea of judgment can make us at times shivers. But we approach it knowing that Mary is our advocate. We can come to heaven with some measure of humble confidence. St. Augustine of Hippo (+430) wrote to Hesychius a bishop in Dalamatia:
In heaven Mary has been crowned with glory. This is the reward of her faithfulness, a faithfulness beyond all others which merits a crown more glorious than any other. The reward of the crown is often, mostly associated with the struggle ending in bloody martyrdom. Our Lady is also crowned as the Queen of martyrs. Not all of us will be graced with the final perseverance that ends in the perfect charity which is bloody martyrdom for the sake of God and neighbor. We must persevere in far more mundane details of ongoing life, in prayer, work, and contemplation. Cassiodorus mentions something in this regard, however, which is very useful for us:
Our Blessed Mother exemplifies perfectly the struggle of perseverance. Given exceptional graces, Mary was open with perfect focus to all God offered her, including her sufferings in unity with her Son. Her willing participation in the Passion of the Lord makes her the greatest of the martyrs, and while she did not physically receive the Lords wounds, she suffered by them nonetheless.
St. John Chrysostom (+407) speaks of crowns:
The many beautiful things of this world can take our attention and affection so much that they begin to displace in us our hunger for the reward of heaven. We must keep always firmly in mind that everything in this world fades and passes. Our hope of lasting happiness is found only in heaven with God. Venerable Bede (+735) speaks to this:
Didymus the Blind (+398), the teacher of St. Jerome and Rufinus expands this:
The Rosary teaches us to gaze, with Mary as our guide and companion, always upon the face of Christ, who reveals man more fully to himself. In crowning our Lady as Queen, the Lord does in an unsurpassed way what He does in each one of us: He crowns His own merits. But in doing so, Christ reveals more and more about who we are and what we were made for. |
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 2nd Joyful Mystery: The Visitation (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 3rd Joyful Mystery: The Nativity (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 4th Joyful Mystery: The Presentation (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 5th Joyful Mystery: The Finding in the Temple (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 1st Luminous Mystery: Baptism of Jesus by John (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 2nd Luminous Mystery: The Wedding at Cana (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 3rd Luminous Mystery: Proclamation of the Kingdom (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 4th Luminous Mystery: The Transfiguration (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 5th Luminous Mystery: Institution of the Eucharist (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 1st Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 2nd Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 3rd Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with thorns (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 4th Sorrowful Mystery: Carrying the Cross (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 5th Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 1st Glorious Mystery: The Resurrection (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 2nd Glorious Mystery: The Ascension (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 3rd Glorious Mystery: Descent of the Holy Spirit (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 4th Glorious Mystery: The Assumption (Patristic Rosary)
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 5th Glorious Mystery: The Coronation of Our Lady (Patristic Rosary)
I hate to ask again, but can you fix, one last time, my error and change:
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 4th Glorious Mystery: The Assumption (Patristic Rosary)
to
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] 5th Glorious Mystery: The Coronation of Our Lady (Patristic Rosary)
Thanks.
Good series, M. It provided an opportunity to expose many lurkers to the major feasts and events in the life of Christ and the Liturgical Year with comments from the greatest of our theologians.
Thanks, Mark!
Some beautiful art here. Thanks for posting this series.
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