Rosary # 51 Boast of the Cross

Rosary

“Let me not boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

FIRST MYSTERY:

The Passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience.

SECOND MYSTERY:

…God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as a man from human stock but even died at the hands of men he had created…!

THIRD MYSTERY:

When Christ has already given us the gift of his death, who is to doubt that he will give the saints the gift of his own life? Why does our human fragility hesitate to believe that mankind will one day live with God?

FOURTH MYSTERY:

He had no power of himself to die for us: he had to take from us our mortal flesh. This was the way in which, though immortal, he was able to die; the way in which he chose to give life to mortal men: he would first share with us, and then enable us to share with him. Of ourselves we had no power to live, nor did he of himself have the power to die.

FIFTH MYSTERY:

Accordingly, he effected a wonderful exchange with us, through mutual sharing: we give him the power to die, he will give us the power to live.

Closing:

The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves. He loves us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us sinners the punishment we deserved for our sins. …Brethren, let us fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim, that Christ was crucified for us (FOR ME); let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory.

Meditations from Saint Augustine, Holy Week Monday Office of Readings