be persuaded of this truth. Now, there are two kinds of prayer, mental and vocal, which consist respectively in pious reflection or meditation on the mysteries of our faith, and in earnest petition for graces both for ourselves and for others. The Rosary beautifully unites these two kinds, and is thus a perfect form of prayer. And it derives special efficacy from the fact that it is directed to the Mother of God, whose intercession on our behalf before the Throne of Grace is endowed with extraordinary power, so that Mary is fittingly called “Mother of Divine Grace,” and “All-powerful Suppliant.”
In the Rosary we survey, or rather ponder on, the entire series of mysteries enacted in the lives of Jesus and Mary from the moment of the Incarnation until the Coronation of the Queen of Heaven. In the Joyful Mysteries we contemplate Mary becoming the Mother of the Word made flesh, visiting her cousin St. Elizabeth, bringing forth the Saviour of men, offering to God the Infant Jesus as a tender victim, and finding Him, after the three days’ loss, in the temple of Jerusalem. The Sorrowful Mysteries set before our minds the Incarnate Word agonizing in the Garden of Olives for love of us, undergoing an inhuman scourging in Pilate’s
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