High Summer sees two great feasts of the Holy Virgin Mary. Her Assumption into heaven is celebrated on the 15th August; and her birth is celebrated on 8th September.

In between her nativity and her entry into heaven are a host of Feasts dedicated to Our Lady, scattered throughout the year.

There is no way a short note such as this can even summarise the significance of Mary in the Christian Faith.

Born in Palestine just over 2000 years ago; she, a young woman, was the greatest human to fully and totally co-operate with God.

At the Annunciation, when visited by the Archangel, she says to God, "Be it done unto me according to Thy word" - and thus the Holy Christ Child is conceived and born.

To the guests at the wedding in Cana she tells them to obey her son, "Do whatever He says."

On the Cross Jesus, looking at His Mother, cries out to all his followers in every generation and place, "Behold!, Thy Mother!"

At her bodily Assumption into heaven, Jesus crowns her as Queen of Heaven, "more higher than the cherubim, more glorious than the seraphim." (Hymn "Ye watchers and ye holy ones....")

Since the Assumption she has appeared to the Christian community in so many times and places - hence her myriad titles and holy shrines: Our Lady of Walsingham, Lourdes, Fatima, Vladimir, Guadeloupe, Kazan, Loreto, Knock, Czestochowa, Rocamadour, Le Puy, Monserrat.........

She is Mother of the Church; with biblical titles such as Tower of David, Mystic Rose, Ark of the Covenant, and Star of the Sea.

She is Queen of the Rosary, Queen of Angels and Queen of Saints.

And never, never, does she fail her devotees who seek her aid, who turn to her as intercessor. Our Holy Mother is the unfailing help of all who come to her; she is the compassionate refuge of sinners; and consoler of the afflicted.

Woman of love, woman of prayer, woman of strength. She is the handmaid of the Lord, and the Mirror of Holy Wisdom. She is Mother divine, Mother most loveable.

With the Church throughout all ages may we join in the unending prayer of all who love her; of those on pilgrimage to her shrines:

She will never fail you - if you truly turn to her.

Philip

• Lord have mercy Lord have mercy
• Christ have mercy Christ have mercy
• Lord have mercy Lord have mercy
• Holy Mother of God the Son Pray for us
• Holy Mother of Jesus the man Pray for us
• Holy Virgin Mother of Bethlehem pray....
• Blessed Mary, assumed into heaven pray....
• Mother whose soul was pierced; at the foot of the Cross pray....
• Blessed Mary, assumed into heaven pray....
• Handmaid of God and Temple of the Holy Spirit pray....
• Mirror of Holy Wisdom pray....
• Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven pray....
• Compassionate refuge of sinners pray....
• Consoler of the afflicted pray....
• Unfailing help of all who come to thee pray....
• Woman of prayer pray....
• Woman of love pray....
• Woman of strength pray....
• Mother of the Church pray....
• Mother most loveable pray....
• Mystic Rose, and Tower of David pray....
• Ark of the Covenant, and Star of the Sea pray....
• Gate of Heaven, and cause of our joy pray....
• Our Lady of Walsingham pray....
• Queen of the Rosary pray....
• Queen of Angels pray....
• Queen of Saints pray....
• Great Mother of God pray for us.

Why use a rosary ?

Using the beads and repeating familiar prayers can help you turn prayer into meditation when your prayer life is sparkling - and helps keep us praying when our spiritual life seems dry or weak. It also links us into the prayer of the Saints who have prayed the rosary over the centuries.

How do you use a rosary ?

There are many different ways to pray the rosary, so you don't have to use these suggestions.

The circle of beads is divided into five groups of ten beads (a decade), separated by single beads, and a small string of beads with a crucifix.

Traditionally we say the Creed whilst holding the crucifix. Moving on to the circle of beads, we can say the "Ave Maria" (Hail Mary) ten times whilst holding each one of the ten beads in turn, and then the "Our Father" (The Lord's Prayer) whilst holding the single bead - and then moving to the next decade of beads, and repeating those prayers, and so on.

Traditionally each decade of the rosary is dedicated to the "mysteries" of the Christian faith. If you prayed them all at the same time you would go round the rosary three times!, whilst meditating on some core Bible passages:

The five joyful mysteries: The Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary that she is pregnant - The Visitation of Mary to St Elizabeth mother of St John the Baptist - The Nativity (birth) of Jesus - His Presentation in the Temple, at the Purification of Mary - Jesus being found in the Temple at 12 years old.

The five sorrowful mysteries: The Agony of Jesus in the Garden (left and betrayed) - Scourging of Jesus with a whip - His crowning with thorns - His carrying the Cross - His crucifixion.

The five glorious mysteries: The Easter Resurrection of Jesus from the dead - His Ascension into heaven - The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost/Whitsun - The Assumption of Mary into heaven - The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven.

However, use any prayers to God, and to Our Lady, that you feel comfortable with. God also delights in you just speaking to him naturally without using formal language.

Philip

As well as the Christmass stories as recounted in the Gospels of St Matthew (chapter 1 v18 to 2 v23) & St Luke (1 v26-56; 2 v1-40); other biblical texts that relate to the Holy Mother include:

There appeared a great sign in heaven: a woman robed with the sun, beneath her feet the moon, and on her head a crown of seven stars. She was pregnant, destined to give birth to a son who would rule all nations. (Revelation 12 v1,5)

The angel said to her, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. You shall give birth to a child; and you shall give Him the name Jesus. He will be great; He will bear the title 'Son of the Most High' - and His reign as King shall last forever." (Luke 1 v28,31,32)

Thou art fairer than the children of men: full of grace are thy lips, because God hath blessed thee for ever. (Psalm 45 v3)

Jesus saw his Mother, with the disciple whom he loved, and said to her, "Behold! Thy child!"; and to his disciple he cried, "Behold! Thy Mother!" (John 19 v26,27)

Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in a vesture of gold, wrought about with many colours. The King's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. (Psalm 45 v10,14)

The King rose to meet his Mother and kissed her - and a throne was set for the King's Mother; and she sat at his right hand. Then she said, "I have a request to make of you, do not refuse me." And the King said to her, "My Mother, ask: for I will not refuse your request." (I Kings 2 v19,20)

Hear the praise of wisdom from her own mouth.... My dwelling-place was in high heaven....The waves of the sea, the whole earth, every people and nation were under my sway. Among them all I looked for a home; in whose teritory was I to settle? I took root among the people whom the Lord honoured by choosing them to be His special possession. There I grew like a fair olive-tree in the vale, or like a tree planted beside the water... redolent of spices; I spread my fragrance like choice myrrh. Laden with honour and grace I put forth lovely shoots like the vine, and my blossoms were a harvest of wealth and honour. Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my fruit. The memory of me is sweeter than syrup, the possession of me sweeter than honey dripping from the comb. Whoever feeds on me will be hungry for more, and whoever drinks from me will thirst for more. To obey me is to be safe from disgrace; those who work in wisdom will not go astray. I will pour out doctrine like prophecy and bequeath it to future generations. (Ecclesiasticus 24 v1,6,7,12,14b,15a,16b-22 - in Christian Tradition the Mother of God has been identified with Holy Wisdom from time to time).

To visit the website of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham "England's Nazareth" - the main Shrine to the Mother of God in the United Kingdom - please click Walsingham

The Shrine of Mary at Walsingham was voted as the most spiritual place in the United Kingdom, in a poll of BBC Radio 4 listeners (10/08/2003 AD). Pilgrims are welcome throughout the year, and the main National Pilgrimage usually takes place on the Monday Bank holiday at the end of May.

The Holy Rosary Site is a wide ranging USA Roman Catholic website on Mary (and some other Catholic devotions).

Appendix

Notes on the new "Mysteries of Light" of the Rosary. I am indebted to Mary Mullins, of Galway, for sending us this information gleaned from the Vatican website. You may wish to visit her Weekly Intentions prayer request page, etc, at weekly prayer intentions.

She writes: May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

During the week we heard of the Pope's new addition to the Rosary. As you know the format of the Rosary has stood unchanged for almost 9 centuries. John Paul II is a 'big fan' of Mary and in Her messages she often refers to him as Her Beloved Pope. He has added in a new mystery called the Mystery of Light covering the significant times of Jesus' ministry.

It is a voluntary addition but to me makes perfect sense and can be said on a Thursday. I copied his Apostolic Letter from the Vatican website and have it here as a Word Document if you'd like to read it. I ask first because of your request that no attachments be forwarded.

The Mysteries are:

1. The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan 2. The First Miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana 3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God's Mercy 4. The Transfiguration 5. The institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper

The following is a quote from the above Letter outlining the meanings of the new Mysteries:

"Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus. The Baptism in the Jordan is first of all a mystery of light. Here, as Christ descends into the waters, the innocent one who became "sin" for our sake (cf. 2Cor 5:21), the heavens open wide and the voice of the Father declares him the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:17 and parallels), while the Spirit descends on him to invest him with the mission which he is to carry out.

Another mystery of light is the first of the signs, given at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1- 12), when Christ changes water into wine and opens the hearts of the disciples to faith, thanks to the intervention of Mary, the first among believers.

Another mystery of light is the preaching by which Jesus proclaims the coming of the Kingdom of God, calls to conversion (cf. Mk 1:15) and forgives the sins of all who draw near to him in humble trust (cf. Mk 2:3-13; Lk 7:47- 48): the inauguration of that ministry of mercy which he continues to exercise until the end of the world, particularly through the Sacrament of Reconciliation which he has entrusted to his Church (cf. Jn 20:22-23).

The mystery of light par excellence is the Transfiguration, traditionally believed to have taken place on Mount Tabor. The glory of the Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished Apostles to "listen to him" (cf. Lk 9:35 and parallels) and to prepare to experience with him the agony of the Passion, so as to come with him to the joy of the Resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit.

A final mystery of light is the institution of the Eucharist, in which Christ offers his body and blood as food under the signs of bread and wine, and testifies "to the end" his love for humanity (Jn 13:1), for whose salvation he will offer himself in sacrifice.

In these mysteries, apart from the miracle at Cana, the presence of Mary remains in the background. The Gospels make only the briefest reference to her occasional presence at one moment or other during the preaching of Jesus (cf. Mk 3:31-5; Jn 2:12), and they give no indication that she was present at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Yet the role she assumed at Cana in some way accompanies Christ throughout his ministry. The revelation made directly by the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan and echoed by John the Baptist is placed upon Mary's lips at Cana, and it becomes the great maternal counsel which Mary addresses to the Church of every age: "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5). This counsel is a fitting introduction to the words and signs of Christ's public ministry and it forms the Marian foundation of all the "mysteries of light".