Summa Vanessae

On Mondays we meditate on the Joyful Mysteries, so on Mondays we pray for a Culture of Life. Pregnant mothers, unborn children, and the elderly (such as Simeon and Anna) are front and center in the Joyful Mysteries. Every life is fraught with difficulty, yet every life contributes something “irreplaceable and unrepeatable” (St. John Paul II) to the Plan of God.

On Tuesdays we meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries, so on Tuesdays we pray for the Church, especially persecuted Christians around the world.  Christians are the Body of Christ, connected one to another as intimately as the cells of one organism. Corporately we are called to share in Christ’s sufferings, and when one part of the body hurts, the whole body suffers.

On Wednesdays we meditate on the Glorious Mysteries, so on Wednesdays we pray for Christian unity. Christians of all different traditions are united by our common faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit draws us closer to each other in the bond of Love that is the life of the Blessed Trinity. Please God, we will be finally and gloriously united in heaven when we follow Him and Mary into the presence of God.

On Thursdays we meditate on the Luminous Mysteries, so on Thursdays we pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Our priests and deacons baptize us as Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. Consecrated people are mystically married to Our Lord and His Church and stand as signs for the union with God that we are all called to. The ordained preach the Word of God and call us to repentance. They urge us to pray and grow in holiness so that we may be transfigured. Our priests, by the gift of God, make Jesus present as the Eucharist.

On Fridays we meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries, so on Fridays we pray for the conversion of sinners, ourselves included. Every Friday is an invitation to meditate on Jesus’s total gift of Self for us and an opportunity to deepen our own conversion as well as pray for the conversion of the whole world.

On Saturdays we meditate on the Joyful Mysteries, so on Saturdays we pray for our friends and family. Mary and Elizabeth rejoicing in each other’s presence (and in the hidden presence of others); the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; the shepherds and the Wise Men; Simeon and Anna rejoicing in the culmination of God’s Plan; a beloved child lost and found…all of these can be related to our own human ties and concerns.

On Sundays we meditate on the Glorious Mysteries, so on Sundays we pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The entire Church–Militant, Suffering, and Triumphant–will one day be together in glory in the presence of God because of the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church Militant is especially close to the other members of the Body of Christ when we gather for the Mass and partake of His most precious Body and Blood in Holy Communion.