New book illuminates the rosary

+ Enlarge

“Blessings of the Rosary: Meditations on the Mysteries,” by Dennis J. Billy CssR, Ligouri, Ligouri Mo., 111 pages, softcover.

The rosary is a mystery to many and an answer to mysteries to others who recite it regularly. Redemptorist Father Dennis J. Billy has written a good guide to the rosary, its mysteries, and the words of Pope John Paul II to tie the book into an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand piece that would make a good gift to any Catholic and, as interest in the rosary grows, to non-Catholics as well.

Divided into short chapters, each based on one of the 20 decades of the rosary, this is one of the first books to analyze the luminous mysteries instituted by Pope John Paul II.

Fr. Billy begins by helping us understand the first and second decades of the joyful mysteries: the annunciation and the visitation. They take place before Jesus is born, emphasizing the importance of Mary’s fiat, or “yes,“ as she responds to the Angel Gabriel, who brings to her the news that she will bear a son and his name will be Jesus. It proves that Mary’s “yes” to God began before Jesus’ birth and continued through his life.

The other three joyful mysteries point out that Jesus, early in life, began to understand his divinity and Mary, too, began to understand the impact and the importance of the son she bore. The book shows how the relationship between Jesus and Mary grows and Mary is reminded again and again of the prophetic words of Simeon, who told the family in the temple that Mary would undergo great pain as a result of her love and dedication to Jesus. This relationship is especially clear in the luminous mysteries that introduce Jesus’ public life.

Fr. Billy places a great deal of emphasis on each of the Evangelists, those who wrote the New Testament. Among many other points, he shows in St. Luke’s writing that Mary’s agreement to be the mother of Jesus constitutes “a statement of faith in God’s power to do the impossible” because Mary “did not know any man.”

Throughout the book are reminders of the meaning of Jesus’ life on earth. “The poverty surrounding Jesus’ entrance into the world,” Fr. Billy writes, “reflects the way he empties himself of divinity to become human. Always, his humanity is recognized, but his divinity remains misunderstood, even by his closest friends, the apostles, until his resurrection.”

The rosary is a wonderful way to get to know Jesus through his mother and to learn about her suffering as she watched Jesus undergo increasing suffering from instituting his church through his resurrection. The emphasis on Mary continues in the last mysteries, her assumption into heaven and her being named Queen of Heaven.

There are dozens of books on the rosary, but this is one of the best I’ve found, largely because of its emphasis on Mary’s dedication and love of Jesus and the new luminous mysteries, many of which place an even deeper emphasis on the life of Christ as it is reflected through Mary, his mother.