We have reached Day 9 of the 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come, and today we will be on a prayer journey with Prescot’s own patron saint, Mary the Blessed Virgin.
At 11am, there is an opportunity to join the Anglican Franciscan brothers and sisters for the Scriptural Rosary.
In the Rosary, we reflect on five ‘mysteries’ – stories or incidents from the Scriptures. Between each of the 10 Bible verses, we ask Mary to accompany us on our journey, in the words of the Hail Mary prayer:
Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
In praying this, we trust that Mother Mary will do for us what she loves and does best – point us to her son, Jesus.
You may associate the Holy Rosary with Roman Catholics, but millions of Anglicans across the world follow this tradition, too. You may also expect rosary beads to be an important part of the experience, but as their main purpose is to help count the 10 prayers in each mystery, they are not necessary when we are following the 10 Bible verses each time. (Although you can use them if you like!)
There are four sets of mysteries, and we pray a different one each week. Today, Friday 21 May, we will pray the Glorious Mysteries, as we are between two of the mysteries now – the Resurrection (Easter) and the Day of Pentecost.
Saying the Scriptural Rosary together usually takes about half an hour. You may wish to set aside a quiet place to pray. Click here to view or download today’s Scriptural Rosary as a PDF, and visit the Scriptural Rosary Group on Facebook at 11am to join us, whether interacting via Zoom or watching the livestream. The recording will remain online indefinitely, so you can always catch up with the video later on if you can’t join us at 11am.
Thank-you to Brother Finnian of the First Order of Franciscans – Anglican friars in the UK – for putting this Scriptural Rosary together as a resource for parishes in the UK. View or download the full Scriptural Rosary here (PDF).
Update: View the video recording of today’s Scriptural Rosary here.
Image: Mary and Baby Jesus, Iknu Art
