12 October - The Living Rosary and Saint Ignatius of Loyola

One of the questions arising from the prayer of the Rosary is how to practice is fruitfully. Pauline will rely on the methods of meditation of Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556). Saint Ignatius proposes three methods for meditating the Rosary - The first method contains three forms of meditation - The first way: to refer to the meaning of the words - Pauline's method on the Pater and the Ave Maria. (Pauline Jaricot, Le Rosaire vivant, op. Cit., p. 83). The second method, borrowed from St. Ignatius, is contemplation: To make the mystery present and profitable by contemplating it - The Recollection of Jesus in the Temple - To gather the honey of divine Wisdom, by contemplating people, their words, their actions. (Pauline Jaricot, Le Rosaire vivant, op. Cit., p. 96). The third method of St. Ignatius that Pauline was to use and propose to her associates and reader-friends is called application of the senses. "The simplest, the easiest, the sweetest: the application of the senses - It gives a taste of God, a knowledge of his mysteries, a tenderness of love - The Coronation of Thorns." (Pauline Jaricot, The Living Rosary, op. Cit., p. 110).

The first method, taken from the exercises of St. Ignatius, consists in reciting a vocal prayer in such a way as to separate, by the interval of a breath, each of the words which compose it. In the space of the breath one occupies one’s mind either with the meaning of these words, or with the dignity of the person one is praying to, or with one's own unworthiness. (Pauline Jaricot, Le Rosaire vivant, op. Cit., p. 83) Let us meditate, for example, on the second joyful mystery, the Visitation, by stopping to consider the meaning of the words. First, it is a matter of pausing on the word Pater or Father. Then, we raise our hearts to God, our Father, knowing that he is the Creator of all that exists. We contemplate and honor; God, our Father in heaven, whose providence disposes of all things for our good and for your glory, for the knowledge of the Savior Jesus, your Son, for the sanctification of souls... May your Name be sanctified in my heart, in all my works, in my family and in the universe, just as it was in this mystery, by Mary, by Elizabeth, and by John the Baptist!

May your kingdom come and be established forever in my soul, through Jesus and Mary, as it was established in the soul of that little child who, from his mother's womb until his death, never deviated from the obedience he owed you... Your will be done, etc. Sweet will! Happiness of the angels in heaven; and on earth the only pleasure of the just! Give us, etc... Forgive us, etc... and lead us not into temptation, etc... Preserve me from all weakness, wilful distraction, boredom, temptation during this decade... But deliver us from evil... and by the merits of Jesus and Mary in this mystery, inspire me with so much aversion to the defects opposed to the virtues they practiced that I never cease to fight and walk in their footsteps. (Pauline Jaricot, The Living Rosary, op. Cit., p. 85).

Pauline applies this method to the words of the Hail Mary. In contemplating the Resurrection, Pauline proposes the following. Hail Mary... In union with your divine Son, with all the heavenly court, where gloriously Risen, He comes to put an end to your pains... Hail Mary... No, from now on, your name will no longer designate the very bitter bitterness of anguish and pain, but rather that of Sovereign, your son having entered, by his Resurrection, into the glory and omnipotence, which were due to him... Full of grace... (Pauline Jaricot, Le Rosaire vivant, op. Cit., p. 85). The one after whom Mary's heart sighed, the one who was dead, this child, your child, returns to life, to you; O Mother, enjoy your happiness and let me share in it... These are some of Pauline's ideas and proposals. A little further on she writes, Pray for us, poor sinners, etc., for the work of our salvation is the work of mercy; and, always fragile, always sinners, we need to be lifted up, as it were, every moment... Pray to your divine Son that he will never cease to stretch out a protective hand to us; that he will not allow us to fall into mortal sin; or, if ever this awful misfortune should befall us, that he will help us to do penance at once... etc. (Pauline Jaricot, Le Rosaire vivant, op. Cit., p. 86).

Although Pauline invites everyone to apply this method for meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary, she does not intend to require everyone to consider the same thoughts and ideas. The thoughts and ideas themselves must always be personal because they contain our personal way of relating to God, to the Lord Jesus, to Mary and to our salvation. The method intends to bring the one praying the Living Rosary closer to the mysteries of salvation, to the mystery that we want to meditate on, putting all our heart and all the necessary simplicity into it.