The Nativity

The Third Joyful Mystery * The Third Joyful Mystery is one of the 20 mysteries that the Church uses in the rosary. * First of all, what is the rosary? The rosary is a form of combined prayer and meditation that has been around for over 1200 years. The origin of the rosary dates back to the ninth century where Irish monks would recite and chant the 150 Psalms of the Bible as a major part of their worship. People living near the monasteries were drawn towards this beautiful and harmonious devotion, and they became very eager to join in with the monks' prayers. * Unfortunately, the people were not able to adapt to this form of prayer because the psalms were very hard to memorize and printed copies of the psalms were not readily available. As a result, it was suggested to the people outside the monastery that they recite a series of 150 "Our Father" prayers in place of the psalms. * During the 13th century, medieval theologians began to interpret the 150 psalms as veiled mysteries about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. * Around the year 1700, the thoughts used in the rosary started to become narratives. St. Louis de Montfort composed the most common set of narratives that eventually became used as meditations for each decade of the rosary. These narratives were divided into five Joyful, five Sorrowful, and five Glorious meditations that are referred to as "mysteries". Just recently, in 2002, Pope John Paul II introduced another set of five meditations referred to as the "Luminous Mysteries". * Briefly, this presentation will be focusing on the Joyful Mystery. The Joyful Mysteries are taken mostly from St. Luke's Gospel in the New Testament. They involve the joyful events of Jesus' childhood. * The most joyful event in all of human history is the Incarnation or when God became man and dwelt among us. * Jesus is the Incarnation - God made flesh... * In the Joyful Mystery, this happens to be the third of the five