The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)
Episodes
Day 191: Unworthy Yet Welcomed
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary reflects on the Nativity, emphasizing the overwhelming joy and sense of unworthiness that can accompany encountering the gift of Jesus. ...
Day 190: Returning to the Visitation
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We continue practicing meditation with our mental archive, returning to Mary as the Ark of the Covenant, understanding the Visitation as our invitatio...
Day 189: Beginning Our Meditation
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We begin Phase 4: Finding Focus today, reviewing several topics for meditation on the Annunciation. Putting the mental meditation archive we’ve been...
Bonus: Introduction to Phase Four: “Finding Focus”
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the difference between a commitment and a devotion? How can we grow in love for the rosary? In this special bonus episode, Fr. Mark-Mary is j...
Day 188: Gifts for Mary
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In our final visio divina episode, we meditate on a fresco entitled Mary, Help of Christians, by Giuseppe Rollini. Mary is surrounded by rows and rows...
Day 187: God is Never Outdone
06 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus took flesh from Mary and glorified it, says St. Augustine. As we meditate on the Assumption through a stained glass depiction, Fr. Mark-Mary exp...
Day 186: Power From On High
05 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In anticipation of Pentecost, Jesus tells his disciples to wait until the Father sends them power from on high. Fr. Mark-Mary tells us, considering th...
Day 185: Proclaiming Christ
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Each of us is called to share the Gospel boldly through our witness, words, and love. Fr. Mark-Mary reflects on this mission through Duccio’s Appear...
Day 184: Beyond the Tomb
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if the first person to witness the Resurrection was Mary, the mother of Jesus? Fr. Mark-Mary explores this possibility through prayerful reflecti...
Day 183: Love Poured Out
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary reflects on the Crucifixion through Rubens’ painting, The Descent from the Cross, emphasizing the raw humanity of Jesus as He is lovin...
Day 182: Shared Sacrifice
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Inspired by Raphael’s painting depicting the Carrying of the Cross, Fr. Mark-Mary focuses on the profound spiritual offering made by both Jesus and ...
Day 181: Grace Amid Thorns
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Witnessing Christ crowned with thorns reveals a striking contrast between worldly might and divine strength and humility. Through the lens of Anthony ...
Day 180: The God Who Bleeds
29 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary draws us in to an overwhelming realization while meditating on The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ by William-Adolphe Bouguereau: ...
Day 179: Discouragement, Distraction, Despair
28 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s painting, The Arrest of Christ by Giotto di Bondone can be somewhat unsettling. Giotto di Bondone captures the moment of Judas' betrayal wit...
Day 178: Open the Door
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Tanner’s painting, Christ and the Disciples Before the Last Supper, we see Jesus and a few disciples before they enter the upper room to eat the ...
Day 177: Earthen Vessels
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary introduces us to the spiritual background of icons as we pray with an icon of the Transfiguration. We consider how our transformation in...
Day 176: Jesus is in the Boat
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mark chapter 5 doesn’t shrink back from the danger of the storm. The apostles’ boat is filling with water and they are in immediate danger. Rembra...
Day 175: Calling Through the Noise
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary draws unique comparisons when meditating on Paolo Veronese’s The Wedding at Cana. The depiction of Christ’s quiet centrality amid wo...
Day 174: Living Our Baptism
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Through Alexander Ivanov’s painting, The Appearance of Christ Before the People, Fr. Mark-Mary contemplates the baptism of Jesus and the profound hu...
Day 173: Rooted in Identity
22 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary contemplates the courage required of 12-year-old Jesus speaking in the temple, as depicted in William Holman Hunt’s vivid painting, Th...
Day 172: Heart of Prayer
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meditating on Mary’s presence in the Presentation scene, painted by Aert de Gelder, reveals a woman who prays not only with words, but with her enti...
Day 171: Worship the Newborn King
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Caravaggio’s Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence offers a tender and grounded depiction of Christ’s birth, surrounded not only by the H...
Day 170: Grit and Grace
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary’s journey to visit Elizabeth is brought to life through Antonio Barluzzi’s mosaic, where Mary travels by donkey through rugged hills, accompa...
Day 169: The Faithful “Yes”
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to say “yes” to God with complete trust? Reflecting on Jan van Eyck’s painting of the Annunciation, Fr. Mark-Mary explores how...
Day 168: Our Shared Inheritance
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Coronation of Mary is portrayed in Giuseppe Mattia Borgnis’s fresco, where the Trinity crowns her Queen of Heaven as saints, angels, and loved o...
Day 167: Glory Awaits the Faithful
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary reflects on the Assumption of Mary through Cesare Mariani’s 1863 fresco, which depicts Our Lady rising in glory, surrounded by angels,...
Day 166: Ordinary, Yet Called
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Titian’s Renaissance painting, Pentecost, focuses on St. Peter kneeling beside Mary with the keys of the Kingdom in hand. Fr. Mark-Mark contemplates...
Day 165: Following in His Footsteps
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Exploring the mystery of the Ascension, Fr. Mark-Mary meditates on Jesus’ enduring presence through the symbol of His footprints, as depicted in Ber...
Day 164: Guided by His Hand
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary reflects on St. Thomas not as doubting and resistant, but as someone honestly expressing his need to see and believe because he is aware...
Day 163: Through His Eyes
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What did Jesus see when He looked down from the cross? And what does He see in us now? Fr. Mark-Mary contemplates James Tissot’s painting, What Our ...
Day 162: Carrying the Cross Together
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Orazio Gentileschi’s painting, Christ Carrying the Cross, captures the profound strength and inner peace of Jesus’ suffering—His body straining ...
Day 161: Sharing Eternal Victory
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Christ is depicted in Caravaggio’s Ecce Homo with quiet dignity amid humiliation, as He is crowned with thorns and presented to the crowd. Fr. Mark-...
Day 160: Choose Your Side
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We are in a war with darkness, and we must choose to take up the side as sons and daughters of God. Fr. Mark-Mary describes Caravaggio’s painting, T...
Day 159: Surrender Your Suffering
08 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As we meditate with the painting entitled Prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane Garden by Alessandro Maganza, Fr. Mark-Mary notices that all of the movement, ...
Day 158: Wash All of Me
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus gives himself totally to us in the Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity. Today’s art, The Last Supper, by Juan de Juanes (Vicente Juan M...
Day 157: We Have Authority
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary notices that The Transfiguration, painted by Raphael, contains a very interesting Biblical reference. Raphael has chosen to depict the b...
Day 156: I Do Not Condemn You
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Lorenzo Lotto’s painting, The Adulterous Woman, we are presented with an unforgettable moment from the Gospels. A group of accusers try to trap J...
Day 155: More than Meets the Eye
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus is a divine multitasker, intentionally and perfectly. Fr. Mark-Mary explains that while we might struggle to multitask, God works on multiple le...
Day 154: I Am Not Worthy
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Jesus approaches John to be baptized, John initially resists, insisting that he is not worthy. John is troubled, explains Fr. Mark-Mary, and yet,...
Day 153: From St. Joseph to Jesus
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Concluding our focus on St. Joseph, we reflect on the quiet but powerful transition of Mary’s care from St. Joseph to Jesus in the Holy Family. God'...
Day 152: St. Joseph’s Offering
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We continue our series focusing on St. Joseph’s presence with the Presentation in the Temple. In today’s art, we see Joseph offering the turtle do...
Day 151: St. Joseph’s Protection
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If St. Joseph had not been present at the Nativity, could the adoration of the shepherds have happened? Fr. Mark-Mary continues our focus on St. Josep...
Day 150: God Will Provide
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary was not the only one who received an angelic visitor. Joseph too was directed by an angel to take Mary, his wife, into his home. Fr. Mark-Mary, m...
Day 149: Littleness Before the Lord
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Henry Ossawa Tanner’s depiction of the Annunciation is distinctly unique. Fr. Mark-Mary directs our meditation to an observation of Mary’s youth a...
Day 148: Daughter, Mother, Spouse
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Coronation of Mary can be seen in a distinctly Trinitarian sense, highlighted in Diego Velázquez’s painting, The Coronation of the Virgin. Fr. ...
Day 147: Fullness of Victory
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary, through her Immaculate Conception, shares in the fullness of Christ’s victory. Fr. Mark-Mary, meditating on The Immaculate Conception, a fresc...
Day 146: My Soul Thirsts
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At Pentecost, the Apostles may have been filled with a reasonable amount of fear, as wind shook the upper room and fire descended. However, Jean Resto...
Day 145: He Must Increase
25 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
St. John the Baptist said in John 3:30, “he must increase, I must decrease”. In today’s mosaic of the Ascension, Fr. Mark-Mary draws our attenti...
Day 144: Done in Secret
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Repeatedly in the Gospels, Jesus goes off alone to pray to the Father, telling us, “pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees i...
Day 143: Fulfillment of the Promise
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the Old Testament, God sent Noah the sign of the rainbow to promise he would never flood the earth again. Pietro Gagliardi’s fresco of the Crucif...
Day 142: Truly the Son of God
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pieter Bruegel’s painting, The Procession to Calvary, is distinctly filled with Roman soldiers. Fr. Mark-Mary leads us in a meditation focusing on t...
Day 141: Render Unto God
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As we see the bust of Tiberius Caesar at the top of today’s painting, Christ Crowned with Thorns by Titian, the phrase “render to Caesar what i...
Day 140: His Glory Remains
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
St. Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us, “if God is for us, who is against us?” Reflecting on a fresco of the Scourging, Fr. Mark-Mary draws ou...
Day 139: Gold in Our Halos
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s painting by Vicente Masip, Judas is pictured with a gold and black halo. Even as Judas leads the soldiers to arrest Jesus, Fr. Mark-Mary ...
Day 138: Rest in All Things
18 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Even at the Last Supper, anticipating his passion, Jesus is at peace, as depicted in today’s mosaic by Giacomo Raffaelli. Jesus can be at peace beca...
Day 137: Medium Reveals Meaning
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus is the light of the world, shown so clearly through the mystery of the Transfiguration. Fr. Mark-Mary draws on the symbolism found in today’s ...
Day 136: We Must Receive
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s painting, The Healing of the Lepers at Capernum, Jesus has healed ten lepers, but only one returns to give thanks. In this mystery, the K...
Day 135: Miracles of Love
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why does Jesus perform miracles? Fr. Mark-Mary, meditating with help from a painting by Carl Bloch, says that Jesus doesn’t just do miracles as a si...
Day 134: Shadow of the Cross
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The first Luminous mystery is a mystery of profound joy, but a fresco of Jesus’ Baptism, featured in the Church of San Benedetto in Padua, reveals t...
Day 133: Respond with Grace
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How would you react if you saw 12-year old Jesus preaching in the temple? Fr. Mark-Mary points out the varied reactions of onlookers in the mosaic of ...
Day 132: Eyes on Jesus
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Giulio Campi’s fresco of The Presentation in the Temple, is filled with people and commotion. Two women converse, a child looks towards the viewer, ...
Day 131: Worship and Warmth
11 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What will be true in heaven is already true in the manger at Bethlehem. Already, heaven and earth bend the knee in worship of Jesus to the glory of...
Day 130: Joy in the Darkness
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
So often, our futures are shrouded in mystery and darkness. It can be hard to see where God’s plan is leading. Fr. Mark-Mary highlights the dynamics...
Day 129: A Disposition of Reverence
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fr. Mark-Mary begins our visio divina episodes with a meditation on The Annunciation by Fra Angelico. We contemplate the reverence and solemnity depic...
Day 128: Queen of Angels
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary is the general of an angelic army, and her aim is fighting for us, protecting us from harm. Fr. Mark-Mary, with help from St. John Henry Neuma...
Day 127: Reunion into Heaven
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What was it like in heaven the day Mary was assumed? St. Bernard of Clairvaux describes the incredible joy that must have occurred, and Fr. Mark-Ma...
Day 126: Fire of Love
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
God desires the fire of his love to burn always in our hearts, says St. Alphonsus Liguori. Fr. Mark-Mary explains that we can kindle this fire of the ...
Day 125: Hold Fast to Christ
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Jesus ascends to heaven, St. Augustine tells us to hold fast to Christ. Fr. Mark-Mary explains that we can do this through works of charity, using ...
Day 124: Newness of Life
04 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We were buried with Christ by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead, we too might walk in newness of life. Fr. Mark-Mary, ...
Day 123: She Magnifies Him
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
St. Bridget's Revelations tells us of the crucifixion through Mary’s eyes. Fr. Mark-Mary explains that by meditating through Mary, we see Our Lor...
Day 122: Trophy of Victory
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Carrying the cross was meant to be a dishonor, but Jesus carried his cross as a sign of his glory, as a victory carries his trophy. Fr. Mark-Mary reve...
Day 121: The Cost of Compromise
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pilate tried to compromise on truth. His concern was not justice, but instead self-preservation. Fr. Mark-Mary reads from Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, e...
Day 120: Be the One
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus suffered tremendously to show his love for us and to win us for himself. And yet, many of us don't receive this gift and continue to live our li...
Day 119: Till The End
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the final moments before his arrest, Jesus is praying for the apostles. This is the movement of love when it encounters suffering and difficulty...
Day 118: Partake of God
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How does transubstantiation happen, and what do we receive when we receive the Eucharist? Fr. Mark-Mary shares some catechesis on the Eucharist, drawi...
Day 117: Come Down, Peter
27 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The mystery of the Transfiguration begins with ascent to the heavenly mountain, but ends with descent, back to the world. As much as Peter would like ...
Day 116: Continued Through You
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus has a plan for your life, a plan to continue his divine mission through you. Fr. Mark-Mary shares a reading from St. John Eudes, explaining how ...
Day 115: Wedding of the Lamb
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two weddings are being celebrated at the wedding feast at Cana. As the divine bridegroom, Jesus’ relationship to his bride, the Church, changes here...
Day 114: Baptized with Him
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
St. Gregory of Nazianzus offers us a reading on Christ’s baptism, full of scriptural references to the Old Testament and the Trinity. Fr. Mark-Mary ...
Day 113: Spoiler Alert
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Spoiler alert: Jesus is Lord! While the mystery of the Finding in the Temple is not the climax of Jesus’ story, for the first century man or woman, ...
Day 112: All My Time is Free
22 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary gave consent to Jesus’ sacrifice in the mystery of the Annunciation, but in the mystery of the Presentation, God asks her to recommit to thi...
Day 111: Manifest in Humility
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
God so profoundly wants us to have confidence to approach him, that he veils his glory and clothes himself in humble humanity, saying, “Come to Me.”...
Day 110: Greater Seeks Lesser
20 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
God doesn’t just stay in heaven and wait for us to approach him. Instead, as reflected in the mystery of the Visitation, God comes in search of us. ...
Day 109: The Gift of Wonder
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus means St. Gregory the “wonder worker,” Fr. Mark-Mary tells us. Leading us through a reading from St. Gregory, Fr. Mark...
Day 108: Heights of Holiness
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A Queen is set apart, but Mary, as Queen of Heaven and Earth is set apart so that as our mother she can draw us up to her son. When we are too little ...
Day 107: Beauty Which Never Fades
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The mystery of the Assumption reveals to us that true beauty lies not in earthly appearances, but heavenly things, in heaven, our true home. Fr. Mark-...
Day 106: He Sends His Spirit
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes it feels like Jesus gets more attention than the Holy Spirit. Fr. Mark-Mary, with help from a reading by St. Ambrose, dives into the role...
Day 105: Love Draws Us Up
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Heaven is more than just a theological reality. Heaven can be a personal truth we approach with profound love, longing to join Jesus in heaven. Fr. Ma...
Day 104: Where is Your Sting?
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meditating on a reading from St. John Chrysostom, we recall that Jesus’ victory over death is eternal. Fr. Mark-Mary encourages us to take comfort i...
Day 103: Pilgrimage of Faith
13 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary was preserved by special grace from sin, but Mary was also human, requiring her to journey on the same spiritual pilgrimage we all undertake. Her...
Day 102: Carried with Love
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the day of the crucifixion, three crosses were carried. Yet, there’s only one cross that we honor, only one cross that is featured as a mystery o...
Day 101: Glory and Indignity
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Instead of a crown of glory, they imposed on him a crown of indignity, St. Thomas Aquinas writes of the Crowning with Thorns. Fr. Mark-Mary recalls...
Day 100: Always Her Son
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drawing upon St. Bridget of Sweden’s work, Revelations, we meditate on the Scourging at the Pillar from Mary’s perspective. Fr. Mark-Mary reminds ...
Day 99: Stay in Dialogue
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When we experience real, deep, human fear and anguish, we can draw hope from the fact that Jesus has experienced these things before us. Fr. Mark-M...
Day 98: An Abyss of Love
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Aided by a meditation from St. Catherine of Siena’s Dialogue, we reflect on the profound gift of the Eucharist. Jesus tells each and every one of us...
Day 97: Climb the Mountain
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the mystery of the Transfiguration, there’s an invitation to climb the mountain with Jesus. However, in our vocations and states of life, it can ...
Day 96: A New Love
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus is raising the stakes during his ministry and proclamation of the kingdom. St. Augustine tells us that there’s a new kingdom, a new law, and a...
Day 95: Moms are Special
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Would Jesus have turned the water into wine if someone other than Mary had asked him? Fr. Mark-Mary, reading from St. Alphonsus Liguori, reflects o...
Day 94: No Doubt
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is there any room left for doubt in the mystery of the Baptism? No, say Fr. Mark-Mary and St. Ambrose, as we meditate on the confidence with which we ...
Day 93: Look Like You Love Him
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Mary and Joseph realized that Jesus was missing, they searched everywhere, stopping at nothing to find him. This is how love searches, Fr. Mark-M...