A Scriptural Rosary continued: the First Joyful Mystery.

Review here and here.

The mysteries of the rosary are different events in the lives of Jesus and Mary. They're divided into four different groups. Each group contains five mysteries.

The Joyful mysteries. These are about Jesus's birth and early life. We reflect on His First Advent while praying them. They are:

1) The Annunciation: the angel Gabriel announces Jesus's birth.

2) The Visitation: Mary visits Elizabeth.

3) The Nativity: Jesus is born in Bethlehem.

4) The Presentation: Joseph and Mary present Jesus to the Lord at the Temple.

5) The Finding of Jesus in the Temple: Joseph and Mary find the 12 year old Jesus in the Temple discussing God and His Law with the religious leaders.

The Luminous mysteries. These are about Jesus's earthly ministry. We reflect on some of His teachings and miracles while praying them. They are:

1) The Baptism: Jesus is baptized.

2) The Miracle at Cana: Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding in Cana.

3) The Proclamation of the Kingdom: Jesus preaches a message of repentance.

4) The Transfiguration: Jesus's glory is revealed on the mountain.

5) The Institution of the Eucharist: Jesus gives us His flesh and blood in the Eucharist.

The Sorrowful mysteries. We accompany Him from the Garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha in these mysteries.

1) The Agony in the Garden: Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane.

2) The Scourging at the Pillar: Jesus is scourged.

3) The Crowning with Thorns: Jesus is given a crown of thorns.

4) The Carrying of the Cross: Jesus carries His cross to Calvary.

5) The Crucifiction: Jesus is crucified.

The Glorious mysteries. Jesus is our risen Lord, and His ministry is now in Heaven. We contemplate this in our prayers on these mysteries.

1) The Resurrection: Jesus dies, but doesn't stay dead!

2) The Ascension: Jesus goes back to Heaven.

3) The Descent of the Holy Spirit: Jesus sends the Holy Spirit on the Church to empower and sanctify Her.

4) The Assumption of Mary: Jesus takes Mary to Heaven with Him (a picture of our own resurrection).

5) The Crowning of Mary: Jesus crowns Mary as the Queen-Mother (in the Middle East, the king's mother was the queen, not his wife. This is why Solomon gives his mother Bathsheba a throne. She was the queen. The Davidic kingdom is a picture of the Messianic kingdom, so Mary, being the Mother of King Jesus, is queen).

Here we begin praying the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary. This post will contain only the first decade, that is, the Annunciation.

Start with the Introductory prayers. (Here's the picture I linked to in that post. It may prove useful).

The Introductory prayers leave off at the space between the fourth bead (a.k.a. the third small bead, #6 in the picture) and the next bead. From this point on, I will not be using the beads, however. That's because some of the Scripture passages I use for the Scriptural rosary contain more than or fewer than ten verses. I use the rosary to help me memorize Scripture, so I lengthen or shorten the number of Hail Mary's accordingly.

Say:

"The first Joyful Mystery: the Annunciation."

Then pray the Lord's Prayer (Our Father...).

Move your fingers to the next bead (#11) and recite the following verse:

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, (Luke 1:26 TMB)*

Then pray a Hail Mary while mediating on that verse...

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

...and continue praying the verses and Hail Mary's until you get to the end.

to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
(Luke 1:27 TMB)

Hail Mary…

And the angel came in unto her and said, "Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women."
(Luke 1:28 TMB)

Hail Mary…

And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and cast about in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
(Luke 1:29 TMB)

Hail Mary…

And the angel said unto her, "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.
(Luke 1:30 TMB)

Hail Mary…

"And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son; and shalt call His Name Jesus.
(Luke 1:31 TMB)

Hail Mary…

"He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end."
(Luke 1:32 TMB)

Hail Mary…

"and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end."
(Luke 1:33 TMB)
Hail Mary…

Then said Mary unto the angel, "How shall this be, seeing I know not man?" 
(Luke 1:34 TMB)

Hail Mary…

And the angel answered and said unto her, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that Holy Being who shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
(Luke 1:35 TMB)
Hail Mary…

"And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth: she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
(Luke 1:36 TMB)

Hail Mary…

"For with God nothing shall be impossible."
(Luke 1:37 TMB)
Hail Mary…

And Mary said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." And the angel departed from her.
(Luke 1:38 TMB)

Hail Mary…

Now pray the Glory Be:

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

To close, make the sign of the cross. (In a future post, I'll list the full closing prayers of the rosary.)

That's it for the first Joyful Mystery. Again, ordinarily one would pray all the Joyful Mysteries on one day, all the Luminous Mysteries on another, etc., but this will suffice us for now.

*I use the Third Millennium Bible and several other versions. Use your preferred version(s). And you needn't say the scripture reference, just quote and meditate on the verse.