Teach Us How to Pray

Ivonne J. Hernandez considers how the Rosary, together with the Eucharist, can lead us toward a deeper union with Christ. 

We must keep in mind that the Holy Eucharist is Jesus Christ past, present, and future; that the Eucharist is the last development of the Incarnation and mortal life of our Savior; that in the Eucharist Jesus Christ gives us every grace; that all truths tend to and end in the Eucharist; and that there is nothing more to be added when we have said, “The Eucharist,” since it is Jesus Christ. Let the Most Holy Eucharist therefore be the starting point of our meditations on the mysteries, virtues, and truths of our religion. The Eucharist is the focal point; the truths of religion are the rays. Let us start from the focus to go to the rays. (St. Peter Julian Eymard)

When we pray the Rosary, we allow our Mother Mary to take us by the hand and teach us the mysteries of the life of Jesus. We stop at each mystery, and as we ponder with her, she fills us with the graces we need. She asks her spouse, the Holy Spirit, to shower us with His gifts, with every spiritual blessing from Heaven, and she rejoices with the Most Holy Trinity as they see us growing closer to God.

When we pray each mystery, we recall with our memory the stories we have learned in the Gospels and meditate on them. What if there was a better way? What if we could go to Jesus with Our Lady and ask Him to teach us about Himself? What if we could sit in the same room with Jesus and ask Him to tell us, not only what is written in the Gospels, but His perspective on those events.

If we wanted to learn about WWII, we could read a history book about the war and see pictures of the events that happened, but it would be much better if we were to sit and talk with a veteran. We could ask him not only about the facts that are recorded in history, but we could get his perspective from having experienced those events. He could tell us things that no one else knows. He could share the secrets of his heart with us, and we would very likely become friends.

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Jesus gives Himself to us in Communion, but He wants even more. He wants our hearts. #catholicmom

When you share your story with someone, you share your very self, you enter into a relationship. God wants to be in relationship with us. We were made for that. Jesus gives Himself to us in Communion, but He wants even more. He wants our hearts. Jesus taught the Apostles in private. He revealed to them the secrets of His heart. We can ask Him to do the same with us. These secrets are all in the Eucharist.

We can meditate on the mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary, the mysteries of Jesus’ life, from the Eucharist. Jesus is truly present there, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. When we combine the most powerful weapon for our times, the Rosary, with the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist, we are indeed sitting in the inner room of our hearts, with Jesus and Mary. Let us then ask Our Lady of The Blessed Sacrament to grant us the graces we need to go through Him, with Him and in Him, to “start from the focus and go to the rays.”

To open our hearts in His Presence, sit at His feet, and receive “the one thing necessary” (Luke 10:42).

Copyright 2021 Ivonne J. Hernandez
Image: Pixabay (2019)
This is an excerpt from the book, The Rosary: Eucharistic Meditations with St. Peter Julian Eymard, Apostle of the Eucharist by Ivonne J. Hernandez - ELISHEBA HOUSE. It is printed with permission.