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Treasures of the Church-
Devotions |
The Seven Joys of Our Lady
The Franciscan Crown
1. The
Annunciation
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of
Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named
Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with
you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered
what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you
will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him
Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and
the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he
will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there
will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no
relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy,
the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also
conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her
who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary
said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me
according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. (Luke
1:26–38)
2. The Visitation
During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in
haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy
Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does
this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For
at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant
in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what
was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” . . . Mary
remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
(Luke 1:39–45, 56)
3. The Nativity
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole
world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when
Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled,
each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the
town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be
enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and
she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them
in the inn. (Luke 2:1–7)
4. The Adoration by the Magi
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King
Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its
rising and have come to do him homage.”
. . . And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded
them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened
their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. (Matthew 2:1–2, 9b–11)
5. The Finding of Our Lord in the Temple
Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival
custom. After they had completed its days, as they were
returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his
parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they
journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and
acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to
look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and
all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his
answers.
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said
to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have
been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why
were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my
Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to
them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. (Luke
2:41–51)
6. The Resurrection
But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices
they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled
away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the
body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling
garments appeared to them.
They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said
to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not
here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he
was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to
sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” And they
remembered his words. (Luke 24:1–8)
7. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven and Her
Coronation as Queen of Heaven
Hence the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a
hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of
predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect
virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine
Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its
consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her
privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of
the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she
might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as
Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the
immortal King of the Ages.
And so we may hope that those who meditate upon the glorious example
Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value of a
human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father’s
will and to bringing good to others. Thus, while the illusory
teachings of materialism and the corruption of morals that follows
from these teachings threaten to extinguish the light of virtue and
to ruin the lives of men by exciting discord among them, in this
magnificent way all may see clearly to what a lofty goal our bodies
and souls are destined.
How to Pray The Franciscan Crown
1. Using beads for the Franciscan Crown
(seven decades), announce the First Mystery and pray the
Our Father on the single bead just before the medallion.
2. Pray one Hail Mary for each of the ten beads. (It
seems most fitting to proceed around the beads in a clockwise
direction.)
3. On the single bead between the decades, announce the next
Mystery and then pray the Our Father. Continue as in
Step 2 for the remaining Mysteries.
4. After the last Mystery, pray one Hail Mary each on
the fourth and third beads from the Cross to complete 72 years of
Mary’s Joy.
5. Pray the Our Father and the Glory to the Father
(Gloria Patri) for the intention of the Holy Father on the
2nd bead from the Cross.
6. Pray a Hail Mary on the single bead closest to the
Cross.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
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