What Praying the Joyful Mysteries Taught Me About My Life’s Path

On Monday, I experienced a profound and moving meditation as my fingers slipped over each prayer bead of my rosary. I had decided to pray a rosary each morning of Advent to prepare my mind and heart for the messages the Holy Spirit wanted to give me that day. And even though I had meditated on the Joyful Mysteries many times before, on this day, I gained a wonderful insight: the Joyful Mysteries are a model of how to follow our life’s path.

First Mystery: The Annunciation- Angel Gabriel appears before Mary and invites her to partner with God in bringing Christ into the world.

This is the part where God reveals the beginning of a plan or vision. We receive an invitation to give birth to something in the world and we have the choice to say yes or no. At this point, we still know very little about what it will entail. When I think of how this message came to Mary through an angel, it makes me think that the message comes to me through my intuition.

Everyone’s intuition works differently and some need the message to come in a more supernatural way than others. The vision I had of becoming a writer started when I was 10 years old. It just came to me one day while I was reading that I could be a writer as well. An avid reader, I began to write out long stories modeled after the books I was reading. I created my own line of greeting cards for my family, and just felt that one day I would be famous for them.

Second Mystery: The Visitation– John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb when she encounters the pregnant Mary.

This step is when someone else recognizes the gift in you, the vision growing in you. Here we receive confirmation and encouragement.

Oddly enough, this happened for me 10 years ago when I was cleaning out my attic. I uncovered a box of letters and one popped out to me. Thin floral stationary from Florence Italy contained a message from my sister who was studying abroad. She sent it to me when I was a Freshman in college to remind me to write often and saying that I had a gift for it. She said it was good for me and the world. This dusty letter from my attic came in the perfect time to remind me of the vision I had once had of being a professional writer. That encouragement got me back into the regular practice of writing and gave me the boost I needed to join a writing group in my community.

Third Mystery: The Birth of Christ.

Now you give birth to the vision. It becomes physically manifested for others to see. It may not come out the way that you expected and it is still in a vulnerable state.

A few years ago, I decided to put my writing out in the world through the form of a blog. Very few people were reading it and I had little feedback. I began to doubt myself, but then I decided to send off some articles to blogs and magazines. As publications said yes and even paid me money, my vision of becoming a professional writer became real. My work was out there and being read, but only in small doses.

Fourth Mystery: The Presentation at the Temple– Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple to offer him to God for consecration.

It took me a moment to realize that this step is about surrender. This is when you offer what you birthed to God, trusting that God will take care of it and use it for the greatest purpose possible. And it was at this time that they gave Jesus his name and declared him sacred. So this may also be the time when you bless what you birthed and declare it holy.

It suddenly clicked for me. This was the next step in the journey of my vision. I had birthed it but now I needed to surrender it to God. It was time for me to bless it and then step back and allow God to work through it, instead of pushing to be published.

Fifth Mystery: The Finding in the Temple– After Jesus had been missing for three days, Mary found him in the temple. Jesus said, “Did you not know I would be in my Father’s house?”

After you have surrendered your vision, you may lose it. It may disappear from you for awhile but you can find it again. For me, temple means my heart or wherever we meet God. That is where we must return to in order to find the vision again.

Even as I gained more time and space to write, I felt myself resisting it. The cause was eluding me. Was it writer’s block? I wasn’t sure, so I took it to my Spiritual Director. As I talked with my Spiritual Director, she guided me deeper into my heart and ideas began to flood me…I felt inspired to write! She set the timer for 4 minutes and I made a list of all of my ideas. The next day, my friend cancelled plans with me, and so I spent hours writing, the words flooding out of me. I had found the gift again.

About the Author: Julie Glaser is a healer who creates sacred spaces for others to share, release, and grow. She’s in the habit of being in awe and wonder and writes to share her own experiences with other inquisitive souls in the process of transforming.