My favorite Mysteries of the Rosary.

 "Riley is my favorite dog," I told people.

There were usually audible gasps. "But what about Kenai? You can't have a favorite." I said I could, and I did, have a favorite dog. I loved them both. Kenai, the silver Siberian Husky, was more gentle, more beautiful in many ways, and certainly more vocal. But Riley, our Australian Shepherd, has my heart. He was the first dog that was "mine." He is fluffy, funny, athletic, enthusiastic, and yes, flawed, but mine. So even if it seems unfair to say I had a favorite, at least I'm being honest. 

So when I tell you that I have favorite Mysteries of the Rosary, please understand that I have love for ALL the Mysteries. After all, it's a prayer through the lives of Christ and his Mother, with Scripture baked in.  But I do have my favorites. These are the ones that have my heart.

The Nativity

It's tough to pick a favorite in the Joyful Mysteries, because they're all so joyful! I mean the Annunciation is probably the odds-on favorite for most people, but for me, The Nativity is my pick. It's not particularly because I think of Christmas, or the particulars of the birth of Jesus. It's because I think of Jesus being fully God and fully infant. Think about it - all the divinity of God in infant form. Unable to hold up his little head, he's totally dependent on Mary and Joseph. But at the same time - God! They cradled God in their arms. 

The Crowning with Thorns

The Sorrowful Mysteries are my favorites, so you'd think choosing one would be difficult. Not for me. The Crowning with Thorns is my favorite, because it's just so puzzling to me. I don't know how this got started, or whose idea it was to devise another way to humiliate and torture, but it kind of keeps me awake at night. They mocked Christ's kingship, but his was more a crown than one of gold. In Caryll Houselander's book The Way of the Cross, she wrote, "There, crowned with thorns and bearing a reed for scepter, are the kings of our days, whose crowns are thorns indeed and whose scepters are reeds shaken by the wind."

The Ascension

This pick is just a little window into my soul. Part of me always thinks, "he left us." Yes, that's the part of me that deals with some abandonment issues, and I acknowledge that. And Jesus DID leave. He stuck around for a while, but then left. But the other part of me imagines being in the group that watched him be "taken up." I usually pray my morning rosary in the living room, which happens to have a vaulted ceiling with a fan at the top. So I literally look up at the fan and imagine seeing the bottoms of Jesus' feet as he's "taken up." I am quite sure it didn't happen that way, but this is why it's called "imagination." And then I chuckle inside when I imagine being part of the group leaving to go back to Jerusalem. I would be the one asking, "So, what are you doing after the ascension?" And imagine going to grab a sandwich on the way to the temple.

The Transfiguration

I like this Luminous Mystery most for so many reasons, but especially because I can relate to Peter essentially saying, "let's stay here!" I have always wanted to freeze time, especially in those rare moments when everything feels good, amazing, fascinating, special. So when the see Jesus change (even his clothes, which really intrigues me) I can relate to blurting out, "let's make some tents!" I just want to stay there with them, soaking it all in, wringing out every minute I can. I don't want to go back. Of course they don't stay, they really can't. There's work to be done. 

Before you ask, no, I don't have a list of "least favorite" Mysteries of the Rosary. The truth is, I just love the Rosary, period. Pope Saint John Paul II called it his favorite prayer. It wasn't always mine. Some years ago I decided to pray a Rosary a day for Lent, and it just stuck. Now it's part of my day, my life. It's not always perfect, some days I struggle, some days I'm just not that into it... but other days I do experience my own transfiguration-like moment, when I do get a glimpse of divinity. And those moments keep me coming back for more.