The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)
In Ascension’s Rosary in a Year podcast, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR, guides listeners in a step-by-step journey that will change the way you pray – no matter where you are in your spiritual life. By starting small and adding on over time, listeners will find themselves falling more in love with this powerful Marian devotion, becoming a source of grace for the whole world. Listen to discover…. How to build a daily habit of prayer How to form a relationship with Jesus and Mary The Biblical foundations of the Rosary How to meditate with sacred art (visio divina), saint writings, and scripture (lectio divina) The power of Mary’s influence in your life …and more. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.
Episodes
August 2, 2025 • 12 mins
We are invited to enter into prayer with a deep awareness of the Heavenly Father’s presence through Fr. Mark-Mary’s meditative reflection. Drawing from Jesus’ prayers before Lazarus’ tomb and His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, Fr. Mark-Mary emphasizes that God sees, hears, and knows us intimately. This reflection reminds us of the Father’s love and His desire to give us every good gift. Today’s focus is the mysteries of the ...
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August 1, 2025 • 13 mins
Fr. Mark-Mary encourages us to build a personal, relational prayer life by connecting intimately with the Blessed Virgin Mary. He invites us to imagine ourselves stepping into St. John’s home, sitting at a simple table with Mary, and resting in a space filled with love, comfort, and open conversation. Mary is not a distant or silent figure, but a present and responsive mother who offers encouragement, guidance, and compassion throu...
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July 31, 2025 • 14 mins
Opening with prayerful reflection, Father Mark-Mary invites listeners to contemplate the Holy Trinity not as an abstract concept but as a living communion of love—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Drawing from the Catechism, he highlights that God’s innermost secret is His very being as love, revealed through Christ and the Holy Spirit. We are personally invited to enter and share in this love. Today’s focus is the mysteries of the Wed...
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July 30, 2025 • 13 mins
We have an opportunity to deepen our relationship with the Holy Spirit through today's meditative prayer and the Rosary. Fr. Mark-Mary invites us to personally engage with the Holy Spirit by offering areas of our hearts that need healing, courage, or comfort. He reminds us to see the Holy Spirit not merely as a symbol, but as a divine person who listens, responds, and loves. Today’s focus is the mysteries of the Finding of Jesus in...
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July 29, 2025 • 14 mins
We continue deepening our practice of relational prayer, focusing on Jesus the Son. We place ourselves in his presence not abstractly, but intimately, as we step into the moment with him. This prayer time is not only for today’s encounter, but also for forming the habit of being with Christ so that in future decades, you can return to this space, this awareness, this relationship. Today’s focus is the mysteries of the Nativity and ...
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July 28, 2025 • 15 mins
Today we begin Phase 5: Building Up the Decades. We begin to deepen not only the quantity but especially the quality of our prayer. This next phase is all about growing our capacity for contemplative, relational prayer, poco a poco, little by little. We pray two decades of the Joyful Mysteries, with a special focus on our relationship with God the Father who has made himself known to us, not through a visible face, but through his ...
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July 28, 2025 • 34 mins
Fr. Mark-Mary is joined by Dr. Edward Sri as they discuss practical tips for growing your devotion to the rosary and persevering through dry periods in prayer. Dr. Sri shares inspiring stories about Pope Saint John Paul II's Rosary devotion and discusses how modern distractions challenge our ability to pray, while offering advice on creating more spaces of prayer in everyday life. As a husband and father, Dr. Sri describes how he i...
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July 27, 2025 • 13 mins
In the mystery of Mary’s coronation, we dive into the depths of Mary’s role as queen and mother. Fr. Mark-Mary reviews some of the many layers of this mystery: Mary’s role as an intercessor, her love for us as a protector and defender, and God’s profound love represented in the gifts he has given Mary. We ask for Mary’s intercession as we seek God’s grace through prayer. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Coronation of Mary and we...
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July 26, 2025 • 14 mins
Those of us who wish to experience the fulfillment of God's promises in our lives are called to make the journey through life to heaven just like Mary did: fiat by fiat. Fr. Mark-Mary walks through our meditation archive, reminding us that the Assumption reveals how God will fulfill his promises and inspires us to our homecoming in heaven. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Assumption and we will be praying one decade of the Rosa...
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July 25, 2025 • 14 mins
In Pentecost, the Church receives the promise of the Father: the Holy Spirit. Fr. Mark-Mary leads us in meditation with the Holy Spirit, focusing on Pentecost as a prayer event, the Apostle’s reception of the New Wine, and Mary’s confidence in the overshadowing of the Spirit. We drink deeply of this new wine as we pray our decade of the Rosary. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and we will be praying on...
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July 24, 2025 • 15 mins
Fr. Mark-Mary explains that the Ascension is not Christ’s departure, but the perfection of His presence with us. No longer limited by time or space, Jesus is now intimately present to each of us in a divine way. Through acts of charity and love, we follow in His footsteps and are drawn into deeper union with Him. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Ascension and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary.
For the complete prayer p...
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July 23, 2025 • 14 mins
The Resurrection was a transformation of life that transcended death, bringing hope, healing, and renewal to all of creation. Fr. Mark-Mary emphasizes that this new reality is not just a return from death but a glorified existence that calls us into deeper trust and faith. Through this mystery, we can be confident in Christ’s pursuit of our hearts and His power to bring light even into our darkest moments. Today’s focus is the myst...
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July 22, 2025 • 15 mins
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Christ’s cry from the cross reveals not despair, but a prayer that carries the weight of human suffering to the heart of the Father. Fr. Mark-Mary draws connections to the prodigal son and the good thief, illustrating God’s relentless pursuit to bring His children home. The crucifixion becomes the fulfillment of God’s covenant, declaring that death, sorrow, and injustice will not have the...
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July 21, 2025 • 14 mins
Fr. Mark-Mary connects Jesus carrying His cross to Christ as the new scapegoat, freely taking on the exile, rejection, and sins of all humanity and carrying them to His place of crucifixion. Simon of Cyrene had the opportunity to let his suffering draw him closer to Jesus—an invitation extended to each of us in our own crosses of loss, illness, or pain. When we unite our suffering with His, our crosses too can become salvific, glor...
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July 20, 2025 • 14 mins
Mocked and spat upon, Christ crowned with thorns fulfills the image of the suffering servant—humble in agony, yet still the King, still victorious. Fr. Mark-Mary invites us to behold Him, as Pilate once did, and examine our own heart. Are we offering our worship and loyalty to the Lord or to the world? Are we burdened by sins of indifference or misplaced priorities? Let us respond with renewed fidelity, offering our whole selves to...
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July 19, 2025 • 14 mins
We follow the trajectory of the Scourging, beginning with sorrow as we behold the results of sin in Jesus scourged, are encouraged to respond by consoling Jesus as he suffers, and finally contemplate that despite man’s betrayal of Jesus, nothing can extinguish his glory. Fr. Mark-Mary leads us to see Jesus’ victory in the Passion and stay with Jesus in his suffering. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Scourging at the Pillar and w...
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July 18, 2025 • 15 mins
The Agony in the Garden reveals deep truths, shared by Fr. Mark-Mary, as we return to three prior meditation topics. The nature of sin is unveiled, as we draw the connection to the prodigal son. Jesus sets an example for us, staying in dialogue with the Father despite his suffering. And finally, through the example of Judas, we’re reminded that Jesus is always calling us back, no matter how dim we think our halos are. Today’s focus...
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July 17, 2025 • 15 mins
The Holy Eucharist is one of the greatest signs of Jesus’ love. With Fr. Mark-Mary, we return to the mystery of the Institution of the Eucharist, diving into the creativity of love and the abyss of love revealed at the Last Supper. Finally, we experience Jesus’ peace, given to us through the Eucharist. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Institution of the Eucharist and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary.
For the complete...
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July 16, 2025 • 15 mins
We’re invited to faithfulness in prayer and a journey to the mountaintop in the Transfiguration. Returning to this mystery, Fr. Mark-Mary meditates on the theme of Jesus’ revelation of himself, our contemplation on the mountaintop, and our reading from St. Anastasius of Sinai. As we pray our decade of the rosary, Fr. Mark-Mary leads us into a mountaintop experience, and then as we descend, invites us to bring this grace to the worl...
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July 15, 2025 • 17 mins
We review our meditations focused on the Proclamation of the Kingdom, recalling Jesus’ call to us, asking us to become residents of the kingdom of heaven. Revisiting Rembrant’s Storm of the Sea of Galilee and St. Augustine’s writing, Fr. Mark-Mary leads us in prayer of a decade of the rosary. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Proclamation of the Kingdom and Call to Conversion and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary.
For t...
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