The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)
Pray the Rosary Like Never Before
Displaying 5 items of The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) with the tag "focus".
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Day 349: The Joyful Mysteries
December 15th, 2025 | 28 mins 34 secs
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We return to Fra Angelico’s painting of The Annunciation and Giulio Campi’s fresco of the Presentation in the Temple as Fr. Mark-Mary leads us in meditation on the reverence and faith revealed in the Joyful Mysteries. Our prayer explores themes of humility, God’s love for us, and the importance of keeping our eyes on Jesus. Today's focus is the Joyful Mysteries, and we’ll be praying the full Rosary.
For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.
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Day 242: The Wedding Feast at Cana and Proclamation of the Kingdom and Call to Conversion
August 30th, 2025 | 11 mins 45 secs
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Are you feeling bored in your prayer life? Many experience a sense of spiritual dryness during mental prayer or while praying the Rosary. Fr. Mark-Mary reminds us that love often calls for perseverance, encouraging us to remain faithful in prayer even when it lacks emotional sweetness. He suggests exploring new approaches—such as meditating on sacred art, Scripture, or Church teachings—as fresh ways to reconnect with the mysteries and the Lord. Today’s focus is the mysteries of the Wedding Feast at Cana and Proclamation of the Kingdom and Call to Conversion and we will be praying two decades of the Rosary.
For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.
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Day 241: The Finding of Jesus in the Temple and Baptism of Jesus
August 29th, 2025 | 10 mins 41 secs
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Many of us struggle with distraction in prayer. Fr. Mark-Mary offers encouragement for cultivating a more focused and peaceful prayer life by examining the noise we allow into our daily routines. He shares a quote from St. Charles Borromeo to illustrate how a distracted life often leads to distracted prayer, suggesting practical ways to foster inner stillness and effective meditative prayer. Today’s focus is the mysteries of the Finding of Jesus in the Temple and Baptism of Jesus and we will be praying two decades of the Rosary.
For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.
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Bonus: Introduction to Phase Four: “Finding Focus”
July 8th, 2025 | 38 mins 35 secs
ascension, catholic, catholic church, catholic faith, catholicism, commitment, devotion, discouragement, father mark mary, father mark-mary, finding focus, focus, fr. mark mary, fr. mark-mary, love, mary, motherhood, phase 4, quality, quantity, riy, rosary, rosary in a year, rosary-in-a-year, sr. miriam, sr. miriam james heidland
What’s the difference between a commitment and a devotion? How can we grow in love for the rosary? In this special bonus episode, Fr. Mark-Mary is joined by Sr. Miriam James Heidland SOLT, to discuss prayer quality over quantity, overcoming discouragement in prayer, and the beauty of Mary and her motherhood.
For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.
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Day 132: Eyes on Jesus
May 12th, 2025 | 11 mins 31 secs
art, art meditations, ascension, catholic church, catholic faith, commotion, eyes, father mark mary, father mark-mary, focus, fr. mark mary, fr. mark-mary, giulio campi, mary, presentation, presentation in the temple, riy, rosary, rosary in a year, rosary-in-a-year, sacred art, simeon, visio divina
Giulio Campi’s fresco of The Presentation in the Temple, is filled with people and commotion. Two women converse, a child looks towards the viewer, Simeon leans backwards, his eyes closed. Yet in all this chaos, Fr. Mark-Mary notices, Mary’s eyes remain focused on the child Jesus. We meditate on fixing our own eyes on Jesus. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Presentation in the Temple and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary.
All of the Sacred Art we’ll be meditating with can be found in the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, for free linked in the complete prayer plan, or in the Ascension App. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.