Day 150: God Will Provide

Summary

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The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)

Episode Summary: Day 150 – God Will Provide

Date: May 30, 2026
Host: Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (occasionally Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Theme: Meditating on the Second Joyful Mystery—the Visitation—and reflecting on God’s paternal care, especially as shown through St. Joseph’s protective presence.

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the Visitation—the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth—through prayer, sacred art, and scriptural reflection. Fr. Mark-Mary invites listeners to appreciate God’s providence and fatherly care, especially as seen in St. Joseph’s role accompanying Mary. Drawing insights from art and Gospel passages, Fr. Mark-Mary encourages listeners to reflect on themes of protection, trust, and gratitude while praying the Rosary together.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Meditation on the Visitation and Sacred Art

• Artwork Used: Painting of the Visitation by Federico Maldarelli (c. 1889), located in the Chiesa de Santi Severino Esosio in Naples.
  • Description:
    • Idyllic scene with blue skies, pink clouds, and lush greenery.
    • Mary stands at the center in a pink dress and yellow head wrap, visibly pregnant, eyes lifted to heaven.
    • Elizabeth, also pregnant, is beside her, gesturing towards Mary’s womb.
    • St. Joseph stands nearby with a walking stick, bowing respectfully.
    • Zechariah, in a purple robe, stands in the background; attendants watch from the doorway.
  • Purpose of Reflection:
    • To help listeners visualize the Biblical event and enter deeper into imaginative prayer.

The Scriptural Background ([02:34])

• Recap of the Annunciation:
  • Quote:

    “Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
    (Fr. Mark-Mary, 02:34)

• Reflection:
  • God’s providence is expressed not only spiritually, but also in providing for Mary at a human level through Joseph.

The Presence of St. Joseph – God’s Fatherly Provision ([04:00]–[07:00])

• Insight:
  • Though the Gospel doesn’t mention Joseph explicitly during Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth, Fr. Mark-Mary observes,

    “Who’s going to make about an 80-mile journey? You think St. Joseph’s just going to say, ‘See you later,’ just going to let her go alone? ... I think that’s just the most obvious thing in the world.”
    (Fr. Mark-Mary, 06:16)

  • St. Joseph exemplifies attentive, loving care:

    “St. Joseph is an icon of the Father’s paternal care for Mary. God’s looking out for her, his provision for her, of protecting her, so that she may ... experience safety in him and God, but also experience, like, human safety, emotional safety, in the strong and loving care of St. Joseph.”
    (Fr. Mark-Mary, 03:30)

• Memorable Analogy:
  • Fr. Mark-Mary uses an analogy to show how some truths are obvious even when not recorded:

    “If I were to say, I went fishing on my friend’s boat yesterday, you better believe there was some water present, right? ... I think everyone is going to have a lot of confidence that water was present as well.”
    (Fr. Mark-Mary, 05:07)

Application to Our Own Lives ([07:00]–[08:15])

• Encouragement:
  • Reflection on the journey of Mary and Joseph as a model for trusting God’s provision.
  • Invitation to imaginative prayer:

    “Reflect on how they interacted, how safe Mary felt in his presence, how grateful to God she felt for St. Joseph ... this icon of his fatherly care.”
    (Fr. Mark-Mary, 07:41)

• Prayerful Action:
  • Listeners are invited to entrust their vulnerable areas to St. Joseph’s protection:

    “Let us be moved and feel confident to request St. Joseph’s protection for us as well, particularly any areas in our lives where we currently feel vulnerable and unsafe, that we too may experience his protection and care.”
    (Fr. Mark-Mary, 08:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “St. Joseph is an icon of the Father’s paternal care for Mary.” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 03:30)
• “I think him traveling with Mary, loving her, protecting her, providing for her, guiding her, making her ... feel and in fact be safe ... that’s just the most obvious thing in the world.” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 06:18)
• “Let us ... be moved to worship God, to give thanks to God for his goodness and for this insight into his heart.” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 07:44)
• “Let us be moved and feel confident to request St. Joseph’s protection for us as well, particularly any areas in our lives where we currently feel vulnerable and unsafe.” (Fr. Mark-Mary, 08:00)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:59] – Introduction to the second joyful mystery, the Visitation, and overview of featured artwork
• [01:44] – Detailed description of the Maldarelli painting
• [02:34] – Scripture reflection: Gospel after the Annunciation; God’s provision for Mary
• [04:00]–[07:00] – Exploration of St. Joseph’s presence and role as symbol of God’s fatherly care
• [07:00]–[08:15] – Invitation to imaginative prayer and trust in God’s protection through St. Joseph
• [08:16]–[11:31] – Praying the decade of the Rosary (Second Joyful Mystery)

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Tone & Language

The tone is gentle, encouraging, and reflective, in keeping with the contemplative nature of the Rosary. Fr. Mark-Mary’s language is approachable, vivid in its art descriptions, and marked by warmth and spiritual encouragement. The episode offers practical spiritual advice rooted in scripture and tradition.

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Concluding Encouragement

Fr. Mark-Mary thanks listeners for joining in prayer and affirms his hope in continuing the journey together:

“Thanks so much for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poco a poco, friends. God bless y’all.” (11:53)

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Useful For:
Anyone interested in deepening their prayer life, especially those seeking to understand the Rosary’s mysteries more personally and to experience God’s fatherly provision through Marian devotion.

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Transcript

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

Foreign. Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 150. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit ascensionpress.com forward/rosaryinayear or text RIY to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, saint reflections and beautiful images of the sacred art will be reflecting on

[Prayer Leader]

today.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

We will be meditating upon and praying with the second joyful mystery, the Visitation. With help from a visitation scene, a painting in the Chiesa de Santi Severino Esosio by Federico Maldarelli and now brief

[Prayer Leader]

introduction to our artist and artwork.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

Federico Maldarelli lived in the year 1826-1893. He was an Italian painter from Naples and his dad was also a painter. This particular painting we're going to be

[Prayer Leader]

looking at, which again is found in

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

a church, was done in about the year 1889.

[Prayer Leader]

Now our description of the painting

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

against an idyllic backdrop of blue skies, pink clouds, and lush greenery, a group gathers

[Prayer Leader]

on the stone porch of a fine home.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

At the center, in a pink dress, yellow head wrap, and teal outer garment, Our lady stands, eyes raised to heaven, her figure round in pregnancy, clasping her chest with one hand and holding the other hand, low and open in turquoise. A woman, Elizabeth, crouches at her side,

[Prayer Leader]

one hand on her own round belly,

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

the other gesturing towards Mary's rounded abdomen. Two men are on either side of them. St. Joseph with a walking stick offers a bow. The other is older Zechariah, and he's

[Prayer Leader]

close to the door in a purple

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

robe, standing upright and hands spread wide. Attendants in white look on from the doorway, and others gather, working in the back. Now, before getting into some of the specifics of today's painting, let's get a little reminder of what has taken place since yesterday's mystery. The Annunciation. This is from the Gospel of Matthew Chapter one. Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

[Prayer Leader]

And a few verses later, it says,

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

when Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. Yesterday, the Annunciation, right, The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she was to be the mother of Jesus. And remember how we encountered her so little, so young, so innocent and so vulnerable. And the Father, God, the Father, saw that. So he sent an angel to Joseph as well to give him an admission or an encouragement on his mission to take Mary as his wife, to protect Mary, to care for Mary, to accompany Mary, to rejoice in Mary and to love Mary. And I believe that St. Joseph is an icon of the Father's paternal care for Mary. God's looking out for her, his provision for her, of protecting her, so that she may not only experience safety in him and God, but also experience, like human safety, emotional safety, in the strong and loving care of St. Joseph. And I really, I believe this is just a very important insight into the heart of God and his fatherly love of Mary. So today, in this painting of the visitation, who do we find present with Mary at the entryway at the porch to the home of Elizabeth and zechariah? We find St. Joseph. Now, I realize that the gospel itself, like, doesn't explicitly say that Joseph travels with Mary to the home of Elizabeth and Zachariah. And the account of the visitation in Luke's gospel, right, like, it doesn't mention him by name, but I think he had to be there. So the question, right, can you know something is true without it being explicitly mentioned? I think so. And I'll use kind of an obvious example. Like, if I were to say, I went fishing on my friend's boat yesterday, like, you better believe there was some water present, right? Like, I didn't explicitly say that we were on the water, but if we were on a boat and we were fishing, I think everyone is going to have a lot of confidence that water was present as well. And I guess that might be a little bit of a ridiculous example. And I know it's not a perfect comparison, but, like, let's look at the details. We have St. Joseph, the best of men, a righteous man who had an angel appear to him and told him to take Mary as his wife. Okay? And then we have Mary, this very young woman who was recently with child. Right again. Who's so vulnerable in the world, who's going to make about an 80 mile journey. You think St. Joseph's just going to say, like, see you later, just going

[Prayer Leader]

to let her go alone?

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

Like, I think him traveling with Mary, loving her, protecting her, providing for her, guiding her, making her, like, feel and in fact be safe, I think that's just the most obvious thing in the world. And I realized the goal of the artist in today's painting, like, it's to highlight the presence of Jesus, the presence of the long form Messiah in the

[Prayer Leader]

womb of the Blessed Mother.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

That's where the focus is. Certainly I acknowledge that, but I'd also like to spend some time with St. Joseph and his presence there today as it's not a detail that we've discussed or prayed with to this point on our journey. And I find it so profoundly moving. And again, such a beautiful insight into the heart of God, particularly the fatherly

[Prayer Leader]

heart of God for Mary

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

and like the heart of St. Joseph for her and for us. And so this is a theme that we're going to come back to a couple times in these next couple of episodes as we journey through the joyful mysteries again. So as we pray today, I'll invite you to reflect on perhaps the journey that Joseph and Mary made together. And so if you can, enter into a space of imaginative prayer, reflecting on how they interacted, how safe Mary felt in his presence, how grateful to God she felt for St. Joseph being with

[Prayer Leader]

her, this icon of his fatherly care.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

And let ourselves also be moved to worship God, to give thanks to God for his goodness and for this insight into his heart. Then lastly, let us be moved and feel confident to request St. Joseph's protection for us as well, particularly any areas in our lives where we currently feel vulnerable and unsafe, that we too may experience his protection and care.

[Prayer Leader]

And now with Mary, let us pray

in the name of the Father and

of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

[Prayer Leader]

on earth as it is in heaven.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but

[Prayer Leader]

deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy Womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the Blessed art thou among

women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the Blessed art

thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the Blessed art

thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the Blessed art thou among

women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the Blessed art

thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for

us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

In the name of the Father, and

of the Son and of and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen. All right.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

Thanks so much for joining me and

[Prayer Leader]

praying with me again today.

[Fr. Mike Schmitz]

I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poco. Poco. Friends. God bless y'.

[Prayer Leader]

All.