Day 97: Climb the Mountain

Summary

Summary of "The Rosary in a Year" Podcast Episode: Day 97 - Climb the Mountain

Podcast Information

• Title: The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)
• Host/Author: Ascension
• Episode: Day 97: Climb the Mountain
• Release Date: April 7, 2025
• Description: Fr. Mark-Mary Ames guides listeners through a transformative journey of prayer and meditation, deepening their relationship with Jesus and Mary through the Rosary.

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Introduction

In Day 97: Climb the Mountain, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames embarks on an inspiring exploration of spiritual ascent through the Rosary. This episode emphasizes building a daily prayer habit, fostering a closer relationship with Jesus and Mary, and understanding the Rosary's biblical foundations. Fr. Mark-Mary introduces listeners to the fourth luminous mystery—the Transfiguration—and reflects on Saint Anastasius of Sinai’s writings to illuminate the path of spiritual growth.

Exploring the Transfiguration

Fr. Mark-Mary begins by delving into the Transfiguration, one of the Rosary's luminous mysteries. He introduces the audience to Saint Anastasius of Sinai, a seventh-century monk known for his ascetical life and defense against heresy. Although specific biographical details about Saint Anastasius are scarce, his contributions to Marian devotion and clarity in teaching on Guardian Angels are highlighted.

[02:45] Mark Mary: "These are the divine prodigies behind the present festival. What we celebrate here on this mountain now is for us, too, a saving mystery."

Saint Anastasius’s Insight on Climbing the Mountain

Fr. Mark-Mary shares an extended reading from Saint Anastasius’s homily on the Transfiguration, which serves as the foundation for the day’s meditation. Saint Anastasius describes the Transfiguration as a sacred initiation into Christ's mystery, inviting believers to join in the divine light and transformation.

[02:45] Mark Mary: "Our hope is that bathed in a vision of him flooded with light, we might be changed for the better and joined together as one."

The Call to Spiritual Ascent

A central theme of the episode is the metaphorical "climbing of the mountain of the Lord." Fr. Mark-Mary addresses the practical questions listeners might have about undertaking this spiritual journey, especially when they feel distant from grand mystical experiences.

[06:13] Mark Mary: "How do we climb the mountain of the Lord? How do we enter into this ineffable sanctuary? We follow Jesus. It's as simple as that."

He emphasizes that spiritual ascent is a daily, incremental process of following Jesus, prioritizing prayer, and rejecting worldly attachments. This approach makes the climb accessible to everyone, regardless of their current spiritual state.

Practical Steps for Climbing the Mountain

Fr. Mark-Mary outlines actionable steps to facilitate this spiritual climb:

1. Daily Conversion: Embracing an ongoing transformation by saying "yes" to Jesus each day.
2. Rejecting Sin: Letting go of temptations and worldly desires.
3. Prioritizing Prayer: Increasing the depth and consistency of prayer life.
4. Engaging in Scripture and Charity: Regularly reading the Bible and performing acts of kindness.

[08:15] Mark Mary: "Our daily choices to say no to temptation, our daily prayers, reading of the scripture, works of charity. This is how we continue to put one foot in front of the other and climb the mountain of the Lord."

Meditation and Visualization

The episode guides listeners through a meditative exercise tied to the Transfiguration. Fr. Mark-Mary encourages envisioning oneself at the base or partway up the mountain, inviting Jesus into this personal journey. This visualization aims to foster a deeper connection with God and Mary, aligning one's heart with divine light and peace.

[08:30] Mark Mary: "Imagine you're standing at the base of the mountain... Allow him to come to meet you, wherever you are."

Concluding with the Rosary

To solidify the meditation, Fr. Mark-Mary leads listeners in praying one decade of the Rosary, integrating the day's reflections into their prayer practice. This act serves as a tangible step in the journey of climbing the spiritual mountain, reinforcing the day's teachings through prayer.

[13:11] Franciscan Friars: "Hail Mary, full of grace... Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."

Final Reflections

Fr. Mark-Mary concludes by reiterating the significance of daily spiritual practice in achieving greater intimacy with God. He reassures listeners that while the ultimate experience of divine glory is in God's hands, consistent prayer and faithfulness will lead to increased light, joy, and peace in their lives.

[06:14] Mark Mary: "It's very boots on the ground. Like, we're just not angels. We don't fly up the mountain of holiness and prayer and glory. We climb it day by day."

Notable Quotes

• On Following Jesus:

  [06:14] Mark Mary: "We follow Jesus. It's as simple as that."

• On Daily Choices:

  [08:15] Mark Mary: "Our daily choices to say no to temptation, our daily prayers, reading of the scripture, works of charity. This is how we continue to put one foot in front of the other and climb the mountain of the Lord."

• On Spiritual Climb:

  [06:46] Mark Mary: "The more we leave behind sin... the more we grow in prayer... the higher we go up the mountain."

Conclusion

Day 97: Climb the Mountain offers listeners a profound reflection on the spiritual journey of prayer and meditation through the Rosary. Fr. Mark-Mary Ames skillfully intertwines scripture, saintly wisdom, and practical guidance to inspire and equip believers in their daily ascent towards deeper faith and divine intimacy. By embracing the invitation to follow Jesus and engage in consistent spiritual practices, listeners are encouraged to experience the transformative grace that the Rosary can bring into their lives.

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Additional Resources

For those interested in following along with the Rosary in a Year plan, visit Ascension Press to download the complete prayer plan and access the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, which includes daily Scripture readings, saint reflections, and sacred art for meditation.

Transcript

[Mark Mary]

Foreign Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars, the Renewal and this is the Rosary in your 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 97. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit ascensionpress.com forward/rosary in the year 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 this podcast in the Ascension app. There's special features built just for the podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary. 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 full page images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on today. We'll be meditating upon and praying with the fourth luminous mystery, the Transfiguration, enriched by a writing from St. Anastasius of Sinai. From his work homily on the Transfiguration and the emphasis of our prayer and meditation today will be Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord. A little quick introduction background to our saint to our author today, St. Anastasius of Sinai. We don't have as detailed or specific confirmed of biographical details about him as we've had about some of our other saints and these doctors of the church we've had readings from. We do know that he lived in the seventh century, I think died a little bit after the seventh century, so that's the 600s, died probably in the early 1700s, and he founded a group of monks who led a very ascetical life, so a strict life of penance actually at Mount Sinai, which is why he has the title of Sinai. And like many of our saints that we've had writings from to this point, he spent a good deal of his time combating heresy. It's a good reminder that those of us who are living now are the heirs of clear teaching and clarity about who God is and who Jesus is.

[Franciscan Friars]

Something of particular note and interest about.

[Mark Mary]

Our saint today, Saint Anastasius, is that he is one of the first popular saints to defend and have clarity about the teaching on Guardian Angels. St. Anastasius doesn't have the title Doctor of the Church, but he knows what he is talking about and so we're going to have A bit of an extended reading from St. Anastasius on the Transfiguration. I think it's too good. I think we're gonna have about two or three paragraphs. I know it's a little bit longer, but I think it's worth the whole reading. So here is our reading from Saint.

[Franciscan Friars]

Anastasius of Sinai on the Transfiguration.

[Mark Mary]

These are the divine prodigies behind the present festival. What we celebrate here on this mountain now is for us, too, a saving mystery. This sacred initiation into the mystery of Christ. This public solemnity gathers us together so that we might come inside the ineffable sanctuary and might enter the place of mysteries along with those chosen ones who were inspired to speak God's words. Let us listen to a divine, most sacred voice as it seems to invite us from the peak of the mountain above us, inviting us with strong words of persuasion and saying, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord on the day of the Lord, in the place of the Lord, in the house of our God. Our hope is that bathed in a vision of him flooded with light, we might be changed for the better and joined together as one. And that grasping hold of the light in light, we might cry out, how fearful is this place. This is nothing other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. Let us run forward boldly and brightly. Then let us enter into the cloud. So then let each of us who has received God in his heart, who has been transfigured into that divine form, say in our joy, it is good for us to be here, where everything is full of light, where there is joy and good spirits and exaltation, where everything in our hearts is peaceful and calm and free from conflict, where God is to be seen here in the heart, he makes his dwelling with the Father. Here he comes close to us and says, today salvation has come to this house. The end of the reading. Thanks be to God. The emphasis of our meditation today will be, come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord. Saint Anastasius, he begins our reading today with a very important reminder. What we celebrate here on this mountain is for us too, a saving mystery. Who goes on to say other such lines, similar lines such as, so that we might come inside the ineffable sanctuary, enter the place of the mysteries. Let us run forward boldly and brightly. Let us enter into the cloud like, yes, yes, and yes, I want that. Let's do it. But, my friend, St. Anastasius, how do I do this? Show me how like I'm in my farmhouse, right? Or I'm in the 13th floor of a New York City little apartment, my house in the suburbs. Like, there appears to be no obvious heavenly mountain to climb or glorious cloud to enter into. Like, what? What the heck? What do I do? And that's the question. That's the question, right? How do we enter into this ineffable sanctuary and this glorious cloud? For St. Anastasius of Sinai, the answer was to actually move to a mountain, to set up residence on Mount Sinai, and to take it quite literally. But is there a way for a housewife, for a college student, for an accountant to do this well? Or is it just for desert monks? My proposal, which I'm sure you've guessed, is that for all of us, there's an invitation to climb the mountain of the Lord, to experience this place of intimacy with God. Here's the answer.

[Franciscan Friars]

How?

[Mark Mary]

In the words of the psalmist, this is from Psalm 24. Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false? Like the Catholic answer to these most lofty at sublime heights of mysticism and also the most complex of human struggles. To be honest, the answer is often received as kind of quite annoying because it's so straightforward and simple. The answer is this.

[Franciscan Friars]

Follow Jesus.

[Mark Mary]

When Jesus says, come, follow me. Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord, we just say, yes, we follow Jesus. The invitation is to a daily, ongoing conversion. So how do we climb the mountain of the Lord? How do we enter into this ineffable sanctuary? We follow Jesus. It's as simple as that. The more we leave behind sin, like worldly greed, like these, these attachments, impurity, etc. Like, the higher we go up, at the same time, the more we grow in prayer, the more we prioritize it and practice it, the higher we go up the mountain. And whether or not we have an experience in this lifetime of glory and lightning and theophany, well, that's up to the Lord. But can we have confidence that we'll experience more light? And by light, I mean some clarity and truth. Really knowing who we are, knowing who God is, can we have confidence that we'll experience more joy, have more hope and peace? Yeah, 100% Christian mysticism, which is like the heights of spirituality for us. It's very boots on the ground. Like, we're just not angels. We don't fly up the mountain of holiness and prayer and glory. We climb it day by day. Little by little, with our daily fiats.

[Franciscan Friars]

Or our yeses to the Lord, with.

[Mark Mary]

Our daily choices to say no to temptation, our daily prayers, reading of the scripture, works of charity. This is how we continue to put one foot in front of the other and climb the mountain of the Lord.

[Franciscan Friars]

So as we pray today with the.

[Mark Mary]

Transfiguration of Jesus, I'm gonna invite you to kind of pray and imagine this. Imagine you're standing at the base of the mountain, or perhaps you've climbed the mountain a little bit. Allow him to come to meet you, wherever you are. We know, at least in theory, we've just read about what's at the top of the mountain of the Lord. Like, there, everything is full of light. There, there is joy and good spirits and exaltation, where everything in our hearts is peaceful and calm, where God is to be seen. Right? These are the words of St. Anastasius. So we know what's up there. Now talk to him about your desire to go to this place.

[Franciscan Friars]

Maybe this is a burning desire or.

[Mark Mary]

Maybe you don't feel anything. Okay, if you don't feel anything, it feels, like, abstract. Go ahead and talk to Jesus about.

[Saint Anastasius]

That.

[Mark Mary]

And allow him to really take it in. Like, see that he really hears you. Maybe in your prayer he asks you a few questions and answer him. But for today, I'm going to propose that in the end, as we're praying with the fourth glorious mystery, the transfiguration, that the conversation is always going to end the same. Jesus looks at you with love and he says, come, follow me. Let us climb the mountain together. Brothers and sisters, you can't climb the whole mountain today, but with Jesus help, we can take the next best step. My proposal for how we can, right here and now, make the next best step is concluding here with prayer. So let's go ahead and remain in this place in prayer as we finish today by praying one decade of the most holy rosary.

[Franciscan Friars]

And now with Mary. Let us pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

[Mark Mary]

And lead us not into temptation, but.

[Franciscan Friars]

Deliver us from evil.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

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.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Franciscan Friars]

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[Saint Anastasius]

Amen.

[Mark Mary]

Thanks so much for joining me and.

[Franciscan Friars]

Praying with me today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.

[Mark Mary]

Poco. Poco. Friends, God bless y'all.