Do you find your mind wandering while praying the Rosary? Or would you like to able to meditate better on its wonderful mysteries concerning the lives of Our Lord and His Blessed Mother? This book is a must have in either case! Complier Raphael Brown has taken the private revelations from four renowned Catholic mystics, Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerich, Ven. Mary of Agreda, St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Elizabeth of Schoenau concerning Mary’s life and woven them into a rich, highly readable tapestry of insights about her and her Son.

While we are not required to believe any private revelations concerning our faith, (and in many cases should exercise caution when reading them!), these accounts have been properly vetted as having no errors in doctrine or morals. This book is meant to be read as a religious novel and not as a Fifth Gospel, but it  nonetheless follows the Gospel accounts faithfully and enhances them with vivid details. Mr. Brown also has supplied a good Introduction with capsule biographies of each mystic, as well as the methods he used to compile their stories into one flowing narrative! Here are some selections to give you a bit of the flavor of this wonderful book:

• From the Chapter on the Visitation: “Every evening Mary and Elizabeth recited the Magnificat together….Sometimes they spent nearly all night praying together. Mary always arose at midnight for her prayers. A few times St. Elizabeth merited to see the Mother of God in ecstasy, raised above the ground and radiant with supernatural splendor and beauty.”
• From the Chapter on the Nativity: “Toward midnight a channel of brilliant light came down from the highest heaven and terminated in sparkling fire at the Blessed Virgin. In it was an extraordinary movement of celestial glories which took on the forms of choirs of angels. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, the infant God was born, glorious and transfigured as on Mount Tabor…And from Him radiated such marvelous light and splendor that the sun could not be compared to it. The angels could be heard gently singing canticle of wonderful sweetness. ”
• From the Chapter on Christ’s Passion: “During the carrying of the Cross, the Blessed Virgin begged John to take her to someplace where her Son would pass…at last she caught sight of Him…with His bloody, deep-sunken eyes He cast a look of intense compassion at His suffering Mother. Then, utterly exhausted, he fell onto His hands and knees under the Cross. In her anguish and love Mary forgot the soldiers and executioners. She saw nothing but her afflicted Son. From the doorway she rushed through the procession to Him, and throwing herself onto her knees beside Jesus, she embraced Him lovingly and tenderly.”
• From the Chapter on the Assumption: “Immediately after Mary’s death, Our Lord had entered Heaven, conducting the pure soul of His Mother at His right hand…Later, after the funeral, the Lord descended in a dazzling beam of light to the tomb of the Blessed Virgin, accompanied by Mary’s soul and by innumerable angels. Then the holy soul of the Mother of God penetrated into her body in the sepulcher, reanimated it, and rose up again united to it, utterly radiant, gloriously attired, and indescribably beautiful.”

These are just some of the details that can enhance your Rosary meditations. Each chapter brings Mary and Jesus to life in loving ways! Compiler Raphael Brown expresses the hope at the end of his introduction that this book “may help its readers to live—as she [Mary] did—in ever closer union with her divine Son, the Saviour of mankind.” Amen! 265pp.; Paperback