Memorizing the Joyful Mystery Verses

The Joyful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The First Joyful Mystery

The Annunciation of the Lord
Our title image is that of a town crier walking through the dirt streets of a city in a time long past announcing the reading of the local news by blowing an oversize trumpet whose sound pierces your ears. What we are doing here is associating the image of a trumpeter making an announcement to the mystery of the Annunciation, which was also an announcement, so that one is able to connect the image of the trumpet-playing, news announcer to the abbreviated title of the mystery, the Annunciation.
(1) The Angel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph. (Lk 1:26-27)
The angel Gabriel was sent: We choose angel as the keyword for this first verse, and we link it to the name of the mystery by imagining that along with the ear-piercing sounds that come out of the trumpet there is also a giant envelope having angel-like wings and coming out of the town crier’s trumpet along with the musical notes. In your “mind’s eye,” (your imagination), “see” the very large, angel-winged envelope, an “angelope,” if you will, sent via “air mail” out of the blaring trumpet, perhaps deforming the shape of the trumpet as it emerges. You need only to take a moment to fix that image in your mind, but do create an image and use all the exaggeration you can put into it.
(2) The angel said to her: Hail full of grace the Lord is with you. (Lk 1:28)
Hail, full of grace: We choose hail as our keyword for this verse. An envelope is one of those items that we readily associate with a mailbox, so we are going to link the word hail to the envelope of the prior image with a new image in which we are checking for mail. But instead of finding envelopes in our mailbox we are met with a stream of large hailstones that are pelting us mercilessly.
(3) She was deeply troubled at his words and wondered about this manner of greeting. (Lk 1:29)
She was deeply troubled: This verse is challenging in that it doesn’t have an obvious object for an image, but we can use the word troubled in the context of someone in trouble with the law, which calls to mind a policeman or a judge. To link this to the prior image, one can think of a terrific hailstorm where, instead of hail pounding on the roof of your house, you see policemen and/or judges pouring out of the clouds pounding down upon your roof.
(4) Do not fear Mary for you have found favor with God. (Lk 1:30)
Do not fear Mary: We are selecting fear as the keyword for this verse and we consider it in the context of a blaring civil-defense siren on the top of a telephone pole announcing a tornado warning. We link it to our prior image by imagining a very large, loud, fearsome, tornado siren in a courtroom, revolving on a post that stands behind a judge’s bench in place of the judge.
(5) You shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call His name Jesus. (Lk 1:31)
You shall conceive: We use a word substitution for the keyword image of this verse. We choose the word sieve, which is similar in sound and spelling to the second syllable of “conceive.” We link “sieve” to the previous image by imagining a giant sieve at the top of a telephone pole, where we would expect to see a civil defense siren. Of course, the sieve is rotating around and catching great quantities of birds and bugs and anything else in its path as it blares out the tornado warning.
(6) How shall this be done for I do not know man? (Lk 1:34)
I do not know man: Again, we will use the word substitution technique for this verse’s image, by substituting snowman for the words “know man.” We link snowman to our previous image by imagining a giant snowman standing at the kitchen sink foolishly straining spaghetti from boiling water using his bare hands as a sieve! Of course, hot water poured on hands of icy snow is going to melt his hands.
(7) The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will over shadow you. Hence, the One to be born holy shall be called the Son of God. (Lk 1:35)
The Holy Spirit will come upon your: Prior to the mid-sixties, the Holy Spirit was known as the Holy Ghost, so we will base our image on that older name for the third person of the Blessed Trinity. We will link the Holy Ghost to our previous image by replacing the “snowman,” that inevitably appears in our front yard during a heavy winter snow, with a holey ghost that is, a giant, scary-looking ghost filled with more holes than a gigantic piece of Swiss cheese due to dozens of children throwing hundreds of snowballs at the hapless ghost. (Theological note: The earliest Greek manuscripts, which were widely circulated around the Mediterranean, contain the phrase “the One to be born holy.”  Later manuscripts have “the holy one to be born.”  The earlier translation points to the Perpetual Virginity of Mary in that the child being “born holy” indicates the miraculous absence of injury to His mother in giving birth and therefore the absence of ritual impurity (Lev 12:2-7) that would ordinarily occur via contact with blood.) 
(8) Behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son. (Lk 1:36-37)
Your kinswoman Elizabeth: For this verse we choose “kinswoman” as the basis for our keyword, but we’re going replace it with the made-up word “cans-woman” so as to provide a stronger image. We imagine a large tin can that has a woman’s head with very long hair, and with arms and legs made of dozens of smaller cans, and the cans-woman is wearing a long skirt. We link the cans-woman to our previous image by recalling that in works of fiction ghosts are often associated with graveyards, so we picture a dark cemetery in which we see a large scary cans-woman, rather than a ”holey-ghost,” suddenly jumping out at us from behind a headstone.
(9) She who was called barren is now in her sixth month, for no word is impossible with God. (Lk 1:36-37)
She who was called barren: The word “barren” is our choice for the keyword of this verse, but we will substitute for it the word bear, which provides us with the potential for a stronger image. We link it with cans-woman by considering that we might find such a person working in a factory that makes cans. But rather seeing the factory filled with cans-women, we see that the hundreds of workers in the factory are all ferocious grizzly bears.
(10) Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word. (Lk 1:38)
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: For our final verse of this mystery, we take handmaid as our keyword. We link it to our prior image by seeing hundreds of handmaids, dressed in typical handmaid fashion as in an earlier age, in the place where we would expect to find grizzly bears, a forest. There we see hundreds of them climbing trees and foraging throughout the forest.

The Second Joyful Mystery

Mary Visits Her Kinswoman Elizabeth
Our title image is that of you answering a knock of a visitor at your front door, so as to link the mystery’s abbreviated title, the Visitation, to the first verse. Upon opening the door you are shocked to find your visitor is a large multitude of giant hills that are pressing up against you and your home and trying to get in.
(1) Mary arose and went in haste into the hill country to a town of Judah. (Lk 1:39)
Mary went in haste: We will do a word substitution as the keyword for this verse, using haystack in place of haste. We picture Mary running (in haste) through the enormous, tightly arranged, haystack hills of Judah with hay being tossed to the left and right as she “hastily” runs through them on her way to the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth.
(2) She entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. (Lk 1:40)
She entered Zechariah’s house: You will notice that many of the most significant words of these verses are used repeatedly, so there is a challenge in finding words other than the most obvious words so as to not overload a particular word with many images. So, while “Mary” and “Elizabeth” would be obvious choices for a memory image if they only occurred once in all of these verses, their frequent occurrence in the verses make them less desirable. Consequently, a word substitution is in order. Mary “entered” Zechariah’s house, so we choose ant-tree as the keyword for this verse. In order to enter a person’s home, one has to go through the “ant-tree”, which we will picture more graphically with an image of a hundreds of “ant-trees,” standing on their heads in a farmer’s field where we would expect to see haystacks.
(3) When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb. (Lk 1:41)
Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting. Our keyword for this verse is another substitute word: herd in place of “heard.” To put “herd’ in the context of the previous verse’s keyword, we think of an ant-hole in your yard, but instead of pesky ants coming out of the ant hole, we imagine an enormous herd of buffalo shooting out of the ant hole and trampling down everything in their path.
(4) Elizabeth was filled with the Holy spirit and cried out with a loud voice. (Lk 1:41-42)
Elizabeth cried out: For this verse we will use cried as the keyword, but we will think of cried in terms of tears, gigantic teardrops that we find grazing on the grass at the local buffalo ranch in the place of the buffalo.
(5) Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. (Lk 1:42)
Blessed is the fruit of your womb: Fruit is an obvious choice for the keyword of this verse. We link it to the previous keyword by imagining being at a sad event and weeping copious tears, only these tears are actually large tear-shaped pears that produce no small amount of pain as they exit the tear ducts.
(6) And how is it that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Lk 1:43)
And how is it: For this verse we substitute a howitzer for “how is it” and take it as our keyword. A howitzer is, simply speaking, a large gun that is usually mounted on a motorized vehicle or a wheeled trailer. It is a dangerous weapon, but it makes for a good image. We link it to our previous image by imagining a large pear tree that has many howitzers hanging from its branches, all of which are firing and thereby creating lots of noise and smoke as the howitzer shells go whizzing over our heads.
(7) The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. (Lk 1:44)
The moment: For this verse we substitute monument for “moment” as our keyword. Though these two words aren’t homonyms but they are close enough in spelling, separated only by an “nu,” that we can use one to remind us of the other. We link “monument” to our prior keyword by imagining a long line of wheeled trailers spread out across a battlefield carrying not howitzers but giant replicas of the Washington monument. These giant monuments are so heavy they are causing the wheels of the trailers to sink into the soft ground upon which they sit.
(8) Blessed are you who believed the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled. (Lk 1:45)
Blessed are you who believed: We choose the made-up word bee-leaf for this verse. This made-up words sounds like “belief” of which “believed” is the past tense, so we have a close relationship between the keyword and its substitute word. We link it to the prior keyword by imagining being at the National Mall in Washington DC where we find the Washington monument covered with thousands of giant bee-leaves letting out a deafening bee-leaf buzz as they swarm around the monument.
(9) My soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. (Lk 1:46-47)
My soul magnifies the Lord: The obvious choice for this verse’s keyword is the familiar hand-held magnifying glass. We link it to the prior keyword by imagining your flower garden being visited by great numbers of magnifying glasses that are seeking to draw nectar and pollen from the flowers.
(10) Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home. (Lk 1:56)
Mary remained with Elizabeth: We use a partial sound-alike word for this verse so as to associate “remain”, the present tense of “remained,” with the mane of a horse. We associate it to the prior keyword with the image of you reading a book having very small print by using a “magnifying glass” made of a horse’s mane (in place of the magnifier’s lens) that is attached to a long stick (in place of the magnifier’s handle) and that looks very much like a floor mop.

The Third Joyful Mystery

The Nativity of the Lord

Our title image for this mystery is a cave. In particular, the cave in Bethlehem over which the Church of the Nativity stands. Since the birthplace of Jesus is so obviously linked to the title of this mystery, there is no need to make an association between the title of the mystery and some other object prior to the first Scripture verse.
(1) Caesar Augustus published a decree ordering a census of the whole world. (Lk 2:1)
Caesar Augustus: Our keyword for this verse, scissors, is based on the name of the Roman emperor. We choose scissors as a substitute word for Caesar because scissors and Caesar are close to being homonyms. We link Caesar to the cave by imagining dozens of pairs of scissors, each the size of an ox, sheltering in the cave in the place we would expect to find oxen.
(2) So Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. (Lk 2:4-5)
To register with Mary: We take register for this verse’s keyword and think of it in terms of a cash register. Scissors are often associated with cutting material, so we link register to the prior keyword by imagining someone holding a large, heavy cash register and using it to cut a large cloth the size of a football field by opening and closing the cash register drawer along the line drawn on the cloth.
(3) There was no room for them in the place where travelers lodged. (Lk 2:7)
There was no room for them: In today’s world, when there is no room in a place where travelers lodge we typically see a No Vacancy sign. We link to the prior keyword by imagining that you are in a hurry to check out at your favorite retail store but every checkout register has a large “No Vacancy” sign blocking your access to the register.
(4) She gave birth to her first-born son, wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger. (Lk 2:7)
Wrapped Him in swaddling clothes: For this verse we choose swaddling clothes as the keyword. In biblical times it was common to wrap a baby in strips of cloth for warmth and to restrain their limbs. Since we typically think of No Vacancy signs in regard to motels, we link swaddling clothes to the prior keyword by imagining a twenty-story motel having walls made of nothing but strips of cloth that are blowing wildly in the Kansas wind.
(5) An angel of the Lord appeared to nearby shepherds as the glory of the Lord shone around them. (Lk 2:9)
The glory of the Lord shone around them: If we think of the glory of the Lord shining down on the shepherds from above, we can represent that concept with a coastal lighthouse; hence, lighthouse is our keyword for this verse. We link lighthouse to the prior keyword by imagining the baby Jesus being spiral-wrapped in a large an unusually flexible lighthouse with it lights a blazing.
(6) The angel said to them: This day in David’s city a savior has been born to you. (Lk 2:10-11)
A savior has been born to you: For this verse we use a substitute word to replace “savior” with life preserver, which is, of course, a life saver when one is experiencing trouble in dangerous waters. We link this life preserver to the prior keyword by imagining a giant life preserver standing on its edge in a rocky coastal area and rotating much in the fashion of a lighthouse lamp.
(7) The shepherds said: Let us go and see what the Lord has made known to us. (Lk 2:15)
The shepherds said: Shepherds is our keyword for this verse. We link shepherds to our prior keyword by imagining that some people have gone overboard on a cruise ship and the ship’s crew has responded by throwing dozens of shepherds with inflatable staffs into the water, rather than life preservers, so as to keep the overboard passengers afloat till they can be rescued.
(8) They went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. (Lk 2:16)
Lying in the manger: Manger is our keyword for this verse. We link it to the prior keyword by imagining a flock of millions of sheep on a hillside being shepherded, not by shepherds, but by thousands of giant wooden mangers that tower over the sheep.
(9) And seeing, they understood what had been told them concerning this child. (Lk 2:17)
Concerning this child: For this verse we need a word substitution, so we will make up the word concerting”to substitute for the word concerning. We link “concerting” to the prior keyword by imagining that as we peer into a manger we see, rushing up out of the manger, an endless stream of musicians performing in concert fashion as they fly by.
(10) All who heard of it wondered at the report given them by the shepherds. (Lk 2:18)
All . . . wondered at the report: For our final verse of this mystery, we take report as our keyword, but we think of it in terms of a report card from school. We link “report card” to the prior keyword by imagining attendance at a musical concert at which all the instruments are being played by giant report cards rather than by musicians.

The Fourth Joyful Mystery

The Presentation of the Lord

This mystery’s title image is taken from a word in the title, presentation, for which we will substitute present in our image, a very large and very heavy Christmas present with a big red bow on the top.
(1) The day came to purify them according to the Law of Moses. (Lk 2:22)
According to the Law of Moses: We can think of the Law of Moses as being represented by the two stone tablets upon which God wrote the Ten Commandments. Since presents are often associated with a Christmas tree, we link to the prior keyword by imagining two giant stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments in the place where you normally find your Christmas tree.
(2) They went up to Jerusalem so He could be presented to the Lord. (Lk 2:22)
They went up to Jerusalem: This verse is a bit of a challenge. Normally, “presented” would be a good keyword choice, but we already have that word in the title image, so it could be confusing to use it again for this verse. Jerusalem is another option, but it’s challenging to make an image of a city. However, we can use Jerusalem as the base form of a made-up substitute word: jar-u-sailing or jarusailing. We’re going to imagine that Jarusailing is the sport of racing a large sailboat shaped like a jar with wheels and grossly, oversized sails for the 234 miles from the top of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the two tablets of the Law, to the top of Mount Zion, upon which Jerusalem sits. Of course, it is the Holy Family that is racing the jar-shaped sailboat we are interested in, with their destination being the Temple in Jerusalem. And in that we have our link to the prior keyword.
(3) They came to offer in sacrifice a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. (Lk 2:24)
They came to offer in sacrifice: Part of the reason for the trip to Jerusalem was to offer sacrifice in the Temple. We will use therefore use “sacrifice” as the base form of a substitute phrase, sack of rice, to create our image for this verse. We link it to the prior keyword by imagining Joseph, demonstrating superhuman strength, carrying two extraordinarily massive sacks of rice, each of them the size of a small car, one on his left shoulder and the other on his right shoulder as they enter the Temple.
(4) There was in Jerusalem at the time a certain man named Simeon. (Lk 2:25)
A certain man named Simeon: For this verse we will use “certain man” as the keyword but in the form of curtain man. Now, the rice in those massive sacks of rice we see Joseph carrying in the prior keyword image has to come from somewhere, so we will imagine it’s grown on the slopes of Mount Zion. There, in the large rice field, we see an unusual figure directing the workers in the field. The unusual figure is the curtain nan. He has for a headdress a ten-feet-long curtain rod balanced on his head with a long train of cloth attached to it on both sides. We see Curtain Man coming out of the rice fields and in that we have our link to the prior keyword.
(5) He came to the Temple now, inspired by the Holy Spirit. (Lk 2:27)
He came to the Temple now: “Temple” is our keyword for this verse, but we replace it with the similar-sounding substitute word tent pole.  We typically find curtains hung on a horizontal “pole” of some sort, so we link to the previous keyword by seeing a giant one-foot diameter tent pole above some curtained window in your home.  Naturally, this giant tent pole necessarily extends through the walls in your home and into the neighbor’s homes up and down the block you live on.
(6) Simeon took the Child in his arms and blessed God. (Lk 2:28)
Simian – of, relating to, or resembling monkeys or apes (includes humans)
(7) The parents wondered at what was being spoken concerning this Child. (Lk 2:33)
Wandered
(8) Behold, this Child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel. (Lk 2:34)
Waterfall
(9) He will be a sign to be opposed – and your own soul shall be pierced with a sword. (Lk 2:34-35)
Sign
(10) That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. (Lk 2:35)
Hearts

The Fifth Joyful Mystery

The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

Still under construction: Memory aids coming in late December

Our title image is Temple
(1) When He was twelve years old they went up to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration as was their custom. (Lk 2:41-42)
Passover the football
(2) Returning home after the feast, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem unknown to His parents. (Lk 2:43)
Feet (feast)
(3) Thinking He was in their company, they continued their journey for a day, searching for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. (Lk 2:44)
Search/binoculars
(4) Not finding Him they returned to Jerusalem in search of Him. (Lk 2:45)
Return (as in tennis?)
(5) On the third day they found Him in the Temple sitting among the doctors of the Law, listening to them and asking them questions. (Lk 2:46)
Boat dock
(6) All who heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers. (Lk 2:47)
Answers/test
(7) His parents were astonished to find Him there. (Lk 2:48)
A-stone-ished
(8) His mother said to Him: Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow. (Lk 2:48)
Searching
(9) Why did you search for me? Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house? (Lk 2:49)
Father’s house
(10) His mother meanwhile kept all these things in memory and pondered them in her heart (Lk 2:19, 51).
Ponder (powder)