The scriptures collected here are the equivalent of the mysteries in a traditional rosary. They are referred to here as “Pandemic Responses.” The scriptural texts quoted are from the New Jerusalem Bible(NJB). The hyperlinked citations will take you to other translations.
Specific words within each scripture are emphasized, with definitions of the Greek and Hebrew words set out below each passage and links to the sources of the definitions. Those are among the things to be meditated upon on the Hail Mary beads.
As you meditate, note the concepts that are repeated within and across these scriptures—God often uses repetition to emphasize what He really wants us to understand.
First Pandemic Response:
Trust wholeheartedly in Yahweh, put no faith in your own perception; acknowledge him in every course you take, and he will see that your paths are smooth.
Do not congratulate yourself on your own wisdom, fear Yahweh and turn your back on evil: health-giving, this, to your body, relief to your bones.
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My child, do not scorn correction from Yahweh, do not resent his reproof; for Yahweh reproves those he loves, as a father the child whom he loves.
to have confidence, be confident; to be bold; to be secure; to feel safe; confide in; to set one’s hope and confidence upon; to fear nothing
Altogether; all, the whole of; totality, everything; any or every; inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding; mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory; seat of emotions and passions; used very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; the centre of anything;
to perceive and see, find out and discern; to recognise, admit, acknowledge, confess; to know, be acquainted with; to be instructed; to know; to ascertain by seeing; recognition; comprehend, consider; seeing, observing; get to know; discover; know by experience; to turn the mind to
revere; to stand in awe of, be awed; to fear, reverence, honour, respect; morally to revere
to turn aside, depart; to depart, depart from way, avoid; to be removed; to come to an end; to put aside, leave undone, retract, reject, abolish; to turn off; decline; eschew; leave undone; be past, pluck away, put (away, down), rebel, remove (to and fro), revolt; escape;
bad, malignant; giving pain, unhappiness, misery; unkind (vicious in disposition); wicked (ethically); evil((-favouredness); deformed; badness, especially in an ethical sense; malice
discipline, chastening, correction; reproof, warning or instruction; doctrine, instruction, rebuke; admonition
rebuke, correction, reproof, punishment, chastisement; argument, impeachment; refutation
rebuke, reprove, correct; argue; shew; confute;
to love; act of being a friend; God's love toward man; to like; to have affection for; to desire; to delight; to be verdant
to be pleased with, be favourable to, accept favourably; set affection; receive graciously; delight in the association of; graciously accepted
Second Pandemic Response:
So I say to you: ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened. What father among you, if his son asked for a fish, would hand him a snake? Or if he asked for an egg, hand him a scorpion? If you then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require;to ask for oneself, request for oneself
bestow; he implied idea being that of giving freely; delivered; grant;to give one something, to his advantage; to grant, give to one asking, let have; to supply, furnish, necessary things; to cause, profuse, give forth from one's self; of one's own accord to give one something; to reach out, extend, present;to give to one's care, intrust, commit;to give one to some one to care for his interests
to seek after; to seek for; endeavor;to require, demand; strive after, endeavor, to desire;coveting earnestly, striving after;to seek in order to find;to seek [in order to find out] by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into; to seek after, seek for, aim at, strive after
to find [] with previous search; to find out by enquiry, or to learn, discover;after searching, to find a thing sought; to find by enquiry, thought, examination, scrutiny, observation, to find out by practice and experience; to get knowledge of, come to know, God; perceive, see; to be discovered, recognized, detected
to strike; importunity in dealing with God; to knock with a heavy blow
to open the mouth; to open up;Metaphorically, to give entrance into the soul; to furnish opportunity to do something; to open the eyes of one's mind
to obtain; to take, lay hold of; to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it; to receive what is offered;to get hold of; to take with one for future use
nourisher, protector, upholder; the originator of a family or company of persons animated by the same spirit as himself
Third Pandemic Response:
Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.
Follow; come hither, come here, come; interjection, come!, come now!
to, towards, with; motion towards, accession to, or nearness; the goal ... toward which a movement is directed; metaphorically, of mental direction, with words denoting desires and emotions of the mind;it is used of close proximity; the relation or close connection entered (or to be entered) into by one person with another; at, near, hard by, denoting close local proximity
to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labour in order to recover and collect his strength; indicative of unnecessary, self-indulgent relaxation; to refresh; an agricultural term, e.g., of giving land "rest" by sowing light crops upon it; to keep quiet, of calm and patient expectation; take ease
to raise up, to lift, to take upon oneself and carry what has been raised; hoisting up; lift; draw up; to bear; to raise from the ground; to bear away what has been raised, carry off
serving to couple two things together; a coupling
to increase one's knowledge; to learn by inquiry, or observation; to ascertain; to learn by use and practice, to acquire the habit of, be accustomed to; be informed; to understand
mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness
that which is low, and does not rise far from the ground; deferring servilely to others
fit for use, able to be used; good, virtuous, mild, pleasant; kind, gracious; manageable; kind, benevolent; useful
light in weight, easy to bear
Fourth Pandemic Response:
Always be joyful, then, in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful.Let your good sense be obvious to everybody. The Lord is near.Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kindin prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, let your minds be filled with everything that is true, everything that is honourable, everything that is upright and pure, everything that we love and admire -- with whatever is good and praiseworthy.Keep doing everything you learnt from me and were told by me and have heard or seen me doing. Then the God ofpeace will be with you.
to joy, rejoice, be glad; rejoicing, being glad;to rejoice exceedingly; to be well, thrive
forbearance; moderation; gentleness; sweet reasonableness;
denotes "seemly, fitting," hence, "equitable, fair, moderate, forbearing, not insisting on the letter of the law;" it expresses that considerateness that looks "humanely and reasonably at the facts of a case;" it is rendered "gentle," in contrast to contentiousness; a quality of the wisdom from above
seeming, suitable equitable, fair, mild, gentle; moderation, patience
represents knowledge as the effect of experience; to know, perceive; to become known; to be taking in knowledge, to come to know, recognize, understand, or to understand completely; frequently indicates a relation between the person "knowing" and the object known, in this respect, what is "known" is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship; to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel; to become known; to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of; to become acquainted with
at hand; nigh
to be anxious about, to have a distracting care; to be troubled with cares
radically means "all;" used without the article it means "every," every kind or variety; used with the article, it means the whole of one object; In the plural it signifies "the totality of the persons or things referred to;" may signify "the highest degree," the maximum of what is referred to; in the plural with a noun it means "all;" preceded by the article it denotes "all things," as constituting a whole "any and every, of every kind, all manner of;" often rendered "whatsoever;"each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything
an asking, entreaty, supplication; request
thankfulness; giving of thanks, thanksgiving
The sense of rest and contentment; quietness; the corresponding Hebrew word shalom primarily signifies "wholeness"
providing protection against the enemy, as a garrison does; that security that is his when he puts all his matters into the hand of God; the idea is not merely that of protection, but of inward garrisoning as by the Holy Spirit; a benevolent custody and watchful guardianship; to guard, protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight
Fifth Pandemic Response:
...humility towards one another must be the garment you all wear constantly, because God opposes the proud but accords his favour to the humble. Bow down, then, before the power of God now, so that he may raise you upin due time ; Unload all your burden on to him, since he is concerned about you.
Keep sober and alert, because your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand up to him, strongin faith and in the knowledge that it is the same kind of suffering that the community of your brothers throughout the world is undergoing.
You will have to suffer only for a little while: the God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will restore you, he will restore, strengthen and support you.His power lasts for ever and ever. Amen.
the having a humble opinion of one's self; a deep sense of one's (moral) littleness; modesty, humility, lowliness of mind; humiliation of mind
knot or band by which two things are fastened together; to fasten or gird one's self; this could also refer to the overalls which slaves wore to keep clean while working—an exceedingly humble garment; to engirdle oneself (for labor), i.e. figuratively (the apron as being a badge of servitude) to wear (in token of mutual deference) by putting on humility show your subjection one to another
showing oneself above others; always used in the NT in the evil sense of "arrogant, disdainful, haughty;" overtopping, conspicuous above others; an overweening estimate of one's means or merits; despising others or even treating them with contempt
that which is low, and does not rise far from the ground; metaphorically, signifies "lowly, of no degree;" primarily signifies "low-lying." It is used always in a good sense in the NT
to exalt; to raise to dignity, honour and happiness
primarily, "due measure, fitness, proportion," is used in the NT to signify "a season, a time, a period" possessed of certain characteristics; a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for; opportune or seasonable time; the right time; a limited period of time
to cast upon; to throw upon, place upon
a care, especially an anxious care; anxiety; distraction
signifies "to be free from the influence of intoxicants;" in the NT; metaphorically, it does not in itself imply watchfulness, but is used in association with it; to abstain from wine; is used metaphorically of moral "alertness," and translated "to watch," to be calm and collected in spirit; to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect
the meaning here is that of vigilance and expectancy as contrasted with laxity and indifference; to watch; give strict attention to, be cautious, active
to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one
to set against; signifying "to withstand, oppose, resist," is translated "to resist;" to set one's self against
"solid, hard, stiff," is translated "firm;" is rendered "steadfast;" immovable
firm persuasion, a conviction; trust; an assurance; the main element in "faith" in its relation to the invisible God, as distinct from "faith" in man; trust and holy fervor; a strong and welcome conviction; belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence); the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things; a power that seizes upon the soul; fidelity, faithfulness
to know, i.e. get knowledge of, understand, perceive; to have regard for one, cherish, pay attention to
few, little, small, slight; short; brief, briefly; a short time, a (little) while
establishing; strengthen;to make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix; to render constant, confirm, one's mind; to turn resolutely in a certain direction
to lay a foundation; to make stable, establish; consolidate; settle
