Since assuming my role as Co-Editor, I have had considerably less impetus to actually write articles, focusing, rather, on adjusting the layout of the issues or simply editing the work of our staff writers. The only piece I’ve written in over a year was the interview with our new President, which I conducted with my Co-Editor, John Pietro. But, I have been called out of that slump by a growing love of the Rosary. And it is towards such a love that I will exhort you during this month of the Rosary - not only for your spiritual benefit or my own (Our Lady promises to aid those who propagate her Rosary), but for the good of the whole Church.
Catholic tradition holds that the Rosary was bestowed upon St. Dominic by Our Lady in 1214 AD. Since then, it has become a staple of the order he founded, the Order of Preachers, commonly known as Dominicans. Popular devotion to the Rosary grew quickly, with particular help from the Christian victory over the Ottomans at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. It is reported that every man in the Catholic League’s navy carried a Rosary with him into battle, which halted the Ottoman advance into Europe. Pope Saint Pius V pronounced October 7, the date of their triumph, as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Centuries later in 1884, Pope Blessed Leo XIII would distinguish the entirety of October for the same celebration. In 2002, the Rosary changed for the first time since its inception, when Pope Saint John Paul II instituted a new set of mysteries - the Luminous Mysteries - to stand alongside the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious.
These sets of mysteries, journeys through the Gospels, form the centerpiece of the Rosary. As we count each “Hail Mary” we are called further and further into the life of Christ. For, the Rosary is not simply a nifty way to count out 50 “Hail Marys.” Rather, its main purpose is the contemplation of the life of our Lord. Pope Saint Paul VI makes it clear in his apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus that:
Without [the element of contemplation] the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation is in danger of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas and of going counter to the warning of Christ: “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Mt. 6:7). By its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord’s life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord (Marialis Cultus 47).
So, it is not the quantity of prayers which the Rosary leads us through that are the end of our prayer, but rather a means for contemplation. Too often the Rosary is scorned as stuffy, old-fashioned piety, meant for the stereotyped Catholic who recites prayer after prayer, never building a personal relationship with God. What Pope St. Pius suggests here is radically different — that it is through this repetition of prayer that we can properly meditate on the life of Christ and grow closer to Him. Indeed, this repetition expands our meditation over a course of time through its “quiet rhythm.” In this way, the Rosary re-presents the historical time in which Christ, through His Incarnation, dwelt and walked among us. And, through this re-presentation, we too can dwell historically with Christ, if only for a brief moment, though he lived among us two-thousand years ago.
Ironically, this time spent in praying the Rosary, the source and fullness of its beauty, also stands as its greatest hindrance. A fellow traveler of the titular Pilgrim in “The Way of a Pilgrim,” reveals how “we sinners are listless, are not willing to give even one small hour to God in thanksgiving, and barter the time of prayer.” This line immediately follows the short story of a monk who is saved from a disastrous accident by, “offering a prayer and remembering [his] rosary.” Despite the “special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary” Our Lady promises, we find excuse after excuse not to pray, though it takes no more than 30 minutes.
This aforementioned anecdote’s reference to a “rosary” is actually an idiom, meant for Western audiences, of what we might more accurately term a “prayer rope,” upon which is prayed the Jesus Prayer; “The Way of a Pilgrim” comes to us from the Orthodox Tradition. However, as Pope Saint John Paul II suggests, the Rosary, “corresponds in some way to the “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer” which took root in the soil of the Christian East (Rosarium Virginis Mariae 5).” Such similarity illumines the Pope’s statements that, “If properly revitalized, the Rosary is an aid and certainly not a hindrance to ecumenism (Rosarium Virginis Mariae 4)!” The link between the Jesus Prayer and the Rosary reflects that of the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches; they are sister prayers and we are sister Churches. Not only do we share this similar tradition of prayer, but we share a great love of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whether under the title of “Our Lady of the Rosary,” or the “Theotokos.”
But, the Rosary’s ecumenical grace extends beyond this shared tradition. Though our Protestant brothers and sisters may disapprove of the Rosary as Mary worship, Pope Saint Paul VI claims the contrary:
[T]he Rosary draws from the Gospel the presentation of the mysteries and its main formulas...In the harmonious succession of Hail Mary’s the Rosary puts before us once more a fundamental mystery of the Gospel — the Incarnation of the Word, contemplated at the decisive moment of the Annunciation to Mary. The Rosary is thus a Gospel prayer. (Marialis Cultus 44).
The Rosary hinges on scripture; it is inseparable from the life of Christ as recounted in the Bible. Understanding the Rosary as Biblical, we can encourage our Protestant brothers and sisters to join us in this contemplative practice, which draws us closer to Christ. We can assure them that, “although the repeated Hail Mary is addressed directly to Mary, it is to Jesus that the act of love is ultimately directed, with her and through her. (Rosarium Virginis Mariae 26)” The love of Christ is shared by all Christians, and as a means to grow in this divine virtue, may the Rosary, and the intercession of our Blessed Mother, guide the reconciliation of the Catholic Church with the Protestant Churches.
In light of this twofold grace - for ourselves and for our Church, I, myself a barterer of time, encourage you to devote yourself this month to our Blessed Mother through her Most Holy Rosary. We have been blessed at Holy Cross with a weekly Rosary, led by Dean Michelle Murray, Vice President for Student Affairs, on Tuesdays at 8:30am. Perhaps, you might strive to attend this each week. Or, you might form a group with several friends and push each other to pray daily, every-other day, or just weekly. I will extend my own offer to those of you on campus: I and a group of fellow students plan to pray the rosary daily through the month of October. If you would be interested in joining us, we will be praying Mondays-Wednesdays at 8:30pm, Thursdays at 9:00pm, Fridays at 3:30pm, Saturdays at 1:00pm, and Sundays at 12:30pm. We will meet in St. Joseph’s Chapel in the pews before the statue of Mary. I hope you will consider joining us, even just once this month. If you have never prayed the Rosary before, we’d be even more happy to see you! Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii, ora pro nobis.