The Rosary, a balm for crisis

By Lora Goulet

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A crisis, makes it so easy to forget the vast power of quiet prayer. "Solutions" are not always the answer to a problem...
  
 Trustingly being still and letting events run their course is more difficult than giving in to the impulse to "do something", or worse yet to "say something."  After all, "Silence is golden!"     

 There's something beautiful and peaceful about praying the Rosary. It is a soothing "balm" for emotional crisis. Meditation on the events of the life of Jesus elevates the soul. The mind is released from the bondage of the fear of events beyond human control. Calling upon the Holy Spirit for help, opens the heart to prayer. The Almighty Father's power to fulfill His will is more immense than the entire blue sky above. Mary and Jesus never stop interceding for their children.

 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 GodPray for us sinners, now; And at the hour of our death.  AMEN.

 En Los Corazones de Jesús y María


Lora originally posted this at Camino La Mancha.

Mary's Memories: the Sorrowful Mysteries

By Mallory Hoffman

Madonna by Pinskaya
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Agony in the Garden

I felt my heart begin to break when I knew Jesus and His Apostles had left for the Garden.  The Apostles were uneasy.  They sensed that My Son was sorrowful.  He had warned them that He would be killed, but they did not believe.  I fell to my knees with the other women and we began to pray.  Jesus began to suffer in the Garden.  He felt the weight of sin on his shoulders and satan was there to tempt Him again.  Jesus was sorrowful beyond words.  I could feel His sorrow in my heart.  How he could bear the weight I do not know.  I’ve never known such sorrow.  He asked His Father to let this cup pass, but the Father withdrew.  Jesus accepted His cup for love of us.  His soul was at peace, but He knew what was to come.  When they came to arrest Him, My Jesus identified Himself to the soldiers of the temple.  They began to beat Him.  When Peter tried to stop this by cutting off the ear of the soldier, Jesus reminded Peter that this what was meant to be.  Jesus healed the soldier’s ear.  The other soldiers were stunned.   My Son was beaten and taken to both Herod and Pilate.  My Jesus, My Beautiful Son!  My heart weeps.  My heart weeps when I see You.  My precious Child.  I love You!

The Scourging at the Pillar.

How could I look?  Jesus did not look like Himself.  His beautiful face was swollen and bruised.  His eye was swollen shut.  When asked about the charges, Jesus would not answer.  Pilate tried to calm the crowds.  He knew that Jesus did not do anything wrong, but he was afraid.  He ordered Jesus to be scourged.  My Son!  My Son!  You are the Son of God, but they do not know You!  These are the people who were cheering You and calling You the Messiah.  Now they are calling for your death.  My Son!  I am here.  I hear the whips as they strike Your flesh.  I feel the whips as they rip into Your flesh.  I see the blood flow from Your skin.  Your flesh is hanging in shreds, and they continue to beat You.  The sear of the air on Your wounds brings tears to My eyes.  My Son, how do You bear this pain?  They want to kill You.  Pilate did not order that.  My God!  My God!  Protect Your Son!  I am weak.  How much more weak are You, My beautiful Child?  At last, the beatings have stopped and the soldiers are giving You back Your clothing that is soaked with your blood.  You can barely walk.  You lost so much blood!  If they only knew how much You loved them!   I see You looking at me.  I am here, My Son!  I am here.  Be strong!  I. am. here.

 Read the rest of the mysteries at His UnEnding Love.

Mary's memories--meditaions on the Rosary

By Mallory Hoffman

The Annunciation by de Matteis (Wikimedia Commons).

Pope John Paul II wrote of "Mary's Memories" in the Rosary.   In his Apostolic letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae"  Pope John Paul, soon to be canonized, wrote,

"Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word: “She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51). The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her, leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son's side. In a way those memories were to be the “rosary” which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life."

With the season of Advent upon us, our focus should turn to Mary, the Mother of God.  By imitating her virtue, we will be better prepared to greet her Son on Christmas Day.    Inspired by her memories of the Rosary, I wrote these Meditations on the Rosary.  The first ones we encounter in "Mary's memories," are the Joyful mysteries.  As I wrote, I tried to look at these mysteries through Mary's eyes.  Of course, these responses are fictional.  I am writing these, not Mary.  My hope is that by looking at these mysteries through Mary's eyes, we will come to know Jesus better.

Mary's Memories
Meditations on the Rosary
The Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation

I was praying, thanking God for all of His goodness and mercies.  I heard my name whispered in the wind.  I opened my eyes and I saw a being of light in front of me.  He greeted me by saying, "Hail, full of grace."  I was surprised by such a greeting.  He was so beautiful.  I knew he was from God.  He told me his name was Gabriel.  He told me that I was blessed among women.  He said that I would bear a son, the Promised One, and that I would name Him Jesus.  I was very surprised.  I didn't understand how this could be since I had not known man.  He said that the power of the Holy Spirit would come upon me.  This is how I would conceive my Son, the Holy one of God.  I replied that it should be done according to God's Will.  When the angel left, I knew I was with child.
 

 Continue reading at Mallory's blog His UnEnding Love.

Always with me

By Lora Goulet

Always with me

in my apron pocket, 

in the glove compartment of my car,
in my purse or backpack, 

nestled in the jackets of my Breviary and Bible,

on the bulletin board in my kitchen

Always with me 

on my bedside table,

tightly held while I sleep

Always with me

in the middle of the night

whenever I am afraid, or hurt, or crying

or concerned with an important decision,
reminding me of Jesus' healing miracles

Always with me
as I walk with Jesus through a lifetime of 

blessings, trials, discernment, loss, 
abundance, graces, anguish, joy, indescribable peace,

praying that at the hour of my death He will be

Always with me

 

 

The Rosary is the Gospel Prayer

within which we contemplate the life of Jesus through the heart of Mary

 

 

Lora originally posted this at Camino La Mancha. She also blogs at mommy novinas.

The emergency novena

By Anabelle Hazard

Refuge of Sinners by Luigi Crosio (photo credit: Wikipedia)

Next to Mass, the most powerful prayer is the Rosary. For that reason and for the promises Our Lady made to St. Dominic, its been my all time favorite prayer. However, even I must admit that there are times when meditating on the Rosary isn’t the perfect fit.  For instance, when my 3 year old suffered a night of a relentless coughing fit. Nothing seemed to help: not the elevated pillow, humidifier with blessed salt, or cough syrup. We’d all had the virus the past week, so another sleepless night seemed inevitable and I just shuddered at the possibility of spending that night at the ER, waiting for a nurse to give her a steroid shot. 

As I next to her, brushing her hair off from her forehead, I replayed the conversation with my cousin earlier that day about the emergency/911/stat novena, so named because it’s a quick call to Heaven for help.  The express novena is composed of nine Memorares, which sounded perfect since at that point of desperation and exhaustion, even the Divine Mercy Chaplet seemed too long.


Continue reading at Anabelle's blog Written by the Finger of God.

The Rosary: just 2% of your day

by Allison Girone

The Virgin of the Rosary  by Murillo (photo in Public Domain).

 



"Returning continually in her memory to everything that was important in her Son's life and in her own, it was as though Mary prayed her Rosary, but without moving from one bead to another"(The Gift of Faith, pg. 202).

While I have always had a love for the Rosary, I am not always successful at praying it everyday. Considering that I am awake for 16 hours a day, I have 960 minutes in my "day." The Rosary may take 17 minutes to pray, meditating on the life of Christ. If I work that out mathematically, 17 minutes would be less than 2% of my day!

If I were to tithe to God and give Him just 10% of my day, the minimum in gratitude, I should spend 96 minutes or at least an hour and a half in prayer each day ... sobering.

I do offer up my day in my morning offering prayer...

I do pray throughout the day in many ways...but I could do more.

He deserves more.

And Our Lady is waiting, with graces...

Besides the Indulgences attached to the Rosary, Our Lady revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche additional benefits for those who devoutly pray the Rosary. Our Lady's promise is shown in darker blue text. Additional explanation on and doctrinal connections to each promise are shown following in the smaller normal text font and color. Note that the Rosary is the prayer (non-Liturgical) with the most published Magisterial / Papal documents expounding on its excellence. Vatican II's summary on Our Lady is contained in Lumen Gentium chapter VIII.


1. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
Signal graces are those special and unique graces to help sanctify us in our state in life. See the remaining promises for an explanation of which these will consist. St. Louis de Montfort states emphatically that the best and fastest way to union with Our Lord is via Our Lady [True Devotion to Mary, chapter four].


2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. Our Lady is our Advocate and the channel of all God's grace to us. Our Lady is simply highlighting that she will watch especially over us who pray the Rosary. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62) [a great more detail is available on this topic in True Devotion to Mary, chapter four, by St. Louis de Montfort]


3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.This promise, along with the next, is simply the reminder on how fervent prayer will help us all grow in holiness by avoiding sin, especially a prayer with the excellence of the Rosary. An increase in holiness necessarily requires a reduction in sin, vice, and doctrinal errors (heresies). If only the Modernists could be convinced to pray the Rosary! (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42) St. Louis de Montfort states "Since Mary alone crushed all heresies, as we are told by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary)..." [True Devotion to Mary #167]


4. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.This promise, along with the previous, is the positive part, that being to live in virtue. Becoming holy is not only avoiding sin, but also growing in virtue. (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42)


5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.Since Our Lady is our Mother and Advocate, she always assists those who call on her implicitly by praying the Rosary. The Church reminds us of this in the Memorare prayer, "... never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided ..."


Read 10 more reasons to pray the Rosary at Allison's blog  Totus Tuus Family and Homeschool.

Saved by a Hail Mary (literally)

by Anabelle Hazard

Courtesy www.stainedglassinc.com

During my Lenten retreat, I made a commitment to pray the rosary 3 times a day. That’s nothing compared to Imaculee Ilibagiza’s 27 rosaries a day, but it isn’t easy nonetheless.

More often than not, I get interrupted with cleaning up unscheduled juice spills or breaking up screaming catfights that I forget where I left off, so I have to start the decade all over again. Other times, I realize I’ve just mouthed off one “Our Father” and proceeded to several “For the Sake of His sorrowful passion…” from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy Chaplet before I realize what’s going on  And still, there are those moments when I just prayed a “Hail Mary” to the clock while thinking I had better get to the meatball soup if I am to have it ready for dinner.

These things distress me and I honestly begin to second guess myself about the promise I made. Do I really want to keep reducing my rosaries to mere lip service? Maybe I should stop and just focus on a single “Hail Mary” that I can pray with my heart.

But then I remember a true story my cousin told me. Her husband’s Jewish mother was three years old during the Holocaust. Their family had been hiding from the searching Nazi’s but somehow the child had wandered off in full view of the soldiers. The Nazi’s approached the child and as was normal practice, ferreted out suspected Jews by a simple test. They demanded that the child say a “Hail Mary.”



Continue reading at Annabelle's blog  Written by the Finger of God.

Rosaries of our lives

by Terry

Our Lady of the Rosary (Photo by Tetraktys, Wikimedia).

 

Sometime before Christmas I made the upsetting discovery that I had lost one of my favourite rosaries. People lose rosaries all the time, I know, but this particular one was very special to me. This was the rosary that accompanied me to work each day, sized perfectly so that I could finger the beads while driving. Its small, oval, burgundy beads were on a strong silver chain. The attached St. Benedict medallion and detailed crucifix, both made of pewter, made it simple yet beautiful. It was made by a friend and given to me one Christmas past. That was the saddest part of the loss—the sentimental value attached to it.

Silly? Some people may think so, but I don’t. I have a small collection of rosaries, all of which I use and all of which have a story, a memory, a person behind them. When I meditate on the rosary, I picture myself praising God through its powerful prayers along with the communion of saints. The rosary I am using at the time connects me in a special way to the person who gave it to me and I remember that person in my prayers.

I propose that the personal rosaries of faithful Christians have a fine history of their own. They have accompanied their owners through the most joyous as well as the most heartbreaking times in their lives. Their oft-handled beads show the passage of years as they slip lovingly through praying fingers. If rosaries could talk they would tell many profound stories of loss and rejoicing, of lives shattered and lives found, all within their 59 beads.

Telling beads, making memories

During my work week, I have the blessing of being able, on most days, to pay a quick visit to Jesus in a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. Some days the chapel is quite full; other days there may only be a couple of us in silent prayer. The multicultural mix of my city is well represented in the chapel with whispered prayers being offered up in a multitude of languages. A common sight is the rosary held gently in the hands of worshipers. We may all be praying in different languages but there is a bond between us, all joined by the beads, simple or ornate, of our rosaries. It is a powerful sight.

When I was a Rosary Apostolate volunteer, one of my goals was to teach children in younger grades how to properly use the rosary. Patience and the ability to move quickly around the classroom placing little fingers on the proper beads was a skill I developed. My efforts and the efforts of all Rosary Apostolate volunteers are not in vain as we watch the same children become proficient in telling the beads as they get older. In the First Communion class that I teach, I am giving the same lesson to young children who pride themselves on knowing how to properly use the beads. Learning to navigate the beads has prompted many of the children to ask their parents for their own rosaries—so memories are being safeguarded in a new generation of beads.

In my home, each of my children have their personal collection of rosaries, complete with unique memories. They are either stored haphazardly in small tangled piles or hung in multiples on bedposts. One of my husband’s prized possessions is his late father’s time-worn, much used rosary. It is in need of repair but that does not diminish its value in the heart of my husband. When he holds it, he is reminded of his dad and I like to think that they pray together, joined by this special link.

Still a means of grace when memory fails

I watch as my mom, her mind destroyed by dementia, slowly recites her prayers using the same rosary she has had for decades. Her dementia is at the stage where even long-term memory is compromised but the familiar beads are still a comfort to her. She recites her rosary much slower these days, often lapsing into sleep, and I am convinced that she does not always remember how to get from start to finish. No matter. She receives much comfort from feeling the smooth patina’d beads and God rejoices in her efforts.

Back to the rosary that I lost. After weeks of searching and beseeching St. Anthony, it is nowhere to be found. It is definitely gone. I only pray that whoever found it will somehow be blessed by the love that went into fashioning it and by the love with which it was received and used. Please God, the person who now owns it is making new memories and in reciting the age-old Christian prayers of the Rosary, is joined with the communion of saints in praising God and praying for the world.


Terry blogs at  8 Kids and a Business. This post originally ran on   Catholic Insight.